Empathoid
Attributes
| Eyes: | Black, or red with black spots |
| Features: | Humanoid build, pink in color, minimal distinctive markings |
| Height: | 6' 6" |
| Weight: | negligible |
Powers
| Limitations: | There was a limit to how much emotional energy it could absorb before overloading. |
| Powers: | Emotion-draining powers. Virtually immune to physical attack. |
| Strength Level: | Uncertain, possibly superhuman Class 10 (he was able to restrain Spider-Man, but that may have been a result of emotiona |
Summary
| Created By: | Archie Goodwin, Gerry Conway, Sal Buscema, Jim Mooney, Mike Esposito |
| Current Occupation: | Emotional vampire |
| Education: | Undetermined level of programming |
| Former Bases: | Unnamed Extra-Dimensional Realm, New York |
| Former Occupation: | Servant to unnamed extra-dimensional race |
| Known Relatives: | Inapplicable |
| Legal Status: | Former possession of unnamed extra-dimensional race and Reed Richards |
| Major Enemies: | Spider-Man, Morbius |
| Marital Status: | Inapplicable |
| Place of Birth: | Unnamed Extra-Dimensional Realm |
| Real Name: | Unknown |
| Usual Bases: | Currently unknown, possibly floating in space where the original Baxter Building exploded |
Background
The Empathoid was created by an extra-dimensional race at some point in the past, although it is unclear how long ago that was. Its masters created it to be a superior android servant, one which would be better attuned to its human masters because it shared their feelings. However, once it tasted emotion, it craved more, ever stronger, ever more violent. It eventually exhausted and outlived its creators, leaving it stranded on its now uninhabited world. Without emotions to give it purpose, it eventually lapsed into a dormant state below the surface of a temple on its world.
The pseudo-vampire known as Morbius used the dimension-spanning palm-bands of the Living Eraser to flee Earth to prevent him from making any humans his victims. Unwittingly traveling to the Empathoid's realm, his strong emotions caused the Empathoid to awaken. The Empathoid entered the form of Morbius and forced him to use the palm-bands to return to Earth, where it could feed on the emotions of its inhabitants.
The Emapthoid forced Morbius to attack others while it fed on the fear and panic he generated, until his rampage drew the attention of Spider-Man. Spider-Man managed to defeat Morbius, but the Empathoid then took possession of his form. The Empathoid directed Spider-Man to seek out battle, which he found in Morbius, who now attacked him in an effort to destroy the Empathoid. Spider-Man managed to defeat the Empathoid, by bringing his battle with Morbius to a football stadium during a game. The magnitude and intensity of the emotions present there caused the Empathoid to overload and deactivate. Spider-Man took the form of the Empathoid to the Baxter Building for safe-keeping.
The Empathoid derives energy by draining the emotions of others. Its form was designed to be self-regenerating and virtually indestructible, making it effectively immortal. Its form is semi-solid, allowing it to contact others, but making it immune to most forms of physical attack, as most objects pass straight through it. It can merge with its intended victim and feed off of his or her emotions. It communicates telepathically with its victim and can cause him or her intense physical pain if they do not obey its wishes. It gained power from intense emotions, although there was a limit to how much it could absorb before overloading.
Image Gallery
Appearances
| Cover Date | Appearance Information |
|---|---|
| May 1977 | App: Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #6 |
| Shadow and Voice only | |
| Jun 1977 | App: Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #7 |
| Seen only as image surrounding Mobius | |
| Jul 1977 | App: Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #8 |
| First Full appearance, origin told. |
Thanks To
This profile was completed with information used with permission from the Appendix of Marvel Universe website, mantained by Jeff Christiansen (Snood). If you want to find out about that odd-ball character you've only seen once, or even about that character you haven't ever seen, that's the site you're looking for. An impressive amount of obscure characters await you there!
The assistance of the Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.
Some of the above information is extracted from the various versions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and the more recent Marvel Encyclopaedias.