Maximilian Vermis

Kraken - Art By: Dan Mora and Edgar Delgado

**Maximilian "Max" Vermis**, also known as **Kraken**, is a high-ranking leader of HYDRA and a member of the Vermis family, a family with strong influence within HYDRA. Max was born in Germany and raised in America into a life of power and prestige. As a Vermis, Max was raised to become a loyal member of HYDRA, attended the finest schools and had everything he ever needed. He attended the HYDRA Preparatory Academy, where he would learn the ways and ideology of HYDRA, and prepare for his future role in the organization. At the HYDRA Academy, Max excelled as a student, with scores that rivaled his classmate Ruby Hale. Although they began as rivals, Max and Ruby became friends, and Max eventually developed feelings for her which he decided to keep to himself. During a military offensive against HYDRA that destroyed much of the organization, the Vermis family sent him away in order to protect him and ensure their legacy.

After most of HYDRA was destroyed, the young Vermis began to question HYDRA and its ancient traditions, believing that it if the organization was to survive it had to evolve. Max stayed in touch with Ruby while she prepared for Project Destroyer of Worlds, being one of the few people she maintained contact with in the outside world. After he heard of Ruby’s death, Max was overwhelmed with despair over his closest friend and the woman he loved dying. Max's despair then turned to rage, and from that point forward he dedicated himself to honoring her memory by finishing what HYDRA started. Max and the other surviving members of the Vermis family worked to rebuild HYDRA, however, they would remake HYDRA in their image, removing all that led to their fall. Max took on the identity of the Kraken, an alias previously used by Daniel Whitehall, and became one of the highest-ranking operatives of the newly reconstructed HYDRA.

Max would for years operate in the shadows, often concealing his true identity from allies and enemies alike. He served HYDRA’s interests of global domination as well as his own, being part of numerous terrorist-criminal operations around the world. SHIELD labeled him as a high-level threat and attempted to take him down several times, however, Max continuously eluded them, proving to be a worthy opponent. He oversaw and directed a number of research projects ranging from technological advancement to biological experimentation. One of these projects was Project Symbiote, an enhancement project that was shut down by SHIELD years before the organization fell, and afterwards the project was rebooted. One of the alien specimens escaped containment and bonded to Max, deeming him to be a compatible host. Maximilian Vermis and the Lasher Symbiote agreed to work together, formed an alliance, and became known as **Lasher**.

## Personality and Traits

Although he came from a wealthy family and led a comfortable life, Maximilian Vermis did not let his high status define him, wanting instead to earn his place rather than inherit it. He was humble and reserved, often displaying little emotion in the presence of others, but secretly, Max often felt a great deal of negative emotions. He did not particularly enjoy being around other people, and only had a handful of close friends, preferring to isolate himself. Secretly, Max was born autistic, a lifelong condition which he learned to manage and came to terms with having, a fact that was known to few. Despite his antisocial behavior, Max was a model student at the HYDRA Academy, as he exceeded in his studies and exercises, with only one student rivaling him, Ruby Hale. At first, Max saw Ruby as little more than another pretty face looking for glory, however, as he took the time to know her, Vermis found that he had a lot in common with Hale.

The rivalry between Maximilian Vermis and Ruby Hale eventually transitioned into a friendship, with Ruby becoming one of Max's closest friends. As they began to spend more time together, Max started to develop feelings for Ruby and wanted to be with her romantically, but felt that he couldn't be the kind of man she deserved, and so kept his feelings to himself. After being put into hiding to ensure the future of the Vermis family following a disastrous HYDRA defeat, Max began to question the ways of the organization, believing that the time had come to move past the ancient traditions of the organization and adapt in order to survive and evolve. Max was utterly devastated when he heard of Ruby's death, overwhelmed with despair over his closest friend and the woman he loved dying. Max's despair then turned to rage, and from that point forward he dedicated himself to honoring Ruby Hale’s memory by finishing what HYDRA started.

Despite his youth, Max has earned the respect, trust,

Though Max had numerous allies, he kept his circle of trust to a minimum, relying on only a handful for support, guidance, and wisdom. Max liked to keep an eye on and stay informed of potential assets that could be recruited through manipulation, desperation, and fear. Having dealt with autism his entire life, Max understood what it meant to suffer from a mental condition and used this to his advantage when recruiting mentally ill and depressed individuals to his cause, seeing their potential. Max was polite and respectful to his associates, but his calm demeanor and suave sophisticated mannerisms masked his ruthlessness. Max generally kept a cool temperament, though on occasion, he would lash out at people around him. Those who served Max faithfully and successfully were rewarded, but those who were prone to failure were severely punished, a system which he believed would encourage the failures to break bad habits.

Max believed that to defeat an enemy you had to understand them.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

**Lasher Symbiote**: Lasher’s powers all stem from the Lasher Symbiote which grafts itself into the nervous system of its host. Lasher has tremendous regenerative abilities, being able to restore and rebuild damaged body tissues and augmenting its host’s physical abilities to superhuman levels. It is also capable of limited shape shifting, producing claws, spikes, and tentacles as a means of locomotion and to subdue and attack prey, manifesting fanged jaws in order to devour its victims. Lasher formed long whip-like tendrils that acted as limbs so as to be more effective against opponents, ensnaring and lashing them. They had an apparent mucous membrane encompassing them. The Lasher Symbiote was tampered with using data collected from the Inhuman Hive, which gave it the ability to extend itself between its host and infect and enslave other people and animals, creating a symbiotic bond and turning them into controllable servants.

### Abilities

**HYDRA Training**: As a student of the HYDRA Academy, Max Vermis was trained in various fields necessary to serve as an agent. Max excelled in his studies and has shown to be highly intelligent and possesses a calculative mind, being amazingly smart and wise even as a young man. He is skilled in various scientific fields including chemistry, physics, and biology. He is a highly skilled tactician and a capable leader, able to formulate brilliant strategies. He is also an expert manipulator, orchestrating events to further his agenda. His gifted intelligence may be a result of his autism, which comes at the cost of a limited ability to interact socially. Max pushed himself throughout his training to achieve physical perfection, developing peak strength, endurance, speed, and stamina. Being a trained HYDRA operative, Max Vermis has become skilled in hand-to-hand combat, being able to defend himself and overpower multiple enemy assailants at once.

## Equipment

**Kraken Armor**: The Kraken Armor is a full suit of technologically advanced battle armor that enhances the user's speed, strength, agility, and durability to superhuman levels. It is equipped with the latest miniaturize versions of advanced weapons, a helmet and voice modifier that disguises the identity of its user. Project Kraken was a brainchild of Daniel Whitehall, who started the project to create a suit capable of enhancing its user. The design of the suit was modeled after ancient warrior armors, made to be both intimating and fearsome. The armor incorporates both human and alien technologies. Whitehall never finished work on the suit before he died, however, others would finish what he started. The armor was never intended for mass production because of the cost of creating it, so instead it was intended for high-ranking HYDRA members. There’s only one active Kraken Armor suit to date, and it is worn by Maximilian Vermis.

## Relationships

### Family

* Otto Vermis - Relative
* Mother
* Father

### Allies

* HYDRA
	+ Sinthea Schmidt - Leader
	+ Arnim Zola - Superior
	+ Ruby Hale - Friend and Love Interest
* Hand
	+ Tomi Shishido
* Tinkerer
* Typhoid Mary
* Bullseye

### Enemies

* SHIELD
	+ Leo Ftz
	+ Jemma Simmons
	+ Secret Warriors
		- Quake
		- Yo-Yo Rodriguez

## Behind the Scenes

Maximilian Vermis is an original character created by Maximus Supremo, who used elements of his own life to create the character. The first name Maximilian was inspired by the Star Wars character Maximilian Veers, a General of the Galactic Empire. The last name Vermis was inspired by the Marvel character Otto Vermis, a high-ranking member of HYDRA's Europe splinter group. The decision to make this character an incarnation of the Lasher character was made since the Lasher Symbiote failed to make an appearance in Venom with the other Life Foundation Symbiotes. The identity of Kraken was chosen for this character because it was never utilized to its full potential in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with Daniel Whitehall. Max is a fan of both Star Wars and Marvel, using elements from both to help create this character. Max believes that everyone has a counterpart in the Marvel franchise, and that if anyone was going to make his, it would be him.