MacDonald Gargan (Earth 1)

## Information

### Base Of Operations

Alchemax Tower, Manhattan, New York City, New York; formerly Thunderbolts Mountain, Colorado; Avengers Tower, New York City, New York

### Affiliations

Savage Six; formerly partner of Mister Hyde and Delilah, Sinister Six, Masters of Evil, Thunderbolts, Dark Avengers, H.A.M.M.E.R., Alchemax, Black Cat's Gang, Inklings, Anti-Symbiote Task Force, Slayer Swarm, Roxxon Energy Corporation, Tarantula's Organization, Cartels, Ravencroft Institute

### Occupation

Advance agent for Alchemax, enforcer for Black Cat's gang; former adventurer, field agent for the U.S. government, professional criminal, assassin, mercenary, private detective

## Physical Description

### Unusual Features

Scars on his cheeks from Superior Spider-Man ripping his jaw off. When bonded with Venom and Maniac Symbiotes, the symbiotes granted him an elongated jaw, fangs, claws and a prehensile tongue which were really part of the alien costume

> You don't have to **ask,** Smythe. Killing the Spider's always been my idea of fun. But after what he did to me--to **us--we won't leave enough of him to bury.**
>
> **Scorpion**, Superior Spider-Man Vol 1 11

**MacDonald “Mac” Gargan**

### Early Life

Former private investigator Mac Gargan was hired by J. Jonah Jameson to find out how Peter Parker was able to get incredible pictures of Spider-Man. Gargan's efforts to locate Peter in order to find out the truth triggered Parker's spider sense, making him easily avoidable every time.

### Scorpion

 File:MacDonald Gargan (Earth 1) from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Vol 1 9 0001.jpg
Frustrated, Jameson decided to pay $10,000 to Gargan to be the subject of an experiment. The experiment, created by Dr. Farley Stillwell, a researcher in animal mutation, which endowed the subject with the characteristic of another animal. Unfortunately the process resulted in the loss of Gargan's sanity, and the creation of the super-powered criminal menace known as the Scorpion. Over the years Scorpion fought and was bested by Spider-Man many times. Most of these confrontations were the result of Spider-Man stopping an attempt on the life of Jameson, who Gargan hated even more than Spider-Man. Scorpion attacked Jameson on his wedding day, but failed thanks to Spider-Man.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

**Scorpion/Human Hybrid Physiology:** As the Scorpion, MacDonald Gargan possesses all the powers of a scorpion. When he acquired the Venom symbiote, he retained some of his scorpion-like powers, and was granted the additional powers of the Venom symbiote, granting him several abilities similar to Spider-Man. Due to the removal of the symbiote and destruction of his upgraded suit, Gargan now has been reduced to his original Scorpion power. His powers are:

* **Superhuman Strength:** Mac Gargan possesses extreme superhuman strength. He was originally able to lift 15 tons but after upgrades is currently able to lift approximately 20 tons, and as such, can easily overpower humans, lift extremely heavy objects, uproot trees and use them as weapons. On several occasions, he has proven capable of even overpowering Spider-Man himself.
* **Superhuman Speed:** Gargan can run and exercise at superhuman speeds. His overall body equilibrium is also heightened, although he isn't nearly as fast as speedsters. He's been shown to outrun vehicles.
* **Superhuman Stamina:** Gargan's musculature generates considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than an ordinary human's. He can exert himself at peak capacity for several hours before fatigue begins to impair him.
* **Superhuman Durability:** Gargan has superhuman durability. The Scorpion suit was capable of shielding Gargan from bullets from small-arms weapons firing conventional ammunition. He's also able to survive heavy impacts and blunt force trauma without sustaining injury.
* **Superhuman Agility:** Gargan's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of even the finest human athlete.
* **Superhuman Reflexes:** Gargan's reflexes are similarly enhanced and are superior to those of the finest human athlete.
* **Wallcrawling:** Though he typically punches holes in walls to use as hand-and-footholds, Gargan is capable of adhering to solid surfaces much like Spider-Man.

**Scorpion Symbiote:** When Maniac infected Gargan with a portion of his symbiote's biomass, the remaining traces of the Venom symbiote inside his body amalgamated with it and transformed him into a monstrous version of the Scorpion resembling his "Ven-orpion" form. Despite Gargan's pleas to be allowed to keep it, this new symbiote was destroyed by Agent Anti-Venom.

* **Superhuman Strength:**
* **Superhuman Stamina:**
* **Superhuman Durability:**
* **Regeneration:**
* **Hive-Mind Connection:**
* **Constituent-Matter Manipulation:**
	+ **Fangs:**
	+ **Claws:**
	+ **Mandibles:**
	+ **Symbiote-Generated Pincers:**
	+ **Symbiote-Generated Tail:**

**Scorpion Symbiotic Armor:**

### Abilities

* **Investigative Prowess:** Before he became the Scorpion or the third Venom, MacDonald Gargan was a detective with some investigative skills.
* **Formidable Opponent:** Gargan's powers make him a formidable combatant, even though he has had little formal training.

### Weaknesses

* **Genetic Defects:** Due to his genetic mutation being unstable, without his Scorpion suit or the Venom symbiote to stabilize it, Gargan would die.
* **Sonics and Heat:** Despite the great resistance to physical injury afforded him by the Venom symbiote, the symbiote itself is extremely vulnerable to heat and sonics and can be affected by attacks based on those two weaknesses. He no longer possesses this weakness due to the removal of the Venom symbiote.

### Former Powers

**Black Symbiotic Costume:** The Venom symbiote which grafted itself to the nervous system of Mac Gargan somehow absorbed the powers of Spider-Man during its brief symbiotic relationship with him, effectively transferring him Spider-Man's powers.

* **Superhuman Strength:** His strength enabled him to lift about 40 tons in his regular size. This was not his true limit as the symbiote's strength increases with his variable muscle mass. His strength allowed him to easily rip people to pieces with his bare hands.
* **Superhuman Stamina:** He was capable of exerting himself at peak capacity for about 24 hours.
* **Superhuman Durability:** When distributed at a typical thickness over Gargan's body, the symbiote was capable of absorbing bullets from small-arm weapons firing conventional ammunition. Gargan was also capable of surviving in harmful areas for long periods, such as underwater or in toxic gases, the symbiote filtering breathable air for him.
* **Regeneration:** Additionally, the symbiote is capable of healing injuries in the host at a faster rate than normal human healing allows. The symbiote is even capable of healing injuries and illness that current human medical care cannot such as cancer.
* **Wallcrawling:** The alien costume replicates Spider-Man’s ability to cling to walls by controlling the flux of inter-atomic attraction between molecular boundary layers. Gargan could originally climb walls as the Scorpion but achieved this by either punching handholds into the sides of walls or using his pincer-like fingers.
* **Organic Webbing Generation:** Gargan could shoot strands of the alien’s substance in the form of "webbing" at high pressure up to a distance of 70 feet. The alien’s substance seems to be composed of tough, flexible fibers of organic polymers, which regenerate swiftly after "shedding". The strands have extraordinary adhesive properties, which diminish rapidly once they abandon their living source. After about three hours, with no source to nourish them, the strands dry up like dead skin and dissolve into a powder. The strands possess a tensile strength of 125 pounds per square millimetre of cross section. Gargan was able to project this webbing through both his wrists (like the original Venom) and/or his symbiotic tail.
* **Genetic Memory:** The symbiote possesses some limited psychic ability, making it capable of obtaining information from its hosts and even other people and symbiotes simply by touch. It can, however, be forced to forget information if the symbiote is inflicted with heavy trauma.
* **Danger Sense:** Gargan was also granted an extrasensory ability similar to Spider-Man’s spider-sense. This response was not as complicated as Spider-Man’s inherent sense since the alien costume can detect danger from every direction and conduct Gargan in plenty of time. It's a lot more efficient than Spider-Man’s spider-sense because it takes less time to sense the danger, and Gargan's reflexes are faster than Spider-Man's, because they are enhanced by the alien costume for instance Venom can dodge a gunshot or a barrage of bullets.
* **Spider Sense Immunity:** Due to Spider-Man having been a host to the symbiote, Gargan was able to bypass Spider-Man's spider-sense. As such, he could attack Spider-Man without alerting him.
* **Constituent-Matter Manipulation:** Venom could use the living abyss comprising the symbiote in the form of constituent black matter or he could generate tentacle-like appendages from various parts of his body, which he often used either in combat situations or to restrain someone.
	+ **Fangs and Claws:** As Venom, Gargan manifested sharp claws on his fingers and occasionally toes, and a large mouth lined with sharp fangs - which he used not only for intimidation but to devour his foes.
	+ **Symbiote-Generated Tail:** The symbiote was able to replicate the Scorpion's tail. This new tail possessed all the powers of his original tail, as well as the ability to project organic webbing and deadly venom.
	+ **Stretching and deforming:**
* **Camouflage:** The symbiote is capable of mimicking the appearance of any form of clothing, camouflaging with its surroundings, and even mimicking other people.

**Cybernetic Enhancements:** As part of his plan to get revenge on J. Jonah Jameson for causing his father's death, Alistaire Smythe broke Gargan out of prison and cybernetically enhanced him. These cybernetic implants seem to have been removed from Gargan's body by the time Alchemax hired him.

* **Scorpion-Sense:** The cyborg upgrades of Smythe provided Gargan with his own version of Spider-Man's Spider-Sense, the "Scorpion-Sense". It kicked in whenever he was in any real danger, enabling him to evade potential threats to his well-being. Gargan seemingly lost this power when Spider-Man used a device he built to fry the animal-instinct senses of Smythe's Slayer-Swarm.

### Former Weaknesses

* **Missing Lower Jaw:** Otto Octavius (at the time impersonating Spider-Man) punched Mac so hard it broke his jaw clean off of his head, apparently killing him. Consequently, Mac could no longer speak properly or eat without a special apparatus. Mac eventually had his jaw reattached, leaving him with scars around his mouth that have since healed.

### Additional Attributes

* **Paralysis:** After having his spine damaged by Carnage, Gargan was left unable to feel or move his legs.

### Former Equipment

 **Mark I:** As the Scorpion, Mac Gargan wears a full-body battle suit, which has undergone several major revisions in his long criminal career. These were always courtesy of third-party suppliers - since Gargan himself possesses no aptitude for engineering. Dr. Farley Stillwell created his original suit, with funding provided by J. Jonah Jameson. Later versions were provided by Justin Hammer, and other large corporations and governments seeking to maximize the lethality of their hired assassin. The most recent design consisted of an inner woven Kevlar layer, covered with a thick layer of insulation/padding, and topped with a high-tech composite armor plating, making him impervious to small firearms.

* **Electro-Mechanical Tail:** The Scorpion's battle suit was originally equipped with a superhumanly powerful tail that he could whip at speeds up to over 90 miles per hour. The tail varied in length with each design - from an original 4' version, up to 20' in other implementations. His tail before gaining the Venom symbiote was approximately 10' in length. His tail was powered by a self-contained power pack mounted on the back of his battle suit. The tail was connected via a cybernetic link to the fine muscles of his spinal column when he dons his suit, enabling him to direct the tail by involuntary nerve impulses and activated by his mental commands. Internally, the tail possessed a blunt tip and consisted of a series of separated circular plates connected by a matrix of steel cables. Solenoids contract the cables and manipulate the tail, allowing it to whip at speeds of over 150 feet per second. The tail was also armored, and subsequent versions were tipped with a spike, making it deadly in combat. He had mastered the use of his tail to the point that he could use it as both a bludgeon, projectile launcher, or as a fifth limb (he had also upgraded its flexibility several times, making it much more efficient in combat). By coiling his tail behind him and using it as a spring, the Scorpion could propel himself over thirty feet into the air. Over the years, he had modified and enhanced it countless times, acquiring upgrades from the likes of Justin Hammer and the Tinkerer, who equipped it with a poisonous barb with venom installed or a form of hypnogen, electrical blasts (he could also channel electricity through it to shock anyone who tried to grab him by the tail or short-circuit electrical equipment), laser blasts, acid blasts, and mace gas. Gargan destroyed his upgraded suit when the Venom symbiote pretended to try to rebond to him, and subsequently returned to his original costume.
* **Pincers:** The Scorpion's gloves on his costume granted him miniature pincers on each hand that enabled him to literally rip through Spider-Man's webbing.

**Scorpion Armor: Mark II:** At some point, Gargan received an upgraded and heavily-armored blue-and-green Scorpion suit, with a harpoon-like stinger on its tail. By this point Gargan's mental state worsened to the extent he believed himself to be trapped in his suit, though this delusion was disproved by Spider-Man.

* **Electro-Mechanical Tail:**
* **Transparent Membrane:** When the Scorpion was employed by Justin Hammer, Mac Gargan's eye holes were covered by a transparent membrane rigged to dissolve Spider-Man's webbing, should Spider-Man try to blind him as he did in past battles. It is unclear if his later costumes retained this.

**Scorpion Armor: Mark III:** An upgraded green and gold suit of armor provided to Gargan by Roxxon when he was employed by them as a PMC, constructed using Latverian technology supplied by Lucia von Bardas. This suit was hijacked by von Bardas and taken from Gargan following his arrest.

* **Electro-Mechanical Tail:**

**Scorpion Armor: Mark IV:** An upgraded Scorpion suit built by the Green Goblin to mark Gargan's membership in the Sinister Twelve. While Gargan chose to bond to the Venom symbiote instead - outraging Osborn; Osborn later modified the armor to be worn over the Venom symbiote after it was badly injured by Anti-Venom. The suit was destroyed by the Venom symbiote to prevent Gargan from killing Eddie Brock.

* **Electro-Mechanical Tail:**

**Scorpion Armor: Mark V:** After being recruited by Alistaire Smythe, Gargan was provided with a suit of powered armor sporting pincers over its hands, which went through a number of iterations - such as sporting a full-face mask and visor. Gargan self-destructed the armor in a panic when the Venom symbiote pretended to rebond to him, and subsequently returned to his original costume.

* **Electro-Mechanical Tail:**
* **Scorpion Sense:** After Alistaire Smythe provided Gargan with a new Scorpion Suit, he also explained it was designed to tap into his new Scorpion Sense, which allows him to sense any danger similar to Spider-Man.
* **Pincers:** Gargan's upgraded armor covered his lower arms with powerful pincer-shaped gauntlets.
* **Anti-Symbiote Weaponry:** Upon being informed that Lee Price had the Venom symbiote, Gargan augmented his armor's pincers and tail with a flamethrower and sonic cannons - intending to either kill the symbiote or rebond to it.

**Scorpion Armor: Mark VI:** A sleek suit of upgraded Scorpion armor briefly worn by Gargan during his time employed by Alchemax. The suit presumably severely damaged or destroyed by a squadron of Spider-Slayer Mark XXIs, as Gargan subsequently returned to wearing his Mark V suit.

* **Electro-Mechanical Tail:**

**Virus Armor:** As Virus, Gargan jury-rigged a suit of War Machine Armor with a wide array of anti-symbiote weaponry. The suit was badly damaged during a fight with Venom, and was further destroyed by Codex in a fit of rage. The suit was repaired and reclaimed by Gargan, who tried to use it to kill Venom again, but it was destroyed by Mister Fantastic using a design flaw in the War Machine armor.

## Notes and Trivia

### Notes

* While part of H.A.M.M.E.R., Gargan was granted Security Clearance Level 5.
* Gargan was said by Caprice to have had very weak mental defenses.

### Trivia

* Gargan first appeared as himself in Template:Cl, as Scorpion in Template:Cl, as Venom in Template:Cl, and as Spider-Man in Template:Cl. Gargan resumed his Scorpion identity in Template:Cl.
* Peter Parker considered Scorpion his "best villain" since he's "never too bad" and always kept it professional.