Hive

## Character

"*Thousands of years ago, an Inhuman was born on this planet that was destined to rule it, so powerful, so fearsome that others were consumed with dread, and so they banished it from the Earth, sent it through the portal to a distant planet. HYDRA was founded with the sole purpose of engineering its return.*"
—Gideon Malick[src]

**Hive**, also known as **"It"**, is a character on Marvel's *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*. She first appears in the fifth episode of the third season of *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*. He is portrayed by starring member Brett Dalton and guest star Dillon Casey.

## Biography

### Banished

Thousands of years ago, It was an Inhuman that was transformed by Terrigenesis into a parasitic organism of incredible power that was capable of infesting the bodies of the dead and reanimating them into host bodies. Soon, other Inhumans grew so fearful of It that they banished It to another world through the use of a portal. It's followers, believing it to be destined to rule the world, soon organized a society with the purpose to bring their leader back to Earth. Over the centuries the society evolved into HYDRA.

The world upon which It was banished, Maveth, was once home to an extraterrestrial civilization, and was believed to have once been a beautiful paradise. However, a cataclysm that was theorized to have been caused by It destroyed the native species and reduced Maveth to a desolate wasteland.

### On Maveth

#### Maveth War

It was in Maveth at the time when a war was between the nine cities of the high-advanced civilization of Maveth. He saw how they fought each other and eventually destroyed their own race.

#### Centuries of Killing

For centuries, people were sent to the planet through the Monolith as ritualistic sacrifices, meeting their deaths at the hands of It and becoming vessels so that It could preserve itself within their bodies, sparing it from the decay of time. This was evidenced by the sword, music box and bag containing a bottle that Jemma Simmons found there in 2015, all of which were from bygone eras. Among these victims was Lord Manzini, who was sent when he grabbed the white stone in a lottery held by English lords and nobles in a castle in Gloucestershire, England in 1839. According to Lord Thornally, none who had entered through the Monolith by that point had ever returned.

#### Arrival of NASA

By 2001, the Monolith was in the possession of NASA who sent a crew consisting of astronauts Will Daniels, Austin, Brubaker and Taylor to the planet. Once It became aware of their presence, It caused Austin, Brubaker and Taylor to lose their sanity. Austin and Brubaker both committed suicide, while Taylor attempted to kill Daniels, who killed him in self-defense. Daniels noted that they all entered a certain area before they went insane, where he discovered a mass grave and dubbed it the "No-Fly Zone". For the next 14 years, he survived by avoiding and occasionally outsmarting It, along with just being lucky.

#### Encounter with Jemma Simmons

In 2015, S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist Jemma Simmons was accidentally transported to Maveth while studying the Monolith. She took shelter with Daniels and did not believe his tales about It, crediting the frequent sandstorms to the planet's desert environment. She spent over two months trying to find a way to send them back to Earth, after which she went to search for answers in the "No-Fly Zone" despite Daniels' warnings. She was caught in a sandstorm, in which she saw It, its host body concealed by a dark cloak, approaching her. She ran back to the hovel in which she and Daniels had been hiding, realizing that what Daniels had told her about It was true.

#### Unruly Captives

Simmons discovered that the stars were the key to discovering the location of a wormhole, and she came up with a plan to send a message to S.H.I.E.L.D. so that she and Daniels could be rescued. Once she had deduced the location of the wormhole and the time at which it would appear, they made a plan to place the message in a bottle and launch it through the wormhole with a grappling hook. However, It widened the canyon from 30 metres to 100 metres, making the task significantly more difficult. Daniels fired the bottle at the wormhole, missing it by a second.

With the help of Elliot Randolph, Simmons' S.H.I.E.L.D. comrades Leo Fitz, Phil Coulson, Daisy Johnson, Alphonso Mackenzie and Bobbi Morse managed to activate the Monolith. Fitz fired a flare through it, which was spotted by Simmons and Daniels. In an attempt to prevent them from escaping, It summoned a sandstorm, separating them. It then appeared before Simmons in the body of an astronaut, fooling her into thinking that NASA had come to rescue Daniels. She alerted Daniels, who warned her that it was a trick. He then told her to run while he used his last remaining bullet against It. Simmons was rescued by Fitz, and Daniels did not survive his encounter with It, and It took possession of his corpse. It tossed Daniels' gun aside as it witnessed the planet's first sunrise in 18 years.

#### Discovered by Ward's Team

Following the death and possession of Will Daniels' corpse, It took refuge in Daniels' hideout. A month after Daniels' death, It was found by a HYDRA team led by Grant Ward. Though Ward wanted to kill "Daniels", Leo Fitz convinced Ward to spare him by explaining that Daniels knew the terrain of the planet and was vital to their journey.

Walking ahead of the HYDRA team, "Daniels" learned from Fitz that Ward was part of the organization that wanted to bring the Inhuman back to Earth, and that they would both be kept alive in order to get to the extraction point. "Daniels" then took the group through the "No-Fly Zone". As they traveled, Ward asked "Daniels" about the ruins of a large HYDRA shrine the group saw in the distance when they first arrived on the planet, and "Daniels" said that It used to live there. Grant explained to "Daniels" that Earth had changed since he left, as the Inhumans had rapidly increased in numbers across the globe after a Terrigen Mist outbreak occured. The conversation was cut short when a sudden sandstorm occurred.

As the sandstorm raged on, the group was split up, hiding behind various large rock formations. It used this opportunity to stealthily kill two HYDRA agents, allowing It to flee with Fitz under the cover of the storm. By the time Ward and the remaining team stumbled upon the corpses of their colleagues, Fitz and "Daniels" were gone.

#### It is Revealed

Fitz and "Daniels" were making steady progress despite It's limp, coming closer and closer to the portal's location. Fitz stopped when he noticed the ruins of the ancient civilization in the distance, baffled that Simmons never mentioned it to him when she returned. It told Fitz that Simmons never saw the ruins because it was in the "No-Fly Zone". As they continued onward, Fitz asked "Daniels" what he knew about the ancient city, and It explained that the planet was home to nine cities occupied by advanced beings that "feared change" and destroyed their own race through war. Fitz tried to bandage up It's injured leg, but was shocked to find most of the flesh had rotted away to the bone. As realization set in, It explained to Fitz that it was not really Will Daniels, as It killed Daniels during Simmons's escape from the planet, and had possessed Daniels' corpse.

#### Battle with Leo Fitz

Leo Fitz lunged for his weapon but was attacked by It. Despite It's decaying leg, it was still able to match Fitz in a physical fight, overpowering him. Phil Coulson, who had followed HYDRA to Maveth, and the captive Ward arrived at their location just as It prepared to bring down a large rock on Fitz' head. Coulson shot It twice before it could kill Fitz, and It collapsed to the ground. Despite being shot multiple times, It got up and staggered towards the now open portal. Fitz grabbed his gun and shot It multiple times, and once again It buckled to the ground. Moments later, however, It started to lift itself up, noticeably slower but otherwise unaffected by the abundance of bullet wounds. Fitz grabbed a flare gun and shot a flare into It's back, engulfing It in flames, and It collapsed as Will Daniels' body burned away.

In the meantime, Coulson, who was attacked by Grant Ward, managed to overpower his adversary, as Fitz realized the portal was about to close. Coulson used his bionic hand to crush Ward's ribcage, killing him. He then removed his bionic hand, threw it down next to Ward's corpse, and made his way to the portal with Fitz. It emerged from the burnt skull of Will Daniels and possessed Ward's corpse.

### Return to Earth

Despite S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attempt to destroy the remaining HYDRA forces and the last fragments of the Monolith with an airstrike attack, It managed to travel through the portal in time and made it out of the HYDRA Castle. Now on Earth, It, in possession of the body of Grant Ward, found and intercepted Gideon Malick's car.

## Powers

It is an Inhuman that achieved its genetic potential after undergoing Terrigenesis, granting It incredible superhuman powers. The transformation was physical, arguably the most drastic physical change ever seen in an Inhuman as It transitioned from being a human to a parasitic, worm-like organism.

* **Body Possession**: Its Terrigenesis transformed it into a parasitic life form capable of infesting the bodies of the dead and using them as vessels for which it can perform basic actions. It possessed the corpse of an astronaut to try and fool Jemma Simmons, then possessed Daniels' corpse to try and trick Leo Fitz into letting it leave the planet. It can apparently also halt or slow the natural decomposition of a host body, given that it had been inhabiting Daniels' body for months. It also appears to have access to all of the hosts' memories and behavior, as it was able to successfully imitate Daniels during its earlier encounter with Fitz and relay information about Daniels' time with Simmons.
	+ **Longevity**: Its ability to inhabit the bodies of others has enabled it to survive for centuries.
* **Environmental Manipulation**: It had the ability to create sandstorms to confuse and isolate potential victims. It also widened a canyon to prevent Jemma Simmons and Will Daniels from reaching a wormhole, possibly by causing an earthquake.
* **Enhanced Senses**: It can smell blood from a long distance away.

## Appearances

* *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*
	+ *Season Three*
		- *4,722 Hours*
		- *Many Heads, One Tale* (mentioned)
		- *Closure* (mentioned)
		- *Maveth*

## References

1. ↑ *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.08: Many Heads, One Tale*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.05: 4,722 Hours*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.10: Maveth*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 3.02: Purpose in the Machine*