Crawling Unknown

*"**Twenty years** in Congress! Twenty years of fighting and manoeuvring to attain the **power** I wield. And **nothing's** going to take it from me **now!**"*
―Morton Clegstead
**Morton Clegstead** is a former United States Senator who, in attempt to cure his cancer, injected himself with the Hulk's blood, causing him to transform into an amorphous mass of cells later known as the **Crawling Unknown**.

## Biography

### Early Life

*"Gentlemen, a **monster** stalks our land, menaces our cities - The **Hulk!** What thinking American would **not** approve of the **perfect operation** to capture him, to detain him."*
―Morton Clegstead to the United States Congress
The Crawling Unknown began as Morton Clegstead, a distinguished veteran US senator, largely responsible for procuring the funding for the Strategic Operations Command Center, or SOCC, a special United States Army anti-Hulk Task Force under the command of then-Lieutenant general Thaddeus Ross, formed to hunt down Bruce Banner and his monstrous alter-ego across the globe.

### Terminal Diagnosis

*"The theory **no one** would listen to except **me**, eh, Sterns?"*
―Morton Clegstead to Samuel Sterns
After contracting terminal cancer, Clegstead contacted Doctor Samuel Sterns, who theorised that the gamma irradiated blood of the Hulk could cure Clegstead's disease. Clegstead kept in contact with Sterns and provided him with any additional funding he required for his experiments.

### Acquiring the Hulk's Blood

*"What do I care for **precautions** while there is even a **chance?** Let the **Hulk's** blood mingle with **mine**... **Now!**"*
―Morton Clegstead to Alvin Lathrop
Following Sterns imprisonment after the Harlem Incident, Clegstead, with his condition worsening, managed to procure a sample of the Hulk's blood that had been confiscated from Sterns lab by S.H.I.E.L.D. After being injected with the blood sample by his personal physician, Dr. Alvin Lathrop, Clegstead briefly felt better, then mutated uncontrollably. His body lost its shape, becoming an amorphous mass of cancer cells, consuming all it came into contact with, growing larger and larger as it did before encountering the Hulk.

### When Monsters Meet

*"**Unghhh!** Its touch **burns** Hulk! **Eats** at him like an **acid!**"*
―Hulk
The Hulk proved unable to harm the formless creature, whose corrosive touch threatened to consume even him. Incapable of stopping the Crawling Unknown with strength, the frustrated Hulk stabbed it with a flagpole, which subsequently attracted a lightning bolt, incinerating the creature. However, a small piece of the Crawling Unknown survived, washed into a drainage ditch, and eventually fell into the possession of the recently liberated Sterns.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

*"The radioactivity from the Hulk's **blood -** it isn't reacting on those **malignant cells** as **expected!** They're not being **destroyed -** they've been **mutated!**"*
―Dr. Alvin Lathrop to Morton Clegstead
**Artificially Enhanced Physiology:** Morton Clegstead was injected with a synthetic version of Banner's gamma-irradiated blood, mutating his malignant cancer cells and transforming him into a massive amorphous creature.

* **Amorphous Physiology:** The Crawling Unknown is composed of an amorphous mass of cells, and cannot be harmed by conventional attack. It moves via pseudopodia, or false limbs that it forms to pull itself along.
* **Superhuman Strength:** The Crawling Unknown can also form pseudopodia to grasp other objects or beings, and even the Hulk could not escape its grip.
* **Corrosive Touch:** The Crawling Unknown secrets a corrosive liquid, which enables it to dissolve and then absorb and digest any form of organic matter with which it comes into contact.
* **Organic Matter Absorption:** The Crawling Unknown can rapidly grow in size and power by consuming large amounts of plant or animal tissue.

## Facilities

* **Clegstead Residence**: Clegstead lived in a expensive residence up until his transformation. As his condition deteriorated he had the basement renovated into a treatment room with an adjoining bedroom for his live-in physician, Dr. Alvin Lathrop.

## Relationships

### Allies

* United States Congress - Former Colleagues
	+ Andrew Hawk - Former Political Ally
* Strategic Operations Command Center - Former Associates
	+ Thaddeus Ross - Former Associate
* Samuel Sterns/The Leader
* Alvin Lathrop †

### Enemies

* Bruce Banner/Hulk
* Roger Dutton - Former Political Opponent

## Gallery

Clegstead (far left) alongside other members of Congress before his transformation.
## External Links

* http://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Morton\_Clegstead\_(Earth-616)