Hydro-Man
Hydro-Man is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Morris Bench
He served as a crewman on the cargo ship U.S.S. Bulldog which one day was on a shipping assignment off the coast of New York City. They were set to transport a powerful experimental generator that was to be lowered into the ocean for testing. Despite the dangers, they crew were under contract to deliver the generator though Morris was playing poker with one of his ship mates. At the time, the line dropping the generator snapped leading to a power line becoming lose that was a danger to everyone. Spider-Man was on the scene an heaved aside some crates so he could reach the crane line that was about to snap. Unknown to him, Morris was having his poker game there and the crates came to accidentally knock him into the water. Whilst underwater, his body became bombarded with the energy reaction process of the generator combined with volcanic gases from the ocean floor creating an unknown kind of energy that suffused Morris's body. After recovering the generator, Spider-Man learnt that Bench had fallen into the water to rescue him and came to see him being dragged into the propeller. At first, it seemed that he died but he miraculously emerged from the other side unscathed with Spider-Man taking on-board the ship. After recovering, he decided to go ashore where he came to find that no matter what he did he could not get dry. This came to annoy him an he decided to go to a pub where he continue extruding a water substance until he turned into a puddle. Morris came to pull himself together thus learning that he had been altered after the incident where he could turn his entire body into a watery substance. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #212)
A few weeks later, Hydro-Man reintegrated his form in a water tower on a Manhattan rooftop where apparently the majority of his body particles had fallen as rain. Returning to his favorite pub, he was chagrined to find William Baker, alias the Sandman, romancing his sometime-girlfriend Sadie Frickett. The two criminals soon began fighting over her until Spider-Man came along to try to stop them. Turning their attentions to him, the two joined forces against their mutual foe. Spider-Man, however, tricked the two into running into each other, each in his altered particulate state. Collapsing into the harbor, the two soon emerged from the brine as a composite sand-water creature containing both of their substances but neither of their full intelligence. Dimly recalling their desire for Sadie Frickett, the mud-being sought her out at her apartment. After getting over her initial shock, Frickett decided to exploit the creature's devotion to her and through a theatrical agent, arranged for a special exhibition of the mud-thing. The creature inevitably went berserk but was stopped when a special gas sprayed from police helicopters dehydrated it and caused it to crumble. The soggy sand was scooped up by the authorities and taken to a police laboratory where researchers tried to restore the men to life by various stimuli, including chemicals and radiation. Believing the task was hopeless, the police dumped the canister containing them. A short time later, Hydro-Man and Sandman managed to integrate themselves into their separate rightful forms. Wanting no more of each other's company after their humiliating ordeal, the two went their separate ways, with Hydro-Man heading out of town. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #217)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Hydro-Man was a male human of Caucasian descent with a rugged, square-jawed complexion and distinctive, thick blonde hair that was styled in a short, wavy cut. He possessed a tall, heavily muscled build with broad shoulders, giving him the formidable physical presence of a professional seaman. His unique biology allowed his entire form to transform into liquid water, though he consistently maintained a solid, humanoid shape while in combat. He did not wear a traditional super-villain costume, instead appearing in his functional maritime attire consisting of a dark, short-sleeved t-shirt and simple trousers that appeared to be made of a durable, dark fabric. This practical clothing shifted seamlessly with his watery state, allowing him to burst into a high-pressure spray or reform into a solid human without losing his signature look. In this state, he appeared as a shimmering, translucent figure when utilizing his elemental powers, yet he retained the distinctive silhouette of a powerful, seasoned brawler. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #212)
In his temperament, Hydro-Man was a man driven by a seething, irrational vengefulness and a desperate need to find a scapegoat for his own misfortune. He possessed a volatile and impulsive nature, quickly abandoning any semblance of his former life as a crewman to embrace a path of petty, destructive spite. Following his transformation, he displayed a narrow-minded obsession with Spider-Man, blaming the hero entirely for the accident that had altered his biology, despite the circumstances being largely beyond anyone's direct control. He was not a sophisticated criminal but rather a bitter and reactive brawler who used his immense power to lash out at his environment in fits of watery rage. This personality was defined by a crude arrogance, as he reveled in his new ability to slip through the fingers of the law, treating his invulnerability as a license to bully and intimidate others. He moved with the aggressive entitlement of a man who believed the world owed him a debt for his accident, turning his frustration into a series of humid, high-pressure assaults on anyone who crossed his path. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #212)
Bench had said that when he found something he did not like then he did something about it. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #212)
Powers and abilities
Originally, Morris Bench was an ordinary human being with no special abilities. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #212)
As a result of the accident, his body became infused with an energy reaction process from an experimental generator that combined with volcanic gases from the ocean floor. These resulted in an unknown form of radiation that altered Bench's cellular structure where he gained the power to convert his body into a watery substance and back. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #212)
Within his watery mass, there was a prime molecule or soul molecule that contained Hydro-Man's consciousness. If this single drop was captured then his entire body was neutralised and Morris was effectively neutralised. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #700)
Notes
- Hydro-Man was created by Dennis O'Neil and John Romita, Jr. where he made his first appearance in the Amazing Spider-Man v1 #212 (January, 1981).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Hydro-Man appeared in multiple episodes in the 1990s animated television series starting in the episode "Hydro-Man" where he was voiced by actor Rob Paulsen.
Video games
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Hydro-Man was a character that received a Dossier in the Facebook video game.
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man v1: (1981)
- Carnage Forever v1: (2022)
External Links
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