Ruby Thursday
Ruby Thursday is a female comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Thursday Rubinstein was a female human scientist who became a doctor who developed an organic computer in place of her head. Society shunned her for her decision. She developed the goal to replace all humans' heads with such a computer. When others tried to destroy her work, Ruby equipped her head with a series of defensive tactics. (Defenders v1 #33) Ruby Thursday was recruited by Arthur Nagan, whose head had been grafted on a gorilla's body, to join the Headmen, and was introduced to Jerrold Morgan, whose facial bones had been shrunken. She showed off her powers, making a mimic of Morgan's face and growing tentacles, frightening Morgan. (Defenders v1 #32) The Headmen equipped Valkyrie, Hulk, and Strange with brainwashing equipment to bring the heroes around to their way of thinking. Ruby was formally introduced to 'Chondu' and turned her face into big lips to kiss him. The Headmen conducted a meeting and 'Chondu' staged an argument that delayed the Headmen's plans. The Headmen took time to restate their goals. The Defenders awoke and attacked, resulting in a battle that destroyed their home. Ruby held her own, strangling Strange, disarming the Valkyrie, and later firing a blast of putty from her brain that trapped the heroes while the Headmen fled. (Defenders v1 #33) As a result of the brainwashing, the Defenders began doing strange acts without realizing it. The Hulk attacked people more often, the Valkyrie lost control of her emotions, and Dr. Strange struggled with the inner peace he needed to use magical forces. (Defenders Annual v1 #1) Nagan, Morgan, and Thursday prepared a new body for Chondu at their back-up headquarters. Nebulon appeared in their midst with a deer who proved it contained Chondu's mind, and Nagan realized his mistake before in assuming Nighthawk was Chondu. Nebulon departed in a fury. They transplanted Chondu's brain, now a computer like Thursday's, into the new composite body. Chondu reacted violently and Thursday stalled him, explaining the benefits to his new form. (Defenders v1 #35)
Posing as Dr. Ruhart Gnaan, Nagan set up a Parisian advertising company called the Compagnie de Lux, and became involved in all aspects of society that he could, including agriculture, oil, computers, steel, food processing, population control, and automobile production. The Headmen attempted to buy out the Celestial Mind Control Movement in Paris, but only made enemies of the Movement instead. In California, posing as a political party head under the slogan 'New Heads for Old', Ruby Thursday began to find success and support from primarily women supporters. She took a $100,000 donation from Jack Norris, who wanted to meet her and was shown in by her aid, Melissa. Ruby recognized Norris and pushed aside his attempt to flirt, having him knocked unconscious and kept in a closet while she entertained other guests. Jack escaped and forced her to expose her true nature as a villain. She resisted his attempt to gas her and threw him through a window. The Headmen gathered, having shrunk the Defenders, Nebulon, the United States president, and others and gathered them in a sphere for study. Just as they thought they were successful, the Hulk attacked. Ruby launched her head at Hulk, hitting him with stingers and explosive charges, then closed over his fist and released anti-gamma energy into Hulk's body. Hulk unintentionally freed the shrunk captives, who were restored to their true size by Dr. Strange. The Headmen were finally defeated, Thursday by having a steel girder wrapped around her head. The Headmen were arrested and the Defenders planned to undo all their machinations over time. (Defenders Annual v1 #1) After Ruby's disappearance, the media had a frenzy wondering what had happened to her. (Defenders v1 #51)
A few years later, Ruby and a new servant of her own creation, Dibbuk, were committing petty crimes in Las Vegas. Ruby noticed the gambling successes of Omega the Unknown and Gramps and targeted them for robbery. Masquerading as a normal-looking woman as part of a pretext to momentarily win their confidence, she incapacitated them and escaped with their winnings. Omega recovered quickly and caught up to her, causing her escape vehicle to crash. The two emerged from the crash relatively unscathed, whereupon Omega pressed Ruby for the whereabouts of his winnings. Las Vegas police officers arrived on the scene almost immediately, assumed that Omega was in the midst of criminally assaulting Ruby, and instructed him to cease, desist and surrender; Omega disobeyed, and they shot him dead. (Omega the Unknown v1 #10) Ruby Thursday and her companion Dibbuk infiltrated a morgue in Las Vegas to steal the body of Omega the Unknown, believing his corpse contained organic cybernetics she could incorporate into her own head. After successfully taking the body to her headquarters, it transformed into James-Michael Starling, whom Ruby then attempted to dissect before being interrupted by an alien robot, leading to a confrontation that involved the Defenders. (Defenders v1 #76) Ruby Thursday escalated her confrontation with the heroes while attempting to maintain control over James-Michael Starling. During a battle, she used her malleable organic-computer head as a weapon, reshaping it into blunt objects and projectiles, and callously manipulated her ally, the Dibbuk, as a tactical distraction. Her arrogance led to her downfall when she was caught off guard by the Wasp, whose bio-electric sting caused Ruby's red plastic skull to explode, leaving her headless and incapacitated. (Defenders v1 #77)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Ruby Thursday was a female human of Caucasian descent, distinguished primarily by her physical modification; while her body remained that of a slender, athletic woman typically dressed in a red unitard, she lacked a traditional biological head. She replaced her head with an organic-computer sphere composed of malleable, red plastic circuitry. This featureless crimson orb served as a versatile weapon and sensory organ, capable of sprouting multiple tentacles, morphing into various geometric shapes, or projecting a human-like face to mimic her original appearance. (Defenders v1 #32)
Powers and abilities
Ruby Thursday's head had been replaced with a mass of 'organic circuitry'. The red spherical mass has the ability to alter its shape so she can form appendages or weapons, replenish herself, and project different bursts of energy. If the sphere is separated from her body, she can still control it, no matter how far. Ruby is also a scientific genius, with knowledge in engineering and robotics
Notes
- Ruby Thursday was created by Steve Gerber, Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney where she made her first appearance in Defenders v1 #32 (February, 1976).
- She was named after the Rolling Stones song, "Ruby Tuesday".
Appearances
- Defenders v1: (1976)
- Omega the Unknown v1:
- Wolverine: Origins v1:
External Links
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