| Count Nefaria | |
|---|---|
 Count Nefaria fighting theAvengers on the cover ofAvengers #166 (December 1977). Art byGeorge Pérez andErnie Chan. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Avengers #13 (February 1965)[1][2] |
| Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Don Heck (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Luchino Nefaria |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Team affiliations | Legion of the Unliving Lethal Legion Death Squad Ani-Men Maggia |
| Notable aliases | Dream Master Dream Maker |
| Abilities |
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Count Luchino Nefaria is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Created byStan Lee andDon Heck, the character first appeared inThe Avengers #13 (February 1965).[3] Count Nefaria is asocialite andcrime boss who operates an internationalcrime syndicate known as theMaggia.[4]
Count Nefaria debuted inThe Avengers #13 (February 1965), created byStan Lee andDon Heck.[5] He appeared in the 2011Moon Knight series.[6][7] He appeared in the 2018Marvel Action Avengers series.[8][9] He appeared in the 2023New Mutants Lethal Legion series.[10][11][12]
Luchino Nefaria is a wealthy Italianaristocrat and traditionalist that also desires greater wealth and power, driving him to join theMaggia criminal organization.[13] The recently formedAvengers superhero team, however, thwart many of his plans and force a direct conflict, so Nefaria lures the Avengers to his castle on the pretense of a charity event, and places the group in suspended animation, using images which threaten to take control of America. After he releases them, the Avengers become suspicious of him after hearing they are wanted and they cannot remember what happened at the castle. They go to the castle, however nearly all of them are paralyzed by Nefaria's gas. Meanwhile, theTeen Brigade were captured by Nefaria, and when they tried to contact the Avengers were thrown in a dungeon which would place them into suspended animation if they touched the walls.Captain America gets into the castle without touching the ground, other Avengers, or walls, and freed the Teen Brigade, who gave the antidote to the Avengers. Captain America was also paralyzed, and with his hands and feet attached to ropes he was suspended between floor and ceiling, where Nefaria mocked him, saying he would be a hero for capturing him. However, Iron Man then burst through the wall. Neferia was defeated and deported after an officer heard him confess to being in the Maggia.[14] In retaliation, Nefaria then unsuccessfully attempts to destroyIron Man,[15] and then suffers yet another defeat when stopped by themutantX-Men team.[16]
Nefaria reappears several years later and attempts to take control of the United States baseNORAD, but is stopped by the X-Men once again. Nefaria attempts to escape in a plane which is attacked by the X-ManThunderbird. The plane then explodes, killing Thunderbird and injuring Nefaria.[17]
Now virtually destitute and discredited, Nefaria hires the supervillainsLiving Laser,Power Man andWhirlwind to form the secondLethal Legion. The group rob several banks, and unwittingly finance an experiment Nefaria has created in a bid to become superhuman. Employing the former scientific adviser toHeinrich Zemo, Nefaria devises a means of temporarily amplifying the abilities of the Lethal Legion, and then sends them into combat against the Avengers. The effect, however, is temporary and once defeated their combined abilities are drained by Nefaria who possesses them magnified a hundredfold. After a long and protracted battle, Nefaria is finally defeated.[18]
Nefaria is then kept in isolation and under observation by the Avengers, and it is discovered that the process to empower him makes Nefaria immortal but vulnerable as his body reconfigures itself. Whitney Frost, also known asMadame Masque and the daughter of Nefaria, attempts to find a cure for what is believed to be his deteriorating condition. She hires theAni-Men to attackAvengers Mansion and free her father. While battling Iron Man, Nefaria's life-support system is severed and his weakened form is crushed by a stored Jupiter Landing Vehicle.[19] Nefaria briefly reappears some time later as a corpse reanimated by theGrim Reaper. Grim Reaper directs Nefaria to attack the Avengers, but loses control soon afterwards and Nefaria dies once again.[20]
Nefaria eventually reappears, but in anionic humanoid form, and constantly requires ionic energy to sustain his existence. He battles Iron Man[21] and later Captain America andKa-Zar in theSavage Land as he attempts to find sources of energy.[22] Nefaria then plans to detonate an ionic bomb, which will transform millions of people into an ionic state which he can then control, perceiving it as the best way to guarantee that he receives the respect that he feels he deserves. Nefaria gains control of the ionic heroesWonder Man andAtlas who he intends to use to kill the Avengers, but he is stopped by the combined efforts of the Avengers, fellow superhero team theThunderbolts and Madame Masque, Masque using a weapon she had developed to disrupt Nefaria's own ionic energy.[23] He is next seen as an inmate of The Raft, a prison for supervillains, and escapes whenElectro stages a mass breakout.[24]
Following the "Siege" storyline, Madame Masque sought out her father to help theHood afterLoki took back theNorn Stones. The New Avengers capture John King (Hood's cousin) and use him to track the Hood and Madame Masque. After a battle with Count Nefaria, they capture the villains and bring all four of them to Maria Hill to place them under arrest.[25]
Nefaria returns inMoon Knight, having established himself as the new Kingpin ofLos Angeles.[26] He killsEcho in battle,[27] and is later apprehended by the Avengers.[28] Also in L.A.,Daken attempts to kill him but fails.[29] Later back in New York, he is summoned byNightmare to destroySquirrel Girl in dreams, but is bested at finger-counting, and leaves.[30]
During the "Secret Empire" storyline, Count Nefaria appears as a member of the Army of Evil and took part in the attack on Manhattan in retaliation for what happened at Pleasant Hill during "Avengers: Standoff!".[31]
During the "Spider-Geddon" storyline, Count Nefaria is engagingSuperior Octopus, who counters his ionic abilities by having his tentacles charged with energy that disrupts ionic fields. Nefaria breaks free from the tentacles as Superior Octopus plans to spy on him and threaten his family.[32]
In the "Sins Rising" arc, Nefaria forms a new incarnation of the Lethal Legion withGrey Gargoyle, Living Laser, and Whirlwind in a plot to target the Catalyst.[33][34][35][36]
During the "Gang War" storyline, Count Nefaria arrives at the location whereHammerhead and his men are having a meeting. Having found out what happened to Madame Masque, Nefaria states to Hammerhead that he will take the blame for what happened. He also tells Hammerhead that the crime lords will bow to the Maggia once again.[37] At the Seat of Power, Nefaria meets withSilvermane where they talk about the upcoming gang war. In a surprising turn of events, a mysterious person takes control of Silvermane and attacks Nefaria.[38] When Hammerhead's men arrive and confront Madame Masque, they find a defeated Nefaria and Silvermane's head inShotgun's arms as he throws them to the ground.[39] After getting a status report of the gang wars from Shotgun, Madame Masque tells her father that she has a use for him.[40] In the face-off in Central Park between the Maggia and Beetle, theSinister Syndicate,Digger, and the gang members recruited by Beetle, Nefaria is seen under the same mind-control spell that Madame Masque placed on Shotgun and Silvermane.[41] As the fight in Central Park begins, Nefaria and Silvermane are tackled by Digger. Spider-Man and his allies appear and stop Nefaria.[42][43]
Count Nefaria has a genius-level intellect. He is a versed scientist, inventor, theoretical physicist, adept strategist and organizational leader with deep ties to the underworld through his own crime family, theMaggia. During his first appearance he easily turned the American public and the world over against the Avengers in their first meeting.[14] It was not until being subjected to a process perfected by one of Baron Heinrich Zemo's scientists, Dr. Kenneth Sturdy, that he was granted the combined powers of the villains theLiving Laser,Power Man, andWhirlwind, amplified a hundredfold.[44] Count Nefaria gained superhuman attributes in consequence. He has toppled a 40-story building with little effort, withstood a blow from Wonder Man without flinching, and fought an enragedThor to a standstill with no apparent damage from strikes of hishammer, even stopping it with his bare hand.[45]
Count Nefaria aged until his body evolved, eventually shifting into pure ionic form. This granted him new abilities,[46] such as the creation and manipulation of ionic energy for teleportation,[47][48] hand and eye blasts,[49] ionic force punches,[50] or controlling other ionic beings via siphoning their energy.[51][52] Through this he can also convert others into ionic energy beings as well, in a vampiric fashion, turning them into his superpowered thralls.[53][54] As such, Nefaria is effectively immortal and virtually indestructible. He also has the power of flight, when before he could only leap great distances.[55] He's also showcased a new power, creating energy constructs to surround his opponents in ionic energy and move them about telekinetically.[56][57] He has withstood simultaneous attacks by multiple teams of superheroes at once.[58] Although it is possible to deplete Nefaria's ionic energy in combat by forcing him to expend it faster than his body can replenish it, it would take several weeks to do so.[59]
As a head of the Maggia, Count Nefaria also has access to vast amounts of technology, munitions, and gadgetry developed by his Research and Development department.[15] Much of this, he had a hand in crafting, such as the Electro-disc, Time Transcender Ray, Visio-Projector, Worldwide Electro-scanner, The Dream Master, and the Ionic Bomb.[14][15][60] Being of Italian nobility, Nefaria has also inherited a vast fortune, which he has used in conjunction with his intellect for the purpose of furthering his revenue and power. To that end he would use it for the hiring of super villains, scientists and expendable workforce in his organization branch for the creation of inventions that were far in the advances of modern science, give himself super powers or broaden the reach of his connections to both the unlawful and political circuit of the world. Being an aristocrat of considerable stature and influence, Nefaria also has claims to diplomatic immunity and as such he cannot be tried outside of his own home country.[61]
Chase Magnett ofComicBook.com included Count Nefaria in their "10 Iron Man Villains Who Should Return in Dan Slott's Run" list, calling him a "great pick for a new arch nemesis inTony Stark: Iron Man."[62]Comic Book Resources ranked Count Nefaria 4th in their "10 Most Powerful Crime Bosses In Marvel Comics" list,[63] 5th in their "10 Coolest Avengers Villains" list,[64] and 8th in their "Wonder Man's 10 Greatest Enemies" list.[65] Nathan P. Gibson ofLooper ranked Count Nefaria 14th in their "Every Moon Knight Villain Ranked From Worst To Best" list.[66]
An alternate universe variant of Count Nefaria from Earth-58163 appears inHouse of M.[67]
Count Nefaria appears inJLA/Avengers #4 as a brainwashed minion ofKrona.[68]
An alternate universe variant of Count Nefaria from Earth-807128 appears inOld Man Logan.[69]
An alternate universe variant of Count Nefaria from Earth-105709 appears in theWhat If? story "What If the X-Men Died on their First Mission?".[70]
Count Nefaria makes a non-speaking cameo appearance inAvengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher.[73]
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