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| Doppelganger | |
|---|---|
 Doppelganger, as featured in the artwork for the cover ofSpider-Man #24 (Jul, 1992). Art by Larry Alexander. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Infinity War #1 (July 1992) |
| Created by | Jim Starlin Ron Lim Al Milgrom |
| In-story information | |
| Place of origin | Dimension of Manifestations |
| Team affiliations | Carnage's Family Spider-Army/Web-Warriors |
| Partnerships | Magus Shriek Carnage Demogoblin Carrion |
| Notable aliases | Spider-Doppelganger |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, agility, stamina, reflexes and speed Ability to adhere to solid surfaces Ability to produce razor-sharp organic webbing Hardened talons |
TheDoppelganger, also called theSpider-Doppelganger, is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. It is a near-mindless duplicate ofSpider-Man with a vicious, animal-like mind who primarily acts as a servant to other villains rather than having a full will of its own. Along with Peter Parker's agility, speed, and power to cling to walls, the Spider-Doppelganger possesses greater strength, six arms, talons, and organic web-spinnerets on each forearm that fire "razor-sharp" webbing.
Doppelganger first appeared inThe Infinity War #1 in 1992 and was created byJim Starlin,Ron Lim, andAl Milgrom. The issue featured multiple superheroes being attacked by demonic doubles (referred to asdoppelgängers), mutated and sent by the series villainMagus. Spider-Man's battle is unseen, but it is shown that his personal double (which the hero later refers to as the "Spider-Doppelganger" or simply "the Doppelganger") winds up dead. The same month,Spider-Man #24 (1992) presented a full version of the battle and revealed that afterward, the villainDemogoblin revives Spider-Man's doppelgänger. While the Magus's other doubles are destroyed by the end ofThe Infinity War, Demogoblin's intervention apparently allows the Spider-Doppelganger to survive.
The Doppelganger acts as Demongoblin's follower inWeb of Spider-Man #94-96 (1992) and then later becomes a pet to the villainsShriek andCarnage in the 1993 storylineMaximum Carnage, where it apparently met its death. That story, along with the video game adaptationSpider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage, led to a large number of Spider-Man fans becoming familiar with the Spider-Doppelganger. Seventeen years after its apparent death, the character returned to the seriesCarnage in 2010. In that story and most appearances since the creature is still associated with Carnage and Shriek.
During the battle known as theInfinity War, theMagus (a manifestation of all the evil inherent inAdam Warlock) visited the other-dimensional entity Anthropomorpho, director of the Manifestation race. The Manifestations are inorganic "fractual" beings, not truly living in the traditional sense, that would be altered into avatars or "M-bodies" for powerful and cosmic entities. For the Magus, Anthropomorpho engineered several Manifestations to become monstrous "doppelgängers" of Earth's superheroes, creating a small army.[1] Some of these doppelgangers made advance strikes on Earth's heroes, attempting to defeat and then merge with them, taking over the hero's identity. One such Doppelganger is a bloodthirsty, near-mindless duplicate ofSpider-Man. The Spider-Doppelganger confronts the hero in a battle that ends up involving Demogoblin andHobgoblin. Intending to kill Spider-Man, Hobgoblin unintentionally seems to kill the Spider-Doppelganger instead. After Spider-Man leaves to find help and information, Demogoblin revives the hero's monstrous double with supernatural energy.[2] When the Magus is defeated, all his Manifestation troops are undone, except for Spider-Man's doppelgänger.[3]
Demogoblin recruits the surviving Doppelganger as his aid against Spider-Man and Hobgoblin, leading to the pair also encounteringGhost Rider,Blaze, the demonic Deathspawn, and Spider-Man's enemyVenom. Separating from Demogoblin, the bestial Doppelganger eventually encounters the mass murderers Carnage and Shriek, the latter of whom adopts the creature as a loyal pet. Joined by Demogoblin andCarrion, the group engages in a campaign of terror and murder. The creature comes to see Shriek as a mother and later defends her from attack by an enraged Carnage, who in turn delivers several fatal stab wounds to the Spider-Doppelganger before knocking it off a rooftop. The creature is seemingly killed on impact.[4]
Doppelganger turns up alive years later, now capable of some speech and with an altered appearance, its form apparently still malleable since it is of the Manifestation race. Attempting to free Shriek, it fails and is seemingly killed again, only to then wake up on an autopsy table. After Shriek is finally freed from being held by authorities and the mental hospitalRavencroft Institute, she and the Doppelganger wreak new havoc on New York. After a battle with the new symbioteScorn, the creature flees with Carnage.[5] Carnage then overtakes a Colorado town with the Doppelganger's aid, but the creature flees when the villain is captured.[6]
The Spider-Doppelganger is shown among the Spiders assembled to help combatMorlun and the otherInheritors in theSpider-Verse storyline.[7] The creature eventually reunites with Carnage and Shriek when they form a cult dedicated to worshipingKnull.[8]
The Doppelganger's abilities are very similar to Spider-Man's, including superhuman agility, stamina, reflexes, and speed. While Spider-Man's superhuman strength limit is around 10 tons, the Spider-Doppelganger's superior strength can press approximately 65 tons. The creature can also cling to walls and surfaces through will. Instead of relying on artificial web-shooters, it has organic spinnerets that shoot razor-sharp webbing from the palms of its hands. It has two extra sets of arms, each hand possessing hardened talons that can easily tear through human tissue.
The Spider-Doppelganger is savage and largely unintelligent, seemingly limited toanimal instinct, although it was capable of following basic instructions from its 'mother'Shriek. When it reappeared years later with a different body, it was capable of rudimentary speech. Its body is also somewhat malleable, although this attribute was not apparent during its earliest stories andMaximum Carnage. According to scientists who briefly studied him after one of his apparent deaths, Doppelganger is "inorganic and may not have been legally alive, to begin with." This, along with the supernatural energy Demogoblin infused it with, may account for the creature's repeated resurrections.
An illusionary version of Doppelganger appears inDeadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again.[10]
An alternate universe variant of Doppelganger fromEarth-1610, amalgamated withTarantula, appears inUltimate Spider-Man. This version is a six-armed clone ofSpider-Man created byDoctor Octopus. He attempts to help Spider-Man andSpider-Woman against his maker, but is killed as a result.[11]
A hallucinatory version of Doppelganger appears in theSpider-Man: The Animated Series episode "The Wedding".
Doppelganger makes non-speaking cameo appearances inSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as a member ofMiguel O'Hara's Spider-Society.[12]
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