Hunger (Loxias Crown) is a fictional

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

appearing in the American comic books published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. The character first appeared in '' Spider-Man'' #76 (January 1997) and was created by

Howard Mackie Howard Mackie (born January 22, 1958) is an American comic book editor and writer. He has worked almost exclusively for Marvel Comics and is best known as the co-creator of the Danny Ketch version of the Ghost Rider character. Early life Mackie ...

. He is an enemy of Spider-Man,

Blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Histor ...

, and

Morbius, the Living Vampire Morbius the Living Vampire, real name Michael Alexander Morbius, M.D.,''Morbius the Living Vampire'' (vol. 1) #1. Marvel Comics. Ph.D., is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy ...

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series '' Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targaryen in the HBO series '' House of the Dr ...

portrayed a composite character partially inspired by Hunger named Milo whose real name is Lucien in the

Sony's Spider-Man Universe Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, the f ...

(SSU) film '' Morbius'' (2022).

Publication history

Created by

, the character first appeared in '' Spider-Man'' #76 (January 1997).

Fictional character biography

Loxias Crown was an agent of Hydra equipped with armor that manipulates

darkforce The Darkforce is a fictional concept appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Description Darkforce is a powerful, extra-dimensional energy that can be manipulated in slightly different ways by a handful of beings that are ...

. After killing the armor's creator, William Fields, Crown takes Empire State University's staff and students as hostages to locate Fields' notes on his armor's technology, but is defeated by Spider-Man and S.H.O.C. Crown next abducted

to perform experiments alongside Dr. Andrea Janson for

Don Fortunato Vincente Fortunato is fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. An elderly crime boss affiliated with the Maggia and HYDRA, he is usually depicted as an enemy of the superhero Spider-Man, and a competit ...

. Crown threatened Peter Parker until Todd Fields (now known as Neil Aiken) surrendered, teleporting the two youths to his secret base. But after Hammerhead killed his love and captured his three hostages, Crown took Hydra's airship to get revenge. He fought both Spider-Man and S.H.O.C. and prepared to overload the latter's armor to kill everyone, but Morbius attacked and drained him dry while disappearing in the process.''Spider-Man'' #80. Marvel Comics. Crown next lived in New York City's sewers as a "Living Vampire" known as Hunger, an enforcer of Senator Stuart Ward. He abducted innocent civilians and the

Morlocks Morlocks are a fictional species created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel,''The Time Machine'', and are the main antagonists. Since their creation by H. G. Wells, the Morlocks have appeared in many other works such as sequels, films, televis ...

' leader

Callisto Callisto most commonly refers to: *Callisto (mythology), a nymph *Callisto (moon), a moon of Jupiter Callisto may also refer to: Art and entertainment *''Callisto series'', a sequence of novels by Lin Carter *''Callisto'', a novel by Torsten Kro ...

to his lair beneath the streets. The ''

Daily Bugle The ''Daily Bugle'' (at one time ''The DB'') is a fictional New York City tabloid newspaper appearing as a plot element in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The ''Daily Bugle'' is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, mos ...

'' went to investigate but Hunger knocked Parker out and took Betty Brant hostage. Spider-Man teamed up with Marrow to free the prisoners, much to Hunger's annoyance.

Flash Thompson Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 196 ...

distracted Hunger, resulting in his defeat by Spider-Man and Marrow but escapes in energy form.''Peter Parker: Spider-Man'' (vol. 2) #4 (April 1999). Marvel Comics. Hunger later attacked a clandestine meeting between the Kingpin and the Maggia, and turned a number of gangsters into his own small army of living vampires.

and Spider-Man tracked Hunger down to an abandoned

Roxxon The Roxxon Energy Corporation (otherwise known as the Roxxon Oil Company, Roxxon Oil Corporation, Roxxon Corporation or simply Roxxon) is the name of a fictional massive Petroleum industry, petroleum industrial conglomerate in the Marvel Universe ...

plant, fighting the two superheroes until he fled after his horde's deaths.''Peter Parker: Spider-Man'' (vol. 2) #7 (July 1999). Marvel Comics.

Powers and abilities

Initially, Loxias Crown wore an armor similar to S.H.O.C. which gave him the ability to channel negative energy and fire energy blasts. As a "Living Vampire", Hunger does not possess all the powers of a supernatural vampire, nor is he subject to all the traditional limitations and weaknesses thereof. He possesses a variety of superhuman powers, some of which are similar to supernatural vampires within the Marvel Universe, such as superhuman strength, speed and durability, as well as heightened senses including night vision and echolocation. Due to his vampire-like condition, Hunger is forced to ingest fresh blood on a regular basis to sustain his life and vitality. He does not possess any of the mystical vulnerabilities that supernatural vampires are subject to, such as garlic,

holy water Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from ...

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

es, or

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

. He has a strong aversion to sunlight, thanks to his photo-sensitive skin which allows some protection from major sunburn, in contrast to "true" vampires that are incinerated by it, with the result that he can move in daylight, but his powers are diminished and he will stick to the shade if circumstances demand him to be active during the day.

Reception

* In 2022, ''

CBR.com ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

'' ranked Hunger 9th in their "10 Most Important Marvel Vampires" list.

In other media

Film

* A

composite character In a work of media adapted from a real or fictional narrative, a composite character is a character based on more than one individual from the story. Use in film *Several characters in the movie '' 21''. *The character Henry Hurt in the docudra ...

partly inspired by Hunger along with Emil Nikos and Vic Slaughter named Lucien, also known as Milo, appears in the live-action

film '' Morbius'' (2022), portrayed by

as an adult, and Joseph Esson as a child. Lucien, nicknamed "Milo", is Michael Morbius's surrogate brother and best friend, having met under the care of Dr. Emil Nicholas as both are suffering from a rare blood disease which prevented their bodies from properly being able to create blood. Milo's family wealth is key to Morbius's research for a cure, but causes "pseudo-vampirism", with Morbius seeking to resist the resulting bloodlust while Milo embraces it. After Milo kills Nicholas and fatally injures Dr.

Martine Bancroft Nakia Bahadir Nakia Bahadir is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is a Turkish girl and friend of Kamala Khan. Nakia Bahadir in other media Nakia Bahadir appears in ''Ms. Marvel'', portrayed ...

, Morbius restrains Milo with an army of vampire bats and kills him with a vampire-antibody.

References

External links

Loxias Crown
at Marvel Wiki
Hunger
at marvel.com {{Spider-Man characters Comics characters introduced in 1997 Characters created by Howard Mackie Fictional characters with superhuman senses Hydra (comics) agents Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds Marvel Comics characters with accelerated healing Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics mutates Marvel Comics vampires Marvel Comics supervillains Marvel Comics male supervillains Spider-Man characters Film supervillains