The Man-Bull is a

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s 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 made its live-action debut in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

television series '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law'', played by Nate Hurd.

Publication history

The Man-Bull first appeared in '' Daredevil'' #78 (July

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

), created by writer

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" ("Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, screenwriter, t ...

and artist

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the Social Security Death Index via ...

. The character subsequently appeared in ''Daredevil'' #95-96 (January–February 1973), ''Claws of the Cat'' #4 (June 1973), ''

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...

'' #72 (January 1975), ''Daredevil'' #129 (January 1976), and ''Daredevil'' #144 (April 1977). The character did not appear again for some time, until ''The Incredible Hulk'' #341 (March 1988), and he then appeared in ''Marvel Year-in-Review '92'', ''The Amazing Spider-Man: Chaos in Calgary'' #4 (February 1993), ''Captain America'' #413 (March 1993), and ''New Warriors'' #36 (June 1993). He disappeared again for a time, before appearing in ''She-Hulk'' #10 (February 2005), ''Gravity'' #1 (August 2005), ''Wolverine'' #30 (September 2005), ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' #12 (January 2006), ''Underworld'' #3 (June 2006), and ''Punisher War Journal'' #13-15 (January–March 2008). The Man-Bull received an entry in the original ''

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe The ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' is an encyclopedic guide which details the fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications. The original 15-volume series was published in comic book format in 1982, followed by sporadic u ...

'' #6, and in the ''All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update'' #1 (2007).

Fictional character biography

William "Bill" Taurens was born in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

. He was hired by Mister Kline to round up people to test an experimental serum (taken from

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

s) made out of mutated

enzymes Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...

by his agent the Professor. Although assisted by Itch and Freak Face, his attempts were thwarted by Daredevil. As a result, he ended up being a guinea pig for the serum which turned him into a

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...

bull. Becoming the Man-Bull, he fought Daredevil, who defeated the Man-Bull by throwing him into a wall. Man-Bull reverted to Taurens and was arrested by the police. When Itch snuck in the Man-Bull serum into Taurens' prison cell which permanently transformed him, Man-Bull attempted to take his revenge on Daredevil and the two have clashed on several occasions. He also clashed with the

Cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

in a bar fight. Man-Bull was later recruited by the

Melter The Melter is the name of three fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Melter, Bruno Horgan, first appeared in Tales of Suspense #47 (Nov. 1963). Publication history The character debuted ...

and

Whiplash Whiplash may refer to: * The long flexible part of a whip * Whiplash (medicine), a neck injury ** Whiplash Injury Protection System (WHIPS), in automobiles Film and television * ''Whiplash'' (1948 film), a US film noir about a boxer * ''Whiplas ...

to join the

Black Lama Iron Man has a large range of villains. They each have specific abilities which they use against Tony Stark. While these enemies include major independent operators such as Mandarin and Doctor Doom, many of the more minor foes, especially those ...

Death Squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings or forced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in which they are ...

, where they ran afoul of

at a comic book convention. Man-Bull eventually began to turn savage: he lost the power of speech, grew fur, sprouted a tail, and grew more inhuman. In this state, he was encountered by the Grey Hulk. As Man-Bull continued to deteriorate, he was recruited by Wizard to join his

Frightful Four The Frightful Four are a group of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They serve as the antithesis to the Fantastic Four. Publication history The Frightful Four first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' # ...

alongside himself,

Trapster Trapster (Peter Petruski), also known as Paste-Pot Pete, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The character is one of the first supervillains who became active during the "Silver Ag ...

, and

Dreadknight Dreadknight (Bram Velsing) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The character first appeared in '' Iron Man'' #101 (Aug. 1977) and was created by writer Bill Mantlo and penciller G ...

. They attacked a rodeo arena and ran afoul of

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

and Turbine. Man-Bull later regained his power of speech somehow and joined

Armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

Hypno-Hustler The Hypno-Hustler is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A feature film centered around the character is in development, as a part of Sony's Spider-Man Universe. Donald Glover is cast in the lead r ...

, Chip Martin, and Jackson Wheele at a Villains Anonymous meeting. Man-Bull later joined Constrictor, Tombstone, Warhawk, and a number of

S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often deals ...

agents in raiding an A.I.M. facility which was working on a Null android from technology stolen from

Reed Richards Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member, and the leader, of the Fantastic Four. Richards has a mastery of mechanical, aerospace and ...

. Later returning to villainy and now sprouting green hair, he returned to New York City and fought the

Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuses ...

. When Alyosha Kravinoff (the son of

Kraven the Hunter Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff; Russian: Сергей Кравинов) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' issue #15 (August 1964) as an adversary to ...

) began collecting a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...

of animal-themed superhumans, Man-Bull is clearly seen in one of the cages. He later battled the

Grizzly The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

, who knocked him out and snapped off his left horn (yet the horn somehow regenerated by his next appearance). During the '' Dark Reign'' storyline, Man-Bull was among the villains analyzed by

Quasimodo Quasimodo (from Quasimodo Sunday) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the novel ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (1831) by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster, but h ...

for

Norman Osborn Norman Osborn is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #14 (July 1964) as the first ...

. When imprisoned at the Raft, Man-Bull later fought the

Absorbing Man Absorbing Man (Carl "Crusher" Creel) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Journey into Mystery'' #114, cover dated March 1965, created by writer Stan Lee and writer/artist Ja ...

in the Annual Raft Boxing Tournament and lost to him in the final round. During the '' Fear Itself'' storyline, Man-Bull is among the villains who escaped from the Raft after what the

Juggernaut A juggernaut (), in current English usage, is a literal or metaphorical force regarded as merciless, destructive, and unstoppable. This English usage originated in the mid-nineteenth century and was adapted from the Sanskrit word Jagannath. ...

, in the form of Kuurth: Breaker of Stone, did to it. When he,

Basilisk In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk ( or ) is a legendary reptile reputed to be a serpent king, who causes death to those who look into its eyes. According to the ''Naturalis Historia'' of Pliny the Elder, the basilisk of Cyrene is ...

, and

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

are seen robbing a bank,

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

arrives and discovers that the fourth person with the villains is actually

Hecate Hecate or Hekate, , ; grc-dor, Ἑκάτᾱ, Hekátā, ; la, Hecatē or . is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depicte ...

. When a resurrected Kyknos ends up fighting Hercules, the Man-Bull and the Basilisk flee. After Hercules recovers from his fight with Kyknos, he and Griffin managed to seek out Basilisk and Man-Bull and convince them to help fight Kyknos and Hecate. The villains approach Hecate and Kyknos, using a ruse involving Hercules being turned to stone. Hercules quickly revives and saves the villains by killing Kyknos. Hecate later escapes. Following the '' Avengers vs. X-Men'' storyline, Man-Bull was among the villains taking part in the riot at a prison. Rogue and

Mimic MIMIC, known in capitalized form only, is a former simulation computer language developed 1964 by H. E. Petersen, F. J. Sansom and L. M. Warshawsky of Systems Engineering Group within the Air Force Materiel Command at the Wright-Patterson AFB in ...

were the only ones to stop the riot where they copied the powers of the Armadillo, Equinox, and the Man-Bull to do so. Man-Bull later robs an armored truck. His appearance here gave him a cattle-like head and hooves. Man-Bull is shot by

Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made ...

. As part of the ''

All-New, All-Different Marvel All-New, All-Different Marvel (ANADM) is a 2015–2019 branding for Marvel Comics' entire main line of comics. Taking place after the crossover storyline "Secret Wars", it details the new Marvel Universe, with nearly 60–65 titles relaunched w ...

'', Man-Bull encountered the Emerald Warlock on

Santorini Santorini ( el, Σαντορίνη, ), officially Thira (Greek: Θήρα ) and classical Greek Thera (English pronunciation ), is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from the Greek mainland. It is the ...

and infused him with the energies that caused him to believe that he was the actual

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...

. With some help from Hecate, the

Scarlet Witch Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Her first appearance was in ''The X-Men'' #4 (March 1964) ...

agreed to help Man-Bull. Man-Bull was present at a criminal technology show in Las Vegas. During the '' Hunted'' storyline, Man-Bull is among the animal-themed superhumans that were captured by Taskmaster and Black Ant for Kraven the Hunter's Great Hunt that was sponsored by

Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

's company Arcade Industries. There was a reference that Man-Bull once gave Arcade a wedgie. After most of the animal-themed superheroes regrouped, it was mentioned by the

Toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientif ...

that Man-Bull was killed amidst the chaos caused by the Hunter-Bots. In the pages of ''Ruins of Ravencroft'', Man-Bull turns up alive and appears as an inmate at Ravencroft following its rebuilding. During the ''

King in Black ''King in Black'' is a comic book event written by Donny Cates with art by Ryan Stegman, and was published from 2020 to 2021 by Marvel Comics. It is a continuation to 2019's '' Absolute Carnage'', also containing fallout from 2020's ''Empyre''. I ...

'' storyline, Man-Bull was seen at the Bar with No Name when Mayor

Wilson Fisk The Kingpin (Wilson Grant Fisk) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., and first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #50 (cover-dated July 19 ...

offers a job to everyone there. Man-Bull was later seen at Ravencroft during Knull's invasion. He, Figment,

Foolkiller The Foolkiller is the name of four different fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Gregory Salinger made his live-action debut in the third season of the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series ''J ...

and Mister Hyde fled with the Thunderbolts in a van as they went to go find

Sentry Sentry or The Sentry may refer to: Comics *Sentry (Kree) *Sentry (Curtis Elkins) *Sentry (Robert Reynolds) *Senator Ward (comics) or Sentry Vehicles *Sentry (AUV), an autonomous underwater vehicle used to measure deep-ocean data * E-3 Sentry AWAC ...

's corpse. Man-Bull was with the Thunderbolts when Figment uses an illusion to fool Mayor Fisk into thinking that the Thunderbolts died blowing up a bridge. After Mayor Fisk honored their sacrifice, Man-Bull and the rest of the Thunderbolts visited him with Sentry's corpse still in their possession where they blackmailed him for money while making plans to stay together as a team.

Powers and abilities

Man-Bull possesses superhuman strength, endurance, and speed, as well as resistance to injury. He has a pair of long, dense horns that are useful for fighting battles. Unfortunately, the

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

side effects have degraded Taurens' mind, from hostile normal to feral vengeance. When occupied, his body's

adrenaline Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands and ...

feedback during combat can elevate him into a hysterical, all-consuming rage, which makes Man-Bull extra dangerous. Taurens is able to mentally command bulls and other

bovine Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship betwee ...

animals through

psionic In American science fiction of the 1950s and 1960s, psionics was a proposed discipline that applied principles of engineering (especially electronics) to the study (and employment) of paranormal or psychic phenomena, such as telepathy and psychok ...

activity, even in unstable form.

Other versions

''Spider-Ham''

In the ''

Spider-Ham Spider-Ham (Peter Porker) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is an anthropomorphic pig and is a cartoon animal parody version of Spider-Man. He was created by editor Larry Hama, T ...

'' universe, Man-Bull's counterpart in this reality is a

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

named the Bull-Frog.''Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham'' #2. Marvel Comics.

In other media

Man-Bull appears in the '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law'' episode "The Retreat", portrayed by Nathan Hurd. This version gained a cattle-like head and hair on parts of his body following an experiment gone wrong and became part of a spiritual retreat run by Emil Blonsky called Summer Twilight.

References

External links

Man-Bull
at Marvel Database *
Man-Bull
at Comic Vine
Man-Bull
at Writeups.org {{She-Hulk Characters created by Gene Colan Characters created by Gerry Conway Comics characters introduced in 1971 Fictional bulls Fictional characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability Fictional empaths Fictional humanoids Fictional characters from New Jersey Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics mutates Marvel Comics supervillains Marvel Comics male supervillains