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 '' Sub-Mariner'' #70 (May 1974) and was created by
Marv Wolfman
Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's '' The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's ''The New Te ...
The Piranha was created as a result of the experiments of Dr.
Lemuel Dorcas
Lemuel Dorcas is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is notable for playing a part in the origins of Namor villains Tiger Shark, Orka, and Piranha.
Publication history
Dr. Lemuel Dorcas first a ...
, having been exposed to remaining radiation from Dorcas's previous work. After devouring Dorcas's deceased assistants and evolving from a normal
piranha
A piranha or piraña (, , or ; or , ) is one of a number of freshwater fish in the family Serrasalmidae, or the subfamily Serrasalminae within the tetra family, Characidae in order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, fl ...
into a humanoid piranha, he ordered other fish into the radiation, creating more Men-Fish. Piranha and his Men-Fish traveled to
Hydro-Base
The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features.
Places
Certain places fe ...
in the hopes of researching more of Dorcas' work there. They followed
Namor
Namor (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in early 1939, the character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies Inc ...
and attacked him. During the fight, Piranha was wounded, and his blood attracted his piranhas, which turned on him and devoured him.
These piranhas who ate the original Piranha evolved into identical versions of the original, eventually numbering in the hundreds. They later captured Namor and 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 focuse ...
, forcing them to fight to the death. The two combatants instead managed to crush the underwater stadium they fought in and crushed all the Piranhas.
The original Piranha eventually regenerated, and joined the Deep Six alongside Nagala, Orka, Sea Urchin, and
Tiger Shark
The tiger shark (''Galeocerdo cuvier'') is a species of requiem shark and the last extant member of the family Galeocerdonidae. It is a large macropredator, capable of attaining a length over . Populations are found in many tropical and tempera ...
while
Attuma
Attuma is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is an Atlantean nomadic warlord who is usually depicted as an enemy of Namor the Sub-Mariner, and is the father of the superhero Andromeda. He believes he ...
had seized the throne of
Atlantis
Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...
. Deep Six defended Attuma's throne from the invading Prince Namor and the
Defenders
Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to:
*Defense (military)
*Defense (sports)
**Defender (association football)
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary
* ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...
twice, but lost to the Defenders the second time.
After '' Marvel Zombies 3'', the zombie
Deadpool
Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadp ...
's head was teleported to the bottom of the ocean along with the
Zombie
A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in w ...
(Simon Garth). The Zombie Deadpool head infected Piranha and all of the Men-Fish with the zombie plague. When the Men-Fish attacked a cruise ship, the new
Midnight Sons
The Midnight Sons is a fictional team of supernatural superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Including Ghost Riders Danny Ketch and Johnny Blaze, Blade, and Morbius, the original team first formed as part of ...
arrived and destroyed them. As the Midnight Sons explored the ship, the now zombified Piranha attacked them.
Daimon Hellstrom
Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Daimon made his live-action debut in the Hulu television series '' Helstrom'', played by Tom A ...
causes the ship to explode, destroying all the Men-Fish. Piranha's fate is not shown.
Powers and abilities
The Piranha was a normal piranha mutated by radiation into a semi-humanoid being with sub-human intelligence. The Piranha had superhuman physicality, teeth that were strong and sharp enough to penetrate Namor's skin, claws that were equally as incisive made deadlier by a sleep-inducing venom they generated and the power to command other fish telepathically. Piranha could increase its intellect by consuming the remains of anyone it came across, effectively adding their knowledge, memories and acumen to its own. The creature also boasts a regenerative healing factor powerful enough to physically restore him even from being devoured by his own Men-Fish, but was not powerful enough to prevent his reanimation. After being zombified by a necrolized Headpool, Piranha was turned into a zombie with a greatly augmented appetite.
On top of the standard ability to spread the zombie plague via physical contact; e.i. biting and scratching as he'd done with his piranha men-fish. Piranha gained a parasitic ability to breed and birth schools of zombie men-fish clones of itself as eggs in healthy human hosts, as well as self-spawn without the need of a mating cycle.''Marvel Zombies 4'' #2. Marvel Comics.