Taserface is a fictional character 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 ...

. He 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 ...

and a recurring adversary of the original

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It may more specifically refer to: Comic book teams * Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), the original 31st-century team fr ...

. Taserface appears in several forms of media, such as 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 ...

film ''

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'' is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to ' ...

'' (2017) and

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animated series '' What If...?'' (2021) as a different version, portrayed by Chris Sullivan.

Publication history

Taserface first appeared in ''

'' #1 (June 1990), drawn and written by

Jim Valentino Jim Valentino (born October 28, 1952) is an American writer, penciler, editor and publisher of comic books, best known for his 1990–1992 work on ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' for Marvel Comics, and for co-founding Image Comics, a company publis ...

. Valentino stated that his son Aaron Valentino, who was five years old at the time, came up with the name. Jim thought the name was "kind of lame...but no worse than

Pruneface Pruneface is a fictional character in the long-running comic strip '' Dick Tracy'', drawn by cartoonist Chester Gould. He is one of the series' main villains and notable for his wrinkly face despite being a young man. Fictional character biog ...

Clayface Clayface is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Most incarnations of the character possess clay-like bodies and shapeshifting abilities, and all of them have been depicted as List of Bat ...

Two-Face Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by Bob Kane and first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #66 (August 1942). As one of Batman's ...

or any other character with the word face as part of their name."

Fictional character biography

Taserface is an advance scout for the Stark and came from a planet inhabited by primitive beings. One day, a cache of armor and technology created by

Tony Stark 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 charac ...

wound up on their planet. The inhabitants quickly adapted themselves to the new technology, calling themselves the Stark after their idol, and proceeded to misuse their new found gift to conquer other planets. He was deployed to the planet Courg to keep an eye on it and ended up fighting the

. After his defeat he was tortured by his species and had his name taken from him. Now going by the name Nameless One, his hatred for the Guardians grew. He pleads mercy to the High Sister for redemption and is given upgrades. He returns with the name Overkill after being transformed into a cyborg. He fights Hollywood, an alternate version of

Wonder Man Wonder Man (Simon Williams) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, he first appeared in '' The Avengers'' #9 (October 1964). The c ...

, and is easily defeated. He attempts to detonate himself in a last minute revenge scheme, but Hollywood absorbs the blast, killing only Overkill.

Powers and abilities

Taserface possesses some degree of invulnerability due to being a cyborg. He also has a vast array of weapons at his disposal including repulsor rays, sensors and tasers. He also has the ability to absorb energy and redirect it.

In other media

Television

Taserface appears in the animated special '' Lego Marvel Super Heroes - Guardians of the Galaxy: The Thanos Threat'', voiced by

Travis Willingham Travis Willingham is an American voice actor. His most notable roles include Roy Mustang in the '' Fullmetal Alchemist'' franchise, Portgas D. Ace in ''One Piece'', Ginko in '' Mushishi'', Knuckles the Echidna in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franc ...

. He accompanies

Yondu Yondu Udonta, or simply Yondu (), is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original version of the character is depicted as the last survivor of his species in the 31st century, and is a founding ...

and the other Ravagers to steal the Power Stone from

Ronan the Accuser Ronan the Accuser is a fictional character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Ronan was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby and he first appeared in ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantasti ...

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Chris Sullivan portrays

Taserface Taserface is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a supervillain and a recurring adversary of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. Taserface appears in several forms of media, such as the Ma ...

in media set in the

. This version is the lieutenant of

Yondu Udonta Yondu Udonta, or simply Yondu (), is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original version of the character is depicted as the last survivor of his species in the 31st century, and is a founding ...

's faction of the Ravagers. Additionally, he is depicted as being proud of his name, believing it strikes fear into the hearts of his enemies. However,

Rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

and the rest of the Ravagers scoff at the ridiculousness of his name. * Taserface is introduced in the live-action film ''

''. After officially being assigned to direct the film ''

'' and considering Taserface to be "the dumbest character of all time", director

James Gunn James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1997). He then began working as a directo ...

jokingly posted a photo of him on his social media. He later clarified that he would never feature the character in a film. Gunn later changed his mind, and while crafting this character, felt that Taserface had named himself. Hence, he described him as "a real dumbass", yet also "a very powerful guy." Discussing the character's look in ''The Art of the Film'', Visual Development Illustrator Anthony Francisco says, "Taserface was described to me as needing to be very scary-looking, but he wants you to think he is the absolute coolest. I translated this into conceptualizing various things he might wear or add onto his Ravager jumpsuit — things that he thinks are badass or interesting. But ultimately, he is just trying too hard." Feeling that Yondu is "going soft", Taserface leads a mutiny against him and kills anyone still loyal to the former. After Kraglin aids Yondu, Rocket, and

Groot Groot () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in ''Tales to Astonish'' #13 (Nov. 1960). An extraterrestrial, sentien ...

in escaping from their prison cells, Yondu kills the remaining Ravagers and destroys the main engine, causing the Ravager ship to explode. While the four escape in a smaller escape ship, Taserface contacts the

Sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

to give them Yondu's coordinates before dying in the explosion. * An alternate timeline version of Taserface appears in the

animated series '' What If...?'' episode " What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?", with Sullivan reprising the role.

Video games

Taserface appears as a playable character in ''

Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 ''Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on 14 November ...

'', voiced by Simon Kerr.

References

External links

Taserface
at Marvel Wiki {{Guardians of the Galaxy Comics characters introduced in 1990 Fictional characters with disfigurements Guardians of the Galaxy characters Marvel Comics aliens Marvel Comics cyborgs Marvel Comics extraterrestrial supervillains Marvel Comics male characters