Aries (comics)

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caption=
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Aries
real_name=(I) Marcus Lassiter
(II) Grover Raymond
(III) None
(IV) Unrevealed
(V) Unrevealed
(VI) ?
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut=(I) "The Avengers" #72 (January 1970)
(II) "The Avengers" #120 (February 1974)
(III) "The Defenders" #49 (July 1977)
(IV) "Iron Man" #184 (July 1984)
(V) "West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2)" #26 (November 1987)
(VI) "Alpha Flight (Vol. 2)" #12 (July 1998)
creators=(I) Roy Thomas
Sal Buscema
(II) Steve Englehart
Bob Brown
(III) David Anthony Kraft
Keith Giffen
(IV) Dennis O'Neil
Luke McDonnell
(V) Steve Englehart
Al Milgrom
(VI) Steve Seagle
Duncan Rouleau
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
alliances=(I, II, IV, V) Zodiac Cartel
(III) Jake Fury's Zodiac
aliases=(II) Lucifer
powers=(I) Wore a pair of ram's horns upon his head which he could use to ram opponents in battle. He briefly possessed the Zodiac Key, which he was able to use to channel energy blasts, and powered his ship's force field, which he used to surround all of Manhattan.
(II) Wore a ram's horns upon his head, and would ram his opponents in battle. He often carried a Star-Blazer, a pistol which could fire energy blasts. While possessed by Lucifer, his body was charged with ionic energy, granting him superhuman strength.
(III) Possessed a pair of horns on its head, enhanced strength, and would attempt to ram its opponents in battle. In its most recent form, it also wore a suit of protective armor, and could project fire from its horns. As a LMD, it could also exist underwater.
(IV) Wore the horns of a ram on his head which he could use to ram opponents.
(V) Wore the horns of a ram on his head which he could use to ram opponents.
(VI) Possessed superhuman strength, had horns, wielded a gun, and used the Zodiac's teleportation device.|

The various incarnations of Aries are Marvel Comics supervillains who were members of various incarnations of the supervillain group, the Zodiac.

In the history of the Marvel Universe, six different characters have assumed the role of Aries. All of them have been members of the villainous Zodiac and used horns on their head to ram their opponents. The third Aries was a Life Model Decoy created by Jake Fury. The second and fourth Aries' were African-American.

Publication history

The original human Aries, Marcus Lassiter, first appeared in "The Avengers" #72 (January 1970), and was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Sal Buscema. The character subsequently appears in "Avengers" #82 (November 1970), in which he is killed.

The second human Aries, Grover Raymond, first appeared in "The Avengers" #120-123 (February-May 1974), and was created by Steve Englehart and Bob Brown. The character subsequently appears in "Ghost Rider" #7 (August 1974), and "Captain America" #177-178 (September-October 1974), in which he is killed.

Aries appeared as part of the "Zodiac" entry in the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition" #20.

Fictional character biography

Marcus Lassiter

Nothing is known about how Lassiter joined the Cartel or any of his dealings with their group prior to their first battle with the Avengers.

In order to take down the Zodiac Cartel Nick Fury, disguised as Scorpio captured the Avengers. He called the Cartel for a meeting in order to present the Avengers to them. The Avengers managed to break free before the Cartel could execute them. Fury unmasked himself and joined the heroes in fighting off the Zodiac Cartel. Aries managed to claim the Zodiac Key, and led the Cartel to their escape through a hole in the wall.

Lassiter led the reorganization of the Cartel and its planning to takeover Manhattan. A mercenary group in the Zodiac's employ was sent to Avengers Mansion and was able to subdue the Avengers who were subsequently put into stasis. The Aries-led Zodiac army was able to take over Manhattan. Aries used the Zodiac Key to entrapping it within a force field. The Cartel demanded one billion dollars or they threatened to kill the entire population of Manhattan. The Black Panther and Daredevil managed to free the Avengers, and, in the ensuing battle, Aries was apparently slain Thor destroyed his vessel with a bolt of lightning. The rest of the Zodiac Cartel escaped capture.

Grover Raymond

Raymond was recruited by Taurus to replace Marcus Lassiter as Aries. The Zodiac Cartel decided to kill every person born under the sign of Gemini because they thought them to be untrustworthy. The Cartel was defeated by the Avengers who were able to destroy the Star-Blaster which the Zodiac was to use to fulfill their plans.

Following their defeat, Raymond was able to get the rest of the Cartel, except for Libra to back him in overthrowing Taurus as their leader. The renegade Zodiac met with Cornelius Van Lunt, the Cartel's financial backer, in an empty warehouse but were attacked by the Avengers during the meeting. Van Lunt fled, but revealed that he was Taurus and that the warehouse was, in fact, a rocketship which Taurus shot into space. The Vision was able to persuade the Zodiac to help the Avengers get back to earth rather than continue their battle. Upon their return to earth, the Avengers turned Aries and the other Zodiac, except for Libra, over to the authorities. Except for Taurus, all the Cartel ended up in prison.

While in prison, Raymond was visited by Lucifer, who had possessed the body of Rafe Michel, a criminal. In order to keep his power from consuming a single body, Lucifer offered to divide his power. Raymond agreed, and gained some of Lucifer's strength, along with his costume. They did battle with the Falcon, but managed to escape to Mr. Morgan. Morgan asked the two to kill the Falcon.

The two Lucifers attacked, but were defeated by the Falcon. Raymond-Lucifer led the other to Lucifer's base, where they revived Lucifer's undamaged Ultra-Robots and sent them to attack the Falcon. The Falcon, though, was helped by an uncostumed Captain America, who defeated the Lucifers and destroyed the Ultra-Robots. Still unable to contain Lucifer's energies, both host bodies died with Lucifer being sent back to the Nameless Dimension.

LMD

This version of Aries was a Life Model Decoy created along with an entirely new Zodiac in the Theatre of Genetics by Scorpio (aka Jake Fury). The Defenders attacked the Theatre and Scorpio was forced to activated the LMD Zodiac prematurely. The Aries LMD rushed into battle but was hampered by his clumsiness and recklessness. During the battle Moon Knight and Nighthawk were able to cause Aries to slam into a wall knocking it unconscious. The Aries LMD was taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody following the battle.

Later, Aries and the rest of the LMD Zodiac, led by Quicksilver, battled the Avengers whom Quicksilver was attempting to frame for treason. During an underwater battle near Avengers Mansion with a team of the heroes, the Aries and Taurus LMDs were flung out into the river and apprehended by the authorities.

After being released from prison, Aries and the rest of the LMD Zodiac attacked and killed all the human Zodiac Cartel except for Cornelius Van Lunt (aka Taurus). Soon after the LMD Zodiac attempted to rob the Denver Mint, but were interrupted by the West Coast Avengers. During the battle the Scorpio LMD brought both the Zodiac and the Avengers to the Ankh Dimension, but this had the unwanted result of shutting down all the LMDs, leaving them immobile in that foreign dimension.

Fourth Aries

It is unknown who the person was who became this version of Aries or how he joined the Zodiac Cartel. He likely was invited by Cornelius Van Lunt as done previously. This Aries was asked by Taurus to kill James Rhodes. In their battle, Aries was defeated and turned over to the authorities.

Fifth Aries

It is unknown who the person is who became the fifth incarnation of Aries or how he became a member of the Zodiac Cartel. He was a member of the human Cartel who were killed by the LMD Zodiac.

("Comment: The fourth Aries was an African-American, while the fifth is shown as Caucasian. It is possible that the fourth and fifth incarnations are, in fact, the same person, but there was a coloring error in the issue in which the human Cartel were killed. See: West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #26.")

ixth Aries

This incarnation of Aries was a product of genetic engineering recruited by Scorpio who was working for the Ecliptic. This version of Zodiac was sent by Scorpio to steal the Nth Projector from Department H. During their mission they were attacked and defeated by Alpha Flight, but were able to escape.

Soon after, the Director of Weapon X sent a Weapon X team to the Zodiac's castle headquarters to retrieve Madison Jeffries who had become one of the Zodiac's Gemini twins. The Zodiac were defeated and Jeffries was recovered. The Zodiac were drained of their life energy by Sauron and, after the creature had left, Weapon X blew up the castle leaving the Zodiac for dead.

Powers and abilities

All incarnations wielded ram-like horns (whether natural or artificial) that were used to ram into their opponents. The non-human incarnations had superhuman strength and endurance.

Bibliography

List of titles

Aries I

* "The Avengers" #72
* "The Avengers" #82

Aries II

* "The Avengers" #120-122
* "Captain America" #177-178
* "Iron Man Annual '99 (as corpse)"

Aries III

* "The Defenders" #49-50
* "West Coast Avengers Annual" #1
* "West Coast Avengers (vol. 2)" #26-28

Aries IV

* "Iron Man" #184

Aries V

* "West Coast Avengers (vol. 2)" #26

Aries VI

* "Alpha Flight (vol. 2)" #12
* "Weapon X (vol. 2)" #1

Other media

Aries appears in "" voiced by Tony Daniels. He is a member of the Zodiacs and is depicted as a super-strong alien that wears a ram-horned helmet.

External links

*http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/ariesfirst.htm
*http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/ariessecond.htm
*http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/ariesthird.htm