He customarily carries a staff which he wields in a unique fighting style designed to capitalize on his enhanced senses and low height; he possesses several such staffs, equipped with low-energy radar, energy-projecting capabilities, and other functions.
The Mole Man wears protective goggles which enhance his sight in virtually any environment. He has access to a wide array of advanced technology based upon that of the millennia-old Deviant civilization. He is invariably accompanied by his loyal, though mentally limited, Moloid servants and commands gigantic super-powered Mutates in battle. Most notable of the latter is the Giganto, immense in size and strength and capable of carving tunnels through solid rock at great speed. |
The Mole Man was originally an American scientist and explorer named Harvey Rupert Elder. Elder was socially shunned due to a combination of his abrasive personality and his homely, dwarfish appearance. Furthermore, his fellow explorers ridiculed him for his eccentric, crackpot theories regarding a Hollow Earth. While following the group of explorers called the Monster Hunters, he stumbled upon Monster Island, which was at the time a base of the Deviant Warlord Kro. (At the time, Monster Island was located near Japan, although other stories place it in the Bermuda Triangle.) Elder fell into a massive cave leading deep into the underground realm of Subterranea, Elder believed that his theories had finally been vindicated. However, he suffered permanent damage to his eyes when he gazed directly upon a highly reflective deposit of diamonds. Partially blinded and apparently secluded from the surface world forever, Elder dubbed himself the Mole Man, and began exploring his new home. He eventually became the ruler of the branch of Subterraneans now known as the Moloids. He would eventually use the Deviant-derived creatures and technology that he found in Subterranea to strike back at the outer world in numerous attempts to rule or humble the world that had rejected him.
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He was also one of the villains that Doctor Doom used to attack Reed and Sue's wedding. He burst through the floor with his Moloids, but was driven back when Professor X called his X-Men to fight them, along with the Thing's help.
The Mole Man subsequently battled the Avengers, both alongside the communist Red Ghost and assisted by his giant Minotaur. A closer enemy was his rival Tyrannus, who ruled a second servant race, the Tyrannoids, and sought the Mole Man's territory for himself. Both underground rulers used surface heroes, such as the Hulk and X-Men, as pawns in their war, but the Mole Man soon turned his dimmed eyes back to conquest; he sought to blind humanity as he imagined it had been blinded to his accomplishments. Mistakenly assuming Project Earthdig, intended to bury nuclear waste deep within the planet, was an assault on him, the Mole Man joined forces with Dr. Erik Gorbo (the Monster-Ape) against Captain America and plotted another surface assault before learning the truth. The Mole Man formed an alliance with the Netherworld's Queen Kala, whom he hoped to romance, and even managed to enslave Tyrannus; but Kala ultimately betrayed him to Tyrannus, who betrayed her in turn, leaving the Fantastic Four to triumph over the trio.
The Mole Man conducted attacks on the surface world until he was opposed by the Fantastic Four in their first adventure. The Mole Man apparently destroyed Monster Isle in an atomic blast, although it was seen on several other occasions. The Mole Man's Deviant-bred monstrous mutates, collectively known as the "Mole Man's Monsters", include the three-headed Tricephalous, the horned Megataur, and the flying bird-insect creature known only as "Skreeal". The Mole Man also has a group of superhuman allies called the Outcasts. He has sometimes been allied with Kala, the queen of the Subterranean Netherworlders, and for a time, the two were betrothed to be married.
Later, he surrendered his desire for conquest and revenge, and began to assemble a sanctuary for others who had been rejected by the surface world. His two attempts to do so led to the death of most of the visitors to his sanctuaries. Briefly, the Mole Man allowed Adam Warlock's superhero team, the Infinity Watch, to use Monster Island as a base, on the reasoning that they could help protect him from any meddlers, which they did on several occasions. The Watch lived in a Monster Island castle until their dissolution as a team. Following their departure, the Mole Man apparently returned to his solitary, vengeful existence.
The Mole Man is not the most dangerous or evil supervillain the Fantastic Four has faced; in fact, he is most famous for being merely the first villain they faced. With the technology at his disposal, if he really wanted to take over the world, he might succeed. However, that would require having to deal with people and do work, so there is little likelihood of him ever making good on his threats of global domination. However, the Mole Man is responsible for massive amounts of property damage due to his periodically sending giant monsters to destroy the Baxter Building and numerous other landmarks of the surface world.
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The Mole Man has no true superhuman abilities. However, he is an extraordinary genius, with knowledge of technology centuries beyond conventional science. He was able to master alien principles of technology totally foreign to his culture and environment. Due to his poor eyesight, his senses have naturally compensated to the degree that they are, like those of Daredevil, heightened to nearly superhuman levels. |
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The Mole Man fights with a staff and has developed a fighting style that resembles bojutsu; despite his small size and relative weakness he is a highly proficient hand-to-hand combatant when armed with his staff. He also commands an army of monsters and Subterraneans that are absolutely loyal to him. |
The Mole Man’s eyes are extremely sensitive to light. He is virtually blinded by normal illumination. To counter this, he wears protective glasses that both reduce bright light to levels he can tolerate and increase dim light to levels by which he can see. His sense of hearing and touch are far more sensitive than that of a normal human. Mole Man has a series of similar-looking staves (6 ft long, made of wood or aluminum) which contain weapon(s) and additional features. All staves include a galvanic response meter that is tuned to the Mole Man’s body; this prevents anyone else from activating his staves. Mole Man’s life has made him an expert on subterranean geography, spelunking, understanding Deviant weapons systems, and monster training.
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