DEATH ADDER

 

DEATH ADDER

Real Name: Roland Burroughs

First Appearance: Marvel Two-In-One (Vol. 1) #64, June 1980

Powers: Roland Burroughs was selected by agents of the Roxxon Oil Company to be a special agent in covert operations. At the Mutagenic Laboratory of Roxxon's subsidiary company, the Brand Corporation, Burroughs underwent extensive surgery to give him gills and a bionic tail. He was then provided with a special costume and code-named "Death Adder". As a result of the extensive bio-engineering and surgery performed on his body, the Death Adder gained numerous superhuman powers:

He was amphibious, able to breathe underwater (by extracting oxygen molecules from water through the artificial gills in his throat) as well as in the air. These gills used fabricated polymer gill-cloth which was approximately eight times as efficient as average fish gills. There was no limit to the amount of time that he could spend underwater; in fact, he could sleep safely underwater. His entire anatomy was bionically bolstered by the transplantation of synthetic bone and tissue, permitting him to withstand the water pressure variations of a descent to 400 feet and back. A special membrane was grafted over each of his retinas, which rendered his eyes sensitive to the blue-green region of the visible spectrum (predominant in ocean depths to about 650 feet), allowing him to see clearly in those depths. He possessed enhanced strength on land (lifting up to 1 ton) and his swimming speed was in the superhuman range (between 50-60 knots).

The largest modification to his body was the implantation of a 4-foot-long, spike-studded tail attached to his lower spine and made of synthetic flesh and bone. Connected to his central nervous system, this tail could be whipped at speeds up to 60 miles per hour and acted as a fifth limb. Death Adder could swim at speeds up to 30 knots (34.5 miles per hour).

The Death Adder's costume was a full body-suit specially treated with a silicon compound that approximated fish-oil's viscosity to minimize water resistance. In the five fingers of each glove were special inch-long capsules containing highly concentrated venom of a death-adder, which he could release through the talon-like fingertips. One scratch of poison was sufficient to paralyze a 200-pound man within 90 seconds. Without an antidote (which he carried in his belt), death by asphyxiation would follow within an hour.

Roland Burroughs was a college graduate with a degree in engineering. Due to an accident involving his larynx during the surgical implantation of his gills, the Death Adder was mute and rendered unable to speak.