BASILISK

 

BASILISK

Real Name: Basil Elks

First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 1) #16, December 1973

Powers: Basil Elks was a career criminal who drew his power from the Alpha-Stone and Omega-Stone, two fragments of the Kree Lifestones from the Hellfire Helix which somehow made their way to Earth. He was transformed when the Alpha-Stone was shattered by a bullet while in his hand, and later sought out power from the Omega-Stone as well. As Basil Elks became the Basilisk, he turned into a green-skinned form with augmented levels of strength, endurance, resilience, and intelligence. He could lift over 800 lbs, and his enhanced intellect presumably came from the lingering consciousness of the gem's previous wielder, much like the experience Moonstone had years later with her Lifestone fragment.

Basilisk's primary power, however, was in his eyes -- he could project beams of pure force, intense heat to melt objects or make them burst into flames, or freezing beams which rapidly slowed molecular activity to coat his target with a layer of ice. He could direct his force eye-beams downwards as a makeshift form of propulsion, launching himself into the air and flying for short distances. Besides augmenting his existing abilities, the Omega-Stone also gave Basilisk new powers. He became capable of influencing geothermal activity, setting off eruptions in existing volcanoes or causing new ones to sprout forth from the ground, sending shockwaves through the earth around the formation site. Basilisk could also generate a teleportation effect, transporting him and anything in close proximity as far as halfway across the globe instantaneously. This teleporting built energy slowly, and produced considerable radiant heat in the process, enough to melt a nearby block of ice while he was transmitting himself.