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Spider-Man Encyclopedia
- Spider-Man Villains
- Chameleon
| The Chameloen was reated by
writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, his first appearance was in
Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963). The Chameleon has the ability to
disguise himself as almost anyone. Chameleon is a Russian
citizen named Dmitri Smerdyakov and half-brother to Kraven the
Hunter, Sergei Kravinoff. The Chameleon's first outing was
disguising himself as Spider-Man. When
Kraven the Hunter committed suicide, the Chameleon became obsessed
with making Spider-Man suffer for his failure to prevent Kraven from
killing himself. The Chameleon's most ambitious play against
Spider-Man happened when he formed an alliance with Harry Osborn,
the second Green Goblin. Before Harry's death, he told Chameleon
Spider-Man's secret identity could be found though Peter Parker, to
construct androids of Peter Parker's (Spider-Man) parents (Chameleon
later admitted that he went through with the plot to confirm once
and for all that Peter was Spider-Man). |
Amazing Spider-Man Issue 1 - First appearance of the Chameleon |
The plan led to a psychotic
breakdown for both Spider-Man and Chameleon. Chameleon's confirmation of
Spider-Man's secret identity led him to attacking, rather
unsuccessfully, Spider-Man through his family and friends several times,
including one incident in which Mary Jane Watson subdued him with a
baseball bat. Somewhere in between this and subsequent appearances, he
appeared to have been destroyed by his Nephew, Alyosha Kravinoff (alyosha
was later to throw a Chameleon mask at Spider-Man's feet, referring to
it as 'That weakling, Dmitri'), but apparently recovered, waking in a
hospital.
After tricking Spider-man to the
bridge where his first love Gwen Stacy died, on the pretext of having
kidnapped his wife, he declared his own loneliness and love for Peter.
When Peter laughed out of surprise, he threw himself off the bridge. He
reappeared some time later in a mental institution, completely
incapacitated, believing himself to be Sergei Kravinoff rather than
Dmitri Smerdyakov. He later reappeared in his Chameleon identity as part
of the Sinister Twelve villain team organized by the Green Goblin. He
was successfully apprehended by the authorities.
The Chameleon suffered his most
humiliating defeat at the hands of Peter Parker's Aunt May, when he
attempted to trick her into believing he was Peter, to murder her.
However, May was not fooled, and defeated the villain with a plate of
oatmeal-raisin cookies laced with Ambien. (see Sensational Spider-Man
#31).
Cartoon Appearances
The Chameleon appeared in the 1981
Spider-Man episode Arsenic and Aunt May, posing as the spirit of
Spider-Man's Uncle Ben to manipulate Aunt May.
The Chameleon was the featured villain in the "Seven Little Superheroes"
episode of
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, in which he lured
Spider-Man, Iceman, Firestar, Captain America, Doctor Strange,
Sub-Mariner and Shanna the She-Devil (referred to as "Shanna of the
Jungle") to a remote island to pick them off one by one. He was voiced
by Hans Conreid.
Chameleon in
Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Chameleon was an international
hitman and spy in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. He also can't (or
doesn't) speak while he is in his true form. Though in the episode
"Framed" Richard Fisk indicates that Chameleon told them about Peter
Parker's parents. Chameleon has a belt, which is capable of capturing an
image of a person, so that he can turn into a person to disguise
himself. In his first appearance, he attempts to kill two diplomats at a
U.N. conference, but is foiled by Spider-Man, incapicitated by a punch
to his imaging device. In "The Insidious Six" and "Battle of the
Insidious Six", Chameleon became a member of the Insidious Six. In
"Framed" and "The Man Without Fear", he was working for the Kingpin's
son, Richard Fisk in framing Peter Parker for getting restricted
government information. But Parker's name was cleared and Richard and
Chameleon were sentenced to jail. Later, in "The Cat", it was revealed
that he was jailed in S.H.I.E.L.D. and he was assigned by Kingpin to
release Felicia Hardy's father. He successfully did and disguised
himself as Felicia's father so no one would know the real Hardesky was
abducted. Also, Chameleon is infused with a techo-organic virus, which
made him part-machine and was able to change into any person without the
belt. Eventually, his ruse was uncovered by Nick Fury. Later, in "Six
Forgotten Warriors" part 1-5, he was rescued by the rest of the
Insidious Six and became a member again, but would betray them and join
forces with his foster father, the Red Skull (they have no relation in
the comics), and his brother, Rhienholdt Kragov, who would later become
Electro. In the end, Electro and Red Skull, along with
Captain America, were
trapped in a time dilation loophole and Chameleon escaped, never to be
seen again. Interestingly, in the Chameleon's last appearance when he
was fighting against Spider-Man, he was grunting numerous times and the
grunts were provided by Jim Cummings, who also played Shocker in the
series, which hints that the Chameleon can speak but just doesn't have
much use to talk in his true form.
Appearnaces in the Show:
Day of the Chameleon
The Insidious Six
Battle of the Insidious Six
Framed
The Man Without Fear
The Cat
The Black Cat
Six Forgotten Warriors:
Unclaimed Legacy
Secrets of the Six
The Six Fight Again
The Price of Heroism
check it out this Chameleon action figure at Amazon
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