Real Name: Basil Elks
Occupation: Professional criminal
Identity: Secret
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with a criminal record
Other Aliases: None
Place of Birth: Norristown, Pennsylvania
Place of Death: Four Freedoms Plaza, New York City, New York
Marital Status: Unknown
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: None
Base of Operations: Mobile
First Appearance: MARVEL TEAM-UP #16
Final Appearance: FANTASTIC FOUR #289

History: Basil Elks was a convicted burglar with an undistinguished criminal career. One of his fellow prison inmates, who was more erudite than the rest, mocked by Elks by making a pun on his name and calling him "Basilisk," after the mythological creature which could kill with its glance. Other prisoners seized upon the new nickname as a means of ridiculing Elks, thus ironically contrasting the basilisk's fearsome reputation with Elks' own image of being a loser.

After leaving prison, Elks attempted to steal a large gem from a New York City museum. Elks was discovered by a museum guard and reached for his gun, unwilling to return to prison and face further ridicule. The guard fired his own gun, but his bullet struck not Elks but the gem, causing it to explode. Unknown to Elks and the museum authorities, the gem was actually the so-called Alpha-Stone, a power object once possessed by the alien Kree. A Kree starship crewman had stolen both the Alpha-Stone and another such gem, the Omega-Stone, and escaped in a small spaceship, which exploded; somehow the two gems ended up on Earth. The explosion of the Alpha-Stone transformed Elks into a superhuman being, who overpowered the guard and escaped. Elks adopted the name "Basilisk" as one that was appropriate to his newfound powers, and sought the Omega-Stone in order to increase them. In the course of his search, the Basilisk clashed with both Spider-Man and the Kree Captain Mar-Vell. The Omega-Stone was embedded underground in the Wall Street area of lower Manhattan. Mar-Vell found the gem, but when he touched it, the gem grew to gigantic size and enveloped him.

The enlarged Omega-Stone was then teleported to the underground domain of the Mole Man, who intended to use its energies to power the immense laser-cannon he planned to use to attack the surface world. Spider-Man and Mister Fantastic opposed the Mole Man, but Basilisk, arrived at the scene, and Captain Mar-Vell freed himself from the Omega-Stone, which returned to its previous size. The laser cannon malfunctioned, causing magma pits to erupt. When the Basilisk reached for the Omega-Stone, he was covered by molten lava.

However, the Omega Stone had grown and encased the Basilisk at his touch, protecting him from the lava. The Basilisk was immobile inside the Omega-Stone, which was eventually found by members of the underground race of Molian Subterraneans, one of whom somehow, unintentionally, released the Basilisk from the Omega-Stone by touching it. The Basilisk now possessed the powers given him by both the Alpha-Stone and Omega-Stone. He caused a volcano to rise in the Savage Land in Antarctica, and fought the Thing within the volcano. The Basilisk had used his increased powers to begin volcanic chain reaction with which he intended to destroy civilization, thereby gaining vengeance for the ridicule he had endured in the past. The Basilisk teleported himself and the Thing into a volcano he caused to rise just off New York City, in the Hudson River. The Basilisk proceeded to wreak havoc in New York City, but was fought by Spider-Man and the Thing, who knocked him towards his own volcano. As the Basilisk lost consciousness, his destructive eye-beams went out of control and blew up the volcano. The Basilisk found himself trapped underground.

Months later, the Basilisk finally reached the surface, emerging at the site where the Fantastic Four's new headquarters, Four Freedoms Plaza, was being constructed. However, no sooner had the Basilisk appeared than he was ignominiously murdered by the enigmatic vigilante Scourge, who was disguised as a workman.

Height: 5 ft. 11 in.
Weight: 210 lbs.
Eyes: (as Elks) Blue, (as Basilisk) Red
Hair: (as Elks) Black, (as Basilisk) None
Skin: (as Basilisk) Green

Strength Level: The Basilisk possessed superhuman strength, enabling him to lift (press) approximately 800 pounds.

Known Superhuman Powers: The Basilisk's major power was the bodily generator of microwave-related energy, which he could emit at will through his eyes. He could thus create a force beam that heated up an intense vortex of air beneath him. This force beam was capable of exerting a force of 1,500 pounds per square inch. This energy was sufficient to lift him into the air simply by training it on the ground. The Basilisk was able to propel himself a maximum of 400 feet into the air with a single force blast. At first, a continuous force blast was necessary to keep him aloft; later, after gaining further power from the Omega-Stone, the Basilisk appeared to be able to levitate himself without utilizing the force blast to do so. Through his force blasts the Basilisk could propel himself through the air at a maximum speed of 250 miles per hour.

The Basilisk could also use his energy beams to accelerate for decelerate the molecular motion of the surface of any object upon which he casts his beams. By decelerating the molecular motion of an object and a small layer of air around it, he was able to encase it in a thin but debilitating layer of ice. The greater the duration of his energy bombardment, the greater the deceleration of the molecules, and thus the greater the amount of ice formed. If the Basilisk had used this power on a warm blooded organism for too long, the freezing effect would have penetrated more than the surface of the skin, resulting in tissue damage and possibly death. The Basilisk could also accelerate the molecular motion of an object or organism, generating internal heat in the manner of a microwave oven. He could generate a maximum temperature of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, sufficient to melt steel. The Basilisk could control the degree of his energy beam's molecular disturbances at will.

The Alpha-Stone transformed the Basilisk's body's cellular structure, granting him superhuman streegth and resilience. His skiin was tougher than ordinary human beings and had a lizard-like thickness. He had a superhuman but limited ability to resist high temperatures. Apparently the Basilisk could survive for extended periods of time without food or water He had the ability to teleport himself, subject to unknown restrictions. He also had a limited ability to rearrange the molecular structure of objects with his energy beams, and thereby transformed a suit of armor into his costume. The Alpha-Stone also increased the Basilisk's intelligence.