Real Name

History: As a young man Dennis Dunphy idolized costumed crimefighters, especially Captain America and Daredevil. A successful football player in college, Dunphy hoped to be recruited to be a professional football player after graduation. But despite trying out for a number of teams, Dunphy was chosen by none of them.

Dunphy was approached by a representative of Power Broker, Inc., which, for a price, would submit clients to a process that augmented the strength of half of those subjected to it to superhuman levels. The other subjects were severely harmed by the process. Despite the risks involved, Dunphy had himself subjected to the Power Broker's treatment, thereby gaining superhuman strength. The Power Broker's staff gave Dunphy pills which they alleged would stabilize side effects of the treatment. In actuality, the pills contained an addictive drug, and thus served as a means by which the Power Broker maintained a hold over his past clients.

Ironically, Dunphy discovered that he was now far too strong to compete in football against normal human beings: he could easily kill them by accident. Eventually, Dunphy returned to Power Broker, Inc. to inquire if they could find a job for him. They recommended the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, an organization which staged wrestling matches between superhumanly powerful competitors for public entertainment. Dunphy joined the Federation, wrestling professionally under the name “Demolition Dunphy.”

While working for the Federation, Dunphy met the Thing, who had joined the Federation during a period when he was no longer associated with the Fantastic Four. After another Federation member, the second Ms. Marvel, discovered subjects of the Power Brokers treatment who had become monsters, the Broker demanded that the other wrestlers he had empowered capture her and her ally, the Thing, or else he would cut off their supplies of the addictive pills. Dunphy refused to betray his friends, and as a result had to endure two weeks of painful withdrawal without the drug. But at the end of that time. Dunphy was no longer addicted to the pills. As for the Thing, he demolished one of the Power Broker's bases. forcing the Broker himself into hiding. The other wrestlers also overcame their addiction after a similar period of withdrawal.

Later, Dunphy encountered his hero Captain America, who was investigating the Power Broker and one of his suspected clients, the Super-Patriot. Seeking vengeance on the Broker for turning himself and his wrestling colleagues into addicts. Dunphy volunteered to cancel his professional commitments and aid Captain America in tracking down the Broker. For this mission Dunphy donned a costume patterned after Daredevil's original costume , to disguise his identity and assumed the name "Demolition-Man," or "D-Man" for short. Demolition-Man soon proved his worth by rescuing Captain America from a deathtrap arranged by the Brokers employee, Dr. Karl Malus, and by capturing Malus himself.

Subsequently, Captain America, whose real name is Steve Rogers, gave up his costumed identity rather than submit to the demands of the federal government's Commission on Superhuman Activities. Demolition-Man and two of Captain America's other former partners, the Falcon and Nomad, tracked Rogers down as he was wandering through the country. Rogers adopted a new costumed identity, known simply as the Captain, using a costume provided to him by Demolition-Man.

Demolition-Man, the Falcon, and Nomad joined the Captain in his subsequent missions, including battling four costumed criminals in the secret employ of the Viper in Las Vegas and trying to halt a jailbreak from the Vault, the federal government's maximum security prison for superhuman criminals. During the latter incident, Demolition-Man was given a psychological shock by his encounter with the criminal. Titania, who nearly killed him using her vastly superior strength. As a result, Demolition-Man realized his superhuman strength did not make him invincible and he became overly cautious and fearful in battle with superhuman opponents.

Demolition-Man also helped Captain America in his battle against the Viper herself, who had taken control of the Serpent Society and attempted to transform all of the people of Washington. D.C. into reptilian creatures. In the course of this mission, Demolition-Man was captured and jailed by the federal government on orders of the head of the Commission on Superhuman Activities, Douglas Rockwell, who was secretly in league with Captain Americas archenemy, the Red Skull. Dunphy was kept in custody for a few weeks while the Commission questioned him about the Captain's whereabouts, but ultimately, Demolition-Man was released.

Demolition-Man searched for the Captain and finally located him on Avengers Island; formerly known as Hydrobase. Seeking to reorganize the Avengers, which had disbanded shortly before, the Captain unofficially inducted Demolition-Man as the tearn's first new member. Immediately afterward, Battle Star, the partner of John Walker, Rogers' replacement as Captain America; landed on Avengers Island and asked the Captain's help in rescuing Walker from the terrorist Flag- Smasher. The Captain agreed to help, and he, Demolition-Man, and Battle Star flew an Avengers quinjet to the Arctic base where Flag-Smasher was holding Walker prisoner. Dunphy remained in the quinjet while the Captain and Battle Star invaded the base.

On confronting the Captain, Flag-Smasher informed him that he had quit his terrorist organization, ULTIMATUM, on learning that it was controlled by the Red Skull, and that ULTIMATUM was about to activate a dooms-day device that would broadcast an electromagnetic pulse which would destroy technology throughout the world, thereby making possible the Skull’s conquest of the planet. Leaving Battle Star behind to rescue Walker; the Captain, Flag-Smasher, and Dunphy flew in the quinjet to ULTIMATUM's own nearby Arctic base where the dooms-day device was located. Again leaving Dunphy in the Qu injet, the Captain and Flag-Smasher attacked the ULTIMATUM agents guarding the base.

The Captain radioed Dunphy to crashland the quinjet into the center of the bases main building and bail out before the crash. By this means the Captain intended to destroy the dooms-day device in the moments remaining before it was automatically activated. Hearing an ULTIMATUM agent land atop the quinjet. Dunphy set the quinjet for a power dive into the building, and then climbed out onto the roof and saw the agent planting a device that, he guessed correctly, was a bomb. Dunphy knocked him off the quinjet, but then saw another ULTIMATUM agent, who planted another bomb on the quinjet and flew off. Dunphy tore off the wing to which the first bomb was attached but, realizing there was no time to reach the other bomb, decided to jump knowing his superhuman strength would enable him to survive the fall. But then he noticed that the first ULTIMATUM agent had somehow gotten himself entangled with a cord fastened onto the vehicle. Dunphy did not jump, thinking he had time to free the agent. But he was wrong, the bomb went off, and the flaming quinjet crashed into the ULTIMATUM building, destroying the dooms-day device just before it would have broadcast the pulse.

The Captain and Flag-Smasher had succeeded in escaping safely. Horrified on seeing the explosion aboard the quinjet, the Captain dove into the Arctic waters into which the quinjets debris had fallen. However, the Captain found no trace of Dunphy's body.

In actuality, however, Dunphy was thrown into the frigid waters and somehow survived to wander aimlessly, the victim of slight brain damage. He eventually was rescued by the Falcon and USAgent, and has since fully recovered.
In the meantime, he continued to adventure with his allies. One such adventure led Dunphy to encounter and save the lives of a large homeless population living underneath the streets of New York City in their so-called Zerotown. Realizing this community was in need of champion, Dunphy dedicated his life to these homeless and now lives with them as their full-time protector. Occasionally, Dunphy returns to help his friends, such as joining the other Avengers in reassembling the team after a period of disbanding.

Height: 6 ft. 3 in.
Weight: 335 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red, later shaved bald

Strength Level: Demolition-Man possesses superhuman strength enabling him to lift (press) about 10 tons.

Known Superhuman Powers: In addition to his superhuman strength. Demolition-Man possesses superhuman endurance and superhuman resistance to injury.

Abilities: Demolition-Man is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, especially in wrestling and in methods of hand-to-hand combat taught him by Captain America.