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Vamp
Real
Name: Unrevealed Occupation: Secret agent, later professional criminal Identity: Known to American legal authorities Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with a criminal
record Other Aliases: The Animus, Fernroe Force Place of Birth: Unrevealed Place of Death: The "Bar with No Name," Medina
County, Ohio Marital Status: Unrevealed Known relatives: None Group Affiliation: Corporation, S.H.I.E.L.D. Super-Agents Base of Operations: S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, later mobile First Appearance: (as Vamp) CAPTAIN AMERICA #217, (as
Animus) CAPTAIN AMERICA #222 Final Appearance: CAPTAIN AMERICA #319
History: Nothing has yet been revealed about the origin
of the woman known as the Vamp. She was secretly a member
of the subversive criminal organization called the Corporation
and was the lover of Senator Eugene Kligger Stivak, the
head of Corporation-East, the division of the Corporation
that dealt with operations in the eastern half of the
United States.
Presumably through genetic manipulation, Corporation scientists
endowed the Vamp with the ability to transform herself
into the Animus, a humanoid being with an enormous head,
no female sexual characteristics (at least on the upper
half of her body), and great psionic abilities. Stivak
himself triggered her transformations by remote control
through a device in his possession.
Aware that the Corporation employed agents with real or artificial
superhuman abilities, the international law enforcement
agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D.
organized its own team of "super-agents" to
combat them. Each of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Super Agents had either
actual superhuman powers, in the case of the Texas Twister,
or artificial superhuman abilities, given them by special
devices, such as Marvel Man (now known as Quasar) and
the Blue Streak. Two of the Super-Agents, the Blue
Streak and the Vamp, were secretly double agents who
actually served the Corporation. It is not known how the
Corporation managed to place these two agents within S.H.I.E.L.D.
undetected.
Apparently the Vamp was chosen to become a S.H.I.E.L.D. Super-Agent
due to her excellent ability at hand-to-hand combat. S.H.I.E.L.D.
was unaware of her power to become the Animus. Instead,
S.H.I.E.L.D. gave her an "absorbo-belt" which enabled
her to duplicate within herself the powers and skills
of another person within certain limits. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Public
Director Nick Fury wanted
to give her the code name of "Femme Force,"
but she chose the name "Vamp" instead.
As the Animus the Vamp made repeated but unsuccessful efforts
to kill Captain America,
an opponent of the Corporation. Later, Captain America
realized that one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Super-Agents was a Corporation
agent and confronted the four Super-Agents. The Blue Streak
revealed himself to be a Corporation agent while battling
Captain America. Pretending to be trying to halt him because
he was a traitor to S.H.I.E.L.D., the Vamp attacked the Blue
Streak and tried to kill him until Captain America stopped
her.
Captain America, Marvel Man, and the Vamp then went to Alcatrax
Island in San Francisco Bay, where the Corporation was
holding Captain America's ally the Falcon prisoner. Arriving,
they found that the Corporation was also holding Bruce
Banner, the alter ego of the Hulk, captive. Captain America
and Marvel Man were confronted by Stivak and Corporation-West
leader Curtiss Jackson, and the Vamp revealed herself
to be a Corporation agent. A battle ensued during which
Marvel Man freed Banner, who transformed into the Hulk.
Stivak then triggered the Vamp's transformation into the
Animus, in which form she had enough power to battle the
Hulk. But the Hulk smashed the crystalline club that the
Animus carried and that stored most of her psionic energies.
The destruction of the club caused the Animus to turn
back into the Vamp, but she had fallen into a catatonic
state from the mental shock the smashing of the club had
caused her. Stivak was killed, Jackson escaped, and Captain
America, Marvel Man, and the freed Falcon turned the Vamp
over to S.H.I.E.L.D.
It is not known exactly what happened to the Vamp then. Somehow
she regained full consciousness and was convicted, but
somehow regained her freedom. Presumably she no longer
possessed the absorbo-belt, and it is unknown whether
or not she could still become the Animus. She apparently
became a free-lance professional criminal and operated
for at least a time in the American Midwest.
The Vamp was invited by Gary Gilbert, who was formerly the
costumed criminal Firebrand, to attend a meeting of costumed
criminals to discuss possible strategies to use against
Scourge, the mysterious vigilante who was assassinating
such criminals. The meeting was held at the "bar
with no name" in Medina County, Ohio, one of a number
of similar secret meeting places for criminals. However,
despite Gilbert's precautions, Scourge showed up at the
meeting disguised as the bartender and shot the Vamp and
all the other criminals present with explosive bullets.
Arnim Zola collected the remains
of some of the criminals at that meeting in order to clone
them; Vamp's remains were among those. Zola allowed Vamp's
cloned to engage in similar criminal activities as if
she had never died, in order to collect money for his
future experiments. The clone was hired by one of Typhoid
Mary's personalities to assassinate herself; this job
brought her up against the hero known as Deadpool.
Later, Deadpool infiltrated Arnim Zola's lab and destroyed
all the clones from the Bar With No Name, including Vamp's.
Height: (as Vamp) 5 ft. 6 ft., (as Animus) 6 ft. 5 in.
Weight: (as Vamp) 125 lbs., (as Animus) 310 lbs. Eyes: Hair: (as Vamp) Black, (as Animus) Bald
Strength Level: In her normal form the Vamp possessed
the normal human strength of a woman of her age, height,
and build who engaged in intensive regular exercise. Her
absorbo-belt enabled her to increase her strength temporarily
to an undefined extent by, duplicating the level of strength
of another person. However, not even the absorbo-belt
could give her superhuman strength approaching that of
the Hulk, who has Class 100 strength, enabling him to
lift (press) over 100 tons. As the Animus the Vamp possessed
superhuman strength of an unknown extent that was greater
than what the absorbo-belt could give her.
Known Superhuman Powers: The Vamp possessed the ability
to become the Animus, a superhuman being with great psionic
powers, an enormous head, and no female secondary sexual
characteristics (at least on the upper portion of her
body). (Possibly the Animus was indeed male.) The Vamp's
transformation into the Animus was triggered by remote
control by a device possessed by the Corporation; possibly
later, when the Vamp apparently operated independently,
she found a means of controlling her transformations herself.
It is not known why the Vamp's clothing was transformed
when she herself was.
The Animus could project powerful psionic bolts of concussive
force from his/her forehead. The Animus also possessed
telekinetic powers enabling him/her to levitate objects
and even to animate inanimate objects and cause them to
move according to his/her will. Once the Animus even animated
the large statue of Abraham Lincoln at Washington, D.C.'s
Lincoln Memorial by this means.
On becoming the Animus the Vamp caused a crystalline club to
materialize that the Animus used as a weapon. The club
also apparently served to store much of the Animus's enormous
psionic energy, and the Animus used the club at times
to focus and project such energy. Shattering the club
created a psionic backlash against the Animus's mind that
caused the Animus to transform into a catatonic Vamp.
Apparently the Vamp possessed limited telepathic abilities
even in her normal form.
At times, when defeated, the Animus vanished, apparently through
teleportation. Possibly the teleportation was brought
about by Corporation technology and was not brought about
by the Animus his/herself.
Other Abilities: The Vamp held a black belt in judo
and was an excellent hand-to-hand combatant.
Limitations: The Animus could not project psionic energy
without remaining physically still.
Weapons: As a S.H.I.E.L.D. Super-Agent the Vamp wore an absorbo-belt
that, through unknown means, enabled her to duplicate
within herself the physical strength and athletic skills
of a person within a certain but unrevealed radius of
herself for a brief period of time, the length of which
has not been revealed. There is no evidence that the absorbo-belt
could enable the Vamp to gain superhuman strength, other
kinds of superhuman abilities, or non-physical abilities.
It is known that the absorbo-belt could not duplicate
the superhuman strength of the Hulk.