A
villain published by
Marvel Comics.
Arnim Zola first
appeared in
Captain America #208 in 1977 and was created by
Jack Kirby.
Late in the 1930's, a Swiss man named Arnim Zola discovered a
hidden cache of documents in a castle in Switzerland. The
documents were from the time of the Crusades and were written
in an unknown language. After a time, Zola was able to tranlate
the documents which had been written by members of a little known
branch of humanity called the Deviants. Masters in genetics, the
Deviants had written down the breadth of their genetic knowledge,
which Zola now mastered. Realizing the potential of this knowledge,
Zola approached Adolf Hitler to gain funding for his research.
Arnim Zola's first advancement was a device that would duplicate
the brain patterns of its subject on a new clone. Zola then
used this device to clone a number of mindless versions of Hitler
so that in the event of his injury, Hitler could live on through
the use of a cloned body. In fact, when Hitler took his own life
at the end of World War II, his mind was transfered through Zola's
device to a cloned body, so that he would live on.
Zola's next advance was a more personal one. Realizing that with his
new knowledge that he could live in a body that was better than his
bent, dwarfish natural body, Zola began to create a clone that was
better suited for him. Oddly enough, Zola's choice in bodies was
not what most of us would have chosen, since he chose to create a
body the brain situated in the chest to offer better protection and
a device called an ESP box for a head. The ESP box allows Zola
to "see" via ESP and to communicate in the same manner. To top off
the effect, Zola created a viewscreen on the body's abdomen that
shows an image of his face like some acid-trip version of a Teletubby.
Over the years, Arnim Zola has created a number of genetic monsters
to further his research. These monsters include a highly advanced
creature called Primus and a shapechanging creature called
Doughboy, not to be confused with the claymation creature of the
same name.
Zola's activities over the years have put him in conflict with
a number of heroes including Captain America and the Incredible
Hulk. Zola continues to operate even after each seeming defeat.