A group of
villains published by
Marvel Comics. The characters were
created by
Stan Lee and
Jack Kirby and first appeared in
Fantastic Four #36.
The Frightful Four was originally a group of former villains of the
Fantastic Four who banded together in hopes of defeating them. Lead
by the Wizard, a scientist with an arsenal of high-tech weapons, the
original group was:
- the Sandman, a villain with the ability to turn himself into
sand
- the Trapster, a villain with an arsenal of weapons that shoot
sticky and encasing substances. The villain's original name was
Paste-Pot Pete.
- Medusa, a member of the royal family of the Inhumans with the
ability to move and control her hair. Medusa
was suffering from amnesia and wandered away from her family. She was
recruited by the Wizard for his team.
The group attacked the
Fantastic Four on a number of occasions but
were always defeated.
Eventually, Medusa regained her memory and returned to her home with
her people. The membership of the group has changed over the years to
include:
- Hydro Man, a villain with the ability to convert his body to water
- Thundra, an extra-dimensional warrior woman with super-strength from a society where
women are the dominant sex
- Electro, a villain with the ability to generate bolts of electricity and
one of the ugliest costumes in all of the Marvel Universe
- Titania, female powerhouse with a strength rivaling that of the
Thing
- Klaw, a villain whose body is composed of solid sound, giving him
the ability to create solid sound projections.
- Dragon Man, an artificial lifeform, with super-strength and fiery breath
Probably, the oddest member of the Frightful Four has been the
Brute.
Possessing superstrength and a high degree of resistance to harm, the Brute
was a large purple humanoid. What made the Brute unusual was that he
was
Reed Richards' counterpart from another Earth.