Arcade (Marvel Comics)

Publication history

Arcade was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Arcade first appeared in Marvel Team-Up, vol. 1, issue #65 (the same storyline was reprinted shortly thereafter in the black-and-white comic Marvel UK title Super Spider-Man & Captain Britain #248).

Fictional character biography

A combination of evil genius and hitman, Arcade affects a manner of dress and speech that makes him appear to be a comedic character. This is part of his overall theme, which extends into his preferred method of murder, an underground funhouse of colorful deathtraps, usually decked out in cheery colors and disguised as an amusement park, which he has dubbed "Murderworld."

Arcade's back-story, up to and including his real name, remains largely unknown even to this day. According to the man himself, he was born into an extremely wealthy family and lived for much of his early life in, depending on the telling, a ranch in Texas, or a mansion in Beverly Hills. At the age of either eighteen or twenty-one, his allowance was cut off by his father, who declared that he did not deserve it. In retaliation, Arcade murders his father, thus inheriting all of the man's vast estate. Given his propensity for deception, this origin story can hardly be taken at face value.

Arcade became a freelance assassin, traveling across the world, killing people in rather mundane fashions, and amassing even more wealth than he already had. Discovering an aptitude for technology, Arcade designed and built his first Murderworld, a subterranean evil lair disguised as a very deadly amusement park. From this base, and with the help of two mysterious assistants named Miss Locke and Mr. Chambers, he reemerged as the world's most expensive hitman. For the price of $1 million, he would tailor Murderworld to exploit the specific weaknesses of his target and then watch as they are killed by the variety of colorful deathtraps strewn throughout the facility.

However, one of his "gimmicks" is that he always deliberately leaves each target a small chance of survival. In one instance, when the girlfriend of one of his captives begged him "If you're going to kill them, at least have the decency to do it quickly, painlessly!" Arcade laughs and replied, "Decency's dull... besides, miss, your way, they're dead and that's that. My way, they've got a chance. Not much of one, but a chance." This sets Arcade notably apart from most other villains who use deathtraps; while most villains believe that their death machines are infallible, Arcade likes to give them a chance on purpose, for the sport of it.

Since his first attempt to slay the unlikely duo of Spider-Man and Captain Britain, Arcade has tangled, at one time or another, with a large number of heroes and teams of heroes.

In addition to battling the X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force and Excalibur as groups, he has attempted to kill many individual members, usually in pairs. Examples of this include Gambit and Wolverine, Colossus and Shadowcat, Iceman and Angel, Nightcrawler and Spider-Man, Colossus and Meggan, Deadpool and Hercules, and Iron Man and The Thing.

Other would-be victims of Murderworld have included Green Goblin (Phil Urich), Doctor Doom, Northstar, Courtney Ross, Johnny Blaze, and the Micronauts.

Courtney Ross is one of the few non-super-powered civilians to escape Arcade's attention alive. She survives for some time due to outwitting multiple opponents (such as the Crazy Gang) and discovering a talent for improvisational comedy. In the end, she is rescued by the superhero team Excalibur. The entire situation gives her a new outlook and appreciation for life (which doesn't last long, as she is soon killed by an unrelated villain).

In another confrontation with Excalibur, Arcade trapped the team in a Murderworld programmed as a Looney Tunes parody, called the Loonies. He was revealed to be the "Wizard of Oz" of this world after Excalibur had to go down the yellow brick road.

At one point Arcade entraps the two otherworldly warriors, Adam X and Shatterstar, who team up to survive his plans. Arcade finds himself astonished as the two (mostly Adam) literally kill several of his employees. This causes him to state that the clients will be receiving a refund and the two are not to be dealt with in the future. Shatterstar attempts to kill Arcade, but he only destroys a robotic double.

The battle with Ghost Rider came when Arcade, having taken his show on the road, joins up with Blaze's Quentin Carnival; his Murderworld folded out from the back of a semi. Blaze rampages through the fold-out Murderworld, which he discovers is infested with demonic beings, destroying all the obstacles in his sight and killing what he can. He then leaves Arcade trapped in its depths. Arcade's trailer, now more normal-shaped, is driven out into the desert and abandoned.

Prior to a confrontation with Wolverine and Gambit, he murdered his assistant Miss Locke in a fit of rage. During the struggle, she wounded him with a carving knife and scarred much of his face. Over time, Arcade recovered from the physical trauma (presumably through facial surgery, though that has never been confirmed or even addressed in future stories) and even built a series of Miss Locke androids, virtually identical to her in ever way, to replace his now-dead companion.

He is responsible for the destruction of Mutant Town, as part of a botched plan to kidnap X-Factor's Rictor. He later surfaced, confronting Deadpool and Hercules, Dazzler, Human Torch and the Impossible Man. and the Young Allies and Avengers Academy.

In a shift from his usual modus operandi, Arcade is responsible for the "Avengers Arena." He and a new associate named Miss Coriander abduct 16 teenage superheroes (several with ties to the Avengers, including several members of Avengers Academy) and strands them on a deserted island, re-modified as an elaborate Murderworld location, forcing them to fight to the death.

Months later, in the pages of Avengers Undercover, several Murderworld survivors gather in Bagalia and are convinced by fellow hero Cullen Bloodstone to kill Arcade at the Massacrer Casino in revenge for his actions. After a chaotic battle, Hazmat finally kills Arcade by blowing him to bits with a concentrated radiation burst (as a way to avenge her boyfriend Mettle and those who died in his "Avengers Arena" Murderworld. However, it was revealed later that Arcade was actually alive the entire time, imprisoned in a Masters of Evil cell (with assistance from his now former comrade Ms. Coriander) and that Hazmat had in reality killed a clone made by members of the Masters of Evil. After the Masters of Evil get away on a hijacked Helicarrier, it was shown that they strapped Arcade to the front of it.

He has most recently been seen running a Murderworld operation on Coney Island, where he encountered Patsy Walker and friends.

He was later revealed to have captured Gwenpool and her former M.O.D.O.K. teammates and trapped them in Muderworld.

Arcade's other impacts

One of his old facilities was used as a headquarters by the superhero team X-Force. They planned to base crimefighting and even attendance in a nearby college out of it. Arcade later destroys the base remotely; X-Force barely escapes with their lives. Another old Murderworld location was converted into a training room by an incarnation of the New Warriors.

Madripoor Island-ruler Viper had bought one of Arcade's Murderworld facilities. She uses it to deceive the X-Men, threatening the city of London with nuclear weapons. Though restricted in the use of their powers, they manage to overcome the challenges and save lives.

In the three-part miniseries called "Claws", Arcade secretly creates a Kraven the Hunter robot, with the "assistance" of White Rabbit, in an attempt to kill both Wolverine and Black Cat. The two heroes overwhelm Arcade and the White Rabbit and strand them in the dinosaur-filled wilds of the Savage Land.

Powers and abilities

Arcade has no superhuman powers but has absolute genius-level knowledge of technology far ahead of conventional science, particularly in the fields of robotics and mechanical and electrical engineering. Usually when he appears to be captured, it turns out to be a robot.

In Agent X #5, it was revealed that Arcade also has some medical skills which he uses to save Agent X's life.

In the "Avengers Arena" series, Arcade easily held back a cadre of 16 high-powered teenage superheroes seemingly without having to resort to mechanical or technological devices of any sort. He displayed the ability to create force fields, proved to be nearly invulnerable to energy blasts without the force field, controlled the motor functions of his 16 captives all at the same time, employed telekinesis, caused nearby matter to form into a throne for him to sit on, and effortlessly blew apart an almost invulnerable mutant with a simple gesture. These abilities though, are the result of technology provided by his henchwoman, Miss Coriander and can only be manifested within the confines of the Antarctica Murderworld.

Associates

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse timeline, Arcade is a member of the Marauders, a heavily armed group of human traitors who work for Apocalypse, alongside Red, Dirigible, and the Owl. He is killed by Gwen Stacy and Clint Barton.

Age of X

In the Age of X universe, Arcade was the prison governor of the mutant prison. He was responsible for making Basilisk kill his brother Havok. Basilisk later escaped and killed Arcade.

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe

It is revealed that Arcade has been captured by Deadpool and forced to build deathtraps used to kill various members of the X-Men. He begs Wolverine to save him, horrified by the things Deadpool wants him to build. Wolverine instead kills Arcade for his involvement.

Marvel Adventures

In this version, Arcade has an actual amusement park in order to entertain the kids; he is skillful in robots and highly arrogant. After Mister Fantastic ruins his robots, he decides to prove to be superior to Mr. Fantastic and lure him into his Murderworld. There, Mr. Fantastic defeats all the traps and turns all the robots against Arcade. Arcade is taken into custody and Mr. Fantastic learns to be more tactful.

Later, Arcade traps high school student Flash Thompson in a new arcade machine and uses the young video gamer as a tester to destroy New York City. Eventually, Spider-Man breaks up Arcade's scheme and saves his schoolmate.

Secret Wars (2015)

In the Marvel Universe recreated by Doctor Doom, Arcade is the master of ceremonies at the Killiseum, an arena on the outskirts of Doomstadt built to entertain the masses of Battleworld. Here he encountered such heroes as Captain America and the Hulk and Thunderbolt Ross the War Machine. He also oversees the Ghost Racers event, which pit the various individuals possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance (including Carter Slade, Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch, Alejandra Blaze, and Robbie Reyes) against one another in violent races around a booby-trapped track. Thanks to the determined leadership of the unbeaten Reyes, the Ghost Racers would eventually break free of their captivity and kill Arcade.

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Arcade is portrayed as a taller, fitter gaming prodigy who invented a literal first-person shooter (which is called Murderworld). His sister was killed by Magneto in the bridge explosion in Ultimate War, giving him a hatred of mutants. He is apparently a skilled hunter and tracker, equipped with various high tech weapons and equipment. When the Ultimate Universe version of Longshot is found guilty of murdering a Genoshan politician, he is sentenced to participate in a reality TV show in which he is stranded on an island and hunted by opponents. As Arcade makes his way through the island jungle, he encounters three X-Men trying to save the prisoner. He subdues them and is about to kill Nightcrawler when Longshot knocks him unconscious. He is last seen being tied to a tree by Colossus with some scraps of iron.

What If?

In a reality where Wolverine was transformed into the Horseman of War by Apocalypse and then killed his maker and ran rampant on the Marvel Universe, Arcade was one of many X-foes who were slain by the rampaging mutant.

Television

Video games