H.I.V.E.

Updated on Dec 01, 2023

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Publisher DC Comics		Type of organization Organized crime
First appearance New Teen Titans #2 (December, 1980) Created by Marv Wolfman George Pérez Leader(s) Adeline Kane Queen Bee Brother Blood Damien Darhk Agent(s) Otto Muller Talia al Ghul Deathstroke Ravager

The H.I.V.E., which stands for the Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination, is a DC Comics supervillain organization.

Publication history

The H.I.V.E. first appeared in New Teen Titans #2 and were created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.

1st Incarnation

The H.I.V.E. Master gathered seven unnamed criminal scientists to assist him in taking over the world and eliminating Superman and the Teen Titans. H.I.V.E.'s first known plot involved kidnapping Lois Lane and removing her memories. They subsequently attempted to learn more about the return of Superman Island from space, and hired Deathstroke the Terminator to kill the New Titans. H.I.V.E. was also responsible for turning Deathstroke's son Grant Wilson into Ravager.

The H.I.V.E. Master is later killed and replaced by the H.I.V.E. Mistress, who re-enlists Deathstroke.

2nd Incarnation

The second incarnation of the H.I.V.E. was established by Adeline Kane, Deathstroke's ex-wife. They were tracked down by Tartarus led by Vandal Savage and made up of Gorilla Grodd, Lady Vic, Red Panzer, Siren, and Cheshire.

The H.I.V.E. is later seen as members of Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains with the H.I.V.E. falling under the leadership of Queen Bee.

The New 52

Following the 2011 Flashpoint miniseries and the "New 52" reboot, the H.I.V.E. acronym was reimagined as Holistic Integration for Viral Equality. Additionally, the organization formed an uneasy alliance with Green Lantern villain Hector Hammond. They are led by a world class telepath named the H.I.V.E. Queen who is a zealous devotee of the alien Brainiac, claiming to be his "daughter". To the public, H.I.V.E. is a social media company that connects people to each other. However, their true goal is to kidnap humans with psychic powers and harness their energies in order to mentally enslave the world for Brainiac's return. Their criminal activities become publicly known following the Psi War storyline, when a roster of powerful telepaths clash in Metropolis. During the battle, their main headquarters located beneath Metropolis is destroyed and their entire plan thwarted.

In a flashback seen during the Forever Evil storyline, the H.I.V.E. were responsible for an act that turned S.T.A.R. Labs scientist Dr. Caitlin Snow into Killer Frost when she threatened their control of the energy market.

H.I.V.E. is later featured in Red Hood/Arsenal. A group of H.I.V.E. soldiers, led by the H.I.V.E. Regal, have planted a "transubstantiation bomb" aboard a U.S. Navy ship set to go off during a ceremony. Once the bomb goes off, it is supposed to release a psionic virus that will infect all the U.S. Military personnel present with the goals and ideals of H.I.V.E. However, Red Hood and Arsenal infiltrate the ship during the ceremony and Arsenal disables the bomb while Red Hood fights off the soldiers and kills the H.I.V.E. Regal.

H.I.V.E. returns in Teen Titans Vol 4. During a trip to New Orleans, the city suddenly comes under psionic attack from the H.I.V.E. Queen who quickly seizes control of every mind in New Orleans except the Titans who are shielded by Raven's magic. The mind-controlled citizens then start building psionic amplifiers that will allow the Queen to expand her powers across the whole of the U.S. Managing to triangulate her location, Red Robin and Raven assault her base and defeat the H.I.V.E. Queen, freeing everyone from her mental control.

D.C. Rebirth

At some point, Deathstroke's son Grant Wilson was hired by H.I.V.E. for an unknown reason but is beleived to have died trying to accomplish his assignment.

Membership

There are different memberships in each incarnation. Here is a list of its known memberships:

First H.I.V.E.

H.I.V.E. Mistress -

Franklin Crandall -

Penelope Lord -

Second H.I.V.E.

Adeline Wilson (née Kane) - The H.I.V.E. Mistress of the second incarnation of H.I.V.E.

Damien Darhk -

The New 52 H.I.V.E.

Hector Hammond -

H.I.V.E. Queen (leader) -

H.I.V.E. Regal -

Dreadnought -

Psiphon -

Psycho Pirate (prisonner) -

Doctor Psycho (prisonner) -

Unnamed foot soldiers -

Anti-Matter Universe

The H.I.V.E.'s heroic counterparts in the antimatter universe in JLA: Earth 2 are known as the Hierarchy for International Virtuous Empowerment.

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, the H.I.V.E. council members: Adeline Kane, August General in Iron, Captain Nazi, Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi, Impala, Naif al-Sheikh, Prince Osiris, Ra's al Ghul, and Red Star are taking a vote which will decide if they should be against using nuclear weapons to end the war in Western Europe between Aquaman and Wonder Woman. Though the majority of them votes yes, they are stopped by Kane's daughter followed by Kane starting the attack alone.

Television

The H.I.V.E. appears in the Teen Titans animated series. There are strong indications that the Academy is actually a supervillain cult, but this is not made explicit since Teen Titans tends to be focused at a younger audience. This angle seems to be underplayed in favor of the standard "evil organization" theme. The H.I.V.E. Academy/H.A.E.Y.P. (short for "H.I.V.E. Academy for Extraodinary Young People") is depicted as an evil school/organization founded by its unnamed headmistress (voiced by the show's voice director Andrea Romano). Notable students include Mammoth, Gizmo, Jinx, Bumblebee (actually an infiltrator who later joined the Teen Titans East), and characters exclusive to the show like Private H.I.V.E. (a pastiche of Captain America and Guardian), Billy Numerous, See-More, Kid Wykkyd, Angel, XL Terrestrial, I.N.S.T.I.G.A.T.O.R., and Wrestling Star. The H.I.V.E. also includes a large staff of dark-skinned faculty (who wear similar cloaks to Raven) as well as a large number of armed H.I.V.E. Troopers (whose gold and black uniforms resemble that of Private H.I.V.E.). In "Final Exam", the Headmistress offers Slade her graduates Mammoth, Gizmo, and Jinx where Slade puts them on a challenge to defeat the Teen Titans. When Mammoth, Gizmo, and Jinx were defeated, the H.I.V.E. Headmistress tells Slade that such failures are not tolerable in the H.I.V.E. and that when Mammoth, Gizmo, and Jinx are retrieved from the authorities, they will be strictly disciplined. Slade told the H.I.V.E. Headmistress that on the other hand, they succeeded in delivering his message as he shows her footage of Robin asking Gizmo who Slade is. The H.I.V.E. Academy was later taken over by Brother Blood (the main antagonist of the third season after Slade's apparent death in the "Aftershock" season two finale). In "Deception", the H.I.V.E. Academy was infiltrated by Cyborg in the guise of "Stone", a student who can become a rock being. When Brother Blood congratulates Stone for his performance, he also scolds Mammoth, Gizmo, and Jinx with a reference on them being sent back to the H.I.V.E. Academy after their failure back in "Final Exam". The Academy was destroyed after the defeat of Brother Blood, but some of the students (Gizmo, Mammoth, Jinx, See-More and Kyd Wykkyd along with Billy Numerous) formed their own independent supervillain group called the H.I.V.E. Five causing Kid Flash to comment that there are six members, while Blood sought out revenge against Cyborg by upgrading his own biology by imprinting Cyborg's blueprints onto him and robot servants called "Cyclones". Most of the H.I.V.E. students later became allies to the Brotherhood of Evil and ended up frozen by Más y Menos. The H.I.V.E. Headmistress is seen on a missing person picture on a milk carton in the H.I.V.E. academy when Brother Blood took over. She reappeared at Brain's meeting with all of the show villains, briefly appearing in the final battle against the Titans alongside Wintergreen.

The H.I.V.E. makes appearances on Teen Titans Go!, there are six members (Jinx, Gizmo, Mammoth, See-More, Billy Numerous, and Kyd Wykkyd) but they are known as the H.I.V.E. Five. A fact commented upon by Kid Flash in Episode 60, (Season 5: Episode 8: Lightspeed).

The H.I.V.E. organization appear in Arrow as major antagonists led by Damien Darhk. In "Al Sah-Him", Ra's al Ghul mentions Damien Darhk as his competitor to the Demon's Head title, that he hesitated in killing Damien allowing him to escape, and that Damien now commands a "hive of supporters" around the world. Damien Darhk (portrayed by Neal McDonough) appears as the main antagonist in season 4, where he serves as the leader of H.I.V.E. The media of Star City refer to Darhk's H.I.V.E. agents as the "Ghosts", due to the fact that they commit suicide when captured rather than being interrogated by the authorities. Darhk encountered the Green Arrow for the first time while planning to blow up the train from Central City to Star City.

Video games

The H.I.V.E. is featured in DC Universe Online. They are shown to serve Queen Bee when they attack S.T.A.R. Labs and LexCorp Exobyte Transports near the Metropolis Metrodome. She and the H.I.V.E. are in cahoots with Brainiac in order to deliver the stolen Exobytes to him. The players fight the H.I.V.E. again when Queen Bee hypnotizes Booster Gold. The H.I.V.E.'s foot soldiers consist of H.I.V.E. Drones, H.I.V.E. Foragers, H.I.V.E. Killer Bees, H.I.V.E. Recruits, H.I.V.E. Royal Drones, H.I.V.E. Stingers, H.I.V.E. Workers, Mortuary Bees, a H.I.V.E. Minder, and Major Honeygut.

Miscellaneous

The H.I.V.E. appeared in Teen Titans Go!. Issue #16 introduced H.I.V.E. Students Rock, Paper, and Scissors. Rock is a large girl who can transform her body into rock. Paper is a thin girl who can stretch like Mister Fantastic. Scissors is a punk kid who can elongate his fingers into bladed talons.

References

H.I.V.E. Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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