Background

The brute who would become the Rhino (Aleksei Mikhailovich Sytsevich, whew!) was a small time Russian muscle man who originally worked for professional criminals as a henchman. He was contacted by Eastern Block agents, and willingly agreed to become the subject in an experiment to transform him into a superhuman assassin. At the hands of a couple of Russian scientists (whose names are revealed Incredible Hulk #104 as Igor and Georgi) using chemical and radiation treatments, the Rhino was created. He became the possessor of super strength and a super tough skin which was "permanently" grafted to his own. As for the Rhino's limited intelligence, and instinct to charge before thinking... well, they were already part of his psyche long before the costume arrived. Rhino betrayed Igor and Georgi, leaving them for dead.

The Rhino's first mission was to capture the recently returned U.S. astronaut, Colonel John Jameson. He was dropped in Mexico, and given a fake passport bearing the name "Alex O'Hirn." He made his way north to New York, where unfortunately he encountered Spider-Man. Spider-Man defeated him in battle, and he was captured. He escaped from custody, and a rematch followed. However, Spidey was one step ahead. Having found a fragment of armor chipped from the Rhino's protective coating, he developed a spray designed which successfully dissolved the Rhino's armor.

After Rhino turned on his backers for a second time, he became a free agent in the world of professional super-powered mercenaries. The Rhino became fairly well known outside Spider-Man. He made a number of appearances in Incredible Hulk early on in his career, and then guest starred in dozens of other titles. The Rhino tried to kidnap Bruce Banner, but was nearly killed in an explosion. The Leader hired the Rhino to disrupt Bruce's wedding, but the Rhino's impatience left him the victim of yet another explosion. Rhino later teamed with the Abomination to take over Hulkbuster Base, but the two collided head- on, and were left incapacitated. Rhino also battled the Hulk during a time when he played minor league baseball as "Mecha Rhino."

With the fall of communism in Russia, the Rhino took a job from the Green Goblin (Harry Osborn) in hopes to make enough money to go back home, and convince his family to return back to America with him. His job, to scare Peter Parker, was thwarted when Peter slipped into his Spider-Man costume and furiously beat Rhino into submission. Rhino has always had a strong connection to family. He brought his mother and niece to America from Russia but couldn't afford to bring the whole family. Worse, they could only afford to live in the projects. The apartment was robbed and Rhino tracked down the thief that robbed them and took his niece's necklace. He took extra cash from the crooks, intending to use it to bring his entire family to New York. His mother, who apparently had no idea that her son was a super-criminal, refused to accept the money and disowned him.

As a classic villain, The Rhino was also invited to join a some short-term villain groups. First he was also part of the Sinister Syndicate along with Boomerang, Beetle, Speed Demon and Hydro-Man, who teamed-up to take down Silver Sable. With this gang, he came very close to killing Spider-Man, if not for the timely intervention of the then-reformed Sandman. Later, the same Syndicate team regrouped in the "the Deadly Foes of Spider-Man" miniseries along with Leila Davis, out for revenge against the Beetle. Rhino was looking for money to get his hide removed. Beetle, Speed Demon, and Hydro-Man kill an assassination target, who happened to be the Rhino's chief surgeon. Leila persuaded Rhino to join her and the Shocker and Boomerang aginast the Beetle.

In a major series of twists and turns, the Rhino was revealed to have been working for the Kingpin, using the super-villain battle as a diversion for the Kingpin to steal precious data from a police station, in exchange for the removal of his hide. The Kingpin planned to fail in the hide removal, to make the Rhino dependent on him. The Rhino overheard the double-cross, and kidnapped a doctor's family. In the end, Rhino's hide is successfully removed, but, missing the excitement, he later hires Justin Hammer to make him a new one (removable this time). The Juggeranut's sentence was lightened in exchange for the Canadian government officials avoiding having to reveal what experiments they performed upon the Rhino.

He became involved in yet another scientific experiment, this time to boost his intellect to match his mighty physical strength, as described in "Spider-Man: Tangled Web". The experiment worked too well, with Rhino's intelligence growing too large for his own liking. He fell in love, but soon was intellectually bored with his girlfriend, and ruined the relationship. He contemplated suicide, but used his new brainpower to reverse the procedure back to his old dumb self - even a little extra dumb!

Rhino popped up again aiding the Polish Mafia against Hammerhead's gang, and was once again thwarted by Spider-Man. Over in Uncanny X-Men, Rhino was seen escaping from a prison in Vancouver, Canada, where he had been, at some point, transformed into a half-man / half-rhino creature. The Juggernaut, about to be sentenced, was there with a new outlook on life, seeking to make amends for his criminal days. Juggeraut subdued the bestial Rhino, and surrendered despite the opportunity to escape.

Rhino apparently was reverted back to his normal super-powered self. He was jailed again after abducting and proposing to a French female singer/songwriter. Subsequently, he was jailed in Ryker's Island special section for super-powered criminals, along with the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn). Free again recently, Coleen Wing knocked down and apprehended the Rhino crashing Misty Knight's Jaguar XK8 straight into him.

Aleksei's luck has not been improving. He was captured by Alyosha Kravinoff and put in a "zoo" with the Vulture and Leap Frog. He had been trying to avoid the Punisher but quickly hoped that Frank Castle would "rescue" him.

Sytsevich managed to find a degree of happiness after he escaped from Alyosha and the Punisher. He married a Russian woman named Oksana, who talked him into leaving his criminal lifestyle. He even found a job as a bouncer at a fancy restaurant, without his costume. It was at his new job that he was challenged to a fight by the new, mechanically enhanced Rhino. This new thug had been created by Sasha Kravinoff, to force a battle between Sytsevich and Spider-Man. Aleksei refused to fight, honoring his promise to Oksana to put his violent past behind him. Spider-Man promised to take care of the new menace, as long as Aleksei stayed out of it. This became impossible after Oksana was killed by the new Rhino. Aleksei blamed Spider-Man for not protecting his wife, and after brutally defeating the usurper, promised Spider-Man that he will never forgive him for the death of Oksana.

Rhino briefly faced Spider-Man again, as the hero was trying to protect the infant son of Norman Osborn and Lily Hollister from various thugs hired by Doctor Octopus. He was talked out of further attacking Spider-Man and the child by remembering Oksana, who wouldnt want him to endanger a child. He left, wishing Spider-Man luck. Spidey thanked him and Aleksei told him he was referring to the next time they met.

That meeting was soon enough, as Rhino joined the latest incarnation of the Sinister Six. This grouping was to be the final meeting, as Octavius was dying of radiation poisoning and was planning a farewell to humanity. Rhino was happy to join the Six and get revenge on Spider-Man. Before that could happen, the Six attacked a group calling themselves the Intelligencia, another group of super criminals. The Intelligencia (M.O.D.O.K., Wizard, Red Ghost, Klaw and Mad Thinker) had a machine that used magnetism to blast certain spots on earth into space. The Six ruined the Intelligencia's plan so that they could be the one's to rule the world, not M.O.D.O.K. and Red Ghost.

Thanks To:

This profile was completed with information used with permission from the Appendix of Marvel Universe website, mantained by Jeff Christiansen (Snood). If you want to find out about that odd-ball character you've only seen once, or even about that character you haven't ever seen, that's the site you're looking for. An impressive amount of obscure characters await you there!

The assistance of the Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.

Some of the above information is extracted from the various versions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and the more recent Marvel Encyclopaedias.