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Attributes

Height: 6' (Estimated)

Weight: 175 lbs. (Estimated)

Eyes: Brown as Edward, Red as Vermin

Hair: Black as Edward, brown full-body fur as Vermin

Features: He seems like a humanoid rat.

Summary

Created By: J.M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck

Real Name: Edward Whelan

Current Aliases: None

Former Aliases: None

Dual Identity: Known to the authorities

Current Occupation: Vermin once again

Former Occupation: Genetic Researcher; Mass-murdered (as Vermin); Assistant in Ravencroft

Citizenship: U.S.

Legal Status: Needs psychiatric treatment to prevent his Vermin-persona from surfacing.

Place of Birth: Unknown

Marital Status: Single

Known Relatives: Mother, unnamed, and father, Judge Whelan.

Known Confidants: His mother and Doctor Kafka.

Known Allies: Doctor Kafka, Spider-Man and Baron Zemo II's mutations

Major Enemies: His father, Captain America, Spider-Man, Arnim Zola, Baron Zemo II, Kraven I and Green Goblin II.

Usual Bases: Ravencroft Institute/NY Sewers

Former Bases: NY Sewers

Current Groups: None

Former Groups: None

Education: Graduate in Genetics

Powers & Paraphenalia

Strength Level: Super-human, but significantly less than Spider-Man.

Powers: Super-human speed and agility.

Abilities: Mental control over small animals, like rats and dogs. Enhanced smell sense.

Equipment: None

Weapons: His claws and teeth, both razor-sharp. His feral rage makes him very dangerous.

Limitations: Is not very bright in his Vermin persona, and his childhood trauma causes him a great deal of fears, most notably, fear from pain.

Background

Zola and Zemo used Vermin to destroy Captain America, their mutual enemy. We don't need to read that story to know he failed, as Captain America is still alive. Vermin went on the loose and he fought Spider-Man and Captain America on his second outing. Spidey couldn't have defeated him without Cap's help. This laid the groundwork for an epic to come.

In Kraven's Last Hunt, Kraven finally "killed" Spider-Man. He buried him, and decided that to prove himself Spider-Man's superior, he had to sucessfully replace him, wearing the costume and defeating someone Spidey couldn't by himself. Sergei sets out to find Vermin, a foe that Spider-Man hadn't beaten without help from Captain America. Vermin had been out prowling the streets for food, and tried to make a meal of police officer Angela Cairn's partner. In that regard, Kraven acted as a hero: stopping a cannibal from walking the streets of New York. His fight against Vermin is great, and in the end, the hunter overcomes the animal. When Spider-Man leaves his grave, Kraven releases Vermin, and kills himself while Spidey searches for Vermin. Spidey's battle against Vermin is also great, and in the end, Spidey finally overcomes him alone.

Since then Vermin is under treatment by Dr. Ashley Kafka. She's the one who discovers his father's abuse but Vermin proves to be a tough guy to contain, and despite the occasional display of his docile Edward persona, Vermin escapes. This time he joins a three way battle with Spider-Man and Green Goblin II (Harry Osborn), who just decided to avenge the original by killing Spidey. During this story, (The Child Within) Vermin confronts his parents, the father for the abuse, and the mother for allowing it, and is unable to kill his father, showing that the Edward persona is gaining influence. When Spidey shows up, the Vermin persona comes to full bore and he attacks Spidey. In the end, Spidey saves him from being killed by the police, and he's returned to treatment. Dr. Kafka manages to see a physical transformation for the first time, when temporarily Vermin's face becomes Edward's.

J.M. DeMatteis really loved Vermin, so he brings him back 10 months after the previous story. Edward's treatment is going well, and he only becomes Vermin in 12~15 hour intervals. Vermin is being successfully removed from Edward's subconscious. But as nothing ever goes well, Zemo's mutations invade the university and kidnap both Edward and Dr. Kafka. The monsters took them to an underground place, where Edward panicked, afraid that Zemo would repeat his experiments, and became Vermin once again. It turns out that the monsters were as human as Edward, and that they had escaped from Zemo's control. They went for Vermin to make him their leader. He accepts, despite Kafka's objections. He took the mutations to the surface for food, where they meet Spidey. He beats Vermin, who turns back into Edward, but they're overwhelmed by the numerous mutations, and captured. In the hideout, Edward gains the mutations trust, and convinces them that Spidey and Dr. Kafka can help them too. He and their previous leader shake hands, but Zemo arrives and kills him (the previous leader). He also turned Edward back into Vermin and assumed mind control over all of his creations. They capture Spidey, but Vermin overcomes the mind control and tries to kill Zemo. Kafka talks him out of it, and he definitely kills his Vermin persona. The mutations are taken to Reed Richards, Edward becomes Kafka's assistant and Matt Murdock (Daredevil) agrees to defend him in court.

Later, in the beginning of the Clone Saga, when all of the insane criminals had been transferred to the Maximum Security Institute for the Insane Criminals, Ravencroft, under Dr. Kafka's supervision, and John Jameson's security, the all-powerful (later revealed to be a wimp) Judas Traveller turned Edward into Vermin, but reverted the transformation because his heart is pure and he didn't deserve to suffer any more. Later still, in Wolverine Annual 2001, Edward is retrieved from Ravencroft by Bloodscream to fight Wolverine, then he allies with Wolverine and they both beat Bloodscream. In Marvel Knights #14-15, the Punisher uses Vermin to track down Daredevil.

Recently, Edward reverted back into Vermin after Vincent Stegron brought back a mystical crystal from the arctic that brought out the animal nature inside of humans. In the case of the Lizard, Puma, Black Cat, Man-Wolf and Vulture, that happened literally. Vermin tried to make an injured Lizard into lunch, but was stopped by Puma and Black Cat.

Edward was still in his Vermin form after being captured by the Puma, which explains how he was still the rat when he next encountered Spider-Man. Peter's roommate had been kidnapped by a female Kraven and taken into the sewers. She had assumed Vin was Spider-Man when she found the costume in his apartment, which she took as evidence. Without a disguise, Peter borrowed Daredevil's costume and set out looking for Vinny. Scared and desperate after encountering the new Kraven, Vermin more than matched Spider-Devil as he entered the sewers.

Thanks To:

The assistance of the Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.

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