Carrion
(Miles Warren)
Context
Carrion is an undead monster. He dominated the first half of 1979 in Spider-Man stories with his horrific story arc, then was destroyed – though another person would later claim the Carrion identity. Carrion was the capstone to a saga that had started in 1974, involving clones of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy.
Decades later, many elements of the story would return as a new, best-selling and critically-panned “Clone Saga”. But back then we didn’t know that ! We were just kids engrossed by these strange characters, and having nightmares about Carrion. Who was rather ghastly compared to what had been previously done in Code-compliant super-hero comics.
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Background
- Real Name: Clone of Professor Miles Warren.
- Marital Status: Single.
- Known Relatives: Prof. Miles Warren (original).
- Group Affiliation: None.
- Base Of Operations: E.S.U. (New York City).
- Height: 6’4″ Weight: 175 lbs.
- Eyes: Yellow Hair: None
Powers and Abilities
Carrion has several deadly abilities and powers. Some derive from his nature as a superpowered clone of Warren, some from his status as a kind of undead being, some from the fact that he is clearly a Thing That Should Not Be.
He :
- Possesses a strength and speed far beyond that of ordinary men.
- Can disintegrate nearly any object or being with a touch.
- Can teleport.
- Can become intangible like a ghost.
- Can levitate through the air.
- Can repulse materials.
- Can read minds.
His phasing and repulsive abilities, and his levitation and teleportation powers, are described as a result of nature itself rejecting him.
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Other assets
He can also, as if he already wasn’t deadly enough, brew a deadly red dust. The dust can either act as a super-acid, as a mutant flesh-eating bacteria or as a knockout gas. He keeps extra reserves of this powder in a leather bag.
Since he possesses the memories and personality of Professor Warren he’s extremely intelligent although totally insane. Like Warren he’s the world’s leading authority in the field of induced mutation and genetic engineering.
All in all, the Carrion is a truly deadly adversary.
History
(There have been various revelations and retcons in later stories about the Jackal, such as the Maximum Clonage story arc. And apparently there is new information surfacing as of this note (late 2016). So the following is just the skinny.)
Before leaving for an encounter with Spider-Man, that he thought might lead to his own death, Professor Miles Warren started to create a clone of himself. As fate would have it, Warren did indeed die during that encounter. A later, alternative writing of events holds that Prof. Warren created the Carrion clone deliberately to contain his lethal Carrion Virus.
Following his death, the clone-casket, growing the clone to maturity, malfunctioned. It super-aged Prof. Warren’s clone into death – and beyond.
The clone-casket was found and opened by student Randy Vale. What emerged was the super-powered incarnation of evil known as the Carrion. Vale became the Carrion’s aid in the costumed identity of Darter. Carrion had promised Darter the powers of Spider-Man himself. But when Darter realized that Carrion was unable to make the transfer he attacked the Carrion and died horribly.
Putrefaction at work
What is absolutely certain is that Carrion possessed great power and no conscience. His guiding force was the memories of Prof. Warren which were contained in his RNA. These memories led him to seek the painful and humiliating destruction of Spider-Man in revenge for the death of Gwen Stacy.
The first Carrion apparently died when he was attacked, in a burning lab, by the Spider-Man amoeba clone that he had intended to kill Spider-Man with. However, it was later revealed that the Carrion Virus is deadly in all its various strains. One strain was responsible for creating Carrion II (Malcolm McBride) and Carrion III (William Allen).
Equally as lethal is that strain which Miles Warren, The Jackal, intended to use to destroy all of humanity – as portrayed in Maximum Clonage.
Description
Carrion, as his name implies, looks like a dead, zombie-like being. He is tall and thin, with yellow skin, yellow deep-set and oddly glowing eyes, no hair and has a generally decayed appearance giving him an highly unnatural look. He wears gray tatters of rotten clothing wired around various parts of his body such as the head, ankles, waist, feet etc.
He additionally wears a fresh leather bag that contains lots of the deadly Red Dust that he creates and uses.
Carrion moves in a quick, inhuman way and has a strong and terrifying aura. Few people can look at this terrible creation and not shudder.
Personality
Carrion knew that he was a clone of Professor Miles Warren (alias the Jackal). The Carrion’s personality is a twisted version of Prof. Warren’s own. As such, he was obsessed with destroying Spider-Man in vengeance for the death of Gwen Stacy. Additionally, Carrion has all of Warren’s memories up to his death and knows Spider-Man’s true identity.
Carrion is a dangerous, psychopathic killer. He feels no remorse for his victims and will always attempt to kill people that may hinder his plans.
At all times the Carrion felt it would be most effective to stay away from the sights of men, and as such usually hid in for example closed lab departments at the E.S.U. in NY City where Peter Parker (Spider-Man) studied. This way he could always keep an eye on Parker (while reading his mind) to plan the perfect plan for destroying him.
The Carrion’s main psychological flaw (like for Warren it resulted in his own death) was his desire to toy and play with his victims instead of destroying them immediately. This being just had to play and plague Spider-Man for a long time before killing him. He loved a good deathtrap and kept his true identity a secret until the very moment that he was going to kill Spider-Man.
In action, the Carrion is dangerous and suicidal. He is completely certain that Parker killed Gwen Stacy and nothing could change that belief even though he could read minds. In combat he appears to know everything about his opponent which he actually does since he can read people’s minds.
Quotes
“You will suffer like I have suffered… and you will experience the pain of the doomed !”
“Don’t you understand that you cannot avoid the unavoidable, Parker ? Our duel is arranged… in my favor ! You cannot win…”
DC Universe History
The first Carrion is thoroughly tied into the histories of Spider-Man and the Jackal. He is best kept as a foe of Spider-Man, but might make a very deadly guest appearance, while planning Spider-Man’s final demise.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Carrion
| Dex: 07 | Str: 09 | Bod: 08 | Motivation: Psychopath |
| Int: 09 | Wil: 06 | Min: 06 | Occupation: Criminal |
| Inf: 07 | Aur: 07 | Spi: 05 | Resources: 0 |
| Init: 025 | HP: 040 |
Powers:
Acid: 07, Air-walking: 04, Cell Rot: 07, Disintegration: 10, Dispersal: 08, Invulnerability: 04, Knockout Gas: 07, Mind Probe: 07, Repulsion: 11, Teleport: 05
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Knockout Gas may be used for Killing Combat ; Acid, Cell Rot and Knockout Gas actually are variations of a Red Dust which also can be kept in a pouch for later use and thrown like a weapon (+0).
- Repulsion may only repulse organic matter and water.
- Teleportation is accompanied by a flash of light and a sulphurous odor.
Skills:
Charisma (Intimidation): 09, Gadgetry: 09, Scientist: 10, Thief (Stealth): 06, Weaponry (Red Dust): 08
Advantages:
Genius, Lightning Reflexes, Scholar (Biology, Genetic Engineering, Induced Mutation), Misc. Exactly like for Warren the Spider-Man’s Spidersense cannot sense the Carrion at all.
Connections:
Darter (High).
Drawbacks:
SIH (Spider-Man), SIA (Gwen Stacy), Serious Psychological Instability, Strange Appearance, Misc. The Carrion’s powers are completely unusable against any creature of a similar origin as himself.
Equipment:
Leather Pouch [BODY 02, Bonus: Since the pouch contains stored Red Dust the Carrion can spend from this storage to effectively increase his Acid, Cell Rot or Knockout Gas power by at most 2 APs each.]
Source of Character: Spider-Man comics.
Helper(s): www.sigma.net, Sébastien Andrivet.