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The Abomination (Emil Blonsky) is a fictional supervillain that appears in the Marvel Universe and is a perennial foe of the Incredible Hulk. The Abomination first appears in Tales to Astonish vol. 1, #90 (April 1967), and was created by Stan Lee and Gil Kane.

Fictional character biography

Emil Blonsky is a KGB agent and spy who becomes the Abomination after deliberately exposing himself to the same gamma radiation (but in a greater quantity) that transforms Bruce Banner into the Hulk. Blonsky survives the radiation as he (like Bruce Banner) belongs to a small minority born with a genetic factor that causes mutation instead of death. Blonsky is transformed into a massive green-skinned monster with physical strength exceeding that of the Hulk. In his first appearance, the Abomination is more than twice as powerful as a calm Hulk. While able to retain his mental faculties, Blonsky soon discovered that he is unable to return to human form. After his defeat by the Hulk, the Stranger captures the Abomination, taking him to his laboratory world. He was later returned to Earth by a coven of witches, but after battling the Silver Surfer he was returned to the Stranger's world. He later battled Thor in an attempted escape from the Stranger's world.

The Abomination is recruited by Xeron the Star-Slayer to serve as the first mate aboard the starship Andromeda. After a battle with the Hulk, the Abomination fell from a near-Earth orbit. He fell into a coma, but when he awoke he joined forces with General Thunderbolt Ross to fight the Hulk. He later turned on Ross, teaming with the Rhino to take over Hulkbuster base; however, he was knocked unconscious in a collision with the Rhino. The Abomination is revived by General Ross and Doc Samson, who wish him to capture the Hulk; however, he instead tricks the Hulk into an alliance and attempts to ransom the captured Kennedy Space Center.

Eventually, the Abomination becomes an agent of the Galaxy Master, taking on the name "Ravager of Worlds". He was defeated by the Hulk, the Dark-Crawler, and Torgo, and abandoned in space. He is retrieved by the U.S. military, and revived by MODOK and General Ross. He is forced to battle the Hulk, but turns against MODOK, who atomizes him. His atomized body merges with the disembodied mind of Tyrannus in space. This gestalt being attempts to force Bruce Banner to cure this condition, but the procedure goes wrong, leaving Tyrannus in the Abomination body and returning Blonsky to a normal human form. Tyrannus briefly operates as the Abomination and attacks Wonder Man, until Ghaur and Llyra restore Tyrannus to normal. Blonsky again becomes the Abomination, but as a mindless beast, and battles She-Hulk and Spider-Man in New York. He recovers his mental faculties, and is hired to steal toxic waste from the Yucca Flats research center. There he fights the Hulk and is defeated, and gets doused in toxic waste.

Blonsky blames his condition on Banner and returns to attack his archenemy time and time again. Although stronger than the Hulk in a calm state, the Abomination has almost always been beaten by the Hulk when the latter is enraged.

In later issues, it is revealed that Blonsky's transformation alienates his ballet-dancer ex-wife, Nadia. Coupled with constant defeats at the hands of the Hulk, Blonsky is driven insane with hatred for Banner. The Abomination also grows incensed upon learning that Banner has married Betty Ross, the daughter of Thunderbolt Ross.

With the loss of his wife, Blonsky decides that Banner should also lose his spouse. The Abomination subsequently poisons Betty with his radioactive blood, causing Banner and his associates to believe that her close proximity to the Hulk has given her a fatal case of radiation poisoning. Banner later exposes the Abomination's role in Betty's false death, and the Hulk defeats him in combat. Banner then forgives the Abomination, who cannot accept this act. Blonsky finally realizes that he has been living a lie — it is he who is the monster, not the Hulk.

Months later, the still-grieving General Ross manipulates the Hulk into attacking and almost killing the Abomination. The Abomination is then taken into custody by the military, and as punishment is forced to watch a film loop of him and his wife prior to his transformation, making his incarceration a constant reminder of what he has lost.

Eventually, operatives from the secret organization Home Base release the Abomination in order to fight the Hulk. The Abomination has become even more vicious as a result of his incarceration, and reminds Banner of the loss of Betty to goad him into a violent response. The plan backfires as the Abomination faces an enraged Hulk, who utterly defeats him.

These events are later revealed to have been a hallucination created by the entity Nightmare , which is confirmed when Blonsky shows no knowledge of the relationship, and also declares that he's had two different wives named Nadia, to explain the difference in personality. Blonksy is then employed as a U.S. government hitman against hostile foreign interests.

The Abomination later realizes the Hulk is missing and rampages through the city of Reno, in Nevada. But despite his greater power the heroine She-Hulk managed to stop him through the use of psychology and superior combat skills, and he was placed in containment by agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Abomination is not transported to prison as the hero Iron Man apparently has plans for him to be test subject in a program code-named "Project Achilles". It is revealed that Project Achilles' mandate is to create a super-power nullifying system in nanotech form. An apparently fully human Blonsky is later identified among the subjects, and Iron Man states that the process is permanent, but this has been dispelled since Stark has both deactivated and reactivated She Hulk's powers using the nanotech.

Powers and abilities

Blonsky's transformation into The Abomination substantially increases his strength and durability, giving him many of the same powers as the Hulk. However, The Abomination differs from the Hulk in three ways:

• He is unable to transform into human form.

• While stronger than the Hulk in "calm" state, his strength does not increase with anger as the Hulk's does.

• He is also capable of regenerating from damage, but at a slower rate than the Hulk.

The Abomination is still very resistant to damage, can hold his breath for extended periods of time, and breathe underwater. The Abomination can also go into a state of suspended animation if in a climate lacking air or heat. Like the Hulk, he can travel many miles with one bound.

Other versions

Ultimate Abomination

This version of the Abomination is a Chinese scientist named Chang Lam, and discovers a means of becoming an Asian version of the Hulk. Unlike the Hulk, the Ultimate Abomination retained his mental faculties. He resembled a dark grey combination of a gorilla and reptile, and was at least 25 feet tall. The Ultimate Abomination was a member of the Liberators, and in a final battle with the Hulk he was decapitated, mutilated and eaten.

Future Imperfect

In the dystopian timeline of Future Imperfect, the Abomination (simply called "Emil") and his mutated minions battle the Maestro for control over the planet for decades. After the Maestro is deposed by his own past self, Emil and his minions subsequently invade and conquer his former kingdom, either driving out or killing anyone inhabiting it.

Marvel Zombies

A zombified Abomination appears in Marvel Zombies: Dead Days

See also

• Abominatrix

In other media

Animation

• In The Incredible Hulk 1996 animated series, the Abomination appears as a recurring villain voiced by Kevin Schon and later by Richard Moll.

Video games

• The Abomination is the first level boss in the Super NES video game The Incredible Hulk.

• The Abomination is the central villain of The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction video game (2005), in which he is voiced, both as Emil Blonsky and the Abomination, by Ron Perlman. The game retells a definitive origin of the Abomination character and ties directly into Peter David's Abomination-focused sister-story entitled "Hulk: Destruction". Combined, the two redefine Abomination's origin in one consistent story.

Film

• In May 2007, Marvel announced that Tim Roth will play the Abomination in the next Hulk movie, The Incredible Hulk, scheduled for release in 2008.

Toys

• Abomination was featured in the first series of Hulk Classics.
• A second Abomination (with melting face variant) was featured in Marvel Legends Series 13, a wave dedicated solely to villains.

Footnotes

1. Tales To Astonish vol. 1, #90 - 92
2. Silver Surfer vol 1, #12
3. Thor #178
4. Incredible Hulk #137
5. Incredible Hulk #159
6. Incredible Hulk #171
7. Incredible Hulk #194-196
8. Incredible Hulk #270
9. Incredible Hulk #287-290
10. Incredible Hulk Annual #15
11. West Coast Avengers #25; Solo Avengers #12
12. Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23
13. Incredible Hulk #364
14. The Incredible Hulk vol.3, #81
15. Hulk: Destruction #4 (2007)
16. Transported off-world by the Illuminati and participating in events in "Planet Hulk".
17. She-Hulk vol. 3, #15
18. She-Hulk vol. 4, #18
19. Tales To Astonish vol. 1, #90
20. Tales To Astonish vol. 1, #90
21. The Incredible Hulk vol. 1, #288
22. Ultimates vol. 2, #12 (2006)
23. The Abominations #1 - 3 (1996 - 1997)
24. Marvel Zombies: Dead Days (2007)
25. http://www.marvel.com/news/moviestories.1059

• Fictional characters with accelerated healing
• Fictional Chinese
• Fictional Czechs
• Fictional Russians
• Fictional secret agents and spies
• Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength
• Marvel Comics mutates
• Marvel Comics supervillains