Know the foes of Marvel’s Spider-Man

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Wherever there has been a Sinister Six, there has always been a crackling agent of chaos amongst the rank of Spidey’s greatest foes who goes by the name of…Electro!

Origin

Maxwell Dillon was never the most ambitious blue collar worker, but all that changed one fateful day when the electrical engineer was repairing a line and was struck by lightning in a freak accident. Instead of dying, Dillon instead found that his biology had been enhanced and had given him the power to control electricity on a vast scale.

The only logical application of these powers? Crime! Donning a gaudy costume to disguise himself, Electro’s crime spree eventually caught the eye of Spider-Man, the webhead almost died in his first encounter with the lightning-charged villain, only besting him when he applied some science to the problem at hand and “short-circuited” Electro by dousing him in water from a nearby fire hydrant.

Thus a long career of humiliation began, with Electro frequently outsmarted by Spider-Man and always sent packing back to the Raft. Fed up with his series of defeats even when he was a member of the Sinister Six, Electro’s grandest plan saw him take control of New York’s power grid and vastly increase his power, although he was eventually defeated yet again and left for dead after attempting to commit suicide.

Electro would resurface in time, joining the Sinister Twelve in the process and later on being hired to shut down the Raft so that Karl Lykos AKA Sauron could escape from the Supervillain prison. Apparently dying again after a botched procedure to restore his powers after the Black Cat had robbed him of them, not even death can stop Electro from making yet another shocking return as he seeks fame, fortune and respect in life.

Powers and abilities

Electrostatic Energy Generation

Electro can naturally generate electrostatic energy using micro-fine rhythmic muscle contractions, powering up by 10 000 volts every minute to a maximum storage capacity of 10 million volts. When Electro spends this energy, his body automatically begins rebuilding the charge, although this process can be sped up by transferring power from generators into his body, forming a human transformer circuit in the process.

Electrostatic energy manipulation

When sufficiently charged, Electro has shown himself to be capable of unleashing his power with pinpoint precision, in any number of ways: Lightning bolts that he can fire from his fingers, ionization of metals, generating localised electromagnetic storms and using electromagnetic propulsion to not only travel through electric lines, but to actually fly while at the height of his powers.

Electrocution through physical contact

When he has enough power stored within him, Electro is capable of fatally electrocuting anyone who makes physical contact with him.

Electrical sixth-sense

With his electrical powers, Electro can sense the flow of electricity around him and follow the path to any device that makes use of the power source, overriding and taking control of it.

Magentokinesis

At one point, Electro exhibited powers similar to Magneto and used these to manipulate magnetic fields to an astonishing degree. With these powers, Electro could disrupt thought processes, vapourise water before it made contact with him and paralyse opponents by overcharging the bio-electrical transmissions of their synaptic functions.

Enhanced physical attributes

With his heightened electrical nervous system, Electro can channel his power throughout his body to make him far stronger, faster and more durable than an average human, with an upper strength limit enabling him to bench up to 225kg.