Hunger (Loxias Crown) is a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

al character appearing in the

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. The character first appeared in ''

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

'' #76 (January 1997) and was created by

Howard Mackie Howard Mackie (born January 22, 1958) is an American comic book editor and writer. He has worked almost exclusively for Marvel Comics and is best known as the co-creator of the Danny Ketch version of the Ghost Rider character. Early life Mack ...

. He is an enemy of

Blade A blade is the Sharpness (cutting), sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they a ...

, and

Morbius Morbius (born Michael Morbius, also known as Morgan Michaels, Morbius the Living Vampire and Nikos Michaels) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and originally designed by pen ...

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is known for playing the Eleventh Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Prince Philip in Netflix's historical series ''The Crown ( ...

portrays a

composite character In a work of media adapted from a real or fictional narrative, a composite character is a character based on more than one individual from the story. It is an example of dramatic license. Examples Film *'' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939): Glinda, Goo ...

partially inspired by Hunger named Milo, whose birth name is Lucien, in the

Sony's Spider-Man Universe Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, the fil ...

(SSU) film ''

'' (2022).

Publication history

Created by

, the character first appeared in ''

'' #76 (January 1997).

Fictional character biography

Loxias Crown was an agent of Hydra equipped with armor that manipulates a mysterious energy known as

darkforce The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...

. After killing the armor's creator, William Fields, Crown takes

Empire State University Empire State University (SUNY Empire) is a public university headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Empire State University is a multi-site institution offering associate, bac ...

's staff and students as hostages to locate Fields' notes on his armor's technology, but is defeated by

and S.H.O.C. Crown next abducted

to perform experiments alongside Andrea Janson for

Don Fortunato Vincente Fortunato is fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. An elderly crime boss affiliated with the Maggia and HYDRA, he is usually depicted as an enemy of the superhero Spider-Man, and a competitor ...

. Crown threatened Peter Parker until Todd Fields (now known as Neil Aiken) surrendered, teleporting the two youths to his secret base. But after Hammerhead killed his love and captured his three hostages, Crown took Hydra's airship to get revenge. He fought both Spider-Man and S.H.O.C. and prepared to overload the latter's armor to kill everyone, but Morbius attacked and drained him dry while disappearing in the process.''Spider-Man'' #80 (May 1997) Crown next lived in New York City's sewers as a "Living Vampire" known as Hunger, an enforcer of Senator Stuart Ward. He abducted innocent civilians and the

Morlocks Morlocks are one of the two fictional species of post-humans created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel ''The Time Machine'' (the other being the Eloi). The origin of the names is not established (with regard to Wells' inspiration or inspirations ...

' leader

Callisto CALLISTO (''Cooperative Action Leading to Launcher Innovation in Stage Toss-back Operations'') is a reusable VTVL Prototype, demonstrator propelled by a small 40 kN Japanese LOX-LH2 rocket engine. It is being developed jointly by the CNES, French ...

to his lair beneath the streets. The ''

Daily Bugle The ''Daily Bugle'' (at one time ''The DB!'') is a fictional New York City tabloid newspaper appearing as a plot element in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The ''Daily Bugle'' is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, most ...

'' went to investigate but Hunger knocked Parker out and took

Betty Brant Elizabeth "Betty" Brant-Leeds is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in stories featuring the superhero Spider-Man. She is the personal secretary of J. Jonah Jameson at the ''Daily Bugle'', ...

hostage. Spider-Man teamed up with Marrow to free the prisoners, much to Hunger's annoyance.

Flash Thompson Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962). Flash ...

distracted Hunger, resulting in his defeat by Spider-Man and Marrow but escapes in energy form.''Peter Parker: Spider-Man'' (vol. 2) #4 (April 1999) Hunger later attacked a clandestine meeting between the Kingpin and the Maggia, and turned a number of gangsters into his own small army of living vampires. Blade and Spider-Man tracked Hunger down to an abandoned

Roxxon The Roxxon Energy Corporation (also known as the Roxxon Oil Company, Roxxon Oil Corporation, Roxxon Corporation, or simply Roxxon) is a fictional massive petroleum industrial conglomerate in the Marvel Universe appearing in American comic books ...

plant, fighting the two superheroes until he fled after his horde's deaths.''Peter Parker: Spider-Man'' (vol. 2) #7 (July 1999) In '' Blood Hunt'', Crown is killed by

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

following a failed attempt to conquer

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Powers and abilities

Initially, Loxias Crown wore an armor similar to S.H.O.C. which gave him the ability to channel negative energy and fire energy blasts. As a "Living Vampire", Hunger does not possess all the powers of a supernatural vampire, nor is he subject to all the traditional limitations and weaknesses thereof. He possesses a variety of superhuman powers, some of which are similar to supernatural vampires within the Marvel Universe, such as superhuman strength, speed and durability, as well as heightened senses including

night vision Night vision is the ability to see in low-light conditions, either naturally with scotopic vision or through a night-vision device. Night vision requires both sufficient spectral range and sufficient intensity range. Humans have poor night v ...

and echolocation. Due to his vampire-like condition, Hunger is forced to ingest fresh blood on a regular basis to sustain his life and vitality. He does not possess any of the mystical vulnerabilities that supernatural vampires are subject to, such as

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

holy water Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from ...

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

es, or

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

. He has a strong aversion to sunlight, thanks to his photo-sensitive skin which allows some protection from major sunburn, in contrast to "true" vampires that are incinerated by it, with the result that he can move in daylight, but his powers are diminished and he will stick to the shade if circumstances demand him to be active during the day.

Reception

In 2022, ''

CBR.com ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

'' ranked Hunger 9th in their "10 Most Important Marvel Vampires" list.

In other media

partly inspired by Hunger along with Emil Nikos, Vic Slaughter, and Michael Morbius, named Milo appears in ''

'' (2022), portrayed by

as an adult and Joseph Esson as a child. Depicted as Michael Morbius's surrogate brother and best friend, having met under the care of Emil Nicholas as both are suffering from a rare blood disease which prevented their bodies from properly being able to create blood, and born "Lucien", Milo is renamed as-such by Morbius as a child, before being sent away to private school. As adults, Milo's family wealth is key to Morbius's research for a cure, but causes "pseudo-vampirism", with Morbius seeking to resist the resulting bloodlust while Milo embraces it. After Milo kills Nicholas and fatally injure Martine Bancroft, Morbius restrains Milo with an army of vampire bats and seemingly kills him with a vampire-antibody.

References

External links

Loxias Crown
at Marvel Wiki
Hunger
at Marvel.com {{Spider-Man characters Comics characters introduced in 1997 Characters created by Howard Mackie Film supervillains Hydra (comics) agents Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds Marvel Comics characters with accelerated healing Marvel Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability Marvel Comics characters with superhuman senses Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics male supervillains Marvel Comics mutates Marvel Comics vampires Morbius Spider-Man characters Vampire supervillains