
File:Morbius cover.jpg

Created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, Morbius has fought Spider-Man ever since his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 (October, 1971), occasionally working together or fighting against several other Marvel characters, perhaps most commonly with Blade. He was also seen as a character in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

Michael Morbius, also known as "The Living Vampire" was a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who in hopes of curing his fatal blood cell dissolving disease treated himself with fluids distilled from vampire bats and as a last chance tried shock-treatment as a way to electrically create blood cells. This "cured" him by transforming him into a vampiric being that lusted after blood, as a way to counter the disease. He also gained several other vampiric attributes, such as white skin, fangs, allergy to sunlight (though painful, sunlight does not kill him because he is not undead like normal vampires, but lack of melanin leads to burns), hollow bones which give him capability of flight as well as super strength and healing factor and in later series more supernatural abilities like hypnosis.

Because of his need to drink blood from living victims (due to the too large amounts of anticoagulants in stored blood for his body to handle or because the need to kill stays even after then physical need is satisfied) Morbius wallows in guilt and has tried to find both an alternative substance to blood and a way to cure himself without much success while working alone. At best he has been able to change back into a human for some periods of time but either has soon reverted back or retained the need to drink blood. Despite all this, he's generally willing to help or at least unwilling to harm people he sees innocent or has a closer relationship with.

If you were looking for the unconnected Doctor Who story "The Brain Of Morbius", go here.

Tropes seen in this series include:
