Doctor Demonicus

Doctor Demonicus (Douglas Birely) is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Universe. He possesses advanced knowledge of genetic engineering, and has clashed with the Avengers and Shogun Warriors, in addition to S.H.I.E.L.D..

Publication history

Doctor Demonicus first appeared in Godzilla #4 (Nov 1977), and was created by Doug Moench and Tom Sutton.

Fictional character biography

Douglas Birely was born in Culver City, California. As a scientist, he was studying the correlation between radioactivity and mutation when he is contaminated by a radioactive spill. As Doctor Demonicus, he is a criminal geneticist and subversive. His discovery of the Lifestone allows him to create immense monsters mutated from animals. These include Batragon, Ghilaron, Lepirax and Centipoor. Using his monsters and his troops he raids oil tankers from his secret laboratory on the Aleutian Islands. The monsters are defeated by Godzilla and Demonicus is defeated by Gabe Jones and taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. When Jones confronts Demonicus during this story, Demonicus is altogether willing to tell him his background, and when referencing his monsters' creations he says "Knowing of his nuclear radiation mutation, I took my cues from Godzilla himself." When Godzilla begins slaying the creatures he has made, Demonicus becomes unstable, even claiming he would battle Godzilla directly in order to save the last of the creatures.