Hive (Earth-616)

Creation and early years[]

Created in the Hydra laboratories of their underwater base beneath the Indian Ocean, Hive was an experiment made to physically embody the Hydra ideal. The entity is composed of untold numbers of genetically-engineered parasites. An unknown and unwitting Hydra agent was offered/fed to these parasites as a host, around which they could merge into a singular being. Grotesque and menacing in both stature and appearance, Hive had no identity of its own, per se, as its collective will dominates the human host it engulfs.^[1] However, it possesses a quiet and cunning intelligence and, as a result of its conditioning, is completely dedicated towards the Hydra cause to the extent that Baron von Strucker appointed it as a member of the High Council of Hydra (alongside himself, Viper, Gorgon, Kraken, and the new Madame Hydra in the form of triple agent Valentina Allegra de Fontaine).^[4]

War with Leviathan and S.H.I.E.L.D.[]

When Hydra went to war against a rival organization, Leviathan, Valentina revealed her true allegiance and murdered her predecessor, Viper. When Strucker and the other heads discovered her corpse, Hive shocked and appalled them all by merging with the deceased woman's body -- re-animating her, but with the parasites themselves gathering into a bulbous mass atop her head with four prehensile tentacles.^[5][1][6][7]

Taking back her title as Madame Hydra, she and Gorgon subsequently broke away from Strucker's weakening grip on Hydra while forming an alliance with the recently escaped Norman Osborn and his H.A.M.M.E.R. organization. During this brief and fragile union, Osborn arranged for Madame Hydra to undergo surgery to remove the Hive from her in a way that would keep her alive.^[8]

Secret Empire[]

Eventually, Hive was tracked down by the new Madame Hydra, Elisa Sinclair, inside an ancient Hydra temple in Egypt. Elisa had it become a member of the new High Council of Hydra to serve the Hydra Captain America.^[3]

• Living Hive: The Hive's body, whilst bipedal, is not a solid figure but a writhing congregation of its many parasites. As such, these parasites can actually shoot away from the mass and attack others at high speed -- making them effective projectile weapons.
  • Resurrection/Possession: Hive has displayed the ability to bring Madame Hydra back to life by bonding one of its parasite to her.^[9]

As one, Hive is capable of asserting itself as an individual, albeit without name or personality. In this form, Hive is capable of speech -- the language, however, is unknown, though spoken also by other Hydra agents -- suggesting it's one of their own design, created for strategic secrecy when in the field. The Hive is capable of breathing both on land and underwater.

The Hive's only weakness is that despite the deadly nature of its parasites, it still has the physical limitations of its human host. In other words, whilst it can improve upon the host's strength and skills it cannot perform impossible tasks such as flight if the host cannot. Also, any ailments afflicting the host prior to absorption will still be present and will affect the Hive -- for instance, its original human host possessed a minute blood disorder and was also a diabetic -- hence, why the Hydra heads deemed him fodder for the Hive experiment and would have also made him weak enough to be absorbed. These maladies would have also been present within the Hive afterwards. However, when the Hive later merged with Viper, these ailments would no longer be present.

• Due to the Hive's sickly first host, it can be construed that it is always on the search for newer, stronger bodies to inhabit. These bodies, however, need to be weak enough to be absorbed -- a biological flaw perhaps designed by Hydra to keep the Hive under control. Madame Hydra's body, being dead, was a perfect host and offered no resistance -- the process healing her bullet wounds. It is unknown, however, if the reborn Madame Hydra is the original woman, a symbiotic bond between her and the Hive, or the Hive entirely in its latest host. To add further confusion, when Norman Osborn arranged for Madame Hydra to have the Hive removed, it's unclear to what extent this reaches. The exterior physical form of the Hive is gone, but there is no indication of it being present within her or if it's indeed truly removed and even then, destroyed.
• The Hive has been mentioned to be reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu.^[10][11] Additionally to its appearance, Hive's text bubbles uses "eldritch" lettering similar to those used by other Cthulhu Mythos characters and pastiches.