- "I wanted what you had for myself, Parker. The things I could do with it... with power like that... But what I got was different. Something better, Parker. Something worse. Something that can live inside, that could liquefy the innards of a man and walk the earth within his hollow shell... Something that could watch. And wait. And fester. See? See now? I AM THE THOUSAND."
- ―Carl King
Carl King was a former bully of Peter Parker, who witnessed Parker being bitten by a radioactive spider, and his subsequent displays of superhuman abilities. Eager to get the same powers, King located and ate the now dead spider, which gradually caused his body to break down into a hive mind of spiders. Calling himself "the Thousand," King monitored Parker's activities for several years until finally confronting him on his apartment roof where King was seemingly killed when he struck a high-voltage generator and was electrocuted.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
- "Oh, come on. No one forgets the kid who makes them eat dog mess. Or dangles them off the Williamsburg bridge. Or puts a knife to their crotch when they mess up his math paper."
- ―Carl King to Peter Parker
Carl King met Peter Parker in kindergarten, shortly after Parker’s parents were killed and he was sent to live with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in suburban Forest Hills. Queens, New York. King continuously bullied and harassed the academic Parker throughout middle school and continued to do so when they began attending New York’s Midtown High School as teenagers. Both King and Parker were present when their class attended and evening science exhibition demonstrating the safe handling of nuclear waste materials. Unbeknownst to Parker, King was watching when a spider irradiated by a particle beam bit Parker on the hand. Fascinated by the illness that seemed to befall Parker after receiving the bite, King secretly followed him for the next few days and watched in amazement as Parker developed superhuman abilities and eventually assumed the costumed identity of Spider-Man. Attempting to gain similar spider-powers on his own, King returned to the science exhibition days late and ate the irradiated spider that had bitten Parker.
The Coming of the Thousand[]
- "I had no idea of what I was, or what my body'd become, or what I might be able to do. I didn't even think about it. Then I started to get the idea. My body'd been breaking down, consuming itself, changing into -- literally -- a thousand spiders. They held my consciousness now, not some puny human shell, and they could go almost anywhere..."
- ―Carl King
As the days passed, King’s consciousness was transferred from his brain to a collective of one thousand spiders that were growing within his body and slowly liquefying his internal organs. Unaware of what was happening, King was shocked when the spiders instinctively left his lifeless human shell and entered the body of his mother, with King’s consciousness still intact. Regaining control of his actions and calling himself “the Thousand,” King voluntarily left his mother’s lifeless body and infested his father, similarly feeding upon him. The Thousand continued this feeding cycle over the years, each time getting stronger and finding himself able to liquefy his victim’s internal organs faster. He fed on his girlfriend and began feeding on homeless people and occasional children at the rate of about a dozen per year. He also closely monitored Parker’s activities as Spider-Man, all the while harbouring intense resentment toward Parker for stealing the powers and popularity he believed were rightfully his.
Confronting Spider-Man[]
- "Well it isn't much..."
"It's more than I deserve."
"Come on, don't talk like that. I'll make coffee; you go in the bathroom and dry off. I'll get you some clothes to wear..."
"Shall I wait here while you change into Spider-Man?"
"Sure. I mean they won't fit too well, but at least they'll be -- What did you just say?" - ―Peter Parker and Carl King
Finally powerful enough to face Parker, the Thousand attacked Parker’s friend Jessica Patton and took control of her infested body. Posing as Patton, the Thousand convinced Parker to let her spend the night at his apartment, eventually revealing his true identity and attacking Parker in his own home. Just as the Thousand was about to infest Parker, the building superintendent, Mr Ambrose, entered Parker’s apartment and fell victim to the Thousand. Wearing Spider-Man’s suit, the Thousand pummelled Parker on the apartment building’s roof, denouncing him as still being cowardly. Parker stood up to the monstrous Thousand, calling him a friendless deviant while hitting him repeatedly. The Thousand smashed Parker to the ground before inadvertently hitting a high-voltage generator with an errant punch and electrocuting himself. Sometime later, a single spider emerged and revealed that only one spider needed to survive in order to hold King's essence, and it can begin the cycle all over again until he grew strong enough to challenge Spider-Man once more.
Powers and Abilities[]
- "You know what happened to my beautiful girlfriend, Parker...? I had to eat her. I had to eat her just like I had to eat the others, Parker. Every little human nothing I ate made me that bit stronger. And I knew I'd have to be very strong indeed when the time came to take you down..."
- ―Carl King to Peter Parker
Spider Hive Physiology: Carl King’s consciousness exists in a collective of one thousand spiders. These spiders infest human bodies and liquefy their victims’ internal organs from the inside out, eventually assuming full control of the victim’s lifeless husk. Each person the Thousand feeds upon bestows more power upon the collective. It is unknown whether the Thousand can possess more than one human body at once.
- Superhuman Strength: After consuming several dozen victims, the Thousand was physically stronger than Spider-Man.
- Superhuman Agility: The Thousand possesses superhuman agility on par with Spider-Man.
- Contortionism: While in control of a victim’s body, the Thousand can contort the body in nearly any manner imaginable.
- Venomous Bite: Possession by the Thousand seems to cause the host to develop specialised venom glands that grant a paralysing bite.
- Wall-Crawling: Like Spider-Man, the Thousand can adhere to walls, ceilings, and other surfaces in order to scale them.
- Spider Sense Immunity: Due to the Thousand gaining his powers from the same spider that gave Spider-Man his powers, the Thousand is able to bypass Spider-Man's spider-sense.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Mother † - Victim
- Father † - Victim
Enemies[]
- Peter Parker/Spider-Man - Former Victim
- Jessica Patton † - Victim
- Mr. Ambrose † - Victim
Gallery[]
