Hunger (Marvel Comics)

Created by Howard Mackie, the character first appeared in Spider-Man #76 (January 1997). ==Fictional character biography==

Loxias Crown was an agent of Hydra equipped with armor that manipulated a mysterious energy known as darkforce. After killing the armor's creator, William Fields, Crown took Empire State University's staff and students hostage to locate Fields' notes on his armor's technology, but was defeated by Spider-Man and S.H.O.C. Crown next abducted Morbius the Living Vampire to perform experiments alongside Andrea Janson for Don Fortunato. 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 in order to kill everyone, but Morbius attacked him and drained him dry while disappearing in the process. Crown next lived in New York City's sewers as a pseudo-vampire named the Hunger, an enforcer of Senator Stuart Ward. He abducted innocent civilians and the Morlocks' leader Callisto to his lair beneath the streets. The Daily Bugle went to investigate but the Hunger knocked Parker out and took Betty Brant hostage. Spider-Man teamed up with Marrow to free the prisoners, much to the Hunger's annoyance. Flash Thompson distracted the Hunger, resulting in his defeat by Spider-Man and Marrow, but he escaped in energy form. The Hunger later attacked a clandestine meeting between the Kingpin and the Maggia, and turned a number of gangsters into his own small horde of pseudo-vampires. Blade the Vampire-Slayer and Spider-Man tracked the Hunger down to an abandoned Roxxon plant, where the Hunger fought the two superheroes until he fled after his horde's destruction. In Blood Hunt, Hunger is killed by Union Jack following a failed attempt to conquer Manchester. ==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 pseudo-vampire, the Hunger does not possess all the powers of a true undead 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 true undead vampires within the Marvel Universe, such as superhuman strength, speed and durability, as well as heightened senses including night vision and echolocation. Due to his vampire-like condition, the Hunger is forced to ingest fresh blood from living humans on a regular basis to sustain his life and vitality. He does not possess any of the mystical vulnerabilities that true undead vampires are subject to, such as garlic, holy water, crucifixes, or silver. He has a strong aversion to sunlight, thanks to his photo-sensitive skin which allows some protection from major sunburn, in contrast to true undead vampires that are disintegrated into dust 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 ranked the Hunger 9th in their "10 Most Important Marvel Vampires" list. ==In other media==

A composite character partly inspired by the Hunger along with Emil Nikos, Vic Slaughter, and Michael Morbius, named Milo appears in Morbius (2022), portrayed by Matt Smith 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==