What aliases have been used in both Marvel and DC continuity?

[Lorendiac]

Last night, on another site, I started asking for help in listing character "aliases" that have been used by both Marvel and DC characters at one time or another. Here's the current list.

A few quick ground rules:

1. For the sake of argument, let's just agree that the gods and other characters of Norse Myth, Graeco-Roman Myth, Egyptian Myth, etc., exist in both universes, okay? No need to list 'em all! :) (We can skip over King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, too.)

2. Also, I'm permitting any cases where one version usually (or always) uses the word "The" in front of the rest of the name, and the other version usually (or always) feels he can get by just fine without it!

3. Also, I allow cases that started out in comics published by some other company, but got acquired by DC or Marvel later on! (If anyone can think of a character from the Ultraverse who shares a name with a DC hero or villain, for instance, then go ahead and say so!)


The Current List

Angel
Arsenal
Captain Marvel
Changeling
Comet (or The Comet)
Cyclone
Darkstar
The Enchantress
Guardian
Jester
Miss America
Nightshade
Quicksilver
Sandman
Scarecrow
Sun Girl
Talon
Tarantula
Whirlwind
The Wizard

Can you think of anyone else we're missing?

[Jonathan]

Depending on how deep you want to dig into this, you can go on for ages. Some examples:

Marvel's Cyclops (Scott Summers) and DC's Cyclops (from The Brave and the Bold 64)
Marvel's Cypher (Doug Ramsey) and DC's Cypher I (Victor Cypher, from Checkmate 27) and Cypher II (Avery Twombey, from Detective Comics 657)
Marvel's Phoenix (Jean Grey, Rachael Summers, etc.) and DC's Phoenix (from G. I. Combat 225)
Marvel's various Warlocks and DC's Warlock (from Green Lantern vol. 2 42)
Marvel's Colossus (Peter Rasputin) and DC's Colossus (from Swamp Thing vol. 1 23)
Marvel's Cannonball (Sam Guthrie) and DC's Cannonball (Sgt. Horace Calhoon, from Tomahawk 83)
Marvel's Tigra (Greer Grant) and DC's Tigra (from New Gods vol. 1 7)
Marvel's Demon (from the Defenders) and DC's Demon (Etrigan)
Marvel's Half-Life I (from West Coast Avengers 12) and Half-Life II (from Hulk 334) and DC's Half-Life (from Superboy and the Ravers 2)
Marvel's Titania (Mary MacPherran) and DC's Titania (from Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes 253)

[Shellhead]

Dr. Doome fought DC's Seven Soldiers during the Golden Age. That's almost identical spelling to the later and more infamous Dr. Doom.

[Lorendiac]

Dr. Doome fought DC's Seven Soldiers during the Golden Age. That's almost identical spelling to the later and more infamous Dr. Doom.

I had no idea! Over on Newsarama, I said that I hadn't yet made up my mind about cases that might arise where two characters had names with identical pronunciation but different spelling. Now it looks like I'd better reach a policy decision on that one, pretty darn quick! :)

[Alan2099]

Jack O' Lantern is a Spider-man enemy and Jack O'Lantern was a member of Primal Force.
Tarantula was a Spider-man enemy and a Nightwing ... er... let's not get into that right now. She's met Nightwing though.
There was a Wizard who fought ther JLA and a Wizard who fought the Fantastic Four.
Alan Scott used to be Sentinel and Sentinels hunted down the X-men.
Spider-girl was a named both used by a Legion of Super Heroes member and the future daughter of Spider-man.

Still, my favorite double universe character was Agent Axis, a minor WWII villian. He was actually originally a DC character but one writer of Captain America got mixed up when naming old WWII villians Captain America had fought and included his name. Later another writer had to come in and introduce a Marvel version of him.

[Lorendiac]

Depending on how deep you want to dig into this, you can go on for ages. Some examples:

As I was going to sleep last night, I wondered if DC had ever used such names as Warlock and Phoenix. If they have used such names in stories that were supposed to be in continuity at the time, then I'm willing to count 'em, even obscure characters who haven't been heard from since the Silver Age or whatever!

And although I began with just a quick list of names, without any fancy explanations included, I've figured all along that a "final version" would have to be more polished, with helpful notes such as you provided, to persuade people that I might actually know what I was talking about :)


Depending on how deep you want to dig into this, you can go on for ages. Some examples:
Marvel's Demon (from the Defenders) and DC's Demon (Etrigan)

I'm not remembering Marvel's "Demon" offhand. (Although I could name a bunch of different characters who have claimed to be "demons," or "half-demons," or whatever.) Which version of the Defenders had this character making appearances? Was the character a hero or villain?

[Shellhead]

I'm not remembering Marvel's "Demon" offhand. (Although I could name a bunch of different characters who have claimed to be "demons," or "half-demons," or whatever.) Which version of the Defenders had this character making appearances? Was the character a hero or villain?

He might be thinking of Gargoyle, the Defender who looked like an orange version of DC's Etrigan.

[Lorendiac]

Jack O' Lantern is a Spider-man enemy and Jack O'Lantern was a member of Primal Force.

I thought of them last night and then forgot to add that name to the list today.


Tarantula was a Spider-man enemy and a Nightwing ... er... let's not get into that right now. She's met Nightwing though.

There was a Wizard who fought ther JLA and a Wizard who fought the Fantastic Four.

Those are already on the list, actually.


Alan Scott used to be Sentinel and Sentinels hunted down the X-men.

I'm generally trying to avoid "group names" that have been used on both sides. Although I did count "Darkstar" because individual characters wearing the uniform in the DCU were presumably called "Darkstar" or "the local Darkstar" or whatever, the same way Hal Jordan is often called "Green Lantern" as his own superhero alias. I want to think about it a bit more, but I'll probably end up counting the robots since each individual is called a "Sentinel." (Unlike, say, the way the Avengers never had a member who was called "the Avenger," as far as I know.)


Spider-girl was a named both used by a Legion of Super Heroes member and the future daughter of Spider-man.

That, I didn't know! (Now that raises the question of whether I count an MC2 character as being part of "Marvel's continuity.")


Still, my favorite double universe character was Agent Axis, a minor WWII villian. He was actually originally a DC character but one writer of Captain America got mixed up when naming old WWII villians Captain America had fought and included his name. Later another writer had to come in and introduce a Marvel version of him.

That is funny! :)

[Lorendiac]

He might be thinking of Gargoyle, the Defender who looked like an orange version of DC's Etrigan.

That thought popped into my head too, but I decided not to commit myself right away, in case he was remembering some obscure character who had once said, "Just call me . . . Demon!" or whatever.

[Lorendiac]

After thinking about "Dr. Doome," I've decided that "Pronunciation trumps Spelling." If two names are obviously supposed to be said exactly the same way, then that's good enough for me! :)

[Alan2099]

That thought popped into my head too, but I decided not to commit myself right away, in case he was remembering some obscure character who had once said, "Just call me . . . Demon!" or whatever.

http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/demonjim.htm

[Lorendiac]

http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/demonjim.htm

After a quick look, I don't see of those demons mentioned as having appeared in one or another of the "Defenders" titles. Did one of them?

[Alan2099]

I didn't either. I just wanted to proove there was a marvel character called Demon.

[ChrisMRich]

Immortus - The alternate future version of Kang who rules Limbo and whose mission is allegedly to undue all the damage done by all his past incarnations but who manages to cause all kinds of damage himself. (Marvel, mostly an Avengers villain)

General Immortus - The incredibly decrepit old fart who can't stop making trouble for the Doom Patrol. (DC, Doom Patrol and Teen Titans)

Power Man - Both bad guy Erik Josten and good guy Luke Cage have used the name. (Marvel)

Power Man - An android used several times by Superman when he wanted to pretend, for whatever reason, to have a partner. (DC)

This last one doesn't really count because the names are completelty different... but the characters are nearly identical to a horrifying degree. :)

Captain Nazi - Fawcett Comics (and later DC) bad guy who brawls it out with the Big Red Cheese (Captain Marvel) and...

Master Man - Marvel Comics bad guy who fought the Invaders during WWII. Visually, he was nearly identical to Captain Nazi... down the to the scar they both have in some artistic renderings.

Not the same name, but the exact same character nearly to a tee. There /was/ a Fawcett Master Man, a superhero who technically blongs to DC because of a lawsuit and the purchase of the Fawcett characters when Fawcett went broke, but he's never actually appeared in DC comics so it doesn't count either. But fun trivia.

[Lorendiac]

Immortus - The alternate future version of Kang who rules Limbo and whose mission is allegedly to undue all the damage done by all his past incarnations but who manages to cause all kinds of damage himself. (Marvel, mostly an Avengers villain)

General Immortus - The incredibly decrepit old fart who can't stop making trouble for the Doom Patrol. (DC, Doom Patrol and Teen Titans)

I'm not ready to count "Immortus" and "General Immortus" as basically being the same name. Sorry!


Power Man - Both bad guy Erik Josten and good guy Luke Cage have used the name. (Marvel)

Power Man - An android used several times by Superman when he wanted to pretend, for whatever reason, to have a partner. (DC)

Thought I remembered something about that . . .


This last one doesn't really count because the names are completelty different... but the characters are nearly identical to a horrifying degree. :)

Captain Nazi - Fawcett Comics (and later DC) bad guy who brawls it out with the Big Red Cheese (Captain Marvel) and...

Master Man - Marvel Comics bad guy who fought the Invaders during WWII. Visually, he was nearly identical to Captain Nazi... down the to the scar they both have in some artistic renderings.

Not the same name, but the exact same character nearly to a tee. There /was/ a Fawcett Master Man, a superhero who technically blongs to DC because of a lawsuit and the purchase of the Fawcett characters when Fawcett went broke, but he's never actually appeared in DC comics so it doesn't count either. But fun trivia.

What the heck, if the Fawcett characters and reprint rights belong to DC, and if those old stories used to be in Earth-S continuity in the Pre-COIE days, then I'm willing to count that as a Master Man for the DC side of the fence!

[Jonathan]

He might be thinking of Gargoyle, the Defender who looked like an orange version of DC's Etrigan.

Yes, I was thinking of Gargoyle. My bad. :o

[Lorendiac]

Yes, I was thinking of Gargoyle. My bad. :o

If it's any comfort -- the name "Gargoyle" seemed vaguely familiar to me from elsewhere. On a hunch, I checked -- DC had a Gargoyle too; an old Titans villain. So you were at least half-right in suggesting that the character you were thinking of from Marvel continuity did, in fact, share a name with a DC character, and I've now added them both to the next draft of my list! :)

[Matthew E]

I think both companies had a Wildfire. I don't know anything about Marvel's Wildfire, but DC's Wildfire was a longtime Legion of Super-Heroes member.

[Shellhead]

I think both companies had a Wildfire. I don't know anything about Marvel's Wildfire, but DC's Wildfire was a longtime Legion of Super-Heroes member.

I think Marvel's Power Man fought a guy with a flamethrower who called himself Wildfire. There was a cheesy Top 40 song in the mid-70's with the same name, so the name stuck in my brain. Unfortunately, so do some of the visuals. Frank Robbins artwork on Power Man... yechh.

[Dizzy D]

Both universes had an Andromeda: In Marvel she is a Defender and daughter to the Atlantean villain Attuma, in DC she is Laurel Gand, the Supergirl replacement in Legion.

I'll try to think of more.

[Dizzy D]

(Using a list of DC characters, as I know the Marvel characters better).

Atom-Smasher was the name of two villains in Marvel (enemies of Black Goliath) and in DC a member of the JSA.

Beautiful Dreamer was a member of the Forever People in DC and a Morlock in Marvel.

Blockbuster is an enemy of Nightwing in DC and a member of the X-Men villains the Marauders in Marvel.

Dark Angel is a Wonder Woman villain and a Marvel UK character.

Firebrand is a member of the Freedom Fighters in DC and an Iron Man villain in Marvel.

The Fury is a superheroine in DC, member of Infinity Inc. and a villain in Marvel, an enemy of Captain Britain.

Gog is a Superman villain and an enemy of Longshot.

Inferno was an ally of the Legion and an Avengers villain.

Kismet is a cosmic being in DC and the female version of Adam Warlock.

Knockout is a DC villain seen in Superboy and Secret Six and a Marvel villain seen in Spider-Man.

Match is a clone of Superboy and a student at Xavier's School.

Mirage is the name of a Teen Titan and a New Mutant and an old Spider-Man villain.

Nemesis is a character in DC's Suicide Squad and Marvel's Alpha Flight.

Oracle: the former Bat-Girl and the Shi'ar Imperial Guard's telepath.

Persuader is a Legion villain and a minor villain in Marvel, working for the Kingpin.

Reaper: A Batman villain and an X-Force villain.

Supernova: A recent character in 52 and an enemy of Marvel's Nova.

Tempest: Member of Doom Patrol, the former Aqualad and a member of the Sh'ar Imperial Guard.

Vixen: Justice League-member and an enemy of Captain Britain.

Witchfire: a member of the Power Company and a character in Alpha Flight.

And to a lesser extend: DC's The Thinker and Marvel's Mad Thinker (on the basis that the Mad Thinker called himself the Thinker, but the Mad-part got added by others, much to his displeasure)

[Omar Karindu]

Not the same name, but the exact same character nearly to a tee. There /was/ a Fawcett Master Man, a superhero who technically blongs to DC because of a lawsuit and the purchase of the Fawcett characters when Fawcett went broke, but he's never actually appeared in DC comics so it doesn't count either. But fun trivia.

Master Man, a Satanic counterpart to Kid Eternity, was a <I>Quality</I> character who was bizarrely associated with the Fawcett Marvels by E. Nelson Bridwell. Master Man did indeed turn up in one of the issues of the 1970s Shazam! revival.

But onto the duplicate names....

In addition to the Titania mentioned before, DC has another Titania, a recurring Legion of Super-Heroes villainess.

Likewise, in addition to the Cyclops mentioned above, there was also a criminal organization in the DCU called Cyclops at one point.

For a time during the post-Zero Hour Legion reboot, Chameleon Boy was simply Chameleon; Marvel, of course, has long had a villainous Chameleon.

Captain Atom has an enemy called the Ghost; Iron Man does too (and originally, both Ghosts had nearly identical costumes!).

As a satire of DC's Deathstroke the Terminator, Chris Claremont pitted Spider-Woman against the mercenary Deathstroke and his Terminators.

Impulse is the former identity of DC's current Flash, Bart Allen; Impulse is also the Wildfire analogue in Marvel's Shi'ar Imperial Guard/Superguardians.

Bushmaster was a member of DC's Global Guardians; he's also a Power Man villain whose brother used the same name as a member of the Serpent Society.

Anomaly is a minor Superman villain from the late 1990s; he's also a minor cosmic entity from Quasar at Marvel.

Likewise, Superman has occasionally battled Barrage; and Barrage was one of Apocalypse's Riders of the Storm in X-Factor.

The Dark Rider was a minor Batman villain who later turned up to harrass Catwoman; Marvel's Dark Rider is an equally minor Fantastic Four villain, an evil alternate Reed Richards.

The Golden Age Green Arrow often contended with the acrobatic clown Bull's-Eye; not only does Daredevil have a foe of similar name, but Nick Fury's first series as a SHIELD agent ended whern he was "killed" (LMD) by the hitman Bull's-Eye.

DC's Grandmaster was the chief of the robotic, alien Manhutners; Marvel's is a game-obsessed Elder of the Universe.

A two-fer: Nova was an identity used by the depowered Superman of an alternate world; Nova, of course, is Marvel's Richard Ryder (and Frankie Raye, yes). Supernova, based in part on Superman's Nova identity, has been seen in 52; Super-Nova, Garthan Saal, was at one point the last of the Nova corps to which Ryder belonged.

And, in an extra-weird case...the Melter's real name was Bruno Horgan; Marv Wolfman used this as the real name of a one-shot villain called Battering Ram in a Dial H for Hero revival in the 80s.

[Lorendiac]

Do you guys realize that my Master List is now up to about 130 names/aliases/etc. that both Marvel and DC characters have used, and I haven't even finished incorporating the suggestions in this thread yet? This is getting ridiculous!

[Dizzy D]

Do you guys realize that my Master List is now up to about 130 names/aliases/etc. that both Marvel and DC characters have used, and I haven't even finished incorporating the suggestions in this thread yet? This is getting ridiculous!

Doesn't surprise me. Not even getting into Wildstorm characters yet.

In case of Wildstorm:
(The) Void is the evil side of the Sentry and a character in WildC.A.T.S.

Zealot is another WildC.A.T. and the name a Genoshan Mutate took.

Taboo is a character in Wildstorm's Backlash series and in Marvel the stepfather of Topaz, a female mage seen in Dr. Strange and Werewolf by Night.

Burnout: Member of Gen13 and short-lived member of the Mutant Liberation Front.

Frostbite: a member of DV8 and a character in X-Men 2099.

Sublime: Member of DV8 and villain in Morrison's X-Men.

Copycat: Character in X-Force and Deadpool and a member of DV8

Bliss: Another DV8 member and a Morlock.

Crossbones: Member of Wetworks and Captain America villain.
(Already mentioned other Jesters, but Wildstorm also has a Jester; member of Wetworks)

Crimson: Member of Wildcore, later became Jet and a X-Factor villain.

Geist: Wildcore-member and Nazi-villain in Wolverine.

(And if you count licensed characters: The Doctor (from Doctor Who) was published by Marvel for a time and The Doctor from Authority.)

[Lorendiac]

Likewise, in addition to the Cyclops mentioned above, there was also a criminal organization in the DCU called Cyclops at one point.

I ran a search last night for "Brave and the Bold #64" and "Cyclops" and reached the conclusion that the "Cyclops" in question was the same thing you're talking about now; an evil organization, rather than a single person using an alias. That disqualifies it for my purposes. I'm not counting names of organizations; only aliases used by individuals. Sometimes that personal alias is simply derived from the name of the organization, of course. A member of the Green Lantern Corps is called "Green Lantern," and if Marvel had ever had a Green Lantern then I would count that as a duplicate use. But I'm not counting DC's "Cyclops" outfit unless it turns out that individual operatives went around introducing themselves as "Cyclops."


And, in an extra-weird case...the Melter's real name was Bruno Horgan; Marv Wolfman used this as the real name of a one-shot villain called Battering Ram in a Dial H for Hero revival in the 80s.

I don't think I want to use that one. I'm emphasizing aliases (or names that sure sound like they ought to be aliases, I suppose) rather than "real ones." But I appreciate your other suggestions! Some of them I'd already come up with independently, but a lot of them I hadn't!

[Shellhead]

What about Doc Savage?

In the mid 70's, Marvel did comic book versions of some of his early adventures back in the 1920's. In the late 80's, DC had a monthly Doc Savage series that featured the exact same character and some of his followers, only in new adventures set in modern times.

[Lorendiac]

What about Doc Savage?

In the mid 70's, Marvel did comic book versions of some of his early adventures back in the 1920's. In the late 80's, DC had a monthly Doc Savage series that featured the exact same character and some of his followers, only in new adventures set in modern times.

My current policy is to ignore multiple uses of "licensed" characters or "public domain" characters. For instance, Marvel and DC (and Gold Key, and Dark Horse, and maybe someone else I'm forgetting) have all had licenses to do comic books set in the "Star Trek" universe at one time or another. But they weren't duplicating each other's characters names, accidentally or on purpose; they were just all drawing upon the same pool of pre-existing fictional characters for certain stories.

Similar logic was behind my decision to ignore multiple uses of the Norse mythological gods, etc. I believe DC used to do a Sherlock Holmes series; I'm not sure if Marvel has ever done the same, but if they have, I wouldn't count that on my list either, because it would basically be "the exact same character" (originally created by Arthur Conan Doyle) instead of a case of one writer accidentally or deliberately duplicating someone else's choice of name as he created a "new" character of his own! :)

[John Nowak]

Both universes had an Andromeda: In Marvel she is a Defender and daughter to the Atlantean villain Attuma, in DC she is Laurel Gand, the Supergirl replacement in Legion.


"Andromeda" is a mythological name, though ... Perseus' wife, IIRC. But then again, I'm guessing that neither character was the mythological character, so I guess it still counts.

[Pól Rua]

Master Man, a Satanic counterpart to Kid Eternity, was a <I>Quality</I> character who was bizarrely associated with the Fawcett Marvels by E. Nelson Bridwell. Master Man did indeed turn up in one of the issues of the 1970s Shazam! revival.

There was also a Fawcett Master Man, who was a Fawcett hero who predated Captain Marvel and was basically a two-dimensional Superman clone without the double identity.
I believe there was a successful lawsuit by DC which pretty much shut him down. No great loss.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Man_(Fawcett_Comics)

[Dave Miller]

Crimson Dawn was the secret villain in Secret Six, and also the name of a group of crappy X-Men bad guy vampies.

[John Nowak]

As a satire of DC's Deathstroke the Terminator, Chris Claremont pitted Spider-Woman against the mercenary Deathstroke and his Terminators.

"Terminator" was also one of the Space Knights in Marvel's ROM licensed comic.

[Omar Karindu]

Argus: Argus was a Bloodlines hero who turned up several times in Mark Waid's Flash; Argus was also the villain in a Doug Moench revival of Master of Kung-Fu serialized in Marvel Comics Presents, who cut off the hand of Shang-Chi's lover Leiko Wu.

Black Death: At DC, a Grant Morrison-created JLA villan; at Marvel, the archfoe of neophyte hero Gravity.

Black Wing: At DC, a short-lived superhero identity used by a member of the 1970s Hutress's supporting cast; at Marvel, a bat-themed villain who may be a pastiche of the Darknight Detective.

Blindspot: At DC, a minor Superman villain of the early 1990s; at Marvel, a recently-introduced archfoe for Rogue of the X-Men.

Blok: At DC, a living stone member of some incarnations of the Legion of Super-Heroes; at Marvel, a recurring henchman of Wolverine's enemy Mr. X.

Brain: At DC, the leader of the Brotherhood of Evil; at Marvel, a pre-Silver Age Nazi's disembodied head, seen as the villain in a crude serial. Also, a minor villain associated with the first Tri-Man in Daredevil v.1 #22-3.

Doctor Death: At DC, an early recurring foe of the Batman; at Marvel, a retconned-in villainous version of third-party Golden Age hero Dr. Nemesis from the 1990s Invaders miniseries.

Dominus: At DC, a reality-warping Superman villain; at Marvel, an alien computer that took humanoid form.

Gorgon: At DC, either of two villains who were pastiches of the Marvel characters Cyclops and Dr. Octopus, repsectively; at Marvel, either the hooved Inhuman warrior or the recent Wolverine opponent.

Enforcer: At DC, either of two minor Firestorm villains, both deceased; at Marvel, a minor Ghost Rider villain, also deceased.

Hitman: At DC, roguish anti-hero Tommy Monaghan, who had his own comic; at Marvel, a 1970s Spider-Man and Punisher villain.

Paragon: At DC, a one-shot JLA villain; at Marvel, a former alias of Her/Kismet adopted by a one-shot Quasar villain.

Phantasm: At DC, a convoluted Titans character; at Marvel, the villain Paladin faced in a solo tryout story in Marvel Premiere.

Shark: At DC, a Green Lantern and Aquaman foe; at Marvel, a minor foe of the Golden Age Human Torch who turned up in the first Invaders series.

Shockwave: At DC, a minor villain from Blue Devil and Booster Gold; at Marvel, a foe of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu.

[Babylon23]

Electro is both a Spider-Man villain and a pre-Crisis Silver Age Superman villain from Action Comics 271 and 286.

[Lorendiac]

Just to clarify something: A few days after I started this thread, asking for information, I completed the "first draft" of a master list, based on helpful suggestions made here and on other forums (as well as a lot of extra research of my own, once I got interested in the subject). I believe it had entries for 166 names that DC and Marvel have each used for different character concepts. Since it was so long, I started it as its own thread.

Character aliases that Marvel and DC have both used (1st Draft) (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=159193)

When I get around to doing a Second Draft, I'll be sure to come back to this thread and take a careful look at any suggestions that piled up here lately, but it would keep things simpler if anyone with more names to suggest would use the other thread, the one I just linked to, from now on! :)

[firestarfan]

Just a few...Arclight was one of the Marauders in Marvel, and a superman villain in the mid 90's

There's Blacksmith the Flash guy and Blaquesmith the Cable character

I'm pretty sure DC also has a Drax, though I'm not sure if he's also a Destroyer.

There's Thorn and Thornn

Lord Chaos the marvel cosmic entity and Lord Chaos the son of Donna Troy

And not sure if this counts or not, but each has a Death.