Rhino (Marvel)

The Original Rhino Armor

The Upgraded version of The Rhino Armour called The Robotism Heuristic Intelligence Navigable Operative or just the R.H.I.N.O. for short.

Aleksei Sytsevich, or better known by his supervillain name Rhino, was a Russian immigrant who was succumbed to radioactive testing, granting him powerful superhuman strength and durability. He was also given a suit of tough, rhinoceros-like armor and horns for even more destructive capabilities. He has combated Spider-Man many times, as well as the Hulk.

Aleksei Sytsevich (Russian: Алексе́й Сицевич, pronounced: Ah-lex-ee Sit-seh-vich) was just another thug in the Russian Mafia, grasping at dreams of easy money and headed for a nasty, brutish and short life. Seduced by promises of wealth and power, Aleksei underwent a life-threatening series of chemical and radiation treatments throughout several months to transform him into an agent with superhuman strength for a collective of professional spies. In part, this was to support his family.

Aleksei's powerful suit was modeled after the hide of a rhinoceros. Two scientists named Igor and Georgi chose this form, both for its visual impact and in recognition of the fact that the rhinoceros was the result of countless generations of evolution towards the ultimate form for armored assault. They selected Aleksei for his muscular physique and low intelligence, which they believed would ensure his loyalty.

Given the codename the Rhino, his first mission was to kidnap astronaut John Jameson, son of Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson, and sell him to the highest bidder. He received intensive sub-hypnotic training in American English, and false citizenship papers bearing the name Alex O'Hirn. Feeling cocky, he turned on his benefactors, destroyed their headquarters, and attempted to abduct Jameson under his own initiative. As the Rhino made his way towards New York City, Spider-Man began to formulate how to defeat this apparently unstoppable foe, and discovered two key factors: 1) Once he began charging, the Rhino could not change directions or easily halt his advance, and 2) Aleksei was rather dumb. Spider-Man deduced that if he could avoid a direct hit from the Rhino's horn, his superior tactical skills and agility would always leave him the final victor in any fair fight. Spider-Man defeated the Rhino, sending the villain to a special state correctional hospital where he was kept under heavy sedation.

After a few weeks, the Rhino broke out of the hospital and escaped, seeking revenge on Spider-Man, who defeated him, this time using a specially-formulated version of his web fluid, devised with the aid of Dr. Curt Connors, that contained encapsulated acid pellets whose containers dissolved upon contact with air. The special webbing rendered the Rhino's costume weak and brittle, which deprived him of needed impact resistance. The Rhino was recaptured, tried, convicted, and imprisoned.

The Rhino served a commuted sentence and was discharged; when he was released, the two spies who had transformed him, apparently showing no sign of malice towards his betrayal, approached him with the offer to strengthen him using a gamma-ray process. They had also devised an improved, acid-resistant material rhinoceros suit. Having no other prospects of gainful employment, the Rhino accepted the offer. The new series of radiation treatments were successful and doubled the Rhino's previous strength level. The augmented Rhino's first mission was to abduct Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, an authority on biochemical gamma-ray experimentation (also known as the Hulk). The spies planned to coerce Banner into developing an army of gamma-ray treated superhuman assassins. When the Rhino tried to abduct Banner, Banner transformed into the Hulk and overpowered the Rhino by picking up a gasoline truck and slamming it on top of him, causing it to burst into flames and severely harm the Rhino, shredding his suit and seemingly killing him; indeed, the Hulk believed him to be dead at the end of the battle. After the Hulk left, however, the Rhino was found to be alive but in a state of shock, and was sent to a state facility under high security.

The Rhino's battle with the Hulk came to the attention of the Leader, the Hulk's arch-enemy, who decided that further gamma ray treatments would give the Rhino enough strength and power to overcome the Hulk. The Leader freed the Rhino from the state facility, and both awakened him and further increased his strength by gamma ray bombardments via his mental bolts. The Leader had also recreated the Rhino's suit for him as well. The Leader then dispatched the Rhino to crash the wedding of Bruce Banner and Betty Ross. Succeeding in interrupting the wedding, the Rhino engaged in battle with the Hulk. When the Leader accidentally shot him with a gamma radiation blast that was intended for the Hulk, the Rhino turned on the Leader, believing the Leader to have betrayed him, and caused the Leader's escape module to explode after it took off.

The Rhino was revealed to have fallen to the ground, again being left comatose but otherwise unharmed, and taken to a state hospital. The Leader used his mental powers to again awaken him, and re-outfitted him with his suit to battle the Hulk once again - this time with the Leader's mind inside his body and thus controlling his every move. When the Leader released his mind from the Rhino's body, the Rhino was aboard a space shuttle that was built by the Leader battling the Hulk. The battle continued until the shuttle crash-landed on the High Evolutionary's artificial planet on the opposite side of the Sun named Counter-Earth. While the shuttle automatically repaired its damage, the Leader telemetrically signaled it to return to Earth; the Hulk fought his way back on, with the Rhino in tow. When the shuttle crash-landed back on Earth, the Hulk freed himself from the shuttle's wreckage and left the area, but the Rhino was left unconscious and buried in the wreckage for some time. Soon after this, the Rhino revived, also freed himself from the shuttle's wreckage and wandered the desert for some time until he met the Abomination, who had also been wandering there after a previous battle with the Hulk that had occurred shortly after the shuttle had crashed. They both teamed up to battle the Hulk again, but this battle ended in defeat for both of them when they both ran at the Hulk from opposite directions and the Hulk simply moved out of the way, causing them to collide into each other head-on and knock themselves out cold.

The Rhino wandered the desert again until he was found by Egghead and recruited as part of the criminal scientist's second version of the Emissaries of Evil. The Rhino was paired off with Solarr and sent to Dr. Strange's sanctum to fetch the Star of Capistan, a ruby of great power that Egghead mistakenly thought that Strange had in his possession. The mission brought the Rhino in conflict with his old nemesis, the Hulk, as well as the Defenders. The Rhino and Solarr were both ultimately defeated by the Red Rajah, a being that was possessing Dr. Strange at the time, and were taken into custody.

He later both battled and was defeated by Doc Samson twice (the second time with Samson teaming up with Spider-Man) while working for A.I.M. and was then subsequently taken to Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., an enormous energy research facility in upstate New York, for study. After months of observations, the Rhino joined in a mass escape attempt along with fellow prisoners Moonstone, Blackout, and Electro; the escape was thwarted by the Avengers.

While being transferred to another facility, the Rhino was freed by the Miracle Man, who wanted the Rhino to help him regain his lost mystical powers. The Rhino did not wish to be freed, however, preferring to seek medical treatment to remove his costume, which had been grafted onto his skin following the space shuttle crash when he had teamed up with the Leader for the second time (he also blamed the Leader for the suit being grafted to him in the first place). With the aid of the Thing, the Rhino opposed the Miracle Man and accompanied the Thing back to Project: P.E.G.A.S.U.S., where they again attempted to transfer him to the medical facility as arranged.

The Rhino, hoping to earn enough money to return to his homeland and convince his family to return back to America with him, was hired by the Green Goblin and ended up severely beaten by a furious Spider-Man, with the Rhino's family disgusted to learn the means that Aleksei was using to gather funds.

When the medical treatments failed to remove his suit and thus restore him to normal, the Rhino escaped and joined the Beetle's Sinister Syndicateto earn money to finance further operations. With teammates the Speed Demon, Hydro-Man, and Boomerang, the Syndicate nearly overpowered Spider-Man until his timely rescue by the then-reformed Sandman, working for Silver Sable.

The Syndicate reunited again, and the Rhino again hoped to use his earnings in the Syndicate to remove his suit. The group soon fell apart due to the machinations of Leila Davis, who sought revenge against the Beetle, whom she held partly responsible for the death of her husband, the Ringer.

As the team fell apart the Rhino, then working for the Kingpin, was double-crossed. The Rhino, overhearing the scientists who were instructed not to remove the suit, kidnapped one of the scientists' children and had his suit finally removed. The Kingpin, not one to be outdone, sent a fake-explosive package to the now-more vulnerable Aleksei, letting him know that he could always kill him if need be. The Rhino, missing the excitement in life, requested Justin Hammer to make him a new, removable suit.

The Rhino later found himself broke and alone during the Christmas season. He stole a Santa Claus costume and made people "give" him money. He agreed to be a mall Santa, but became volatile when the kids did not get along with him. The Hulk was there, and a fight ensued in which the Rhino gored the Hulk. However, with a little girl crying, the Rhino spent the next few hours at the mall as Santa on much better behavior.

The Rhino even joined a minor league baseball team, wearing a suit of "Mecha-Rhino" armor, resulting in two clashes with the Hulk.

In the Great Game, a gambling operation run by a group of wealthy individuals who wagered on the outcome of battles between their sponsored super-powered contestants, sponsor James Johnsmeyer sent the Rhino to pressure the deformed Spider-Man clone, Kaine, into becoming a contestant. Joystick and Polestar joined the fight, while the sponsors wagered on who would draw first blood; double points were offered for Spider-Man as a wild card when he tried to defend Kaine. Uninterested in joining the Game, Kaine seriously battered the Rhino while Spider-Man tackled Joystick and Polestar

In another scientific experiment, the Rhino attempted to enhance his limited intelligence. The experiment, however, was too successful, rendering him too smart for his own good. His new intellect ruined a romance, and he became suicidal. However, instead of giving up on life, he reversed the procedure and returned back to his former IQ.

The Rhino battled Hammerhead's gang, but was taken down again by Spider-Man. In Canada, the Rhino became subject to experimentation, and was temporarily mutated into a half-man / half-rhinoceros creature. The Juggernaut, who was attempting to reform, stopped the now-bestial Rhino, rejecting an opportunity to escape his own sentencing. The Rhino was reverted back to his previous super-powered self, whereupon he abducted and proposed to a French female singer / songwriter.[citation needed]

Subsequently, after Spider-Man apprehended him, he was jailed in a special section of Ryker's Islandfor super-powered criminals at the same time as the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn). The Rhino was freed from jail, and promptly taken down and apprehended by Colleen Wing after she crashed Misty Knight's Jaguar XK8 straight into him on two separate occasions.

The Rhino was hired by Klaw for his invasion of Wakanda along with the Nigandan Army, the Vatican Black Knight, and Batroc the Leaper. Rampaging on the Wakandan territory, and escorted by the Black Knight, he was finally taken down by the Wakandan Air Force using gas. His extradition demand from the U.S. was denied by Wakanda, and presented to the United Nations assembly; the Rhino was still in custody of the Wakandan Security Forces.

When the Superhuman Registration Act came into effect, the Rhino saw Spider-Man unmask himself on television. The Punisher later began hunting the Rhino for accidentally killing a security guard during a bank robbery. The Rhino was instead kidnapped by Alexei Kravinoff who had been experimenting with his father's formula and decided to create a zoo of animal-themed villains. The Rhino escaped among the others after being spared by the Punisher and sent the widow of his victim a badly spelt letter, posing as a police officer that her husband had worked with, along with some money, as well as promising to send her more. The Rhino was so affected by this that he helped the Punisher, and also convinced him not to kill Michael Watts, the third Stilt-Man.

The Rhino decided to give up his life of crime entirely. He willingly surrendered to the police, and pled guilty to all of the charges against him. S.H.I.E.L.D. (painfully) removed his suit, and he was sentenced to 25 years at Ryker's Island. The Russian Mafia and other criminal gangs tried to recruit him, but he denied them all, even going so far as to completely avoid a break-out at one point. For his good behavior and cooperation, he was released early on parole in order to make room for worse bad guys.

His first stop after getting off the bus was a diner, where the waitress, Oksana, was somewhat mean / nice to him because she knew that he was an ex-con, as that was all that ever came in there. He paid for his meal and left. He rented a room at Vasili's, and was met by Doctor Tramma, who wanted to re-invent him as an all-new and improved Rhino. When he noticed Oksana in Vasili's restaurant crying, he walked over to her to talk to her and discovered that she had been fired for being mean to the customers. Aleksei declined Doctor Tramma's offer and asked Oksana to have dinner with him. They eventually got married and lived in a small apartment in Yonkers.

Doctor Tramma eventually found someone else, and a new and improved Rhino came after Aleksei, feeling that he had to destroy the old Rhino if he was ever going to take up the mantle. Spider-Man helped Aleksei keep his new life by defeating the new Rhino; however, the replacement once again returned and murdered Aleksei's wife. Aleksei donned the Rhino suit again and both easily defeated and killed the new Rhino.

Aleksei joined Doctor Octopus' new Sinister Six and helped him steal technology from the Baxter Building, as well as the Zero Cannon from the Intelligencia.

Some time later Doctor Octopus, in his plan to be remembered as the man who had saved Earth, offered the chance to stop the greenhouse effect, as well as speed it up, using a special device connected with different satellites in orbit.While Spider-Man and his allies continued to disarm Doc Ock's bases, defeating the Rhino in the process, they were attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D. forces before they could capture him and were forced to flee. After Spider-Man and Silver Sable arrived to Octopus's underwater base, the Rhino faced them while the base started to flood; he trapped Sable and left Spider-Man with two choices: continue to fight him in order to save Sable from drowning (while leaving Octopus would activate the lenses), or let him drown himself and Sable but stop Octopus. After leaving Sable to her death at her request, Spider-Man managed to destroy Octopus's mechanical arms and equipment before taking his foe away to a doctor. Aleksei smiled before his apparent death.

Aleksei resurfaced some time later, having survived his apparent death and remained hiding in Tahuexco, Guatemala. When he started recruiting villains of Spider-Man into his enterprise, the new Jackal convinced Aleksei to join his side by offering him the chance to reunite with Oksana, or rather a clone of her. The Jackal later had Aleksei, back as the Rhino and sporting a black version of his suit, break into the Andru Correctional Facility to retrieve the Lizard(who had made a similar deal with the man in exchange for his resurrected wife and son) and Electro (who had been de-powered by Spider-Man).

When the Jackal launched New U Technologies, the Rhino worked as a security guard at his headquarters, while also enjoying his time with Oksana's clone. Unfortunately, the Rhino was forced to see his loved one die once again when a turn of events in the Jackal's plans led to an audio frequency, which caused New U's clones to break down and die, to be broadcast throughout New U's facility. After Oksana decomposed, the Rhino grieved motionless in front of the pile of dust that used to be her. When a quarantine team tried to get him to move, the Rhino went on a rampage. Spider-Man tried to stop him, and convinced him to calm down and focus the pain of Oksana's death in honoring her by being the person that she would have wanted him to be. The Rhino then willingly surrendered, having set out to move forward. Spider-Man promised to check on him later, and the Rhino bid farewell to him.

After all of his warrants were removed (presumably by Mayor Fisk), Aleksei spent some time trying to look out for Oksana's family and went on to look for his niece when she was kidnapped. While on his search, he crossed paths with Spider-Man and the two briefly fought over a misunderstanding due to Spider-Man thinking that the Rhino was the one responsible for a robbery that was occurring at the time. The Rhino then teamed up with Spider-Man after realizing that all of the robbers were kidnapped children.

Spider-Man carried the Rhino through the city while swinging to an old safe house that was used by many old gangs; after Spider-Man realized that Tombstone was behind the kidnapped children, the Rhino stepped in and the two beat up the crime boss until they were briefly blinded, letting him get away. The Rhino and Spider-Man eventually encountered Captain America, who helped them with the missing children's case. The three went to an old S.H.I.E.L.D. facility on the Gowanus Canal where they defeated the Snatcher, who was behind controlling the kidnapped children, and the Rhino managed to rescue his niece, Tanya.

The Rhino was later hunted down by the Taskmaster and the Black Ant; during his attempt at escaping, he encountered Spider-Man and the two teamed up to fight the villains.Unfortunately, when the Black Ant shot down a restaurant, Spider-Man abandoned the Rhino in order to save someone, which caused Aleksei to be captured by the Taskmaster and the Black Ant, blaming Spider-Man as he was taken away by the villains.

He was made, along with the Cobra, the Scorpion, Stegron the Dinosaur Man, the Tarantula, and the Vulture, part of the Savage Six that Arcadedisplayed at a meeting with a bunch of millionaire would-be hunters. Aleksei was then imprisoned in Central Park along with other animal-inspired criminals as part of a ploy by Kraven the Hunter.

As the criminals were hunted down by the Hunterbots, the Rhino was convinced by the Vulture's story about the Gibbon heroically sacrificing himself to allow him to find a weak point in the robots. Spider-Man, who was also imprisoned in Central Park, tried to convince the prisoners that Toomes was lying, but the Rhino did not believe him due to his previous betrayal, joining the Vulture's revolt against their captors.After Kraven shut down the Great Hunt and liberated his prisoners, the Rhino decided to remain as part of the Savage Six.

The Rhino would later begin to work for the law rather than against it. He first operated as a member of Wilson Fisk's Thunderbolts during his time as Mayor of New York, but would leave the team and share some of its plans with Spider-Man due to a moral disagreement with the team's objective of targeting the children of the Purple Man. He later worked as an enforcer for the anti-mutant organization Orchis, working alongside them and attempting to capture the mutant fugitive Nightcrawler.

In the Legacy of Chris Thorndyke,

And he is reprised by Clancy Brown in the English dub and Jin Yamanoi in the Japanese dub.