Gargantua
Real name: Edward Cobert
AKA: Leviathan
First appearance: Defenders 126
What's His Problem? S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist Edward Cobert headed the Olympus Project, a top-secret program designed to create government-controlled super-beings; Cobert and his colleagues overstepped their bounds, though, by trying to develop super-beings designed to destroy those superhumans not controlled by the U.S. government. After serving as the program's first experimental test subject, Cobert became a rampaging giant of severely stunted intellect.
Powers: As a giant, Cobert is possessed of tremendous superhuman strength; however, he has a child-like mind in this form and extremely violent tendencies. Left unchecked, he will flatten everything and everyone in his path.
Favorite Quote: Gargantua has a less than rapier-sharp wit since his transformation, as these excerpts from his debut encounter with the Defenders attest:
"Kill! Smash! Crush! Mash! Rip! Gnash! Gobble! Crash! Yum, yum! Eat 'em up!"
"More super-dupers! Kill all! My job! Good fun!"
"Fee Fie Fo Fum! Bite off your heads--one by one!"
Heroes He Keeps Running Into: As Leviathan, Cobert battled the Defenders repeatedly under the direction of the Secret Empire, and got to bash on the replacement Captain America (something lots of us would have enjoyed doing). As Gargantua, he has battled Wonder Man, the Wasp and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
People Who Think He's Not So Bad: The Secret Empire, the Mad Thinker and Doctor Octopus have all used Cobert as a powerful pawn, but he has no real friends. He did serve as a member of Doc Ock's Masters of Evil, though, and joined several other Masters in turning on the not-so-good Doctor when their group efforts went awry.
Most Despicable Act: As Leviathan, Cobert cut a bloody swath through his S.H.I.E.L.D. colleagues and later tried repeatedly to kill and/or eat the Defenders. Since being re-outfitted and reconditioned by the Mad Thinker as Gargantua, he's been merely a destructive flunky. A really, really big destructive flunky.
by Sean McQuaid
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