PHOSPHORUS
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human mutate (Russian)
Occupation: None
Group Membership: Masters of Alchemy (Carbon, Cobalt,
Hydrogen, Neon, Plutonium);
formerly Elements
of Doom (Carbon, Chlorine, Cobalt,
Radium, Vanadium)
Affiliations: Diablo (Esteban Corazan de
Ablo), Elements
of Doom, Masters of Alchemy;
formerly Dr.
Vasily Khandruvitch
Enemies: Avengers
(Beast/Hank McCoy, Black Knight/Dane Whitman, Black Panther/T'Challa,
Captain America/Steve
Rogers, Crystal/Crystalia Amaquelin, Falcon/Sam Wilson,
Hercules/Heracles, Ms. Marvel/Carol Danvers, Scarlet
Witch/Wanda Maximoff, Vision/"Victor Shade," Wasp/Janet Van Dyne,
Wonder Man/Simon Williams), Baru,
Monica Lynne, Taylor
Madison
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Wakanda;
formerly an unidentified nuclear power plant in
Russia
First Appearance: Avengers I#188 (October, 1979)
Powers/Abilities:
Phosphorus is composed of pure, waxy Phosphorus, granting him some
degree of invulnerability to physical attacks, as such attacks simply
passed through his soft form.
As Phosphorus was known as a
volatile, explosive element, the Element of Doom Phosphorus was capable
of emitting bright explosions at will due to his ability to control the
chemical reactions in his body. These explosions could be so controlled
that they could be used to generate bursts of flame.
Height: Various
Weight: Various
Eyes: Yellow (no visible irises)
Hair: None
History:
(Avengers I#188 (fb) - BTS / Thunderbolts I#7 (fb) -
BTS) - At some point, an unidentified human was transformed into pure
elemental Phosphorus by Dr. Vasily Khandruvitch in an effort to create
Super-Soldiers to serve the state. Rebelling and joining other
transformed humans as the Elements of Doom, Phosphorus aided in taking
over a Russian nuclear power plant for use in creating more Elements of
Doom.
(Avengers
I#188) - When the Avengers were drawn to the Russian nuclear plant on
their way home from the Inhumans' Great Refuge, they investigated the
plant and, after defeating the Element of Doom Vanadium, they
discovered the Elements of Doom's large transformation machine. Carbon
immediately pointed out the Avengers to Phosphorus, who deduced that
the Avengers would not have gotten that far had they not destroyed
Vanadium. The Avengers quickly attacked the Elements of Doom but
Beast's punch simply squished into Phosphorus' waxy form and Phosphorus
responded by emitting a controlled chemical explosion to repel Beast.
The Wasp followed up by hitting Phosphorus with her Wasp's Sting but
the unfazed Phosphorus was more amazed at the superheroes, theorizing
that they would make excellent specimens to transform into new Elements
of Doom.
(Captain America XII#750 / 2 (fb)) - As the Avengers continued to
battle the Elements of Doom, Captain America punched Phosphorus but
only succeeded in splattering his waxy form.
(Avengers I#188) - After most of the Avengers retreated for their own safety, the Elements of Doom captured a Russian plant technician and Phosphorus forced him into the transformation machine, turning the man into the newest Element of Doom: Cobalt. Radium then tried to force the captured Falcon into the transformation machine but the Avengers rallied and Ms. Marvel used a laser to destroy the plant's fusion reactor, unleashing its molten core onto the Elements of Doom, breaking down their atomic structure.
(Avengers Collector's Edition#1 (fb)) - The Russian nuclear plant
experienced a meltdown and the entire facility, including the
individual atoms of the former Elements of Doom, was covered in
concrete to protect the public from the fallout. The atoms of the
surviving three Elements of Doom including Phosphorus were shunted
extradimensionally, perhaps due to the meltdown's blast. Years later,
the master alchemist Diablo crossed the dimensional barriers and used
his sorcery and alchemy to resurrect Phosphorus, Cobalt and Carbon from
their base atoms. With the Elements restored to Earth once more, three
new elemental beings (Neon, Plutonium, Titanium) were created and
together, they formed a new elemental group calling themselves the
Masters of Alchemy.
(Avengers Collector's Edition#1) - When the Avengers arrived in
Wakanda, they were ushered to Diablo, who revealed the Masters of
Alchemy and their origins. Explaining how they had taken Wakandan
hostages to keep the Black Panther at bay as they sought enough
Vibranium to transform someone into a Vibranium being for their team,
Diablo quickly noticed that both Vision and Black Knight were missing
and he sent Neon and Cobalt to locate them. Diablo soon threatened
Taylor Madison, prompting Hercules to rush at Diablo, only to be
pounded into the ground by Titanium as Phosphorus created a small
chemical fire to hold the other Avengers at bay. Diablo then sought to
transform Monica Lynne into Vibranium but the Black Panther's aide Baru
volunteered himself in her stead as the Avengers began to rally,
prompting Diablo to order the Masters of Alchemy to destroy them.
Phosphorus attacked Captain America with flames and while Cap was able
to block the flames, Crystal used her own elemental abilities to direct
Phosphorus' flames away from civilians. Cap then knocked Phosphorus
towards barrels of machine oil, distracting the elementals while
Crystal removed the air from Phosphorus' vicinity. Cap eventually
managed to cram Phosphorus into an oil drum, knowing that chemists
often store Phosphorus in oil to prevent oxygen from igniting it. Cap
then slammed the lid on the oil drum, trapping Phosphorus without air
to fuel his chemical abilities. As the rest of the Masters of Alchemy
were defeated, Diablo attempted to slip away unnoticed but Taylor
Madison knocked him out.
Comments: Created by Jim Shooter, Bill Mantlo, John Byrne, Dan Green and Frank Springer.
Phosphorus' eyes are colored red
in of Avengers Collector's Edition#1 despite being yellow in his
initial appearance in Avengers I#188. An additional note from Avengers
Collector's Edition#1: Diablo refers to the original Elements of Doom
as aliens that supplanted humans with energy constructs based on
elements but we clearly see a human male being physically transformed
into Cobalt in Avengers I#188 so the Elements were not aliens that had
replaced humans with energy constructs resembling elements but rather,
they were human beings physically transformed into pure elemental
forms. Of course, it's not like Diablo is the most trustworthy
person....it's possible he was lying to the Avengers, though it could
also be that the ancient Diablo might not have understood the Elements'
true nature...then again, perhaps Diablo resurrected the Elements of
Doom that he could and the three new elemental beings in his group
(Neon, Plutonium & Titanium) could have an extradimensional aliens
like Diablo claimed...
Another thing of note regarding the truthfulness of Diablo's statements: In the flashback we see while Diablo is talking, we see Quicksilver with the Avengers during their encounter with the original Elements of Doom but Quicksilver did not encounter the Elements. He was in the issue at the beginning but he stayed behind in the Great Refuge while the rest of the Avengers went on to encounter the Elements....
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Phosphorus should be distinguished from:
Appearances:
Avengers I#188 (October, 1979) - Jim Shooter (plot, editor), Bill
Mantlo (script), John Byrne, Dan Green, Frank Springer (art)
Avengers Collector's Edition#1 (1993) - Pat Garrahy (writer), Mike
Gustovich (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Glenn Herdling (editor)
Thunderbolts I#7 (October, 1997) - Kurt Busiek
(co-plot,
script), Roger Stern (co-plot), Jeff Johnson (pencils), Will Blyberg,
Eric Cannon, Larry Mahlstadt, Greg Adams, Keith Williams (inks), Tom
Brevoort (editor)
Captain America XII#750 (September, 2023) -
"Reflections" story - Stephanie Williams (writer), Rachael Scott (art),
Alanna Smith (editor)
First posted: 11/09/2025
Last updated: 11/09/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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