Origin
The Living Brain is a robot that was created by I.C.M. (International Computing Machines Corporation) and was exhibited at Peter Parker’s high school. It was supposed to be the greatest computing machine ever built. It could answer any question which is fed to it, basing its answer on the vast storehouse of information which it possesses. Unlike a human brain, it never forgets a thing. By feeding the Living Brain all the available facts about Spider-Man, it might have been able to find out his secret identity.
Creation
Living Brain was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man Vol.1 issue 8 (1964). More recently, the Living Brain has become the home in which the spirit of Doctor Otto Octavious (Dr. Octopus) has been residing.
Major Story Arcs
The Living Brain!
Two technicians tried to steal it and use it to figure out horse race winners, elections, etc. When Mr. Petty of I.C.M. tries to stop them, one of the technicians bumps the control panel and the robot went on a rampage. Spider-Man was able to stop it by readjusting the Living Brain’s controls and deactivating it.
To Bully a Bully
The Living Brain was seen years later, when a shool-boy managed to get his hands on the robot. The boy send the Brain on a rampage to nail a bully, whom had been bothering and bulying the young boy in school. Spider-Man battled the Brain again and eventually managed to defeat him.
Superior Spider-Man
Later, the Superior Spider-Man (Otto Octavious in Peter Parker’s body) comes to blows with the Living Brain, as it was being used by a new Sinister Six, this time lead by Boomerang. Despite having a Tri-Titanium shell, Spider-Man was able to beat it by leading one of Boomerang’s exploding boomerangs into it. Following this, he had the Living Brain delivered to Horizon Labs, where he was reprogrammed to serve as his new lab assistant. From that moment on, the Living Brain was a seemingly harmless robot whom offered Peter and his colleagues ‘tasty beverages’.
What’s Inside
Prior to the events that let Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius) to release his hold on Peter Parker’s body, Otto had duplicated his brain-paterns onto a small piece of his technologie. This brain-patern (whom knew nothing of how the real Otto was cast out of Peter’s body) was eventually activated and this Otto managed to upload his brain-patterns inside the Living Brain’s network. There he resided for a number of months. He acted just as the Living Brain normally did, but kept close to his true love, Anna Maria Marconi. He was abiding his time to make a full return.
Eventually, Otto got upset about being inside the Living Brain, and started a sceme through which he wanted to take over Peter Parker’s body once more. While searching for clues, Otto learned that the real Otto had released his grip on Peter Parker out of his own free will. The Otto inside the Living Brain was shocked by this revalation, and out of frustration started attacking Peter. With the help of Anna Maria, the Living Brain was stopped, but Otto activated the self-destruct option, exploding near Peter Parker and Anna Maria. Knowing nothing of the truth that Otto had been inside the Living Brain, they assumed the robot had had a mallfunction. Anna Maria asked Peter to rebuild the Living Brain, but Peter refused to do so at this moment.
Powers
- Super strength (was able to analyze the strength of Spider-Man’s webbing, deciding how much pressure to apply, and then plowing right through it)
- Contains more knowledge than any other brain on earth, human or mechanical.
- Thinks so fast it was able to second-guess Spider-Man’s actions.