Dr. Otto Octavius

BackGround

Dr. Octavius was created by the comic book writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. His first appearance in the comics was in The Amazing Spider Man #3.

He is a nuclear scientist who hopes to create fusion power.To aid in his creation, he uses his mechanical arms that are attached to his body. However, due to an accident, his mechanical arms have fused to his spine and the chip that was to protect his mind from the mental influence of the arms has been destroyed. Without the chip he is resigned to fulfilling the mechanical arm's obsessive desire to complete his experiment at any cost.

Major Plots

Spider-Man 2

Genius at work

At a conference, Doctor Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) is demonstrating his new experiment which will create a new source of unlimited energy, fusion power. To assist in his demonstration, he attaches four mechanical arms to his back. These mechanical tentacles are resistance to heat and magnetic forces. but they have an intelligence of their own and could influence Octavius' mind. To combat this influence and protect himself, Dr. Octavius has placed an inhibitor chip at the top to prevent the arms from altering his mind. As the experiment unfolds, his experimental energy source begins accelerate to dangerous levels, but Dr. Octavius chooses to press forward anyway. An explosion occurs because of a miscalculation in the experiment and the Dr. Octavius' wife, Rosalie Octavius (Donna Murphy) is killed in the explosion. The explosion also destroys Dr. Octavius' inhibitor chip and fuses the mechanical arms to his spine. Unconscious, Dr. Octavius is taken to the hospital to have his mechanical arms removed.

At the medical doctors try to remove the tentacles, they are all killed by tentacles. Dr. Octavius awakens and leaves the hospital. Influenced by the tentacles, Dr. Octavius becomes convinced that he must finish his experiment. To finance his experiment, he robs a bank and is confronted by Spider-man (Tobey Maguire). The two battle, but Octavius is able to flee with the money to his lair.

Doc Ock on a train

At his lair, Dr. Octavius reconstructs his experiment, but he lacks the tritium to complete it. In order to find some tritium, Dr. Octavius contacts Harry, the son of Norman Osborn. Harry (James Franco), at first, refuses to give Dr. Octavius the tritium, but changes his mind when he decides to make a deal with Dr. Octavius. In exchange for the tritium, Dr. Octavius has to give bring Spider-man alive to Harry. To find Spider-man, Harry tells Dr. Octavius that Peter Parker, a "friend" of Spider-man, is the key to finding him. The next day, Dr. Octavius attacks Peter Park in a coffee shop and abducts Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) in an effort to lure Spider-man out. Spider-Man does emerge and they battle on a train. Dr. Octavius is able to knock out Spider-man and deliver him to Harry. Dr. Octavius exchanges Spider-man for the tritium and retreats to his lair to finish his experiment.

The final confrontation

At his lair, Dr. Octavius puts the finishing touches on his experiment and activates it. However, he discovers that Spider-man is attempting to free Mary Jane discreetly. Dr. Octavius and Spider-man battle again, but this time, Spider-man is able to defeat Dr. Octavius. Spider-man reveals his identity as Peter Parker and begs that Dr. Octavius stops his experiment before it creates a massive explosion that could wipe out a city. Dr. Octavius, having been freed from the influence of the mechanical tentacles, decides that he does not want to die as a monster and uses his mechanical tentacles to collapse the floor and drown the reactor. This stops the reactor, but it is at the cost of Dr. Octavius' life.

Character Traits

In some adaptations, Dr. Octavius is seen in a green suit. In other adaptations, he appears in a lab coat. However, in all adaptations, Dr. Octavius appears with sunglasses and four mechanical tentacles.

Dr. Octavius is known to be obsessive when it comes to completing his projects, a trait that was only amplified by the influence of his mechanical tentacles. Since the fusion of the arms into his spine, they have gained a life of their own. Otherwise Octavius is considered a great mind in the scientific field. He was able to create mechanical arms that respond to his thoughts and a small sun when he tried to create fusion power.

The mechanical tentacles not only have the ability to carry Dr. Octavius' weight, but also the strength to lift an object the weight of a car. Being able to lift himself off the ground, Doctor Octavius is able to traverse land more efficiently and is also able to scale skyscrapers. Although Dr. Octavius can walk, his main method of transportation is the use of mechanical tentacles to move him from place to place. His mechanical arms are also able to transform themselves into spinning blades that are able to cut through flesh. In addition, the mechanical arms have a resistance to heat and magnetic forces; this allows him to form the tiny sun without harm to himself or his arms.

Trivia

• Dr. Octavius' upper tentacles are constructed out of 76 individual pieces.
• During a moment of anguish, the mechanical tentacles also scream out in anguish with Dr. Octavius.
• Real needles were used when the mechanical tentacles were inserted into Dr. Octavius' back in the movie.
• Four people were used to control each arm in the movie.
• One tentacle has motherly personality. It gives Dr. Octavius a drink and it takes off his lab coat in the movie.