SERPENT SOCIETY

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Serpent Society

First Appearance: Captain America #310

Roster: 

• Anaconda (Blanche Sitznski)
• Asp (Cleopatra Nefertiti)
• Black Mamba (Tanya Sealy)
• Boomslang (Marc Riemer)
• Bushmaster (Quincy McIver)
• Coachwhip (Beatrix Keener)
• Constrictor (Payne)
• Cottonmouth (Burchell Clemens)
• Death Adder (Roland Burroughs / Unknown)
• Diamondback (Rachel Leighton)
• Puff Adder (Gordo Fraley)
• Rattler (Gustav Krueger)
• Rock Python (M’Gula)
• Sidewinder (Seth Voelker/ Unknown / Gregory Bryan)
• Slither (Aaron Salomon)
• Tiger Snake (Unknown)
• Titanoboa (Unknown)
• Viper/Pit Viper (Jordan Dixon)

Origin:

The original Sidewinder (Seth Voelker) after doing a job for Roxxon’s Hugh Jones, realized that he had the potential to lead his own team and formed a ‘serpent themed’ organization called the Serpent Society. He initially recruited Anaconda, Black Mamba, and the original Death Adder (Roland Burroughs). They were then dispatched to recruit Asp, Bushmaster, Cobra (later King Cobra), Cottonmouth, Diamondback, Princess Python and the Rattler.

He attempted to recruit the original Viper (Ophelia Sarkissian, better known as Madam Hydra), but she declined with plans to overthrow Sidewinder’s organization and claim at her own. Constrictor, who they had also attempted to recruit, declined and attempted to alert the Avengers of their activity, but was found out by Anaconda and beaten nearly to death.

They took up their first mission from AIM to track down and murder the original M.O.D.O.K., which they had managed to successfully complete earning their deadly reputation immediately. This however, would lead to Princess Python departing Serpent Society after the murder of M.O.D.O.K. She was however found, captured, and brainwashed to forget anything and everything that had to do with Serpent Society’s secrets.

The original Death Adder (Roland Burroughs) would end up being murdered as a result, as he’d been escorting Princess Python back to the Circus of Crime and was gunned down by a vigilante known as Scourge. Though Sidewinder demanded that the Serpent Society members find out who killed Death Adder and take care of them, none of the members ever discovered any clues to Scourge’s involvement in the murder.

Viper (Ophelia Sarkissian, better known as Madam Hydra) made her move to overthrow Sidewinder’s Serpent Society, but several of her members – Black Racer, Copperhead, Fer De-Lance and Puff Adder, joined the ranks of the Serpent Society. With the help of some of her other members (Boomslang, Coachwhip, Rock Python and Slither), Viper was able to get close enough to Sidewinder to poison him, but Diamondback was able to get to him and escape, turning to Captain America for help. Unbeknownst to Captain America, Anaconda, Cobra, Rattler and Cottonmouth turned on their former teammates and served Viper, and helped her capture and imprison the other members of the Serpent Society. When Captain America, Diamondback, Nomad and Demolition Man arrived and fought Viper, it was Cobra who defeated her and handed her over to Captain America, displeased with her plan to mutate innocent people into humanoid-serpents.

Sidewinder, after recovering from Viper’s poison assassination attempt, was bitter that members of his own team had betrayed him and left the Serpent Society. Cobra then took over as leadership of the newly formed Serpent Society and adopted the new moniker of King Cobra with the newly formed Serpent Society consisting of: Anaconda, Asp, Black Mamba, Black Racer, Boomslang, Bushmaster, Coachwhip, Cottonmouth, Diamondback, Puff Adder, Rattler and Rock Python.

Though she’d been a member of the Serpent Society, when Diamondback had turned to Captain America to help Sidewinder, she had realized she’d developed feelings for him, and he had developed feelings for her, and the two had begun dating. King Cobra learned of this and he and the Serpent Society were intent on killing her, fearful she’d been betraying them. However, Sidewinder returned the favor and rescued Diamondback, as well as Asp and Black Mamba, who had tried to help Diamondback.

The Serpent Society would resurface again, this time in Arizona, as King Cobra sought someone to take over for him and discovered Jack Flag, who had previously proven himself by defeating Fer-De-Lance and Rock Python. Jack Flag agreed, but in turn, quickly betrayed him by alerting Force Works.

Later still, members of the Serpent Society were tricked by none other than Mephisto, who had taken a form of a “Great Red Serpent.” Serpent Society killed several people as an offering to the Great Red Serpent, though they were defeated by Nighthawk. Mephisto appeared as his true self and revealed this had all been a part of a greater plan.

The latest Viper (Jordan Stryke, who happens to be the brother of Leopold Stryke, the first Eel, and leader of the original Serpent Squad) rebrands himself with a new moniker as Pit Viper and recruits the Serpent Society to continue their worship of Mephisto. He had discovered, there was a means to continue a dark ritual – and so he sent Black Mamba, Puff Adder, the new Sidewinder (the third to take the name, Gregory Bryan), and a newly recruited Tiger Snake to steal a cask of whale oil which was used as a component for something known as the Serpent’s Tears, which Pit Viper had claimed would help bring about Mephisto, who would reward them greatly.

Princess Python was dubious about Mephisto, but Tiger Snake assured her that once the ritual was complete that the payoff would change the world, in favor of the Serpent Society members, who had been loyal to Mephisto.

Tiger Snake would fight Shang-Chi, and managed to poison him, but Shang-Chi was able to escape and alert the other Avengers. Bushmaster and Boomslang were upset that this had gone this way and expressed concerns about the Avengers making an effort to stop them now, since they’d previously operated under secrecy. Pit Viper calmed them down, assuring them that he himself would lead the next strike to gather the next component for the ritual, and introduced their newest member, Titanoboa, a man who can change his size to great heights and increase his strength and endurance when doing so, based off an ancient serpent from days long gone.

The Serpent Society would go on to fight the Avengers in an abandoned mine in Attania, but the Avengers had been too late – Serpent Society gathered the last material needed and in an effort to test it’s effects – had tried to inject Shang-Chi and turn him into a humanoid serpent, but as they had anticipated – Captain America jumped in the way to save him and was instead turned into a humanoid serpent. This did not affect the outcome of the battle, however, as Serpent Society waited for Mephisto’s dark blessing, which never came, and Tiger Snake was unable to fight, disbelieving that they’d been betrayed – yet again – but Mephisto, and he along with the other members of the Serpent Society were defeated and captured and sent to Hague where they were tried for their crimes.