Gargantus (Earth-7045)

Gargantus is an ancient giant marine reptile created by the Deviants.

First Incident
In the Early 1950s, inventor and oceanographer Dan Parmenter developed an experimental bathysphere capable of descending to previously inaccessible depths. Though Parmenter set out on his inaugural dive alone, he soon discovered his young son Billy had stowed away on the craft. It was then that the father and son became the first humans to ever see the gigantic Gargantus. Parmenter quickly surfaced, but a curious Gargantus followed them to the surface.

While Gargantus did not initially seem hostile, his sheer size and bulk lead to tremendous damage and havok. The military opened fire on Gargantus, but he proved invincible to all conventional weaponry, causing Gargantus to strike back in response. After a brief bout, however, Gargantus was winded, and then collapsed. It was then that Parmenter realized that the reptile had burned out too much energy and was comatose. The military released the Gargantus back into the sea, where it was presumed that he would once more be able to breathe and recover.

Second Incident
As time passed, and the people of Parmenter's home town grew less fearful of Gargantus, and wished to return to exploring the depths from which he came. However, Bill Parmenter -- now fully grown and guardian of his father's technology -- refused to allow anyone to use his father's bathysphere, or to share the technology. Bill was widely seen as either a coward for still being afraid of Gargantus, or a pathetic failure who could not live up to his father's legacy. Eventually, another group of oceanographers was able to duplicate Parmenter's technology (or some similar technology). Ignoring Bill's warnings, they repeated Dan Parmenter's dive in 2017 and again encountered Gargantus.

When Bill brought his father's bathysphere out of storage to follow his colleagues, he found Gargantus had found them and was about to crush their craft in his enormous hand. When Gargantus saw Parmenter's familiar craft, he discarded the newer vessel to pursue. Parmenter dispersed a thick black chemical into the water, creating a temporary "smokescreen" while he worked feverishly with the bathysphere's mechanical claws to untangle the other craft's line. Parmenter finished without a second to spare, and the two bathyspheres ascended with Gargantus following close behind.

At the surface once more, Gargantus attacked a passing freighter and then came ashore at the pier, devouring the crew before coming to the mainland. After tearing a highway from the ground and leveling a few buildings on the outskirts of town, Gargantus was engaged by the military. When conventional arms failed (again) and it was realized that Gargantus had more than recovered and was fully prepared for another surface bout, Bill got the monsters attention and had him follow him back underwater in the bathysphere.

Bill had hoped to descend to a depths that even Gargantus could not withstand, but the increased pressure seemed to have no effect on him. When Gargantus began to crush the bathysphere in his bare hands, Bill used his weapon of last resort, and sent a tremendous current flowing across the hull of his ship. Amplified in the dense water, the current rendered Gargantus comatose, and he was left for dead.

more to be added

Powers & Abilities

 * Heightened stats underwater

Powers
Gargantus has strength and durability commensurate with his size. The time periods of his first two excursions on the surface also suggest he is also a long-lived individual. Gargantus's claws & teeth are also capable of puncturing teeth.

Trivia

 * Unlike his sapient mainstream counterpart, Gargantus is, intelligence-wise, just a vicious predator.
 * Gargantus is often confused with the similar Gigantus. Both are giant aquatic humanoids with fin-like ears and other fish-like characteristics, and both were originally described with the tagline "The Thing that Walks Like a Man". Editor Tom Brevoort even confused the two on the back page Marvel Universe No. 7. However, the two monsters are distinct in form, and history.