H.I.V.E.


The H.I.V.E., which stands for the Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination, is a DC Comics supervillain terrorist organization.
The H.I.V.E. organization appeared on the fourth season of The CW show Arrow with Damien Darhk as their leader.

Publication history

The H.I.V.E. first appeared in New Teen Titans #2 and were created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.

Fictional team history

1st incarnation

The H.I.V.E. Master gathered seven unnamed criminal scientists to assist him in taking over the world and eliminating Superman and the Teen Titans. H.I.V.E.'s first known plot involved kidnapping Lois Lane and removing her memories. They subsequently attempted to learn more about the return of Superman Island from space, and hired Deathstroke the Terminator to kill the New Titans. H.I.V.E. was also responsible for turning Deathstroke's son Grant Wilson into Ravager.
Later, the H.I.V.E. Mistress murdered her husband and took control of his organization. Although clearly insane, she nevertheless garnered the same obedience from her underlings as her husband once did. She initiated an ambitious scheme called Operation: Waterworks wherein she attempted to destroy the underwater city of Atlantis. This was meant to be little more than a display of power which she would then use to blackmail world leaders into surrendering to the H.I.V.E. The Mistress' plan alerted the attention of former Titans members Aqualad and Aquagirl who in turn sought assistance from the Titans. The Teen Titans journeyed to the H.I.V.E.'s undersea base for one final confrontation. They succeeded in staving off the attack against Atlantis and also crippled the H.I.V.E.'s station. Knowing that defeat was near, the H.I.V.E. Mistress refused to be taken alive. She murdered her Inner Circle then took her own life. With her demise, this incarnation of the H.I.V.E. was gone forever.

2nd incarnation

The second incarnation of the H.I.V.E. was established by Adeline Kane, Deathstroke's ex-wife. They were tracked down by Tartarus, led by Vandal Savage and made up of Gorilla Grodd, Lady Vic, Red Panzer, Siren, and Cheshire.
The H.I.V.E. is later seen as members of Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains with the H.I.V.E. falling under the leadership of Queen Bee.

The New 52

Following the 2011 Flashpoint miniseries and the "New 52" reboot, the H.I.V.E. acronym was reimagined as Holistic Integration for Viral Equality. Additionally, the organization formed an uneasy alliance with Green Lantern villain Hector Hammond. They are led by a world class telepath named the H.I.V.E. Queen who is a zealous devotee of the alien Brainiac, claiming to be his "daughter". To the public, H.I.V.E. is a social media company that connects people to each other. However, their true goal is to kidnap humans with psychic powers and harness their energies in order to mentally enslave the world for Brainiac's return. Their criminal activities become publicly known following the Psi War storyline, when a roster of powerful telepaths clash in Metropolis. During the battle, their main headquarters located beneath Metropolis is destroyed and their entire plan thwarted.
In a flashback seen during the Forever Evil storyline, the H.I.V.E. were responsible for an act that turned S.T.A.R. Labs scientist Dr. Caitlin Snow into Killer Frost when she threatened their control of the energy market.
H.I.V.E. is later featured in Red Hood/Arsenal. A group of H.I.V.E. soldiers, led by the H.I.V.E. Regal, have planted a "transubstantiation bomb" aboard a U.S. Navy ship set to go off during a ceremony. Once the bomb goes off, it is supposed to release a psionic virus that will infect all the U.S. Military personnel present with the goals and ideals of H.I.V.E. However, Red Hood and Arsenal infiltrate the ship during the ceremony and Arsenal disables the bomb while Red Hood fights off the soldiers and kills the H.I.V.E. Regal.
H.I.V.E. returns in Teen Titans Vol 4. During a trip to New Orleans, the city suddenly comes under psionic attack from the H.I.V.E. Queen who quickly seizes control of every mind in New Orleans except the Titans who are shielded by Raven's magic. The mind-controlled citizens then start building psionic amplifiers that will allow the Queen to expand her powers across the whole of the U.S. Managing to triangulate her location, Red Robin and Raven assault her base and defeat the H.I.V.E. Queen, freeing everyone from her mental control.

DC Rebirth

At some point in the "DC Rebirth" reboot, the H.I.V.E. are revealed to be the financial backers behind Meta Solutions, a company set up by the Fearsome Five. Its purpose was to steal the powers of metahumans and sell them to H.I.V.E. on the black market. The company was taken down and Fearsome Five are defeated by the Titans. H.I.V.E. is shown to have a history with the Titans and was revealed to have hired Deathstroke's son Grant Wilson. His assignment was to kill the Titans. To this end, they granted him various superhuman powers. However, the strain proved too much and he died of a heart attack before he could complete his mission.

Membership

There are different memberships in each incarnation. Here is a list of its known memberships:

First H.I.V.E.

Anti-Matter Universe

The H.I.V.E.'s heroic counterparts in the antimatter universe in are known as the Hierarchy for International Virtuous Empowerment.

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, the H.I.V.E. council members: Adeline Kane, August General in Iron, Captain Nazi, Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi, Impala, Naif al-Sheikh, Prince Osiris, Ra's al Ghul, and Red Star are taking a vote which will decide if they should be against using nuclear weapons to end the war in Western Europe between Aquaman and Wonder Woman. Though the majority of them votes yes, they are stopped by Kane's daughter followed by Kane starting the attack alone.

In other media

Television

Animation

The H.I.V.E. is featured in DC Universe Online. They are shown to serve Queen Bee when they attack S.T.A.R. Labs and LexCorp Exobyte Transports near the Metropolis Metrodome. She and the H.I.V.E. are in cahoots with Brainiac in order to deliver the stolen Exobytes to him. The players fight the H.I.V.E. again when Queen Bee hypnotizes Booster Gold. The H.I.V.E.'s foot soldiers consist of H.I.V.E. Drones, H.I.V.E. Foragers, H.I.V.E. Killer Bees, H.I.V.E. Recruits, H.I.V.E. Royal Drones, H.I.V.E. Stingers, H.I.V.E. Workers, Mortuary Bees, a H.I.V.E. Minder, and Major Honeygut.

Miscellaneous

The H.I.V.E. appeared in Teen Titans Go!. Issue #16 introduced H.I.V.E. Students Rock, Paper, and Scissors. Rock is a large girl who can transform her body into rock. Paper is a thin girl who can stretch like Mister Fantastic. Scissors is a punk kid who can elongate his fingers into bladed talons.