Mayhem (comics)

Mayhem is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.

Publication history

The character of detective Brigid O'Rielly first appeared in Cloak and Dagger #1 (Oct 1983), and was created by Bill Mantlo and Rick Leonardi. She subsequently appeared in issues #2-4 (November 1983-January 1984) of the same series, and issues #1-5 (July 1985-March 1986) of the second Cloak and Dagger series.

In Cloak and Dagger Vol. 2 #5 (Mar 1986), Brigid underwent a drastic transformation and became known as Mayhem. The character subsequently appeared, as Mayhem, in Cloak and Dagger #6-9 (May–November 1986), Strange Tales #13-15 (April–June 1988), #19 (October 1988), The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #1-2 (October, December 1988), #5-6 (June, August 1989), #8 (November 1989), #10-18 (February 1990-June 1991), Web of Spider-Man Annual #9 (1993) and #10 (1994).

Mayhem received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #8. However, some of the color plates were reversed in that issue, and those pages, including Mayhem, were printed correctly in issue #9.

Fictional character biography

Brigid O'Rielly was a police detective in Manhattan, when she learned that Cloak and Dagger were attacking criminals in her precinct. At first she wanted to bring the pair to justice, but eventually, she learned to trust the young crime-fighters.

Later, she took a squad of police officers to investigate a warehouse belonging to the same pharmaceutical company that was responsible for giving Cloak and Dagger their powers. Some corrupt policemen, led by Roger Falcone, exposed the other police officers to a gas to asphyxiate them. With her dying breath, Brigid swore vengeance on Falcone. As Brigid lay dying, Cloak and Dagger found her, and though they were too late to save the other police, Cloak surrounded her and Dagger with his darkness, while Dagger tried to revive her with her light. When this appeared not to work, the pair abandoned her body to search for those responsible.

Though Brigid O'Rielly died, she was reborn as Mayhem, and she helped Cloak and Dagger find and fight the corrupt police, and she killed Falcone as promised. She is now herself a vigilante, showing no mercy to the drug dealers and other criminals she pursues.

The Initiative

Brigid was considered as a "potential recruit" for the Initiative program, according to Civil War: Battle Damage Report.^[1]

Powers and abilities

Mayhem exudes a green, venomous gas from her pores that tends to surround her. If this gas enters another person's bloodstream, it will paralyze the person for an unknown amount of time. Hence, Mayhem attacks people by raking their skin with her talon-like fingernails so that the gas will enter their bloodstreams. Possibly some of her victims could be paralyzed for life due to the effects of the gas.

The gas can also act like a truth serum, forcing a victim of Mayhem to tell her the truth.

Dagger's "light-knives" dissipate upon contact with this gas.

Mayhem can levitate herself and fly through unknown means. Her top speed is as yet unknown.

Since Mayhem technically "died", it is possible that her body functions differently now in other ways in addition to those listed above. Exactly what those differences are remains to be seen.

Mayhem may also have superhuman strength.

References