Arthur Molekevic (Earth-1610)

Dr. Arthur Molekevic was employed at the Baxter Building as both a research scientist and a passionate teacher to the geniuses who studied there; however his unpleasant personal appearance alienated the students (some of whom referred to him as the "Moley Moley Mole Man" behind his back) (but only with the exception of his respected Latverian student Victor van Damme), and his continual refusal to follow the facility's research guidelines alienated his superiors. When the government found his work on creating humanoid mold creatures, they sent General Ross to the Baxter Building to fire Molekevic, with the approval of Molekevic's supervisor, Dr. Franklin Storm (father of Susan and Johnny Storm).^[1]

In the subsequent five years, Molekevic went through various professional and personal changes, studying philosophy, religion, and ancient cultures as well as continuing his own work in biotechnologies. He located the underground remains of a culture which he believed to be the lost continent of Atlantis. In one of these chambers, 1.4 miles beneath Manhattan, he monitored the Baxter Building's research while creating his own servile race of mold men, dubbed "ani-men." Using DNA scraped from weaponry found in the ruins, he also created a giant-sized serpentoid monster which served him.

When Reed Richards' N-Zone teleporter was tested in the Nevada desert, Molekevic covertly observed the test and the subsequent accident. He sent his ani-men after the five people who were teleported/transformed by the experiment, but he was unable to locate Van Damme, and of the other four only succeeded in reaching Susan Storm before the military could. Fascinated by the experiment's results and wanting to free the transformed others from government control, Molekevic sent his "monster" into New York to retrieve Reed, Ben, and Johnny from the Baxter Building. The threesome defeated the beast, and followed it to Molekevic's headquarters. When the trio arrived, Molekevic returned Sue to them and began discussing how they could aid each other in pursuing further scientific research.

Traumatized by their recent changes, the foursome refused to listen to Molekevic, who realized he once again faced minds closed to their own potential. Disgusted with their blindness, he ordered his ani-men to do as they wished with the four; however the strength of the transformed Grimm was much greater than anyone realized, and in the subsequent fight, much of the ancient chamber was destroyed. Molekevic was sent plummeting into a deep chasm, his dreams again destroyed by the world's inability to share his vision.

Molekevic later reappeared and kidnapped several Think Tank students while explaining more details of his life: according to his history, Molekevic left his family after he devolved his younger sister into a lungfish and turned his father over to the government for money and official part of the government's research department. His first bio-experiment went unsuccessfully after it ate several scientists and Molekevic escaped into Europe in the guise of a washerwoman (he adds that he kept the costume and later added sequins to it). He is led to the ruins of the underground civilization by an insane Italian man who was a part of a NATO expedition to find the lost city, the third group to try (the first two groups perished and the rest of the third group either starved to death or killed each other). Though Molekevic found the Italian man's insane antics amusing, he later fed the Italian to an underground monster to gain the monster's trust. Molekevic was eventually driven off when he left the students behind and went to confront the Fantastic Four, who had arrived to try and rescue them. The students created weaponry from the ancient technology and drove off all parties; Molekevic, Fantastic Four and the government, intending to build their own civilization in the ruins of the city.^[2]

Molekevic later settled in the San Andreas fault line. During the events of Ultimatum, Molekevic was held prisoner by Lava Men, who were released from the Earth by Magneto's seismic shift, until being rescued by Benjamin Grimm and the Think Tank students. The latter wanted his help in seeing to a comatose Susan Storm, which Molekevic immediately obliged.^[3]

Highly developed "radar senses", to help his weak normal vision; has developed a fighting style resembling the Japanese martial art of bōjutsu.^{[citation needed]}

• Super-Genius Intelligence: Molekevic is a scientific genius, with advanced degrees in fields such as genetics, computer science and molecular biology. Can even communicate with the fungus-based life-forms that he created.^[4]

• Near-blindness

Molekevic has access to ancient advanced technologies in his underground bases. He has created a race of animate mold men which serve him (ani-men) and has also created genetically modified "monsters" from the DNA recovered from his ancient civilizations. He has also tapped the communications of leading scientists, observing their work.

• A cane that projects short ranged energy blasts.

• A somewhat detailed origin of the Mole Man appears in Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual Vol 1 2.
• Ultimate Mole Man physically resembled the original character. However, he is bulkier, rarely washes and has an unsightly skin condition.

• The "Mole Man" character of Earth-1610 appears to have three puns in his nom de jure:

1. His body contains a number of unsightly moles.
2. He lives mostly underground like a mole.
3. He is an expert and an innovative manipulator of molds, creating an army of fungal based "men": the Ani-Men.