Armadillo (comics)

Armadillo
Armadillo, as seen in Marvel Universe Art by John Byrne.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Captain America #308 (August 1985)
Created by	Mark Gruenwald Paul Neary Dennis Janke
In-story information
Alter ego	Antonio Rodriguez
Species	Human
Place of origin	Earth-616
Team affiliations	Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation The Rangers Vil-Anon Sinister Sixteen HYDRA
Notable aliases	Awesome Armadillo, 'Dillo, Mr. A, Tony
Abilities	Skilled street fighter Superhuman strength, stamina and durability Hardened claws Armored hide

Armadillo (Antonio Rodriguez) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Created by Mark Gruenwald, Paul Neary, and Dennis Janke, the character made his first appearance in Captain America #308 (August 1985). Gruenwald recounted that Armadillo "is just a silly monster I wanted to throw in as kind of a joke on the old Marvel armadillo thing in the letters page".

Antonio Rodriguez was born in San Antonio, Texas. He was given superhuman strength and durability by Dr. Karl Malus. This process involved having his human genes combined with the genetic material of an armadillo which gave him the appearance of a humanoid armadillo. The Armadillo's original motivation during his criminal career was to get enough money to be able to pay a doctor to discover a way to cure his girlfriend Maria of an unspecified terminal illness. When she was cured from her treatment, Maria abandoned him because of his appearance. Since that time, his motive has been to secure enough money to pay the Power Broker or some other scientist to reverse the process which transformed him. As part of the Armadillo's first encounter with superheroes, he was dispatched by Dr. Karl Malus to break into the West Coast Avengers Compound and free Goliath. There, the Armadillo battled Captain America who released him after learning of the sacrifice he made for the comatose Maria.

The Armadillo later joined the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. While on tour with the UCWF, he battled Captain America and Hawkeye atop the Empire State Building. He had apparently gone berserk after discovering his estranged wife Bonita with another man, and was intending to commit suicide. Captain America tried to talk him down, but the Armadillo jumped off the building. He survived the fall, but was arrested.