The Termite

Origin

The Termite's real identity is unknown but is hired by Obadiah Stane for industrial sabotage missions. The Termite was hired to sabotage numerous Fetison Electronics facilities by destroying equipment and starting fires. Fetison Electronics was very close to losing a robot contract due to the sabotage attacks and would not be able to have Stark's company design their circuits. Ms. Erwin had Rhodes in the Iron Man armor guard one of their facilities to prevent another attack. While Iron Man stood guard, the Termite entered the facility through the walls and a fight ensued. Termite was able to escape when he burrowed through the ground. Iron Man discovered the tunnel into the ground and found the Termite. The Termite tried to escape by speeding off in a van but Iron Man picked up the van and took it into the air. The Termite could no longer hold onto Iron Man and fell towards the earth. He survived when he used his mutant abilities to dissolve the ground below and comes to rest several meters from the surface. 

The Termite would keep burrowing until he found a subterranean cavern. He felt it was the perfect refuge to sculpt works of art with his mutant abilities. The Termite was an artist, a sculptor that was working on a statue when his mutant powers manifested. He discovered that he can dissolve anything he touches including stone and metals. He wanted to create the grandest statue the world has ever seen and took assignments from Obadiah Stane to finance his dream. The Termite would appear at an outside art exhibit in the Sierra Nevada foothills where he was displaying one of his statues. However the visitors were just ridiculing his statue until Iron Man appeared. Rhodes was hot tempered and was going rampant as he tried to take down the Termite. Stark would appear and shoot the Termite with a mutant neutralizing weapon created by Forge. The Termite passed out from the blast and was taken into police custody. Still imprisoned years later, the Termite asked the other inmates to change the channel when Tony Stark was appointed US Secretary of Defense.   

Creation

The Termite was created by Denny O'Neil and Luke McDonnell in 1984 and first appeared in Iron Man # 189.

Powers & Abilities

The Termite is a mutant that has the ability to dissolve any substance with his touch. 

Equipment

The Termite wore a helmet that provided him enough oxygen for about one hour whenever he used his abilities to burrow underground.