Dr. Mamushi is a small, hunchbacked man with prominent buck teeth. His most distinctive feature is his ability to split his own back open and release poisonous insects he's personally developed. He's genuinely proud of what he calls his "insanity insects"—they bite people and cause memory loss, which he clearly considers a major accomplishment.
His name comes from the mamushi, a venomous Japanese pit viper (Gloydius blomhoffii). Along with the Okinawan habu, the mamushi is among Japan's deadliest snakes, responsible for around 3,000 deaths annually from bites alone. The name choice reflects his bug-based attacks and poisonous nature.
Originally, he was called Dr. Semushi, a name derived from the Japanese word for "hunchback"—fitting his physical appearance much like the other doctors' names describe theirs. However, since the term is considered offensive to people with disabilities, later reprints changed his name to Mamushi, which accomplishes a similar sound while steering away from outdated terminology.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
