Nerk

NERK

Real Name: Nerk

Class: Mental construct

Occupation: Monster

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: Sissy Bob (brother), Toad King (father), several unnamed siblings

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Houma, Louisiana

First Appearance: Swamp Thing IV #25 (May, 2006)

Powers: Nerk possessed superhuman strength as well as fierce fangs and claws.

History: (Swamp Thing IV #25, 26) - Louisiana legend had it that the Toad King lusted after the women of Houma, and sired a clan of half-toads half-humans. Bayou legends lived in the mind of William Dupuis, and when greedy developers killed him for his land the legends were loosed on the earth. Swamp Thing captured Toad King and most of his children in roots. Toad King saw this as a temporary setback, and shouted to his son Sissy Bob, who'd avoided the roots, to find his brother Nerk, who was away on a mission spying on Swamp Thing's habitat and set him free. Bob found Nerk, and led him back to the Toad King. Nerk reported that when he was spying in the swamp he learned that Swamp Thing loved a woman named Abigail Aercane who lived in Houma. Toad King told his children to wreck havoc in town, and make it clear to civilization that his war was not over. He berated Bob for having love in his heart, and urged him to really cut loose with his brother. Bob and Nerk attacked the women's shelter where Abby worked, with Nerk devouring the head of one of her young charges. Nerk tried to bully his brother into mauling Abby, but he was reluctant. Abby fought back, clawing out one of Nerk's eyes, and when the police arrived the brothers fled back to the swamp.

(Swamp Thing IV #27-29) - Nerk and Sissy Bob hid out in the sewers, and Nerk promised to make Houma run red for the injury he'd suffered at Abby's hands. As night fell they went from house to house, with Nerk brutally stabbing and slaying anyone he found inside, while Sissy Bob cowered but still refused to kill. Nerk found explosives at a construction site, and set them off, turning Houma into a blazing inferno. Abby and Tefe responded, and when Nerk threw explosives at Abby Swamp Thing saved her. Nerk said he believed in dying for his cause, racing into a crowd of police officers with explosives, but Swamp Thing decapitated him before he could harm anyone else. The national guard collected Nerk's body.

Comments: Created by Joshua Dysart & Dean Ormston.