User blog:Inferno Pendragon/PE Proposal: Childs

today I bring forth yet another Pure Evil Proposal for the "guys you never heard of in comics", this time it is is Marvel's time to shine with good old Marvel UK - a failed attempt to bring Marvel into the UK (obviously) but for what it is worth it gave amazing stories and characters, many of which are sadly lost to time or buried by Marvel.. some survive and thrive (such as Mad Jaspers).

then you have Childs.. who is of the "completely forgotten" variety but would be a great addition to modern Marvel if any writer wanted a complete maniac to terrorize their heroes and when I say this guy is a monster.. well.. let's just say he is.. even in a world of super-vilalins he is just that extra level of spicy that you don't normally see.. in today's world he's even more of a dark character and will hit some nerves..

https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Childs

Who Is He / What Has He Done?
Childs was a horrible human being even before becoming a super-villain and was going to be kicked out of the army - before this happened he executed several POWs (largely for his own amusement) but got hit by a landmine.. unfortunately for all this didn't kill him.

Jump a few years into the future Childs was now granted super-powers and a position of authority as a henchman of Sir Marcus Grantby-Fox who was working on numerous evil military schemes such as Super Soldier Projects and so on (basically he was what you'd expect of your "military nasty" villain in comics).

Childs took to his new life with the glee of a maniac, having abandoned whatever sanity he had left and dedicated himself to murder, mayhem and sadism - while he was barely kept under control by Fox Childs was still a monster and he happily killed his own men for minor reasons (as seen when he shot one of his pilot's dead simply for arguing).

After numerous rampages and attempts to kill pretty much anyone that got in his way Childs would meet a rather fitting end by being run over by a train - though knowing comic books he could easily return at any time if anyone cared enough to revive him.. (so don't hold your breath)

The Work
Marvel UK was 90s era Marvel, so yes it has all the gritty anti-hero stuff you'd expect from that era and UK titles also tended to get quite political but I'd say Childs would be a fitting example of PE in any setting.

Migating Factors
mental instability - however this is not really a factor that is shown for sympathy as he is a decidely psychopathic individual even before losing his sanity, thus it is not a case of a tragic individual struggling with mental illness as it is an already murderous psychopath becoming even MORE murderous and sadistic.. the story did mention drugs known as "Red" causing him to become even more homicidal but remember that this is likely suppressed homicidal tendencies already inside him, the drugs simply remove any control he may of had.. the joy of murder would have to still be in his mind, the drug doesn't magically make someone want to kill - that is Childs' own twisted mind to blame.

Final Thoughts
this guy is wickedly sadistic, completely off his rocker (while still not being sympathetic) and delights in killing anyone or anything he can - he's the nightmare enemy that heroes fear the most, even in comic books.. a guy who has nothing to lose and only wants to kill as many people as possible and cause as much misery as he can.