PE Proposal: Ebenezer Laughton

Today I give you a formality post for a character who might've been the inspiration for Nolan-Verse's version of Scarecrow, a person who plays over his own mother's guilt, Ebenezer Laughton.

What Is The Work?

Ebenezer Laughton appears in many of Marvel comic books, but these days he's mostly known as one of Ghost Rider's worst enemies.

Who Is The Villain?

Ebenezer Laughton was born to a drunk and abusing mother, who often hit him when he didnt behave. Despite her explosive temper, his mother wasn't sadistic, and always tried to make up with her son by giving him presents as an apology tribute. Laughton took it the wrong way, forcing his mother to hurt the person she loved the most over and over again. It did not get better from there.

What Does He Do

Laughton had a career as a circus performer for much of his adult life. He gained increasing publicity thanks to his peak human rubberman qualities, and after catching a criminal who escaped from Iron Man in order to enhanced his own reputation, Laughton began realizing the villainous potential of his abilities. His criminal record goes from robbing Tony Stark and other people to trading with the Cuban military, and everything in between. Later on, he allied himself with other supervillains such as Count Nefaria, and as a practical result, became enemies with Captain America.

His moment of crossing the moral event horrizon came after being caught by Captain America for the first time, when he started a killing spree which ended only after he got caught for the second time. After the next time he escaped, he became a fullblown serial killer without any regards to the victim's age. From that day forward, he became one of Ghost Rider's worst enemies.

He was left for dead by Ghost Rider, but was rescued by an organization known as the Firm and was given some new superpowers which served him well in his sadistic quests. His favorite new power was the ability to create pheromones for inflicting fear and panic.

After Ghost Rider killed him, Laughton was revived by Blackheart, gaining the power of possessing people, such as Ghost Rider's dead sister.

In the Avengers: Red Zone 2003 storyline, there was also a scene where he pressured a couple of young girls to feel fear. To put it simply, he wanted little girls to fear for their lives because it's amusing him. That was actually one of the easier children abuse, because he already killed some children, among other things.

Redeeming Qualities

None. His cruelty is way beyond any tragedy, he doesn't want to fit in, and any other possible redeeming quality is rendered moot due to his heinous deeds. The fact he once stopped a criminal wasn't a pet the dog moment, nor out of anything benevolent. He just wanted the publicity.

Freudian Excuse

His mother used to physically abuse him whenever she was drunk. However, she was always deeply remorseful about it, and bought him presents in an attempt to make it up to him. Other abused children grow up and come to see the tragic side of the situation, or at least get away and try to be better people. Laughton exploited his mother's guilt by purposely misbehave, and created a cycle of beating, regrets and presents. To put it simply, he tortured his own mother by forcing her to do things she regrets doing so he'll have his way. Therefore, his Freudian excuse is inexcusable at best and throwing sand in people's eyes at worst.

Heinous Standard

Marvel's heinous standard is rather high, but Laughton goes beyond the standard for the following reasons:

1. Unlike some other Marvel villains, Laughton was a natural human being who committed his atrocities without much resources other than his circus fitness skills and medical knowledge. Villains such as Red Skull had full armies at their disposal. Laughton was just one man of his own, and even when he had partners, he rarely had any authority over them.

2. He was a highly sadistic psychopath ever since he was a young boy. Even before becoming a serial killer and a serious comic book villain, he already tormented his own mother by forcing her to hit him. He's a unique case of a beaten child who was abusing his mother vs the other way around. The fact he abused and/or killed children in ways that makes him far worse than any tragedy can justify shows that he never truly cared about the abuse he went through other than personal gain.

3. Every time Ghost Rider and/or other characters catched him, there was a chance for redemption, but Laughton did more than just reject any redemption possible. He came back worse.

4. Some Marvel villains are laughably evil. Not Laughton. His dead serious tone is nothing to laugh at. Played completely seriously, without any comedic moments.

5. One might say he's just Blackheart's pawn. He did serve Blackheart at one point, but he did all his atrocities with glee and proved himself to be worse than his former master.

Verdict

Born bad and became worse. Pure evil in my book.