Grim Reaper (Marvel)
The Grim Reaper is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Eric Williams was a male human born in Paterson, New Jersey as the son of Sanford Williams and Martha Williams with him having a brother named Simon Williams. He was the black sheep of his family with his mother telling him he was born bad whilst heaping affection on his brother instead. His father Sanford was charged with disciplining him, but was abusive and uncaring. He even preferred to watch television lazily whilst Eric was torturing the family cat. At the same time, their mother Martha was loving and attentive to Simon, making Eric bitter and jealous as a result. One day, Eric was playing with chemicals in the garage and caused a fire that burned down their house. Simon felt guilty for having not stopped Eric, and resolved to be responsible for Eric from then on. As they grew older, Simon grew studious, while Eric was an athlete. Eric also became more rebellious and tried to get Simon to join him in his petty theft. Eventually, Eric joined the Maggia and moved to Las Vegas whilst Simon took over the family business, Williams Innovations. (West Coast Avengers v2 #2)
Partly due to competition with Stark Industries, Williams Innovations began to fail. Desperate, Simon turned to Eric and his mob ties for help. Simon embezzled money from the company to invest with Eric, but Simon was caught and jailed. Simon was freed from jail by Baron Zemo, induced by an offer of revenge on Tony Stark by defeating Iron Man and the Avengers. Simon was transformed into the Wonder Man in order to infiltrate the Avengers, but Zemo's empowering process also poisoned Simon, ensuring his loyalty in exchange for the antidote. Simon's better nature won out, however, and he died saving the Avengers from Zemo's trap. (Avengers v1 #9) Learning of Simon's death, Eric was inflamed with guilt and anger. Through his Maggia contacts, he contacted the Tinkerer who provided him with his scythe weapon. Taking the name the Grim Reaper, he defeated the Avengers, but was beaten by the surprise appearance of the Black Panther. (Avengers v1 #52)
The Grim Reaper later confronted the Avengers with his original Lethal Legion composed of the Living Laser, Power Man, the Man-Ape and the Swordsman. He first sent the Man-Ape against them, who captured Black Panther. He allowed Black Panther to escape so that the Avengers could be contacted so they would be lured to the Lethal Legion members' location, before capturing Black Panther again. He captured nearly all of them, placing them in an hourglass filled with a deadly gas, and sent Power Man after the Vision who defeated Power Man by disguising himself as Power Man and Power Man as himself. The Lethal Legion was defeated when Grim Reaper found himself unable to strike down Vision, having discovered that the syntheizoid possessed his brother's brainwave patterns. He released 'Vision' by breaking the hourglass, meaning the Avengers were freed and defeated the Lethal Legion. (Avengers v1 #79)
The Vision met with the Grim Reaper who offered him a proposition. If the Vision aided him in getting revenge on the Avengers, he would transfer the Vision's mind into the body of the deceased, but preserved, Wonder Man. Not giving into the Grim Reaper's offer, the Vision refused; however, the Grim Reaper gave him a medallion that would put them into direct contact should the Vision change his mind. (Avengers v1 #102) When the Space Phantom returned, he teamed up with the Grim Reaper. (Avengers v1 #106) The Space Phantom and the Grim Reaper imprisoned some of the Avengers. The Grim Reaper then found the Vision and made his offer yet again. He took the Vision back to where the body of the Wonder Man was being stored, only to reveal that he really could not transfer the Vision's mind into the Wonder Man's body because the Wonder Man was dead; however, if they joined forces, he would transfer the Vision's mind into the living body of Captain America. Trying to appeal to the Vision, the Grim Reaper revealed his and the Space Phantom's plan. To this end, the Space Phantom took the form of the Viper, and later the Supreme Hydra during Captain America's last battle against the terrorist organisation. When the Space Phantom was unmasked by Captain America, he paralysed the star-spangled Avenger and his partner and then, to facilitate their plot, the Space Phantom made the whole world forget that Captain America was Steve Rogers, suppressed Captain America and Rick Jones's memories of the event, and sent them on their way. Without finally revealing his and the Space Phantom's ultimate goal, the Grim Reaper asked if the Vision would go along with their plan so that he may be human, a question to which the Vision answered affirmatively. (Avengers v1 #107)
The Vision goaded the Grim Reaper to anger by suggesting that the Grim Reaper was merely one of the Space Phantom's lackeys. This gave Captain America the chance to attack and the Vision explained to Captain America that he was tricking the Grim Reaper into believing he had joined their cause in an attempt to free his captured comrades. The two Avengers then freed their friends and soon found themselves confronted by the Grim Reaper, the Space Phantom, and an army of Hydra soldiers. When the Space Phantom tried to kill the Vision, the Grim Reaper attempted to stop him, and soon a battle erupted between Hydra and the Avengers. The Avengers were soon felled by one of the Space Phantom's weapons, except for the Scarlet Witch -- who escaped to summon Thor -- and the Vision who was immune to the sonic attack. However, the Space Phantom got the Vision to surrender and allowed him to be imprisoned when he threatened to kill the Grim Reaper. The Space Phantom then chased after the Scarlet Witch so she could not rouse Thor, and she was quickly captured. The Space Phantom then arrived at the Avengers Mansion and attacked Jarvis and Rick Jones. Rick turned into Captain Marvel, then freed the Avengers, and they all made short work of the Hydra army. Mar-Vell explained to the others that when Rick clashed the Nega-Bands, the Space Phantom's powers attempted to become two people at once, which proved to be too much, and so the Space Phantom was transported to Limbo, while Rick was transported to the Negative Zone as usual. The Avengers allowed the Grim Reaper to go free. (Avengers v1 #108)
After Wonder Man returned to life and joined the Avengers, Grim Reaper attacked the team and incapacitated them with his scythe blasts. When they awoke, he forced Wonder Man and Vision to undergo a trial to determine the true Simon Williams. Wonder Man eventually fought back and battled his brother. During the fight, Eric revealed that he was the one that hired Black Talon to raise and reanimate Wonder Man. Ultimately, Wonder Man broke Grim Reaper's scythe and punched him out. (Avengers v1 #160)
The deceased remains of the Grim Reaper was recovered by the Apocalypse Twins who resurrected him with a Celestial Death Seed to become one of their Horsemen of Death alongside the Sentry, Daken and Banshee. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #9)
Grim Reaper came to be revived when Doctor Strange used his magic to restore Las Vegas. (Doctor Strange: Damnation v1 #1)
Afterwards, his soul went into Hell where he was brought before Mephisto who had need of the villain. With the death of Valkyrie, Mephisto wanted the Grim Reaper to replace her role in delivering the dead into the afterlife. Thus, Grim Reaper would be bringing souls of worthy beings into Hell rather than into the heavenly afterlife. However, a complication emerged when they discovered the existence of a mysterious new Valkyrie. Grim Reaper was then dispatched to acquire the soul of Doctor Strange who became trapped in a magical mirror. (Valkyrie: Jane Foster v1 #4) It was then that he was confronted by the new Valkyrie who was unable to match the Grim Reaper as he was being empowered by Mephisto. This allowed him to harm her All-Weapon and he departed with Strange's soul for a hell-gate. However, before he could pass through, the Valkyrie opened a doorway to Valhalla and dragged Eric into it as she determined that the Grim Reaper saw himself as a hero in the fight. Trapped in Valhalla, he was unable to act aggressively and instead was given a restful place in the afterlife with the Valkyrie believing that this would help him heal. (Valkyrie: Jane Foster v1 #5)
Overview
Personality and attributes
It was noted that he had a level of bigotry against black people. (West Coast Avengers v2 #2)
He had said that he had hated the Avengers who held responsible for killing his brother. (West Coast Avengers v2 #2)
Eric was noted for being quite different than his brother Simon with him being a sportsman always looking to push his body to the limit. (West Coast Avengers v2 #2)
From a young age, he started stealing and even began to harass his brother Simon. (West Coast Avengers v2 #2)
Eric Williams was the son of Martha Williams and Sanford Williams with him having a brother named Simon Williams. It was said that his father was a hard driving man with nothing his children doing ever satisfying him. (West Coast Avengers v2 #2)
Even though Nekra was black, her being an albino led to him considering her both unique and the purest white woman he had ever met in his life. (West Coast Avengers v2 #2)
Powers and abilities
Notes
- The Grim Reaper was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema where he made his first appearance in Avengers v1 #52 (May, 1968).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In The Avengers: United They Stand, the Grim Reaper appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Allan Royal.
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Grim Reaper appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Lance Henriksen.
- In the Avengers Assemble, the Grim Reaper appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Roger Craig Smith.
Films
- In Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher, the Grim Reaper made an uncredited appearance in the animated film.
Video games
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, the Grim Reaper appeared as a mini-boss in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor Rick D. Wasserman.
- In Marvel Heroes, the Grim Reaper appeared in the setting of the MMORPG where he was voiced by actor Robin Atkin Downes.
Appearances
- Avengers v1: (1968)
- West Coast Avengers v2:
- Chaos War: Dead Avengers v1:
- Uncanny Avengers v1:
- Vision v2:
- Valkyrie: Jane Foster v1:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
