Peter Merkel Jr.

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Rag Doll in Batgirl v4 #31.

Peter Merkel Jr. is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.

Contents

Biography

Origin

Peter Merkel Jr. in Doom Patrol v5 #19.

Peter Merkel Jr. was a male human born in the modern age as the son of Peter Merkel who was the supervillain known as Rag Doll. (Villains United v1 #3)

Unlike his father and 'brother', Peter Merkel Jr. was born normal the lacked the family's gift of being triple-jointed. (Villains United v1 #3)

He came to join a team known as the Secret Six consisting of Catman, Deadshot, Fiddler, Parademon and Scandal Savage. They operated as an independent of supervillains operating independently of the recently organised Society. The team received orders from the mysterious Mockingbird who offered them their deepest desires for their aid on a mission. (Villains United v1 #1)

As part of the team, he joined Bane and Catman on a mission to stop criminals in Gotham after Batman's death. Ragdoll disguised himself as Robin and served as a sidekick to his teammates, but in the end, they were all banished from Gotham by Nightwing. Ragdoll stopped wearing his Robin costume and he also remarked how unsuitable Bane and Catman were for the role of Batman. (Secret Six v3 #9)

Afterwards, Bane declares himself the new leader of the Six and fired Scandal whilst recruiting a sixth member in Black Alice, a Goth teen with the power to copy the abilities of magic users across the universe. Alice was then sent to infiltrates a cult where her identity was discovered and Rag Doll being forced to go in to save her life. (Secret Six v3 #16) This led to her beginning to flirt with him, much to Bane's chagrin.

Catman's son was then targeted for murder forcing all of the pre-existing team members to leave the Six to help Catman after he stole their plane, leaving Bane and Jeanette to create a temporary Six until the others return. (Secret Six v3 #20) On their journey to South Africa to try to find Catman, he is very shocked to discover that Alice does indeed consider Rag Doll to be her boyfriend, and attacks Scandal in the mistaken belief that she wants him, despite Scandal's lesbianism. Alice summons Etrigan's powers to fight Scandal, but promptly gives up, turning back to normal in tears. She explained that she knew that Rag Doll does not like her like that, but acted out simply from the strain and guilt of having given her father cancer by mistake. Rag Doll attempted to offer her comfort, and when Deadshot takes it as an attempt to flirt with her, Rag Doll actually stands up straight for the first time, defending Alice. (Secret Six v3 #22)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.

Overview

Personality and attributes

He noted that his father was not a kind man. (Villains United v1 #3) In fact, he was disgusted with his son and said that he would never replace him as Rag Doll. His father claimed that he was disgusted at how Peter had tried to make him like Rag Doll through surgery. (Villains United v1 #6)

It was said that Rag Doll had grown up almost as a nephew to the enemies of the Justice Society. (Villains United v1 #6)

He later kept the stuffed remains of Parademon within his room where he had conversations with it. (Secret Six v2 #1)

Powers and abilities

Originally, Peter Merkel Jr. was an ordinary human being but in a desire to become like his father and 'brother' he underwent hundreds of surgeries to make him triple jointed. This saw his joints being replaced with fully rotating self-lubricating implants making him extremely pliable and nimble. Years of these surgeries left many scars over his body with his flesh requiring a special chemical emollient or his bones would tear themselves apart. (Villains United v1 #3) During his teenage years, it was noted that he had his genitalia surgically removed. (Villains United v1 #4)

He was known to wrap himself around his target and crushed them in the process. (Villains United v1 #1)

Notes

  • The Peter Merkel Jr. Rag Doll was created by Gail Simone and Dale Eaglesham where he made his first appearance in Villains United v1 #1 (July, 2005).

Alternate Versions

  • In Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons v1 #1 (2011), an alternate version of the Peter Merkel Jr. Rag Doll appeared in the altered timeline of the Flashpoint. This version served as a contortionist in the freak show at Haly's Circus. During the attack of the Amazons, Rag Doll is rescued by Resistance member Vertigo. When looking for reinforcements, Rag Doll was killed by an Amazon by breaking Rag Doll's back over her knee.

In other media

Television

  • In Harley Quinn, Rag Doll made a cameo non-speaking appearance in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "Icons Only". He was shown as being an entertainer at Las Vegas.

Appearances

  • Villains United v1: (2005)
  • Secret Six:
  • Doom Patrol v5:
  • Secret Six:
  • Batgirl v4:

External Links

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