Toad King

TOAD KING

Real Name: Toad King

Class: Mental construct

Occupation: Monster

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: Nerk (son, deceased), Sissy Bob (son, deceased), several unnamed children (deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Houma, Louisiana

First Appearance: Swamp Thing IV #21 (January, 2006)

Powers: Toad King possessed superhuman strength and durability as well as fierce fangs and claws.

History: (Swamp Thing IV #21-24) - 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, with the Toad King representing his hatred of the world and shame at being uneducated. When greedy developers killed him for his land the legends were loosed on the earth. The Toad King killed the developer and fought with Swamp Thing for a time, but decided on negotiating. Toad King said he abdicated rule of the swamp to Swamp Thing, but said outsiders interfering in bayou business would be dealt with by force. The Toad King visited William's lve Marcel, who he credited as mother of all his stories, and presented her with the corpse of the developer, hanging from a church than ran on chicken legs. Toad King and his brethern laid William to rest in the swamp, and he reiterated to Marcel that outsiders were the enemy. He planned to destroy the workers on the Bywater construction project because the civilized world would always fear the wild, knowing it represented a part of themselves they'd push deep down inside. Marcel refused to even look at him, and told him he didn't have her permission, advising him to let the Swamp Thing judge the matter. The King said Swamp Thing no longer held power, and the rest of the stories rallied around him. Toad King, his children and other allies swarmed the construction site, dismembering and murdering as they went, with the King saying civilization would never rise up against the wild ever again. Swamp Thing regained his elemental powers and dispatched the stories, tying down Toad King and his kin with 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.

(Swamp Thing IV #25) - 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 Arcane 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. 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 #26) - Swamp Thing allowed the swamp to decompose the bodies of the construction workers slain by Toad King, feeling complicit in their murder for hiding the evidence and selfish for leaving their family members with false hope they were still alive. He visited Toad in the prison tree, and Toad berated him for caring about humans when he was supposed to be a swamp god. Swamp Thing replied that he'd given up godhood, and Toad called him weak and unworthy.

(Swamp Thing IV #27-29) - Swamp Thing quarantined all of William Dupuis's folklore creations, but kept the prison tree next to the refugee camp to keep an eye on them. Toad King called to his "momma" Marcel saying he was being unfairly treated, and she tried to convince Swamp Thing to kill the King and his kin, to no avail. Police and the media were getting suspicious about the unexplained disappearances in the swamp, and helicopters flew overhead at night. Toad King warned Swamp Thing and Marcel that outsiders would end their way of life. Woodrue the Floronic Man's body reformed in the swamp and when he met Toad King the King said he was injustly imprisoned for telling the truth and doing what was right. The Floronic Man told him he'd free him if that would please Swamp Thing, and Toad said it definitely would. Woodrue had doubts, but capitulated because of his bad experiences in prisons and asylums, which he said never made him better. Woodrue found Swamp Thing's last body, and was distressed that his friend would not spak to him, but Toad King said he must have grown another body elsewhere, and he was correct, Swamp Thing was combating a blaze in Houma set by the King's son Nerk. The miniature Woodrue's combines and became a gigantic Floronic Man, demanding Swamp Thing's immediate presence. Tee-Toni demanded Toad King and Woodrue leave the camp, and after the King slashed him with his claws he responded by stabbing him. Woodrue freaked out about violence which he said was sure to upset Swamp Thing, and instinctively shot wooden spikes up from the ground, killing Tee-Toni, and wounding Toad King, who wandered off. The bleeding King came across Sissy Bob, and promised they'd raise Hell in revenge for his injury. He lovingly described the blood they'd shed, and the gentle Sissy Bob had enough, stabbing his abusive father to death in a fury.

Comments: Created by Joshua Dysart & Enrique Breccia.