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Dr. Deemo
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One of Dr. Anton Arcane's Un-Men minions introduced in the early 90s DiC Entertainment Swamp Thing animated cartoon series and Kenner toy line.
Back when he was human, Deemo operated on the fringes of Louisiana society as a self-proclaimed voodoo sorcerer, snake charmer, and all-around con-artist. He eked out a meager living by preying on the gullible and superstitious and always managed to stay one step ahead of the local authorities whenever his scams inevitably fell apart. But Deemo's luck ran out when he accepted a job from Doctor Anton Arcane, a local scientist of ill repute, to "liberate" some supernatural artifacts buried in a nearby cemetery. Not only did he fail to obtain the goods, but Deemo underestimated the intelligence, and ruthlessness, of his employer when he made the fatal mistake of attempting to fleece Anton by substituting some counterfeit items. Needless to say, Arcane was not amused and Deemo shortly found himself strapped to the mad scientist's operating table as punishment. It appealed to Anton's twisted sense of humor to make his newest Un-Man slave a literal "snake in the grass", to reflect Deemo's unscrupulous former lifestyle.
In humanoid form, the crafty Dr. Deemo prefers to employ voodoo magic rather than dealing directly with his foes. Having managed to secure some vegetable matter from Swamp Thing's body during their first battle, Deemo subsequently fashioned this material into a voodoo doll. The sadistic Doctor takes great delight in tormenting his arch nemesis with this figure: driving pins though it, scorching it with fire, immersing it in herbicides, etc. Fortunately for Swamp Thing, his remarkable regenerative power makes it impossible to destroy him in this manner (even if Deemo were to obliterate the puppet outright, Swamp Thing's essence would just escape into the Green, and he could then easily reconstruct a new physical body for himself out of any nearby flora.) Still, if nothing else, the excruciating pain the figure causes is useful for temporarily incapacitating/distracting Swamp Thing; when coordinated with the attacks of his fellow Un-Men, this can be a very effective tactic indeed. While potent, this doll does have a limitation: Deemo has to be relatively close to Swamp Thing in order to employ it to full effect; the farther the distance, the weaker the magical sympathetic link between body and figure becomes (i.e., if Deemo were miles away and he impaled the puppet on a knife, Swamp Thing would feel little, if anything.)
When the need arises, Dr. Arcane can cause Dr. Deemo's twisted flesh to undergo a further, albeit temporary, mutation to increase his power. In this transformed state, his upper body changes into a hideous serpentine creature. The Un-Man can capture and constrict objects with his prehensile neck while in reptilian guise. This vise-like grip is almost impossible to escape, and the slow tightening of Deemo's coiled throat muscles can potentially exert enough pressure to snap a one-foot-thick tree trunk in half. Deemo's bite is also extremely poisonous while in this form--a healthy human adult will die in minutes unless they receive immediate medical attention (Swamp Thing, and his allies, have seen to it that all the local hospitals have a supply of antivenin specially formulated to counteract the Un-Man's venom.) It should be noted that, given his unique physiology and ability to rapidly filter toxins out of his system, Swamp Thing cannot be killed by this poison, just temporarily sickened. The Un-man also benefits from increased strength, speed, and stamina while in mutated form.
Materials:
Cylin-Dar base body, newsprint, tissue paper, wire twist ties, white glue, gloss nail polish, and acrylic paint.
Dimensions:
2.2 cm/0.9 in. x 5.0 cm/2.0 in. (widest point x highest point)
Note: The numbers given assume a neutral standing pose without any accessories attached.
Articulation:
12 points: Neck, mid-torso, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankles. Additionally, the string on the voodoo doll is bendable and the serpent head has 21 points of articulation (neck, lower jaw, tongue, and multi-jointed appendages.) That's right, an accessory with more joints than the actual figure!
Time:
Three days; November 24-26, 2011. I fully customized the Cylin-Dar base body into Dr. Deemo and made the voodoo doll accessory on the 24th, and it took me the following two days to sculpt and paint the alternate serpent head.
Note: This only accounts for the time period spent customizing the Cylin-Dar base body into this particular character, not the creation of said body.
For comparison/informational purposes, below are some relevant images:
REFERENCES:
- 1990 Kenner "Snare Arm Swamp Thing" toy package.
- T*HQ 1991 Swamp Thing Nintendo Gameboy video game and instruction manual.
- T*HQ 1992 Swamp Thing Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) video game.
- Google "Dr. Deemo" image search.
- Wikipedia Swamp Thing 1991 TV Series article.
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This is a nonprofit web site.
Any and all copyrighted imagery, terminology, etc., depicted here belongs to its respective holders/owners, namely DC.
The background image is a photo I took of a local swamp and the repeating foreground pattern is a computer-manipulated close-up of my "Sargasso: Queen of Kelp" figure's skin texture.
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