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Grim Reaper ('''Eric Williams''') is a Fictional Character , a Supervillain in the Marvel Comics Universe . He first appeared in '' The Avengers '' #52 May (1968), by Roy Thomas and John Buscema . FICTIONAL CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY Eric Williams, the brother of Simon Williams (also known as Wonder Man ), was born in Paterson, New Jersey . Eric was always the black sheep of his family. His mother would tell him that he was 'born bad', while heaping affection on Simon. Eric's father was charged with disciplining him, but was abusive and uncaring. He even preferred to watch TV lazily, while Eric was torturing the family cat. At the same time, their mother Martha was loving and attentive to Simon, making Eric bitter and jealous. One day Eric was playing with chemicals in the garage, and caused a fire which burned down their house. Simon felt guilty for having not stopped Eric, and resolved to be responsible for Eric from there 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 thefts. Eventually Eric joined the Maggia and moved to Las Vegas. Meanwhile Simon took over the family business, Williams Innovations. 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 Wonder Man, in order to infiltrate the Avengers. Zemo's empowering process also poisoned Simon, ensuring his loyalty in exchange for the antidote. Simon's better nature won out though, and he died saving the Avengers from Zemo's trap. 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, which was further enhanced by Ultron with coma-inducing abilities. Taking the name "Grim Reaper," he defeated the Avengers but was beaten by the surprise appearance of the Black Panther . In his next appearance, the Grim Reaper confronted the Avengers with his Lethal Legion comprised of the Living Laser , Power Man , the Man-Ape and the Swordsman . The Legion was defeated when the Grim Reaper found himself unable to strike down the Vision , having discovered that he possessed Simon's brain-wave patterns. Civil War The Grim Reaper was apparently one of the many villains that escaped from The Raft prison during '' New Avengers '' #1-3. Being at large for several months, the Grim Reaper got eventually tracked down by Captain America and Cable , who together with their other friends brought the Reaper down. He was later once again put into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D. Grim Reaper is next seen at the end of '' Heroes For Hire '' #6, teamed with Man-Ape & Saboteur; how he escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. is uncertain. POWERS AND ABILITIES Originally, the Grim Reaper was a purely technological-based villain with no innate super-human abilities. The techno-scythe he used as his trademark weapon had the ability to make the blade spin at rapid speed, making the weapon usable as a Buzzsaw , missile shield, and an improvised Helicopter . It could also fire energy blasts and gas pellets, and dispense electric stun shocks on touch. The Grim Reaper later gained some magic-related abilities: he can re-animate the souls and bodies of the dead, either through voodoo training received from himself and others, summoning Demons , creating Illusion s & Clairvoyant Viewing . The Reaper's physical strength is supernaturally heightened slightly beyond the natural limitations of the human body. In addition, his right hand has been amputated and replaced with an apparently Magical Scythe . The scythe is magically sharp and is capable of energy blasts (much like the original), but has also been used to drain energy. ALTERNATE VERSIONS Earth X
MC2 The Grim Reaper has not appeared in the MC2 Universe, but his scythe weapon was used by Kevin Masterson in Avengers next #5. IN OTHER MEDIA Television
Video Games In Captain America And The Avengers , released as an arcade console and a Sega Genesis cartridge, the Grim Reaper is a boss character at the end of stage 2. NOTES
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