Respect The Creeper
General Information
- Name: Jack Ryder
- Alias: The Creeper
- Hometown: Boston, MA.
- Team Affiliation: The Outsiders
- Bio: Jack Ryder was a simple, investigative reporter who had a bad habit of throwing himself into the midst of trouble. During one of his undercover investigations he managed to find himself in more trouble than he bargained for and he wound up injected by a special serum made by Dr. Yatz that enhanced his physical abilities and granted him the power of regeneration. This was then retconned and shown to be a false memory, explaining that the Creeper is actually a half-demon.
Table of Contents
- Origin
- Physical Abilities
- Regeneration
- The Laugh
- The Tendrils
- Fights
- Conclusion
1.0 Origin
As mentioned, the Creeper has had his origin changed multiple times, but I'll be showing his original origin.
- World's Finest Comics #250 - His original origin, retold in WFC.
- Who's Who in the DC Universe #7 - A basic handbook entry; goes over his origin and explains how he has enhanced physical abilities and the like.
Regardless of his origin he has always been portrayed with the same powers & abilities.
2.0 Physical Abilities
The Creeper has enhanced strength, speed, and durability. Each of those will be showcased here.
Strength
Feats here will showcase his raw, physical strength.
- Beware the Creeper #6 - While tied to a sewer grate he is able to bend the bars; does so while underwater.
- The Creeper #3 - Sends a giant flesh-eating monster flying backwards with his blows. Breaks it's nose.
- The Creeper #4 - Swam ~10 miles.
- The Creeper #4 - Uses a large weight as a melee weapon.
- The Creeper #5 - Breaks through steel chains with a single punch.
- The Creeper #6 - Sends the giant monster (Gavin, from before) flying with a single kick. Gavin dies because he falls in mine-infested waters.
- The Outsiders #23 - With his talons he is able to tear right into Man-Bat and bloodies him badly.
Durability
Feats here will showcase his physical durability and endurance. He has other feats that showcase both his durability and his regenerative abilities, those will be in the regeneration section.
- The Outsiders #20 - Flies a spaceship directly into the ground and survives the massive explosion without any harm.
- The Outsiders #38 - Is set on fire; laughs about it.
Speed & Agility
Feats here will showcase his acrobatic agility and his speed.
- Beware the Creeper #2 - Is able to vertically leap 10 feet in the air.
- Beware the Creeper #3 - Flips all around a group of foes while KO'ing them.
- Eclipso the Darkness Within #1 - Leaps over several bullets that are fired at him in close quarters.
- The Outsiders #24 - Easily dodges a Black Lantern ring (with fist attached) that was flying towards him.
3.0 Regeneration
One of the Creepers greatest strengths is his ability to regenerate lost tissue at an incredibly fast rate.
- Showcase #73 - Was cut open with a knife, minutes later he can hardly feel the wound. It winds up healing so there is no scar.
- The Flash #318/319 - Is shot in the chest several times by a machine gun but the wounds begin to heal at a fantastic rate, in Ryder's words that is.
- The Flash #320 - Has his throat slit as Jack Ryder then transforms into Creeper to heal it instantly.
- The Creeper #1 - Is shot in the head as Jack Ryder. Wakes up alive as Creeper.
- The Creeper #2/3 - Has a hatchet thrown into his chest. Pulls it out and throws it back at Axeman. Later Axeman states that Creeper stood there like nothing had happened when the hatchet went into him.
- The Creeper #4 - Is torn apart, limb from limb and the pieces are separated. That doesn't stop him from regenerating.
- The Creeper #5 - Is shot multiple times in the chest. Two panels later and there are no wounds.
4.0 The Laugh
The Creeper possess a super sonic laugh that causes immense amounts of pain to all who hear it. The sensation is similar to nails on a chalkboard.
- The Creeper #1 - Uses his laugh to incapacitate multiple foes, they also start bleeding from their noses/ears.
- The Creeper #1 - Uses his laugh again to incapacitate several foes.
- The Creeper #6 - Uses his laugh which shatters all of the windows in a car while also forcing it's passengers to cover their ears.
- The Creeper #11 - Uses his laugh to incapacitate a foe.
5.0 The Tendrils
The red "cape-like" fur around the Creeper's neck are actually prehensile tendrils.
- The Creeper #3 - Had used the tendrils to escape his restraints.
- The Creeper #7 - Uses his tendrils to open a locked door.
- The Outsiders #38 - Lifts someone with his tendrils and throws them around.
6.0 Fights
Here are some fights that the Creeper has been in.
- Detective Comics #418 - Easily defeats Batman as he has caught him off guard.
- The Creeper #3 - Fights a giant flesh-absorbing/eating monster named Gavin. Has some good showings of strength and durability here despite losing the fight.
- The Creeper #4 - Fights Gavin again, doesn't win, but shows some good damage soak. Gavin had gotten bigger/stronger than he was in their previous fight.
- The Outsiders #32 - Nearly kills a giant demonic werewolf. Only stops because he's asked by it's lover to stop.
Conclusion
There you have it folks -- the insane half-demon/half-man known as Etrigan The Creeper. He's a fairly decent street tier character whose main strengths lie in his regenerative abilities and his sonic laugh. Wish he had more showings given the amount of appearances he has, but he mostly fought nameless thugs so the feats aren't too impressive from those battles.
As always; suggest or correct feats if you see anything here is lacking or misleading. Enjoy the thread!
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