Mister Nobody is a walking shadow that can drain people's sanity. He is the founder and leader of the Brotherhood of Dada and a feared enemy of the Doom Patrol.
History
Brotherhood of Evil
Eric Morden, a "one-man crime wave", was a master criminal who once stole one of the Chief's lunar exploration droids, Rog, to impress the Brain in hopes of joining the Brotherhood of Evil. However, he, the Brain and Monsieur Mallah had a fallout of some sort, and Morden preferred to flee rather than face the wrath of the Brain. Both villains threatened to kill Morden if he returned, so he hid for years in Paraguay.
Brotherhood of Dada
Morden was already somewhat unstable, and contacted a Nazi scientist and was exposed to a device called the White Room, which drove him irredeemably insane and converted his body into a mass of living virtuality that could drain the sanity from other humans. The experience also convinced him the universe was "a drooling idiot with no fashion sense". Calling himself the man of the twenty-first century, the first true virtual man, he rechristened himself Mister Nobody and organized the rebirth of a Brotherhood that shared his ideals. Because of this, he chose not to restart the Brotherhood of Evil and instead initiated the Brotherhood of Dada, a group of lunatics that followed Morden's ideas to change the world.
His first plan was to steal a magical painting and feed the city of Paris to it; he succeeded, and the entire city was thrown into an alternate universe. Fortunately, the Doom Patrol managed to recover and restore it.[1] However, many members of Nobody's Brotherhood chose to remain in the painting. Mister Nobody escaped, however, and enacted a second plan to change the world: he stole Albert Hoffman's Bicycle and used its psychedelic resonance to power his own presidential campaign in the United States.[2] The U.S. government, unwilling to see a madman like Nobody step up to the Presidency, sent a similarly insane agent, John Dandy to stop him.
Once gaining the support of the people, Nobody attempted to merge the reality within the Painting That Ate Paris with the real world, but was interrupted by John Dandy, who who used one of the faces floating around him to force Nobody into transforming back into Eric Morden. As a human, he became vulnerable, and Dandy skewered him with a broken piece of wood. Though he survived long enough to attempt escape into the painting, the painting was destroyed, and Morden faded to nothingness.[3]
Return
However, when Morgaine le Fey and the Riddler were accepting candidates for their tarot card-themed Dark Arcana, Mister Nobody resurfaced, auditioning for the position as the Fool, though he was ultimately not accepted.
Mr. Nobody later emerged again, now having taken on the alias "Mr. Somebody", as well as a new all white color scheme. At the time, Morden was inhabiting the body of Thayer Jost and turned the Front Men into a company called MSE (Mr. Somebody Enterprises). Attempting to distance himself from his past, Mr. Somebody killed the final member of the Brotherhood of Dada - The Toy - and embraced his new form of Dada Capitalism.
Mr. Somebody set up a trap to frame the Doom Patrol in front of various reporters while fighting the Front Men. However, in his final confrontation with the Doom Patrol on Oolong Island, the battle was abruptly stopped by Ambush Bug, who announced that the universe was being rebooted. Mr. Somebody, shrugging, gave up and left.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Unique Physiology: Eric is a living shadow with a hole in the shape of a heart in his chest, where his heart should be.
- Energy Absorption: He can drain the sanity from other humans.
Abilities
Other Characteristics
- Mental Disorder: When he was exposed to a device called the White Room, it drove him irredeemably insane.
Notes
- Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
Recommended Reading
Related
- 31 Appearances of Eric Morden (New Earth)
- 6 Images featuring Eric Morden (New Earth)
- 5 Quotations by or about Eric Morden (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Eric Morden (New Earth)
Footnotes
Doom Patrol Villain(s) |
Brotherhood of Evil member |
This character exists under the Vertigo Imprint which is intended for Mature Readers.Their continuity takes place within the context of Vertigo titles although they may cross over into regular DC continuity.