Grant Haskill (Earth-One)

N.R.G.-X was a remote-controlled android drone built by nuclear scientist Grant Haskill for purposes of doing risky work in a nuclear laboratory.

History

Haskill excelled in all pursuits he applied himself to, both academic and athletic, leading his life-long friend Ray Ryker to grow envious of Haskill's accomplishments and superior abilities. As a nuclear scientist, Haskill built N.R.G.-X to handle delicate tasks under the control of an exoskeleton which would broadcast the wearer's movements for N.R.G.-X to directly emulate. While demonstrating the android proxy technician, Haskill was caught in the blast radius of a bomb planted in his lab by Ryker, who gained temporary entrance by feigning affiliation with an anti-nuclear energy protest group named C.U.R.E. Haskill emerged from the explosion as a brain-dead vegetable, as all his higher brain functions ceased. However, Haskill's consciousness was somehow transmitted into N.R.G.-X by the short-circuit of the electronics woven into his exoskeleton. Unable to verbally communicate, Haskill/N.R.G.-X was misidentified as the cause of the explosion by an arriving Superman and fended off the Man of Steel's onslaught by briefly encapsulating him in a mold of solid steel. N.R.G.-X concluded that the likely culprits for the accident which robbed him of his humanity were the C.U.R.E. demonstrators and sought out their HQ building on a Metropolis street to collapse it around the members' heads. Once again, Superman showed up in time to frustrate N.R.G.-X's attack and sent him on the run, repairing the C.U.R.E. building in the process. At night, a televised WGBS-TV broadcast revealed the true culprit as Ray Ryker, and N.R.G.-X struck at the gym frequented by Ryker the next day with the intent to kill. For one final time, N.R.G.-X was stopped by Superman, who by now had deduced that the android was the vessel for Haskill's intelligence. After being prevented from seizing his revenge on Ryker and disabled by the loss of his robotic hands to Superman's crushing grip, N.R.G.-X released the control rods contained inside his body and tricked Superman into striking him in the thorax, damaging the miniature nuclear reactor which powered N.R.G.-X. Superman realized his mistake too late and flew N.R.G.-X into the upper atmosphere, where the android detonated in a mushroom cloud. Although Superman expected Haskill died with the robot's destruction, his eyes lit up in the hospital just afterwards, making it possible that Haskill regained consciousness in his human body, though this is not confirmed.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Android Body
- Energy Projection
- Radiation Production
- Molecular Reconstruction
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Durability

Abilities

Science
Athletics

Weaknesses

Power Instability

Notes

This version of N.R.G.-X, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.

External Links

N.R.G.-X at Wikipedia.org

Footnotes

Superman Villain(s)

This character has been primarily an enemy of Superman in any of his various incarnations, or members of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Villains category."