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Ruth Monroe was an ally of Swamp Thing.

Ruth Monroe was a scientist who earned her masters degree in the field of biochemistry. Ruth's mother passed away shortly before graduation and never had the opportunity to see her daughter graduate magna cum laude. She later moved to Quinn, Oregon where she began working alongside scientist Edward Holland. Through the course of their work, a romantic relationship grew between the two.

The following year, Ruth met Edward's brother, Alec, who had been transformed into a monstrous Swamp Thing. The Swamp Thing explained his situation to them both, and Edward arrogantly committed himself towards finding a cure. Ruth was at first startled by the Swamp Thing's presence, but soon grew quite close to him.

In order to manufacture a cure, they needed to recreate the incident that first transformed Alec into the Swamp Thing in the first place. Ruth drove into town and used her feminine wiles to sweet talk a clerk into giving her some dynamite. Back at the Holland lab, they duplicated the experiment and restored Alec's humanity.

The experiment was not without incident however. One of the Swamp Thing's older adversaries, John Zero, sought revenge against the Swamp Thing for mutilating him. Zero attacked him with his prosthetic sabre hand, but Ruth intervened and Zero struck her. Holland retaliated, pushing Zero into the patch of flaming, swamp water.

Soon after, Ruth was attacked by yet another super-villain, the Earth Master known as Thrudvang. Although Alec Holland no longer possessed the power of the Swamp Thing, his intellect and quick-thinking enabled him to save Ruth from Thrudvang's rampage.

Ruth remained in Quinn and worked with Alec on biorestorative research for the U.S. government. During this time, the two began to fall in love. They continued to work together for at least a year.

Powers

  • Charisma: Ruth Monroe is not above using her charm and good looks to get things done. She once charmed a young clerk into giving her a supply of dynamite which she required for an experiment involving Alec Holland.
  • Biochemistry: Ruth Monroe is an expert in the field of Biochemistry.


  • This version of Ruth Monroe, 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.

Related

Footnotes


Alec Holland 02
Swamp Thing Character
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This character specifically relates to the Swamp Thing and is predominantly seen in the Swamp Thing family of titles. This character may be part of the Swamp Thing's supporting cast, a minor acquaintance, or one of his adversaries. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the Swamp Thing Characters category.

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