NITRO

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Real Name: Robert L. Hunter
Aliases: The Exploding Man, The Living Bomb
Identity: Publicly Known
Occupation: Criminal, former electrical engineer
Citizenship: American Citizen, with a known criminal record.
Place of Birth: Scranton, Pennsylvania
Known Relatives: Mary Hunter (wife, deceased), Virginia Hunter (daughter)
Group Affiliation: Formerly a Untouchables, Lunatic Legion, Hood’s Gang, Thanos’ Secret Defenders
First Appearance: Captain Marvel #34 (1974)
History: Robert Hunter had gone through his life as an electrical engineer feeling that others were taking credit for his work and he was never appreciated and stepped on by those above him, which through his endless frustration, resulted in his early retirement, at which point with his free time, he consumed himself with his ham radio. What Robert was unaware of was that a Kree organization known as the Lunatic Legion, who had planned to over through the Kree Supreme Intelligence, had been listening to Robert’s ranting about his life as an electrical engineer. The Kree offered him incredible power if he agreed; which, being curious and feeling as if he had not much else in his life (especially after his own daughter had tried to have him committed when he had mentioned talking to aliens on the ham radio), Robert accepted. The experiments on Robert resulted in the ability to explode and pull himself back together again, with the Kree calling him “Nitro, the exploding man.”

The Kree informed Robert that he was to steal a compound on Earth known as “Compound 13” which was being transported and guard by Carol Danvers. His effort to take the Compound 13 was met with a fight with Captain Marvel (Mar Vell). Though Nitro was defeated, Captain Marvel’s exposure to Compound 13 would later result in a fatal cancer. Nitro would return, fighting Omega the Unknown, initially thinking he was Captain Marvel. Nitro would be defeated again, this time taken to Project PEGASUS. Virginia, Robert’s daughter, protested that her father did not get a trial, and so he was released to her care, to which Robert immediately took her and their lawyer, Emerson Bale, as hostages as he robbed a bank. Nitro would be captured again, and later come to fight the New Mutants, where he was defeated again by Skids expanding her force field back at Nitro.

Hardcore freed Nitro and recruited him into the Untouchables along with Tombstone and Kickback. Together, they went after Dakota North, but clashed with Luke Cage and Punisher, the latter of whom managed to shoot Nitro. As the Untouchables tried to escape, Kickback knocked Nitro out of the car, where he was once again, captured after being taken to the hospital.

The Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) would eventually hire Nitro to take out his competitors (Norman Osborn and Hammerhead) – both of whom barely survived. He was then hired by Count Nefaria to take out Tony Stark, but was defeated by Tony’s alter ego, Iron Man. Count Nefaria would send Nitro and Whiplash after Tony Stark, but Iron Man would be there again to defeat the duo.

Nitro with several other prisoners from the Raft, escaped and went into hiding, but were tracked down by the New Warriors, who were filming a television show, found Nitro, Coldheart, Speedfreak, and Cobalt Man. During the fight, Nitro makes an effort to escape, and Namorita catches up to him – and slams him into a bus. Nitro, furious, simply ignites himself – killing Namorita, Speedfreak, Cobalt Man, Microbe, the camera crew, and six hundred other people. Both Night Thrasher and Speedball were presumed slain as well (Night Thrasher was actually pulled away at the moment of the explosion, and Speedball was found miles away, and became Penance for a brief time).

Seeking justice – and vengeance – for the death of Namorita, Nitro was captured and brought to Atlantis. Nitro did manage to murder the guard who’d been stationed to guard him, but as he was escaping – he ran into Wolverine – and surrendered again to the Atlanteans.

Robbie Baldwin (in the form of Penance) convinced the Atlanteans to hand Nitro over to him; and Penance tortured Nitro, and Penance eventually handed over a very broken Nitro to the local authorities.

Height: 6’3″
Weight: 235 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: White

Powers: Nitro can explode his body at will with the force of 250 pounds of TNT, and then pull himself back together. For awhile Nitro was not able to reform himself after exploding, immediately, but eventually regained control of his abilities.