The murky depths of the swamp make for the perfect home for a true monster. In this unforgiving biome, only the most vicious rise to the top, and today's warriors are no exception. Twisted by tragedy, they’ve embraced their monstrous natures. They don’t just survive in the swamps, they dominate them, and all who dare enter are their prey. Enter Jack Baker, the sadistic patriarch of a family gone mad in the bayou, and Killer Croc, the reptilian menace from the sewers of Gotham City! Who is DEADLIEST?
Jack Baker[]
| “ | She wants me to do this. I have to show her how devoted I am. She wants us all to show her our love.
— Jack Baker
|
” |
Jack Baker, a loving family man, lived on a plantation in Dulvey, Louisiana with his wife and children. After a storm caused a tanker to run aground near the Baker home, Jack welcomed the survivors into his home, including a young girl, Eveline, and her guardian, Mia Winters. Unbeknownst to the Bakers, Eveline was a bioweapon in control of a psychoactive mold. She infected the Baker family, making them monstrous and violent. Only Jack's daughter, Zoe, retained her sanity. For nearly three years, Jack and his family, on Eveline's orders, kidnapped people to infect them and add them to Eveline's "family." Mia's husband, Ethan, arrived at the estate in search of his wife. Jack captured Ethan, but Ethan was able to escape, fend off the Bakers, and collaborate with Zoe to develop an antidote for the mold. After several intense battles, Ethan injected Jack with the antidote, seemingly killing him.
- Chainsaw Shears: Ever the craftsman, Jack transformed household objects into brutal weapons to deal with troublesome members of his "family." One of these creations is a chainsaw combined with a large, brutish blade made of scrap metal, resulting in a savage form of improvised shears capable of splitting a man in half.
- Mold Infection: Jack Baker’s body and mind have been completely consumed by the Mold, leaving him as little more than a mass of mutating fungus in the shape of a man. Stripped of human limitations, he possesses superhuman strength and resilience, and is almost impossible to kill.
- Superhuman Strength: All of the Molded possess some degree of superhuman strength, but Jack's raw power is uniquely formidable. He can tear a car apart with one hand, smash through a brick pillar in a single strike, and kill a man with a single punch to the head. He once cleanly decapitated a man with a thrust of a shovel.
- Superhuman Durability: Even discounting his regenerative abilities, Jack is incredibly difficult to injure. He can take a shotgun blast at point-blank range without flinching and shrug off multiple high-speed impacts from a car. Even a gas tank explosion going off right beside him was only enough to momentarily knock him to the ground.
- Regeneration: Jack’s regenerative abilities make him nearly unstoppable. Bullet wounds heal almost instantly, and large chunks of his body can simply grow back within seconds. However, this healing factor has limits; Ethan Winters was able to overtax it by repeatedly hacking him apart with a chainsaw, causing Jack’s body to fail and explode.
- Mutation: Jack's biology allows him to escape death by mutating into new forms. After being reduced to a pair of legs, he became a massive, lizard-like creature the size of a small house. In this form, Jack can tear people apart with his elongated limbs and is nearly invincible, even against explosives. His only weak points are his many large eyes.
Killer Croc[]
| “ | 'Killer Croc' is what they called me! But some day, some day, I knew they'd call me 'King!'
— Killer Croc
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” |
Waylon Jones was born with a form of atavism that made him resemble a crocodile. His appearance made him the target of abuse from his aunt and his peers. As an adult, Jones wrestled alligators in sideshows. He decided to pursue a life of crime, and he moved to Gotham City, where he became known as Killer Croc. Killer Croc's attempts to forge his own criminal empire made him the enemy of Gotham's vigilante, Batman. After escaping prison, Croc lived in Gotham’s sewers, where he grew more monstrous. He remained a recurring presence in Gotham’s criminal underworld, although he often fell under the sway of villains like the Joker and Black Mask. Croc did not completely lose touch with his humanity. While ruling Gotham’s underclasses, he punished corrupt officials. Later, Croc joined the Suicide Squad and developed a romance with June Moone, the Enchantress, who saw the good in him.
- Regressive Atavism: Killer Croc was born with a rare condition that caused his body to exhibit reptilian traits, making him resemble a prehistoric predator more than a man. This mutation, further amplified by the presence of a metagene, granted him natural weaponry and superhuman abilities.
- Teeth and Claws: Killer Croc's monstrous physiology includes razor-sharp claws and a mouth full of knife-like teeth, which he uses to hook, slash, and crush his victims. His claws are sharp enough to carve into concrete, allowing him to scale sheer surfaces, while his powerful jaws can crush a steel katana or bite through Batman’s bulletproof cowl.
- Superhuman Strength: No conventional cell can hold Killer Croc, as his sheer brute strength allows him to rip away iron bars with ease. He has wrestled alligators, crushed human skulls, smashed through brick walls, and even held his own against the monstrously strong Bane. Batman speculated that Croc possesses the strength to lift a school bus.
- Superhuman Durability: Croc's thick scales serve as natural protection. Pistol rounds simply bounce off his hide, though heavier weaponry, such as shotguns or Huntress’s crossbow bolts, can harm him. This armor is denser on Croc's back. Croc is also resistant to blunt force trauma, having survived being thrown from skyscrapers with little lasting damage.
- Healing Factor: Killer Croc possesses an accelerated healing factor, allowing him to recover from severe injuries in a fraction of the time it would take a normal human. He can regenerate repeated stab wounds from Katana and even his destroyed eyeballs within a few minutes. Entire limbs can be regrown in a matter of days.
- Skilled Wrestler: In his youth, Croc wrestled alligators in sideshows. Combining this experience with street fighting tactics, he developed a savage self-taught fighting style. Along with his strength, these skills have allowed him to tangle with Bane, a master of several martial arts. Even Wonder Woman thought his skills were worth something
X-Factors[]
Experience
After his corruption, Jack Baker operated as a serial killer for nearly three years, abducting and killing over a hundred people while staying under the radar of law enforcement. Some victims attempted to escape and struggled with Jack, but his monstrous abilities ensured that any who resisted were quickly overpowered. Finally, Jack's reign of terror was ended by Ethan Winters. Ethan was affected by Eveline's mold, granting him inhuman endurance. In their first confrontation, Jack allowed himself to be defeated as a psychologi tactic. However, in their second and third battles, Ethan overcame Jack with resilience and ingenuity, even when Jack mutated into his enormous form.
Once a professional alligator wrestler, Killer Croc turned to supervillainy and has seen nearly every corner of Gotham’s underworld. Over the years, he’s clashed with all manner of gang bosses, ranging from the ordinary to the outlandish, and their minions in his climb toward dominance. He’s crossed paths with Batman and the rest of the Bat-Family countless times, though he’s consistently outmatched by their discipline, training, and arsenal of high-tech gadgets. Later, after being forcibly recruited into the Suicide Squad, Croc and his teammates embarked on the government’s most dangerous missions, battling everything from mutant armies to the Justice League itself.
Tactics
Eveline twisted Jack Baker into a sadistic monster who revels in brutality. He is rarely content with simply killing his victims, and he Jack takes pleasure in drawing out their suffering. He gleefully stalks them from a distance, suddenly ambushing them when their hope of escape is at its highest. He delights in showing off his healing factor; he’ll willingly take blows or even play dead, only to regenerate and drive home the hopelessness of resistance. When Jack tires of his games, he forgoes firearms in favor of an up-close-and-personal kill with crude homemade weapons, savoring the thrill of complete control before delivering the final blow with savage satisfaction.
Although Killer Croc is often dismissed as dumb muscle, such a reputation only tells part of the story. Croc’s intelligence has fluctuated over the years, and with it, his fighting style. When he gives in completely to his animal instincts, he is a savage brute, lashing out with blind fury and seeking to crush or tear apart his opponents without thought for strategy. When he is more lucid, he is capable of surprising cunning: staging ambushes, exploiting weaknesses, and using his physiology and aquatic prowess to corner his prey. Even so, Croc’s combat style remains mostly straightforward. Clever or feral, his path to victory is the same: claws, teeth, and brute strength.
Notes[]
- The battle takes place at the Baker Estate.