Berzerker (comics)

Berzerker is a fictional character from Marvel Comics. Created by Louise and Walter Simonson, his first and last appearance was in X-Factor #11 (December 1986).

Character history

Berzerker was a member and the leader of the Tunnelers, an offshoot group of Morlocks who hate another offshoot group, the Drain Dwellers. Initially a group of ten, six of the Tunnelers were killed when the Marauders were sent to kill the Morlocks. Berzerker and three others survived the attack, only to get in another battle with Beast and Iceman, thinking they are Marauders too. The battle ends when the Tunnelers figure out that the X-Factor members are not their enemies.

Joining X-Factor at their base, the Tunnelers find out about their hosts' mock mutant hunter identities. The Tunnelers eventually leave hoping to find a new home in New Jersey. They ran into a human street gang called the Savage Wolf gang who tried to rob them. The Tunnelers fought back, ending in the deaths of the Tunneler, Blowhard and two of the three gang members. They then got in a confrontation with the police, where Tunneler and Berzerker's love intrest, Scaleface, was shot dead. Cyclops and Jean Grey arrived to save the remaning two Tunnelers, but it was too late; Berzerker was enraged by the loss of Scaleface and vowed revenge on all humanity. Before Cyclops could reason with him Berzerker let out a giant energy attack at him, and blaming X-Factor for the Tunnelers' destruction. Cyclops fired back, overpowering Berzerker's initial shot. The optic blast from Cyclops knocked Berzerker into a river, electrocuting himself with his own powers. Masque was the only Tunneler that survived.

Powers and abilities

Berzerker's mutant powers allow him to generate and control pulsing bolts of electrical energy. He did this by absorbing and manipulating the energies of the enitre electromagnetic spectrum. He could also fly and tap into, absorb, observe or listen to television or radio broadcasts.

Appearances in other media

In the cartoon X-Men Evolution, Berzerker was a member of the New Mutants. Unlike his one issue semi-villain counterpart, Berzerker was more developed. Unfortunately, this incarnation cannot fly or use his powers to listen to television or radio broadcasts. However, what he lacks in overall mutant powers he makes up for in various areas. In Evolution, Berzerker's real name is Ray Crisp. He has a bad temper, but not bad enough to hate or even willingly kill all humans. Berzerker appeared in 21 episodes of the show, starting from season 2. Two of these episodes, Day of Recovery and X-Treme Measures even touch upon Berzerker's past with the Morlocks.

Berzerker was put into the show because the writing staff was looking for a bad boy with a mystrious past as well as characters with unique powers (something that's kind of hard to find in Marvel Comics these days). Though an obscure character, Berzerker was exactly what they were looking for. Since then, Berzerker has developed a notable fanbase.