Nuke was a test subject of the Weapon Plus program, the super-soldier program that had created Captain America and would later transform Wolverine into a killing machine. The enhancing and conditioning process went awry, leaving Nuke seriously deranged.

Early life

The disturbed son of a wealthy, abusive, alcoholic, upper-class woman in Ohio, Frank soon developed an unhealthy affection for his babysitter, the only real maternal figure in his life. The young woman, who was harboring feelings for his father Charles, capitalized on Frank's affection and talked the boy into killing his mother. Wolverine, who at that time was an operative for Weapon Plus had been sent to kidnap Frank Simpson. Wolverine showed up, dressed as a cop. He then stalked Charles Simpson and the babysitter, eventually shooting the girl with Charles' gun, after which Charles committed suicide. Wolverine then went to Frank's place and abducted him for the super-soldier project.

Years later, Frank Simpson was sent into the Vietnam War as a black-ops agent. Captured by the Viet Cong, Frank was severely tortured by Logan (who was posing as a Russian intelligence liaison), shattering Frank's still unbalanced mind. While torturing him,(even carving into his face the American flag that years later would become part of his super-powered personality), he implanted the phrase "No V.C.!" as a trigger word, along with the compulsion to kill gruesomely, in retaliation for the tortures suffered, anyone who uttered the words. He then allowed Frank to escape, testing his work with a village of peasants, who, seeing an American soldier, tried to soothe his anger and convince him to spare them, shouting the "No V.C.!" phrase, meaning that they weren't Viet Cong. Frank, in response to the trigger word, burnt the village to the ground killing every inhabitant. The experiment being a success, Logan was instated as the handler of the human weapon. Due to his trauma, Nuke often hallucinates that the enemies he is fighting are the Viet Cong.

At some time during the war, Nuke was inducted into the final part of the Project Homegrown, the Weapon VII program, that turned him in a partial cyborg with a sub-dermal mesh able to deflect bullets, and a second heart that, working in conjunction with some (placebo) pills, controlled his aggression, leaving him addicted as well. His whereabouts after the war are still unknown.

First Appearance

Nuke resurfaced, employed by Generalissimo Felix Guillermo Carridad, of Tierra Verde, to destroy a rebel base. Carridad was impressed with his skills, and he enjoyed using Nuke periodically as a superhuman iconic symbol.

In the Born Again story arc, the Kingpin hired Nuke through several corrupt military officials and sent him to kill Daredevil. Nuke went on a rampage in New York City, blowing up part of Hell's Kitchen, causing Daredevil and the Avengers to capture him. He escaped soon after, going for Daredevil again, but was intercepted by Captain America and shot by a military chopper. Apparently dead, he was in fact taken in care by the Government, still controlled by the Tierra Verde enclave.

Origins Events

After Wolverine discovered his full past and set out to take care of loose ends, the U.S. government dispatched Nuke, who was kept at the United States embassy in Chile, to hunt down Wolverine.

Wolverine, with some efforts, quickly dispatched his foe, seeking a way to redeem, or kill him. After the battle he discovered that Nuke's enhanced physiology was further mutated, and he has become a cyborg, with artificial limbs, bones and skull, able to survive and being rebuilt after the most gruesome injuries, yet devoid of any personality or conscience.

Acknowledging that now he was beyond any hope of redemption, he tried to kill him, only to be stopped by Captain America, who had arrived because he believed that Nuke was a failed subject of the Super Soldier Program. Now without any legs, the leftovers of Nuke's body were handed over to Emma Frost by Wolverine, who wanted Emma to try to restore Nuke's broken mind, if possible. And, if it turned out impossible, Logan told Emma to call him, because in that case he'd come back and kill Frank.

Thunderbolts

Norman Osborn adds a man named Scourge to his black ops team the Thunderbolts; Osborn seems to know who Scourge is, but does not reveal Scourge's identity.^[1] On their next mission, Osborn orders Yelena Belova to lead the current Thunderbolts to kill former Thunderbolt, Songbird. During the mission, Osborn promotes Scourge to field leader, and Belova is revealed to be the original Black Widow, Natasha Romanova in disguise.^[2] Scourge leads the team into capturing the Black Widow, Songbird, and Nick Fury.^[3] When Scourge orders the Thunderbolts to execute Songbird, Headsman turns on him and tries to kill him. Paladin helps out by shooting Scourge, and Ghost used an electro-convulsive shock to make Scourge forget what happened as Songbird and the Black Widow escape. When Osborn confronts Scourge about the botched mission, the man reveals himself to be Nuke, stating that his new name is not who he really is; Osborn then demotes Nuke from the position of team leader.^[4] He is then assigned to assasinate the Agents of Atlas with the Thunderbolts. When the Agents of Atlas arrive he and the Thunderbolts attack them. While Venus was singing he has hallucinations about women he's killed and fires his gun wildly at Venus. He is then taken down by Namora. After he comes to, he picks up a sword and slices Bob Grayson's stomach open and is then attacked by Ken Hale. When Venus realises Bob is dead she starts crying causing a more negative effect than her singing and he sees a world with no more war. Bob then reveals that he was not dead but projecting a mental illusion while investigating Frank's mind. As the Agents of Atlas escape, Jimmy Woo and Bob plant a command in Frank's mind to assassinate Norman Osborn on contact. When the Thunderbolts return to base Norman leaves a recorded message for the team by seeing Normans face, Frank pulls out his gun and fires killing Cleavon Twain.

Siege

During Siege, Nuke and the Thunderbolts fought against the Mighty Avengers. The Thunderbolts sought out the Spear of Odin to help Osborn storm Asgard. Nuke battled ferociously with US Agent for the Spear and after an intense battle, seriously injured and dismembered US Agent with the Spear.

Before Nuke could bring the Spear to his "master", Osborn, he was betrayed and shot by his fellow Thunderbolt Paladin who took the spear from him and with the help of another Thunderbolt, in the shape of Ant-Man, made sure that Osborn didn't get his hands on the spear.

The Heroic Age

After the battle of Siege climaxed, a grievously injured Nuke was left in a coma and captured by authorities where he was taken to the Raft to receive medical treatment and serve out a sentence for his crimes.

The surviving US Agent, who was now crippled, bitterly insisted that any attempt to bring him out of his coma was a waste of time as Nuke has no chance of ever reforming. Steve Rogers shared similar feelings and saw little reason to try and salvage Nuke, as he was far beyond saving, and any revival would likely just allow him to fall back into the hands of someone who would use him for further killing. Steve had also appeared to have made peace with his unease for being the basis of the creation of Nuke.

Misty Knight, of Heroes for Hire, will be assembling a team of villains, to combat Purple Man's similar gang of villains attempting to seize control of the underworld. Among Purple Man's recruits is Nuke, once again as Scourge.

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

Powers

Nuke possesses various superhuman physical attributes as a result of various cybernetic enhancements. Nuke's bones have been replaced with advanced cybernetic components, granting him superhuman strength of an unrevealed limit. Aside from his strength, Nuke's body is considerably more resistant to physical injury than that of an ordinary human. Nuke's skin has been replaced with an artificial type of plastic that looks identical to human skin but is much more durable. In addition, he has an artificial second heart that works in conjunction with his colored pills. Nuke is the victim of decades of systematic physical and mental abuse and conditioning at the hands of various individuals working for the United States government. As a result, Nuke is insane. He is now little more than a puppet in the hands of his current handler, and able only to follow issued commands.

Pill Colors

Nuke has a second heart, and takes different colored pills to produce different bodily effects. Nuke's pill colors are: red, for increased adrenaline; white, to bring him down; and blue, to relax.

While it was previously believed that the red pills Nuke took affected his mental state, sending him into his bloodthirsty rages, the Wolverine: Origins series reveals that these pills are placebos, suggesting that Nuke lives in a constant state of increased adrenaline, but doesn't know it. The pills, therefore, trigger his violent behavior, but the effect is purely psychological.

A monitor in the Tierra Verde laboratory from which Nuke is controlled, showing three lines, red, white and blue, suggests that currently the same remote control system that turn on or shut down the biomech system in Nuke controls his adrenaline production and his behaviour.

Power Grid ^[5]

Abilities

Experienced soldier Nuke was a savage fighter, and very good with all types of firearms, and very deadly in knife combat, he's also an expert in hand to hand combat.

Strength level

Superhuman.

Weaknesses

Nuke is completely schizophrenic, suffering from hallucations. When Venus' song hits him, his greatest desires turn into nightmares, including his fear of the loss of war.

ParaphernaliaEdit

Transportation

Conventional US Army vehicles.

Weapons

Nuke used an enormous sub-machine gun nicknamed "Betsy" in his missions. Besides conventional machine gun ammunition, Betsy also held six light artillery rounds and two incendiary missiles. On Betsy's side Nuke used an LED counter to count the number of fatalities he had inflicted with his weapon. Nuke also had an unmarked military helicopter for air support, operated by an unnamed colonel. Frank also equip with various knife.

NotesEdit

Nuke's first name and the history of his family were provided in Wolverine: Origins #2.
Nuke's full name is revealed in the "Where are they now" Section of Comics:Marvel Legacy: The 1980's Handbook Vol 1 1

LinksEdit

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Footnotes

↑ Thunderbolts #133
↑ Thunderbolts #134
↑ Thunderbolts #135
↑ Thunderbolts #136
↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z hardcover Vol. 8

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Wikia

Frank Simpson (Earth-616)

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