Robert Hunter (Earth-616)

Nitro
Name	Robert L. Hunter
Current Alias	Nitro
Aliases	Exploding Man, Living Bomb
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	formerly Hood's Gang, Untouchables, Thanos' Secret Defenders, Army of Evil, agent of Lunatic Legion
Relatives	Mary Hunter (wife, deceased); Virginia Hunter (daughter)
Marital Status	Widowed
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	6′3″ (1.91 m)
Weight	235 lbs (106.59 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	White
Unusual Features	He is missing half of his right arm.
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human Mutate (Kree experiment)
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Scranton, Pennsylvania
Personal Information
Identity	Public
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Terrorist, assassin, criminal; former prisoner, fugitive, electrical engineer
Education	Degree in electrical engineering
Base of Operations	Mobile Formerly Latveria; Atlantis; Raft; Stamford, Connecticut; Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Facility
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Jim Starlin,
First	Captain Marvel #34 (June, 1974)
First	Captain Marvel #34 (June, 1974)

 Officers, I'm no bomber... I'm a bomb! A LIVING BOMB! 

—Nitro

History

Origins

Robert Hunter was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Due to genetic alteration carried out on him by the Kree Lunatic Legion, Robert gained the ability to explode and reform himself at will.

Captain Marvel

The Lunatic Legion sent their agent, Nitro, to steal a top-secret government nerve gas called Compound 13. He is confronted by Captain Marvel who defeated Nitro by having Rick Jones hit his Nega Bands together at the moment Nitro explodes. The gas canister was ruptured in the explosion and Mar-Vell successfully resealed the container. However the exposure to the nerve gas will ultimately lead to Mar-Vell's cancer.

Omega the Unknown

Nitro reappeared and is looking for revenge against Captain Marvel, briefly mistaking Omega the Unknown as him. Angered by the villain's attack, Omega chased him to a warehouse filled with Stark Industries technology where Nitro hoped to draw out Iron Man, and Captain Marvel. Omega engaged him in battle and ended it by clamping a titanium tube over Nitro just before he explodes, causing him to shoot his atoms up into the sky, but also causing the ceiling to collapse on Omega.

Return of Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel returned from space and resolved to find some kind of life for himself now that he is separated from Rick Jones only to end up battling a revenge-seeking Nitro.

Spider-Man

He escaped from the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Facility, and then battled and was defeated by Spider-Man. He was later freed from his containment canister by the Vulture in Albany, New York. Spider-Man met Quasar in a secured ambulance transporting Nitro to Project Pegasus. They talked while the ambulance continued its journey. They were however called away due to an attack on Empire State University by Lightmaster.

Skids

He battled Skids (Sally Blevins) of the New Mutants, and was unable to re-form his body within Skids' force field.

Untouchables

He joined Hardcore's team the Untouchables. He sent Nitro, Kickback and Tombstone to fight Luke Cage and capture Dakota North. However, Kickback chose this time to attempt a rebellion which proved unsuccessful. Hardcore blew up the Black Hole in Colorado after almost killing Cage.

Secret Defenders

Nitro joined Thanos' Defenders an organized group of super-villains that was in the quest of finding and obtaining the Oracle of Ancient Knowledge. They apparently disbanded after the mission was successful.

Genis-Vell

Nitro battled Legacy (Genis-Vell) who wants to kill him for his part in his father's death, however, he decides to just arrest him after reading a quote by his father on a display in a museum on Hala: "Defeat your enemy, do not become your enemy."

Heroes for Hire

The Heroes for Hire batted Nitro at the Atlantic Coast Rail Yards.Hercules defeated Nitro by throwing a tanker of natural gas, forcing him to disperse while, at the same time, risking his teammates' lives. Iron Fist then realized that Hercules was drunk and as much as he was when he attacked the U-Foes. The Heroes confront Nitro and Dane Whitman decided to become involved as well. Black Knight rode his magical steed, Strider, into battle against Nitro. Iron Fist stood up to Nitro, but even his iron fist was no match for his enemy, though the resulting explosion sends everyone flying. Nitro was about to kill Iron Fist when Black Knight stepped in to protect him. Nitro attacked the Knight but by using his Shield of Night, Dane absorbed the energy of the blow, redirecting it through the Sword of Light to explode the ground beneath Nitro while knocking him out with shrapnel in the process.

Kingpin

He was hired by the Kingpin as one of many assassins to launch a carefully planned attack on several New York crime bosses, including Hammerhead, Don Fortunato, Silvermane and Caesar Cicero. Nitro's target was Norman Osborn; however he survived the attack.

Iron Man

When Nitro was hired to kill Tony Stark, a fight developed between him and Iron Man. Iron Man, whose sensors and telecommunications gear had been recently upgraded, noticed that every time he exploded, a high-frequency pulse was emitted by his body. Experimenting, Iron Man duplicated the pulse, causing Nitro to explode. After he exploded several times in a minute, he passed out from exhaustion (presumably, it takes energy to explode, and he could only spare so much before he passed out). Iron Man handed him over to S.H.I.E.L.D., along with a recommendation on constructing a null-harness, who then sent to prison.

Nitro battled Iron Man along with Count Nefaria's Death Squad and Whiplash. Nitro now wore a defensive scrambler to keep Iron Man from remotely activating his powers as before, but Iron Man shot it and set Nitro off, using him against his own side, who swiftly retreated.

Daredevil

Nitro was hired as a hitman to kill Matt Murdock, but was apprehended by police.

Stamford, Connecticut

File:Robert Hunter (Earth-616) Civil War Vol 1 1.jpg

The New Warriors performed a videotaped raid of a house in Stamford, Connecticut, where the Cobalt Man, Speedfreek, Coldheart and Nitro were living after having escaped the Raft during the Ryker's Island incident. The New Warriors attacked each member, with Namorita going after Nitro. Slamming him into a school bus, Namorita continued to taunt him until Nitro let off a massive explosion.

This explosion apparently killed Namorita, Night Thrasher, Microbe, and the supervillains he was with during the raid, along with sixty children at the nearby elementary school and the surrounding neighborhood in the town where the fight took place. The aftermath of the tragic incident was picked up by the superhero teams, who were already split over the issue of Superhuman registration; this, in turn, led to the superhero Civil War.

Hunted by Wolverine

Knowing that Nitro's explosive power could not be that great (at least not under normal circumstances), Wolverine began hunting him after he escaped in the back of a pickup truck. Nitro was found by Wolverine and a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, but used his powers to kill the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and seemingly kill Wolverine. Nitro then took a phone call to an unknown government official who may be involved in the aforementioned Stamford Incident.

File:Robert Hunter (Earth-616) Wolverine Vol 3 43.jpg

After the phone call, however, Nitro found himself in the grip of a nearly fully regenerated, and enraged, Wolverine. As Wolverine pounded on him, theorizing correctly that Nitro's powers couldn't affect anyone or anything in very close proximity, Nitro revealed that he had been taking Mutant Growth Hormone to increase his powers, which was why he was able to cause the disaster in Stamford. Nitro also hinted that there was someone bigger behind the events of Stamford, but before the name was given, the two were confronted by the three mystery agents. They were revealed to be Atlantean Royal Guard sent by Namor to apprehend Nitro for the murder of Princess Namorita.

File:Wolverine Vol 3 43 page 17-18 James Howlett (Earth-616).jpg

During his battle with Namor, Wolverine was knocked unconscious and the Atlanteans took Nitro to New Pangea for torture and interrogation. Wolverine pursued them in the Iron Man Armor Model 35 and "negotiated" with Namor to see Nitro, only to find that Nitro had killed his interrogators. Wolverine cut off Nitro's arm at the elbow. As Nitro begged for mercy, Wolverine recanted on his promised protection. He allowed Namor to do what he wanted with Nitro, who then stayed as a "guest" of Atlantis. His secret benefactor was revealed to be Walter Declun, the CEO of Damage Control.

File:Robert Hunter (Earth-616) Sub-Mariner Vol 2 5.jpg

New Pangea

Cell-13, an Atlantean splinter cell lead by Kamar Namor's son, had been siphoning Nitro's power to create weapons in order to attack the surface world. Namor then decided that the city had been compromised and he had enough of any involvement with the humans. He decided to evacuate the city through old tunnels running through the ground, where the civilians would live amongst the humans and not in one city anymore. He made the preparations for the destruction of Atlantis, where he would use Nitro, who was still in his jail cell, to blow up the entire city like a time bomb while chaining his son to the throne in order to die with Nitro and the city as punishment for his betrayal. The city was evacuated and then blown up, resulting in it being completely destroyed with only some wreckage left behind. Namor and his army, however, soon found refuge in Latveria.

Penance

File:Robert Hunter (Earth-616) Penance Relentless Vol 1 5.jpg

Nitro escaped Atlantis to the sewers with a few Atlantean terrorists. He was later captured in Latveria and held in Castle Doom's dungeons by Doctor Doom. Penance later attacked Latveria and forced Doctor Doom to release Nitro, who Penance tortured and almost killed to the point of even forcing Nitro to wear the painful costume. He was found by the Thunderbolts, many of whom were shocked at the level of the injuries. It can be assumed that Nitro was arrested by the Thunderbolts.

The Hood's Gang

Nitro joined up with the Hood's Gang. They stole a treasure from an Arabic diplomat, then had a celebratory party where the Hood shows them how he's the leader as well as the process he used to delegate the job. Nitro then attended Sabretooth's party in Madripoor.. Nitro and a group of villains battle Spider-Man on a submarine.

Pleasant Hill

At some point, Nitro was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and was imprisoned in Pleasant Hill. S.H.I.E.L.D. used the Kobik project on him which turned him into a Pleasant Hill inhabitant named Roger.

Secret Empire

He later joined Baron Zemo's Army of Evil to aid the operations of Hydra and its leader, an alternate reality Captain America. He participated in the Army of Evil's attack on Manhattan in order to lure as many superheroes there as possible and knocked out many of his enemies after blowing himself up. He and the rest of the Army of Evil were teleported away so Baron Zemo and Blackout could trap most of Manhattan and the superheroes lured there in an impenetrable Darkforce dome.

After Hydra took over the United States, Nitro and the rest of the Army of Evil were placed in stasis by Hydra's Supreme Leader Captain America who was wary of what they could do if they remained free. When Hydra's regime collapsed, Nitro was likely freed from stasis and taken into custody.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

• Self-Explosion: Nitro possesses the superhuman ability to literally turn himself into a living bomb. Nitro can blow up his entire body at will and exists in a sentient, gaseous form until he reconstitutes himself. Typically, Nitro's maximum blast force is equal to about 250 lbs of TNT. However while taking Mutant Growth Hormone, his power was enhanced far beyond his original limits, sufficient to level the city of Stamford, Connecticut.
  • After he explodes, he can reconstitute himself at will and can remain in this gaseous form for an indefinite period of time. Nitro also generates a type of kinetic field around his body that also allows himself to reconstitute the clothes he wears at the time he explodes.

Weaknesses

• A high-frequency pulse is emitted by his body each time he explodes. Iron Man duplicated the pulse, causing Nitro to explode. After he exploded several times in a minute, he passed out from exhaustion.
• If separated or dispersed, it will be longer or impossible to reform. He cannot reform if partially trapped within a force field.
• During an encounter with Wolverine, it was discovered that if an individual can get close enough to Nitro, less than a few feet, it nullifies Nitro's ability to explode and leaves him as vulnerable as any ordinary human to physical assault.
• He is also missing half of his right arm, which was hacked off by Wolverine.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Mutant Growth Hormone: During the Civil War, Wolverine discovered that the super-villain Nitro used Mutant Growth Hormone to increase his power level, which allowed him to annihilate Stamford, Connecticut.
• Null-Harness: Tony Stark constructed the Null-Harness which keeps Nitro from exploding whilst in custody.

Notes

• While looking through a S.H.I.E.L.D. folder, Deadpool remarked that Nitro was the lamest villain ever!

Trivia

• Tony Stark has stated that 'Nitro's insanity is the only thing holding him back from being one of the most dangerous super-villains on earth.

See Also

• 58 appearance(s) of Robert Hunter (Earth-616)
• 13 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Robert Hunter (Earth-616)
• 18 minor appearance(s) of Robert Hunter (Earth-616)
• 21 mention(s) of Robert Hunter (Earth-616)
• 5 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Robert Hunter (Earth-616)
• 30 image(s) of Robert Hunter (Earth-616)
• 5 quotation(s) by or about Robert Hunter (Earth-616)
• 8 victim(s) killed by Robert Hunter (Earth-616)
• 2 item(s) used/owned by Robert Hunter (Earth-616)