Origin
Robert Nicolle was the brother of Danielle Nicolle, and both would be fated to become pawns of Thog the Neitherspawn.
Robert Nicolle was born without the sense of touch. He was initially thought to be clumsy because he couldn’t feel something he was supposed to be holding. One day they found him holding his hand over a flaming stove, showing no pain as he cooked his own hand. They brought him to specialists, who identified his lack of sensation, but could do nothing about it.
When he went to college, his good looks made him popular with the women, but he couldn’t feel a kiss or a caress, nor could he respond to them, and so he was soon alone again. He attempted to disfigure himself, to ruin his good looks, but his regenerative powers always healed things back to normal. His inability to feel eventually drove him mad and he attempted to commit suicide and was eventually institutionalized.
Robert’s sister, Danielle, had unknowingly entered into a pact with the demon Thog. She revealed her brother’s problems to Thog’s agents, who decided to involve Robert in their plans. Thog, or his agents, came to Robert in his cell, and granted him the power to gain sensation as he drained the life force from others. The Scavenger went on a rampage, sucking the life and emotions from his victims, and loving every minute of it. One of his attempts was thwarted by the Man-Thing, and he only left his victim insane, rather than dead. The Scavenger tracked down the Man-Thing to a hotel and attacked him. When he saw how futile his attacks were, he knew fear…and you know how that goes. Robert ended up with a big hand print burned into his face. It seems he wanted to destroy himself, but was still afraid to have another cause his death. Still, he was only stunned, and once he regained his senses, he flew away.
He next abducted Elsbeth Duhl, the wife of Roland, another pawn of Thog, and told her his origins before draining her life, and then cuddling up with her skeleton for a night’s sleep.
The Scavenger was not seen again, and the effects of Thog’s defeat and the destruction of the Nightmare Boxes had upon him are unknown.
Major Story Arcs
Contagion
For more information see: Contagion
Scavenger is in listed into Contagion‘s team, the Unkillables. Contagion enlisted him by promising Scavenger bodies to feed him physical sensations. When the team attempts to capture Wolverine, Scavenger gets his crack after Suicide and Vic Slaughter put a few hundred bullets into a berserk Wolverine. Scavenger barely slows Wolverine down and gets his leg cut off for his troubles, a leg that Madcap hides.
Later when Wolverine wakes up from being put to sleep by Corruptor‘s suggestive sweat, Scavenger, much like the rest of the Unkillables, is back in one piece. After Wolverine agrees to take the abuse the Unkillables can give to try to save Flip, Contagions son, Scavenger has the pleasure of draining Wolverine’s life force, 11 times in one night.
When Wolverine heals from this and countless other things the Unkillables do to him in an attempt to tax his healing factor to the limit, Wolverine escapes and comes after Contagion. When Scavenger and Slaughter attack Wolverine they get intertwined. They began to feed off each other and were stuck in a twisted loop of continuous feeding for a short time. After being infected by Contagion, Scavenger regained his health and participated in the Unkillable’s getting vengeance on Contagion.
Powers
Before being given additional powers by Thog, Robert Nicolle could not physically feel anything. His body would not be alerted to outside stimuli touching his body, be it painful or pleasurable. In addition to this, he also had an uncanny healing process that would allow his wounds to heal without any scars. He has been able to heal off burns, and scratches, he even survived an attempt to stab himself through the heart. The extent and origin of these abilities remain unrevealed.
When Thog made a deal with Robert and changed him into the Scavenger, he granted him with more powers: Superior strength, enough of which to be able to fight the Man-Thing and over-power humans of average strength. He also gain the ability to fly, the limitations of either ability have yet to be determined.
In addition, he has the unique ability to drain the life-forces of people by a simple kiss. The process consumes a persons memories, and combined feelings experienced in a life time. Prolonged exposure to his embrace causes the victim’s flesh to disintegrate leaving behind only a skeleton and their clothing. The result of this life drain would cause the Scavenger feel extreme pleasure. There is a limit to how much energy he can drain without becoming ill.
Through unrevealed means, this emotional energy would be transferred to his sister Danielle Nicolle. Thus creating a need for the Scavenger to seek out new victims in order to retain the feeling.