THE FROG THE FROG
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Unrevealed (possibly extradimensional being)
Occupation: Unrevealed; apparent fisherman
Group Membership: None known
Affiliations: Avengers (Commander Steve Rogers, Iron Man/Tony Stark, Thor Odinson), Luke Cage, unidentified steed
Enemies: None known (beyond an automatically-closing security door)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
apparently slain in the Raft, in the East River in the Bronx, New York;
previous lived along a body of water
First Appearance: Thunderbolts I#150 (January, 2011)
Powers/Abilities: A ranine humanoid, the Frog was an experienced angler (fisherman) and could ride an unidentified creature.
He spoke in something of a Cajun dialect.
He wore overalls, a long sleeve shirt and a straw hat, and he carried a fishing pole (a hook and line on a stick).
He say atop a chair-like saddle on
top of a rug/mat on his steed creature, from which hung a new for
holding fish he caught, a pot and pan (presumably for cooking his
fish), what appeared to be a lunch box, and at least one
knapsack/duffle bag carrying who-knows-what.
Height: (Ranine humanoid form) unrevealed (approximately 2-3'); History:
(Thunderbolts I#150 (fb) - BTS) - His origins unknown to
himself, the Frog enjoyed fishing in the waters of the unidentified
realm in which he dwelled. He observed as unidentified beings
periodically entered his realm through a nearby waterfall.
(Thunderbolts I#150 - BTS) - As Luke Cage had
the Man-Thing transport members of the Avengers (Commander Rogers, Iron
Man, Thor) and Thunderbolts (Crossbones/Brock Rumlow, Ghost,
Juggernaut/Cain Marko) to one of MODOK's old bases in Europe to shut it
down, the Ghost projected an ion stream that connected Thor's hammer,
Mjolnir, to the Man-Thing at the moment they entered the portal,
intending for the Thunderbolts to arrive thousands of miles from the
Avengers.
However, the energies proved to unpredictable,
and the group was instead transported into an unidentified dimension,
arriving instead only 2.3 kilometers apart.
(Thunderbolts I#150 - BTS) - The Frog was
somewhat surprised to see Cage and the Avengers just "pop outta the
air," as opposed to arriving through the waterfall as others usually
did. 
(Thunderbolts I#150) - Investigating this realm, Iron Man looked into the waters and saw himself as a kid, while Rogers' saw Iron Man's reflection as Iron Man but also saw himself as Captain America. Both men were surprised by the presence of the Frog when he spoke to them atop his steed, noting, "The waters here got peculiar properties, don't they? Whenever folks come through, they fascinated. Some think it's they's true selves, or hold answers to some puzzle. Me, I just likes to fish in it." He continued, "'Course, everybody comes and goes through that waterfall yonder, but y'all just popped out that air."
Captain America respectfully addressed the Frog, telling him, if he was in charge here, that they needed to know where they were, and he told him that they were the Avengers. Uninterested, the Frog told him, "Now I don't care about all that."
However, when Luke Cage addressed the Frog as sir, introduced himself as Luke and asked his name. Appreciating this, the Frog replied, "Now someone was raised with some manners! You kin just call me 'The Frog.' I know I ain't handsome."
Luke then informed the Frog that they weren't there for anything and that their arrival was an accident, but that they had some dangerous people that they needed to get back home, and he asked if he could tell them how to do that.
The Frog told Cage, "Shoot. Y'all don't need no help." Pointing to the Man-Thing, the Frog continued, "You got yourself a Swamp Walker, ain't no better guide than that. He can getcha back home through dat waterfall." And then he addressed the Man-Thing, who was walking through the water, "Hey, Bo, don't scare off all them fish over there!"
Again addressing Cage, Iron Man and Rogers, the Frog told them, "Stay too long, ya forget where you came from, like me. Far as I remember, I always been here."
When Thor returned, Cage introduced him to the Frog, and Thor greeted him, "Good morn', sir,"
and the Frog waved to him. As they discussed their situation, Iron Man
noted that he detected the Ghost's equipment over a nearby hill, and
Iron Man and Thor flew Rogers and Cage to confront them.
As the heroes departed, the Frog told the Man-Thing, "That's a high-strung bunch you hang out with."
After Cage and Rogers had returned with the compliant Ghost and defeated Crossbones, the Frog told them (or perhaps the Man-Thing) "You know, you are indeed familiar. Feel like I used to see you somewheres before." As Iron Man and Thor returned with the Juggernaut, the surprised Frog told the, "Dang! Y'all give a fella some warnin'!" Cage apologized and asked about the waterfall being a portal out of there, and the Frog told them, "If that's a fancy word for door, yaz. I think it's how I came here. Anyhows, I seen big muckies like him (the Man-Thing) lead folk through it."
The Frog returned to his fishing, but after the
group passed through the portal, the Frog determined that he had to be
from where they were, and he rushed toward the portal.
(Thunderbolts I#150 (fb) - BTS) - Apparently, as he passed through the portal, arriving just outside the Raft, the Frog was transformed into what appeared to be a conventional terrestrial frog (see comments).
(Thunderbolts I#150) - Observing Cage and
Rogers speaking with the raft, the Frog started to follow them, making
a ribbit sound, but he failed to clear the security door before it
closed, and he was smashed and apparently killed by that door.
Comments: Created by Jeff Parker & Kev Walker.
I feel like the Frog was meant to be an homage to someone. Perhaps, given his Cajun-sounding dialect, he was meant to be Naveen from the Disney's the Princess and the Frog (based on the classic fairy tale of the Frog Prince)?
The Frog was not actually seen transforming into a conventional frog, and the frog that was seen and killed was not wearing any clothes or anything to distinguish it from a conventional terrestrial frog, so it is not 100% confirmed that the Frog came to Earth, was transformed into a normal frog form before being crushed...but it sure seemed like he croaked...
But maybe once he apparently died on Earth he was
drawn back to the other dimension and restored to his previous
existence...
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Frog should be distinguished from:
   The Frog's (presumably former) steed is an interesting creature.Its large back legs and vestigial front legs were somewhat reminiscent of a Tyrannosaurus rex or velociraptor. It looked to have two digits on each forelimb, but its back back feet were not clearly shown. Its face is difficult to describe...I see things that are rodentine, like a capybara (like the shape, split philtrum, wide and flat nostrils and small ears) but without the fur; or perhaps some broad-faced canine, like a pit bull; or even bovine or hippopotamine. It appeared to have teeth on both its mandibles and maxilla. It stood with its head relatively low to the ground, with its height increasing as its body progressed caudally to the central high point just caudal to its forelimbs, at which point it sloped down again rapidly to its short thick caudal region (tail and/or vent). Its back had numerous small, blunt raised projections. At the top of the hump-like structure on which the Frog sat, it appeared to be about 6' tall (Luke Cage looked to be about a foot taller than this level, but he was standing on the bank, and the creature's feet were in the water. Apparently herbivorous, it spent most of its time grazing on the grass in the body of water in which it stood. It was very docile, and it presumably followed verbal commands from the Frog as it did not wear a harness or reins, etc. Perhaps it was controlled via leg signals, or maybe they even had a telepathic connection. --Thunderbolts I#150 |
Appearances:
Thunderbolts I#150 (January, 2011) - Jeff Parker (writer), Kev Walker (artist),
Rachel Pinnelas (assistant editor), Bill Rosemann (editor)
First posted: 08/29/2024
Last updated: 08/29/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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