full JEREMY

Real Name: Jeremy (surname unrevealed; possibly Rypel)

Identity/Class: Human mutate; former technology user ;
    pre-modern and modern eras

Occupation: Unrevealed (presumably a forager and/or a predator);
    former scientist and research subject

Group Membership: Hydropolis crew (including Garver, Messenger, Rypel, and at least 56 others)

Affiliations: Hulk (Bruce Banner);
    formerly Rypel

Enemies: Rypel;
    briefly the Hulk (Bruce Banner)

Known Relatives: Rypel (brother, apparently deceased)

Aliases: The Batrachian Man (most likely a description, rather than a title; see comments), "Adam"

Base of Operations: Unrevealed; presumably some aquatic location;
    formerly Hydropolis on the ocean floor in proximity to the Bermuda Triangle

First Appearance: Hulk#22 (August, 1980)swimming

Powers/Abilities: Jeremy was amphibious, able to survive underwater indefinitely, and in air for extended periods if not indefinitely as well (seems logical, but unconfirmed). He presumably had gills, perhaps hidden by the scales on his throat; these would typically allow him to extract sufficient oxygen from ambient water to survive and function normally underwater. 

    He was superhumanly strong (perhaps Class 10-25; sufficient to knock a freshly transformed Hulk off his feet with a swift /single punch, but no match for the Hulk in direct combat). 

    He could presumably swim at superhuman speeds, although there was no indication of the specifics of this ability.

    He was presumably adapted for the ocean depths, including being able to survive the pressures at the bottom of the ocean as well as the pressure changes at varying depths; circulatory adapations to allow him to withstand freezing water temperatures; and vision being more sensitive to the green portion of the visible spectrum, enabling him to see in relatively dark ocean depths. He may have been susceptible to dehydration. Like these, any other adaptations are speculative.

    Jeremy's skin appeared to be a very pale green to gray color, and he was at least partially scaled; he had a prominent, webbed central fin atop his head, with a paired row of ridges an inch or so over bilaterally, as well as a second paired row of ridges radiating from the base of his nose, below his eyes and then back over the top of his ears; the ridged rows were slightly darker, perhaps bluish in color. Between the ridged rows on each side, Jeremy had irregular, somewhat scalloped fins over where his eyebrows would be and extending perhaps  laterally beyond the sides of his head a couple inches. He also had a few fins/projections extending out from his jowels and chin. His pointed, somewhat scalloped ears extended a few inches laterally beyond his head. 

    He also had fins extending from the back of his triceps and calves (two fins on the latter). His digits ended in clawed talons, and he had webbing between his digits. His teeth all ended in points, and he had slit-like pupils, like a cat or a snake.

    Apparently once a genius scientist (presumably with expertise +/- training in oceanography and marine biology), Jeremy suffered from his brother's experimentation and could maintain coherent thought only with effort.

Height: Unrevealed; while the comparison wasn't 100% clear, he looked to be at least a foot taller than the 5'9" Banner and seemed comparable to the Hulk in height
Weight: Unrevealed; if he was 6'9" and normal human density, he may have been perhaps 300 pounds, but he also may have been more dense/heavy or even lighter than human
Eyes: White irides with slit-like pupils
Hair: None; he presumably had hair, at least in his youth, if not prior to his mutation

face-angryHistory:
(Hulk#22 (fb) - BTS) <30 years before the main story> - Scientist brothers Jeremy and his brother (see comments) wanted to do something big, something to rock the establishment, to jar the whole world; they wanted to do what no one had ever done before, that would revolutionize thinking, methodology, and technique.

    Jeremy's brother decided that the surface world had become too spoiled, and that the sea would eventually be spoiled as well. He and Jeremy decided to create a new world in the ocean's unspoiled depths.

    For 30 years, Jeremy's brother (and presumably Jeremy) spent untold millions of dollars to create the city Hydropolis on the ocean floor, mining the ocean floor for materials and fishing and cultivating the sea for sustenance. 

    Jeremy and his brother began to experiment on each other. <According to Jeremy>, Jeremy's experiments made his brother crazy.face

    Eventually, while Jeremy had anticipated a relatively simple operation on himself (an attempt to install a simple gill system in a human being), his brother transformed him into an amphibious creature, though his intellect and coherence suffered somewhat.

    While Jeremy was pleased with what they had done and wanted to reveal it to the rest of the world and watch the impact of the discovery, at some point, his brother -- who became known only as Rypel -- decided to to destroy the surface society, and he began kidnapping boaters via his massive Leviathan craft to help increase those present within his new society.

(Hulk#22 - BTS) - Rypel announced Hydropolis would destroy society tomorrow, answering criticism that they had far too few people to cut themselves off from the outside world, with the argument that they really only needed two, an Adam and an Eve, and they already had their Adam (meaning Jeremy).

    When fellow crewman/scientistt Garver wondered whether Rypel had told Jeremy yet, Rypel explained that he felt it was better if his brother did not know: Without sharing the guilt, he would be better able to look to the imperatives of the future. Garver countered that this would be better for Rypel but not for Jeremy, but when he threatened to act to prevent this, Rypel fatally shot Garver .

    After Leviathan captured the Hulk (who transformed back into Banner before being isolated) and scientist Sheila Marks, Banner and Marks escaped captivity.

(Hulk#22) - While Sheila learned of Rypel's specific plans, Banner investigated the aquarian and encountered Jeremy, who came out to meet him and assumed him to be one of the new researchers. Noting how he could now stay underwater indefinitely, Jeremy discussed how things had progressed with he and his brother over time; as Jeremy spoke, he lost track of the fact that he was speaking to someone, and he speculated that his brother''s need to jump into a new project led him to do so too soon, and "grabbing a new wave before he could get his bearings...maybe it led him ripping ahead too fast, too soon, too far..." As Banner left, Jeremy told him that he sometimes thought his brother was wrong, but nonetheless to tell him he missed him.confronting Rypel

(Hulk#22 - BTS) - Banner reprogrammed Hydropolis' targeting torpedos to return to Hydropolis after being launched, and then he and Sheila raided the armory, freed the prisoners, and led them to takeover Hydropolis. Rypel escaped capture and fled to find Jeremy.

(Hulk#22) - Banner returned to the aquarium and urged Jeremy to come with his quickly, as he didn't have time to explain. Despite his mental haziness, Jeremy realized Banner was not one of his brother's researchers and wondered who he was. As Banner tried desperately to convince Jeremy to trust him, Rypel rushed in and -- warning of the threat to the creation of a new race of intelligent life -- told Jeremy they were now prisoners, and that Jeremy must kill Banner. As the confused Jeremy advanced on Banner despite his warnings, the stress caused Banner to turn into the Hulk. The two struggled and, even in the water into which they eventually ended up, the Hulk easily overpowered Jeremy. However, recalling anger-therapy recently used to calm himself by Sheila, the Hulk laid a calm hand on Jeremy's shoulder and pointed at Rypel, explaining that he was redirecting Jeremy's anger to where it belonged...to the one who really wanted to hurt him.

    Admitting he could now see that his brother was at fault, Jeremy got out of the water, and told Rypel that his operations had affected his brain so that he could not "think right any more. Look at me, brother! Your experiments are a failure. And my experiments on you failed too -- made you mad! Crazy!" Rypel told Jeremy he was wrong, but Jeremy responded, "I'm not wrong! I'm living proof of your failure -- but your're too obsessed to realize it! Every day it gets worse -- every day I lose a little more of my mind! I was a scientist, just like you -- brilliant -- but now sometimes I can't even remember my name -- who I am!" As Jeremy grabbed him by the neck, Rypel desperately reminded him they were brothers and shouted, "No!" But, continuing to strangle Rypel, Jeremy replied, "Yes! Because soon I'll have no more intelligence -- no more humanity! I'll be just like any other cold creature of the sea!!"

    Jeremy lamented having apparently killed his own brother, but the Hulk told him the place was going to blow up and urged him to leave. After Jeremy noted that the pool led to a tunnel and an exit-lock from the city, the Hulk pushed Jeremy back into the pool and told him to escape. After Jeremy thanked him -- noting that the sea would soon be his only home -- and departed, the Hulk wondered whether Jeremy would make it, and then he made his way to the submarine.

(Hulk#22 - BTS) - The undersea city was destroyed, presumably along with Rypel's body as both Jeremy and the Hulk had left it behind, and the Hulk and the other inhabitants and former prisoners all escaped.

Comments: Created by Doug Moench, Ron Wilson, and Alfredo Alcala.

    Batrachian is just a word meaning amphibious, and it especially refers to frogs. It was used to refer to Jeremy in one narrative paragraph, and there's no evidence that it was an actual title rather a descriptor.

    Jeremy was referred to as Adam by Rypel once when describing you only needed an Adam and an Eve (a male and a female) to start a new race, and they already had their Adam.

    Jeremy only referred Rypel as his brother. Maybe it was just that Jeremy had a hard time thinking, but I wonder if Rypel was his real name, after all. 

    It is possible that Jeremy is out there swimming around in the ocean somewhere. I'd love to see some writer pick up on this and use him in some future story.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Jeremy should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Hulk#22, story pg. 30, panel 1 (swimming);
            panel 6 (angry face);
        pg. 32, panel 1 (full);
            panel 3 (calm face);
        pg. 39, panel 7 (confronting Rypel)

Appearances:
Hulk#22 (August, 1980) - Doug Moench (writer), Ron Wilson (penciler), Alfredo Alcala (inker), and Lynne Graeme (editor)

First Posted: 02/15/2016
Last updated: 02/15/2016

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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