ERIK BLOODAXE

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

As a night watchman at a customs warehouse in Superior City, Tom Guarnacci started making money on the side by taking bribes to help ensure that certain items made it through customs without actually being inspected. By selling his services through a middleman Tom avoided dealing with clients directly, and over the years he became very good at what he did earning a reputation as a reliable means of getting questionable items through customs.

All that changed when Tom was paid to smuggle some crates out of the warehouse. Normally Tom always avoided learning what was in the boxes and packages he dealt with, but this time was different. Something about one particular crate drew him to it and he opened the crate. Inside he found what looked like an old Viking axe. Something about the axe called to Tom, and against his better judgement he kept the weapon for himself instead of delivering it. Tom also realized that the people who were expecting the artifacts would come looking for the missing axe, so he eliminated to only thing that could lead them to him by killing his middleman, the only person who knew who Tom was.

Now that he had the axe, Tom set out to learn about it. He could sense the power in the weapon, but had no idea of how to access it. Research was never Tom's strong suit, but he persevered and finally stumbled across an obscure Viking saga describing an ancient king with a magical axe that let transformed the king into a giant. The documents included an illustration of the king, and his axe looked like Tom's. More importantly, the story included how the king used the axe to transform himself - by speaking his own name: Slaegr. Hiding the axe in a guitar case, Tom went to an abandoned lot and tried the magic word. Power surged from the axe and Tom was transformed into the spitting image of King Slaegr, a muscular Viking warrior with red hair and beard clad in furs. Speaking the name a second time Tom found himself growing to a giant size, three times the size of a normal man. Speaking the name again, shrunk him back down in size, and speaking it yet again transformed Tom back into himself.

Having unlocked the secrets of the axe, Tom began using his newfound powers to go on a crime spree. With his increased size and strength Tom could make quick work of banks, and by transforming back into himself he could make an easy getaway while the authorities were off hunting for a red-bearded giant. Knowing he couldn't use the name of the warrior king since that was the key to the axe's power, Tom started calling himself Erik Bloodaxe while committing crimes figuring that was a good name for a Viking.

Meanwhile, the theft of the artifacts had attracted the attention of private investigator Ray Chandler, who was secretly the hero Surge of the new Enforcers of Justice. Ray was able to connect the axe that Erik Bloodaxe used to the missing artifacts, but that was where the trail went cold. Tom continued to commit robberies around Superior City in his Erik Bloodaxe guise where he would occasionally cross paths with members of the Enforcers of Justice like Renegade as well as others of the city's heroes but in each case he managed to escape.

When the hero Manticore began investigating the World Crime League's operations in Superior City he learned of the murder of one of their operatives, who had been Tom's middleman. Manticore managed to identify Tom as the murderer and as the person who had been smuggling objects out of the customs warehouse. When Manticore confronted him, Tom used the axe to transform into Erik Bloodaxe and attacked the hero. The battle was going Tom's way until Manticore was able to summon his Enforcers of Justice teammates. Faced with the entire team, including the powerful Aegis, Erik Bloodaxe was defeated. Knocked unconscious Tom reverted to his normal form and was arrested.

Tom remained incarcerated in Mercy Island Prison, but was recruited into Carnage's army as part of the villain's master plan and remained at large after Carnage's defeat. Unfortunately for Tom his murder of his middleman, an operative of the World Crime League, had put him on the League's hit list. When the League tracked him down then sent members of their super-powered Elite after him. Tom, as Erik Bloodaxe engaged the members of the Elite in a battle that eventually drew the attention of the Enforcers of Justice. The heroes defeated Erik Bloodaxe and the Elite and Tom was once again sent to prison.

POWERS & WEAPONS

When he activated the Axe of Slaegr, Tom would transform from a normal human into a Viking warrior with superhuman strength and resistance to damage. When in this form Tom could use the Axe to increase his height, turning into a giant with even greater strength and invulnerability. The Axe would grow propotionately with Tom and served as a highly effective weapon. One downside to the Axe was that any injuries Tom sustained as Erik Bloodaxe would remain when he transformed back into his normal human form, so he would have to make sure he remained in his superhuman form long enough for any injuries to heal sufficiently that would not be lethal when he changed back. The Axe also conferred a resistance to psychic probes and attacks, which helped Tom conceal his true identity from prying telepaths.

Warp Zone | DC Heroes | Villains | Erik Bloodaxe