Scourge of the Underworld#Villains killed in the Bar With No Name

The Scourge is originally depicted as an unnamed vigilante dedicated to killing criminals.{{Cite web |last=Cronin |first=Brian |date=September 20, 2014 |title=Knowledge Waits: Every Supervillain Death by the Original Scourge of the Underworld! |url=https://www.cbr.com/knowledge-waits-every-supervillain-death-by-the-original-scourge-of-the-underworld/ |access-date=March 10, 2025 |website=CBR |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Harth |first=David |date=September 10, 2023 |title=Why A Villain Who Kills Villains Is Perfect For Avengers, Inc. |url=https://www.cbr.com/avengers-inc-scourge-marvel-comics-info-guide/ |access-date=March 10, 2025 |website=CBR |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Faraci |first=Derek |date=September 15, 2017 |title=10 Amazing (And 5 Terrible) Marvel Characters We’ll Never See In The MCU |url=https://screenrant.com/marvel-best-worst-characters-never-in-mcu-movies/ |access-date=March 10, 2025 |website=Screen Rant |language=en}} His killing spree reaches its apex in Captain America #319, where he kills eighteen criminals at an underworld meeting held to devise a way of countering him.{{Cite web |last=Webber |first=Tim |date=March 30, 2024 |title=Welcome to the Bar with No Name, the Marvel Universe's Hangout for Villains |url=https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/bar-with-no-name-explained-villain-hangout |access-date=March 10, 2025 |website=Marvel.com}} When Captain America captures the Scourge, he claims to be the brother of the Enforcer, whom Scourge killed because his criminal activities shamed their father. He claims that this crime led to him creating the Scourge persona with help from a private investigator only identified as Domino, who provides him detailed information on supervillains. Immediately after making this confession, the Scourge is murdered by an unseen assailant.Captain America #320 (April 1986)

Following this story, several imposter Scourges are introduced. The Scourge's creator, Mark Gruenwald, explained that while he wanted to resolve the mystery of the Scourge sooner rather than later, he feared that if he brought the Scourge back too soon he would run out of low-tier villains for him to kill and would have to either start killing off mid-tier villains or create new villains for the sole purpose of being victims of the Scourge.{{cite magazine|first=James |last=Van Hise |title=With Armor and Shield |magazine=Comics Feature |issue=51 |date=January 1987 |publisher=Movieland Publishing |page=31}}

In 1993, Gruenwald wrote a four-part U.S. Agent miniseries to resolve the mysteries involving the Scourge of the Underworld. The series revealed that the various Scourges belong to an organization that Thomas Halloway established following his retirement.{{Cite web |last=Matadeen |first=Renaldo |date=October 19, 2019 |title=Marvel Just Brought Back Captain America's Deadliest Foe From the 1980s |url=https://www.cbr.com/captain-america-scourge-of-the-underworld-return/ |access-date=March 10, 2025 |website=CBR |language=en}}

Various characters have assumed the Scourge mantle since the original's death, including Frank Simpson,Thunderbolts #133 (August 2009)Thunderbolts #136 (November 2009) Paladin,Villains for Hire #4 (May 2012) and a brainwashed Jack Monroe and Dennis Dunphy.Thunderbolts #49 (April 2001)Captain America (vol. 6) #12 (July 2012)

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.marvel.com/universe/Scourge_of_the_Underworld Scourge of the Underworld] at Marvel.com
• {{Marvunapp|http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/scourgevictims.htm|Victims of Scourge of the Underworld}}

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Category:Characters created by John Byrne (comics)

Category:Characters created by Mark Gruenwald

Category:Comic book terrorist organizations

Category:Comics characters introduced in 1985

Category:Fictional assassins in comics

Category:Fictional mass murderers

Category:Fictional serial killers

Category:Marvel Comics male supervillains

Category:Vigilante characters in comics