Real
Name: Joshua N'Dingi
DOCTOR CROCODILE
Real
Name: Joshua N'Dingi
Identity/Class: Human cyborg
Occupation: Ruler of the African Kingdom of Mbangawi
Group Membership: Ruler of Mbangawi;
Affiliations: Afrikaa,
Black Panther (T'Challa), Man-Ape, Moses Magnum, Princess Zanda, Queen Ororo;
Enemies: Jamie Braddock; Sat-Yr9; (former)
Captain Britain (Brian Braddock); Meggan; the Technet
Known Relatives: Unidentified father (tribal ruler, deceased), Samuel N'Dingi (tribal ruler of Mbangawi,
deceased)
Aliases: Doc Croc; halfling (Gatecrasher's nickname for
him)
Base of Operations: Mbangawi, East Africa
First Appearance: Captain Britain II#9 (September
1985)
Powers/Abilities: The left side of Doctor Crocodile's
body is cybernetic, and his left hand is clawlike in appearance. However
nothing he does in any of his appearances suggests that his prosthetics grant
any level of superhuman ability, rather than simply being functional replacements
for the limbs and eye he lost. The sole gadget that is shown to be inbuilt
is a gas dispenser in his left arm, which can release a cloud of green gas
which inflict extremely realistic, full sensory illusions on those exposed.
Somehow Doctor Crocodile can direct the hallucinations experienced, using
them to impart information and gauge someone's true personality. Since multiple
subjects can be made to see the same illusions, it may be that Doctor Crocodile
has some kind of telepathic or magical ability, and the gas merely renders
victims susceptible to this.
History:
(bts) Joshua N'Dingi is sent by his father to England to be
educated. There he is eventually recruited into RCX, and begins work as one
of their agents, gathering the Warpie children in the wake of the recent
Jasper's
Warp. Presumably feeling his work is important, when his father dies
he does not immediately return home to assume rulership of Mbangawi.
He is vaguely aware of pain and extensive surgery, before finally
awakening to see his colleagues Michael and Gabriel standing over him. Michael
tells him not to be too shocked at his new appearance, as the child's spontaneous
combustion caused extensive injuries, requiring drastic surgery and unperfected
techniques to be employed to save his life. Then Joshua looks in a
mirror, to see much of the left half of his body replaced by mechanical grafts
and prosthetics, and his remaining skin now so scarred that it appears almost
scaly.
In spite of the protests of his fellows, who point out the vast
amounts of money spent on repairing him, Joshua decides it is time to return
home to govern his country.
(bts) With his new appearance the people of Mbangawi dub their
new ruler Doctor Crocodile.
(Captain Britain II#9 - BTS) - Alerted by his former colleagues
in RCX to the depraved criminal activities of racing driver Jamie Braddock,
Doctor Crocodile takes him into custody when the playboy slaver enters
Mbangawi while taking part in the Trans-African Rally. Having been misled
to believe that Jamie's brother Brian, the superhero Captain Britain, is
likewise involved in these horrific crimes, Doctor Crocodile orders his
government to keep Jamie's real fate a secret, simply reporting the driver
as being missing, so that he can lure his "accomplice" into a trap.
(Captain Britain II#9) - Doctor Crocodile threatens Jamie with
torture and has his captive call Braddock Manor, getting him to inform his
brother of his captivity and to deliver an ultimatum: "If you're not here
by Wednesday they're going to do something savage and unpleasant to me."
As Jamie carries out this instruction, Doctor Crocodile stands and watches
his Witch-Woman heat up some barbed needles in preparation.
(Captain Britain II#10) - Captain Britain and Meggan arrive
in Mbangawi and literally gatecrash the Emperor's compound looking for Jamie.
Doctor Crocodile, monitoring their arrival from an unspecified location nearby,
allows them to smash their way in to the empty building, before making a
call to a phone in the room they are in. He and the British hero exchange
heated words, before the African ruler releases his mind-bending gas through
the phone. He puts Captain Britain through a series of illusions, sharing
the experience of the incident which crippled him and made him half-mechanical,
then shows Braddock images of his brother's crimes: robbing aid convoys,
murder, slave-trading and worse. Appearing in the visions as a giant crocodile,
Joshua accuses Captain Britain of being an accomplice to these evils, but
the hero hotly denies this. Releasing him from the dream world, Doctor Crocodile
asks his tribal sorceress for her opinion. She states that Captain Britain
is innocent of his brother's crimes.
The enraged hero starts to take his anger at the horrors he
witnessed out on Jamie, but Doctor Crocodile stops him, stating that it is
local justice must be allowed to punish these transgressions. He notes that
his informants had led him to believe that Brian had sheltered his brother
from previous detection, and apologises to the hero for the ordeal he was
put through. A short while afterwards Doctor Crocodile watches as Meggan
and Captain Britain fly off, leaving Jamie and Mbangawi.
BTS - The Witch-Woman foretells that Jamie will escape and cause
terrible harm, and councils that he should be executed to prevent this. Doctor
Crocodile decides to ignore this warning.
(Excalibur I#15) - Hired by Nigel Frobisher on behalf of Sat-Yr9,
the Technet travel to Mbangawi to rescue Jamie Braddock from Doctor Crocodile,
whom they are informed is a tyrant holding an innocent hostage. Easily entering
the heavily guarded compound and overcoming the guard, Gatecrasher, Yap and
Joyboy penetrate the heart of the structure, where they find Doctor Crocodile
and the Witch-Woman torturing Jamie. Joyboy deals with the sorceress, and
Gatecrasher faces the cyborg, who blasts her in the face with a shot of his
hallucinogenic gas. Much like Captain Britain before her, she experiences
first hand the evil actions of Jamie Braddock. Released from her visions,
she finds herself with her hands round Doctor Crocodile's throat, as he calmly
explains that she had to be shown the truth about the man she had come to
rescue; he states that Gatecrasher has honour in her, but those she serves
do not, and that she has been deceived.
Before the discussion can progress, a terrified Yap teleports
the Technet, Jamie and Doctor Crocodile back to the mercenaries' base on
Brighton Pier. Jamie starts to wander off; Gatecrasher notes that they had
best restrain him until things can be sorted out; and Doctor Crocodile, his
head still soundly gripped by Gatecrasher's giant hand, warns her to be careful
as his former captive is more than he seems. This is swiftly demonstrated
as they all witness Jamie inflict terrible agony on Bodybag, the Technet
member who is ordered to take him captive. The rest of the Technet start
to move to engage Braddock, only to fall one by one to the reality warping
abilities his torture seems to have released.
Doctor Crocodile notes that Jamie still believes he is imprisoned
in Mbangawi, and thinks that what he is currently experiencing is just a
dream. Realising the lack of moral constraints this gives Jamie, combined
with his vast new powers, Doctor Crocodile declares that he wishes he had
heeded the sorceress' warning and killed the madman when he had the chance.
Slipping his robe off and drawing a knife, he rushes into combat, only for
the pier to be lit up by a huge explosion of light.
Some time later, Nigel Frobisher collects a victorious Jamie
from the pier. He has altered the Technet's memories to wipe out their
recollections of the fight, leaving them to believe the mission was a success.
However Thug is disgruntled to find his bath disrupted when he finds a tiny
cybernetic crocodile in the tub...
(Civil War: Battle Damage Report#1) - President N'Dingi was present at the Pan-African Congress on the Treatment of Superhumans.
Comments: Created by Jamie Delano and Alan
Davis.
The exact nature of Doctor Crocodile's official title as ruler
of Mbangawi is uncertain. Captain Britain and Meggan find him in "the Emperor's
compound" in Mbangawi, but Emperor is a rather grandiose title for the ruler
of a small African nation, and it may simply be that this is a holdover from
colonial days, when a foreign monarch ruled Mbangawi prior to independence
- e.g. the compound used to be the residence of the Emperor when he visited
the country, and has retained that name long after the Empire faded. Captain
Britain refers to Doctor Crocodile as being considered by his people to be
more like a god than an Emperor, but he might simply be making a mistaken
titular assumption based on the compound's name. Of course what the writer
wanted was for readers to assume Doctor Crocodile was an evil tyrant, in
the mold of Idi Amin, and evil tyrants like giving themselves overblown
designations, such as Emperor, even when they don't have an empire to be
Emperor of. However once you realise that he is actually a caring and benevolent
ruler, that designation seems a little unlikely. Perhaps his father was the
dictator who granted himself the title, and Joshua has merely inherited
it.
When Captain Britain is put through his paces in the illusionary
world and comes out of his trance, Doctor Crocodile looks to the Witch-Woman
for analysis of his guilt or otherwise, suggesting that it was she who conjured
and controlled the images seen. However when Gatecrasher and Yap are later
put through a similar process, the Witch-Woman is indisposed, and it is clearly
Doctor Crocodile who directs the experience. Perhaps the gas induces the
visions, but the actual displays are magically controlled? The first time
round, the Witch-Woman supervises things, but by the time the Technet come
calling Joshua has been taught enough to do the job himself.
Doctor Crocodile's final fate is unknown. He was last seen
transformed by Jamie Braddock into a tiny reptile and in the hands of the
Technet. For all we know they could have eaten him! However I'd like to think
that once the Witch-Woman recovered from Joyboy's attentions, she would have
tried to track him down, and that once she located him, she would see to
restoring him to his original form.
The name of Witch-Woman and Joshua's ancestor were revealed in Marvel Atlas#2 along with other info.
by Loki
CLARIFICATIONS: Doctor Crocodile
is not connected to and should not be confused with
Robert Arnold is probably not connected to and should not be
confused with
The Witch-Woman is not connected to and should not be confused
with
Mbangawi should not be confused with
Kura, the Witch-Woman, also referred to as a tribal sorceress and
a crone, appears to be a mystic advisor to Doctor Crocodile. She seems to
be in charge of the torture of Jamie Braddock, heating up the pronged spikes
which were presumably intended to be used on him. Doctor Crocodile asked
her regarding Captain Britain's guilt or innocence with regard to culpability
in his brother's crimes after the hero had been through the visions, suggesting
she was reading the younger Braddock's reactions while he was in the illusionary
world. She had precognitive powers, as she warned Doctor Crocodile that Jamie
would escape to wreak havoc, and knew an attack was imminent the night the
Technet came to rescue him.
- Captain Britain II#9 (CB II#9, CB II#10, Excalibur I#15, Marvel Atlas#2
Robert Arnold was a young child, barely old enough to stand
up on his own, with horns on the top of his head. He was described as being
a Warpie, but might conceivably have been a mutant instead. Regardless of
his correct designation, he was located by RCX during their sweep for Warpies,
and Agent's Michael and Joshua were sent to retrieve him. Mrs.Arnold, his
mother, was understandably distraught by this, but not as distraught as her
toddler, who started to cry loudly when Joshua lifted him, and then spontaneously
combusted in a highly explosive manner.
I haven't listed Robert as an enemy of Doctor Crocodile because
in spite of the horrendous injuries the child inflicted on the RCX agent,
the infant hardly intended to do what he did.
- Captain Britain II#9 (CB II#9
Mbangawi
Mbangawi is an East African nation, with luscious veldts and
lions among the native animals, at least based on the tiny amount of it we
see around Doctor Crocodile's compound. Its location in relation to real-world
countries is uncertain. Since Joshua N'Dingi's home is referred to as the
Emperor's Compound, and since at least some of the locals (his guards to
be precise) speak fluent English, this suggests to me that Mbangawi might
once have been part of the British Empire. With the exception of it's unique
ruler, we see nothing which implies that Mbangawi might stand out as being
in any way unusual compared to the rest of the nations in Africa (unlike
the high-tech kingdom of Wakanda for instance).
-Captain Britain II#9 (CB II#9, 10, Excalibur I#15
Appearances:
Last updated:
12/05/03
Any Additions/Corrections? please
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me know.
Non-Marvel
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former agent of RCX
advised by the tribal
Witch-Woman.
As
a former agent of RCX, Doctor Crocodile is likely highly skilled in combat,
and he certainly had no hesitation in attempting to enter into hand-to-hand
battle with Jamie Braddock.
(Captain Britain II#10, (fb)) Along with Agent
Michael, Joshua goes to collect
Robert
Arnold, a young Warpie child, and take him into RCX care. Michael tries
to handle the distraught mother, while Joshua goes to take the child from
his cot in the next room. Joshua talks soothingly to the toddler, but cannot
stop the frightened child from getting upset. It begins to cry loudly...and
then explodes in his face.
Michael tells Joshua that RCX spent a lot of money fixing him after
he was injured. "The prosthetics alone run into millions." Hmmm. I wonder
how many millions? He's had one arm, an eye and a leg replaced. No basis
to this theory, but I'd speculate it might well be the dollar equivalent
of Six Million.
The Witch-Woman
When Gatecrasher
intruded, she appeared to be gathering some kind of energies around her hands
in preparation to repel them, but before she could unleash whatever attack
this was, Joyboy read her desire to be one with the cosmos and used his powers
to grant that wish. It was stated that she would eventually recover from
this experience.
Kura eventually rescued Dr. Crocodile from the Technet and reality-warper Jamie Braddock, who had transformed Dr. Crocodile. She returned Joshua to his normal form.
Robert Arnold
Captain Britain II#9-10 (September-October, 1985) - Jamie Delano (writer), Alan Davis (artist), Ian Rimmer (editor)
Excalibur I#15 (November, 1989) - Chris Claremont (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Paul Neary (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Civil War: Battle Damage Report#1 (2007)
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