GNOME

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Mutant or human technology user(?)

Occupation: Techno-wizard, would-be conqueror

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: While controlling Dragorr, usurped the leadership of a warring faction in a small island nation

Enemies: Namor the Sub-Mariner; the rebel soldiers of his country

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Dragorr the Diabolical

Base of Operations: “A strife-torn Caribbean isle”

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#94/1 (August, 1967)

Powers: Gnome could have been a super-intelligent, dwarf-like mutant (along the lines of the Gremlin), or just a diminutive genius. The advanced technology he created that was at his disposal included: a giant electrified net, mass-produced "electro-blasters" whose frequencies enabled Gnome to control the Sub-Mariner's actions, an underwater vortex-creating machine, and an android he piloted from within its torso.

Weaknesses: Built wussy robots -- for a super-genius, he was not very smart.

Physical Description: He was a midget, never took off his helmet.

Height: 3' 2"
Weight: 85 lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black

History: BTS - Using his technology, Gnome took over a small country, setting himself up as the mouthpiece for his robotic creation, the puppet-android dictator George W. Bus-err...I mean Dragorr.

(Tales to Astonish I#94) - Posing as Dragorr, Gnome sent a missile-guided letter to Atlantis, asking its ruler, Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner, to ally with him in order to conquer the world. Insulted by the surface-dwellers insolence, Namor responded by swimming toward "Dragorr's" nation. As Namor drew close, Gnome trapped him within his electrified net. Activating his underwater vortex, he brought Namor to the surface where the prince was transferred into a glass-like "insulated tank" and moved into the Gnome's castle. Shattering his prison with a mighty blow, Namor's cage proved to be inferior to his strength, but using their "electro-blasters," the attending guards herded the sojourner of the sea into Dragorr's domicile. As Dragorr, the Gnome used the electro-rays Namor had been bombarded with to control the marine monarch's body, manipulating him into battle with the country's rebel armies. His strength depleted from demolishing the army and from time spent away from the sea, Namor's body was thrust back to Dragorr's domain where the dictator asked the Sub-Mariner once more if he would become his ally. Namor refused and was held electrically by a pillar in response, so he would die a slow death.

Luckily for Namor, his ladylove Dorma followed the headstrong prince out of concern, freeing and replenishing him with water-blasts from her hydro-rifle. While looking for Dragorr, the diabolical dictator found Dorma and Namor instead, and a fight ensued between the Sub-Mariner and the robot. Suspecting its true nature, Namor tossed the android into the air and had Dorma fire upon Dragorr with her hydro-rifle, which short-circuited the robot. After this, Namor destroyed the android with a single strike, forcing Gnome from it, as well. Disgusted that his brilliant ruse was exposed and that his scheme had crumbled like his robotic creation, Gnome chose to end his life by jumping through a nearby window. Luckily for him, there just happened to be a group of rebels waiting below with an open net to catch Gnome. This net not only saved him but was used to detain him also, thus ending the threat of the Gnome.

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas and Bill (the creator of Namor) Everett

If the Gnome was truly as ingenious as we were led to believe, his wits probably got him out of imprisonment. Furthermore, given the negative encounter he had with Namor, he would have probably stayed as far away from superhumans as possible in the future (much like Ogre of Factor Three (See the Thunderbolts)). But it's been long enough, so it's time for him to make a return.

Gnome has an entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook.

Profile by: Kyle Smith

Clarifications: Gnome has no known connection to:

• Gnome of the New Universe, Host Kleinman, @ Nightmask#1
• The Gnomes of Asgard, aka the Nibelung, @ Thor I#294
• Noam Chomsky, super-smart scholar and founder of transformational-generative grammar
• Ogre, super-smart mutant formerly of Factor Three, now of Thunderbolts @(Uncanny) X-Men 28
• Gremlin, super-smart mutant son of the Gargoyle, @Hulk 163
  --or any other super-smart, diminutive characters.
• Golem, mystical Jewish automaton, @Strange Tales 174 --or any other Golems
  
• Goblyn, one of those twins from the alternate dimension @Alpha Flight 53 --or any other Goblins
  
• Nom with Bishop in his "last X-Man" alternate dimension, @Bishop:Last X-Men 1