WERE-RATS
Membership: Ellen, Jim, others unnamed
Purpose: To expand their membership
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Unknown
Base of Operations: Sewers/underground towns (1950s Era)
Powers/Abilities: Were-Rats could transform at will from an adult human into a normal-sized rat, as well as maintain an in-between form that combined the traits of the 2 forms, also apparently maintaining human-level intelligence. The continuation of their numbers was slow as they had to have a human's consent before their bite could take effect.
First Appearance: Suspense#25/1 (December, 1954) (Atlas)
History:
(Suspense#25/1 (fb) - BTS) - The were-rats established a complex underneath a small city and hunted for new members. At some point, Ellen became a were-rat and became the sweetheart of a man called Jim.
(Suspense#25/1) - Ellen faked being kidnapped by the were-rats when she and Jim were investigating strange footprints in her cellar. Jim clambered after the were-rats through small tunnels littered with human skulls until finally emerging in the were-rats' darkened underground city. He was shocked to see the size of the place and hid from the were-rats, but overheard them talking of the female human "captive," as well as the limitations of the were-rats' continuation. Emboldened by this information, Jim searched for Ellen, soon finding her apparently bound in chains. Were-rats suddenly descended and offered Jim the choice to be torn apart by them or to voluntarily be bitten and transformed forever into a were-rat. Jim agreed only if they freed Ellen, to which they quickly agreed. However, Ellen then transformed into her were-rat form and bit him.
Comments: Created by unnamed writer and Joe Sinnott (art).
This story was later reprinted in Marvel's Chamber of Chills#14 (January, 1974), which is where the images are from.
The were-rats acknowledged the existence of werewolves, and implied that they were semi-immortal.
Could the Were-Rats have some
connection to the Short teeth/Berev' ha Dent? Perhaps they travelled to
Earth at the same time as Verminus Rex, believing that the rest of
their race had been wiped out, or were created by the Short Teeth from
humans in an attempt to prevent their race's extinction (possibly
through studying werewolves? Could the rats seen eating corpses in "Ghouls rush in" (Adventures into Terror#9) be members of the Were-rat race, as they transform trapped grave robber John Magus into a rat like them?
--adam craik
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Were-Rats have no known connections to:
Ellen had already become a were-rat and set an elaborate plan to lure Jim into the were-rats' underground complex. She pretended to be held captive so that Jim would agree to be converted into a were-rat, and she then provided the bite that would mutate him.
--Suspense#25/1
Jim was astonished and shocked to find out about the were-rats, and sought to sacrifice himself to save his beloved Jill. He was terrified to see her then transform into giant rat and bite him to continue the were-rat line.
--Suspense#25/1
images:
(without ads)
Chamber of Chills#14/1, p4, pan2 (2 walking)
Other Appearances: None
Last updated: 08/08/09.
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™
and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at:
http://www.marvel.com