Doctor Erskine

Real Name
Abraham Erskine

Occupation
Scientist

Citizenship
German

Place of Birth
Germany

Known Relatives
Anita Erskine (wife), Esme Erskine (daughter), Tyler Paxton (son-in-law), Jacob Paxton/Erskine (grandson, deceased), Brian van Patrick (grandson), Michael van Patrick (great-grandson, deceased)

Group Affiliation
U.S. Army during WWII

Education
Unknown

Height

5' 6"

Weight
160 lbs.

Eyes

Brown

Hair
Black (greying)

Powers
None

Abilities

None

Other Info
Abraham Erskine was a German biochemist and physicist who had spent much of his early life studying the human species. Horrified when he witnessed Adolf Hitler and Baron Zemo test a "death ray" on a human subject, he contacted the United States to get out of Nazi Germany. After the United States Army got him out of Germany (and faked his death), he takes up the alias "Joseph Reinstein." (To learn about the characters above, just click on their highlighted names.)

During his research, Erskine had developed a special diet and isometric exercise regime that he theorized would create a "super-soldier." However, the program was rejected by the U.S. government because it required a lifetime of adherence in order to produce the desired results. However, Abraham Erskine ended up becoming the first person to develop the "Super-Soldier Serum," as well as the Vita-Rays, designed to create an army of enhanced human beings for the United States' World War II efforts. This serum would eliminate the physical defects and limitations humans had.

Eventually, after the scrawny Steve Rogers was chosen to become a Super-Soldier, Dr. Erskine administered the Super-Soldier Serum which changed Rogers into the muscular Captain America. However, right after this, a Nazi agent named Heinz Kruger infiltrated the top-secret military base and assassinated Erskine; thus, eliminating the Super-Soldier Serum formula--Erskine had committed the formula to memory and had not not written it down anywhere. (To learn about the highlighted characters above, just click on their names.)

To date, nobody has ever been able to duplicate the Super Soldier Serum as successfully as Erskine was with Steve Rogers. Others have recreated powerful human transformation techniques similar to Erskine's (including Wilfred Nagel and William Burnside), but none have been as successful. (To learn about a different "Captain America," click on the highlighted name above.)

As mentioned earlier, Erskine had developed a special diet and isometric exercise regime that he theorized would create a super-soldier. And even though the U.S. government rejected the theory, Erskine passed the research on through his family. In fact, his grandson applied the theory and used it as the basis for both a successful organic food business and the physical development of his own son Michael van Patrick. Micheal's peak human physiology proved the accuracy of Erskine's theories. (To learn about MVP, click on his highlighted name above.)

There is nothing there, but here is the link to the Marvel.com bio of Doctor Erskine, http://marvel.com/universe/Erskine,_Abraham.