Ross G. Everbest
The original Foolkiller, Ross Everbest, is more of a reactionary crusader than subsequent versions of the character. Upset by anti-Vietnam War protests and counterculture movements, he decides that sinners, dissidents, and criminals alike were "fools" who must be eliminated, and that he had been chosen by God to do so. He was inspired by a faith healer, Reverend Mike Pike, who cured his childhood paralysis. As a result, Everbest becomes an evangelist with Pike as his mentor. After catching Pike in a drunken orgy, Everbest kills him, preserves his corpse in formaldehyde, and uses Pike's money to fund his vigilante activities. He dons a flamboyant Zorro-like costume and begins using a "purification gun", a raygun which disintegrates people instantly. Some of his victims are given a 24-hour warning in the form of a calling card: "Foolkiller / e pluribus unum / You have 24 hours to live. Use them to repent or be forever damned to the pits of hell where goeth all fools. Today is the last day of the rest of your life. Use it wisely or die a fool".
Foolkiller had sought to kill Ted Sallis (whom he knew to be the Man-Thing based on connecting news reports), disc jockey Richard Rory, and businessman F.A. Schist. During a struggle with Man-Thing, Foolkiller dies after being impaled in the heart by a shard of glass from the tank containing Pike.[5]
Greg Salinger
Gregory P. "Greg" Salinger, imprisoned for disorderly conduct, heard the story of the first Foolkiller from his cellmate, Richard Rory. After being released, Salinger steals Foolkiller's equipment and assumes his identity, using the "purification gun" to kill a number of people in New York. Unlike his religiously inspired predecessor, Salinger defined "fools" as those guilty of materialism and mediocrity, or anyone who lacked "a poetic nature".[6]
Rory, feeling responsible for Salinger's breakdown and crimes, tries to help the Defenders arrest Salinger, by persuading him that he could join them as a superhero. However, Salinger had decided the Defenders were "fools" after their failure to capture another supervillain; he sought to kill Lunatik, and burned down their headquarters and was captured by the Defenders, but escaped in a road accident.[7] Salinger reappears, studying at Empire State University, where teaching assistant Peter Parker (Spider-Man) befriended him, then stopped him in the midst of another killing spree. When a homeless witness suggested that only a fool would fight Spider-Man, Salinger attempted to shoot himself, but was stopped, arrested, found criminally insane and institutionalized at the Central Indiana State Mental Institution.[8]
Kurt Gerhardt
Kurt Gerhardt reached a state of homicidal despair after the murder of his father, a divorce, the loss of his bank job, and being robbed at work.[12] Gerhardt gets in contact with Greg Salinger and is directed to an old confidant who provides him with the Foolkiller costume and "purification gun".[13] Initially, Gerhardt directs his vigilante campaign at criminals, garnering some praise from the public.[14][15] His definition of "fools" broadens over time and leads him to kill in public. After escaping from the police, Gerhardt has his face altered with the assistance of Salinger's friend and leaves for Arizona.[16]
After repeatedly attempting to gain therapy from and then teach back what it means to be Foolkiller, all while acting on the orders of the Hood, Gerdhart is shot and killed by Salinger.[17]
