Theodore Holland (Earth-5180)

"You think Swamp Thing is afraid of fire? Swamp Thing is not afraid of anything! Swamp Thing does not even feel the fire! All Swamp Thing feels is hate!"

- - Swamp Thing

Doctor Theodore "Ted" Holland was a scientist who worked at the Slaughter Swamp, Florida analyzing the mysterious substance found within its waters. However, he was betrayed by his wife, whom deemed him a 'witch' and had him burned down by the nearby city's townsfolk. They threw his dead body to the swamp's waters, but the bayou's mystical properties revived him, and he became the monster known in urban legends as Man-Thing, a title which he proudly accepted.

Early Life
Ted Holland was a brilliant physician who took notice of the seeming supernatural properties of the waters in the Slaughter Swamp, Florida. When he finally got his chance to study the place, he settled from his hometown of Gotham City to Florida alongside his wife.

There, Holland did the best he could to come with a scientific explanation for the event in the waters, but nothing he attempted ending up make sense, which led him to theorize it could have been somewhat mystical in nature. Ted became obsessed with uncovering the swamp's secrets, and his wife then started to get scared with him. Month to month, he seemed like someone completely different, not realizing the swamp itself, surrounded by the dark magic of the Lazarus Pit, was corrupting his mind. His wife then got enough, and falsely claimed he was a witch to set herself free and kill him. The townsfolk rapidly believed in so after experiencing him practicing with strange lights and smoke effects.