Nicholas Scratch is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is predominantly a foe of the Fantastic Four and Patsy Walker. Publication history Nicholas Scratch first appeared in Fantastic Four #185 (August 1977) and was created by Len Wein (writer) and George Pérez (artist). The name "Nicholas Scratch" is an amalgam of colloquial and euphemistic names for the Devil: "Old Nick" and "Old Scratch" or "Mr. Scratch" (as used in "The Devil and Daniel Webster"). Fictional character biography Nicholas Scratch is the son of Agatha Harkness and was a resident of the hidden community of New Salem, Colorado, a secret community populated by magic users. Agatha left the reclusive community to live among normal people, and in time even became a nanny to Franklin Richards, son of Reed and Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four. Scratch fathered seven children, who would come to be known as Salem's Seven. Scratch, now a warlock, became the leader of New Salem and brought the community to believe that it had been betrayed by Harkness through her dealings with the outside world. The New Salem witches then abducted Agatha for her trial and execution. They also abducted Franklin Richards in the process, which then caused the Fantastic Four to follow them back to New Salem. Although initially defeated and captured, the Four escaped and confronted Scratch at Harkness's trial, where all of the New Salem community was present. They countered Scratch's claims against Harkness by explaining that they hadn't known of New Salem until Scratch's actions made them aware of it. Outraged, Scratch attacked, swaying the community against him. The New Salem community then exiled him and banished him to a dimension known as the Dark Realm. From the Dark Realm, Scratch restored the Salem's Seven's powers and took mental control of the Fantastic Four. He attempted a world conquest, but was thwarted and confined to the Dark Realm by Agatha Harkness. From the Dark Realm, he later took mental possession of Franklin Richards. He had Salem's Seven takeover New Salem, but was defeated by Agatha Harkness and Gabriel, Devil Hunter. Scratch's powers were removed by Harkness, leaving him as a normal human being. Agatha Harkness eventually disowned Scratch as her son. Later, after the destruction of New Salem, Scratch resurfaced in the town of Centerville as "Mayor Nicholas." The whole town of Centerville and all of its inhabitants