Nero (comic book character)
He is one of the most recognizable comic book characters in Belgium and comparable to Lambik from the Suske en Wiske series by Willy Vandersteen.
Furthermore, he wears a huge red bow tie and has laurel leaves behind his ears, in reference to the Roman emperor Nero after whom he was named.
He is sometimes stupid, lazy, naïve, egotistical and vain, but in other situations he proves himself to be clever, friendly, determined and melancholic.
Van Zwam meets him while trying to solve a case, yet Nero is still named "Schoonpaard" (in reprints "Heiremans", after a colleague of Sleen at his office) here.
Because he drank the insanity poison, Matsuoka beer, Schoonpaard thinks he is the Roman emperor Nero.
Readers wrote to Sleen that they felt Nero was more sympathetic than Van Zwam and thus, from the ninth album "De Hoed van Geeraard de Duivel" ("The Hat of Gerard the Devil") (1960) on, the series was named after him and Nero became the central protagonist.
Still he remains impulsive, egotistical, proud, lazy, stubborn, self-important, naïve, clumsy, headstrong, vain and aggressive.
A bomb attack destroyed both the mountain and the house and thus they moved to Hoeilaart, where Nero lived until his final story.
[6] Nero also believes in Neptune, mermaids[7] and gnomes[8] In some stories he prays in emergency situations or promises he'll join a monastery.
[14] He also met various celebrities, like Joseph Stalin,[15] Fidel Castro[16] and Idi Amin Dada[17] In "De Bibberballon" ("The Shiver Balloon") (1990) Nero dropped a frigo box on Saddam Hussein's head and in "De Gouden Hemelkijker" ("The Golden Heavenstarer") (1991) he also kicked him in his behind.
He was a professional soccer player for a while and won the world championship of 1962[18] All this feats were done with the help of certain potions, but even without this Nero is still able to beat up whole gangs with his bare fists[19] He also crossed many oceans by swimming.
[21] Still many fortune tellers predict his death and in "De Ring van Petatje" ("Petatje's Ring"), "De Dood van Pietje" ("Pietje's Death") (1986–1987) and "Zilveren Tranen" ("Silver Tears") (2002) the Grim Reaper tries to kill him.
In "De Zwarte Voeten" ("The Black Feet") (1951) Nero claims that his mother was from Brussels and his father a Pole.
In "Het Rattenkasteel" ("The Rat's Castle") (1948) Nero has a baby son, but none of these three infants are ever seen or referenced again in the series.
In "Het Knalgele Koffertje" ("The Bright Yellow Case") (1958–1959) Nonkel Juul appears, head of the biggest diamond mine of Transvaal.
As one of the most famous comic book characters in Flanders Nero received his own statue in Hoeilaart, near an old streetcar station in 1994.
[25] The location was chosen because Nero himself moved into this house in the album "De Verschrikkelijke Tweeling" ("The Horrible Twin") (1990).
He is included along with other Nero characters on a bas-relief in Sint-Niklaas, made by sculptor Paul Dekker in 1988 to commemorate Marc Sleen's induction as an honorary citizen of the city.
