Head: PoC Duke
Body: 25th Viper
Hands: 25th Tomax
Vest: Lift Ticket

Mercer grew up in a rough neighborhood, living with his adopted mother and brother, also adopted. The siblings tried to make their mom proud, but their surroundings did everything it could to ruin the two boys. Then their mom was gunned down, an innocent victim of a drive by shooting. Mercer and his brother were bounced around from one foster home to another, but they got sick of it and struck out on their own. Unfortunately they turned to a life of crime. They made a reputation for themselves as reliable and skillful and pulled several jobs for others. When a job was badly botched by a guy who was forced upon them, the brothers decided they'd had enough of petty crimes and happened across a Cobra recruiter. The two excelled quickly through the Blue Shirts and became Vipers. Their new squad leader didn't approve of them and tried to make life hard on them both, his final action getting Mercer's brother killed on a mission. It was then that Mercer decided to rethink his life. After that mission, Mercer commandeered a Moray and sped off full throttle from Cobra Island to closest spot he could find on the Mainland US, but not before setting up a booby trap that took the life of his now former squad leader.
As luck might or might not have had it, Mercer beached the Moray off the coast of Florida and the first people he saw happened to be a team of SEALs who served with G.I*JOE. He surrendered and they took him into custody. His only request was to be debriefed by General Hawk. The General granted him the request and Mercer told his story and also explained he would be willing to give up any information the Joe's asked, but he wanted redemption in his life for all the crimes he had committed and requested to be able to join the G.I.*JOE team. Hawk was about to deny the request when Sgt. Slaughter entered the room and asked if Hawk would consider letting him have a go at the former Viper.