Nob: The Man Doing Pan's Dirty Work

Nob: The Man Doing Pan's Dirty Work Nob is easy to pass over because Pan takes up so much of the room in Neverland. Pan makes the threats, drains the life out of people and rules the place. Nob is the one going downstairs to bring him another child. Spoilers for Zenescope's original Neverland #1–7. When John and Michael reach the dungeon, another boy is already there. His name is Billy Hitchcock. Nob comes for him, tells him the master wants him, and takes him out while he begs for help. We don't need a long speech from Nob to understand his job. The boys are locked up, Pan wants one of them, and Nob makes that happen. After Pan feeds, Nob is ordered to clean up what remains. It's a small exchange, but it's one of the things that makes this version of Neverland so nasty. The children are terrified. Pan treats consuming them as a pleasure. Nob treats removing the body as another task that needs doing. He's also been around long enough to understand more than the daily chores. When Pan decides Belle has become difficult to manage, Nob points out that he needs her to bridge the gap between worlds. That's an important limitation on Pan's arrangement, and Nob knows it. He isn't simply wandering around the castle with no idea how any of this works. Pan gives him another assignment, to bring the princess, and he goes to do it. We see Nob in Nathan's childhood memories too. He's there with Nathan's little brother, Timmy, while the monster is used to terrorize Nathan. That places him inside the original trauma, not just the new attempt to rescue Wendy's nephews. Nathan isn't returning to a place with an entirely different set of people running it. Some of the same hands are still doing the work. Nob also helps take Wendy back to the castle after Pan finds her. She isn't going willingly. Pan uses her nephews to force the issue, and Nob is part of the machinery that turns that threat into captivity. The distinction I want to make is that being a servant doesn't make him harmless. Pan has the greater power, but Nob repeatedly participates in what happens to the prisoners. He's the person within reach when a cell opens. For a child waiting in that dungeon, that is plenty to be afraid of. His part in the final fight is smaller than Pan's, but it brings him directly up against Wendy. While Nathan takes on Pan, Wendy fights Nob. She knocks him out. A later panel shows him down with stars around his head, so I'm not calling that a confirmed death. The scene gives Wendy a clear victory without needing to invent a final fate for him. I'm also not going to assign him a species, diagnosis or a set of powers from his appearance. These scenes establish what he does and who he serves. They don't give us a biological explanation for him, and there isn't a reason to force one into the discussion. Nob's place in the story is straightforward and pretty grim. Pan's rule requires more than Pan sitting on a throne. Somebody has to keep the prisoners, move them where he wants them and deal with what is left afterward. Nob is willing to be that somebody. Giving him a little attention makes the horror of the castle more complete, because the cruelty doesn't stop when Pan leaves the room.