Ernest Fairchild's metamorphosis into Evil Ernie began when he manifested telepathic powers as a child. His new ability to 'hear' the thoughts of others and sometimes even even affect others with his mind confused him, causing him to become unusually withdrawn.

    His abusive parents were infuriated by his behavior, and after years of cruelty they took him to a psychiatrist, Dr. Leonard Price. Price subjected Ernest to his experimental dream probe, which was designed to treat withdrawal by modifying the mental state of the patient.

    But because of his telepathic abilities, the dream probe created a connection between Ernest's mind and the Endless Graveyard, where he met Lady Death. Lady Death had been searching for a boy like Ernie to carry out her plans on Earth for a long time. She promised to love him forever if he did.

    In addition, the probe increased Ernie's telepathic abilities to such a degree that he couldn't block out his neighbors' thoughts. He now knew that they were aware of his abuse, but would not help him. Having nowhere to turn, Ernie went over the edge - systematically killing his parents and 35 other people his neighborhood before being captured. He was judged to be insane, and incarcerated at the Clearview Mental Institute under the care of Dr. Price.

    Five years later, a brilliant medical researcher, Dr. Mary Young, attempted to cure Ernie using her experimental device, Neurotech, which had been designed to purge a psychopath's killing urge - changing him into a citizen ready for socialization. As did the dream probe, this experiment went awry, and due to supernatural tampering by Lady Death, transformed Ernest Fairchild into an undead teenaged psychopath capable of reanimating and controlling the dead.

    Ernest Fairchild died that day, but Evil Ernie lived on! Even though he was destroyed soon after, he quickly came back more powerful than before, with even better control of his Army of the Undead. Since then, Evil has been carrying out Lady Death's mission of Megadeath - the destruction of all life on Earth!