Nigel was born with ectrodactyly, a harmless congenital condition that means he has four fingers on his right hand instead of the usual five. It developed before he was born, so his hands simply formed differently in the womb. Because he's had four fingers his entire life, his brain and muscles naturally adapted as he grew up, meaning he never had to relearn how to write, hold objects, or use tools. His grip, coordination, and dexterity are all normal for him, so it has never slowed him down.
When Nigel joined the Kids Next Door, however, he became self-conscious about standing out. As the future Supreme Leader, he worried that people would notice his hand before they noticed his leadership. Rather than telling anyone about it, he came up with a plan.
Knowing Hoagie was the team's engineering genius, Nigel approached him with what sounded like a routine mission request. He asked Hoagie to build a realistic prosthetic finger, claiming it was for an undercover operation where an operative needed to disguise a physical trait. Hoagie, never thinking much of it, happily designed a lightweight prosthetic using 2x4 Technology that looked and moved naturally enough to blend in with Nigel's hand. He never questioned why the measurements matched Nigel's perfectly.
From that day on, Nigel wore the prosthetic as part of his everyday uniform. It doesn't improve his grip or give him any special abilities,.it simply makes it look like he has five fingers. Over the years, it became such a normal part of his appearance that almost no one realized it wasn't real.
