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Post by Spankymac is sick of the swiss on Apr 18, 2007 22:40:27 GMT -5
Okay, I'm starting to get nervous now. Can someone just reassure me that The Riddler will be on the list?
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 22:41:41 GMT -5
24. Bane Born to serve the life sentence of his father, Bane's childhood and early adult life were spent behind the walls of Peña Duro, an infamous prison located in Santa Prisca. The writers created Bane as a dark mirror of Doc Savage.[1] Though imprisoned, his natural abilities allowed him to develop extraordinary skills within the walls of Peña Duro. He read as many books as he could get his hands on, built up his body in the prison's gymnasium, and learned to fight in the merciless school of prison life. Despite his circumstances, he appears to have found teachers of various sorts during his incarceration, ranging from the hardened convicts who were his company from birth to an elderly Jesuit priest, under whose tutelage he apparently received a classical education. Bane would murder this priest upon his return to Santa Prisca years later. However, he committed the first of his murders at the age of eight, stabbing a criminal who wanted to use him to gain information about the prison. During his years in prison, Bane carried a teddy bear he called Osito (Spanish for "little bear"), whom he considered his only friend. It was revealed that Osito had a hole in his back to hold a knife that Bane used against anyone who bullied him. Bane ultimately established himself as the "king" of Peña Duro prison. He had already developed a superior physique through bodybuilding, and used his physical and intellectual abilities to become the "king". The prison's controllers took note of this, and eventually, Bane was forced to become a test subject for a mysterious drug known as Venom, which had killed all other subjects. It nearly killed him at first, but he survived and found its effects enhanced his physical strength, although he needed to take it every 12 hours (via a system of cables pumped directly into his brain) or he would suffer debilitating side-effects. Years later, Bane escaped Peña Duro, along with several accomplices (his friends Trogg, Zombie and Bird, all of whom are named for 1960s British rock bands: The Troggs, The Zombies, and The Birds, and were designed to mimic three of Doc Savage's assistants Monk, Ham, and Renny). His ambition turned to destroying Batman, whom he had heard tales of while serving his sentence, becoming fascinated with Gotham City as, like the prison, it was a place where fear ruled—in this case, fear of the Batman. Bane was convinced that the demonic bat that haunted his dreams since childhood was a representation of the Batman. Aware that a direct assault on Batman would be foolish, Bane destroyed the walls of Arkham Asylum, allowing its deranged inmates to escape into Gotham City, where Batman spent three months rounding them up. Running himself to exhaustion, Batman returned to Wayne Manor, where Bane awaited him. He fought Batman in the Batcave, defeated him, and delivered the coup de grace: he broke Batman's back and threw him off a building in Gotham Square so that all Gothamites would know that he had defeated their protector. While Bane established himself as ruler of Gotham's criminal underworld, Bruce Wayne passed the mantle of Batman to Jean-Paul Valley, also known as Azrael. As Batman, Jean-Paul grew increasingly violent, allowing the villain known as Abattoir to fall to his death. Jean-Paul also refused to recognize Robin as his partner. Utilizing a sophisticated combat suit in place of the traditional Batman uniform, "AzBats" (as comics fans refer to him) fought and defeated Bane at the end of the "Knightfall" arc, severing the tubes that pumped the Venom into Bane, causing severe withdrawal, and inflicted on Bane a vicious beating. Jean-Paul left him alive but broken, much as Bane had left Batman. Following the events of "Knightfall", Bane recovered from his Venom addiction while serving time in prison as seen in Vengeance of Bane II: The Redemption (1995). He eventually escaped from prison and returned to Gotham, where he fought alongside Batman to take out a criminal ring that was distributing a Venom derivative to street-level thugs. Following a victory over the criminals, Bane proclaimed that he was "innocent" of his past crimes and urged Batman to stop hunting him. He then left Gotham (without fighting Batman) to begin a search for his father. Bane's search brought him back to Santa Prisca (shown in the Bane of the Demon miniseries published in 1998). In search of leads, Bane questioned the Jesuit priest who had taught him while he was in Peña Duro. The priest explained that there were four men who could possibly have been his father: a Santa Priscan revolutionary, an American doctor, an English mercenary, and a Swiss banker. While searching for the Swiss in Rome, Bane encountered Ra's al Ghul's daughter Talia. Talia introduced Bane to her father, and eventually Bane impressed Ra's so much that he chose Bane as his heir (an "honor" he had previously imparted on Batman). Ra's al Ghul and Bane then launched a plague attack on Gotham in the "Legacy" storyline. Bruce Wayne, again costumed as Batman, got his rematch with Bane in Detective Comics #701 (September 1996) and narrowly defeated him in single combat. Since then, whenever Batman and Bane square off in battle, their fights usually end in a draw, as Bane's strength is now equal to Batman's (instead of vastly superior), because Bane no longer uses Venom. Following the "Legacy" storyline, Bane appeared in a one-shot publication called Batman: Bane (1997) and fought Azrael in the "Angel and the Bane" storline in "Azrael" #36-40 (December 1997 - April 1998). He then surfaced in the story arc "No Man's Land", serving as an enforcer to Lex Luthor. Following a fallout with Ra's al Ghul, Bane later embarked on a campaign to destroy Lazarus Pits around the world, and in the process, encountered Black Canary in Birds of Prey #26 (February 2001). According to the Jesuit priest that Bane spoke with in "Bane of the Demon" #1, there was a possibility that Bane's biological father was an American doctor. In researching this issue, Bane came to the conclusion that he and Batman shared Dr. Thomas Wayne as their biological father, with Dr. Wayne having apparently become close to Bane's mother during his time in Santa Prisca. Bane alerted Batman to this possibility, and during the time that the DNA tests were being performed, stayed at Wayne Manor and fought alongside Batman on the streets of Gotham in the "Tabula Rasa" storyline (Gotham Knights #33-36, November 2002 - February 2003). Ultimately, it was revealed that Dr. Wayne was not Bane's father, and Bane left Gotham peacefully (and with Batman's blessing and financial backing) to pursue leads in the snowy mountains of Kanchenjunga. Bane eventually found his father, the unscrupulous King Snake, in the "Veritas Liberat" storyline (Gotham Knights #47-49, January - March 2004). Bane, with Batman looking on, helped to foil King Snake's plans to unleash a powerful weapon upon the world. In the process, Bane saved Batman from being shot by King Snake, but was mortally wounded in the process. Batman then saved Bane by bathing him in a Lazarus Pit, and left him with a clean slate and a new opportunity at life. In Infinite Crisis #7, Bane was shown fighting alongside the villains during the Battle of Metropolis. During the battle, he broke the back of the hero Judomaster (similar to how he had broken Batman's), killing him. No reason was given for his actions in #7, though in Infinite Crisis's collected edition, one of the many changes made to the original series was Bane saying "I finally know who I am. I am Bane. I break people." while breaking Judomaster's back. Bane resurfaced one year after the Crisis in JSA Classified #17-18 searching for the Hourmen (Rex and Rick Tyler), asking them for help. To win their trust, he tells them how, prior to the Battle of Metropolis, he returned to his homeland to put an end to the drug lords' government, in the process discovering that a new, more addicting strain of Venom had been created. In his furious carelessness to wipe out the drug trade, he was captured, and reimplanted with the cranial tubes, hooked to the new Venom, but now unable to shake off his addiction without dying from the withdrawal. Bane was forced to work as an enforcer for the drug cartel, unable to escape. Believing that Bane was searching for the chemistry expertise of Rex Tyler, Rick let him approach his father, only to discover that the story was a half truth, a clever ruse to allow Bane to get in close. Bane, never addicted to Venom, had in fact managed to wipe out the drug lords, and destroyed every research note on Venom, and had discovered in the process both strains of Venom derived from the early research of Rex Tyler on Miraclo. Discovering from the Tylers that no written notes existed of Rex's work, Bane captured Rex and stole Rick's equipment, planning to kill Rex and force Rick to take the last of the new Venom, living forever as an addict. With a clever plan, Rick and Rex managed to subdue Bane, burying the mercenary in the rubble of the very same Santa Priscan penitentiary where his story began. Eventually Bane resurfaced again in Santa Prisca, leading the country to democratic elections. Upon discovering that the elections were rigged by Computron, he uses his influence to enforce martial law, plunging the country into a civil war. Computron offers information to Checkmate on who ordered him to rig the elections in exchange for their help in escaping the country. Fire and Judomaster's son, Thomas Jagger, are sent on the mission, with Jagger debating whether or not to seek revenge for his father's murder.
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Post by Big DSR Energy on Apr 18, 2007 22:43:32 GMT -5
Okay, I'm starting to get nervous now. Can someone just reassure me that The Riddler will be on the list? Riddler jobbed out to The Spot. ;D
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Post by Spankymac is sick of the swiss on Apr 18, 2007 22:45:42 GMT -5
Okay, I'm starting to get nervous now. Can someone just reassure me that The Riddler will be on the list? Riddler jobbed out to The Spot. ;D If that's true, then I am going to INCREDIBLY pissed at you.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 22:46:47 GMT -5
23. Juggernaut Cain Marko was born in Berkeley, California. He is the stepbrother of Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men. His father, Kurt Marko, married Charles' mother, Sharon, after her husband, Brian Xavier, died. Kurt physically abused Cain and drove Sharon to alcoholism. Cain held a special contempt for his stepbrother Charles Xavier who, due to his telepathic abilities, excelled at all endeavors and cast Cain completely in shadow. Cain was further humiliated when Xavier probed his mind and learned of Cain's insecurities toward him, and of Kurt Marko's physical abuse. The revelation to Cain that Xavier used a superhuman advantage to surpass him all this time was a major factor in Cain's hatred towards his brother. Cain was sent to a military boarding school due to his lack of discipline, and later served in the U.S. Army. While serving together in the Korean War, Cain and Charles stumbled onto the ancient temple of Cyttorak, lost for centuries. On an altar, Cain saw a huge red gem, the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, and immediately grabbed it. Upon the gem was an inscription, and he spoke it aloud: "Whosoever touches this gem shall be granted the power of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak! Henceforth, you who read these words, shall become ... forevermore ... a human juggernaut!". The cavern collapsed. Charles was able to escape, but it took Cain years to dig himself out as he underwent the transformation. Cain seethed with rage at his stepbrother and, after finally emerging from the mountains he was buried under, set out to hurt Charles as much as possible. Juggernaut first appeared on-panel in Uncanny X-Men #12, although his presence was sensed by Professor X in the previous issue. He has primarily fought the X-Men, but he has also been at odds with other heroes of the Marvel Universe, such as Spider-Man, the Avengers, Deadpool, and the Incredible Hulk. Despite his great power and the potential danger that he posed to the X-Men, he has used his abilities in a form that characterized him more as a petty thug than as a super-villain. Unlike Magneto, Mr. Sinister, or Apocalypse, who devoted themselves to an ideology, Juggernaut's motivation was primarily greed. During his criminal career, the Juggernaut amassed a notable amount of wealth. Often accompanying him during his travails was his friend the mutant mercenary known as Black Tom Cassidy, who he met when they were both in jail at the same time. Marko once tried to share his power with him, but Cassidy was displeased with physical effects of the power to his body. The power of the Cytorrak is mysteriously divided and diminished when possessed by more than one host. So to prevent anyone from invoking the power for themselves, which would weaken him in the process, Cain hurled the gem into space. Later, the Juggernaut and seven other beings were revealed to be a part of The Exemplars, who, like Cain, were living manifestations of the power of various mystical entities. The eight beings were entranced and coaxed into battling each other in order to determine the entity that was supreme. A possible effect of the battle could have been the destruction of the Earth, but it was prevented when Professor Xavier intervened. The Juggernaut then took down the other Exemplars earlier than planned thus thwarting the plan. The Exemplars later united against Juggernaut and managed to kidnap him. The Avengers, intervened and rescued Juggernaut. After later being defeated by the Exemplars, the Avengers convinced them that they were not in their right minds. Released from their trance, the Exemplars left peacefully. Grateful at having been saved, the Juggernaut agreed to go to prison willingly (but this was just to avoid having to fight the Avengers). While in prison after a battle with Generation X, he was abducted by the sentient Celestial ship, Prosh, and enlisted into a mission to help save mankind and mutantkind. Along with a select few, his mind was transported back in time at different points of his life where, he was told, he would discover clues that would help him in his mission. During this period of self-reflection, he often found himself witnessing parts of his life where he was trapped (buried under rubble, in prison, etc.), which made him realize that he had wasted his entire life. It was later discovered that Prosh itself was the threat to the world (as it had been programmed by the Celestials to attack humanity) and so he united with the others selected and together. they defeated the ship. An offer from the Commission on Superhuman Activity came to become their headhunter. In exchange, he would be pardoned from his past crimes. Nevertheless, Black Tom talked to him afterwards and he took up the life of a mercenary with him again. Later, the two friends found themselves severe danger; Black Tom had been suffering from a virus a secondary mutation that was converting his body into plant-matter, while the Juggernaut's power was reduced due to his patron deity Cyttorak redrawing his energies, most likely because of Juggernaut's betrayal of the Exemplars. The two formed a deal; Juggernaut pretended to reform, trying to appease Xavier and thus become an X-Man and if Tom managed to recover they both planned to conspire and usurp the X-Men from the inside. The two staged a battle, in which the Juggernaut requested the X-Men's help but Tom turned on Juggernaut, as he went mad due to his transformation. In the battle, the Juggernaut helped the X-Men defeat Tom (who then faked his death) and after the battle Xavier asked his stepbrother to return with them to the mansion. While at the mansion, Juggernaut began to change when he befriended a young mutant boy from Canada named Sammy Pare particularly as both had similar backgrounds, including an abusive father. After helping the X-Men on several occasions, he and Xavier started to reconcile their differences, and Xavier let his step-brother join the team (though many of the other members were less willing to forgive him, who either ignored him or tried to get rid of him). When Sammy's mother learned how he had befriended a dangerous criminal, she had the authorities take him home. Cain later went to Canada to see how Sammy was doing and he arrived just in time to see a bruised and battered Sammy who had been violently beaten by his father (as well as a neighborhood bully who Sammy had beaten up while calling himself the Juggernaut). Furious at the parental abuse, he proceeded to brutally hurt Mr. Pare, and Mrs. Pare called the Canadian superteam Alpha Flight to stop him. During the battle, she too was knocked out, and after realizing what he had done Juggernaut allowed himself to be arrested. While in prison, he stopped the supervillain Rhino from escaping, instead of using the opportunity to escape himself. This, along with a plea from Mrs. Pare, who stated that various reports to the police of her husband's abusive nature had been ignored, and nothing had been done about it until the Juggernaut came (coupled with his interest in Sammy) helped reduce his sentence. Juggernaut was ordered to undergo many hours of public service, along with court monitored therapy sessions for his anger management problems that stemmed from his own history of abuse from his father. Black Tom Cassidy resurfaced, having gained enough control over his new powers (but now resembling a humanoid tree). Juggernaut joined Tom's new Brotherhood of Mutants but he intended to betray the group by warning the X-Men. Sammy stumbled upon a Brotherhood meeting and presumed that Juggernaut had return to his old ways and thus he began to make a racket. Annoyed, Black Tom killed the boy which enraged Juggernaut who subsequently tried to kill his former friend. When the Brotherhood were sucked into a black hole by the second Xorn, Juggernaut accompanied them to make sure Nocturne (another defective member of the Brotherhood) would be safe and to make sure that the Brotherhood didn't try to attack the mansion again. He ended up in Mojoworld and became the property of Mojo along with Nocturne. To escape, Nocturne took control of Mojo's henchman, Spiral, and opened a portal to the X-Men's Danger Room, where they were reunited with the team. This, however, was a trap set by Spiral, who was in more control of her body than they thought, and she left a portal open that allowed Mojo to cross over as well. Mojo turned the X-Men into X-Babies, but nevertheless, they managed to overpower his forces. Juggernaut, still feeling guilty over Sammy's death and how Sammy felt betrayed before dying, wondered upon staying as a child and starting life anew. Storm comforted him and convinced him otherwise and thus Juggernaut remained with the team. In the wake of House of M, in which the majority of the mutant population was depowered, Juggernaut joined the New Excalibur team in London. In a recent conflict, Juggernaut came face to face with a depowered and angry Black Tom Cassidy holding a young girl hostage. Deciding to negotiate instead of fight, Juggernaut convinced Cassidy, who felt remorse for killing Juggernaut's friend Samuel Pare, to turn himself in. Angry with his weakened powers, Juggernaut travelled to Cyttorak's temple in South Korea. When he demanded to have his power restored, Cyttorak revealed that Cain Marko had never been intended to become the Juggernaut at all, and that the ancient god had instead intended for Charles Xavier to become his avatar. And though he told his New Excalibur teammates that he had not taken the gem, it was revealed that he in fact had. Juggernaut and Nocturne have grown quite close, though not as of yet romantically involved, after their time together as moles in Black Tom's Brotherhood, in Mojoworld, and now in New Excalibur. Possibly complicating matters, Juggernaut has also developed a crush on Dazzler, a fellow teammate.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 22:54:08 GMT -5
22. Bizarro The original Bizarro was created in a laboratory accident. A scientist was demonstrating his newly invented "duplicating ray" to Superboy, testing it on a radium pellet and a jewel. However, the duplicated radium was non-radioactive and the jewel melted. The scientist then stumbled and knocked the machine, inadvertently creating an imperfect Superboy. Although the scientist insisted the duplicate was not alive, it nonetheless escaped from the lab. Although Bizarro wanted to be accepted, his appearance and erratic behavior scared people, especially since he had no idea of his own super-strength. He was befriended by a blind girl, shortly before Superboy realized the remains of the machine would act as Kryptonite to him. Bizarro headed straight towards Superboy, having somehow realized that the shockwave from his destruction would cure his friend's blindness. The later Bizarro was created by Lex Luthor, who used the "duplicating ray" on the adult Superman and hoped to use the duplicate to attack Superman. However, this Bizarro did not cooperate and instead tried to emulate Superman. Unfortunately, his attempts to match the original's heroics were clumsy and destructive, and he kidnapped Lois. This was resolved when Lois created a Bizarro-Lois for Bizarro using the "duplication ray". Feeling rejected by the people of Earth, they moved to the world of Htrae, which had ancient advanced technology which was used to populate the planet with other Bizarros created in the same manner. Almost everyone on Htrae looked like an ugly Superman (and possessed super powers) or an ugly Lois Lane. On Superman's first visit to Htrae in Action Comics #264 (May 1960), he was arrested for being normal, but he plea-bargained a proposal to change the shape of the world into a cube (thereby making it imperfect) for his release. Bizarro's only weakness is blue Kryptonite, created by using the same machine to duplicate green Kryptonite. Though Bizarro acts in what he believes to be the best manner, his Bizarro logic often causes him to act for evil. Originally Bizarro's abilities were the same as Superman's but he was hit by a meteorite which reversed his powers: flame breath, ice vision, microscopic vision that actually increased the size of things, X-ray vision that could only see through lead, etc. Superman had to deal with these new powers in Superman #333 (1979) when Bizarro says he is going to save Lois Lane (meaning in Bizarro logic, he is going to kill her). Superman manages to trick Bizarro into thinking he has 'saved' Lois and returns to Bizarro World. Bizarro has chalky and sometimes rock-like skin, a pale complexion, and a misshapen face. In addition, his version of Superman's famous S-shield is usually backwards. Bizarro wears a medallion that says "Bizarro #1", in order to distinguish himself from the other Bizarros on Htrae. In the Bizarro world, a cube-shaped planet known as "Htrae" (Earth spelled backward), society is ruled by the Bizarro Code, which states that it is a crime to do anything well or to make anything perfect or beautiful. Later stories introduced Bizarro versions of Superman's supporting cast, including Bizarro-Perry White and Bizarro-Jimmy Olsen, created by using the duplicator ray on characters other than Superman and Lois Lane, as well as the children of Bizarro and Bizarro Lois. There was even a Bizarro-Justice League and Legion of Super-Heroes. "Tales of the Bizarro World" became a recurring segment in Adventure Comics from 1961 to 1962. On one occasion, Keith Giffen portrayed Htrae itself as being sentient - "Me am the Bizarro World. Planet Earth not think... therefore, me do" - and its only sane inhabitant was the Bizarro Ambush Bug. In the new comic books, Bizarro lives in a Metropolis graveyard he calls "The Graveyard of Solitude." Bizarro and the other inhabitants of the Bizarro world used an odd but predictable form of English. The most notable characteristics were: * The lack of nominative case when using pronouns; Bizarro replaces pronouns that should be nominative with their analogues in the accusative case. Bizarro might introduce himself by saying "Me am Bizarro" instead of "I am Bizarro," for example. * The lack of proper verb conjugation; Bizarro only uses the first person conjugation for any verb. For example, the verb "is" is always conjugated as "am", leading to sentences like "This am great". * Speaking the opposite of what is really meant in a situation. Thus, "This am great" would mean that the thing isn't great at all. The exception would be "Me am Bizarro", which would actually mean what was said. In Superman #423 & Action Comics #583, Alan Moore wrote the final Superman story for the Pre-Crisis era (though subsequent writers have retconned it into being an alternate reality). In the beginning of Superman #423, Superman had his final encounter with Bizarro, who had gone on a killing spree. Superman had been off the Earth, doing research for the government. When he returned, he found complete city blocks horribly destroyed, and was told Bizarro had gone berserk, smashing buildings and injuring innocent people. Confronted by Superman, Bizarro told him, "This am part of genius Bizarro self-improvement plan." Bizarro tells Superman that he had destroyed Bizarro world, as Krypton had been destroyed. Superman: "Bizarro? Come on out and show yourself! I want an explanation for this!" Bizarro: "Ha! That easy! It am part of genius Bizarro self-improvement plan! See, me suddenly realize that me am not perfect imperfect duplicate! Maybe me not trying hard enough. Example: when your planet Krypton blow up by accident, you am coming to Earth as baby... so me decide to blow up whole Bizarro world on purpose and come to Earth as adult!" Superman: "The Bizarro World? Blown up?!" Bizarro: "Th-that's right! Ha ha! Pretty imperfect, huh?" Superman: "Bizarro... what's happened to you? I can't believe you've really destroyed your homeworld!" Buzzaro: "Ha! That am only the beginning! Next, me realize that Superman never kill, so me kill lots of people! Them very grateful! Scream with happiness!" Superman: "Killed people? Oh, merciful Rao..." Bizarro: "...But then me finally understand what me need to be perfect imperfect duplicate: it am little Blue Kryptonite meteor that me carry in lead case for good luck!" Bizarro holds the Blue Kryptonite before him.Bizarro: "See... you am alive Superman... and if me am perfect imperfect duplicate, then me have to be... h-have to be..." Bizarro staggers and collapses to the floor.Superman: "Bizarro!" Bizarro: "Uh... everything, him go d-dark... Hello, Superman. Hello." Bizarro dies.Not much later, Superman's secret identity was exposed and all the members of his rogues gallery attempt to kill him and everyone associated with him. Superman later discovers that Mr. Mxyzptlk is the villain orchestrating the attacks, and was most likely also the one responsible for Bizarro's strange(r) behavior. Though Bizarro was destroyed in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, his character later to be reimagined and reintroduced, the original Bizarro was able to make a few appearances. For instance: * In Animal Man's Deus Ex Machina storyline, Psycho Pirate, while in Arkham Asylum, recreates characters removed from continuity, exposing the fourth wall to the protagonist. Bizarro appears as he did pre-Crisis. Bizarro World was erased from the history of the DC Universe during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Since then, two Bizarros have been created by Lex Luthor. However, in the post-Crisis version, the imperfections in the duplicates are eventually fatal. The first Bizarro created Post-Crisis appeared in Man of Steel #5 (1986), and made several attempts to "be" Superman, including wearing a jacket and glasses over his costume, although leaving it visible. He was apparently not capable of speech. As his non-living matter was continually flaking off, he was destroyed when he and Superman smashed into each other (the flakes of his body restoring Lucy Lane's vision, in homage to the original story). Luthor later recreated Bizarro to see if it would offer insight into how to stop the "Clone Plague". This Bizarro escaped, and kidnapped Lois Lane, taking her to "Bizarro World"; a warehouse set up like a surreal version of Metropolis. He subjected her to danger, so that he would be able to rescue her from it. She managed to escape, and Bizarro was recaptured by Lexcorp, where it subsequently died. These Bizarros were similar to the original in appearance and abilities, although the second was less angular. While the first did not speak, the second had the speech patterns of the original. The current version of Bizarro has a very different origin, having been created by the Joker by the use of the powers of Mr. Mxyzptlk; his first appearance was in Superman vol. 2, #160, and he seems to be the longest lived Post-Crisis Bizarro yet. Originally created as the greatest hero of a twisted world created by the Joker, Bizarro was one of a number of characters Mxyzptlk saved from that world. He was subsequently captured by the Pokolistanian dictator General Zod, who used to torture him for months, apparently just for the pleasure of beating someone who resembled Superman. After escaping from Pokolistan with Superman's help, Bizarro recreated his Jokerworld headquarters, the Graveyard of Solitude, and at erratic intervals emerges to help or hinder Superman; the decision as to which being seemingly random, and the same amount of trouble caused either way. To decide whether or not to join the new Secret Society of Supervillains, Bizarro challenged Zoom to a race (obviously meant as a homage/parody to the Superman/Flash races). However, due to Bizarro's complicated speech patterns, Zoom and Cheetah were not sure which end result of the race would convince Bizarro to join. Also, Zoom soon grew frustrated since Bizarro wouldn't run in a straight line (Bizarro would just zig-zag across the planet). The current Bizarro (probably unknowingly) became a killer in Infinite Crisis #1 (Oct, 2005) while a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains. After the Human Bomb killed Doctor Polaris, Bizarro, commenting that he liked the flashes of light that the Human Bomb's powers created, attacked the Bomb, hammering his face to produce more colorful explosions. Lincoln's body was pulped by the brutal beating received, his explosive nature not harming the impervious Bizarro. The explosions stopped even though Bizarro continued punching, indicating that the power ended at the instant of death. During the Battle of Metropolis at the conclusion of the storyline, Bizarro was quickly defeated by Superman and Kal-L, the two Supermen making quick work of their 'twin.'
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 22:56:49 GMT -5
21. Kraven The Hunter Sergei Kravinoff was born in Stalingrad. As Kraven, he was a maniacal big game hunter who sought to defeat Spider-Man to prove that he was the greatest hunter in the world. Unlike other hunters, he typically disdained the use of guns or bow and arrows preferring to take down large dangerous animals with his bare hands even though he often made elaborate preparations to weaken a quarry before hand. He also used a mystical serum to give him similar strength to Spider-Man, but even without the serum he was a threat to the wall-crawler. Spider-Man proved a frustrating quarry because Kraven continually underestimated the superhero's resourcefulness. In the acclaimed story by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck, "Kraven's Last Hunt," his aggravation with his inability to run the superhero down further destroyed his sanity. With that, he hatched a scheme that actually defeated Spider-Man, and seemingly and uncharacteristically shot him dead. Considering his enemy effectively dead, Kraven buried him. After this, Kraven donned a copy of Spider-Man's costume and sought to prove that he was superior at his enemy's activities. This culminated with his successful singlehanded capture of a minor supervillain, Vermin, whom Spider-Man needed the help of Captain America to defeat. After that triumph, Spider-Man revived from the tranquilizer dart he was actually shot with and dug his way out of the grave. Kraven greeted him and explained that he had made his point about defeating his enemy. Then he released Vermin and told Spider-Man to pursue him. At this point, having no further purpose, Kraven committed suicide while Spider-Man captured the villain on his own. Kraven's allegiances and relatives in life were, for the most part, revealed only after his death. The Chameleon was the person who initially gave Kraven the idea of hunting Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #15. After Kraven died, the Chameleon was revealed to be Dmitri Smerdyakov, Kraven's half-brother, personal servant, and the victim of Kraven's abuse, and yet, according to Smerdyakov, the two were best friends nonetheless. Kraven's lover, the voodoo priestess Calypso, manipulated the Lizard against the wall-crawler in the first issues of Todd McFarlane's best-selling Spider-Man series. It was later revealed in a story arc concerning Ka-Zar that Kraven was trained as a hunter largely by a mysterious man named Gregor, a mercenary who battled the Lord of the Jungle. Kraven has since had two sons take up his role. There was a third son as well, Ned Tannengarden, who tried to kill Alyosha, but was murdered by the Chameleon (who believed himself to be the original Kraven at that point). Vladimir Kravinoff, mutant, took up the name "The Grim Hunter" and decided to hunt down Spider-Man and several of his foes. He only had one battle with Spider-Man, and his methods were nearly the same as his father's. He was briefly involved with the Hobgoblin, even giving that incarnation (Jason Macendale) his father's super strength formula. When he got out of jail, he decided to track Spider-Man down again, only to fight the Scarlet Spider instead. Kaine, a clone of Spider-Man arrived, and after a confrontation, Vladimir was killed by the insane duplicate. Some time after the death of Vladimir, his half brother, Alyosha Kravinoff (or "Al Kraven"), became the newest Kraven. During his tenure as the Hunter, he was manipulated by Calypso and killed her before joining The Sandman's reformed Sinister Six. After the team dissolved following the Sandman's betrayal of Venom, the symbiote began hunting down his former team mates, wounding both Sandman and Electro. He was surprised that Kraven was able to hold out the longest against him, but ultimately defeated and almost disemboweled the hunter, who was saved by Spider-Man at the cost of Venom's escape. Shortly after, he retired from the supervillain scene, and decided to become a Hollywood star and semi-superhero. Alyosha is a mutant and retained his superhuman powers after the M-Day. He was prominently featured in the Beyond! miniseries. There is reason to believe that this character is named for one of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov: Kraven's ally the Chameleon was born Dmitri Smerdyakov. Dmitri and Smerdyakov are two of the Karamazov brothers, and it is unlikely that the occurrence of all three names in the mythos surrounding Kraven is simply coincidental.
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Post by Spankymac is sick of the swiss on Apr 18, 2007 22:59:52 GMT -5
Only the top 20 left. C'mon, RIDDLER!!!!!
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 23:06:24 GMT -5
Here is the countdown update so far.
100. Hush 99. Cyborg Superman 98. Hydro-Man 97. Captain Boomerang 96. "Holiday" 95. Psycho-Man 94. Carmine "The Roman" Falcone 93. Morgan Edge 92. Annilius 91. Kang The Conqueror 90. Alexander Luthor Jr. 89. The Black Mask 88. Metallo 87. Clown aka Violator 86. The Black Cat 85. Typhoid Mary 84. Sinestro 83. The Jackal 82. The Puppet Master 81. Cobra Commander 80. Harley Quinn 79. Shuma-Gorath 78. Silvermane 77. The Absorbing Man 76. The Sentinels 75. Morbius The Living Vampire 74. 8-Ball 73. Superboy Prime 72. Mr. Freeze 71. Onslaught 70. Puma 69. The Prowler 68. Mole Man (Wildcard) Superman 67. Super Skrull 66. Crossbones 65. Parallax 64. Gorilla Grodd 63. Stryfe 62. The Scorpion 61. Baron Zemo 60. Clayface 59. Mephisto 58. Catwoman 57. Killer Frost 56. Omega Red 55. Mr. Mxyzptlk 54. The Chameleon 53. Taskmaster 52. Mongul (Wildcard) The Punisher 51. Fing Fang Foom 50. The Penguin 49. Mystique 48. Electro 47. Lady Deathstrike 46. Poison Ivy 45. Shadow Thief 44. Rhino 43. Iron Monger 42. The Trickster 41. The Sandman 40. Shocker 39. The Mandarin 38. Sabretooth 37. Doomsday 36. The Lizard 35. Loki 34. General Zod 33. The Vulture 32. The Spot 31. Black Adam 30. Ultron 29. Dormammu 28. Ra's Al Ghul 27. Mysterio 26. Deathstroke The Terminator aka Slade 25. Brainiac 24. Bane 23. Juggernaut 22. Bizarro 21. Kraven The Hunter
Now for clues to the next five villians on this list.
* Jack O'Lantern
* Has An Obsession With Elektra
* Riddle Me This Riddle Me That
* Strangled His Mother On Mother's Day
* Titanian Eternal
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Post by Spankymac is sick of the swiss on Apr 18, 2007 23:07:59 GMT -5
OH, THANK GOD!!!!!!
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Post by Big DSR Energy on Apr 18, 2007 23:08:25 GMT -5
Yay, Bizarro and Kraven!!!!
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AFN: Judge Shred
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wanted to change his doohicky.
Member of The Bluetista Buyers Club
Posts: 18,221
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Post by AFN: Judge Shred on Apr 18, 2007 23:08:39 GMT -5
if I just would have been here a bit sooner, the Spot would have been even higher.
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Post by Big DSR Energy on Apr 18, 2007 23:10:48 GMT -5
if I just would have been here a bit sooner, the Spot would have been even higher. Well, double donkey punch, next time show up sooner!
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 23:21:01 GMT -5
20. Hobgoblin Roderick Kingsley started out as a fashion designer and millionaire, who had criminal underworld connections and had come about his wealth through unethical business practices and corporate raiding. Coincidentally, he was also the employer of Mary Jane Watson for a time. As a means of avoiding the drill of day-to-day appearances, he had his timid identical twin brother Daniel pose as him to run his corporation day-by-day. Daniel would become just as terrified of Roderick's alter ego as anybody else. An associate of his, George Hill, discovered the secret lair of Norman Osborn. Although the hoodlum had no idea what he had found, he reported his discovery to Kingsley in hopes of earning a reward. Kingsley killed Hill to make sure that no one else got wind of the discovery. Upon examining the lair and gleaning the secrets within it, Kingsley decided to adopt the legacy of the Green Goblin almost in its entirety. Using the Green Goblin's equipment, Kingsley adopted the identity of the Hobgoblin (which should not be confused with the second Green Goblin who was Harry Osborn). His activities included using some of Norman Osborn's files on prominent figures to blackmail them, and attempting to buy Osborn's old corporation and merge it with his own. These schemes inevitably brought him into conflict with Spider-Man. Kingsley perceived Spider-Man as a nuisance and sought to eliminate him almost as an afterthought, rather than a principal goal. Kingsley also found among Norman's notes incomplete remnants of the strength enhancing potion of Norman Osborn. He became obsessed with finding the complete formula or perfecting the incomplete notes. In his various criminal activities Kingsley repeatedly lost to the web-slinger, as he lacked the raw physical power of Spider-Man. Persistent and extremely intelligent, Kingsley eventually recovered the strength-enhancing potion he sought. Being well aware that the formula had driven Osborn insane, Kingsley was not about to try it until he had tested it on someone else. He tricked a small-time hood in his employ, Lefty Donovan, into administering the formula and then used mind control to force Donovan to fight Spider-Man in the Hobgoblin costume. From a distance, Kingsley carefully monitored Donovan's vital signs and behavior. When Spider-Man overwhelmed and unmasked Donovan, and his brainwashing begin to fail, Kingsley acted quickly to protect his identity by programming Donovan's glider to crash, instantly killing him. Though Donovan's tenure as a Hobgoblin was brief, he is considered the second Hobgoblin. Judging that the experiment was a success, Kingsley then immersed himself in his completed derivative of the Goblin formula and gained slightly greater strength than even the original Green Goblin had. Now that he had become a physical match for Spider-Man, the Hobgoblin became more ambitious in his villainy. Despite his increased abilities, he was still narrowly defeated by Spider-Man. Worse still, he seemed to have attracted the attention of powerful criminal interests who perceived him as a threat, among these the infamous Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime. After a bitter encounter with Spider-Man, Kingsley discovered he had been followed by Daily Bugle reporter Ned Leeds, who had discovered his lair. Kingsley carefully brainwashed Ned Leeds with hypnosis and hallucinogenics into becoming the third Hobgoblin, who acted in concert with Kingsley. Though Leeds lacked superhuman strength, he was effective in his role due to his investigative skills (in fact, he was more effective than the Hobgoblin IV after he had acquired superhuman abilities). Kingsley also discovered that Leeds had been working with the Kingpin's son, Richard Fisk, on a plan to bring down the Kingpin and his empire. Richard Fisk had now adopted the identity of the Rose and posed as a crimelord. Kingsley used Leeds to handle some of the negotiations, fooling many into believing that Leeds was the Hobgoblin. He hoped to use the Kingpin's downfall as an opportunity to advance his own interests. However, as time progressed, the Rose and Hobgoblin's plan got out of hand. Kingsley wanted to escape from his identity, looked for a way out, and decided to target Flash Thompson, a vocal advocate of Spider-Man who had insulted the Hobgoblin on national television, incurring Kingsley's wrath. Kingsley attempted to frame Thompson as the Hobgoblin, so that his criminal enemies might target him instead. The plan was foiled through intervention of Jason Philip Macendale Jr., who subsequently broke Thompson out of jail, thinking he was doing the Hobgoblin a favor. Jason Philip Macendale Jr. was a mercenary who had been trained by the CIA and various para-military organizations, and was known in his costumed identity as Jack O'Lantern. When Macendale discovered that Thompson was not the Hobgoblin, Kingsley grew furious, as he had planned to operate "under the radar" while Thompson was in custody; this began a long-running feud between Kingsley and Macendale. Thompson was ultimately exonerated and released. When the Kingpin temporarily abdicated his role at the head of organized crime on the eastern seaboard, the resulting gang war tore New York City apart. During the conflict the Hobgoblin and the Rose had a falling out, with the latter ordering the former's assassination as he had become too dangerous. The Hobgoblin sold the Rose's identity to the Kingpin in exchange for information that would aid Leeds in a story, thus reinforcing the illusion of the latter's identity. Also, during the conflict the Hobgoblin fiercely defeated Jack O'Lantern, causing the latter to seek another way to destroy his enemy. Macendale paid the supervillain known as the Foreigner to take Leeds out. On an overseas assignment with Peter Parker, Leeds was murdered in his hotel room. As Spider-Man, Peter was later told by the Kingpin that Leeds had been the Hobgoblin and shown a series of photos of the assassination. Although known in parts of the underworld, this information did not become public until many years later when Macendale revealed it at the end of his trial. For many years Leeds was considered to be the original Hobgoblin. Kingsley's plan had worked: his enemies thought they had killed the Hobgoblin and now he could take his ill-gotten gains and retire to Belize. This paved the way for Macendale to take up the role, an unforeseen development that would eventually force Kingsley out of retirement to protect his secret identity (Macendale had enough information to possibly lead the authorities to discover the true identity of the Hobgoblin). After a retirement of several years, Kingsley returned to New York. He killed Macendale in his jail cell, declaring that he alone deserved the mantle of the Hobgoblin. However, this act was probably more motivated to protect his own identity. Had he then dropped the identity again, it is likely he never would have been caught. But being the Hobgoblin again proved to be too intoxicating. Kingsley kidnapped Betty Brant and set a trap for Spider-Man. In the final fracas, Daniel Kingsley was captured and the Hobgoblin was unmasked, clearing Ned Leeds' name. Roderick Kingsley was taken to prison. Not long after his arrest, Kingsley took up the mantle of the Hobgoblin once more. Furious at the now returned Norman Osborn's denial of being the Green Goblin, Kingsley decided to spread rumours that there existed a secret journal of Osborn's that proved beyond a doubt that he was the Green Goblin (although this was a ruse: Kingsley himself had destroyed all of the journals years before). He offered to barter for his freedom with this information with the District Attorney, guessing that Norman Osborn would try to get to him first. As he anticipated, Osborn, deciding to make a deal with Kingsley, broke him out of prison. Kingsley was then confronted by both Osborn and the mysterious fifth Green Goblin. Osborn provided Kingsley with new Hobgoblin equipment, and both Goblins swooped in to collect Daniel Kingsley, now in protective custody, who, Roderick claimed, knew the location of the final journal. Spider-Man tried to defend Daniel, but was drugged, and both men were taken back to Norman Osborn. It was then that Osborn revealed the truth. He explained that he knew that Kingsley was lying about the journal and that he had completely bought Kingsley's company out from underneath him. Furious, Kingsley attacked, and a titanic battle between the two followed, Osborn as the Green Goblin, and Kingsley as the Hobgoblin. The building began to burn down as a result, and Spider-Man was barely able to safely escape with Daniel Kingsley. All three of the villains managed to escape as well; neither Goblin having managed to overcome or destroy the other. In the end of the ordeal Osborn appeared to have gotten the best of Kingsley with his corporate takeover. Yet, Kingsley still had several million dollars hidden away in foreign bank accounts, and quietly moved to a small island in the Caribbean to enjoy his retirement. Although he did wonder to himself, while sipping a martini, whether someday the Hobgoblin would return... In the limited series Secret War, a character in a new variation of the costume appeared, identified as the Hobgoblin, but it appears to be someone new to the Goblinhood. The next Hobgoblin, Jason Macendale, was an enemy of Spider-Man formerly known as Jack'O'Lantern. Originally, he had no superhuman powers, then later gained them at the cost of his sanity, lost them, and then gained different superhuman powers only to be assassinated in prison by Roderick Kingsley. Macendale was obsessed with finding the secret formula of super human strength of the original Green Goblin. However, he did not have the scientific expertise of the Green Goblin or the original Hobgoblin to recreate or complete the formula, whilst his attempts to steal it from Harry Osborn failed as the latter did not have it at the time. After Osborn had donned the identity of the Green Goblin and beaten Macendale in a fight, the latter sought alternative means to gain similar abilities. During a demonic incursion on New York City, Macendale foolishly offered to sell his soul to N'astirh in exchange for the power of a demon. N'astirh refused the offer, considering Macendale's wretched soul to be worthless to him. However, in return for amusing the demon's twisted sense of humor, N'astirh fused a demon to Macendale anyway, just for making him laugh. Macendale went insane as a result of this transformation, and became convinced that he was appointed by God to kill sinners. It was in this state that the Hobgoblin joined the temporarily reassembled Sinister Six. However, the two identities of Macendale and the demon fought fiercely over control of the body. Shortly thereafter, the demonic presence physically separated itself from Macendale and continued its purge of the city, calling itself the Demogoblin. The Demogoblin also wanted to destroy Macendale, and Spider-Man found himself in the middle of the two clashing Goblins. In a final battle in a cathedral, the Demogoblin was destroyed when it moved to protect a child, which it deemed an innocent, and was crushed by a falling pillar. Powerless once more, Macendale obtained the strength formula of Kraven the Hunter. Subsequently, he had himself outfitted with cybernetic implants, but he still was unable to best Spider-Man and was incarcerated. While in prison he was murdered by the original Hobgoblin. The character appeared in Secret War storyline as a prisoner of S.H.I.E.L.D., but this was part of a flash back sequence to provide history for the story. It was later stated explicitly that the character had indeed been killed by the original Hobgoblin.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 23:23:28 GMT -5
19. The Scarecrow The Scarecrow was first introduced as Jonathan Crane, a professor of psychology, who turned to crime after he was fired; an expert in the psychology of fear, he had fired a gun in a classroom full of students to illustrate a point. The only thing revealed about his early life was that, as a child, he had liked to frighten birds. His origin story was greatly expanded in the 1989 graphic novel Batman/Scarecrow #1, part of the Batman: Year One continuity. In the novel, he becomes obsessed with fear and revenge from being bullied throughout his childhood and adolescence for his lanky frame and bookish nature. He commits his first murder at the age of 18 by brandishing a gun in his high school parking lot during the senior prom. Dressed in the ghoulish scarecrow costume that would later become his trademark, Crane causes the head bully, Bo Griggs, and his girlfriend, Sherry Squires, to have an automobile accident which paralyzes Griggs and kills Squires. Crane then discovers a savage delight in literally frightening people to death. He becomes a professor of psychology at Gotham University, specializing in the psychology of fear. After his dismissal for harming one of his students, he kills the regents responsible for his dismissal and becomes a career criminal. He takes the moniker "the Scarecrow", the favorite taunt of the hated bullies, as part of his revenge. In Jeph Loeb's graphic novel, Batman: The Long Halloween, it is revealed that Scarecrow strangled his own mother on Mother's Day. As one of Batman's principal modern adversaries since the Silver Age, the Scarecrow is a regular member of the Injustice Gang and briefly joined the Secret Society of Super Villains. Scarecrow is one of the many criminals in Gotham City to be confined to Arkham Asylum whenever Batman apprehends him. Ironically, the Scarecrow has a phobia of birds, although he has been shown occasionally as having a pet crow named Craw (sometimes named Nightmare). In stories written by Loeb, the Scarecrow is one of Batman's more unbalanced villains, and has an inclination to sing nursery rhymes. In addition, Loeb's version of Crane is a psychiatrist and not a professor of psychology. Crane undergoes a major change in the 2004 Batman story arc As The Crow Flies. While working with the Penguin, he is mutated into a monster. He turns into this "Scarebeast" during times of great strain or when it is necessary to defend himself. Scarecrow rejoins the new Secret Society of Super Villains, and is part of the assault on the Secret Six (Villains United #6). He is caught in the explosion caused by Parademon. He is later seen in Villains United Special #1, alive and well. He is also seen in Detective Comics #820 as part of One Year Later, where he is defeated by Batman. In this appearance he is depicted in a costume that appeared to be an amalgamation of his original costume and the costume seen in Batman Begins. In the 2000 AD Batman/Judge Dredd crossover comic Judgement on Gotham, by writers Alan Grant and John Wagner, Scarecrow is shown breaking into a morgue along with his Igor-like henchman Benny, collecting various juices from corpses to include in his fear gas. He delights in scaring "a ghost" by creeping up on it and saying "boo". The ghost turns out to be the spirit of Judge Death, whom he promptly allies with on the basis that the Judge can show him "a veritable feassst of fffear". After inhabiting a corpse, Judge Death dispatches Benny, but is treated to a whiff of fear gas, revealing his fear of losing his power to frighten. The Scarecrow ushers the Judge to a rock festival, where all carnage ensues (he records it on camera for "his private collection"). Scarecrow is apprehended when Judge Dredd's partner Anderson shoots his can of fear gas, dousing him with it and sending him into a terrified delusion that he is being attacked by birds. Judge Death is taken down by the combined efforts of Batman and Dredd. The second Batman/Daredevil crossover book features Scarecrow in New York, apparently attempting to kill Wilson Fisk (aka the Kingpin) and take over his crime operation. In reality, this is merely a setup to draw attention from his true scheme: unleashing a massive dose of fear toxin into an incoming storm from atop the Statue of Liberty. This would spread the gas throughout New York City, causing all its citizens to suffer like "Sodom and Gomorrah." In the end, he blasts Daredevil with a dose of fear toxin, but Daredevil lives up to his "Man Without Fear" trademark by quickly brushing off the effects of the gas and defeating Scarecrow. The Scarecrow also has a cameo appearance in The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes. Specifically, he appears in Sandman #5: "Passengers" as a friend of Doctor Destiny at Arkham Asylum. He quotes Goethe and attempts to dissuade Destiny (albeit not forcefully) from escaping, saying Arkham is a better home for their kind than the outside world. (See Characters of The Sandman - Minor Mortals) Later, Sandman characters Cain And Abel made a guest appearance in one of Jonathan Crane's dreams in The New Batman Adventures, in which they brefly pretended to be prison administrators allocating him to a teaching job following his parole. However, though they resembled Cain And Abel physically, their personalities and habits were radically different - Cain made no witticisms, while Abel repeated Cain's sentences rather than stutter - and both had small horns entangled in their hair. Crane also teamed up with his Marvel Comics counterpart in Marvel vs. DC
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 23:28:05 GMT -5
18. Bullseye Bullseye grew up in The Bronx, where he lived with his brother and his abusive father. His brother's main form of recreation was playing with rifles, leading Bullseye to become an expert shot. When he was 10 years old, his brother started a fire in their home in an unsuccessful attempt to kill their father. Shortly thereafter, Bullseye was placed in a foster home, and became a baseball player in high school. Bullseye was an extremely talented pitcher, and was offered a scholarship, but instead opted to enter the minor leagues. After three games, he was called up to play a sold-out Major League game. He had surrendered no hits the entire game, and in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, he became bored and requested the coach pull him from the game. The coach refused, and insisted that he finish the game. The opposing team's batter mocked him, accusing him of cowardice. Bullseye threw the ball at his head, killing him. As the ball struck, he said only one word: "Bullseye". He was barred from professional baseball and convicted of manslaughter. This is a retcon of a previous origin story from Elektra #2, which depicts Bullseye growing up as a below average student in a trailer park with an alcoholic, physically abusive father. In this version of events, Bullseye fakes his father's suicide using a handgun set off by a toy arrow. None or all elements of this version may be true since it describes his father as possibly recovering from a recent divorce, fitting in perfectly with Daredevil's taunts in their confrontation during the "Hardcore" storyline. His cold demeanor and unique skills, however, meant subsequent recruitment by the National Security Agency as an assassin was inevitable, and he was soon assigned to train Contras in Nicaragua. By the time he arrived, however, he claimed to have already been planning to leave the NSA. He had planned on robbing the Contras blind and fleeing, but soon discovered they were desperately poor. Bullseye made the best of the situation: within seven hours of being informed of their poverty, he had led the Contras in seizing a landing strip that the Colombian cocaine smugglers were using as a staging area before moving on to the United States. Without use of the airfield, the smugglers were unable to send new shipments. Bullseye set up Paolo, his hapless Nicaraguan translator, as the leader of the new force controlling the airfield, and let the word spread around. However, Paolo was nothing but a patsy. Bullseye planned to invite several organized crime heads to the airfield to broker a new deal with him as Paolo's supposed "right hand man". He would take their money and disappear, presumably leaving Paolo to suffer the wrath of the Mafia, Russian Mafia, Yakuza and various other criminal elements. This outcome is unknown, as before the deal could be finalized, the Punisher (Frank Castle) arrived. Castle killed all the organized crime leaders in a fiery explosion from which Bullseye barely escaped. The two engaged in a fierce battle in which Bullseye was able to wound the Punisher and evade or disable several of his weapons. Bullseye then used some blood-reddened mud to paint a bullseye on his forehead, mocking Castle's inability to hit him. The fight concluded when Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrived, and the Punisher fled. Bullseye turned himself in to the D.E.A. agents and soon was assigned to infiltrate the Kingpin's criminal empire. He obtained a costume, fled yet again, and became one of the most dangerous hitmen in the world. All of the above information was given by Bullseye during a subsequent interrogation by US intelligence. Just prior to escaping from custody, Bullseye confessed he made up some or his entire story to amuse himself. The whole capture was a plan by the assassin to gain access to the prison where his father was being held. The story ends with Bullseye finally getting revenge on his father, leaving him to burn as the prison's security systems torched everything inside. Although the character was created by Marv Wolfman, his most famous appearances are in the Daredevil stories created by Frank Miller. In his earliest appearances, Bullseye was one of the more prominent enemies of Daredevil. However, he was quickly established as insane, degenerating further when a brain tumor created hallucinations that everyone he met was Daredevil. He began killing random people under the belief that he was killing his nemesis. Daredevil later saved Bullseye's life, pulling his unconscious form from the path of a moving train. Bullseye was humiliated to be saved by his nemesis. The tumor was later successfully removed, though Bullseye's sanity was still in question. Cleared of his charges on the grounds of insanity, he found that the Kingpin, his usual employer, had retained the services of a new assassin: Elektra, Daredevil's former lover. In one of the most famous deaths in comics history, the two villains fought, and Bullseye impaled Elektra on her own sai, in Daredevil #181, saying, "You're good... but me, I'm magic". The line was later used in the film adaptation of Daredevil. Disguised as a morgue attendant, Bullseye attempted to kill Daredevil (in his civilian identity as Matt Murdock) with a thrown projectile, which Daredevil casually blocked with his cane. After reviewing the medical reports from Murdock's childhood accident, Bullseye became convinced that Matt Murdock was Daredevil, and had been given superhuman powers by the chemical spill that blinded him. Bullseye then attempted to sneak up on Matt and kill him in his own home, but was ambushed by Daredevil, who had fooled Bullseye into thinking that a dummy with an attached tape recorder was Murdock. Seeing Daredevil and "Murdock" at the same time, Bullseye was convinced that Daredevil was not Matt Murdock, after all. The battle ended up with the pair balanced on a telephone wire from which Bullseye fell and was caught by his opponent. Bullseye screamed that he was not going to let the hero save him again, and tried to stab his rescuer, whereupon Daredevil simply dropped him. The multi-story fall broke Bullseye's back, paralyzing him. He resumed his criminal activities after his skeleton was repaired with adamantium by Japanese scientist Lord Dark Wind. Bullseye made one appearance in the Captain America storyline "Streets of Poison," which was continued in the final issues of Ann Nocenti's five year long stint on Daredevil. Bulleye took advantage of Daredevil's temporary amnesia by replacing the hero in an attempt to detroy his image. Eventually Bullseye had problems returning to his own identity, while Daredevil believed he was his own father, the boxer Jack Murdock. Both hero and the villain switch costumes and fight, returning to their real identities but still painfully aware of their inherent similarity. Bullseye later had another run-in with the Punisher when he was part of Frank's frame-up scheme that ended with Bullseye losing a finger to the Punisher's brutality. Bullseye encountered Deadpool and Gambit during another long interval in which the character was seldom used. In the Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada authored story arc Bullseye was hired by the villain Mysterio to attack and confuse Daredevil. In the course of their battle, Bullseye killed Daredevil's longtime love interest, Karen Page, with one of Daredevil's own billy clubs. When the next battle between Daredevil and Bullseye took place, the assassin collapsed in the middle of a fight, claiming that he had a brain tumor. He was brought to a maximum security prison, where he recounted his (at least partially falsified) origins to a federal agent who had been sent to interrogate him over the location of some radioactive materials which he had stolen prior to his incarceration. He manipulated another agent into attacking him until one of his teeth was knocked out. Bullseye used the tooth as a weapon, killing the agent and working his way to the prison's infirmary, where he encountered and killed his father. Under the new Daredevil creative team of authors Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev the Kingpin returned to New York to start over from scratch after he had been severely wounded in an assassination attempt and was left in a coma while his wife had sold off most of his assets. Bullseye offered to kill Daredevil for him, later entering Daredevil's apartment and attempting to kill his old enemy's new girlfriend, Milla Donovan. Enraged and already near the breaking point, Daredevil savagely attacked Bullseye and threw him out the window. During the fight, the hero revealed to Bullseye that he knew his origin: that his real name was Lester, his mother was a prostitute, and that he never knew his father. This was first revealed in Kevin Smith's Daredevil: The Target miniseries which promised to explore Bullseye's origins, but had not yet been published past the first issue. He mocked the assassin's new 'Bullseye' tattoo and carved a new one over it with a rock. Bullseye returned in the arc "The Murdock Papers", seeking purported documents confirming Daredevil's secret identity. After a brutal fight with Daredevil and Elektra, Bullseye fled into open traffic where he was hit by a truck, sustaining severe injuries. In the next story arc, "The Devil in Cell-Block D", by the new creative team of Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark, Bullseye was imprisoned again at Ryker's Island, concurrently with Matt Murdock who was being held on federal charges after his identity as Daredevil was exposed. When the prison broke out in riot, the Kingpin - who had foreknowledge of the impending attack - arranged for Bullseye to be released from his full-body-and-face restraints. Having previously cut a deal with Daredevil for mutual protection, Fisk planned to hijack a riot-squad chopper to escape the island. At the price of the deal, Matt Murdock finally refused to let Bullseye leave prison. They fight, Daredevil dodging Bullseye's gunfire, which hit the Kingpin point-blank. Daredevil then beat Bullseye unconscious. Bullseye, along with many other villains, was recently recruited into the New Thunderbolts by Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic to hunt down anti-registration superheroes in the Marvel Civil War storyline. Bullseye has been identified as one of the 142 registered superheroes who appear on the cover of the comic book Avengers: The Initiative #1.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 23:35:40 GMT -5
17. Thanos Thanos is born on Titan, a moon of the planet Saturn. Due to a genetic quirk Thanos is born with the Deviant gene and as such resembles the Deviants - the Eternals' cousin race - more than his own people. Although treated fairly by his race, Thanos is mindful of his appearance and becomes distant, only keeping company with his brother Eros. Thanos matures to adulthood, and via the use of bionics and mysticism augments his abilities to easily become the most powerful of the Titanian-born Eternals. Bitter at being an outsider, Thanos becomes fascinated with nihilism and then embarks on his quest to "please" death, and begins by conducting a nuclear bombardment of Titan that kills millions of his race. Thanos' mother is thought to have died during the bombardment, but years later it is discovered that he kidnaps and then dissects her. Thanos later travels to Earth, and prior to landing his vessel destroys a nearby car to prevent anyone from becoming aware of his existence. Unknown to Thanos, two of the family members in the vehicle survive - the father's spirit is preserved by the Titanian cosmic entity Chronos and is given a new form as Drax the Destroyer while the daughter is found by Thanos' father Mentor and is raised to become Moondragon. Many years later, Thanos begins his plan to conquer the galaxy by building a base on Earth and constructing a space vessel in the solar system that acts as a "universal translator" for his huge army of alien mercenaries, so that they can understand each other's language. It is at this time that Mistress Death - drawn by the level of Thanos' obsession and his now considerable power - manifests itself before Thanos, being an abstract entity and the personification of the universal concept of death. Thanos becomes determined to prove his "love" to Death for this sign of affection, and embarks on a quest to find the artifact the Cosmic Cube. It is at this time that Thanos finds himself opposed by the superheroes of Earth, who initially fight Thanos' forces in a rather disjointed fashion: * Iron Man and Drax storm Thanos' base and fight Thanos' minions, the Blood Brothers. * Captain Marvel becomes aware of Thanos courtesy of his cosmic awareness and explains the threat to Daredevil, the Black Widow and Moondragon while Thanos hunts for the Cosmic Cube. * The Avengers destroy the vessel acting as a translator for Thanos' mercenaries. Thanos eventually locates the Cube, and uses his minions the Super-Skrull and the Controller to try and destroy Captain Marvel, who rallies Eros, Mentor, Drax, Moondragon and the Avengers against Thanos. Thanos uses the Cube and wills it to allow him to part of - and therefore in control of - everything. Although Thanos is now omnipotent and easily defeats the heroes, he makes the mistake of discarding what he believes to be a now drained Cube. Captain Marvel shatters the Cube, which undoes Thanos' wish. Thanos then discovers that Death has abandoned him as result of this defeat, and retreats. Iron Man later investigates Thanos' old base and together with the Thing battles the Blood Brothers again. Thanos journeys into deep space and learns of the Universal Church of Truth, led by the being the Magus, a warped and future version of the hero Adam Warlock. Deciding that the Magus is a threat to his plans, and after finding the child Gamora - whose race has been exterminated by the Church - Thanos raises and trains her to assassinate the Magus. Thanos also joins forces with Adam Warlock, who is unaware of the fact that the Magus is actually the Champion of Life and that Thanos is the Champion of Death. The two eventually battle, and Thanos feigns defeat to allow Adam Warlock time to manipulate the timeline and undo the Magus. It is during this alliance Thanos secretly siphons off the energies of the Soul Gem that Warlock possesses, and after leaving Adam Warlock embarks on his next quest to appease Death. Thanos combines the energies from the Soul Gem with the energies of the other Infinity Gems to power a weapon that is capable of destroying a star. Thanos then plans to painstakingly snuff out every star in the universe as a gift to Death. Gamora discovers Thanos' intentions and attempts to kill him, but is mortally wounded herself. Adam Warlock's unsuspecting ally Pip the Troll is also killed. Gamora lives long enough to warn a returning Adam Warlock, who travels to Earth and enlists the aid of the Avengers, Captain Marvel and Moondragon. After attacking and dealing with Thanos' mercenary fleet, most of the Avengers and Moondragon storm Sanctuary I, Thanos' vessel. Thor and Iron Man follow Adam Warlock and Captain Marvel, who confront Thanos directly. Captain Marvel destroys the weapon's launcher, but Thanos then kills an attacking Warlock. Thor holds off Thanos while Iron Man destroys the weapon itself, and an enraged Thanos then defeats the remaining heroes. The cosmic entities Lord Order and Master Chaos intervene, and via a subconscious message draw Spider-Man and the Thing into the battle. Spider-Man frees the heroes, and then makes contact with the Soul Gem, releasing the spirit of Adam Warlock, who then turns Thanos to stone. Years later, the Silver Surfer witnesses the resurrection of Thanos by Mistress Death, who feels that Death needs a champion once again. A revived Thanos decides to collect the Infinity Gems, which he takes from the In-Betweener and the Elders of the Universe. Thanos then combines the gems on his left glove to create the Infinity Gauntlet, which allows him to exceed the power he once possessed with the Cosmic Cube. Thanos honours Death by erasing half the population of the universe, and then goes on to defeat the entire cosmic hierarchy (eg. Galactus, the Celestials, Eternity) as Death watches. A group of Earth's superheroes almost defeat an overconfident Thanos, who then loses the Gauntlet to the space pirate Nebula, who claims to be his granddaughter. Latecomer Adam Warlock takes the Gauntlet from Nebula, and manages to restore everything altered by the Gauntlet. Thanos realizes that it was his own self-doubt that allowed for his defeat, and when confronted by the superheroes activates a nuclear device in his costume, telling them he prefers death to imprisonment. With no time to deactivate the device, Thor throws his hammer Mjolnir into Thanos, hurling him miles away. Thanos, however, creates a ruse and teleports away just as the device detonates. Only Adam Warlock - in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet - is aware of the deception, and notes that Thanos now has chance to reform. Thanos does reform for a time, and impresses Adam Warlock, who eventually gives Thanos the Reality Gem to safeguard. At one point Thanos uses the gem to resurrect the hero Captain Mar-Vell, who dies during the time that Thanos himself was dead. Thanos seeks forgiveness for his past actions and claims he wished to test the power of the gem. Captain Marvel, however, knowing of Thanos' self-doubts, guesses the truth and suspects that he has been resurrected to try and dissaude Thanos from his real goal:using the gem make Mistress Death love him. Thanos confesses and at Captain Marvel's request allows him to return to the afterlife. Thanos then assists Adam Warlock and Earth's superheroes against first the Magus and later the Goddess - the evil and good personas of Warlock, who expunged them to become omnipotent when possessing the Infinity Gauntlet. Soon after helping to defeat the Goddess, Thanos battles the Thunder God Thor, who was driven insane during the war. After taking a beating from Thor - now empowered with the Power Gem - Thanos manages to imprison him and take Thor to Asgard, home of the Norse Gods. Once in Asgard Thanos battles Thor's father Odin, who eventually overpowers him. It is at this point, however, that Odin discover he is indirectly responsible for Thor's insanity, and aids Thor in curing himself. Thanos later discovers via an oracle a new extraterrestrial threat - Tyrant, a failed creation of Galactus. Thanos allies himself with Galactus' former Herald Terrax, the hero Jack of Hearts, a second generation Captain Marvel and Ganymede, a warrior-priestess dedicated to destroying Tyrant. Together they attack Tyrant's base, at which point Thanos abandons the battle and taps into Tyrant's computers to learn of his origin. Stealing an orb containing power drained from Galactus' Herald Morg by Tyrant, Thanos confronts the entity and dares Tyrant to stop him. The battle allows Thanos' allies to escape and destroys much of Tyrant's base, at which point Thanos teleports away to safety. Tyrant is then confronted by Galactus, who negotiates the terms of a truce (including the release of other prisoners the Silver Surfer, Gladiator and Beta Ray Bill) and later orchestrates Tyrant's destruction. Soon after this Thanos recovers his vessel Sanctuary II from the android Quasimodo, and saves the Silver Surfer and Spider-Man in the process. Some years later Thanos is revealed to be trapped in an alternate dimension. He employs the aid of the brother of Ka-Zar, Parnival Plunder, to try and escape, but finds that nearly unlimited power is in the dimension itself. A year later Thanos is still trapped, and attempts to use the Hulk as a physical link back to the Earth 616 universe, but is stopped by the Hulk and the mutant X-Man. Thanos reappears two years later, having apparently escaped the alternate dimension. He now seeks the Chalice of Ruins, Map of All-Ending and Illumination Stone, which when united will enable to user to destroy the universe. Thanos enlists the aid of the Asgardian monster Mangog and the traitor Tarakis, and storms Asgard and ravages entire worlds hunting for the artifacts. After several pursuits and bloody battles, the Thunder God Thor defeats Mangog while his ally Firelord defeats Tarakis. Just as Thanos unites the items and realises his goal, Thor dons specially-made Asgardian armour which allows him to match Thanos' new power levels and beats the Titan senseless, who appears to have been humbled for good. Ironically, Thanos later requires the aid of Thor and Genis (Captain Marvel's son) against the death god Walker, who attempts to woo Mistress Death and then destroy the entity after being rejected. Thanos and the heroes are successful, and it is revealed at this time that Thanos' retaking of his vessel and previous encounters with Ka-Zar and Thor were planned and served as useful preparation for the battle against Walker. Thanos then devises a plan to become the All-Father of a new race of Gods created by himself. Thanos, however, finds himself opposed by the Avengers, former member Mantis and her son Quoi, apparently destined to be the Celestial Messiah. Thanos abandons this plan after having to unite with Mistress Death destroy the Rot, an aberration in deep space that is apparently their offspring. Soon afterwards it is revealed that many years ago Thanos conducted extensive research on genetics, and after studying many of the universe's heroes and villains cloned them and gene-spliced his own DNA into the subjects. Thanos later abandons the project, unaware that five clones survive, being versions of Professor X, Iron Man, Gladiator, Dr. Strange and Galactus respectively. A sixth and unnamed version of Thanos also appears, and it is revealed that many of Thanos' recent encounters with Earth's superheroes (eg. Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Ka-Zar and Thor) were simply clones impersonating him. The true Thanos, however, returns and with the aid of Adam Warlock, Gamora, Pip the Troll, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel and Dr. Strange destroys them all. Sometime later Thanos finds and uses the artifact the Heart of the Universe to stop an alien pharoah called Akhenaten who conquers Earth. The artifact makes Thanos a part of everything, and able to absorb the entire universe - even the cosmic entities Eternity, Infinity and the Living Tribunal. After literally ending the universe, Adam Warlock (who exists outside the space-time continuum) explains to Thanos that the constant resurrection of beings has caused an impurity in the old universe that only he can fix. Thanos then restarts the universe and sacrifices himself to fix the flaw. It is also revealed that this apparently happens in an alternate reality, although there is no conclusive proof as to whether these events can be considered canon. A repentant Thanos apparently survives and is accompanied by Adam Warlock to New Rigel-3, where Thanos uses his power to atone for previous acts committed against the Rigelians. The grateful Rigelians ask Thanos to assist with a problem on Rigel-18, which is revealed to be Galactus. Galactus is attempting to unite and use the Infinity Gems to stop his need to devour planets. Galactus, however, is being manipulated by an inter-dimensional parasite called Hunger, who tricks Galactus into creating a machine - requiring the power of Infinity Gems - that allows Hunger access into the Earth-616 universe. With assistance from Moondragon and Pip the Troll, Thanos discovers the truth and attempts to stop Galactus but is outmatched. Hunger emerges just as Thanos closes the portal the machine has created, and as Galactus battles the entity, Thanos forces Rigel-18 to collide with another planet and also detonates a large nuclear arsenal at the point of impact. Galactus survives the explosion and Hunger is believed destroyed, although a tiny remnant of Hunger apparently survives by attaching itself to Galactus and then fleeing. Galactus is not grateful - and warns Thanos about the consequences of meddling in his affairs. Thanos then visits the Kyln, an inter-galactic prison on the edge of the universe. It is here that Thanos meets the chaos mite Skreet, who chooses to accompany him, and the Fallen One, the very first Herald of Galactus. The Fallen One attempts to find and destroy Galactus, but Galactus simply teleports him back to Thanos. Thanos defeats the Fallen One, and after mind wiping him employs the cosmic entity as his own personal Herald. Thanos aligns himself with the villain Annihilus, who is employing the Annihilation Wave to decimate the universe. Thanos does so as he is "curious to see how a radical tilt in the universal balance would play out." Thanos also convinces Tenebrous and Aegis - two of Galactus' recently freed brethren - to defeat the World Devourer. Annihilus desires the secret of the Power Cosmic and asks Thanos to study Galactus, but once Thanos learns of Annihilus' true goal (to use the Power Cosmic to destroy all life and remain the sole survivor) he decides to free Galactus. Drax the Destroyer, however, appears and kills Thanos before he can do so. During a climatic battle with Annihilus, the hero Nova is near death and sees Thanos - now standing with Mistress Death as his apparent consort - observing him.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 23:38:41 GMT -5
16. The Riddler Edward Nigma discovered puzzles when he was a young boy, and he gradually incorporated them into his criminal career. Issue #2 of Justice by Alex Ross suggests that his father physically abused him, which left him with a compulsion to tell the truth (materializing through the telling of riddles), as well as a desire to prove his superiority by outwitting everyone around him. The Riddler's criminal modus operandi is so deeply ingrained into his personality that he is virtually powerless to stop himself from acting it out. He cannot simply kill his opponents when he has the upper hand; he has to put them in a deathtrap to see if he can devise a life and death intellectual challenge that the hero cannot solve and escape. However, unlike many of Batman's themed enemies, Riddler's compulsion is quite flexible, allowing him to commit any crime as long as he can describe it in a riddle or puzzle. He often has two female assistants, named Query and Echo. Sometimes, he is shown to drive a "Riddlermobile," a green car with " " on the license plate. In the animated series and in Batman Forever, he carries a trick cane. In the 12 part storyline Hush, it is revealed that Riddler had suffered from cancer, which also afflicted Dr. Thomas Elliott's mother. Riddler used one of Ra's Al Ghul's Lazarus Pits to rid himself of the disease, and offered Elliot the chance to cure his mother as well, provided he paid a large sum of money. However, Elliott was in fact eager for his mother to die in order to inherit her fortune. Elliott, who went on to secretly become the masked criminal known as Hush, explained that he would only give Riddler the money he wanted if Riddler played along with his "game" to get revenge on his childhood friend Bruce Wayne; Riddler agreed, and the two of them set Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Joker, Clayface, and Scarecrow out to destroy Batman, with Ra's and Talia Al Ghul, Lady Shiva (In Ra's's employ) and Superman (Temporarily under Ivy's control) being temporarily drawn into the scheme as well. During the psychotic break that followed exposure to the Lazarus Pit, Riddler deduced Batman's secret identity, and that Jason Todd was once Robin. He then told Clayface to impersonate Jason in order to torment Batman, who was haunted by the former Robin's death. Batman first thought that Riddler had stolen Jason's corpse and hid it outside of Gotham Cemetery, but it turned out that Jason was alive the whole time. When Riddler threatened to reveal Batman's identity (Commenting that "Now the world is my oyster. Right, Bruce?"), however, the Caped Crusader mocked the threat as harmless, stating it was like the old joke about "What time is it when an elephant sits on your fence"; if Riddler revealed the answer to the riddle "who is Batman?", it would become worthless, something Riddler wouldn't be able to stand. Riddler hadn't even told Clayface Batman's true identity when he was posing as Jason, the one thing that would have made the impersonation perfect, and had only told Hush because he had to. In addition, Batman warned the Riddler that if he revealed the secret, it would give Ra's al Ghul a vital clue that he used a Lazarus Pit without his permission, and the League of Assassins would subsequently retaliate against him. The fallout from Riddler's failed scheme would be played out in Batman: Gotham Knights #50-53. In the story "Pushback," Hush reappears and beats Riddler senseless across a rooftop. Seeking refuge, Riddler would go to the Joker and the Penguin. He would offer to tell the Joker who had killed his wife if the Clown Prince of Crime would protect him from Hush. The Joker agrees, but eventually Hush, with the help of Prometheus, defeats the Clown Prince of Crime, forcing the Riddler to flee for his life. In Detective Comics #797-799 the Riddler would face his most painful humiliation at the hands of Poison Ivy in the storyline entitled "Low", which took place the same time as "War Games" In this encounter, the Riddler would seek shelter from Ivy only to be humiliated. Riddler and Ivy then faced off in a physical duel, which Ivy won easily. Riddler was stripped of his deductive powers and left to rot as a member of Gotham City's vast and invisible homeless population. Here he gained the trust of an obscure Batman Villain, "Clambake" alias Roger Biske, previously Gotham's most masterful seafood chef, who in a bizzare accident involving boiling chowder, had hundreds of clams grafted to his skin, and a fire for revenge burning in his blood. A chance encounter with an ex-NSA codebreaker gave him a positive environment in which to recover his mind. During that stay, he experienced an induced flashback that led him to realize that his father had abused him many years ago. His father, unable to grasp that his son was brilliant, believed he had cheated in his accomplishments, and beat him out of jealousy. Once Riddler discovered this, he also realized that his compulsion was born out of a strong desire to tell the truth to prove his innocence of deception. Having made this connection, the Riddler spent some of his vast fortune, acquired over many years of crime, to get minor plastic surgery and extensive tattooing, covering most of his torso with his trademark question insignia. He returned and killed the codebreaker- who had pieced together his identity but couldn't act on it- then promptly stole a priceless scroll out from under Batman's nose. Since then, the Riddler has spent most of his time either legally amassing a huge fortune or attacking various heroes in order to prove his newfound power. He has apparently lost the desire to plant riddles or clues at his various crime scenes, although he still enjoys riddles in an abstract sense, and will occasionally make subtle references to them in the course of his crimes. After attacking and nearly killing Green Arrow and Arsenal, Riddler once again escaped before the Outsiders arrived to save them. Riddler later showed up in Infinite Crisis #1, with a group of villains attacking the Gotham City Police Department while the city dealt with the chaos resulting from the finale of Day of Vengeance. He was back in his green suit and talking in riddles, although he was next seen escaping Arkham Asylum during the world-wide supervillain breakout the Society engineered in Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special #1, which took place only days after the prior supernatural disaster. Riddler re-appeared as part of the Society's "Phase Three" attack on Metropolis. He was roundly defeated by the Shining Knight. The Riddler has a counterpart in the anti-matter universe called the Quizmaster, who is a member of Lex Luthor's Justice Underground. In Detective Comics #822, The Riddler returns, having spent much of the previous year in a coma due to the one-sided fight against the Knight. He has seemingly reformed, and is now a private consultant on the murder of a wealthy socialite. Hired by the socialite's father, he successfully - with great flamboyance and in front of the media - proves that a photo of Bruce Wayne apparently implicating him in the crime depicts an imposter, and briefly works with Batman to investigate the crime. As a result of his coma, The Riddler has apparently lost his compulsion for riddles, but retains both his intellect and his mammoth ego. Furthermore, he suffered severe memory loss; upon emerging from his coma, he barely remembers his own name. He does not appear to remember that Bruce Wayne and Batman are one and the same, though he does harbor some suspicions of once knowing something about Bruce Wayne. The Riddler appeared to solve the case with the suicide of the apparent murderer, and quickly took the credit. However, Batman found evidence that the suicide was a setup to divert attention away from the real killer. Eventually, he loses interest in crimefighting — he finds his cases irritatingly simple — and may return to crime. In Detective Comics #828, Riddler is a guest along with Bruce Wayne on board a ship during a party. During the party, an old friend of Bruce's falls overboard and is mauled to death by sharks. Bruce suspects foul play, and eventually tracks down the killer, who Riddler was also close to catching, before Nigma was bludgeoned over the head by a shark-tooth club. The killer pushes Batman out the window, and is about to drop him to his death, when Nigma wraps his tie around an arrow, lights it on fire, and shoots it into the killer's back. As the man rolls around screaming, Nigma taunts him, refusing to douse the flames. Batman extinguishes the flame, and responds to Nigma's assertion that they're now allies with hostile dismissal. Nigma also asks Batman if the shark mauling victim was someone he knew. Batman denies it and leaves. The blow Riddler receives to his head, followed by his subsequent questioning of Batman's relationship with the deceased has led some to speculate that he may be regaining his memories.
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Post by Hulk With A Mustache on Apr 18, 2007 23:40:33 GMT -5
The Riddler! One of my favorites.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 23:48:10 GMT -5
Here is the countdown update so far.
100. Hush 99. Cyborg Superman 98. Hydro-Man 97. Captain Boomerang 96. "Holiday" 95. Psycho-Man 94. Carmine "The Roman" Falcone 93. Morgan Edge 92. Annilius 91. Kang The Conqueror 90. Alexander Luthor Jr. 89. The Black Mask 88. Metallo 87. Clown aka Violator 86. The Black Cat 85. Typhoid Mary 84. Sinestro 83. The Jackal 82. The Puppet Master 81. Cobra Commander 80. Harley Quinn 79. Shuma-Gorath 78. Silvermane 77. The Absorbing Man 76. The Sentinels 75. Morbius The Living Vampire 74. 8-Ball 73. Superboy Prime 72. Mr. Freeze 71. Onslaught 70. Puma 69. The Prowler 68. Mole Man (Wildcard) Superman 67. Super Skrull 66. Crossbones 65. Parallax 64. Gorilla Grodd 63. Stryfe 62. The Scorpion 61. Baron Zemo 60. Clayface 59. Mephisto 58. Catwoman 57. Killer Frost 56. Omega Red 55. Mr. Mxyzptlk 54. The Chameleon 53. Taskmaster 52. Mongul (Wildcard) The Punisher 51. Fing Fang Foom 50. The Penguin 49. Mystique 48. Electro 47. Lady Deathstrike 46. Poison Ivy 45. Shadow Thief 44. Rhino 43. Iron Monger 42. The Trickster 41. The Sandman 40. Shocker 39. The Mandarin 38. Sabretooth 37. Doomsday 36. The Lizard 35. Loki 34. General Zod 33. The Vulture 32. The Spot 31. Black Adam 30. Ultron 29. Dormammu 28. Ra's Al Ghul 27. Mysterio 26. Deathstroke The Terminator aka Slade 25. Brainiac 24. Bane 23. Juggernaut 22. Bizarro 21. Kraven The Hunter 20. Hobgoblin 19. The Scarecrow 18. Bullseye 17. Thanos 16. The Riddler
Now for clues to the next five villians on this list.
* Four Horsemen
* Heads or Tails
* Power Cosmic
* Responsible For The Morlock Massacre
* The Omega Effect
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