Axel Walker
Axel Walker is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Axel Walker was a male human who was born in the modern age on Earth.
He was noted for being born to an upper-class family though his parents had recently divorced. Axel became involved in drugs and vandalism as he spiralled into further criminal acts. This culminated in him breaking into a Keystone City storage facility that belonged to James Jesse. From there, Walker stole Jesse's gear that included his costume, patented air-walking shoes and his complete bag of tricks where he became the new Trickster. He then broke into the police precinct to introduce himself to the authorities leading to him meeting the profiler Hunter Zolomon and the Flash. After escaping, he fled the scene in order to meet up with the hidden Network that operated within the city. The group was led by the Blacksmith who headed a criminal organisation within the city and was assembling a new incarnation of the Rogues under her command. Walker used his actions to prove his worth to the Blacksmith and came to join the new Rogues. (The Flash v2 #183) He then participated in the ambush against the Flash during a time when the city was being invaded by the Thinker. (The Flash v2 #184)
Magenta then turned on the Rogues as her split-personality still cared for Wally West and she badly injured Girder as she moved to protect the Flash. This led to the Rogues turning on her with her being defeated but the distraction allowed for the hero to recover. Axel attempted to confront him but was effortlessly defeated with the other Rogues suffering similar fates. By this point, Commissioner Kenyon had rallied the citizens of Keystone to rise up against the criminal Network with this chain of events leading to the Blacksmith's defeat as well as her capture. In the aftermath, Walker managed to escape alongside Mirror Master and Weather Wizard as they lamented the lost profits after the defeat of the Blacksmith. They were then approached by Captain Cold who decided to take leadership of the Rogues once again. (The Flash v2 #188)
Trickster and the Rogues watched a news broadcast of Flash promising to take down every at-large Rogue, and they got a good laugh out of that. (The Flash v2 #195)
Trickster took advantage of Flash’s disappearance to get involved in illegal street racing. During a race he took time to terrorize Chyre and Morillo of the KCPD, and he later caused a massive pile-up involving Wally West. (The Flash v2 #202)
At Keystone City, Trickster alongside Abra Kadabra, Plunder and Tar Pit disrupted a parade honoring Flash. They were defeated by Flash I, Flash III and Kid Flash II. (The Flash v2 #208)
Captain Cold played a game of cards with Trickster and Weather Wizard. Trickster saw Cold give Mirror Master a beating for doing cocaine, demanding that his Rogues stay sharp and focused at all times. (The Flash v2 #213) Trickster and the Rogues discussed brutal murder of Elongated Man’s wife while robbing a bank vaul. Cold left the bank, not having the stomach for a crime at the moment, and told the Rogues to send flowers to the Elongated Man. (The Flash v2 #214)
Trickster and the Rogues learned of Captain Boomerang’s death and that he left behind a son, Owen Mercer. Cold told the Rogues they took care of their own, and planned to meet Owen. Trickster mocked Boomerang’s lame costume, and Cold knocked him out with a punch. (The Flash v2 #216) Trickster and the Rogues held a funeral for Captain Boomerang in Avernus. Afterwards Trickster and the Rogues went on a crime spree using Boomerang’s weapons as a tribute to their fallen comrade. (The Flash v2 #217)
He joined Blacksmith's Network and destroyed files from Goldface and Hunter Zolomon for her. After the defeat of Blacksmith, he was offered to join the new Rogues led by Captain Cold, and accepted. Axel Walker moved to the twin cities with the original purpose of joining the Rogues. (The Flash v2 #221)
As Trickster, he worked a while for the Gotham Crime Lord known as Penguin during the Gotham Gang War. (Batman: Gotham Knights v1 #56)
He later answered an ad from five college students asking for an experienced superhero to train them. Once he arrived to the location in the ad, he had dinner with the students and then killed all five of them. His crime was discovered when Detective Chimp found the Helmet of Fate where he put it on, and used it to help deduce who the murderer was leading to Axel's arrest. (Helmet of Fate: Detective Chimp v1 #1)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Axel Walker
Early in his criminal career, Trickster was recruited by the Rogues and eagerly worked alongside the band of thieves. During an attempted robbery they were apprehended by the Flash, but quickly escaped. Captain Cold, leader of the Rogues, blamed the robbery's failure on Trickster, who in turn, tried to blame Cold's sister instead. Feeling this was one mistake too many, Trickster came to be fired from the Rogues. (The Flash Annual v4 #1)
Without a team to work alongside, Walker allied himself with Mob Rule as a paid henchman, setting a trap to capture Darwin Elias. (The Flash v4 #3) When Mob Rule was eventually defeated by the Flash, Walker worked freelance for a while, again left without a team to pal around with. Despite losing his association with the Rogues, Trickster rescued Captain Cold, the man who had fired him in the first place, from Pied Piper in order to settle a debt the Trickster owed him. (The Flash v4 #12) Soon after the Rogues stopped fighting, Gorilla Grodd invaded Central City, intent on taking it over. When Trickster tried to align himself with the gorilla fiend and act as a tour guide for the simian army, Grodd mercilessly ripped Trickster's right arm off from the bicep and left him to die in the street. (The Flash v4 #13) Trickster commissioned a slick new robotic arm in place of the one he lost and soon returned to crime. At a bar in Keystone City, Walker showed up and began to foolishly brag about his successes as a thief in the past when he was soon escorted away by a S.W.A.T. team for murder, something he swore he did not do. (The Flash v4 #19) While Walker was taken to Iron Heights, the Flash cleared his name by discovering evidence that Trickster was framed for the murder by Marissa Rennie but still needed to serve his prison term for plenty of other charges. (The Flash v4 #20)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Axel said that he loved toys and looked for new gadgets to add to his arsenal. (The Flash v2 #183)
Powers and abilities
It was shown that Axel had a degree of mechanical aptitude as he was easily able to repair and restart an old broken truck in little time. (Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion v1 #4)
He had a number of gadgets that he used in his crimes that were based on tricks. (The Flash v2 #183) Trickster was extremely resourceful and can use various gadgets in a fight. (Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion v1 #4)
During an encounter with Gorilla Grodd, Axel came to lose his right arm to the intelligent ape. (The Flash v4 #13) He later came to be outfitted with a new robotic one that essentially functioned like a normal human arm. (The Flash v4 #19) However, it had several features such as a rocket punch that allowed Trickster to shoot his fist to hit targets from a distance. (Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion v1 #2)
Notes
- The Axel Walker Trickster was created by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins where he made his first appearance in Flash v2 #183 (April, 2002).
Alternate Versions
- In Flashpoint: Citizen Cold v1 #1 (2011), an alternate version of Axel Walker appeared in the Flashpoint reality. This version adopted the name Trixter after taking up the mantle when the original Trickster was killed by Citizen Cold. Walker was captured by Green Arrow Industries and sent to Iron Heights where the prisoners forced to shut Trixter up for his jokes. He and the Rogues escaped from Iron Heights and he then followed the Mirror Master's Rogues. However, the Rogues did not invite him where the Trixter claimed to them that he plans to kidnap Citizen Cold's sister, Lisa Snart. The Trixter pursued revenge on Citizen Cold for murdering the original Trickster. The Rogues, however, found out that the Trixter had been working for Citizen Cold all along. The Mirror Master killed him by making him enter his Mirrorverse, causing him to die. Axel mentioned that Cold had killed the previous Trickster.
- In Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five v1 #5 (2016), an alternate version of Axel Walker appeared in the Injustice reality based on the video game. Trickster was kicked out of the group by Captain Cold for spying on the other members.
In other media
Television
- In The Flash, the Axel Walker Trickster appeared in the live-action television series set in the Arrowverse where he was portrayed Devon Graye. Axel Walker was born in 1990 to two notorious criminals, James Jesse the original Trickster and Zoey Clark who was his sidekick Prank. By the time of his birth, his father was incarcerated, and Zoey raised her son as a single mother under a fake name. Axel thus grew up unaware of his true heritage, yet became fascinated with the Trickster and followed his exploits. At some point in time, James figured out his son's identity and reached out. Prior to 2005, Axel began corresponding via letters with his father, unaware of their relationship. For the following 10 years, they continued to talk and grew close. In 2015, Axel began acting as a new version of The Trickster. He sent parachute bombs over a park in Central City, but no children were killed thanks to the Flash. He announced via a blog that The Trickster had re-emerged. The Trickster announced in another one, his plans to go bigger than the parachute bombings because he thought that, 'they deserved something much bigger.' He misled the public to believe that he had hidden a giant bomb to destroy the city so both the police and The Flash were distracted.
Films
Video games
- In Lego DC Super-Villains, the Axel Walker Trickster appeared in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor Mark Hamill.
Appearances
- The Flash v2: (2002)
- Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge v1:
- The Flash v4:
- The Flash Annual v4:
- Forever Evil: Roges Rebellion v1:
- The Flash v5:
External Links
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