Deacon Blackfire
Deacon Blackfire is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Joseph Blackfire was a male human who originally was a shaman who caimed to be an agent for God, and preached to the Miagani tribe. They turned him away, and when he resorted to violence they speared him, tied him up, and trapped him in a cave, leaving a totem outside to warn others not to disturb his tomb. The Miagani were beset by pestilence and famine, forced to leave their homeland. During their exodus they were attacked by hostile tribes and nearly wiped out. Many years later, the Dutch landed at the future site of Gotham City, and found Blackfire's tomb. they ignored the warning totem, and released him. He sensed the Dutch were not followers of his path, and never could be, so he slaughtered them, all.(Batman: The Cult v1 #1) Blackfire staid in the wilderness for centuries, content with his own contemplations. By the 1920s the wilderness of Gotham had all but vanished, and he re-entered society determined to gain power. He became a bootlegger, and later a hitman. He was arrested for murder and spent most of the 1940s in jail, but when he was released he joined the mafia. He decided crime was not his path, so he dabbled in politics before returning to his roots as a religious leader to attain power. (Batman: The Cult v1 #3) He came to form an army in the sewers beneath Gotham City with this largely composed of the homeless. Blackfire used this army to begin a violent war on crime, which escalates into him taking over the entire city, resulting in it being isolated from the rest of the country. Blackfire captures and brainwashes Batman, temporarily making the Caped Crusader a member of Blackfire's cult, during which Batman breaks his cardinal rule of not killing. Batman eventually breaks his conditioning, but its aftereffects make it difficult for him to capture Blackfire. After a brutal search through the sewers, Batman confronts Blackfire, who demands that Batman kill him, making him a martyr. Batman refuses, and instead savagely beats Blackfire in front of his army. Blackfire's army turns on him and rips him to shreds. (Batman: The Cult v1 #4)
Deacon Blackfire was one of the many villains raised from the dead in Gotham City to join the new Black Lantern Corps as zombies during the Blackest Night. Along with Abbatoir, KGBeast, Blockbuster, King Snake, Magpie, the Trigger Twins, and the Ventriloquist where Blackfire had received a Black Lantern Power Ring. (Blackest Night: Batman v1 #1)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
Long ago, he operated as Shaman Blackfire who convinced the Miagani Tribe that lived in the area that became Gotham that the land was cursed forcing them to abandon it. He claimed that he was a messenger from God sent to save the Miagani. Blackfire later killed the Miagani chief when he demanded that he leave the village leading the furious tribesman firing dozens of arrows into their target who did not die from the wounds. Thus, they imprisoned him in a cave and left a totem to warn others of Blackfire unaware that he was immortal so long as his staff was with him. In time, the crops in the area died off with the Miagani abandoning the region as they believed it was indeed cursed. The Dutch later established colonies around fifty years later where they opened the cave when they were looking for shelter with him killing them before escaping into the world once again. He later took the identity of Deacon Joseph Blackfire who thirty years before the Salem witch trials that he conducted a similar witch hunt in Gotham City with many women hanged or drowned on claims of conducting the dark arts. By the modern day, he claimed that these previous incarnations were his various ancestors. (Batgirl and the Birds of Prey v1 #14)
Deacon Blackfire is an evangelist who is the center of the occult power permeating Arkham Asylum, with the Joker's Daughter as his enforcer. When Batwing and the Spectre as Jim Corrigan uncover the secret of the asylum, both are captured by Blackfire and his demonic army. In the same issue, flashbacks are shown of the previous time Batman encountered the Deacon. The Deacon had an army of devoted homeless and underprivileged, but he also kept many of them drugged and under his control. He attempted to do the same with Batman, keeping him chained and drugged in his basement for seven days and seven nights, but the Dark Knight's resiliency led to the Deacon ordering his devotees to kill him. Batman, however, brought up the question of why Deacon Blackfire would not kill him himself, if he was as powerful as he wanted his army to believe. Batman is able to break the pipe that he is chained to by the Deacon who intended to kill him to prove himself in front of his followers. Deacon Blackfire refuses multiple times, and his disillusioned army turns on him and appears to beat him to death. (Batman Eternal v1 #17)
Though seemingly destroyed, his spirit returned where he commanded a cult in the abandoned underground subway and sought to possess the body of a young boy that was of his family line but was stopped by Batman. (Detective Comics v1 #982)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Powers and abilities
Notes
- Deacon Blackfire was created by Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson where he made his first appearance in Batman: The Cult v1 #1 (August, 1988).
In other media
Video games
- In Batman: Arkham Knight, Deacon Blackfire appeared in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor Marc Worden.
Appearances
- Batman: The Cult v1: (1988)
- Blackest Night: Batman v1:
- Batman Eternal:
- Batgirl and the Birds of Prey:
- Detective Comics:
External Links
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