Desmond Powell (The Flash)
Desmond Powell is a male television vigilante that features in The Flash.
Contents |
Biography
Desmond Powell was a male black person who was native to Central City in the United States of America in the mid-20th century. At some point, he decided to fight in the Korean War but later returned home. However, he found his home of Central City trapped between the mafia and a corrupt administration. He believed that the city needed a hero and decided to become a vigilante to help bring justice to the citizen. Powell believed that he could not do this as himself as he would be a black man operating outside the law. As such, he created a costume and equipment where he began prowling the streets as the masked mystery man known as the Nightshade. During his vigilante career, he faced a wide range of criminals that included mob bosses, modern day pirates in divesuits scuttling ships in the city harbor and a costumed crook by the name of he Aviator who threatened to use a plane to bomb Central City with dynamite. Among his many foes included a telecommunication mastermind by the name of the Ghost who threatened to detonate explosives via a television signal in 1955 though the Nightshade would stop him by rigging a frequency jammer. It was believed that the Ghost was killed in a fire that ignited in his lair and Powell shortly afterwards decided to retire from his life as the Nightshade. This came after many years of devotion to the role that cost him his friends, family and even marriage as his fiancée had left him. Though a vigilante, he was considered a hero but in time he would slowly be forgotten over the next few decades whilst Desmond Powell embraced his career as a doctor.
By 1990, he continued to serve as a doctor whilst keeping his past history as a vigilante a secret even from his close friend Lieutenant Warren Garfield. In that year, the Ghost re-emerged and had gathered criminals under his banner to stage a raid of a telethon for the equipment. After seeing his old nemesis emerge, Desmond decided to open the garage that he used as his secret lair in order to find the Ghost for one last mission. He managed to track his foe to S.T.A.R. Labs at Central City where the Ghost along with his minions were stealing equipment. At the time, the Ghost managed to create entrapment lasers to contain the superhuman hero known as the Flash with Desmond as the Nightshade confront the criminals. He managed to sent a tranquilizer knocking out the Ghost's aid known as Skip but the criminal managed to make a shot with his gun that left a bullet in Desmond's arm. Whilst wounded, the Ghost unmasked the vigilante revealing his true identity and left him behind in the laboratory. The Flash would free himself and go to help the Nightshade where under Desmond's instructions he helped remove the bullet along with dressing the wound. Whilst leaving for his vehicle outside, Desmond met with Barry Allen who learnt that Dr. Powell was the former vigilante known as the Nightshade. Allen would volunteer to help the wounded Dr. Powell back to his lair and he relented where he took Barry to the secret garage headquarters of the Nightshade. Once there, he explained his backstory and of himself battling the Ghost in 1955 as well as how he originally defeated him.
Overview
Personality and attributes
Powers and abilities
Notes
- Desmond Powell was an original creation of The Flash 1990 television series where he was portrayed by actor Jason Bernard and did not feature in the comics.
Appearances
- The Flash: "Ghost in the Machine"
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
