Heretic (DC)

Heretic in Batman and Robin: Future's End v1 #1.

The Heretic is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Alongside Leviathan in Batman Incorporated Demonstar.

Alternate timeline Heretic in Teen Titans: Future's End v1 #1.

The Heretic was an adult male clone of Damian Wayne who was the son of Batman and Talia al Ghul. Damian was born in secret when the bear slept together with Talia hoping that bearing the Batman's child would unite them as a family to rule the world. However, Batman refused her plans with Talia instead grooming her child to usurp the name Batman but this also failed when Damian sided with his father. As a result, she turned to a new plan namely to make a new heir for herself that was a genetically engineered clone of her own son Damian Wayne that was forcibly grown to adulthood. The Heretic was one of many attempts at cloning Damian with these being done in secret until one was a success.

He was dispatched to the Yemen facility where he first encountered Batman and Robin but rather than engage them he departed the scene. (Batman: The Return v1 #1)

It was then that a rogue assassin moved in to say the body of the Heretic in order to prevent the loss of the bloodline of Ra's al Ghul. The Heretic was placed within a Lazarus Pit and restored to life where afterwards he locked himself away in a distant monastery to discover his own path in life. From there, he read and learnt from the books about an ancient evil that plagued the Earth for millennia and tracked down this individual called the Other. Ultimately, he killed the Other and took over his identity along with his empire where he used the reputation to manipulate the world from the shadows. (Teen Titans v6 #37)

The Sons of Batman remained on West Ghul Island when the Lu'un Dargan emerged where they sacrificed their loves to save their 'brother' Damian from Den Dargan. (Robin: Son of Batman v1 #5)

He came to see that his body was dying and sought to be reunited with his 'brother' in order for him to pass the mantle of the Other to him. As the Other, he hired the bounty hunter Lobo with the goal of capturing the Teen Titans so that he could meet with Damian. (Teen Titans v6 #37) He intended to pass his empire onto his 'brother' so that they could achieve everything they intended for the world. To tempt Damian, he offered to return his friend Djinn to him after she was trapped within her own ring. During the brief contact, Djinn showed him the dark future that Damian could usher with the Other's resources and thus rejected his 'brother's offer. This led to the Other deciding to forcibly take the power of the Teen Titans and change the world himself. In the resultant fight, he was beaten and the structure collapsed on him seemingly killing the Other with the Teen Titans managing to escape the carnage. (Teen Titans v6 #38)

Overview

Personality and attributes

He eventually came to take a new name as the Other. (Teen Titans v6 #37)

In time, he came to respect his 'brother' Damian where he felt that the two of them were the same. He saw the similarities in how they sought to make their mark in the world, rewrite their past and reshape the world. As he faced dying, he wanted to pass on the mantle of the 'Other' to Damian as he felt that he could use those resources to change the planet. It would have offered him the means of making their respective dreams a reality. He felt that one could not defeat crime but one could control it. (Teen Titans v6 #37)

Powers and abilities

As the Other, he was the head of a criminal empire with a network allowing him the ability to manipulate others as he saw fit. (Teen Titans v6 #37)

Notes

• The Heretic was created by Grant Morrison and David Finch where he made his first appearance in Batman and Robin v1 #12 (July, 2010).

In other media

Films

Heretic in Batman: Bad Blood.

• In Batman: Bad Blood, the Heretic appeared as an antagonist in the animated film where he was voiced by actor Travis Willingham. He was shown as a clone of Damian Wayne created from his genetic material under the orders of Ra's al Ghul. Ra's intended to breed an entire line of supersoldiers through this process but each clone died and the only successful subject lacked any mind or personality. This was until Talia had the Madhatter place Damian's incomplete memories into the clone and awakening him. He then took the name the Heretic and served Talia but desired to have complete memories. Under Talia's command, he led a group of supervillains where he confronted Batman. During the battle, he detonated some explosives with Batman being declared dead but in reality he was taken captive. The Heretic later saved Damian Wayne from the Electrocutioner and took him hostage against Talia's orders. An angry Talia later killed the Heretic for disobeying her commands and she continued with her plans.

Appearances

• Batman:
• Teen Titans v6:

External Links

• DC Database Entry

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