Psycho-Pirate
- For other uses of this name, see Psycho-Pirate (disambiguation).
The Psycho-Pirate is the name shared by two villains from the DC Universe.
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Psycho-Pirate (Charley Halstead)
Originally Daily Courier linotyper Charley Halstead, he became jealous of his boss's success and began a spree of crimes based on emotions, hoping to ruin him. He was exposed and defeated by the Justice Society of America. Halstead discovered the existence of the emotion-controlling Medusa Masks and told his cellmate Roger Hayden about them, preparing him to become the second Psycho-Pirate, before he died.
Pre-Crisis
Originally, the first Psycho-Pirate was a native of Earth-2; in the post-Crisis universe, he was a native of "Earth-Sigma."
Psycho-Pirate (Roger Hayden)
Inheriting the mantle from the first Psycho-Pirate, Roger Hayden stole the Medusa Masks from Doctor Fate, and used them to give him the power to manipulate the emotions of others. He thereafter clashed numerous times with the Justice Society, and served as a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains. However, his powers caused him mental agony, and eventually drove him mad, whereupon he was committed to Arkham Asylum
Hayden was restored to sanity and freed by Harbinger, who recruited him to battle the forces of the Anti-Monitor during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. However, he was kidnapped by the Anti-Monitor, and joined his side. After being forced to aid the second Flash in wrecking an anti-matter cannon his master planned to use on the last five Earths, the Psycho-Pirate once again became insane, fearing the Anti-Monitor's wrath.
Somehow, when the universes were merged to form the post-Crisis universe, Hayden became the only individual (other than the Linear Men) to remember the infinite Earths. The Psycho-Pirate was committed once more to Arkham, but years later, he became a conduit releasing destroyed elements of the pre-Crisis multiverse, threatening to destabilize and destroy the post-Crisis universe. However, these manifestations weakened the Psycho-Pirate's own physical form, and he faded away into non-existence after the "Second Crisis" was averted.
After Zero Hour, the Psycho-Pirate was restored to existence, and was later given increased powers by the demon Neron. The Medusa Masks' substance replaced the entire right half of his brain, with a gold "eyepatch" being the only external sign of this. He could now not only affect the sanity of his victims, but could alter their physical form, making them into twisted nightmare versions of themselves. However, the Psycho-Pirate now needed to "steal" the sanity of others to keep himself sane.
He joined in the reformed Secret Society of Super-Villains after the formation of the new Justice League of America, but was captured with many other villains when the new Secret Society was revealed as a JLA hoax.
Pre-Crisis
Like his predecessor, Roger Hayden was originally a native of Earth-2. However, unlike nearly everyone else in the post-Crisis universe, he remained well aware of this fact.
Comments
It has been suggested that the second Psycho-Pirate remembered the pre-Crisis universe because he was in the Anti-Matter Universe when the other Earths were combined. According to this line of thought, since the Anti-Matter Universe was not affected in the same way as the positive matter universes, the Psycho-Pirate escaped the continuity revision undergone shortly after the Crisis. However, this theory is questionable- the retroactive presence of the Crime Syndicate of America as natives of Qward, for example, demonstrates that the Anti-Matter Universe was equally a victim of post-Crisis revision.
