Raptor (DC)
Raptor is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Richard was a male human who had lived in the modern age on Earth. (Nightwing v4 #34) He was an immigrant of poor background where he joined a circus which operated in Paris that proved to be resourceful and lived on the curiosity of tourists. However, the local government did not approve of these circus performers who were seen as dirty squatters that operated in their clean city of lights. This resulted in them being labelled as a health hazard and it was during this time that he himself caught leprosy. Due to his poor background, he did not have access to medication to treating the disease that badly affected his body as a result. This led to him being a social pariah who was politely asked to stay from the others in the group which forced him to be alone. It was this desperation that led to others attempting to exploit and use him. One day, he was on the floor of his trailer where he was helped by Mary Lloyd who helped him without any stigma or hesitation. The two quickly became friends where the young performers secretly began to sneak into places to take antibiotics and inoculations to be given to the deserving with this theft being seen as justice. By this time, Richard had fallen in love with Mary and made a personal vow that day to always be there to support her. In time, Mary came to meet John Grayson with the two getting married where she took his last name as the two became the Flying Graysons. John never liked Mary's childhood friend but did not oppose him in being in their lives even when the couple had a child named Dick Grayson. (Nightwing v4 #8)
One night, he hid in the shadows of the circus where he Tony Zucco threaten C.C. Haly but was unaware about the nature of the confrontation. He then decided to go for the Flying Graysons performance but during this time he noticed billionaire Bruce Wayne attending the circus. In that moment, he noticed the expensive watch the man wore but decided to go to the tent where the Graysons were performing where he took a place underneath the bleachers. He then noticed that he was underneath the seat where Bruce Wayne was watching and once again noticed the watch as well as his money. Richard then decided to steal from the billionaire and give a gift to Mary as something to outdo what John had given her. His attention was drawn back to the act when he heard a loud noise and saw that Mary as well as John had died after falling from the trapeze. In that moment, he blamed himself as he saw that he was no guardian or protector to Mary but a thief. (Nightwing v4 #32) When Mary's son, Dick, was taken in by Bruce Wayne, Dick turned his blame towards the rich and powerful that he and Mary had stolen from as kids, seeing them as the problem with society. (Nightwing v4 #8)
Raptor later came to be hired by the Court of Owls where they tasked him with eliminating their leader Lincoln March who was looking to re-organise the secret society into the Parliament of Owls under his control. From the shadows, Raptor came to launch a dart that killed March thus toppling his rule as the Court looked to target Dick Grayson. (Nightwing: Rebirth v1 #1) This saw him in Romania at Cimitirul Central where he tracked down Dr. Leviticus and eliminated her undead henchmen. (Nightwing v4 #1) Nightwing later arrived at the Fallen Monument Park in Moscow where Raptor attacked him at first before introducing him as Grayson's new partner. He then informed him of their next assignment which was targeting a ship on the Black Sea that belonged to a prominent member of the Court and had been taken over by the Kobra Cult. During the mission, they found out that Kobra was kidnapping refugees and the forgotten in order to use them as the basis for their genetic experiments. After defeating the cultists, the ship was delivered to the Parliament of Owls who was pleased at the success. Later on, Raptor confronted Nightwing over Grayson long-term plans at destroying the Court of Owls. The thief approved and stated he himself had his own plans to take down the secret society with Grayson having to look to play the long game in order to achieve his goal. (Nightwing v4 #2)
He then provided the coins to the Kobra Cult who were using it to decode the first names of the Parliament of Owls whereupon he was paid for his services. (Nightwing v4 #4)
After Deathstroke was captured, his Ikon Suit was stored at a supermax prison where it came to be stolen by Raptor. The master thief was then hired by the Red Lion to help in the theft of an aircraft carrier for use in his nation's navy. (Deathstroke v4 #12)
Raptor came to steal the Blockbuster Serum and he coated it in drinks at Roland Desmond's casino with the intention of turning the occupants into mindless superpowered beings that were slaves to their rage. (Nightwing v4 #33)
He later came to be an attendee to the League of Lazarus's tournament that was being held on Lazarus Island. (Robin v3 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
He was noted for his golden and piercing eyes that were unnerving to others as they resembled some kind of bird of prey. (Nightwing v4 #8) His garb as Raptor was made to be an image and brand that was his way to fight the beast. In the circus, he was known as "The Man Who Felt No Pain" and was called Mr. Numb. (Nightwing v4 #4)
He was said to be a master thief, anarchist and a socialist with it said that he was a supervillain wannabe who had a Robin Hood complex. (Deathstroke v4 #12) Raptor said that he did not operate the light as he was a wanted man where he hid from the authorities. He claimed that he could not change the world without breaking a few laws. Thus, working with the authorities meant that he would be arrested and be left in a cage. (Nightwing v4 #4)
Raptor had said that he always played the long game. (Nightwing v4 #2)
According to him, his father was a drunk and that his mother was a superstitious whack job. (Deathstroke v4 #12)
From his youth, he became friends with Mary Lloyd who had been the only person to show him kindness. This led to him falling in love with her and he cared for her more than anything else in his life. He had made a vow to always be there to support her as a way of repaying her kindness. When she was murdered, he thought that he had failed her and blamed himself until it had broke him. He continued to do so until it became easier to blame someone else and eventually everyone else for her death. (Nightwing v4 #8)
Raptor claimed that he had always let Nightwing live his life out of respect for his mother. In reality, the guilt that ate at him was not only that he was not there for Mary but that he was not there to support her son. (Nightwing v4 #34) Richard came to blame Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson and the rich in an effort to avoid blaming himself. (Nightwing v4 #32)
Powers and abilities
Raptor was born an ordinary human being with no special abilities or powers. He suffered from Hansen's Disease which was also known as Leprosy where in his youth he was too poor to afford medication to treat it. This resulted in his skin blistering and his nerves dying as his fingers curled. A result of the disease meant that he did not feel pain. (Nightwing v4 #8)
It was said that as a fighter he was fast, brutal and efficient. (Batman: Gotham Nights v1 #12) Nightwing compared it to a kind of freestyle rap battle with him being an aggressive fighter who was quick and surprisingly clever. (Nightwing v4 #2)
Through his technical skills, he constructed a special clawed gauntlet for his left arm that he called Suyolak. According to him, just as he read his opponents so did the gauntlet read him with it providing the most perfect cure for whatever ailed his foe which included killing them. It not only possessed claws for him to slash his enemies but had other tools such as gas that could render someone unconscious. (Nightwing v4 #1) He was noted to had built the glove and named it after the Romani wizard Suyolak where Raptor caged his fingers in penitence for failing to save Mary Grayson. (Nightwing v4 #32) It could provide all his needs such as having shark attractant in a situation when he required its need during a mission. The glove was shown to also be able to shoot out a grapple line which he could use to snag a person. (Nightwing v4 #2) The glove could fire lethal darts capable of killing a person with a precision shot at the eyes. (Nightwing: Rebirth v1 #1) It could generate tear gas that he could use to distract a foe in a fight. (Deathstroke v4 #13)
He was shown to be capable of using firearms and employing pistols in a fight. (Deathstroke v4 #13)
For transportation, Raptor had a flying craft he named Buteo with it being named after a bird of prey. (Nightwing v4 #2)
Notes
- Raptor was created by Tim Seeley and Javi Fernandez where he made his first appearance in Nightwing: Rebirth v1 #1 (September, 2016).
Appearances
- Nightwing: Rebirth v1: (2016)
- Nightwing v4:
- Deathstroke v4:
- Batman: Gotham Nights v1 #12 (DG):
- Detective Comics v1:
- Robin v3: (2021)
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
