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)
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)
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)
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
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)
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 he caged his fingers in penitence for failing to save Mary Grayson. (Nightwing v4 #32)
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:
External Links
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