Psycho-Pirate
Psycho-Pirate | |
---|---|
Created by | Charles Halstead: Gardner Fox Joe Gallagher Roger Hayden: Gardner Fox Murphy Anderson |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | - Charles Halstead - Roger Hayden |
Team affiliations | Roger Hayden: Secret Society of Super Villains Black Lantern Corps |
Abilities | Roger Hayden:
|
The Psycho-Pirate is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
Bob Frazer portrayed the character for his live action debut during The CW's 2018 Arrowverse crossover "Elseworlds".
Publication history
The Charles Halstead version of Psycho-Pirate first appears in
The Roger Hayden version of Psycho-Pirate first appears in Showcase #56 and was created by Fox and Murphy Anderson.[2]
Fictional character biography
Charles Halstead
Charles Halstead is a minor character who first appears in
As time passed Halstead became bolder. He penned a letter to the Courier, challenging the
Roger Hayden
Roger Hayden first appeared as the second Psycho-Pirate in Showcase #56, created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson.
Roger Hayden is a jailed gangster (later
Hayden returns to prominence when he insidiously begins influencing prominent
Hayden later joins the Secret Society of Super Villains, having been recruited by the Ultra-Humanite to defeat Hayden's old foe Hourman. While he is initially successful thanks to a device the Ultra-Humanite devises that amplifies and projects Hayden's face and hence his control, ultimately both the Justice Society and the Justice League defeat Hayden and his teammates after their betrayal of fellow Secret Society members. The villains are deposited into an interdimensional rift known as Limbo.
While in Limbo, the Ultra-Humanite gains mental contact with his younger self from the 1940s and the two Ultra-Humanites are able to pull the Secret Society, including Hayden, back to that era, where they confront and are defeated by the
Crisis on Infinite Earths
In the
Post-Crisis
Following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Hayden escapes Arkham Asylum and encounters a renegade Fifth Dimension Thunderbolt genie who has merged with private investigator Jonnie Thunder. In the pages of Infinity, Inc. #30–34, the two bedevil the members of Infinity, Inc. in a bid to destroy Jonnie's mind so that the Thunderbolt can seize total control over her body. During the arc, it is shown that the renegade Thunderbolt repeatedly electroshocked Psycho-Pirate upon recruiting him. Although this was done to "cure" Hayden of the madness he was suffering from, the electroshock had the side effect of making Psycho-Pirate lose all memories of the Crisis and the existence of parallel Earths.
Defeated, Hayden relocates to Markovia and impersonates the villain Baron Bedlam to gain power in the nation. In a story spanning two specials (Outsiders Special and Infinity, Inc. Special), the Outsiders and Infinity, Inc. defeat and imprison Psycho-Pirate.
Hayden shows up again in Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man, imprisoned in Arkham Asylum. The effects of the electroshocks given to him by the renegade Thunderbolt have worn off and Hayden's memories of the Crisis and of the prior existence of multiple Earths are restored. Psycho-Pirate ends up releasing characters destroyed during the Crisis back into the world, although many of these characters later come to realize they are just characters in a comic book. After an intervention by Animal Man, Hayden, seemingly happy, fades away into nothingness. Psycho-Pirate's happiness is due to a relief of the strain from releasing all of the forgotten characters, but he is consequently removed from reality and placed back in Limbo. James Highwater, one of the Asylum staff, is left to wear the Medusa Mask and keep the forgotten Earths contained. The other staff members come to accept Highwater as a patient, not realizing his knowledge of the missing worlds.
At some point, the Medusa Mask is held by the
Psycho-Pirate does not appear again until 1995 when he became part of the
After his appearance in the Fate series, Psycho-Pirate makes two brief appearances during the Joker: Last Laugh crossover event. He is first seen locked up in the maximum security prison called the "Slab", where he is again insane and rambling of the existence of the Multiverse and is seen in his original costume. All but one eye of the Pirate's face is covered and his eyebrows have been shaved off to reduce his ability to express emotion. The Joker initiates a breakout and infection of the inmates, causing them to follow his orders and commit dangerous pranks. Because of this control, Psycho-Pirate is seen shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theatre during the breakout.
Infinite Crisis
Psycho-Pirate reappears in the JSA Classified #1–4 story arc, in which he reveals that he and Power Girl are refugees from Earth-Two. Along with several other individuals (such as Donna Troy and her evil alter ego Dark Angel), both Psycho-Pirate and Power Girl were "missed" in the restructuring of the Multiverse into a single universe following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. This revelation restores the original origin story of Power Girl as well.
Psycho-Pirate hopes to weaken Power Girl mentally so that she can be captured as part of
When Nightwing, Superboy, and Wonder Girl attack Luthor's base, they free all the captive heroes, including Power Girl and Black Adam, who are then confronted by the Psycho-Pirate. A coldly furious Black Adam proceeds to battle him head on. Although Hayden desperately attempts to use his powers on Adam, he simply ignores him and proceeds to gouge out the Psycho-Pirate's eyes and pushes the Medusa Mask straight through his head, killing him instantly.
Psycho-Pirate is mentioned in Justice League of America (vol. 2) #1 as selling emotional states, such as "happy" and "ecstatic", much like a drug dealer. Among his reported clients are Signalman and Silver Ghost. Psycho-Pirate's Medusa Mask is also featured in the 2008 Raven miniseries. In the story's conclusion, Raven destroyed the mask but its power still affected scientists who studied its schematics on a computer.
Blackest Night
In the Blackest Night storyline, Psycho-Pirate has been identified as one of the deceased who are entombed below the Hall of Justice.[6] Psycho-Pirate's corpse is revived as a Black Lantern during the event.[7] He attacks Smallville, using his powers to manipulate the inhabitants and sway Conner Kent into attacking Superman. Psycho-Pirate murders several Smallville citizens after using his powers to enhance their emotions, as Black Lanterns enjoy attacking the emotionally overwrought.[8]
Conner attacks Superman and aids the Black Lantern Superman from Earth 2; however, the effect of the mask wears off and Conner once more regains his senses. Clark and Conner decide to separate, with Conner confronting Psycho-Pirate. Conner manages to withstand his emotional manipulation attempts and steals the Medusa Mask, which has been reconstructed via the black ring. Using the artifact, Conner inspires hope, will, and compassion, ending the riots in Smallville.[9] Psycho-Pirate is last seen retreating into a dark alley, followed by Conner. Conner then uses the Medusa Mask on Earth-2 Superman (Kal-L), causing the black rings to malfunction and turning both Psycho-Pirate and Kal-L back into inanimate corpses.[9]
The New 52
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, a new depiction of Psycho-Pirate first appears in Superboy (vol. 6) #23 as a member of the Twenty, a group of people who are infected by Brainiac with a psionic virus, thus giving them all psionic abilities. He was captured by the H.I.V.E. Queen, another member of the Twenty who had become a zealous devotee of Brainiac. Psycho-Pirate managed to escape and sought out the Medusa Mask, an artifact that he believed would protect him against other people with psychic powers. He then spent the next four years hiding other psychics from H.I.V.E., who were using the people they captured to power their operations in Metropolis.[10]
During the Psi-War storyline, the Psycho-Pirate appears and takes out Hector Hammond and the H.I.V.E. Queen, who were both fighting for control of the city. When Superman arrives at H.I.V.E.'s headquarters, Hayden confronts him and drains his mind too. Hayden is then surprised by Lois Lane, who was infected with the same psionic virus by Senator Hume, yet another member of the Twenty. The two fight, with Hayden getting the upper hand. He then proceeds to make Metropolis' citizens act on pure emotion, creating riots and chaos throughout the streets. A recovered Superman, Lois Lane, Hector Hammond, and the H.I.V.E. Queen then team up to fight the Pirate and a fierce battle ensues, during which the Queen and Hammond are beaten. Superman manages to pull the Medusa Mask off of Hayden's face and incinerates it with his heat vision, defeating the Psycho-Pirate. Hayden, however, disappears in the aftermath of the battle.[11] At the same time as he was clashing with Superman, Roger Hayden also sent an astral projection to confront Superboy and Doctor Psycho who are in New York City looking for a psychic called Shift. Shift reveals that Psycho was only manipulating Superboy to get his power. A three-way battle ensues between the three characters, which ends with Doctor Psycho being defeated and Superboy falling unconscious, only to wake up in a cell powerless.[11]
DC Rebirth
In
The Medusa Mask is taken into Batman's custody. When Batman accidentally puts the blood-stained smiley face button from the corpse of Edward Blake (the Comedian) left in Batman's Batcave by Dr. Manhattan, next to the Medusa Mask, both artifacts create an energy reaction that attracts the attention of Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash (Eobard Thawne).[13] The Reverse-Flash is then killed by Dr. Manhattan, but not before the Medusa Mask manifests the erased-from-existence Jay Garrick, who frantically attempts to warn Batman and the Flash of Manhattan's evil scheme to alter the timeline so as to eliminate the Justice League and a create a darker, more cynical Superman, and a version of the Flashpoint Universe Thomas Wayne, who begs Batman to give up his costumed identity for a normal existence.[13]
Shortly after those events, Hayden has the Medusa Mask returned to him by agents of Bane. From there, it is revealed in the wake of the aborted Batman and Catwoman wedding that Hugo Strange, Psycho-Pirate and Gotham Girl were actually working together in secret with Bane, and that Psycho-Pirate has resurrected the Flashpoint Batman from the dead to aid in Bane's scheme.
In the pages of "Flashpoint Beyond", a sequel to "Flashpoint", Psycho-Pirate appeared in a cell at Arkham Asylum within the Flashpoint reality as Commissioner Gigante tells Thomas Wayne about it. When Thomas becomes Batman, he finds Psycho-Pirate hanged in his cell.[14] The culprit behind Psycho-Pirate's death would turn out to be the Martha Wayne version of Joker.[15]
Powers and abilities
Charles Halstead has no superhuman powers; however, he is a brilliant criminal mind with an excellent grasp of human psychology and emotions.
With the Medusa Mask, Roger Hayden is able to project emotions onto other people. Often it seems to intensify emotions that a person already feels, no matter how small. Hayden later shows the power to manifest any DC Multiverse characters that had been destroyed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths or any living character, period. The Psycho-Pirate has also shown some sort of regeneration of body control, as he is able to reform after being crushed by Power Girl, and also disguises himself as a Legion flight ring.
During his 1990s revamp, the Psycho-Pirate was a psychic vampire, able to drain emotions from other people.
Following The New 52 reboot, Roger Hayden is depicted as a psychic who specializes in telepathically manipulating other people's emotions. Examples include: calming a person to make them more reasonable or amplifying negative emotions such as fear or anger to the point of sending people into a murderous frenzy. While wearing the Medusa Mask, Hayden's emotion-manipulating powers were increased to the point where he could control all of Metropolis without straining himself. The mask also provided him with a number of other abilities, including shielding his mind against intrusion from other telepaths, levitation, draining other psi-powered individuals of their mental energies to increase his own, projecting psionic constructs in the form of giant orange snakes which he uses to attack enemies, forming a psychic link with another person, projecting his mind over tremendous distances (essentially granting him omnipresence), deflecting psionic attacks, projecting bolts of psionic energy and creating illusions.
Other versions
In the four-part Elseworlds story JSA: The Golden Age, the Charles Halstead version of Psycho Pirate is seen as a member of the Injustice Society.[16]
In other media
Television
- The Roger Hayden incarnation of Psycho-Pirate makes non-speaking cameo appearances in Justice League Unlimited. This version lacks the Medusa Mask and is a member of Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society.
- The Roger Hayden incarnation of Psycho-Pirate appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Armin Shimerman.
- The Roger Hayden incarnation of Psycho-Pirate appears in the Arrowverse crossover event "Elseworlds", portrayed by Bob Frazer.[17]
- The Psycho-Pirate appears in the
Film
Psycho-Pirate appears in films set in the Tomorrowverse, voiced by Geoffrey Arend:
- An alternate universe incarnation of Charles Halstead called the Advisor appears in Atlanteans into joining forces with the Nazis with the intention of having the former destroy the latter so Halstead can take over the world. While the Justice Society of America and the Flash of Earth-1 confront and defeat him, Halstead kills Steve Trevorin the process.
- Psycho-Pirate appears in Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part One.[21]
Video games
The Roger Hayden incarnation of Psycho-Pirate appears as a playable character in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced again by Armin Shimerman. This version is a member of the Legion of Doom.
Miscellaneous
- The Roger Hayden incarnation of Psycho-Pirate appears in Justice League Adventures #20. This version is a former psychiatrist who was suspended for malpractice and lost his wife and son during an alien attack in Metropolis.
- The Roger Hayden incarnation of Psycho-Pirate appears in a special one-shot Young Justice issue published for Free Comic Book Day.
References
- ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
- ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
- ^ Earth-Two was established as a parallel world that served as the home of the Justice Society of America, as well as other DC Comics characters introduced during the Golden Age of Comic Books. The Flash #123 (September 1961).
- ^ Showcase #56. DC Comics.
- ^ Suicide Squad #27 (1989). DC Comics.
- ^ Blackest Night #1 (July 2009). DC Comics.
- ^ Blackest Night #3 (September 2009). DC Comics.
- ^ Blackest Night: Superman #2 (2009). DC Comics.
- ^ a b Blackest Night: Superman #3 (2009). DC Comics.
- ^ Action Comics (vol. 2) #24. DC Comics.
- ^ a b Superboy (vol. 6) #23-24. DC Comics.
- ^ Batman (vol. 3) #1-3. DC Comics.
- ^ a b Batman (vol. 3) #20-21 and The Flash (vol. 5) #20-21. DC Comics.
- ^ Flashpoint Beyond #2. DC Comics.
- ^ Flashpoint Beyond #5. DC Comics.
- ^ JSA: The Golden Age #4. DC Comics.
- ^ Agard, Chancellor (November 2, 2018). "Arrowverse 'Elseworlds' crossover to feature DC villain Psycho-Pirate". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 2, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
- ^ Behbakht, Andy (June 16, 2021). "Why The Flash Revived An Abandoned Crisis On Infinite Earths Character". Retrieved June 16, 2021.
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(help) - ^ Damore, Meagan (June 21, 2021). "The Flash: Danielle Nicolet on Cecile's Mental Health Journey". Retrieved June 21, 2021.
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: Cite magazine requires|magazine=
(help) - ^ Couch, Aaron (January 7, 2021). "DC's 'Justice Society: World War II' Sets Voice Cast (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ Harvey, James (December 5, 2023). ""Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part One" Release Date". The World's Finest. Retrieved December 5, 2023.