Cavalier (comics)
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| The Cavalier | |
|---|---|
Cavalier from Detective Comics #81,
artist Bob Kane |
|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Detective Comics #81, (November 1943) |
| Created by | Don Cameron (writer) Bob Kane (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Mortimer Drake |
| Team affiliations | Secret Society of Super Villains |
| Abilities | Good athlete Skilled hand to hand combatant and swordsman Carries a rapier that emits electric blasts Feather plume-like steel tipped dart on his hat |
The Cavalier is a fictional supervillain in the DC Comics universe. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #81, (November 1943), and was created by Don Cameron and Bob Kane.[1]
Contents
Fictional character biography
Mortimer Drake
Mortimer Drake was a man of exotic and idiosyncratic taste. When he found himself unable to purchase more exotic valuables for his collection legally, he resorted to theft. Donning a costume resembling that of a Musketeer, he called himself the Cavalier. His course of actions ultimately brought him into conflict with Batman and Robin.[2] Drake matched wits against Batman and Robin several times, and escaped them in each encounter, but Batman was able to deduce the Cavalier's identity, leading to Drake's eventual imprisonment.[1]
In Batman Family #10,[3] Batgirl and Batwoman teamed up to defeat the Cavalier. Cavalier could not find a way around his code, which prevented hitting females, but after a self-examination he concludes "the devil with gallantry" and hit Batgirl with his fist.
A few issues later in Batman Family #15,[4] Killer Moth bet Cavalier that he could find the way into the Batcave from Batgirl before the Cavalier could get it off of Robin. While Killer Moth was led to a fake cave, Cavalier was shown a large nest, to which the Cavalier came to the conclusion that Robin was an alien bird life form.
Before Crisis on Infinite Earths the Cavalier existed both on Earth One and Earth Two. The stories where he harmed women, something that neither the Earth-One nor Earth-Two versions of him would ever do, can be assigned to the alternate world of Earth-B, an alternate Earth that included stories that could not be considered canonical on Earth-One or Earth-Two.[5]
Post-Crisis, Cavalier appeared in Justice League America #43-44 as part of a group of supervillain drinking buddies who were trying to regain their lost items of power. He was defeated by Blue Beetle, who clotheslined him in an alleyway.
During Knightfall, he faced Batman once again but was defeated with ease. Cavalier had become insane and was kept in Arkham Asylum.[1] It remains to be seen how Drake went insane, or if his origin has changed because of the first crisis. The Cavalier was in a closeted gay relationship with Captain Stingaree, another low-level Batman villain.[1]
He appeared in Justice League of America #2 as an informant for Black Lightning within The Society.
His back was broken by Bane in Secret Six #7, but he acted as a bodyguard for Leslie Thompkins in Battle for the Cowl: Gotham Gazette.[6] Both stories were published in the spring of 2009, though their relative chronology has yet to be determined. In Red Robin #16 he is shown to still be acting as a bodyguard to Dr. Leslie Thompkins.[7]
The Cavalier's re-entry into active crime followed, when he was seen attempting multiple small heists around Gotham, only to be foiled each time by Batman or Catwoman. However, those small crimes were merely an attempt to hide his role as the mastermind behind the embezzlement of millions of dollars from the Wayne Enterprises pension fund. Eventually, Batman and Catwoman, working together, were able to follow the money trail to Drake, expose his role in the embezzlement, and return the funds.[8]
In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), Cavalier appears now amped up on Venom. He is shown battling Batwoman.[9]
Hudson Pyle
In Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #32-34 (June-July 1992) writer James Robinson and Tim Sale introduced a new Cavalier by the name of Hudson Pyle into the Batman official continuity in his story-arc entitled Blades. Since Blades takes place early on in Batman's career, Hudson Pyle is actually the original Cavalier, and therefore may have even influenced Mortimer Drake.
In Blades, Pyle, an ex-Hollywood stuntman looking for fame, becomes The Cavalier, a masked crime-fighting vigilante that brandishes a razor-sharp sword, quick wit, and handsome smile. It is not long before the people of Gotham fall in love with the new hero. While Pyle's motives and actions are revealed to be honorable, he harbors a dark secret which ultimately leads to his downfall. Pyle is in love with a woman who is being blackmailed by gangsters, and as a result of this winds up being blackmailed as well. In order to save his love, Pyle is forced to commit burglaries and thus loses the confidence of the people.
Pyle soon kills the gangsters. He comes into conflict with Batman, defeating him in a sword duel. He leaves Batman, who is unable to move due to a leg injury and purposely charges nearby police officers. He is gunned down and dies of his injuries.
The beginning of the Blackest Night series shows that his remains are in the Justice League's storage facilities for dead super-villains.[10] He is one of many dead super-villains revived as members of the Black Lantern Corps.[11]
Powers and abilities
The Cavalier has no superhuman abilities. He is however, a good athlete, and a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, and swordsman. He carries a rapier that emits electric blasts. The feather plume on the Cavalier’s hat is actually a steel tipped dart.
Other versions
Cavalier appears in a 5-page back up story in The Batman Adventures #1. His portrayal is a cross between Robin Hood and Zorro, in stealing from those he perceives rich and using his sword to slash a large "C" in that person's clothes, and is supposedly based on the Hudson Pyle Cavalier.
In other media
Television
- Cavalier appeared in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "The Eyes of Despero" voiced by Greg Ellis. He speaks in Elizabethan era style (to which Batman remarks "Somewhere Shakespeare is spinning in his grave"). The Dark Knight makes quick work of Cavalier and is then sent to space by Hal Jordan's ring. Cavalier later returns in "Night of the Huntress!" as an inmate of Blackgate Prison trying to break out. He makes another appearance in "A Bat Divided" where he was hanging out with the other bad guys in a bar, when Firestorm and the three Batmen show up. He was the only villain who noticed there were three Batmen stating: "Me thinks my eyes deceive me; Batman thrice?". Cavalier was tasered by the normal Batman and is defeated. In "Bold Beginnings," Batman and Green Arrow fight Cavalier who had captured Ruby Ryder. It turns out that Cavalier and Ruby Ryder were in collaboration when they trapped Batman and Green Arrow. Batman and Green Arrow managed to escape the death trap and defeat Cavalier and Ruby Ryder.
Radio
- The Cavalier battled Batman during a brief exchange in the 1994 BBC radio adaptation of Batman: Knightfall. He was one of the escaped Arkham Asylum inmates. After Batman defeats the Cavalier, the foppish rogue says, "You broke my nose, you cad!"
See also
References
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- ↑ letter page on Who's Who the Definitive Directory to the DC Universe #9 (November, 1985)
- ↑ Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive? #1 (July 2009)
- ↑ Red Robin #16
- ↑ Batman/Catwoman: Follow the Money #1 (Jan. 2011)
- ↑ Batman: The Dark Knight (vol. 2) #2 (October 2011)
- ↑ Blackest Night #1 (September 2009)
- ↑ Blackest Night #4 (December 2009)
