Vigilante (real name Adrian Chase) is an enthusiastic and simple-minded sadist who kills anyone he deems fit to die in the name of justice. He is fiercely loyal to his idol and friend, Peacemaker, and worked alongside him on Project Butterfly to stop Goff's invasion of Earth.
History
Origins
Adrian Chase was born on June 30, 1991[1], and was raised in Evergreen, Washington. At some point, his family was killed, which drove him to become the happy-go-lucky sadist known as "Vigilante", donning a black, blue, and white costume to hide his identity. An expert in weapons and combat, Vigilante brutally murdered criminals for even minor offenses like graffiti, all in the name of justice.
Partners in crimefighting
Eventually, Vigilante met Peacemaker, a vainglorious vigilante who murdered criminals in the name of peace. Vigilante heavily idolized Peacemaker, and the two became friends, teaming up on several occasions along with Peacemaker's pet eagle Eagly, all while Vigilante kept his identity secret from Peacemaker to protect him. In 2017, Peacemaker was arrested, but over the next four years, Vigilante continued fighting crime in Evergreen on his own, and got a job as a busboy at the Italian restaurant Fennel Fields.[2][3][4]
Project Butterfly
Reunited with Peacemaker after five years
In 2022, Peacemaker returned to Evergreen, and when he reunited with Vigilante, revealed he was killing people for the government to stay out of prison. Vigilante was happy to see his friend again, but Peacemaker revealed he was starting to feel disillusioned with his mission, and wondered if killing for peace was worth it. To cheer him up, Vigilante took him out to the woods for some target practice, and even joined Peacemaker's government black-ops team Project Butterfly on their mission to assassinate Royland Goff, a senator believed to be an alien "Butterfly" in disguise, despite leader Clemson Murn's reluctance to take him on the team.[3][2]
Goff tortures Vigilante
While on a stakeout with his no-nonsense field handler Emilia Harcourt, Peacemaker found himself unable to kill Goff and his family, so Vigilante took the sniper rifle from his friend and killed Goff's family for him. Before he could kill Goff himself, though, Vigilante and Peacemaker were attacked and captured by Judomaster, Goff's bodyguard. In a cave under his mansion, Goff tortured Vigilante to get Peacemaker to reveal what he knew, but Peacemaker escaped and killed Goff after a few minutes of letting him torture Adrian. He freed Vigilante, and learned his secret identity, allowing the two to bond more than before. The two also discovered the true intent of Project Butterfly: an attempt to assassinate people with bodies taken over by butterfly-like parasites to stop an invasion, as they witnessed the Butterfly creature, the ruthless Butterfly queen, crawl from Goff's corpse, only for Peacemaker to capture and contain it in his trailer.[2][1]
Vigilante was annoyed at Peacemaker for letting him be tortured by Goff, and started to question their friendship, especially the knowledge that Peacemaker's father was the white supremacist supervillain the White Dragon. Ultimately, the two made up, and after discovering that Project Butterfly's tech support John Economos had sent the Dragon to prison to lead the police off Peacemaker's trail, Vigilante and Peacemaker went to the local prison to talk with the Dragon.
On a mission of friendship
While Peacemaker talked with his father, Leota Adebayo, their friendly but insecure teammate, convinced Vigilante that Peacemaker would never be happy with his father around. Hearing this, Adrian got himself arrested and tried to kill the White Dragon from inside the prison, but he failed and the Dragon prepared to reveal that he had been framed. Adrian was picked up by Harcourt and taken back to headquarters, afraid he had only made things worse from trying to help.[1]
Infiltrating the bottling plant
Project Butterfly's next objective was to investigate and shut down the bottling plant distributing the Butterflies' food. Vigilante brought a chainsaw with him, but was forced to leave it in the van by Harcourt. Vigilante and Harcourt infiltrated the plant together, and discovered hundreds of boxes full of Butterfly food, as well as dozens of Butterfly workers. While investigating, they were attacked by a Butterfly-infected gorilla named Charlie, and they, as well as Peacemaker and Adebayo, would have been killed if not for the timely arrival of John Economos, who killed Charlie with Vigilante's chainsaw. They bonded on the ride home, celebrating their victory, becoming closer friends than ever before.[5]
Interrogating the Butterfly queen
The next day, Vigilante and Peacemaker attempted to communicate with Goff in Peacemaker's trailer to figure out the Butterflies' plan, but they were ambushed by Evergreen police, who had been sent on Peacemaker's trail by the White Dragon. When the two attempted to flee, Peacemaker insisting they don't kill any cops, Goff escaped from her jar and took Detective Sophie Song as her new host. When they reached a car and drove away, Vigilante berated Peacemaker for sparing the lives of the police, and began to see him as a much kinder, and in his eyes weaker, man than he had been originally been. They returned to headquarters, where they discovered that they would have to kill a cow generating the Butterfly food, and that Peacemaker had been framed by his former employer and Adebayo's mother, Amanda Waller, and that every police officer in the county was after them.[6]
Fight against the White Dragon
Vigilante accompanied Peacemaker, Economos, and Eagly to travel to the Coverdale Ranch to kill the cow, however, the group would be found by the White Dragon and his Aryan Empire, who wanted to kill Peacemaker. Vigilante took it upon himself to confront the Dragon and managed to distract them long enough for his friends to escape as he sacrificed himself, but he managed to escape, rejoining the others later, though they would be tracked down again due to Vigilante bringing Peacemaker's helmets. Vigilante attacked Dragon from behind and managed to knock him down so that Peacemaker could then kill his father. The trio took Eagly to the vet and reunited with Harcourt and Adebayo to find out that Murn had died at the hands of Eek Stack Ik Ik, so they all chose Harcourt as the new leader, and they went to the ranch to kill the cow.[7]
The Project Butterfly went to the ranch, but they began to make a plan to infiltrate and kill the cow, so they would use a levitation helmet, something that failed, and as a second plan they would use a super sonic helmet to blow up the ranch, although it did. they would lose, and the team went looking for him in the woods. To implant the helmet, the team chose Economos to pretend to be a butterfly and infiltrate the ranch.
Final battle against the Butterflies
When Economos implanted the helmet and was discovered, the team activated the helmet to blow up the ranch. Vigilante, Peacemaker, and Harcourt bravely faced the Butterflies, although Vigilante and Harcourt would fall in battle, but they would be fine. When Peacemaker killed the cow alongside Adebayo, the team rallied and retreated while the Justice League was late for the battle. Vigilante, Harcourt and Economos rested in the hospital to treat their injuries sustained in the fight, but later, Vigilante would leave because he was better and met up with Peacemaker to continue having fun.[8]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Peak Human Condition: Chase has trained his body to its peak for his crime-fighting activities, achieving incredible strength, stamina, agility, and reflexes. According to Smith, Chase was always wiry with a solid frame, but he has since improved his muscle tone.
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Chase is a highly skilled and formidable hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist. His fighting style seems to comprise of Boxing, Muay Thai, Jujitsu, Krav Maga, Judo, Taekwondo and Karate. He is able to fight the master martial artist, Judomaster alongside Peacemaker though was defeated by the more skilled foe. Chase later demostrated his combat knowledge even further when easily incapacitating multiple prison inmates at the same time.
- Weaponry: Adrian is highly skilled at using knives in combat. He was able to draw out and use his two combat knives during his fight against Judomaster. He also managed to stab the White Dragon weak spots with a knife.
- Throwing: Adrian is also skilled in knife throwing, accurately throwing a knife in a cop's head. Chase accurately threw one without even looking behind him at a Butterfly-infected host while collapsing from a gunshot wound.
- Firearms: Adrian is highly skilled in the use of various firearms, as seen when he trained with Peacemaker. He used a submachine gun to shoot a smiley face into a target. Chase was able to take out three members of the Goff family in quick succession with a sniper rifle. Chase also shoot numerous butterflies with his dual pistols.
- Swordsmanship: Adrian is highly skilled at using a sword in combat. He almost successfully killed Charlie the Gorilla with the sword but got knocked out. He also managed to fight off the numerous of butterflies with his sword.
- Archery: Adrian is also a skilled archer, particularly with a compound bow.
- Demolitions
- Tactical Analysis: Despite his immature personality, Vigilante is prepared and careful when crime fighting. He keeps his mask on most of the time, drives around in a normal car, and when he is unmasked he constantly changes facial expressions to not be picked out of a line up. He was able to track down and follow Peacemaker's special ops team without being noticed until he revealed himself. He attempted to kill the White Dragon by purposefully getting himself arrested and goading Smith's men into attacking him to make it look like self-defense. He also has a keen eye for detail as he could deduce the weak spots in the White Dragon armor.
- Thievery: Adrian easily commandeered a White Hood's car.
- Stealth: Adrian is skilled at stealth tactics. He was able to follow Peacemaker and his team without being spotted until he revealed himself.
- Driving
Weaknesses
- Restricted Senses: Adrian requires glasses to see, and the red visor on his Vigilante mask is prescription.[9]
Other Characteristics
- Mental Disorder: According to Peacemaker, Vigilante has mental issues. He claims to be an emotionless killer, who does not care about what other people think of him and is willing to take the life of anyone who breaks the law. He cheerfully whistled while taking out members of the Goff family, including the children. He also said he was not bothered by Peacemaker bullying him.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Vigilante suit: Adrian wears a special suit as Vigilante to protect himself from harm and to protect his identity.[3]
Transportation
- Vigilante-mobile: Adrian drives a Chrysler Sebring he calls a "Vigilante-mobile".[2]
Weapons
- Pistols
- Walther P99
- Colt Single Action Army
- MasterPiece Arms MPA30DMG
- FN P90
- Mossberg 500 Cruiser
- Barrett M82A1M
- Combat knives
- Sword
- Compound bow
- Dynamite
- Chainsaw
- P90
- Grenade
Notes
- This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the DC Extended Universe and is an adaptation of Vigilante (Adrian Chase). The original character was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez and first appeared in New Teen Titans Annual #2.
- Vigilante is portrayed by Freddie Stroma
- Chris Conrad was originally cast as Vigilante, and shot five episodes with James Gunn, but due to their creative differences, Gunn recast Conrad with Stroma.[10]
- Chris Conrad was originally cast as Vigilante, and shot five episodes with James Gunn, but due to their creative differences, Gunn recast Conrad with Stroma.[10]
Trivia
- Adrian's ringtone is "Barbie Girl" by Aqua.[6]
- Adrian's password on his phone is Peacemaker's birthday.[6]
Recommended Reading
Related
- 8 Appearances of Adrian Chase (DC Extended Universe)
- 19 Images featuring Adrian Chase (DC Extended Universe)
- 2 Quotations by or about Adrian Chase (DC Extended Universe)
- Character Gallery: Adrian Chase (DC Extended Universe)
External Links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Peacemaker: "The Choad Less Traveled"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Peacemaker: "Better Goff Dead"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Peacemaker: "Best Friends, For Never"
- ↑ Peacemaker: "A Whole New Whirled"
- ↑ Peacemaker: "Monkey Dory"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Peacemaker: "Murn After Reading"
- ↑ Peacemaker: "Stop Dragon My Heart Around"
- ↑ Peacemaker: "It's Cow or Never"
- ↑ @JamesGunn on Twitter
- ↑ Why Peacemaker Recast Vigilante After 5 Episodes, Explained By James Gunn - ScreenRant