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| As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
Grifter is an ex-soldier turned super-hero and vigilante. His firearms expertise makes him an incredible marksman and one of the most dangerous men in the world. Through Daemonite experimentation, he also gained telepathy and telekinesis.
History
Team 6
Years ago, Cole Cash was, at one time, a member of Team 6 alongside his brother, Max Cash. However, the group was eventually ambushed in Midway City by the terrorist Kobra Cult and forces working for Mister Freeze.[1] During the fight, Cash was severely wounded, taking seventeen bullets. However, as he was incapacitated, Wonder Woman and Superman arrived on the scene and defeated the cultists. Taken to the hospital, he was the subject of experimental (and lifesaving) medical procedures by a partnership of Wayne Enterprises and the Halo Corporation. His brother, unfortunately, did not survive.[2]
Team 7
Main article: Team 7 Vol 2
Later, Cole Cash was recruited into a field time of the secret government research effort called Project Majestic. He was chosen because of his uncanny ability to connect with any city's underworld within a matter of minutes, though he was also a member of special forces. After being arrested in a bar fight in France, Dinah and Kurt met him in a police van and recruited him.[3]
The team, code-named "Team 7", was tasked with finding tactics to counter aggressive metahumans, and securing related technologies and knowledge. Cash served with aplomb, as various of his teammates developed metahuman abilities from their improbable missions. However, on their final mission, the truth was revealed - the team was intended as a means for the U.S. government to gather what it would need to create a metahuman on par with Superman. The newly activated metahuman sank the island nation of Gamorra, which had supported Basilisk, and the team disbanded.[4]
Many years years later, Cole is being made to undergo 'programming' by an unknown Daemonites organization that is preparing an army of genetically enhanced humans like him against Helspont. A man named Warick breaks an unconscious Cole out of the facility, gives him a new identity and briefly talks about him being the secret weapon for the army that the people Warick work with are building. It turns out this is the 3rd time Warick has rescued him.[5]
Most Wanted
Main article: Grifter: Most Wanted
Cole Cash is working as a con artist in New Orleans when he's abducted by Daemonites. They attempt to use him as a host but this process fails, and he becomes connected to them through telepathy when he escapes. The Daemonites begin trying to kill him, and he's forced to stage a terrorist attack to avoid them on a plane.[6] His girlfriend Gretchen Reese leaves him believing he's gone insane, and his brother Max Cash is sent by the government to hunt him down.[7] His brother is killed by Daemonites named Myev and Tsavo, leading Cole to shoot Myev and take Tsavo hostage.[8] Their trail leads him to Q-Core in Seattle, where he gets in a shoot-out with Green Arrow and barely avoids arrest.[9] The woman who rescues him is a Daemonite-hunter named Sofia Cordon, although Cole is abducted by Su'ry on their first mission together.[10] He's reunited with Gretchen as Su'ry uses him to summon the Black Curate, although Sofia arrives to save him and Su'ry is killed while the Curate drags Gretchen away.[11] Stormwatch sends Midnighter to kill Grifter in the Himalayas and stop him from exposing their secrets, but the mission fails and this only distracts Grifter from the release of Helspont.[12] The Daemonites attack him again on a plane to Paris, killing Sofia in a terrorist attack. It's revealed that they resurrected Max to put Myev in his body, forcing Grifter to get over his fear of death and shoot his brother in the face. Grifter insists that he has become more dangerous than ever to them now, and it's revealed that this was Tsavo's plan to wipe out his Daemonite enemies.[13]
Newfound Power
Main article: Grifter: Newfound Power
Grifter is recruited into a resistance movement against the Daemonites led by Cheshire and Deathblow. It's explained that the Daemonites are trying to colonize Earth, and Grifter is the "chosen one" meant to lead the resistance against them.[14] Their group is ambushed and nearly wiped out while moving to a new headquarters, leading Cole to suspect a traitor in their ranks.[15] They're attacked again by the super-villain Synge, and Cheshire reveals herself as the traitor when she brings them to Lord Helspont.[16] Helspont asks Grifter to join him in destroying the Daemonites, but Grifter refuses and reveals he wanted to get captured. He attacks Helspont and escapes with Deathblow while destroying the ship.[17]
While fighting Daemonites he runs into Voodoo, who he recalls being one of the other human test subjects being experimented on by Daemonite scientists along with him.[18]
Warick asks Cole to extract information about Daemonites from ARGUS's database. Cole works with Voodoo to infiltrate STAR Labs, and goes through a portal to Eye of the Storm, Stormwatch's base of operations to access the database from there. Both Apollo and Midnighter try to stop him from downloading the files, but he manages to escape with Midnighter following him.[19] After being yanked all over the world by the Eye of the Storm because of a virus Cole spread in its teleportation system, Midnighter is safely returned to the spaceship while Cole is sent to Amanda Waller who is aware that multiple sensitive files have been downloaded from ARGUS's database.[20]
Cole takes on the Suicide Squad and is defeated. Amanda Waller reveals that she learned about Daemonites from Warick whilst on a mission to extract a rich man's daughter from an anti-alien invasion cult a few years ago, and tries to convince him that Warick is a crazy cultist who is manipulating Cole.[21]
He decides to confront Warick, who proceeds to tell him that he was part of a similar experiment as Cole but Helspont killed everyone of his batch's co-subjects except him, hence why he sought out 'the secret weapon'. Warick fights Grifter as he walks away, only to be interrupted by Waller who had tracked Cole to find Warick. Warick throws himself amongst a pack of lions in the zoo and passes on the responsibility to lead the resistance to Cole. Cole takes time off from the Daemonite affair. Elsewhere, Helspont learns about Warick's death and decides to spare Grifter momentarily.[22]
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Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Accelerated Healing: After being killed in an ambush led by Mr Freeze and the Kobra Cult Grifted was brought back to life by Halo Corporation who used experimental biotechnology to revive him, the procedure apparently granted him the ability to recover from injuries at an accelerated rate.[23]
- Telekinesis: Grifter is eventually shown to develop powerful telekinesis. He can control several complicated machines at once such as wielding six guns simultaneously. He is also shown easily lifting a truck many feet in the air.[15] The upper limits of these powers are shown when he collapses a small forest on Synge.[16]
- Tactile Telekinesis: Recently Grifter has been experimenting with the use of his telekinesis. Once in combat with elite Daemonites punching one nearly broke his hand yet after his TK awakened he backhanded one with ease.[14] He could also enhance his other facilities as well.[19]
- Psionic Strength
- Superhuman Reflexes: Grifter possesses superhuman reflexes that allow him to easily catch arrows[9] and freeze bullets with his telekinesis.[21]
- Superhuman Speed
- Superhuman Agility
- Simulated Invulnerability
- Concussive Force
- Tactile Telekinesis: Recently Grifter has been experimenting with the use of his telekinesis. Once in combat with elite Daemonites punching one nearly broke his hand yet after his TK awakened he backhanded one with ease.[14] He could also enhance his other facilities as well.[19]
- Telepathy: Grifter receives the ability to telepathically detect Daemonites after they experiment upon him.[6] This includes the ability to access their telepathically-controlled weapons.[11] It is later shown that he has other capacities of a typical mentalist (mind reading).[15]
- Mind Control: Cash eventually practiced his ability to control cognitive actions.[22]
- Mind Scans
Abilities
- Deception: Above all, Grifter is a con-artist. His gift of gab and silver tongue allow him to get in and out of situations that would be dangerous for any man.[6]
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)[7]: He managed to hold his own against Batman, for a while.[24] He is skilled enough to defeat Red Hood in hand-to-hand combat.[23]
- Military Protocol: Grifter is military trained and has been a part of black ops missions in the past.[7]
- Peak Human Condition: Grifter has enough strength and endurance to defeat Brick in a physical fight.[26]
Notes
- Grifter was created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi, first appearing as part of the Wildstorm Universe in WildC.A.T.s #1. However, in the rebooted Prime Earth continuity his first appearance as part of the New 52 DC Universe is in Grifter (Volume 3) #1 by Nathan Edmondson and Cafu.[6]
Trivia
- Cole Cash does not use the alias Grifter in his first several DC Universe appearances, although he describes himself as one. The first instance of someone calling him Grifter is Tsavo identifying him as "the Grifter."[10] Midnighter later calls him "The Grifter" in their first meeting, having heard the name used on the news.[12]
- Cole considered Superman "the most attractive dude [he's] ever seen."[27]
Recommended Reading
Related
- 76 Appearances of Cole Cash (Prime Earth)
- 75 Images featuring Cole Cash (Prime Earth)
- 23 Quotations by or about Cole Cash (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Cole Cash (Prime Earth)
External Links
Footnotes
- ↑ Batman: Urban Legends #1
- ↑ Batman: Urban Legends #2
- ↑ Team 7 (Volume 2) #0
- ↑ Team 7 (Volume 2) #8
- ↑ Grifter (Volume 3) #0
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Grifter (Volume 3) #1
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Grifter (Volume 3) #2
- ↑ Grifter (Volume 3) #3
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Grifter (Volume 3) #4
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Grifter (Volume 3) #5
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Grifter (Volume 3) #6
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Grifter (Volume 3) #7
- ↑ Grifter (Volume 3) #8
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Grifter (Volume 3) #9
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Grifter (Volume 3) #10
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Grifter (Volume 3) #11
- ↑ Grifter (Volume 3) #12
- ↑ Voodoo (Volume 2) #0
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Grifter (Volume 3) #13
- ↑ Grifter (Volume 3) #14
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Grifter (Volume 3) #15
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Grifter (Volume 3) #16
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Batman: Urban Legends #2
- ↑ Batman (Volume 3) #101
- ↑ WildC.A.T.s (Volume 2) #3
- ↑ WildC.A.T.s (Volume 2) #1
- ↑ Batman: Urban Legends #4