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Death Man (Prime Earth)

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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.

Quote1 I never sleep, little Talon. My brain cells never die. I am true awareness. I am the Murder Buddha! ...never anyone around to rub my belly when i need them. Quote2
— Lord Death Man src

Lord Death Man began as a crook with a "temporary-death" gimmick; and became capable of resurrection when he took on the qualities of the Lazarus Pit - qualities which Ra's al Ghul coveted him for.

Death Knocks Three Times

When still just a petty crook, Death Man would feign death in order to escape capture and punishment; and have his Men of Death[5] dig him out of his grave. Once Batman defeated him by learning his one yogic gimmick, Death Man was somehow able to replicate the qualities of the Lazarus Pit within his own body, but at the cost of his sanity.[6]

Moving to Japan, Death Man set himself up as Lord Death Man — head of the Japanese underworld. He killed Mister Unknown and bombed a busload of children before Batman and Catwoman locked him in a safe that was launched into space.[2] Ra's al Ghul freed him and brought him to the Leviathan compound in Karachi, Pakistan, where he was restrained and regularly exsanguinated to produce "The Shelley Formula"[7].

Lazarus Blood

Ra's was out of viable Lazarus Pits and required Lord Death Man's Lazarus blood to restore his daughter Talia and grandson Damian to life.[8] Despite repeated bloody attempts at escape, Lord Death Man was kept prisoner by Ra's and Doctor Darrk — ultimately sealing him in a block of concrete[2] — but in the end they realized that the insanity brought on by the Lazarus Pit ran in Death Man's blood and discarded him.[6].

Infatuation with Harley Quinn

As Death Man's sanity seemed to be returning, he became more and more obsessed with Harley Quinn, building a secret shrine dedicated to her, hidden inside the video game "The Knights of Knavery". His "Death Minions" grew bored with his lack of interest in crime, but when one tried to play the video game, Lord Death Man tore his arm off rather than allow him to desecrate the shrine.[4]

Death Man secretly funded a reward for his own capture in order to attract the attention of the cash-strapped Harley Quinn, who came for him disguised as a pizza delivery guy. When she presented him with a naked picture of his father — implying that she knew his true identity — Lord Death Man dropped dead and Harley cut out his heart and blended it into a bloody mary, which did not keep him dead for long.[4]

Harley repeated her attacks on Death Man, and his minions were mystified that their Lord kept falling for her simplistic traps, including a birthday invitation to a deadly bouncy castle. The resulting carnage inflicted upon Lord Death Man's body - he essentially became charred meat immersed in volcanic lava[9] — demonstrated how total his power of regeneration was, as he returned to continue to stalk his "Cherished orange blossom"[10] Harley Quinn.

Powers

  • Regeneration: Lord Death Man is capable of not only returning from death, but from any amount of damage thus far inflicted upon him.

He has no more resistance to injury than an average human. Blades, bullets and blunt weapons will still "kill" him, but his powers of regeneration quickly bring him back. Normally fatal assaults such as shark attack, nerve gas[2] or Joker Venom[3] will kill him — just not for long. His memory is not impaired when his head is mangled, as his brain cells never die.[2] His head and heart have been removed[9]; his body has been sealed in a block of concrete[2]; and finally, he has been reduced to cooked pieces of meat that were thrown into an active volcano[9] — and yet he has always returned.

  • Dim-Mak: The death touch. Lord Death Man can energetically cause death in another person.[2]

Abilities

  • Meditation: By entering a trance, Lord Death Man can will himself to essentially be dead, before he is resurrected.
    • True Awareness: Lord Death Man does not sleep.[2]
    • Resistance to Pain: Pain does not seem to faze Lord Death Man. Batman has shattered all four of his limbs, to little effect[6] and Harley Quinn has bisected him with a chainsaw, dragged him across broken glass and set his disparate remains on fire before dropping them in a volcano and urinating on them — which only further stoked the ardour he had for her.[9]

Other Characteristics

Equipment

  • The Knights of Knavery video game which hides his shrine to Harley Quinn.[9]

Weapons

  • Firearms


Related

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Talon #16
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Talon #17
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Harley Quinn (Volume 3) #57
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Harley Quinn (Volume 3) #48
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Batman Incorporated #2
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Batman Eternal #46
  7. ↑ The Shelley Formula is named for Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley; author of Frankenstein
  8. ↑ Batman Incorporated (Volume 2) #13
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Harley Quinn (Volume 3) #49
  10. ↑ Harley Quinn (Volume 3) #58
  11. ↑ Batman Incorporated #1


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