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Quote1 And behold, I shall be a blight upon the land, and everything I touch shall wither and die! Quote2
Blight src

Derek Powers was a rival and eventually business partner of Bruce Wayne, though the union was not a happy one. He became Blight and tried multiple times to oust the elder Wayne, but was stopped by the new Batman.

Derek Powers

Derek Powers

Derek Powers was a wealthy businessman. After years of bidding, his company, Powers Technology, merged with Wayne Industries. Wayne was now an old man, and took little interest in day-to-day operations. In the mean time, Powers shifted the company into shady waters. Despite a weapons embargo, he set up a deal for a dangerous nerve gas with Kaznia. An employee, Harry Tully, found out and passed the information along to his co-worker, Warren McGinnis. Tully later died from exposure to the nerve gas.

Desperate to retrieve the information, Powers set his assistant Mr. Fixx to kill McGinnis and make it appear the latter was the victim of the Jokerz gang. However, Fixx did not obtain the disc of information, which had been earlier found by Warren's son Terry. Terry gave the disc to Bruce Wayne, whom Terry discovered was once Batman. Terry would take up the guise of Batman to avenge his father's death.

In the confrontation with Batman, Powers was exposed to the nerve gas himself. In order to fight the effects, he underwent a nuclear radiation therapy that had a side effect in that it gave his skin and muscles a toxic green color. He would mask this appearance with a special synthetic skin.

The radiation took its effect, and after the "Blight" side of his powers was exposed, he went into hiding. Only his assistant, Miss Winston, knew of his whereabouts - Powers hid in an old nuclear sub that would conceal his own radiation. After following her, Batman fought Blight and the submarine sank in the ensuing battle. Blight's body was never found.

Blight

The return of Blight

It would be more than a year before Blight resurfaced, revealing his mutated state had eliminated any need for food, sleep, or even oxygen. His increasing energy levels finally allowed him to burn his way free and make his way back to shore, only for him to discover he was growing increasingly unstable and his body beginning to lose cohesion. He sought out one of his old doctors, who he coerced into making him a special containment suit. Blight, growing increasingly insane, attempted to ruin Wayne Enterprises so he could buy controlling interest in the stocks cheaply, but his actions once again drew Batman's attention.[1] In the ensuing battle, Blight's containment suit was damaged. Unsure whether or not the slime leaking from the suit could still be called "alive", a HAZMAT team gathered the slime in a radiation-proof container and took it to a lab for further testing.[2]

Powers

  • Radiation Production: Powers was transformed into a living nuclear hazard. He gave off dangerous amounts of radiation even passively that made it lethal to be near him, let alone touch without some form of protection. He had no control over this.
    • Energy Projection: Powers could manipulate this radiation for various effects. At first, he could only project this radiation from his hands as energy beams or fireballs. As his powers grew increasingly unstable, he was able to emit wide range waves of radiation.
    • Thermokinesis: His powers also caused him to be extremely hot in the literal sense. Powers was incapable of feeling the cold, and his touch could sear even metal.
    • Self-Sustenance

Abilities

  • Business Management
  • Marksmanship: Before his mutation, Powers did not demonstrate any notable abilities other than being somewhat of an expert marksman, easily shooting one of Batman's batarangs with a gun at one point. Ironically, his expert marksmanship also proved to be his weakness during this time as Batman exploited his marksmanship and muscle memory to trick him into getting himself exposed to his own nerve gas.

Other Characteristics

  • Illness[1]
  • Mental Disorder: As his powers grew, Derek Powers' condition slowly ate away at his mind, regressing his mental condition. This caused him to suffer heightened aggression or lower rationality, making him quick to anger and eventually leading to murderous fits of rage under the slightest provocation.
  • Monstrous Appearance


  • After becoming Blight, Powers' body seethed with radiation that made him resemble a glowing, living skeleton. He used synthetic skin to conceal his disfigurement.
  • As Blight, Powers has no eyes or hair.

Related

External Links

Footnotes


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Batman Beyond Villain(s)
This character is or was primarily an enemy of Batman Beyond. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Beyond Villains."
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