Peter Merkel, Jr. (Prime Earth)

Peter Merkel, Jr.
Mainstream Universe‎‎, 2011‎-present
Gallery
Real Name	Peter Merkel, Jr.
Relatives	Peter Merkel, Sr. (father)
Affiliation	Secret Six · Suicide Squad
Base Of Operations	Belle Reve · formerly Gotham City, Arkham Asylum
Status
Alignment	Bad
Identity	Secret Identity
Citizenship	American
Marital Status	Single
Occupation	Assassin
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	5' 11"
Weight	73 lbs (33 kg)
Eyes	Grey
Hair	Red
Origin
Universe	Prime Earth
Creators	Gail Simone · Dale Eaglesham
First Appearance	Batman: The Dark Knight Vol 2 #1 (November, 2011)
Appearance of Death	Suicide Squad Annual Vol 5 #1 (October, 2018)

Hush little baby - don't you cry. Life's a bitch. And then you die.

— Rag Doll

History

Peter Merkel, Jr., better known as Rag Doll, is an assassin that operates in Gotham City. Rag Doll's signature ability is his extreme contortionism, which he uses to strangle his opponents with his own limbs.

Rag Doll was imprisoned in Arkham Asylum and was one of the first batch of inmates that was drugged with Bane's enhanced Venom formula. Even though he and a handful of other inmates escaped, he was quickly put back in jail but not before he slaughtered a few prison guards.

At some point, Rag Doll was transferred to Blackgate Penitentiary prior to the Crime Syndicate invading Earth. When the villains seemingly killed the Justice League , Bane freed the prisoners of Blackgate and used them as his soldiers against the Arkham Asylum inmates who claimed the city for themselves in Batman's absence, in what would be called the "Arkham War". Rag Doll alongside Bane and helped secure the victory for Bane and his Blackgate crew.

When Batman returned, Rag Doll evaded capture long enough to acquire a job to track down some friends of Batgirl. This put him at odds with the vigilante, but, after some hand-to-hand combat, he managed to escape with his mission complete.

Suicide Squad

Rag Doll is sent along with others to capture Cadence Laramie, but he is killed by ghosts.

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

• Contortionism
  • Acrobatics

Weaknesses

• Mental Disorder

Notes

• Rag Doll (Peter Merkel, Jr.) was created by Gail Simone and Dale Eaglesham, first appearing in Villains United #1. However, in the rebooted Prime Earth continuity his first appearance as part of the DC Universe is in Paul Jenkins and David Finch's New 52 Batman: The Dark Knight series.

Related

• 21 Appearances of Peter Merkel, Jr. (Prime Earth)
• 7 Images featuring Peter Merkel, Jr. (Prime Earth)
• 2 Quotations by or about Peter Merkel, Jr. (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Peter Merkel, Jr. (Prime Earth)

Footnotes

Batman Villain(s) This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."

Suicide Squad member This character is or was a member of the Suicide Squad, a team of imprisoned super-villains who perform high-risk missions for the U.S. Government in exchange for commuted sentences, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Suicide Squad members" category.