Peter Merkel, Jr. (Prime Earth)

Rag Doll
Mainstream Universe‎‎, 2011‎-present
Gallery
Real Name	Peter Merkel, Jr.
Main Alias	Rag Doll
Relatives	Peter Merkel, Sr. (father) · Unnamed grandmother
Affiliation	Formerly Legion of Zoom, Secret Six · Suicide Squad
Base Of Operations	Formerly Belle Reve · Arkham Asylum, Gotham City
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

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

History

Peter Merkel, Jr was the son of the original Rag Doll and followed in his father's footsteps, taking his contortionism to another level to commit crimes.

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.

Arkham War

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 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 a brief fight, he managed to escape with his mission complete.

Death

Rag Doll was recruited for a single mission with the Suicide Squad to capture Cadence Laramie, but he was seemingly killed by ghosts.

Legion of Zoom

Ragdoll would later be pulled from sometime in the past by Reverse Flash to join the Legion of Zoom. Together, they battled the Flash Family until the speedsters ran fast enough to create a vibrational frequency that sent Ragdoll along with all the other villains back to their respective points in the timeline.

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

• Acrobatics
• Contortionism
• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic): While Rag Doll isn't a particularly skilled fighter his contortion skills make him a vicious opponent able to fight for a prolonged time against the likes of Catman.

Other Characteristics

• Mental Disorder
  

Paraphernalia

Weapons

• Blades

Notes

• Peter Merkel, Jr./Rag Doll was created by Gail Simone and Dale Eaglesham, first appearing in Villains United #1. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Peter Merkel, Jr./Rag Doll first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Batman: The Dark Knight (Volume 2) #1 by Paul Jenkins and David Finch.

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

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

Flash Villain(s) This character, team, or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of any or all of the various incarnations of the Flash. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Flash 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.