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The Ten-Eyed Man was an enemy of Batman.
History
Philip Reardon served as a soldier in the U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam until he was honorably discharged after a grenade fragment hit him between the eyes. He returned to civilian life as a warehouse guard. One night, he was knocked out by thieves who had planted a bomb to blow up the warehouse. When Batman arrived at the scene, Reardon had recovered, but his vision was blurred. He mistook Batman for one of the thieves, and attempted to battle him. By the time he did recognize Batman, the warehouse exploded and Reardon's retinas were burned, which impacted his war injury and blinded him permanently in both eyes. A brilliant doctor named "Engstrom" reconnected his optic nerves to his fingertips, enabling him to see through them. Reardon blamed Batman for what had happened to him, and under the identity of "The Ten-Eyed Man" tried to take his revenge on him. After some difficulty, Batman subdued Ten-Eyed Man. By the time Batman had found Dr. Engstrom, he discovered that Ten-Eyed Man got away.[1]
Ten-Eyed Man later hijacked a plane to Vietnam, and held the passengers hostage until the Batman agreed to meet him. He led Batman through a cat-and-mouse game in the jungle, using the weapons his platoon had left there during the war as traps. At the end he tried to blind Batman with a chemical grenade as his final revenge, but Batman quickly captured him right afterwards. Batman had been watching his fingers throughout their whole confrontation, and thought to cover his eyes when the Ten-Eyed Man put his hands behind his back.[2]
It has been shown he can only be kept in a jail cell by keeping his hands locked in a special non-see-through box, because with eyes on his fingers, "escape would be child's play for him," although precisely how this would be the case was not elaborated upon. Because of his indisputably unique abilities, the Ten-Eyed Man was employed by persons unknown as the only villain worthy to attack Man-Bat.[3]
The Ten-Eyed Man is often easily defeated simply by injuring his sensitive "eyes"; i.e., by tricking him into catching or touching something. Or theoretically giving him a high-five.
The Ten-Eyed Man was killed by the Shadow Demons during the Crisis on Infinite Earths and his existence was subsequently erased from history, although he was later recreated by the Psycho-Pirate along with many other characters who were wiped out by the effects of the Crisis.[4][5]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Enhanced Vision: Can see out of all of his fingertips allowing him a 360° field of vision.[1]
Abilities
- Military Protocol
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Trained as a US Special Forces Soldier fighting in the Vietnam War, has abilities that would develop as such.[1]
- Firearms: Reardon is an expert at armed combat.
- Aviation
Other Characteristics
- Blindness: Conventional eyes are blind.[1]
- Hands are extremely vulnerable.
- Because his "ten eyes" don't have eyelids, Ten-Eyed Man has to wear gloves when sleeping.[2]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Ten-Eyed Man used a jet pack when he fought Man-Bat.
Weapons
- Ten-Eyed Man once used a latex gun on Man-Bat.
Notes
- This version of the Ten-Eyed Man, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
Trivia
- The Ten-Eyed man was killed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, reportedly at the specific request of Marv Wolfman, among a list of characters he wanted to kill first.[citation needed]
Related
- 6 Appearances of Philip Reardon (Earth-One)
- 2 Images featuring Philip Reardon (Earth-One)
- 1 Quotations by or about Philip Reardon (Earth-One)
- Character Gallery: Philip Reardon (Earth-One)
Footnotes
  Batman Villain(s) |