Copperhead (DC Comics)
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| Copperhead | |
 Copperhead's first appearance |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Brave and the Bold #78, June (1968) |
| Created by | Bob Haney (writer) Bob Brown (artist) |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Unknown |
| Team affiliations | Secret Society of Super Villains Suicide Squad |
| Abilities | Supreme contortionist. Prehensile serpentine tail. Secretes deadly poison. |
Copperhead is a DC Comics supervillain, he first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #78, June (1968) and was created by Bob Haney and Bob Brown.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
The criminal known as Copperhead first appeared in Gotham City in a snake costume. He committed numerous thefts before finally being apprehended by Batman and the first Batgirl. Copperhead then turned to more deadly pursuits as a super-assassin, constricting victims to a suffocating death with his costume's tail. During this time, he would become obsessive about his target and think of nothing until the target was dead, which proved to be a weakness at times as he would ignore anything he did not consider immediately relevant. Copperhead used the travel opportunities his freelance career afforded him to pursue his hobby of collecting transistor radios.
Although a master contortionist, Copperhead was largely powerless without his snakeskin costume. He later sold his soul to the demon Neron in exchange for more power, being transformed into a deadly Snake/Man hybrid. He was later killed by Manhunter, Kate Spencer.
Teen Titans #56 featured a team of villains called the "Terror Titans", legacy villains whose mantles are inherited from older villains. One of the members shown is identified as Copperhead and appears visually as the character prior to the deal with Neron. The story did not reveal any information about the character or provide context with regard to previous stories.
[edit] Powers & abilities
- Copperhead's contortionist skills allow him to fit himself into incredibly small spaces (such as chimneys). He originally wore a snake-themed costume. The suit was a weave of metallic and elastic fibers coated in vulnerable points (such as the chest) with Kevlar, making it bulletproof and impenetrable to almost any cutting edged weapon. The costume had been treated with a highly slippery water- and heat-proof silicon gel, allowing Copperhead to slide along any surface and slip out of tight spots. The tail could be stretched several feet and was strong enough to snap bone and shatter stone. The suit's helmet contained two seven-inch-long fangs which were capable of piercing human skin, and were coated in a potent neurotoxin derived from copperhead snakes. The toxin could paralyze a person almost instantly, and death would follow within 30 minutes.
- Later, the original Copperhead sold his soul to the demon Neron and was transformed into a human-snake hybrid. His reflexes and agility were greatly increased, and he gained venomous fangs, a forked tongue, claws, and a prehensile tail.
- The new Copperhead is mentioned by Clock King to not have any superpowers, meaning that he may only be a contortionist.
[edit] Other media
- The original Copperhead has appeared in several episodes of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, voiced in his first episode by Efrain Figueroa, and every following appearance by Jose Yenque. He has been on both Lex Luthor's and Aresia's Injustice Gang, and was a member of the expanded Secret Society shown on Justice League Unlimited. During the mutiny within the Legion of Doom, he sided against Luthor, and was subsequently both frozen solid by Killer Frost and apparently blown up by Darkseid. This Copperhead is similar to the comic version, with a poisonous bite and prehensile tail. Here, he seems to show some elements of "splicing", a term used in Batman Beyond to denote people who had their genes augmented with animal DNA. Copperhead has slightly serpentine features and a long forked tongue.
