| Batroc the Leaper | |
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Batroc the Leaper Art by Luke Ross |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Tales of Suspense #75 (March, 1966) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Georges Batroc |
| Team affiliations | Thunderbolts Batroc's Brigade Masters of Evil Legion Accursed |
| Notable aliases | The Leaper |
| Abilities | Savate and martial arts expert, Olympic level athlete |
Batroc the Leaper (Georges Batroc) is a fictional villain from Marvel Comics. His first appearance was in Tales of Suspense #75, 1966.[1] He is a mercenary and a master of the French form of kick boxing known as savate.
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Batroc's stereotypical accent ("Batroc ze Leapair"), and funny name (Batroc resembles "Batrachia", a older name for Anura, the animal class to which frogs belong), along with his clumsy vocabulary with which he has the tendency to insert whole French words (which are sometimes erroneous, ex. "mon capitan"), Dali-like moustache, lack of superpowers, and an apparent inability to win a fight have made him a very comedic character.
In later years, some writers have attempted casting Batroc in different light. In an issue of Mark Waid’s run on Captain America he was portrayed as a comical but highly talented martial artist capable of holding his own against Hawkeye and the Captain at the same time. In Ed Brubaker's Captain America, Batroc appears even more formidable, squaring off with the new Captain America twice and twice escaping with his prize intact (albeit it both times with assistance). Cap cites Batroc's martial arts style as a particularly dangerous one.
Sporting a new costume designed by John Romita, Jr., Batroc served as Klaw's top lieutenant in the first arc of the 2005 re-launch of Black Panther.
Georges Batroc was born in Marseille, France, and served in the French Foreign Legion. He is a French costumed mercenary who specializes in savate (also known as "La Boxe Française"), a form of kickboxing. Although he has primarily appeared in the pages of Captain America, he has also faced off against the Punisher, Spider-Man, Deadpool, Hawkeye, Iron Fist, and Gambit. Batroc has occasionally led his own team, "Batroc's Brigade", whose membership has changed over time. The group has primarily fought Captain America.
He has functioned as a member of Baron Zemo's Masters of Evil (one of the stronger recurring villain teams that plague the heroes of Avengers).
In Batroc's first appearance, he was hired by THEM to steal the Inferno-42 cylinder. He first battled Captain America during this mission. When Batroc introduced himself with typical bluster, Cap revealed, to Batroc's delight, that he had already heard of the mercenary: "Batroc the Leaper, eh? A master of la savate, the French art of boxing with the feet!"[2] Later, he was again hired by HYDRA and abducted Sharon Carter for them. He lured Captain America into a rematch, in which he insisted Hydra not intervene, and again lost; however, when Hydra agents prepared to kill both Cap and himself, Batroc, incensed at such "men wizout honair," switched sides to help Cap against Hydra.[3] In both of these stories, Batroc was regarded as a deadly combatant, his skill respected by enemies and employers alike.
Batroc was then hired by a foreign power to locate a "seismo-bomb" with the first known Batroc's Brigade (consisting of the original Swordsman and the Living Laser). Batroc battled Captain America again.[4] The Machinesmith's Baron Strucker android known as "the Hood" then hired a new Batroc's Brigade (consisting of Porcupine and Whirlwind) to battle Captain America.[5]
Batroc then formed a third Batroc's Brigade, which consisted of various unnamed henchmen rather than known supervillains since supervillains had failed Batroc in the past. The alien Jakar, concealing his true nature and intent, hired this group to abduct children from New York and to battle Captain America and the Falcon. Although Batroc felt no compunction about abducting children, upon learning Jakar's true nature and his intent to use the children's souls to revive his comatose race, he felt his "sense of honair" had been violated by the deception, and he again switched sides, aiding Captain America and the Falcon to rescue the children.[6] Ward Meachum then hired Batroc's Brigade, who battled Iron Fist and a ninja warrior, several Brigade members dying in the process.[7]
For a while after that, Batroc operated without a Brigade. Alongside an extra-dimensional demon ally, Batroc attempted a theft of transuranium, but was stopped by Captain America and Spider-Man.[8] Batroc was also a member of the ersatz "Defenders", a group of villains who were impersonating the actual Defenders. They committed robberies while posing as members of the Defenders, until stopped by a Defenders contingent.[9] Alongside Mister Hyde, Batroc attempted an extortion scheme against Manhattan. He battled Captain America, but when Mister Hyde decided to carry out the threat, which would kill thousands, Batroc, again showing that there were some lines he would not cross, aided Captain America against Hyde, saving the city.[10]
Batroc then formed a new, longer-lasting lineup of Batroc's Brigade - this one consisting of Zaran the Weapons Master and Machete. This team was first seen when Obadiah Stane contracted them to steal Captain America's shield and Batroc finally succeeded.[11] Trick Shot then hired Batroc's Brigade to battle Hawkeye.[12] Baron Helmut Zemo then hired Batroc's Brigade to acquire the fragments of the Bloodstone. They battled Captain America and Diamondback.[13] Alongside Snakebite, Batroc also battled the Punisher.[14]
Later, the Leaper showed up as member of a small army of villains organized by Klaw to invade Wakanda, which included Rhino, Radioactive Man, the Cannibal, and the villainous Black Knight. However, he was still ultimately defeated by Black Panther's royal bodyguards.
Batroc was next seen as an inmate of the extremely high-security prison The Cage. The prison sports a field that mentally suppresses inmates' abilities to use their superpowers. Wolverine states: "It doesn't matter how big you were on the outside. In here, combat experience is everything. Thugs like Wrecker and Thunderball might throw their weight around, but they'd never even dream of touching the big shots. Guys like Batroc and Kangaroo. Yeah, I know."
Batroc has a daughter who is teamed in villainy with the daughter of similar B-list supervillain Tarantula. Both daughters take their fathers' respective costumes and titles. The Taskmaster expresses his shock that Tarantula and Batroc are heterosexual before soundly beating the two villains' offspring, tossing them effortlessly off of a building, noting that he also "hates ethnic stereotypes."[15]
Batroc is mentioned to have faced the Runaways when he came to Los Angeles looking to take over after the deaths of the supervillain group known as the Pride. He was apparently defeated quickly, as he is referred to as "Batroc the Loser."
Batroc briefly served among the group of villains forcibly drafted into Baron Zemo's Thunderbolts army. However after returning to federal custody, Batroc registered with the Superhuman Registration Act[16][17] and was sent to a superhuman training facility located at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia to train recruits in martial arts[18] before being transferred over to Camp Hammond.[19]
Ultimately, however, Batroc found government work unsatisfactory and returned to his mercenary life, confronting the new Captain America while on a job to steal an item from the United Nations.[20] Also, he was working with The Man with No Face, a mysterious being from Captain America's past.[21] It is soon revealed that Batroc was stealing the remains of the original Human Torch for reverse engineering.[22]
Batroc has no superhuman abilities, but is in peak physical condition in every respect. He is an Olympic-level weightlifter and has extraordinary agility and reflexes. His leg muscles are particularly well developed enabling him to leap great distances with the equity of an Olympic athlete. He is an expert hand-to-hand combatant and specializes in savate (French-style kickboxing). He is also a skilled military tactician, having formerly been in the French Foreign Legion.
Batroc is also an experienced thief and smuggler, and can speak both French and English. Although, as a mercenary, he does not hesitate to perform any number of criminal acts for his clients, Batroc has, by his own rights, a strong sense of honor, and he will turn against any client whom he feels has unfairly deceived him into committing crimes to which he might not otherwise have agreed.
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