Copperhead (New Earth)

Copperhead is a master contortionist and escape artist. He adopted a snake motif and decided to use his talents to commit crimes.

History

His first recorded adventure came when he disguised himself as an old man and attempted to steal the tiara from a wealthy dignitary visiting Gotham City. This earned him the attention of Gotham's guardian, Batman, but Copperhead succeeded in stealing the tiara and evading capture.

Batman teamed up with Batgirl and Wonder Woman to set a trap for Copperhead using the Golden Casque of Montezuma as bait. Copperhead encountered the heroes, but once again managed to escape. Soon after, he succeeded in capturing Wonder Woman at Gotham Park and brought her back to his lair. Batman and Batgirl tracked him down, rescued Wonder Woman, and Copperhead was arrested.^[1]

Copperhead was later invited by Manhunter Paul Kirk to join the Secret Society of Super-Villains. To test Copperhead's worthiness, he partnered him with Gorilla Grodd and instructed them to break into a scientific research station housed within a lighthouse on San Francisco Bay and steal a sample of Plutonium. While Grodd dealt with the guards, Copperhead stole the Plutonium, but Grodd betrayed him, taking the element for himself and leaving Copperhead behind to be arrested. While in jail, Copperhead was broken out by Lex Luthor in exchange for leading him to the Sinister Citadel so he could become the new leader of the Society. Copperhead then stuck with the group even after Luthor left, helping them pull off a series of robberies. During this time, Copperhead developed a conflict with his fellow Society member Wizard, who thought that the group's leader Funky Flashman was taking all the Society's money for himself. While at first disagreeing, Copperhead later began to doubt Flashman, and eventually realized that he was indeed using the Society's money for his own uses. Copperhead then abandoned his fellow members Gorilla Grodd and Star Sapphire on a mission because of this reason, never to rejoin.^[2]

Copperhead was later hired to assassinate an important French finance minister in Paris. Fortunately for the minister, the Elongated Man had been visiting Paris at the time and prevented Copperhead from fulfilling his contract. The villain known as Warp helped Copperhead to evade arrest.^[3]

Soon after, Copperhead and Warp teamed up with an Italian criminal named Il Calamari and had rematch with the Elongated Man at the Pan-European Economic Conference. They nearly defeated the hero, but his Justice League Europe teammate, the Flash arrived and together they were able to turn the tables on Copperhead and his cohorts.^[4]

Later, Copperhead was hired by gangster Ira Gamboli to kill shyster business manager Rex Leech over some money that was owed to him. Copperhead traveled to Hawaii and attacked Rex outside the Compound. Rex's client, Superboy fought against Copperhead and Saved Rex's life.^[5]

Shortly thereafter, Copperhead encountered the demon Neron, who bestowed upon him the powers of a true Copperhead snake. Copperhead's body and mind became less human and more like that of a predatory animal.^[6]

Copperhead returned to Hawaii to get revenge on Superboy and nearly beat him. He even succeeded in piercing Superboy's near-invulnerable skin. As Copperhead closed in for the kill, Superboy succeeded in pushing him off a cliff.^[7]

Copperhead survived and joined a new incarnation of the Suicide Squad under Cameron Chase, to infiltrate a Russian army base. However, Copperhead and his fellow Suicide Squad members betrayed her, saying that the only reason they were on the mission was to find someone to deactivate their collars and then return home. The group succeeded in their plan, despite Chase surviving. Before he left, Copperhead said that he hoped to meet her again.^[8]

Copperhead continued to evolve and became a vicious serial killer who consumed his victims after slaughtering them. He was eventually captured and placed on trial in a Los Angeles criminals court. Prosecuting the case was district attorney Kate Spencer. Copperhead received a verdict of not guilty by way of genetic anomaly and was sentenced to be taken to a Metagene research facility in Death Valley. Copperhead escaped during transport and managed to murder several more people. Upon hearing of Copperhead's escape, Kate Spencer adopted the guise of the Manhunter and fought with Copperhead in the sewers beneath Los Angeles. She used her power baton to blast a hole through Copperhead's head, killing him. At the time of his death, Copperhead had managed to murder more than forty-eight people.^[9]

Copperhead is later revived along with many other dead heroes and villains as a member of the Black Lantern Corps. He attempted to attack The Flash with them but failed. Later, Copperhead appeared attacking Coast City with other Black Lanterns. Here, he was killed again by Green Lantern when he destroyed his ring.^[10]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Unique Physiology: After selling his soul to Neron, Copperhead was transformed into a monstrous snake-like humanoid. In this form, Copperhead possessed a prehensile tail, claws, and fangs that could secrete deadly venom.

Abilities

• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)
• Contortionism: Prior to his pact with Neron, Copperhead possessed the ability to bend and flex his body to extreme degrees. After his transformation into a snake-creature, he became even more flexible.
• Swimming: Copperhead trained himself to swim "swiftly and silently" like his namesake.^[1]
  

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Snake-suit: Constructed from a unique weave of experimental metallic and elastic fibers, the snake-suit is coated with a polymer film that enables Copperhead to slither through impossibly small spaces and makes him almost untouchable. The snake-suit is also capable of being stretched to great lengths, giving Copperhead added support as he scales sheer walls. The fangs in the snake-suit's helmet are also coated with a highly toxic venom that can cause paralysis and death.
• Suction Cups: Copperhead used a set of suction cups attached to each of his fingers to climb sheer surfaces.^[1]
• Transmitters: Copperhead created small one-way radios shaped like a viper's head on a suction cup that could act as either speakers or hidden listening devices.^[1]

Notes

• Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
  

Trivia

• He collects Transistor Radios.^[11]

Related

• 64 Appearances of Copperhead (New Earth)
• 14 Images featuring Copperhead (New Earth)
• 5 Quotations by or about Copperhead (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Copperhead (New 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."

Justice League Villain This character is or was primarily an enemy of the Justice League, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Justice League Villains."

Secret Society of Super-Villains member This character is or was a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, a cadre of super-villains who band together to accomplish feats no one super-villain can do alone, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Secret Society of Super-Villains members" category.

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.

Black Lantern Corps member This character is or was a member of the Black Lantern Corps. Those who have died may wield the Black Power Ring, symbolizing their lack of both life and emotion. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Black Lantern Corps members category."

Injustice League member This character is or was a member of the Injustice League, a villainous counterpart to the Justice League, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Injustice League members" category.