Blackout II

Context

Blackout is an early, recurrent, yet somewhat generic foe of the Ghost Rider (Daniel Ketch). He first appeared in 1990.

Blackout starts as a dreadful mass murderer. When he appears, things tend to get completely out of hand and result in a large body count.

Then the character underwent several evolutions, with the apparent intent of turning him into a plain jobber  then an ineffectual joke. As a result, this profile is sequenced into three parts:

1. Blackout (Lilin) – profile #1.
2. Blackout (Lilin) – profile #2.
3. Blackout (Lilin) – profile #3.

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Background

Powers and Abilities

Being a second-generation Lilin, Blackout’s blood is diluted. Nevertheless he is superhumanly powerful, with great strength and agility. He apparently could run fast enough to shadow Dan Ketch while the latter was riding his bike at high speeds through Brooklyn. Blackout also could make impressive jumps.

Blackout is a particularly savage warrior, who often goes for the throat. He also seems skilled in some basic martial art (perhaps judo). As a result, he will usually use throws and — in DC Heroes RPG terms — Laying Back against opponents stronger than himself.

Blackout’s jaw is cybernetic, with vampire-like dentition. Normal people punching him in the mouth or lower face can easily hurt their hand. With his artificial mouth, Blackout is strong enough to tear human throats with his teeth. He also sports steel claws on his fingers. Where the implants stop and the Lilin powers start is unclear.

Blackout was immune to the pain caused by Deathwatch’s scans. This might hint at a general resistance to telepathic assault, but this is hypothetical at best. He also commented he could smell blood from a long distance away, which seemed to be true. And he could resist chemical interrogation due to his altered physiology.

Blackout has low-level superhuman recuperative powers. Yet he was barely aware of them since they take months (if not years) to repair major tissue damage.

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History

Blackout is one of the Lilin. These are the quasi-demonic children of the mystical entity Lilith. Lilith us not to be confused with several other characters bearing that name, including the daughter of Dracula.

Like most Lilins, he was not entirely aware of his heritage, and made his living at the fringes of society. He lived as a combination of underworld mercenary, mob associate and serial killer.

Bloodthirsty monster

Blackout was apparently a successful contract killer, whose profession slowly pushed him off the brink of sanity. He used his earnings to receive vampire-themed implants, including a cybernetic jaw equipped with steel fangs. The body modifications accelerated his descent into bloodthirsty insanity. This made him an inhuman monster and enhanced his innate power over darkness.

As he obsessed over his self-image as a creature of blood and darkness, Blackout arguably became worse than most actual vampires.

The Lilin became the top contractor for the crime lord Deathwatch. There was a symbiosis of sorts. Deathwatch fed off the supernatural energy clinging to murderers after they killed, and Blackout was immune to the terrible pain normally caused by Deathwatch feeding.

Insane in the brain

In 1990, Deathwatch became fixated on recovering canisters full of mutated bio-toxins. These had been lost in the Cypress Hills cemetery.

Deathwatch made Blackout was his chief investigator. This resulted in dozens of torn bodies. Blackout tortured and killed every person who had seen the canisters, and anybody living with them.

Using information gained by murdering a police officer and his family, Blackout went on to kidnap and torture a young member of the Cypress Pool Jokers. The Jokers were a youth gang based in the cemetery. The Lilin briefly clashed with the Ghost Rider before escaping.

Blackout then joined Deathwatch and a cadre of his ninja. They stormed a police station to recover a key witness. The “investigation” progressing, they then attacked the headquarters of the Jokers.

Disfigurement

The reckless carnage angered the Kingpin. As a result, his Arranger assembled a large group of gunmen who came to confront Deathwatch, Blackout and their ninja at the cemetery.

Deathwatch decided not to press the issue, but Blackout went berserk. He slashed open the throat of the leader of the Kingpin’s men, then went for the canisters. Opening those would likely eradicate all life in the New York City tri-state area and beyond.

As the situation degenerated the Ghost Rider attempted to stop the nimble Blackout. The Lilin bit his infernal opponent, triggering an explosion. The Hellfire destroyed his face and melted the canisters into inert goo.

Despite the pain, Blackout shadowed the Ghost Rider after he left. This is how he witnessed him turn back to human form and identified him as Dan Ketch.

The Lilin launched a demented crusade to slaughter everybody Dan Ketch knew, from the newspapers seller in front of his building to the priest at his church. In particular he located Ketch’s sister Barbara, who laid comatose, and butchered her in her hospital bed.

The Rider and Blackout eventually clashed in the Morlock tunnels. That came after Blackout killed the Morlock Pixie and several of her adoptive mutant children, whom the Rider had just encountered. The maniacal Blackout triggered a cave-in in the hope of killing both himself and his enemy. They were separated by tons of rock – but both survived.

Return to Deathwatch

Blackout escaped into the sewers, where he remained for weeks. He was more unstable than ever and hid his disfigured face. During that time, he slaughtered dozens of people, mostly in Central Park above. He dragged the corpses into a single underground chamber, in an attempt to draw the Ghost Rider (then detained by Johnny Blaze) to him.

The Lilin was eventually contacted by Deathwatch, and agreed to resume working with him. That was in large part because Deathwatch told him he could get his face fixed in time. Still, Blackout hated the supernatural crime lord and blamed him for his disfigurement.

The two creatures plotted to eliminate the Ghost Rider. However, things went awry. The mercenary team H.E.A.R.T., which Deathwatch had recently contracted, learned about the people whom Blackout had massacred in Central Park. This resulted in a four-way confrontation between Ms. Meagher (the leader of H.E.A.R.T.), Johnny Blaze (hunting the Rider), Blackout and the Ghost Rider.

Witnessing the evil of Blackout, both Meagher and Blaze sided with the Rider. The Rider wrestled Blackout to the ground and ordered Blaze to fire at him. The discharge of hellfire from Blaze’s shotgun hit both combatants. This triggered a further explosion of hellfire from the Rider’s wounds. The he combined blasts further damaged Blackout’s face.

The Lilin was mauled into unconsciousness by the Rider and left for the police to take in.

The Firm, part 1

Blackout was later procured by the criminal organisation called the Firm. They wanted to capture the Ghost Rider to study him. The Firm held Blackout in a special straight-jacket until they reached an agreement. He would capture Ghost Rider for them. In exchange the Firm would use their advanced technology to restore his face, which no normal surgery could do.

As the Firm expected, the Lilin betrayed them. He slaughtered two of the men tracking him and tore his tracking implant away from his ear. Blackout then proceeded to track Dan Ketch down.

Calling Ketch on the phone, Blackout gave him the rules of the “game”. He would kidnap various friends and relatives, and Ketch was welcome to try and stop him. But the Lilin would would kill everyone if he turned into the Ghost Rider.

Blackout fatally wounded the desperate Ketch by ripping out his throat with his mechanical fangs, but from the dying Ketch the Ghost Rider arose. Hell-bent on killing Blackout the Rider gave chase despite the interference of the police.

The Firm, part 2

The intervention of Stern, an invulnerable Firm agent, resulted in the Rider catching up with Blackout in Central Park. The Spirit of Vengeance regained his composure before he would kill his opponent. Instead, he let Stern and Blackout trapped in a stone sarcophagus, fighting but unable to kill each other.

The Rider was now unable to transform back into Ketch, fearing his human host would die from his slashed throat if he did. Meanwhile, Blackout and Stern decided to ally and broke free.

The Rider had been throwing killers into a mausoleum after they had been subjected to his Penance Stare. That was the same mausoleum where he had trapped Stern and Blackout. Thus, Blackout slaughtered all the prisoners there then confronted the nearby Ghost Rider. The Spirit of Vengeance was hallucinating as Ketch was dying inside him. He then appeared to die.

Confused and receiving visions of the return of Lilith, Blackout decided to leave to join her. The Lilin indistinctly perceived that Lilith was his grandmother. Blackout used Stern as a human shield to run through a NYPD blockade, as the cops were surrounding the last known location of the Ghost Rider.

Return of the demon mother

Blackout the second Lilin to answer the call of Lilith, Queen of Evil, Mother of Demons. He came after Creed but before Meatmarket, Nakota, Doc, Fang and Pilgrim. Even though his killing instinct and desire for revenge were hard to control, he was part of the team of Lilins sent to abduct Craig and Emma – Johnny Blaze’s children.

A motley assemblage of mystical adventurers, the Midnight Sons, eventually defeated Lilith and the Lilin in the Arctic Circle. Lilith was forced to feed off the life-force of the Lilin around her to survive, seemingly killing them all.

But Blackout would return.

Description

Blackout considered himself to be attractive before he was disfigured. This was probably true, though the vampire fangs were a problem.

Personality

Blackout is a psychotic mass murderer. He revels in any opportunity to slaughter defenceless civilians. He must have butchered hundreds.

He nonetheless sees himself as a smooth, professional and efficient hit-man. Blackout takes pride in his efficiency and competence when carrying out mob contracts. This psychopath has delusions of elegance, though his competence is not imagined.

Blackout preferred to retreat from any fight where he risked defeat, as he was attached to his perceived classy image. He was the #1 fan of his elegant, vampire-like face and elaborate coiffure.

He also acted smug and arrogant, since few persons could physically threaten him.

Bestial

The Lilin is extraordinarily aggressive. He’ll almost never back down. He will react with blind rage to anything he might perceive as humiliating, such as being ordered to back down.

Blackout revels in the darkness. His joy is destroying light (and, metaphorically, life), a pursuit which he apparently sees as purifying the world in a quasi-religious manner. The opportunity to trigger the death of millions was intoxicating for him. As a result, he was willing to die so he could extinguish so many “lights”.

Like most serial killers, he prefers killing women. He will often use terms of endearment before he massacres them.

After his disfigurement

After he was disfigured, Blackout loses his pretentious insistence on being a smooth operator oozing with power and class. He becomes much more animalistic and obsessed by gratuitous carnage. He also pathologically fixates upon taking his revenge on Dan Ketch/Ghost Rider. His only higher priority is serving Lilith.

Still, Blackout is keenly aware of the amount of force necessary to destroy the Rider. He knows that even he cannot achieve that alone.

Blackout’s hatred for his disfigured hideousness initially reached a self-destructive intensity. Thus, he tried to kill both himself and the Rider in revenge, since they were both “too hideous to live”. This has receded, but he’s likely to react adversely to characters with horrible looks, unless they are Lilin.

Quotes

(After slaughtering a family to obtain information) “Sometimes, I do so love my work ! And I’m so good at it too !”

“Aside from his death, the good detective provided me with the means to track down those present at the junkyard. Perhaps I can persuade them to cooperate with us.”

“I should have known better than to trust that man. Deathwatch was a man of vision. Only when the world if purged of all light will it be purified.”

“Ah, sweet darkness has fallen. But not dark enough. Darkness has always cloaked my body and my soul — and it was always good. Now darkness is needed to cloak my face. My beautiful face. My face !”

“You mustn’t race around in the dark, dear — you never know what you might run into !”

“It is said that ‘home is where the heart is’, Edward. Allow me to show you your home !”

(Calling Ketch on the phone in the middle of the night) “I cannot tell you how pleased I am that you recognise my voice. I am touched. Truly I am. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that everything is fine between us, Dan. No hard feelings. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for the wrong I have done to you in the past. Good-bye, Daniel.” (hangs up, rings again a few seconds later).  “Just kidding ! I’m coming for you Danny, real soon ! But first, I’m going to kill someone close to you. Tonight. But look at the bright side — your sister, Barb, will have company. Ah, Barb ! There was a tasty little number, huh, Danny ? Ta-ta !” (hangs up).

(Having visions of Lilith’s return) “Ghost Rider ? You’re alive ? It doesn’t matter. None of this matters. She’s coming. She’ll give me what I want. I’ll be able to cast off this human shell I was born into.”

DC Universe History

Blackout II would fit in the DCU along with Night Force, perhaps as an assassin hired to kill Baron Winter.

As a twist, he could be what’s left of Vince Velcro, the vampire from the Creature Commandos, after decades of degeneration.

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Marvel comics (mostly Ghost Rider).

Helper(s): One illo from rapsheet.co.uk .