Deathtrap

Background

Powers and Abilities

Deathtrap is a highly experienced mercenary, terrorist and paramilitary type. He’s a large, strong man, a superb gunfighter, a demolition expert, an excellent athlete, a forceful and crafty leader, a smart tactician, etc.. He’s even able to pilot advanced fighter aircrafts such as Gamorran Vipers.

He’s worked for many unsavoury parties, giving him many contacts, a broad experience in paramilitary, terrorist and Super-Powered Being (SPB) combat… and tremendous wealth. Deathtrap is very robust and wears a bulletproof costume.

Advertisement

Though he knows how to use all sort of close-combat weaponry (even including medieval swords), Deathtrap prefers ranged combat – he’s better with a gun.

Deathtrap owns a large medieval castle complex on the West coast of Ireland. It might be an inheritance, though. The castle is decorated with medieval stuff, such as coats-of-arms and melee weapons.

Superhuman powers, part 1

Deathtrap is a Seedling  (a mutant). His power is to make weapons appear into his hands – they’ve been called psi-guns, psi-swords, etc.

Though it’s a bit hard to say, our best guess is that these weapons are teleported in from caches. Such a cache was seen in Ireland, and Deathtrap indicated that it was so well-hidden and secret that even Razer did not know where it was. This implies that this cache was a very important resource for O’Brienn.

There’s an implication that the weapons are telekinetically built on the spot. In many cases they seem to be weapons that are commercially available in, say, Gamorra.

Superhuman powers, part 2

Beyond making weapons appear and disappear in his hands, Deathtrap has two related abilities. Originally these seemed to be throwaway comments in a sourcebook, byt they later were demonstrated in a primary source .

• He can telekinetically manipulate these weapons. For instance he once teleported in two pistols which materialised in the air in front of him, floated in the air and fired on their own, using Deathtrap’s normal Weaponry score. This telekinetic ability is a bit of a trade secret for Deathtrap, who seldom uses it so he can surprises even opponents with files about him.
• He can augment the power of his weapons, either through telekinesis or because they are charged with energy after they teleport. In DC Heroes RPG terms he usually spends an Automatic Action to allot his APs of Power Reserve when the weapon comes in (and usually to Projectile weapon if it’s a gun).
  Observation does confirm that his weapons are more powerful than ordinary models.

History

Like most Irish characters in American super-heroes comics, Seamus O’Brienn’s background revolves around the I.R.A.. Specifically, he joined the Irish Republican Army  at a young age, was trained in combat and demolition, and soon proved highly adept at those

O’Brienn had a romantic relationship with Lorna, a female officer in his cell. Lorna was killed in the premature detonation of a bomb intended for London, leaving him emotionally devastated.

His involvement with the organisation drastically receded. O’Brienn eventually cut off ties as he saw that his youthful ideological fervour increasingly made him an odd man out.

Empowered

In his early career as a mercenary, O’Brienn clashed several times with one of Scotland Yard’s top agents, Nigel Keane. The feud became very personal and in 1986 O’Brienn managed to ambush Keane as he was visiting a museum with his girlfriend Anne. The mercenary used a pair of swords on exhibit to kill Anne and fatally wound Nigel.

At this point the Earth was hit by radiation from the passing Halley comet, triggering the emergence of Seedlings. Keane was mutated, which saved his life. He would eventually become Stormwatch’s Hellstrike. Keane swore that he would kill O’Brienn, no matter what.

As to O’Brienn, he was also mutated, and would eventually develop psionic powers and the identity of Deathtrap.

As his rep developed and he started wearing a super-villain costume, Deathtrap kept escalating his fees. He eventually recruited other costumed and powered operatives, which he assembled as the MERCs. Reputed as being willing to do anything for the right price and being vile, cold-blooded killers, the MERCs worked for various governments, criminal organisations, and conspiracies.

MERCs

During the early 1990s, the MERCs came to be considered as one of the top mercenary groups. They worked for such concerns as the Cabal or Kaizen Gamorra, killing many people and making a lot of money.

The earliest known case of the MERCs likely greatly contributed to establishing their rep. In early 1991, Stormwatch Prime (then the only active Stormwatch post-human unit) was deployed in Kuwait to prevent the destruction of oil refineries by an Iraqi task force in the waning days of the war.

Made cocky by their success against conventional forces, half the unit walked right into a ambush set by the MERCs. The super-mercenaries captured Flashpoint, Nautika and Sunburst. The MERCs swiftly flew out and delivered their captives to the Cabal’s Lord Defile, who started a long-term brainwashing process on them so they’d eventually become his moles within Stormwatch.

The pipes, the pipes…

Like many other wanted individuals, the MERCs headquartered themselves in the rogue nation of Gamorra. They had a number of undocumented clashes with Battalion and Stormwatch. A ferocious grudge developed between Deathtrap and Battalion.

In 1993, the MERCs were seen clashing in Sarajevo with Battalion’s unit, made up of new Stormwatch agents – including Hellstrike. The Cabal had hired the MERCs to capture Seedlings for their plans and Windsor, an U.N. agent and friend of Battalion, was evacuating a Seedling child and a number of other children from Sarajevo on a bus.

The Stormwatch rookies managed to foil the MERCs, and Deathtrap spitefully killed Windsor before they left.

Days later, the MERCs attacked Battalion and other Stormwatch personnel during Windsor’s funeral service. They somehow knew that Battalion’s younger brother, Malcolm, was a potential Seedling, and shot him with a plasma rifle.

…the pipes are calling

When the blast did not incinerate Malcolm, Stormwatch activator Synergy realised that he was a latent Seedling. She was forced to activate him against his brother’s wishes so he wouldn’t be kidnapped by the MERCs. Stormwatch reinforcements forced the MERCs to retreat without their prize.

In late 1993, once the three kidnapped Stormwatch members were thoroughly brainwashed, Gamorra authorised Deathtrap to arrange for Stormwatch to recover them. That Nautika, Flashpoint and Sunburst were still alive and held in Gamorra was leaked to Stormwatch. The MERCs engaged the Stormwatch strike force when it arrived to recover the prisoners.

They were again defeated, and ordered to cease pursuit after Stormwatch recovered the POWs and left Gamorra. Though that subterfuge was frustrating for Deathtrap, the plan had been executed on without a hitch. The three sleeper agents were now among Stormwatch, and Gamorra had a clear case of hostile action taken by the U.N. within its borders.

Furthermore, during the assault, Deathtrap managed to practically kill Hellstrike with a synaptic scrambler hidden in his gloves. Hellstrike remained comatose for weeks, and eventually decohered into energy. However his friend Fuji and the engineers of Stormwatch managed to help him stabilise into an energy being.

The summer’s gone…

Meanwhile, Flashpoint started realising that something had been done to his mind. He began to hunt down the MERCs while they were isolated, hoping to make them talk. After Flashpoint killed Kilgore in Bangkok, Lord Defile hired the rest of the MERCs to pull the plug on Flashpoint.

The MERCs ambushed Flashpoint as he ambushed Hellslayer. They would have killed him but for the intervention of Nautika and Sunburst. Flashpoint was about to force Deathtrap to talk when he was zapped by Nautika, who thought her colleague was about to kill the mercenary. Nautika let Deathtrap go, since her priority was to get her husband Sunburst to a hospital.

At this point, Deathtrap had begun experiencing a mid-life crisis. He found his existence and wealth sterile and felt depressed. Various comments made by Razer, Flashpoint and Nautika aggravated his doubts. He seemed to be considering stopping his activities and turning his life around.

Around this point Razer dumped him and started a relationship with Flashpoint. Flashpoint’s brainwashing had been activated and who was now a secret ally of the MERCs and Kaizen Gamorra.

However, the irresponsible and inappropriate actions taken by Savant’s WildCATs under Tao’s influence forced Deathtrap to react. In particular, the “heroes” killed the villain H.A.R.M., then ambushed the mourners (including Deathtrap) at the funeral service in a cyber-church.

…and all the flowers are dying

Furious, Deathtrap organised the super-criminals throughout New York City to strike back at the WildCATs, resulting in a gang war throughout the city.

Things kept going out of hand until Deathtrap and his MERCs (including two unnamed women in armour) took Grand Central Station, holding numerous hostages and preparing a trap for the WildCATs. The trap was Overtkill – an enormous, extremely powerful cyborg.

Even with Overtkill, things might have gone south as reinforcements (including Mister Majestic) kept coming and turned the tables. However, as they were having a gunfight, Deathtrap and Grifter realised that the whole gang war had been the result of manipulations, and they called for a truce.

When the heroes realised that they all had been used as puppets by Tao, Deathtrap and his allies just left and told them to handle their own problems.

From glen to glen…

Deathtrap was soon contacted by Kaizen Gamorra to accompany him on a quick mission – an offer he couldn’t refuse. O’Brienn took Hellslayer with him, and they escorted the tyrant in retrieving Cyberjack. This operation was successful.

Weeks later, during the “Fire from Heavens” events, a large coalition of heroes stormed Gamorra Island where the MERCs, like many other reprobates, were headquartered. Gaizen demanded U.N. protection against the thoroughly illegal invasion and got it, with Stormwatch and Stormforce being sent in to break up the fight. The MERCs then arranged to be detailed to fight alongside Stormwatch.

It was all a ploy, as they expected to turn on their allies at a critical moment and have Flashpoint unexpectedly switch sides.

It didn’t go well. The joint Stormwatch/MERCs task force ran into tougher invaders than planned. They held, but Hellslayer and Brutus were wounded and had to drop out of the fight. Then, Flashpoint cracked. His longstanding jealousy toward Battalion caused him to snap and attack the rest of Stormwatch well before the plan called for it.

Battalion was forced to kill him. Nevertheless, Flashpoint’s ranting before his death exposed Deathtrap’s plan. The only two MERCs standing, Deathtrap and Razer, were then surrounded by Stormforce. Fed up with it all and made volatile by his ongoing mid-life crisis, Deathtrap opened fire nevertheless.

He and the startled Razer were brought down by massed less-than-lethal fire.

…and down the mountain side

Despite this, the MERCs managed to escape in the chaos after a tsunami hit Gamorra Island. At this point, though, Deathtrap was in the throes of an actual depression. He retired in his Irish castle, drinking too much and contemplating what sort of man he was and what his life had been.

Seeing him as a major security risk, Kaizen Gamorra ordered his death – and of course he chose to send the MERCs to do the deed. Razer, Hellslayer and three new recruits (plus a number of zombots) came to kill their former leader.

At the exact same time, Hellstrike also attacked the castle. Though Keane had passed on an occasion to execute the unconscious Deathtrap in the middle of the Gamorran battle, he now regretted it. Thus, Hellstrike was back for O’Brienn’s blood, using a tracer Tao had given him several months before to locate his nemesis.

The new MERCs interrupted Keane’s assault on O’Brienn. It soon forced the two enemies to ally. Not only did O’Brienn explain that he wished to put an end to the vendetta between him and Keane, but to everybody’s surprise he found himself unable to gun down Razer after Hellstrike prevented her from killing her ex-lover.

But come ye back when summer’s in the meadow

Hellstrike was briefly left alone with Deathtrap. He aimed O’Brienn’s own gun at the merc’s temple, with O’Brienn not resisting. Stormwatch forces came in to stop Hellstrike, and his friend Fuji managed to talk Hellstrike out of murdering Deathtrap. Deathtrap was arrested, and apparently remained in prison for close to a decade.

In 2006, Deathtrap was seen again, in costume and serving as a murderous mercenary. What happened is unrevealed, as are his reasons for reverting to type. He was present when Lord Defile, the Walking Ghost and Slaughterhouse Smith proposed an alliance to a number of freelance criminals and mercenaries, to capitalise on the receding hero presence.

The meeting was accidentally interrupted by two policemen. All hell broke lose, with the situation quickly becoming the worst super-powered massacre in the history of New York City. During the catastrophe, Deathtrap killed Stormwatch agent Blademaster and at least five Stormforce troopers.

Another Stormforce man, Agent Mendoza, realised Deathtrap’s weakness. He shot Deathtrap’s pistols, hurting the mercenary badly and forcing him to flee.

Deathtrap hasn’t been seen since. It is unrevealed whether he survived the Armageddon.

Description

Officially, O’Brienn is 6’6” and 230 lbs.. But he’s seldom actually drawn that tall.

Deathtrap has the Claremontian Comic Book Irish accent, me lasses an’ boyos, though it was not portrayed in a coherent way during his appearances.

Personality

Deathtrap is a ruthless, cruel killer who forms vendettas against his enemies. He will insist on stalking his hated foes and spitefully killing their loved ones to make them suffer. He’s once described as having an “insatiable psychic thirst for pain and suffering”, but this aspect of the character is never mentioned again.

He doesn’t cope very well with his bloodlust being frustrated. Thus he is likely to punch random pieces of equipment and furniture in frustration when he doesn’t get to kill someone.

Deathtrap seemed to enjoy his rep as a man who’d stop at nothing. He never hesitated to strike using low blows. But after he got depressed, O’Brienn came to resent anybody behaving like that. Presumably that angered him by reminding him of his most despicable excesses.

Deathtrap acts in a completely cold manner toward his allies. To him they’re purely and openly well-paid pawns. He didn’t have any apparent feelings even for Razer, who was sharing his bed. If they got killed, that was their problem, not his. And beside it just meant extra money for the survivors.

Dangerous

Still, he leads his forces well, never pointlessly endangering them. He also seems to have some sort of low-key respect for successful mercenaries and criminals like himself. For instance he felt a minor connection with Grifter due to his past, whereas to O’Brienn other heroes were just interchangeable idiots.

When he entered his mid-life crisis subplot O’Brienn was downright depressed, even passively suicidal on occasion. The lamentable behaviour of Savant’s WildCATs still roused him to outrage and action with his old ruthlessness and professionalism, though he sounded oddly… cheerful and caustic when so doing.

Eventually he just brooded. It’s possible that he never tried to escape after he was arrested as he felt that he deserved it.

Quotes

“Give us any trouble, Battalion, and his condition could deteriorate… body part by body part.”

“Questions, questions, questions. That’ll be the death of ye, Flashpoint.”

“All right, boyos — an’ Hellslayer — Kaizen wants the old cripple in one piece. Other‘n that… use your imagination.”

“Aaah, talk sense, will ye ? Why would I want to go and do a thing like that, now ? It’s the only decent bar in New York !”

“I turned my back on the war, the cause, an’ my country. Now my auld mates are murderin’ innocents, an’ as fer me… the only cause I serve nowadays is money.”

“Now dinnae be thinkin’ that this is some kind o’ warm an’ fuzzy moment, ’cos it isnae.”

By Nicolas Lemaçon and Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Wildstorm Universe.

Helper(s): Hartley C. Holmberg, William A. Peterson, Philip J. Mason, Capita_Senyera, Darci.

Writeup completed on the 7^th of June, 2010.