Killer Moth
(Post-Crisis version)
Context
Killer Moth is a late Golden Age Batman villain, who appeared in 1951. Though he did have an elusive je ne sais quoi, it was faint indeed and he never caught on. Yet he kept returning in minor, scattered roles over the decades. Many of these appearances stem from his part in Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)’s origin.
Due to DC’s reboots and reinventions, we have articles about a surprising number of versions of Killer Moth. These are best read in order :
- Bob Kane’s Killer Moth on Earth-2 — start here
- The Pre-Crisis Killer Moth on Earth-1
- 1967 live action Killer Moth in the shelved Batgirl pilot
- The post-Crisis, New Earth Killer Moth — this here writeup
- Same guy, but after he became the monstrous Charaxes
Advertisement
Background
- Real Name: Drury Walker
- Other Aliases: Cameron van Cleer
- Marital Status: Unrevealed
- Known Relatives: None
- Group Affiliation: Partner of the Firefly, member of a group of misfits
- Base Of Operations: Gotham City
- Height: 6’2” Weight: 210 lbs
- Eyes: Brown Hair: Reddish brown
Powers and Abilities
He had a gun that could squirt a large jet of thick acid. A secondary tank held a burning liquid that exploded when it hit the ground (Flame Project, in DC Heroes terms) and another a knockout gas spray.
He’s an OK athlete and hand to hand combatant and can take a few blows. Since he didn’t replace his mothgun once he got out of prison and later depended on Calendar Man for gadgets, we can assume he had no technological skill.
For a brief period Killer Moth also had a cadre of goons with elegant suits (colour-coordinated with the mauve-ish Killer Moth costume) and moth-shaped sunglasses. They also packed handguns.
Advertisement
History
Drury Walker is a career criminal who once made a nice stash and discovered he greatly enjoyed being rich. Gravely over-estimating his abilities, he launched a daring plan to become a major player.
Walker conceived the costume and weapon of the Killer Moth and assembled a small band of goons. He had huge plans – to become the protector of Gotham’s underworld, the Gangland Guardian, the anti-Batman.
He would have a Mothmobile ! A Mothcopter ! A Mothcave ! A Mothjet ! Maybe even a Mothboat ! And criminals would summon him by shining the Moth-lantern on passing clouds !
When he pitched his ideas to his first prospect, crimelord Tony Bressi, he was laughed out the place. Stung by the humiliation, he decided that he would show his worth by robbing the Gotham Police’s Million Dollars Masquerade and kidnapping the richest man there, Bruce Wayne.
While he managed to take out Jim Gordon, he ran into unexpected opposition when Barbara Gordon, wearing a home-designed Batgirl costume she sewed up for the ball. The younger Gordon knocked the thugs out, and Killer Moth barely escaped her wrath. The spectacle of his defeat by a 110 lbs girl on TV destroyed the rep that… well, that he didn’t have anyway.
An association of insects, part 1
Things were looking bleak. Walker had no money left to maintain the large mansion he had bought under his Cameron van Cleer alias, as part of his unrealistic “gangland guardian” plan. Worse, he owed a lot of money to the mob, which he had no way to reimburse. Soon two enforcers beat Walker up to demonstrate the underworld’s displeasure.
When the Moth’s gang discovered that the Cocoon (a warehouse outfitted as a base – apparently he didn’t have a giant cavern handy) had been foreclosed, they left him in the rental van. Walker had to walk several miles under pouring rain to reach downtown, and stole a raincoat from a charity box.
Half-drunk, he started telling his life story to a stranger in a bar – special effects specialist Garfield Lynns. Lynns, a sociopathic pyromaniac, liked the story and decided to become Killer Moth’s partner. He created the Firefly identity, and armed himself with a flame-thrower of his own design.
The re-energised Walker was quite puffed-up about having an insect-themed partner. But he quickly came to realise that Firefly was scary, crazy and much, much more dangerous than Killer Moth would ever be. Soon, Firefly torched a mob-connected bar and inflicted bad burns to underworld boss Mr. Bressi’s hands while Walker was busy panicking.
An association of insects, part 2
As a retaliation, bressi sent two mercs dressed like Firefly and Killer Moth to kidnap Jim Gordon, who was hurting the Bressi mob by taking down corrupt cops. Bressi’s plan was to get rid of Gordon and send the GCPD chasing after Killer Moth and Firefly to get rid of them as well.
However the insectile duo got wise, and tailed their impersonators. Meanwhile, Batgirl and Black Canary pursued the kidnappers. In the end Jim Gordon was rescued, and the impersonators were incinerated by Firefly.
Killer Moth and Firefly were on a roll. They made their presence known by torching a GCPD precinct house on the following night. But Batgirl managed to stop their getaway. They were captured by Batman and Robin – bringing their criminal jaunt to a screeching halt.
Moth-eaten
After a stay in prison and being separated from Lynns, Killer Moth was out of steam. He was but an excruciatingly minor threat. Perhaps as an attempt to recapture his (relative) glory days he tried to kidnap Bruce Wayne again – with dismal results.
Admitting that he wasn’t getting anywhere, Walker banded up with other misfits – Catman, Calendar Man, and a Texan named Chancer. The band had an ambitious plan – to kidnap the mayor, the police chief and multimillionaire Bruce Wayne (again !) for a $10M ransom.
Killer Moth was pretty much the leader of this sorry group. He had the plan ruthlessly executed, leaving the hostages to die without telling his co-conspirators. But the intervention of Robin (Tim Drake) and a repentant Texan convict made it possible to rescue the hostages. Killer Moth was arrested once again.
Several months after this, the incarcerated Killer Moth was visited by Neron, and sold his soul to become Charaxes.
Description
The mauve-ish costume was his initial costume ; the green-ish one is the last he wore before becoming Charaxes.
Personality
Killer Moth seems somewhat bipolar. He alternates between hyperactive phases where he has big, grandiose projects and feels like he’s a major menace, and mopey phases where he realises that he’s a loser.
He likes to use moth puns and general insect references in his lines. His plans are usually OK, and are likely to work if there is no super-hero intervention.
After his first few defeats, he became aggressive, bitter and brutal. He was definitely a killer, and acted as ruthlessly as possible to be viewed as a true, real threat.
Quotes
“You’re cocooned, babe !”
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Killer Moth
| Dex: 04 | Str: 03 | Bod: 04 | Motivation: Power |
| Int: 03 | Wil: 03 | Min: 03 | Occupation: Criminal |
| Inf: 03 | Aur: 02 | Spi: 02 | Resources {or Wealth}: 003 |
| Init: 010 | HP: 015 |
Skills:
Vehicles (Land): 04, Weaponry (Firearms, heavy, exotic): 05
Advantages:
None demonstrated.
Connections:
Street (Low), Firefly (Low).
Drawbacks:
Secret Identity, Uncertainty.
Equipment:
- Mothgun [BODY 04, Acid: 06, Knockout gas: 05, Flame project: 04 (Scattershot), Ammo: 07, Limitation: Note : Knockout gas has an area of effect of only 0 APs and a Range of 1 AP, Note : for simplicity’s sake the Ammo comprises all Powers – it applies to the gun as a whole and the Powers don’t have individual Ammo scores to keep track of ; Note : the Mothgun was also once used to launch a airborne no-landing extraction line].
- A Mothmobile was briefly seen, but it seems that it was just a car with some body work ; ditto for the Mothcopter.
- Once he got out of prison, he replaced the mothgun with a double-barelled sawed-off Shotgun [BODY 04, Projectile weapons: 07 (Diminishing), Range: 02, Ammo: 02, R#04, Recommended STR: 03 Advantage : Scattershot, Limitation: Projectile weapons has No Range – use the Range given next instead, Drawback: Long reload time. Note : EV can be raised to 08 Diminishing by shooting both barrels at once, expending two Ammo and increasing Recommended STR to 04].
- Calendar Man provided special shells for the shotgun (a Flash: 05 shell, and a stun dart shell with Poison touch: 08 (Bashing)) but Killer Moth couldn’t make any on his own.
- He also added IR GOGGLES [BODY 02, Thermal vision: 05, Do nothing: 06] to his helmet at that point.
Source of Character: Bagirl : Year One and other batbooks.