Adrian Chase

Adrian Chase is the second fictional character to use the moniker "Vigilante"that appears in American comic books published by DC Comics.

Adrian Chase
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceNew Teen Titans #23 (September 1982)
New Teen Titans Annual #2 (August 1983; as Vigilante)
Created byMarv Wolfman
George Pérez
In-story information
Alter egoAdrian Chase
Team affiliationsCheckmate
Notable aliasesVigilante, Prometheus
AbilitiesBrilliant marksman
Superb hand-to-hand combatant

Josh Segarra portrayed the character on The CW's live-action TV series Arrow.

Publication history

Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciler George Pérez, Adrian Chase first appeared in New Teen Titans #23 (September 1982) and as the antihero Vigilante' in New Teen Titans Annual #2 (August 1983).

After his initial appearance, the character gained his own ongoing Vigilante series, initially written by Wolfman and later included writers such as Alan Moore and Paul Kupperberg.

Fictional character biography

Adrian Chase was a New York City district attorney unlike his father Charles Chase. He sought justice his own way as the Vigilante after his wife Doris Chase and their children were killed by mobsters.[1] Adrian was initially shown taking pains to make sure he did not kill his enemies (unlike the Punisher) and would regularly use non-lethal weaponry to disable his opponents.

Throughout the Vigilante series, Chase was tormented over the justice of his actions and the pain brought to others. Chase flirted with abandoning his Vigilante identity after he savagely beat an ex-convict who turned out to be innocent. Eventually, Chase did abandon his Vigilante identity, believing that he could be both more effective and happier as a judge. But during his absence, the Vigilante identity was assumed by two of his friends (fellow judge Alan Wells and then bailiff Dave Winston respectively) without his knowledge.

But after Wells killed a police officer and in the wake of Winston's death at Peacemaker's hands, Chase once again assumed the Vigilante role, believing it was the only way to protect his loved ones. However, his experiences with Welles and Winston had damaged his fragile psyche beyond repair, causing him to adopt more vicious tactics in his war on crime. Seeking revenge on Peacemaker, the out of shape Adrian gets beaten in a fight and unmasked on live TV, thereby ending Chase's secret identity and forcing him even further into the Vigilante role.

Eventually, Chase became ever more conflicted over the violence he engaged in and the harm he caused to those around him. He also became increasingly mentally unstable—alternating between bouts of enraged violence, paranoia and terrible remorse for his actions. Near the end, he even resorted to murdering innocent police officers who got in his way. His mounting guilt culminated in Chase contemplating the course of his life and then committing suicide.[2]

Before his death, he frequently battled Cannon and Saber and Electrocutioner.

Adrian makes an appearance in the Day of Judgment limited series, as one of the dead heroes in Purgatory. He and the others run interference, battling the guardians of the realm, so other living heroes can escape with the soul of Hal Jordan. When the crisis concluded with Jordan assuming the Spectre mantle, Jim Corrigan appeared briefly on Earth, stating that the efforts of Chase and other heroes in Purgatory had earned an appeal in the shining city.[3]

It is been revealed recently that Adrian is the brother of Dorian Chase.

Powers and abilities

As the Vigilante, Adrian Chase is a superb hand-to-hand combatant, a brilliant marksman, and a master of the lariat. He also possessed the ability to heal quickly and regenerate his body from injuries as serious as stabbings or gun shot wounds, although he was capable of dying if the injuries were severe enough.

In other media

Television

Josh Segarra portrayed Adrian Chase's live-action debut on The CW's Arrow as two different depictions.[4][5][6][7]

  • The character's Earth-1 version, as season five's main antagonist, was born Simon Morrison while primarily appearing as the supervillain Prometheus while retaining his comic counterpart's occupation as a district attorney and a marriage to Doris Chase.
  • The character's Earth-2 doppelgänger operates as the Hood in the final season. Oliver Queen looks for Dwarf Star particles for the Monitor on Earth-2 but stumbles upon a crime scene and encounters the Hood and Black Canary (Earth-2). He learns that Tommy Merlyn (aka the Dark Archer) has stolen the particles and plans to destroy the Glades. Oliver teams up with Adrian and Black Canary and successfully stops Tommy's plan. When Earth-2 is destroyed by an anti-matter wave, Adrian's fate left unknown.
gollark: Yes, just edit the stars.
gollark: Did you try under your sofa cushions?
gollark: Did you find some sort of arbitrary graph generator?
gollark: That's kind of the point...
gollark: Efficient bus lane enforcement.

References
  1. Vigilante (1983) at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived July 19, 2015, at WebCite from the original on July 19, 2015.
  2. Vigilante #50 (February 1988). DC Comics.
  3. Day of Judgement #5. DC Comics.
  4. Bryant, Jacob (March 2, 2017). "'Arrow' Finally Reveals Prometheus' Identity (SPOILERS)". Variety. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  5. Mitovich, Matt Webb (March 16, 2017). "Arrow Recap: The Chase Is On, as Prometheus Arc Shifts Into High Gear". TVLine. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  6. "Arrow Recap: Hugs, Not Drugs — Plus, Do You Agree With Oliver's Decision?". tvline. April 12, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  7. "Arrow brings back Colin Donnell, Josh Segarra for final season appearances". entertainmentweekly. July 12, 2019.
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