Batroc

Origin

Georges Batroc was born in Marseille, France and served in the French Foreign Legion. During his time in the French Foreign Legion Batroc learned the art of Savate. Driven to be nothing less than the best, he trained endlessly, pushing his limits until he was capable of performing acrobatic acts that would put the world’s best gymnasts to shame. Batroc incorporated these gravity defying maneuvers into his fighting style earning him the moniker “the leaper”. Because of the reputation his hard work had earned him, A.I.M. chose him to acquire a cylinder of Inferno 42 (a powerful incendiary). This would not prove easy as the cylinder was originally stolen from A.I.M. by agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Batroc intercepted Sharon Carter, before she could deliver the cylinder. His attack on Agent Carter caught the attention of Captain America (Steve Rogers). The opportunity to test himself in combat against Captain America delighted Batroc, as he had long admired his exploits. Unfortunately for Batroc the fight did not go his way. After the battle was over, Batroc helped Captain America track down the fleeing Agent Carter before the Inferno 42 went off destroying New York in the process. Once they caught up with her, Batroc stole the canister and returned to his A.I.M. handlers. Batroc did not realize he had been followed by Captain America. Once again they were locked in combat. During the fight the A.I.M. agents fled, soon followed by Batroc once he found himself again on the losing end.

Character Creation

Batroc made his first appearance in Tales Of Suspense #75, 1966. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Character Evolution

Seeking revenge Batroc accepted a contract on Captain America put out by Hydra. To lure Captain America into his trap he kidnapped Sharon Carter, hoping to use her as bait. During the battle agents of Hydra opened fire on Captain America. This dishonorable attack infuriated Batroc, who turned on his handler’s and helped Captain America save Sharon.

Batroc would eventually band together other mercenaries to accomplish different missions. He would call this group , Batroc’s Brigade.

Through the years he has came into conflict with several heroes.

Batroc sought out the help of Captain America after Zeitgeist was killing off costumed heroes, including Machete, in South America, only to find out that Cap had less than 24 hours to live. He asks Batroc to reform as a last request. Batroc agrees to do this, but returns to his criminal ways when he discovers that Captain America had never actually died.

Batroc was put into conflict with the new Captain America ( Bucky Barnes) when he was hired by The Man With No Face to find the location of and steal the remains of the original Human Torch, Jim Hammond.

Major Story Arcs

Day of the Defenders

Sagittarius and Libra would direct a band of villains which included Batroc to pose as Defenders to restore the delicate balance of cosmic justice by creating co-equal chaos. Batroc alongside Porcupine, Whirlwind, Beetle, Electro, the Looter, Plantman and the Blob are lead by Sagittarius to steal loot from the Diamond District when they are confronted by Hercules and his group of Defenders which included Black Goliath, White Tiger, Iron Fist, Captain Ultra, Havok and Hellcat. A brawl occurs between the two groups on the streets and White Tiger engages with Batroc until the police arrive. Both leaders of each group tells the police that they are the true Defenders and the other are just imposters. Sagittarius and his group flee the scene and Batroc leads them into the subway to escape. The true Defenders give chase and fight once more inside the subway tunnels until the Beetle breaks into a subway car. The imposters flee but the Defenders catch up to them due to Captain Ultra’s scanner vision. Hercules stops the train and another fight occurs. Hellcat is grabbed from behind by the Blob and begins to choke her out. Hellcat begins to panic and unleashes a psychic backlash that takes out Batroc and the entire roster of both groups.

Eurohit

The Kingpin would hire Batroc, Snakebite, Rapido and a computer hacker named Chauffard on a venture where he planned a hostile takeover of the European crime organizations and use a tunnel that serviced the main Chunnel link to smuggle arms and illegal goods into Britain. The Kingpin and his crew would come into conflict with the Punisher, Morgan Sinclair, Microchip and Nigel Higgins throughout Europe. Rapido, Chauffard, Snakebite and Batroc were also the Kingpin’s hit squad and they were responsible for the elimination of any European cartel members that opposed the Kingpin. Batroc failed to kill the Punisher and Morgan in Italy but the Kingpin’s hit squad would strike again in Spain. Sinclair took the Punisher to a man named Senor Cardenas who was a leader of a Spanish syndicate and close friend to Sinclair’s uncle. Cardenas hired the mercenary known as Tarantula for protection against the Kingpin. Batroc and the hit squad attacked Cardenas at his home where he was killed but the Punisher, Sinclair and Tarantula escaped. The Kingpin would assemble a meeting of all the major players from each European crime syndicate at the Omni Tower in London where he planned to kill them and replace the leaders with men he has infiltrated during the past year into each syndicate. Batroc and the rest of the hit squad would infiltrate the building dressed as security personnel and they were ordered to kill the syndicate leaders. Punisher, Outlaw and Tarantula entered the building through various locations and Tarantula discovers that the security guard he was suppose to take out turns out to be Batroc. Batroc and Tarantula engage in a serious fight where the Leaper claims to be far superior than his Spanish counterpart. Batroc kicks Tarantula through a window and gloats over Tarantula as he struggles to keep his grip on a ledge before meeting certain death several stories below. Tarantula laughs and tells Batroc to look at his chest. Batroc realizes he was slashed by Tarantula’s foot blade coated with venom so the French mercenary flees the building in search of an antidote.

Deadline

A rookie reporter named Kat Farrell from the Daily Bugle is investigating the deaths of several capes and comes to a secret place called the Hospital in Chinatown where masked individuals or capes see Dr. Pow to tend to their injuries. Batroc is being attended to by Dr. Pow as he removes one of Hawkeye’s arrow from his right leg.

Who is the Black Panther?

Klaw employs several super-powered mercenaries including Batroc, the Black Knight, Radioactive Man and the Rhino during his attempted siege of Wakanda. Klaw and Batroc would infiltrate the royal palace of Wakanda and hold Queen Mother hostage as her son, the Black Panther fights the Black Knight. T’Challa is triumphant over the Black Knight but Klaw tells the Black Panther to kill himself or his mother will die. T’Challa knows Klaw will not stay true to his word when S’yan enters the room dressed as the Black Panther along with two members of the Dora Milaje. S’yan engages with Klaw while Batroc takes on both women warriors of the Dora Milaje. Batroc manages to take down one Dora Milaje but is struck down by the other and tied up. Klaw blows off the leg of S’yan in combat but is eventually defeated by T’Challa and Wakanda reigns triumphant over the attempted siege.

GLA Misassembled.

Batroc reappears with Zaran and Machete as Batroc’s Brigade when they are hired by Maelstrom to steal a device from the Roxxon Corporation. The Brigade would come into conflict with Grasshopper as they attempt to steal the device. The Great Lakes Avengers come and assist Grasshopper against Batroc’s Brigade but the leaping hero is killed by Zaran when a dagger strikes him in the head. The distraction allows Batroc and his allies to escape with the device. Maelstrom would order Batroc’s Brigade to protect him against the GLA while he used his powers to activate the machine. The machine is finally active but its power is tremendous and is capable of destroying the entire universe. Batroc, Zaran and Machete are eventually defeated when Mr. Immortal convinces Maelstrom to kill himself.

Civil War

During the Civil War, Batroc would be captured by members of the Thunderbolts. Batroc registers under the Superhuman Registration Act and joins the Thunderbolts Army. The Thunderbolts had to fight off cities filled with civilians who were suddenly empowered when the Grandmaster opened up the Wellspring of Power. The Thunderbolts were broken up into numerous squads and sent to various locations throughout the world. Batroc was part of the Epsilon squad which also consisted of the Zaran, Whiplash, Bushmaster, Cobra and Tatterdemalion. This group was responsible of maintaining order in Tokyo.

X-Men: To Serve & Protect

Batroc would steal the Josephine Diamond from the American Museum of Natural History but another master thief and X-Man known as Fantomex takes the diamond from his clutches. Batroc follows Fantomex as they jump and fight from various rooftops for the precious diamond. Fantomex keeps insulting Batroc and calls him the jumping bunny for having great leaping abilities. Fantomex gains the upper hand and kicks Batroc into a building wall as the X-Man crashes through a window with the diamond in his grasp. Fantomex realizes that he landed inside a police precinct and agrees to return the diamond in the name of the X-Men. Batroc gets the last laugh and calls Fantomex a jerk.

Neighborhood

Misty Knight has reopened Heroes For Hire and has assigned Paladin to track down a major shipment of an illegal Atlantean narcotic called Hook. Paladin discovers that Batroc was hired to protect the drug shipment for his employers and a fight ensues. Batroc injures Paladin during their fight and breaks several of his ribs when he kicks him onto a moving car. Misty Knight hires Spider-Man to help out and the web-head hitches a ride onto the delivery truck to a secret warehouse. Batroc and his Brigade attack Spider-Man and tells him he will be part of the main event inside the arena. Batroc leaves the arena and reveals that Spider-Man’s competition is an old enemy, Scorpion alongside several Raptors from the Savage Land. Batroc sits with the crowd that consist of players in the criminal underworld as they enjoy watching Spider-Man fight for his life. Batroc tells his employer, the Purple Man that the potential clients are impressed with the set up and will be more inclined to purchase his merchandise. Paladin infiltrates the arena and protects Satana as she conjures up a banishment spell to neutralize the soldiers armed with demonica weaponry. As that occurs, Misty Knight finds Batroc in the crowd and all hell breaks loose. The banishment spell is a success and Spider-Man takes down Batroc as he attempts to flee.

One Night In Madripoor

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers attends an international weapons expo in Madripoor where Rogers in disguise recognizes an old friend named Kashmir Vennema. Rogers tells Stark that something is different about her as she mingles with people on the floor. A demonstration takes place that gets the attention of the crowd when a man presents a copy of the Harvester Protocol which is a virus that can render technology useless. The demonstrator suddenly gets a blade go through his right hand and that’s when Batroc and his new Brigade appear which consist of Zaran, Rapido and a female Machete. Rogers turns off his image inducer and produces a hard light shield when Batroc kicks him in the head. Batroc is on a tight schedule and sees Kashmir Vennema with the Harvester device. Vennema tells Batroc that she is the one paying him and his crew and gives the leaper a mission code. The parameters of his mission has changed and Batroc is offered double his pay to ensure the safety of Vennema. Batroc accepts and kicks Iron Man as he enters the showroom. Vennema activates the Harvester device and it begins to corrupt Iron Man’s armor, disabled Captain America’s light shield and takes control of the Pym-Stark Myriad Engine and its production of hornet drones.

King In Black

Recently Kingpin recruited Batroc to his new Thunderbolts team as part of a plan to stop Knull. The group ultimately accomplished very little against the Symbiotes, but faked their own deaths and pulled a fast one on Kingpin, staying together as a mercenary group and extorting Kingpin for jobs.

Powers and Abilities

Batroc possesses no superhuman powers whatsoever. However, and despite his flamboyant persona, he is widely considered one of the best unarmed fighters in the entire world. He is a former member of the foreign legion, so he is trained in military tactics, weapons usage and military fighting techniques. He is also an accomplished thief and mercenary.

On the side, Batroc became the absolute master of la Savate, the french form of kickboxing, to the point he is considered the finest savateur in the world.

Batroc has trained his body extensively to the peak of human condition. He is an Olympic-level weight lifter and can lift 500 lbs, he has been observed bringing down walls with a kick, and can perform standing jumps of around 10 ft with great dexterity and ease. His combination of unbelievable agility and foot-fighting style is most renowned and has gained him the moniker “Batroc the Leaper”.

A long-time rival of Captain America, Batroc has faced him in a multitude of occassions, and though he has never defeated him, he, as he would say: “…But I have fought him”. Other notable confrontations include Bucky Barnes as Captain America, Mr. Hyde, Iron Fist and Spiderman, who once even commented that Batroc was almost as fast as he was. He has also defeated Beast in his original form.

Though adverse to using unfair advantages, Batroc is trained in a multitude of weapons via the Foreign Legion, and at times has been known to carry a pair of whip-canes, with which he is most skillfull, and claims to be able to kill a man in three strikes with them.

Alternate Realities

House of M (Earth-58163)

Batroc is a member of the Hood’s incarnation of the Masters of Evil in this universe. He joined in on all of the Hood’s heists. When he was briefly incarcerated along with a few other members by Wolverine’s Red Guard, the Hood made good on his word that he would break them out of captivity if the situation ever happened. He was also present at the liberation of Santo Rico from Jeffries brothers and was one of the few who decided to remain and join the Hood in his defense against Magneto’s overwhelming forces after claiming that the revolution gave him a new meaning in life. He was last seen fighting one on one against Toad and being the first to fall.

Ultimate Marvel (Earth-1610)

This version of Batroc is a notorious French jewel thief and martial artist. While pulling off a robbery in New York, he and his crew are stopped by the new Spider-Man.

Other Media

Film

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

French-Canadian UFC fighter Georges St-Pierre portrays Batroc in the film Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He is described as being Algerian, rather than French, in the film. Like his depiction in “Who is the Black Panther?” this version of Batroc does not wear a costume or mask.

Batroc appears in the opening of the film after hijacking a S.H.I.E.L.D. freighter and taking its crew (including agent Jasper Sitwell) hostage, threatening to kill them unless he receives a billion dollar ransom. Captain America, the Black Widow, and Brock Rumlow are sent in to apprehend Batroc and rescue the prisoners. Prior to being apprehended, He surprises and engages Captain America in a one on one fight although he was easily defeated and knocked unconscious after Captain America adjusted to Batroc’s fighting style. After regaining consciousness, he attempts to escape by throwing an explosive at Captain America and Black Widow as the two were having an argument about Natasha stealing S.H.I.E.L.D files within the freighter. He is later captured by Alexander Pierce and brought in for questioning, but is seen to remain silent during interrogation. Nick Fury later reveals he hired Batroc to hijack the ship to give him an excuse to send Black Widow on board so she could steal files while there.

Television

• Batroc appears in the Captain America segment of The Marvel Super Heroes.
• Appears in The Super Hero Squad Show episode “Stranger From a Savage Land”, voiced by A.J. Buckley.
• Appears in the Black Panther: The Animated Series, voiced by JB Blanc.
• Appears in Ultimate Spider-Man, voiced by Rob Paulsen.
• Batroc appears in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with George St-Pierre reprising his role. He has resumed his mercenary activities after escaping from prison, and develops a personal grudge against the Falcon after the hero thwarts one of his schemes.

Video Games

• Batroc appears in the video game The Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America in Doctor Doom’s Revenge as a boss character.
• The movie version of Batroc appears in Avengers Alliance as a boss character, sporting his movie appearance.
• Batroc appears as a randomly-spawning mini-boss in the Industry City Patrol challenge of Marvel Heroes 2015.
• Batroc appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel’s Avengers.

Merchandise

• Batroc was featured in The Classic Marvel Figurine Collection from Eaglemoss Publications.
• Bowen Designs produced a Batroc bust.
• Batroc was featured in the HeroClix figure game in both his comic and movie incarnations.
• The movie version of Batroc was featured in Diamond Select’s Minimates line as part of a two-pack with Jasper Sitwell.
• Hasbro released a Batroc figure for the Marvel Legends Thanos Build-a-Figure wave.