A bat is struck by lightning from a supernatural Shadowpsear storm. The bat survives and bites the reclusive and unloved accountant, Stanley Swartzberg. Stanley dies and returns to life as a vampire-like creature.
The vampire creature Captain Cadaver, seeks out fresh blood and has a particular interest in the Elementals. He seems to prefer female victims over male, whether this be due to rejection issues from his previous life or a sick sense of perversion is unknown. It certainly seems the latter case as his internal monologues suggest a sick mind.
Captain Cadaver can no longer form words or sentences, instead communicating with the occasional grunt or garbled sound, none of which make sense. He does possess an intelligence though, as he mentally talks to himself in a crazed pattern sometimes using rhymes and quotes from media. His perception of the world is distorted as seen through his eyes, broken and dirty objects appear as shiny and new, yet living beings appear cadaverous.
Captain Cadaver has much of the same powers as vampires from most tales have. He can change shape from humanoid to wolf to bat to vapor. His body is remarkably resistant to most forms of injury and he is extremely strong. He can smell the blood of living creatures and thus track them down. He also demonstrated the power to mentally paralyze Fathom as if she was hypnotized just by looking into his eyes. Captain Cadaver later demonstrated the power to turn others into vampires as well and changed 250 people in Philadelphia into hungry walking undead.
His physique looks similar to a gorilla with large claws and a skull like face. It is unknown where he got his cape and costume from, as the spandex like suit with a smiley-vampire face is quite odd. It it possible that is made of ectoplasm like the Elementals and similar to Fathom’s initial costume, was what he thought a superhero should look like.
Captain Cadaver has a weakness toward fire. Also running water can apparently kill him and a wooden stake in his heart will keep him dead. It is unknown if he has other vampire-like vulnerabilities to crosses, holy water, garlic, etc.