Origin
Hardcore was a Caribbean born mercenary who became a trained assassin and expert weapons specialist. He was hired by Cruz Bushmaster as his head henchman.
Creation
Hardcore was created by Marc McLaurin and Dwayne Turner in 1992 and first appeared in Cage # 1.
Major Story Arcs
As an employee of Cruz Bushmaster, Hardcore was responsible for training and supervising the Untouchables – sending them out on missions on behalf of his criminal overlord. He first came in contact with Luke Cage when the superhero was based in Chicago, also running into Dakota North when attempting to gain information on Cage’s past.
During that attempt, Hardcore sent in Kickback, Nitro and Tombstone (the Untouchables) to fight Cage and capture Dakota North. However, Kickback chose this time to attempt a rebellion which proved unsuccessful. Hardcore blew up the Black Hole in Colorado after almost killing Luke Cage.
Some time later, Hardcore held Luke Cage, his father and brother along with Dr. Noah Burnstein prisoner in St. Croix, the Virgin Islands where Bushmaster was based. It was there Hardcore told Cage it was he who had persuaded Mickey Hamilton to work against the hero and oversee the superhuman powers given to his employer, Bushmaster. Hardcore and Luke Cage came to blows and soon after, Hardcore was killed in an explosion when the car he was driving fell into water, caused by the detonation of his own manrikisas.
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Powers and Abilities
Hardcore was an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, and a master of traditional Japanese weaponry – most particularly manrikisas. The nails on one of his hands were medically augmented to give him the ability to slash through some of the toughest of metals. He was extremely fit and possessed upper tier human strength and durability.