King Snake

Origin

Edmund Dorrance went from the London slums to a captaincy in the Royal Artillery of the British Army by his 24th birthday. His rise through the ranks was suspicious, and charges of blackmail were rumored but never formally made. It was as a soldier of the Queen that he came to Hong Kong, where he used his rank as means of smuggling illegal goods from Asia to the ports of Europe. Over time he became a mercenary and was blinded in battle with soldiers. He was never caught for his crimes and left a young woman who he had gotten pregnant for him to rot in prison for his crimes; this child would become Bane.

He moved on to Japan and used a cover as a business man to cover for his new life of complete crime. He would go on to recruit the Ghost Dragons gang to do his bidding. His crimes came to a halt thanks to Batman and Lady Shiva‘s protege, a young Tim Drake, who at the time was Robin. Despite his skill both him and his operations lost to the boy and he vowed revenge.

Creation

King Snake was created by Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle.

Major Story Arcs

Robin: A Hero Reborn

For more information see: Robin

In King Snake first meeting with Robin, he was the boss of a Asian gang in Paris called the Ghost Dragons, and after their leader Billy Hue failed him Snake King killed him and put Lynx in charge. Snake then sent the gang out to get a Nazi-developed plague, worse then the Black Plague, while he flew to Spain and bough a water clock. he then planned to use the water clock to release the plague in Hong Kong before the city went back to mainland China. He was foiled by Robin who was working with Lady Shiva and Clyde Rawlins at the time. Robin was able to trick Snake and kick him out a 50 floor window, but is was Lady Shiva who sent him to the ground below.

Robin

At some point, his back was broken by Lady Shiva in their encounter and was presumably dead, but he used his resources to have his spine reinforced so he became mobile again. He managed to regain control of his empire and gangs but the monkey fist cult had the Silver Monkey try to assassinate him, he was defeated but managed to survive.

He managed to become entangled with the cult, Kobra and managed to gain leadership temporarily which caused his eyes and back to be healed in a Lazarus Pit they had. Again Robin caused trouble for him and he ended up blinded again. His returned sight was a hindrance however as it made him slower and less sharp. He was later swept away in an avalanche and presumed dead yet again.

Batman vs. Wildcat

Ted Grant meets with a local snitch named Flea Fitzgerald because he has heard about an underground fight club called the “The Secret Ring” in Gotham and a Wildcat wannabee was reported dead nearby. On the other side of Gotham, Bruce is made aware of this fight club thanks to his golfing rival Devlin. Devlin is a spectator of the sport and has often recorded the fights through a special satellite downlink.

As Batman, Bruce visits Gordon at the precinct to find out what the police is aware of. Gordon escorts Batman to the precinct’s morgue where they have kept the supposed Wildcat’s corpse for the last 24 hours. The body was found near a harbor in the Tri-Corner Yards with bite marks similar to that of Killer Croc’s. Gordon identifies the victim as Hector Ramierez, a high school graduate who joined the Navy and became a heavyweight boxer. Ramierez used Pugilism during his boxing matches which is a fighting style that Wildcat favors. Ramierez must have been a student of Ted’s and adopted his mentor’s mantle to keep the memory of Wildcat alive.

Bruce figures the only way to get in to the Secret Ring is to pose as Matches Malone. As Malone, Bruce pays Penguin a visit and inquires about the fight club but their conversation is interrupted by Wildcat. It turns out Flea has gone missing and Wildcat demands to where he is. Penguin agrees to assist Wildcat in order to prevent him from inflicting any more damage to the Iceberg Lounge.

Meanwhile, Ernie Chubb, the operator of the Secret Ring, organizes his next fight. In the second bout, KGBeast is scheduled to fight a Venom addict named Willis Danko. Ernie Chubb has been working with Lock-Up in order to detain all the heavy hitters for his fight club. Chubb gained Lock-Up’s obedience by promising Bolton that he would fulfill his need to exact justice on the scum of Gotham by putting them through these death matches in the “Secret Ring”. Chubb also guaranteed that he would share the revenues of the fights with Bolton in order to fund his latest incarceration venture. Lock-Up has designed a new prison within the bowels of Gotham which he has dubbed the Sewer of Life.

Chubb on other hand, wants to settle his own personal blood lust. Chubb was once a prized heavyweight boxer but his violent tendencies caused the deaths of numerous fighters. The promoters at first, warned Chubb to restrain his anger but when he refused to let up, they had him dismissed from the sport permanently. Chubb felt that the promoters and fighters were simply envious of his talents because their human frailty and lack of stamina was no match for Chubb’s superior abilities, education and raw power. Chubb believes that the sport of boxing is his birthright and he intends to take it back with the “Secret Ring”.

Wildcat catches up with Flea and decides to interrogate him at the Tri-Corner Landfill. Wildcat straps Flea to front of a motorcycle with his face facing the handle bars as well as Wildcat. After the grueling torture of heat and friction from the motorcycle, Flea finally divulges the actual location of the Secret Ring. The Secret Ring is located in the canal zone nearby the Union Railyard.

Veritas Liberat

For more information see Batman: Gotham Knights #47

When Bane learned that King Snake was his father, he sought him out and nursed him back to health. But Snake only wanted to use his son to regain control of Kobra, when Batman and Robin arrived Bane sided with them. During the battle, he fell from the cliff to his death, thus ended the reign of the King Snake.

Blackest Night

For more information see: Blackest Night

During the Blackest Night, King Snake’s body was one of the many dead villains who the U.S army tried to evacuate so they would not become Zombies. Alas the black power rings would not be stopped and they killed the men transporting and guarding his body, once the ring touched his finger he was reborn as a servant of the black light and became a Black Lantern.

As a Black Lantern he made his way through the prisons of Gotham slaughtering all he could as they amassed power. Later he confronted Oracle and her father Commissioner Gordon as he prepared to kill them both, luckily Deadman arrived and saved the two from King Snake. It’s possible that he was destroyed after Nekron was defeated along with the other Black Lanterns.

Post Flashpoint

King Snake participated in an underground fight club to gain knowledge about the League of Lazarus, there he fought Damian Wayne. During the fight Damian humiliated King Snake out of contempt he has for Bane who had recently killed Alfred.

Physical Characteristics

• Eyes: Blue naturally, while blind completely white
• Hair: Blond
• Height: 5’10
• Weight: 200 pounds

Powers and abilities

King Snake was proficient in several of the world’s deadliest martial arts forms and killed with no conscience thus he got the title “deadliest man alive”. Even though he was blinded at some point he has honed all his other senses to almost superhuman levels thus making his blindness factor little into his combat effectiveness.