Character History
Stefano Mandragora was originally depicted as an old white haired man who looked like Christopher Walken. He was a crime boss of his own right who hired Omerta the Silencer to kill Franco Bertinelli in a bid to take his wealth. Franko had hidden away the bulk of his money in a safe that was secretly built in an old abandoned underground subway in New York City. To open this safe, Mandragora needed Franco’s finger prints and retinal scan.
Their plan was to kill Franco so they could cut off his hands and cut out his eyes, thus enabling them to open the safe. Omerta killed everyone else in the Bertinelli family to get rid of the witnesses, and also because he hated Franco Bertinelli. Omerta, who was originally named Consigliore, worked for the Bertinelli crime syndicate and felt that he was never treated the way he deserved, so he killed them for revenge. He was so proud of his work that he even signed his name in the victims’ blood. However, unbeknownst to him, Franco Bertinelli’s daughter Helena had been in hiding, and had seen the murder. This set in motion a chain of events that result in Helena becoming the Huntress.
When Mandragora and Omerta tried to open Franco’s hidden safe they found that they also needed his blood to open the door. Bertinelli’s rare blood type was needed to open the door, but because he was dead and the body was disposed of they had no blood. The eyes and hands were useless the was they preserved them. Mandragora wanted Omerta to find the Huntress and bring her to the safe so they could open it.
Omerta was successful in capturing Huntress and threatened to rape her but Mandragora stopped him. They took Huntress to the safe and opened it up it was at the time Mandragora offered Huntress to join him as the leader of New York City families. Huntress would not join someone who killed her family so Mandragora shot and killed Omerta and asked her again. Huntress still refused and escaped from Mandragora as he stumbled on some weak flooring outside the safe and fell. He managed to grab the edge and was trying to pull himself up when Huntress came to help. She started helping Mandragora who continued to taunt her until she gave him a push and let him fall to his death.
Other Media
Justice League Unlimited
Mandragora was a bodyguard for the Bertinelli family, he was there trusted friend and protector until one day he wanted more power. Mandragora went to the Bertinelli house, and on his way there Helena’s father would hide her in the closet to protect her from him. As her parents said their final goodbyes, Helena would see her parents killed by him crushing them with his bare hands. This would change Helena forever growing up with rage and revenge in order to kill him. She would later be known as the Huntress being inspired by Batman himself.