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Carl Striklan (Earth-616)

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Quote1 (takes a kick) Nice kick. I may have found someone who likes to play as rough as I do. (deflects a ranged attack) Not from a distance. I like to get close... smell the sweat, taste the blood, hear bones crack... (takes a punch) Uhhn! Like that! But harder. Quote2
—Crippler[3]

Carl Striklan, sadomasochist streetfighter, served in the Marines and the NYPD, but was kicked out for being too brutal. Although he despised the Nazis, Striklan served in Hydra looking for a place to belong, and there he became part of Baron Strucker's Elite Bounty Division, as well as obtaining his weapon of choice, the Cobrabation. By then self-nicknamed Crippler, he decided to defect from Hydra during an encounter with Daredevil and began a career as a vigilante and bounty hunter, brutally attacking criminals in New York City. This is how he was found by Silver Sable, who recruited him for her personal elite mercenary unit in the Wild Pack; Sable wanted to give the Crippler a chance at legitimate employment. The Crippler's sense of humor was not liked by his companions Sable and Amy Chen, and his brutality and behavior baffled the group's tech wiz Quentino (and several of his enemies), but the Crippler showed, from the moment he was recruited, he was a valuable asset and a reliable companion. The Crippler developed a friendly rivalry with another of his companions, Powell.

After clashes against the Watchdogs, Doctor Doom's robots, Cyberwarriors, and the Hydra splinter faction Genesis Coalition, the Crippler encountered Baron Strucker again in Somalia. Strucker's plans in Somalia included capturing the Crippler and punishing him for defecting. This coincided with the Infinity Crusade, the effects of which deprived the Crippler of the ability to react violently; the Crippler however criticized Strucker because he believed that violence should only be exercised against those who deserved to be punished, or enjoyed being so. The Crippler was rescued by Sable, and Strucker was expelled by S.H.I.E.L.D.

After that, the Crippler continued working for Sable, combining that work with freelance bounty hunting operations. At some point, that collaboration ended, possibly when Sable quit and attempted to disband the Wild Pack. In more recent times, the Crippler was considered a recruit by the 50-State Initiative and by the Taskmaster.

History

Origin and Hydra[]

Carl Striklan, a sadomasochist,[11] learned to fight in the street and, by doing it frequently, gained great skill.[4] He believed that no one cared about his rights, which led him to disregard the rights of others, and he felt the need to belong to a group.[3] Interested in causing violence, but only to people who deserved it,[3][12] Striklan enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he received further training in armed and unarmed combat,[4] yet he was dishonorably discharged for unrevealed reasons — although one officer suggested that those reasons made Striklan deserving of a court-martial. With difficulty due to his troublesome past,[3] Striklan later entered the New York City Police Department,[3][4] where he was a police officer and received further combat training.[4] He was fired for excessive brutality,[3][4] apparently for ripping off a man's arm.[3] At some point, Striklan was in prison[3] and he also met and formed a relationship with the petty criminal Dylan, whom Striklan nicknamed Dill Pickle (although Dylan didn't like that).[8]

Carlton Striklan (Earth-616), Dakini (Earth-616), Ron Takimoto from Daredevil Annual Vol 1 7 001

Striklan (right) with Hydra's Elite Bounty Division.

After that, Striklan began working for the Nazi-ideology terrorist organization Hydra,[13][14][15][3] although even then Striklan was opposed to the Nazis.[3][16] He received further combat training[4] and Hydra technicians provided him with his weapon of choice, the Cobrabation, a sectioned telescoping steel baton,[4] but Striklan was dissatisfied with the abusive treatment of Hydra's supreme leadership. Still, he thrived in their ranks and was assigned[3] to Hydra's Elite Bounty Division.[4][3] At that time, he moved around by motorcycle[4][3] and began using the nickname Crippler, although many in Hydra insisted on calling him Striklan.[3][13] As a bounty hunter working for Hydra,[14][15] the Crippler discovered that Hydra's legendary leader, Baron Strucker, had returned from his apparent death and resumed command of the organization. The Crippler took this as a possible sign of change for him, but soon discovered that his own rebellious attitude conflicted with Strucker's strict authoritarianism; when the Crippler blew smoke from his cigarette into the Baron's face, he was slapped and assigned to reconditioning in response. Dissatisfied with Hydra, he began to consider leaving the organization, but Hydra had grafted a homing implant into his neck that they could remotely detonate if the Crippler defected.[3] Hydra had also attempted to replace one of the Crippler's teeth with a false tooth with a cyanide capsule, so that the Crippler would commit suicide if captured; thanks to this, the Crippler learned how to remove this type of teeth, even from people who resisted, and how to recognize them by the almond smell.[17]

Baron Strucker was the Crippler's direct boss, maintaining a tense relationship with him.[18][12] In a plan to analyze the capabilities of American superhumans, Strucker allowed three of Hydra's genetically-altered super-soldiers (Guillotine, Romulus, and Sathan) to escape, to send the bounty hunters after them (The Crippler, Dakini, and Takimoto), and see how the superhumans[19][20][14][15] and S.H.I.E.L.D. (which was still unaware of Strucker's return) behaved. The Crippler was sent after Sathan but decided to take the opportunity to defect.[3]

Carl Striklan (Earth-616), Darius (Earth-616), Matthew Murdock (Earth-616) from Silver Sable and the Wild Pack Vol 1 24 001

Darius being cooked by the Crippler.

Sathan had a score to settle with the corrupt landlord Richard Furman, who set fires in his own buildings to rebuild them more profitably, not caring if anyone died in the fire. The Crippler found Furman's arsonist, Darius, and tortured him, obtaining evidence against Furman; but the Crippler was more interested in knowing where Sathan had been seen and what superheroes were active in that area of New York. The Crippler found Sathan's lair and discovered that she was using her powers to raise an army of undead that he planned to launch against Furman; so, he decided to seek the help of the superhero Daredevil. To lure him out, the Crippler attempted to roast Darius on a rooftop; Daredevil attacked the Crippler, and then the Crippler offered Darius to use against Furman, and also warned him of Sathan's impending attack that night.[3] In that first encounter with Daredevil,[3] the Crippler enjoyed the violence of their encounter, although Daredevil tried to avoid it.[3]

Later, Sathan's undead attacked Furman's car, with him inside, and killed his driver. Daredevil and the Crippler confronted the attackers; and Daredevil had to choose between letting Sathan escape and saving Furman's life, as the Crippler was focusing his flamethrower attacks on the undead. Daredevil saved Furman, but then the Crippler shot Sathan and wounded her. The Crippler was in favor of sending Furman to prison and turning Sathan over to S.H.I.E.L.D. Baron Strucker, monitoring the situation and unhappy with the plan, activated the explosives grafted onto Sathan and the Crippler; but the Crippler tore off his own, which exploded some distance away. Daredevil and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Nick Fury allowed the Crippler to escape on a motorcycle, because Daredevil understood that the Crippler was on his side.[3]

From that moment on, the Crippler deserted from Hydra,[14][15][5][21][22] went rogue[19][20] much to Strucker's anger.[3] The Baron, considering the Crippler's actions a personal affront,[1] devoted resources to chasing him.[1]

Bounty Hunter and Vigilante Career[]

Carl Striklan (Earth-616), Cobraton from Daredevil Annual Vol 1 7 001

As a free agent.

The Crippler began a career as a bounty hunter[5] and vigilante[3][5] in the streets of New York City, spreading the messages "Pain and suffering"[3] and "Crime don't pay -- It hurts."[5] The Crippler harassed criminals whom he attacked in flagrante delicto, and then beat them in combat; once defeated, he tortured them, dragging them behind his motorcycle, breaking their bones or burning them with his cigarette. The victims, if present, often feared the Crippler more than the criminals he apprehended. The Crippler chose not to kill the criminals, instead promising them a new, even more brutal visit if they did not change their attitude as a way to intimidate them. The Crippler's constant attacks received media coverage, with a minority in favor of his actions, and Daredevil insisting that the Crippler, like anyone, deserved to be heard. The mayor of New York City stated that he found the Crippler's actions excessive and denied accusations about the Crippler being working for the city council.[3]

Some people compared the Crippler to the two-man vandalism band Wildboys, and the Crippler took it badly. He searched for the Wildboys, finding them attacking an innocent man in a subway station; the Crippler announced his presence to give the civilian a chance to flee, and the Wildboys one to attack him first. One of Wildboys, Jet, threw a knife at the Crippler, but he stopped it with his bare hands, wounding himself, and then drank blood from his open wound, which the Wildboys found gross. The Wildboys drew lots to see which of them would fight the Crippler, and Spit won; but when Spit jumped on the Crippler, the Crippler used his Cobrabaton as a pole to knock Spit into a dumpster. Jet tried to hit the Crippler, and withstood his attacks, but was taken aback when the sadomasochistic Crippler enjoyed the beating. The Crippler then set fire to the garbage with his flamethrower. The Wildboys decided to flee by boarding a subway train, but the Crippler followed them even though the doors were closed, and tripped Spit with his Cobrabaton. Jet abandoned his friend, claiming that Spit had won the right to fight the Crippler; but the Crippler blocked Jet's escape and head-butted him. As Jet feared for his life, the Crippler told him that he only intended to scare them to convince them that they did not want a second visit from him. He also had to hit Spit when he tried to attack him from behind. The Crippler left them on the subway, saying that he had to go outside to smoke, and from then on the Wildboys feared the Crippler;[7] the Crippler did not forget them either.[4]

Wild Pack[]

The Crippler's actions attracted the interest of Silver Sable, leader of the international elite mercenary unit Wild Pack.[5] After an operation on Long Island,[23][22] Sable had decided to create a team of elite agents to personally accompany her on missions, including ex-prostitute and ex-assassin Amy Chen, ex-Ku Klux Klan bodyguard Douglas Powell, and ex-gang member and tech wizard Raul Quentino.[22] Part of Sable's goal was to give a chance to redeem themselves to very good people who had made mistakes and needed help to redeem themselves[11] or to have legitimate employment,[24] as she had already done with superpowered ex-villain Sandman.[25] When Sable was hired to protect televangelist Donald Smithfield], targeted by assassins, she decided to supplement the Wild Pack by hiring the Crippler.[22][5] She organized a meeting to inform her manager Morty, her personnel manager Lorna Kleinfeldt and her accountant Jonathan Lee, with Sandman representing her at the meeting. Lee found the Crippler to be a problematic person and even complained about him to Sable when she returned; Sable scolded the Sandman because he should have convinced Lee already. Kleinfeldt recognized that the Crippler was efficient,[5] but when she met him, she began to have doubts and believed that both the Crippler and Powell should be kicked out; Sable however was especially interested in helping them,[24] and had already made a firm decision about the Crippler. By then, the Crippler was already at the embassy, training against Powell in the gym; the Crippler managed to defeat Powell, but was later defeated by Sable easily, much to the Crippler's masochist pleasure.[5]

The Crippler became a member of the Wild Pack,[19][20][4][26][27] received a uniform provided by Silver Sable International,[4] and joined the mission to protect Smithfield.[5][22] The Crippler adopted a light-hearted attitude with his new companions by making frequent jokes, although Sable[5] and Chen did not respond favorably to these.[28] At an event in Madison Square Garden, Smithfield was attacked[5] by the criminal group Watchdogs and by the armored assassin Gattling; the Crippler and the Wild Pack confronted both.[5][4] The Crippler stood up to a group of Watchdogs,[5] who found the Crippler's perverted behavior offensive,[24] and then he joined Powell to protect the civilians (although Powell thought the flamethrower put them in danger), discovering that the Garden security staff had been easily defeated.[5] Sable faked Smithfield's death[5][22] and although the Pack defeated the Watchdogs, Gattling escaped; the Crippler and Powell berated each other, and Sable scolded them both for their lack of professionalism, even pinching the Crippler's nerve in punishment.[5] However, Sable was precisely hoping to keep the Crippler and Powell in the group, precisely because those two had nowhere else to go, so he tried to instill discipline in them. The Crippler and Powell developed a friendly relationship, training together soon after,[24] and the Crippler nicknamed Powell "Farmboy."[11]

Wild Pack (Earth-616) from Silver Sable and the Wild Pack Vol 1 6 001

With the Wild Pack, the Crippler had the belonging he had craved.

At the Embassy, the Crippler decided to interrogate one of the Watchdogs using torture and burning him with his cigarette. Sable was informed mid-torture session and interrupted the Crippler to try a different technique: She had discovered that George Chesterford, Smithfield's corrupt rival, was possibly involved in the assassination attempt, and exposed the prisoner to the crimes Chesterford had committed and were against the Watchdog's goals, which encouraged him to confess without further torture (much to the Crippler's disappointment). The Embassy was attacked by Watchdogs who were trying to rescue their companions with support from Gattling; the Crippler joined the rest of the Wild Pack protecting the Embassy and taunting the Watchdogs between threats. By then, African-American superhuman Battlestar was at the Embassy, offering his help,[24] and was vital in stopping Gattling, so Sable offered him membership on her team,[24][22][4] something that the racist Powell found difficult to accept.[24]

The Crippler decided to stay with the Wild Pack, but in his free time he continued with his previous activity as a bounty hunter, both to harm petty criminals and to have fun. When he operated alone, the Crippler did not wear the uniform and equipment of the Wild Pack, but rather his personal leather clothing and motorcycle.[8] The Wild Pack's base of operations was at Castle Sable, in the European country Symkaria, and the Pack often went there for their operations.[23] While the Pack was in Symkaria, Silver Sable made a diplomatic visit to Doctor Doom in the neighboring country Latveria. While she was away, there was a rare storm and the international news spoke of constant clashes between well-known American superheroes and their strange duplicates, caused by the Infinity War; Crippler found the situation more tempting than curious, puzzling Quentino. Worried about Sable, they tried to contact her or her driver, and were unable to do so; Quentino and the Sandman considered that it would be due to a glitch, but the Crippler criticized them because Sable would not allow a glitch, and encouraged the group to check if she was okay. Mortimer authorized the mission, then the Crippler joined the group in a Stealthcraft piloted by Quentino, like his companions unaware that Sandman had been replaced by a duplicate. En route, Chen had the Crippler drop his cigarette,[10] and Powell predicted that when he rescued Sable from Doom, he would win her affections, although Crippler said Powell was exaggerating. With the team distracted with their conversations, the fake Sandman attacked Quentino. Battlestar saved Quentino, and Powell confronted the fake Sandman, but Sandman suffocated Powell with his powers. Chen and the Crippler helped Powell while Battlestar tried to protect Quentino so Quentino would prevent the Stealthcraft from crashing into the mountains; but the Crippler tried to use his flamethrower and Chen had him drop it as it was dangerous in such close quarters; the Crippler mock-complained that Chen was taking away his "toys". Eventually, Battlestar managed to free Powell; due to his racism, Powell did not feel at ease. Once the fake Sandman was defeated and his imposture discovered, the Crippler explained to Battlestar that Powell was rude to everyone, but was also a bigot, which explained his attitude towards Battlestar. Chen added that Sable was giving Powell a chance to redeem himself.[11]

Upon arriving at Castle Doom, the Stealthcraft was shot down by the castle's defenses. the Crippler and the rest of the group disembarked within the castle grounds, with their weapons ready, to combat the robot defenders of the castle. Like he often did, the Crippler sang while attacking a big group, and Powell complained that he was a bad singer; the Crippler mock-complained about Powell's attitude. During the fight, the Crippler underestimated Chen's high-tech crossbow in a fight against robots, but admitted his blunder when Chen's quarrels electrocuted the enemies. The fight ended when Sable defeated Doctor Doom's duplicate (as the real Doom was absent); and when the robots switched off, the Crippler complained that his fun was over; once again, Quentino noticed that the Crippler only enjoyed madness. The group returned to Symkaria,[11] then went to the Embassy in New York.[29] At the Embassy, Sable again defeated the Crippler and the rest of her team in a CTF exercise and was then informed by Morty that they had been hired to investigate the theft of the Statue of Liberty, and recover it. Sable explained that Sandman had taken a few days off and that they needed a replacement "muscle"; Powell tried in vain to impress her by flexing his arms, and Crippler and Quentino concluded that Powell's feelings would not be hurt by repeated rejection. At Quentino's suggestion, Sable recruited cyborg and computer expert Deathlok, whom they picked up in a Stealthcraft shortly after Powell flirted with Chen again. Deathlok's corpse-like appearance favorably attracted the Crippler's attention. Deathlok's skills then found the Statue hidden in Grand Canyon but, when Deathlok made a piloting error on the Canyon, then the Crippler scolded him.[29]

The Pack entered the lair of villainess Cathode, who had stolen the Statue and other works of art. The group was intercepted by intangible robots, but Sable figure out how to defeat them; the group then faced Cathode's human hitmen, and the Crippler was happy to find enemies who would suffer when beaten up.[29] Using advanced technology, Cathode reduced the size of the Wild Pack (including Battlestar, Chen, the Crippler, Powell, and Quentino; but not Deathlok or Sable) and teleported them to lock them in a container. During their confinement, once again Chen aggressively slapped the Crippler's cigarette away, even if he tried to excuse himself talking about their stressful situation. Powell attempted to seduce Chen again, but she kneed his crotch. The Crippler implied that Chen had rejected Powell simply because, as she was a lesbian, she was not interested in any male; but Chen interrupted to make it clear that she personally despised Powell.[30]

Shortly after, the Pack was rescued and restored to normal size by Deathlok, although Powell lamented that such a defeat would hinder his romantic possibilities with Sable; the Crippler added that Powell had a slim chance anyway due to his bad breath. Shortly after, the Pack was rescued and restored to normal size by Deathlok. Once Sable and her allies defeated Cathode, Cathode activated the base's self-destruct mechanism. Deathlok and Sable attempted to stop the explosion, and Sable ordered the group to leave the Canyon, with Cathode as their prisoner. The base exploded before Sable or Deathlok could leave, and Powell and the Crippler refused to believe Sable could be dead. Deathlok and Sable emerged from the base, having rescued Cathode's people and recovered the loot. Deathlok said goodbye to the group while mentioning his own family life, the very existence of which surprised Crippler and Powell. Deathlok became on good terms with Sable, and Sable even promised to return him the favor.[30]

Carl Striklan (Earth-616), Cobraton, Genesis Coalition (Earth-616) from Silver Sable and the Wild Pack Vol 1 8 001

Kick the Genesis Coalition in South America.

Sable led the Wild Pack to South America on a mission to eliminate Nazi war criminal Franz Lubischt who, along with Sable's personal enemy Dmitri Petrovich, had teamed up with the criminal organization Genesis Coalition and was conducting experiments on humans and animals to create hybrid super-soldiers. The mercenary Paladin, hired by Sable, had found the Coalition in South America, and joined them on that mission, searching for the Coalition's secret base. The Crippler help defeat and apprehend several low-level Coalition agents; seeing that one of them had committed suicide with a cyanide-filled tooth, the Crippler prevented the other prisoners from following through; and then Sable had Chen and the Crippler torture one of the mooks to find the enemy headquarters, hidden behind a waterfall. They infiltrated, but Sandman set off an alarm. The Wild Pack arrived at Lab 3, where there were several man-animal hybrids locked up and under torture, one of which, a tiger-man hybrid, revealed to them where Lubischt was; Paladin and Sable went there, leaving the rest of the group to free the experiments. A huge gorilla-human hybrid, once released, attacked Powell, who was helped by Battlestar and the weretiger. Other Coalition agents came to stop the intruders, and the Crippler joined Chen and the Sandman fighting them with his flamethrower and his songs. The operation ended satisfactorily, with the Pack freeing all the "creatures" who agreed to be free (taking the rest to a med lab in Symkaria) and dynamiting the base, ready to blow it at her command. Sable was shocked because, after she had killed Lubischt, Petrovich had told her that her father was alive and in the hands of the Coalition.[17]

Back at Castle Sable, the Crippler participated in weightlifting training. In the same session, Sable lost her temper against Chen, and Battlestar, Powell and Quentino had to forcefully restrain Sable. Sable apologized to everyone present and temporarily left.[31] The Crippler also began an intimate relationship with Kleinfeldt, which they both kept secret; the Crippler frequently failed to show up at scheduled activities to meet with Kleinfeldt in privacy and maintain a torrid romance.[32]

Carl Striklan (Earth-616), Cobrabaton, Lorna Kleinfeldt (Earth-616), Wild Pack (Earth-616) from Silver Sable and the Wild Pack Vol 1 10 001

Enjoying some leisure time with a lady.

Shortly after, Kleinfeldt withdrew the Wild Pack's Team Delta was withdrawn from an ambassador murder case after they lost two men. The surviving Deltas, led by Henson, demanding explanations, burst into Kleinfeldt's office uninvited - only to find her half-naked in the arms of an equally baring the Crippler. The Crippler expelled them from the office, throwing his Cobrabaton at them, while Kleinfeldt insisted that the Deltas be discreet about this matter. He criticized the Delta, claiming that, if that was the way they acted, it was no wonder why they had been withdrawn.[32] Deathlok collected his debt from Sable by asking her for help in an operation in Paris that pitted him against Deathlok's enemies, former members of Cybertek turned into developers of mindless cyborgs called Cyberwarriors, to sell to the highest bidder. With the help of the Wild Pack, Deathlok found a warehouse belonging to the terrorist organization ULTIMATUM, which had purchased Cyberwarriors, and attacked it with the help of Sable and the Wild Pack, including the Crippler. Sable allowed the Crippler to start questioning a prisoner, then stopped him. They discovered the location of the secret underground laboratory where the Cyberwarriors and their enemies were and attacked it afterwards. During that battle, the Crippler and Powell again scoffed at each other, and at one point the Crippler's life was saved when Sable destroyed a Cyberwarrior that was beating him.[33] Later, the Crippler confronted heavily-armored enemy Ben Jacobs; Jacobs was protected against the Crippler's attacks and had heavy weaponry, so Battlestar took the Crippler away from that enemy. Seeing that they were losing, the enemies decided to abandon their base, flooding it, to flee with their Cyberwarriors, and the Wild Pack retreated, much to the Crippler's disappointment. Additionally, Sable discovered that the Genesis Coalition had purchased Cyberwarriors, and decided to abandon that mission to track down the Genesis Coalition.[34]

Amy Chen (Earth-616), Carl Striklan (Earth-616), Cyberwarriors (Earth-616), Lemar Hoskins (Earth-616), Silvija Sablinova (Earth-616) from Deathlok Vol 2 18 001

In the Mediterranean Sea mission, the Crippler was brutally punched by a Cyberwarrior.

Once the Wild Pack discovered that the Coalition was in a stolen Hydra Mobile Base in the Mediterranean Sea, Sable organized an operation in which the group went there in a Stealthcraft. Sable's plan included infiltration; Powell proposed simply attacking the enemy, but the Crippler made it clear that they did not know enough about the Base's firepower. Following Sable's plan, Coalition cannons destroyed the Stealthcraft, but the Pack abandoned it in time, submerging and reuniting with their ally, superhero oceanographer Stingray, who brought them closer to the base in a cloaked submarine; its stealth capabilities amazed the Crippler. He and the rest of the Pack fought off the underwater troops the Coalition sent against them, and then they fought the Coalition's surface guards. Once inside the base, the Wild Pack met the band of superhuman mercenaries Next Wave, also infiltrating the base. Next Wave, less careful, had set off alarms, and the Genesis Coalition attempted to submerge the Base to drown the intruders while sending Cyberwarriors to kill them.[35] The Wild Pack and Next Wave made a common front, although Sable was dissatisfied with Next Wave's unprofessional attitude. During the fight, Battlestar saved Powell who had been trapped under a broken machine, proving that, even if Powell hated Battlestar due to his racism, the feeling was not mutual. Battlestar helped the group out of there shortly after, and Powell thanked him; the Crippler and Battlestar then mocked Powell. The group escaped the Base, boarded another Stealthcraft, and tracked the Genesis Coalition leaders to Mount Wundagore, Transia, where the Cyberwarriors were locked in combat against the Knights of Wundagore. The Crippler collaborated with the Pack, the Knights, and other allies to destroy all the Cyberwarriors.[36] Later, retired General Harold "TNT" Kenkoy hired Sable to find vagrant Edward Passim, claiming that Passim was Kenkoy's missing relative. Sable commissioned the Crippler to check all the possible shelters that Passim could be using,[37] but in the process the Crippler again crossed paths with Daredevil, who was looking for Passim to protect him; the Crippler revealed to Daredevil that Silver Sable had accepted money to catch Passim. Daredevil and the Crippler fought, with the Crippler prolonging the fight as long as possible (twenty-seven minutes and four apples) for sadomasochistic pleasure, until Daredevil was able to manipulate the Crippler's flamethrower to explode. The Crippler realized the threat and moved away from the detonation, despite which he suffered very pleasant damage. Daredevil then tied and gagged the Crippler, writing the message "Let it go" on the gag, put him in a sack and threw him against the window of the Symkarian embassy as a message to Sable. Sable initially thought it was one of the Crippler's deviant games; realizing that was not the case, she freed the Crippler and asked him who had done that to her. Sable then sought out Daredevil, and Daredevil told her that Kenkoy had tricked her, which convinced Sable to abandon the contract on Passim.[38]

Carl Striklan (Earth-616) from Silver Sable and the Wild Pack Vol 1 15 001

Working undercover.

Not long after that, the Wild Pack tracked down the anarchist Viper in the United States. Facing Viper's hitmen, the Crippler used his flamethrower on her minions. The raid was successful, but Viper was not there, instead having used a Pit-Viper impersonator. The Crippler started his own investigation, pretending to be looking for job for the Viper, and finally got an appointment at Vito's Place, Bronx - with another Pit-Viper, but one who could take him to the real one. The Crippler got a pornographic magazine, Petshop, with an alleged photo report of Sable, which he showed to his teammates (but not to Sable herself) at the Embassy; the Crippler again teased Powell, saying that Powell would never see the real Sable like that except in the magazine. Powell thought that Sable's lover Jacques Girard had surely manipulated her, thou the Crippler believed that Sable did not look to be uncomfortable in the photo set[1] (Really, Sable's rival and ex-husband the Foreigner had used another woman for the set in a plan against Sable).[18]

The Crippler, maintaining radio contact with the Embassy, went to Vito's Place, where he found the superhero Captain America, also on the Viper's trail. The Crippler allied himself with the Captain against the Viper's thugs, but the Crippler was unable to capture the Pit-Viper there, who escaped from his Cobrabaton; and then Captain America broke the Crippler's flamethrower to prevent him from causing harm to innocents. The Crippler called for reinforcements, while the Captain captured the Pit-Viper; However, the real Viper killed the Pit-Viper with a sniper attack as soon as they came out onto the street. Captain America and the Crippler once again faced off against thugs, until the entire Wild Pack arrived, and Viper's forces were overwhelmed. Captain America revealed to Sable that she had been hired by a criminal even worse than Viper, the Red Skull, to deliver Viper to him,[1] and convinced him not to deliver Viper to Red Skull. Instead, Sable agreed to work with Captain America against Skull, and she ordered the Pack to hand the Viper's hitmen to the proper authorities. Meanwhile, Captain America, Sable and Battlestar stopped Viper's plan and thwarted the Red Skull.[39] At the same time, Baron Strucker found the Crippler and resumed his plans to punish him for his desertion.[1] The American government hired the Wild Pack to ensure that shipments of food and medicine reached war-ravaged Somalia without being intercepted by rebels or raiders. On that occasion, Sable brought along his elite group and several other agents, including her newest team of superhumans, the Intruders; she sent the Intruders to defeat two dozen of armed rebels, to study how they worked together, without the Pack intervening. Shortly after, a group of Somali superhumans, the Bio-Genes, attacked a nearby U.S. Marine outpost. Sable and Powell were ordered to reach them for support, but the battle was complicated by the effects of the Infinity Crusade, in which many people including the Crippler lost their desire to fight (with Sable immediately noticing).[18] The fight was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Hydra under the command of Baron Strucker,[18] unaffected by the Infinity Crusade.[18][19][20] Strucker intended to take over Somalia[18] and capture the Crippler to punish him; this second goal was his priority.[12]

The Crippler, still unable to defend himself, hailed his former bosses and barely put up any resistance as they took him onto their mothership.[12] Trying to punish him for his disloyalty,[18] Strucker tortured the Crippler with electric shocks, but the Crippler enjoyed the pain and, resisting it, argued with Strucker that violence should not be used against the innocent; Strucker however disregarded common notions of evil and sought only to find the strongest by subjecting them to the harshest ordeals. Strucker threatened to infect the Crippler with the Death Spore virus, but Silver Sable boarded the mothership[12] to rescue the Crippler and defeat Strucker; Hydra was driven out of Somalia with some help from SHIELD.[12][22][19][20] Shortly after, J. Jonah Jameson of the newspaper Daily Bugle hired the Wild Pack to capture the superhero Human Torch, at that point a fugitive after causing a wrecking fire. The Crippler and the rest of Pack[40] stocked up on specialized weapons; Powell had a gun that fired a net, and rode in a helicopter piloted by Quentino, while Battlestar, Chen, and Crippler had individual jetpacks; the Crippler chose an acid-shooting rifle, intent on capturing the Torch alive as ordered, but severely injured. They harassed the Torch, with the Crippler making jokes that Chen disliked. The Torch had tried to get rid of them without hurting them but, when he saw that the Crippler was trying to use acid that could cause him grave harm, the Torch decided to react with more violence: He destroyed the helicopter and injured Battlestar, Chen and the Crippler, the latter of them needing bandages on his right arm. Powell informed Sable of the failure, explaining how they had barely survived, but Sable was especially unhappy.[28] Jameson later hired the Wild Pack again to track down the vigilante Venom, in a new attempt to get the scoop of the year. Powell and many others in the Pack used sonic weapons, since they knew that Venom was especially vulnerable to sonic and fire attacks (The Crippler kept his flamethrower). They found Venom in Brooklyn, arguing with Spider-Man; when the Pack revealed their presence, Venom believed that Spider-Man had betrayed him by bringing people to apprehend him. Unstable, Venom started a fight. Spider-Man stunned Chen and Powell while Venom slammed Battlestar. The Crippler prepared his flamethrower, but Venom dodged his attack, then strangled the Crippler. Quentino ordered Venom to drop the Crippler, but Venom instead threw the Crippler against Quentino, stunning both of them.[41] After this fight, the Crippler had a bandaged head for a short time.[25] The Wild Pack was defeated again, and Venom and Spider-Man reached an agreement not to pursue each other.[41]

Wild Pack (Earth-616) from Silver Sable and the Wild Pack Vol 1 18 001

Preparing an operation.

Back at the Embassy, Sable reviewed the mistakes made by the Wild Pack in the Human Torch and Venom operations, especially because they had damaged her group's reputation and encouraged clients to seek alternatives from competitors. Battlestar had been in command, but did not coordinate teamwork, allowing for solo, emotion-driven actions. During that meeting, the Crippler reprimanded the Sandman for not having been there, and spoiled his own Cobrabaton by trying to use it against the Sandman; and when Sable reminded the group that the Torch was no longer a target as he had cleared his name, the Crippler suggested she should be fine with that, but instead Sable angrily karate-chopped the Crippler's neck. Sable then explained she had prepared a new mission for them to capture Venom in San Francisco but, should they failed, she would kick them off the elite team. The Crippler and others were given jetpacks and sonic weapons to attack Venom, but suddenly both the Pack and Venom were surrounded by magical smog,[25] and then attacked by monsters. As those were no human targets, the Crippler unleashed all the power of his flamethrower on them - but the monsters were immune to fire, so he resorted to punches. Chen noticed the numeric superiority of the enemy, and the Crippler prompted her to reduce their number, making jokes in the process.[25]

Venom offered to help them to show them that he acted heroically without expecting payment, unlike the Wild Pack mercenaries did, and made a deal with Sable so that she and the Pack would stop harassing him, in exchange for an alliance. Quentino defined a plan where he climbed over the Golden Gate Bridge above the fog to summon the Stealthcraft using a remote control. Sable ordered Powell to cover Quentino during that job, while the Crippler and the others kept the monsters at bay. The Crippler disliked the idea of giving up any inch of terrain, but he obeyed orders and, when Venom offered to carry everyone to the Bridge top, he agreed. Accidentally, Venom dropped the Crippler, but the Sandman picked him up, and the Crippler found the very dangerous situation to be pleasant, suggesting some out-of-work activities with the Sandman. The plan worked, and the smog disappeared thanks to other superheroes, after which Sable agreed to let Venom go, and not punish the Pack for the outcome of that mission.[42] Instead, she gave them a night off.[43]

Carl Striklan (Earth-616) from Silver Sable and the Wild Pack Vol 1 20 001

Civilian clothes.

The Crippler and his allies dressed to go out, with the Crippler choosing black leather; Sable, had a date with Gerard so she wouldn't join the others.[43] By then, Sable had hired Lightbright,[42] one of the superhumans who had fought against the Pack in Somalia.[12] Seeing Lightbright elegantly groomed, Powell flirted with her but was dumped as she already had a date with Battlestar. After a brief mockery of his new failure (including the Crippler messing with Powell's hat), Chen, the Crippler, and Quentino took Powell with them, to get drunk at the Naked Soul, a seedy joint in Greenwich Village. As the Crippler pointed out how Lightbright was black, Powell acknowledged that he liked Chen and Quentino at times, and that he did not like to be racist. A gang of petty criminals tried to rob the place, first unsuccessfully attempting to beat Powell; Chen and the Crippler, smirking, were anxious to join the bar brawl. The Crippler grabbed a criminal's gun and used it to break the strangers' teeth. They easily got rid of the criminals, but Chen insisted they should leave before someone tried to make them pay for the damages.[43] A group of more than one hundred teenage gangs from South central Los Angeles attacked the city and took over the Beverly Hills Police Precinct, overpowering the LAPD. The heist had been secretly organized by crimelord Justin Hammer, with Latisha Arnold managing the attack. Rich people who saw their properties affected, hired Sable to eliminate this threat. She sent the Wild Pack to rescue the precinct, with Battlestar, Chen, Crippler and Powell storming the building while Quentino covered them. The Crippler reacted with surprising professionality, noticing sniper attacks and prioritizing the protection of civilians before entering the building; once inside, he used a flamethrower against his enemies. Although the Pack recovered the precinct, Hammer reacted by sending a team of supervillains in battle armor as reinforcements.[44] One of them, whip-using Backlash, mentioned how the Crippler had a reputation to enjoy whips and entangled the Crippler with his weapon, but the Crippler did enjoy it.[45]

The Pack managed to defeat these enemies, but Quentino suffered serious injuries and had to abandon field work. At Quentino's own suggestion, Sable hired Larry Arnold, a short African American man, as a replacement.[45] Arnold joined the Pack as a member on trial and, as soon as he interacted with the rest of the team in the gym at the Embassy, Powell attempted to assert his authority. As soon as Powell called Arnold "boy", Arnold slammed Powell unconscious. The Crippler found the situation so amusing that he tried to wake Powell up so Arnold could knock him down again and hoped that Arnold would stay with the team.[46]

Shortly after, during a spike of terrorist attacks in New York City, the Empire State Building was captured by Hydra agents. Sable and the Pack went to rescue the hostages and free the building, going up the elevator shaft. The Crippler used his flamethrower in the elevator shaft to keep the enemies at bay, enjoying how much pain he was causing. The Pack managed to save the civilians while Daredevil dealt with their leader; Hydra did not consider this heist particularly strategic and did not send reinforcements.[47] During this time, the Crippler also operated as a solo bounty hunter, in an operation in which several Neo-Nazi murderers had escaped from Ryker's Island Maximum Security Prison with help from outside; the Crippler gave them brutal beatings at Brooklyn Navy Yard. He discovered that one of the fugitives, whom he called Adolf, had had the help of the Crippler's old friend, Dill Pickle; and Dill Pickle showed up there to try to convince the Crippler to let Adolf free for his investment. Dill Pickle threatened the Crippler with a gun, but the Crippler was not intimidated even when Dill Pickle opened fire on him and missed; Dill Pickle on the other hand was enraged that the Crippler was using that nickname. After another round of threats, Dill Pickle began a fight against the Crippler, but the Crippler easily won. The Crippler decided not to turn Dill Pickle over to the authorities for the reward due to their previous relationship, but instead just hit him for fun. Then the Crippler reproached Adolf for having hired a useless agent like Dill Pickle to get him out of prison, and punished him by tying him with a chain to his motorcycle and dragging him along the asphalt while singing and threatening to come back for him if Adolf did not serve his sentence.[8] Sable was decorated at the Royal Palace of Symkaria in a ceremony which the Wild Pack attended as additional security. The event was attacked by Sable's old enemy Petrovich aboard a Hydra Issue Fighter. The Pack, mostly Arnold, Battlestar, Powell, and Sable, stopped the attack and captured Petrovich, who revealed to Sable where the Genesis Coalition's secret lair was. Sable was so angry at Petrovich that decided that, if Petrovich had lied to her, she would leave him in the Crippler's untender care. She traveled there with the Pack and, once at the Coalition base, Sable divided the Pack into groups of two, pairing the Crippler with Arnold, to explore the area.[8] Sable encountered her missing uncle Fritz Sablinov, infiltrated the Coalition; Sablinova killed Petrovich and explained his plan to destroy Hydra and the Coalition, but demanded that the Pack allow themselves to be captured - but the Pack knew that Sable always had several tricks up her sleeve, in this case, including another team heading towards a war zone in Bosnia, which was a strategic battlefield in the Coalition's plan. The Crippler and the rest of the Pack were locked in a submarine under the Black Sea, and the leader of the Coalition, Ivan Trefkov, reveled in their capture, vowing to kill Sable later. Shortly after, when Trefkov left for the war zone, Sable's enemy/ally/lover Foreigner sneaked there disguised as a guard, and he communicated with Sable using patterned blinks; the Crippler noticed this as unusual. The Foreigner promptly rescued the group, taking them to where Sable's father was locked up for them rescue him (the Crippler carried Sablinova in his arms), and then Sable and the Pack attacked Trefkov in a battlecruiser that was participating in the attack on Bosnia. Sable killed Trefkov, but then Fritz Sablinov attempted to kill Sable, only to die at the hands of the Foreigner. Before the eyes of the Pack, Sable beat up the Foreigner for that murder, but spared his life.[16] In a later mission, the Wild Pack entered Mayan Pyramids, Mexico, to protect them from damage caused by graverobbers. Entering the labyrinthine, dark interior, they were attacked by the graverobbers. However, a trap was activated that transported the Pack and the robbers, apparently, to pre-Columbian times when the Mayans forced the Pack to face the robbers in a brutal ceremonial game. Even informed, the Crippler did not give a second thought to the situation, thinking only in the possibility of a new fight. The Mayas forced them to participate in a game which the Crippler intended to turn violent, but the Sandman intimidated the Mayans by pretending to be their deity, and thus covered them while the Pack escaped with the captured robbers, back to their time.[48] However, when they returned to the Embassy, Sable was arrested for conspiracy and various crimes,[48] and sent to Ryker's. The Pack tried to mobilize her contacts and find a way to free her, but the people who had framed Sable, had prepared a very efficient case. They were told that Sable's lover Girard had collaborated with the prosecution, and the Crippler offered to take care of Girard to make him useless to anyone; but Morty forbid this, as it would bring them even more problems. Through Morty, Sable ordered the Pack to be taken to Symkaria before they too were arrested; Sandman objected out of loyalty, but Powell and the Crippler were willing to obey, both to protect themselves from her and because Sable had had daring plans before that required her team to obey. This led to a discussion with Battlestar, until Chen stopped it by deciding to stay and help Sable, even if Chen was the one most likely to end up in jail. However, it was Morty who ensured that Sable was freed. She had spent a week in jail, suffering humiliations that she herself decided even the Crippler would have not stood; and once released, she was no longer welcome in the United States, so she decided to move to Symkaria, but the rest of her team could still conduct operations on American soil, with Battlestar leading those activities. Powell and the others spent quite a bit of time between the New York Embassy[49] and Castle Sable, and the Crippler went on to train with Chen.[50]

Carl Striklan (Earth-616), Cobraton from Silver Sable and the Wild Pack Vol 1 34 001

The Crippler was not only brutal, but also descriptive.

Not long after, Sable gathered the entire team to tell them in person that she was withdrawing from active missions to participate only in business activities.[50] Battlestar was not able to lead as efficient a teamwork as Sable had done even though got somewhat satisfactory results, as demonstrated in a mission against arms smugglers in New Orleans, during which the Crippler called his French enemies "frogs" and "French fries" and suggested he'd eat frog legs, and in sixteen other missions. During these missions, Battlestar insisted that his men did not kill the prisoners, and the Crippler insisted on capturing them damaged.[51]

The Pack was hired by CIA agent Bogart Jeffries to recover stolen experimental weapons and eliminate those responsible. Despite Jeffries' insistence, Sable refused to participate in that operation, and her father decided to be in charge of the tactics, which were risky and thus of the Crippler's liking.[51] After getting clues in Chile thanks to the Crippler's interrogation on prisoners, the group found the weapons at a base in the Pacific Ocean, but Sablinova's tactics were inadequate to take over the base; the Crippler jokingly suggested that Sablinova would have a stroke just from monitoring them in a possibly suicide operation. Sable spied on this operation, and decided to rejoin, participating in the mission. With Sable's leadership, the tables turned, and Battlestar and the Crippler had a chance to enter the laboratory and apprehend several scientists, with the Crippler damaging important machines. The leading scientist Bob Jameson protected himself behind a force field; the Crippler was not scared, thou he failed to enter. Sable had the enemies captured and the weapons destroyed, then she convinced the CIA that this mission had been successful, after which she admitted that the Wild Pack was family to her.[52] After the Onslaught crisis, Doctor Doom was missing and given for dead, and several pretenders tried to take over Latveria. One of them was the Dreadknight, with secret illegal backing from American company Roxxon. Doom's Zefiro Clan hired the Wild Pack to stop Dreadknight from conquering their lands, and Sable hoped to uncover the people who were funding the Dreadknight. With support from Spider-Man, whom Sable hired, the Pack traveled to Latveria and met with the Zefiro to plan strategy. Sable knew that the enemy and his enemies used high electronic technology that depended on a central generator behind Castle Doom. While Sable and Spider-Man went to sabotage the generator and render it unusable for at least three minutes, the Wild Pack would attack the Castle with conventional weapons to distract the troops. The Crippler at the very least participated in the briefing, and possibly in the attack to the Castle in which the Pack parachuted on the bailey and defeated the soldiers with mercy bullets; the Dreadknight was defeated soon afterward.[53]

Sandman left the Wild Pack and returned to his previous activities as a supervillain. Sable was hired to protect an object at Davis Gallery that the Sandman tried to steal; Sable had Battlestar, Chen, the Crippler, and Powell hide in the area. When the Sandman appeared, Sable confronted him and asked for an explanation, without telling him that the Wild Pack had surrounded him. When the Sandman insisted on fighting, the Wild Pack revealed his presence and attacked him with weapons that apparently destroyed him, but the Sandman actually escaped.[54]

Some time later, Chen and her Wild Pack partners were on guard protecting Castle Sable from its many terraces. Around this time, Sandman attacked the castle to get revenge on Sable, catching the Crippler by surprise when he was talking to Chen and knocking them unconscious, then defeating several other Pack members. Sandman was stopped by the Thunderbolts, who tracked him there, before he could continue his attack.[55]

Post-Wild Pack[]

Eventually, Sable decided to dissolve the Wild Pack. It was reformed by Andreas Vadas, who was defeated soon afterward,[22] but the Wild Pack continued operating in Symkaria[56] as an organization with access to sizeable resources,[57] and counting with some of the previous Pack members such as Chen among its members.[56] The Crippler was not seen as a member of the Pack during this time.

In the aftermath of the superhero Civil War, the Crippler appeared on the list of potential recruits of the 50-State Initiative,[58] but it is unclear whether he was even approached. Not long after that, he was also found in the Taskmaster's "talent pool" of potential employees, as a former member of Hydra.[59]

During the Venom War, Carl was a part of his group, the Wild Pack when they were hired by Alchemax CEO Liz Allan to retrieve Shriek. Like everyone else in the team, he was bonded with a symbiote provided by Alchemax, Phage, to help him fight against the Zombiotes. Securing Shriek, they went to the Mississippi Queen to attach her to an Alchemax Amplifier in order to prevent the Zombiotes from spreading outside of Manhattan. However, Carl revealed to Shriek that he sided with the evil mastermind behind the war, Meridius, as he saw they were fighting a losing battle and wished to be on the winning side. He shot her, and thinking he had successfully killed her, went to ship's casino to wait until the Zombiotes arrived. New team member, Puma, confronted him over deactivating his sonic trigger that was supposed to kill them if they lost control of their symbiotes. As the Zombiotes finally arrived, Carl told him that they had no chance against Meridius as he was a god, but as the two fought, Puma secretly managed to reactivate his sonic trigger. This resulted in Carl being terminated and killed by the incoming explosion.[60]

Personality

  • The Crippler was a sadomasochist.[26][22][11]
    • The Crippler enjoyed causing pain but he only caused it to those who deserved it,[3][12] to those who had given him permission to cause pain[7] or to teammates like Powell in training where pain was assumed to be an option.[5] However, when he had the choice, the Crippler did not kill the criminals he pursued,[7] and preferred to leave them in fear of the Crippler's possible return.[3][7] He did enjoy causing grievous harm to the people he fought.[24][40][48]
      • The Crippler did not believe in the rights of criminals, and he was willing to attack minors and break bones of people he attacked to prove his point. He did not fear that she would send him to prison for his actions, because he anticipated finding other victims there. He did try to protect innocents,[3] but occasionally had to be reminded that he should not use widespread attacks like his flamethrower's in populated[5] or small areas.[11]
      • Regarding the innocents, the Crippler knew he scared them, but he didn't care. He was also generous to those in need.[3] While he may have little respect for some innocent people, he went the extra mile to protect them.[5]
      • The Crippler also enjoyed when a third party was beaten, even if he was not the one doing the beating.[46][42]
    • As a derivative of his sadism, the Crippler was also a torturer, resorting to creative methods of causing pain to convince a prisoner to spill relevant information.[3] Those methods used fire whenever possible, because the Crippler liked fire, and often hanging the prisoner,[3][5] thou he could torture a prisoner with ad hoc means.[17][33] Silver Sable and her team rarely allowed the Crippler to torture anyone,[49][52] but at one point Sable considered leaving Dmitri Petrovich in the Crippler's hand should Petrovich proved to have lied.[8]
    • Due to his masochism, the Crippler had a high pain threshold, and when battered, he commonly asked for more.[7][5][38][8] He did admit that he liked causing pain more than receiving pain, but he really liked receiving pain,[8] and he sometimes tried to keep a fight active for as long as possible.[38] He enjoyed humiliations[49] and weird games he sometimes imposed on his partners.[38]
  • The Crippler was a smoker,[3][5] apparently of a particularly smelly brand.[29] He sometimes spit the cigarette's smoke on the face of people he was talking to.[3][10] While the Crippler did smoke within aircrafts[10] and in closed spaces,[30] at one time he left a metro station to smoke outside so as to give a good example, as it was forbidden to smoke in the stations.[7]
    • The Crippler sometimes used the cigarette to burn prisoners as a way to torture them[24] or to burn his own skin.[3]
    • Occasionally the Crippler lighted up his cigarettes with his flamethrower.[37]
Carl Striklan (Earth-616), Douglas Powell (Earth-616) from Silver Sable and the Wild Pack Vol 1 20 001

The Crippler and Powell became friends.

  • The Crippler was a competent soldier who enjoyed fights and sometimes complained when those were finished too soon,[11][34] especially when his side was outnumbered.[48]
    • The Crippler was attentive to his environment and reprimanded people around him who made mistakes[10][29] or unthought suggestions.[35] However, the Crippler himself was initially prone to shoot without thinking[5] and his rebellious attitude had him miss his appointments without apparent reason.[32]
  • He was in reasonably good terms with his teammates, even if Amy Chen disapproved some of his attitude (but she bonded with him because both of them were on a path to find redemption).[11] He frequently exchanged cutting remarks with Douglas Powell,[33][43] but they were in really good terms with each other.[48] The Crippler knew that Powell was a racist trying to change his ways,[43] and once he was going to the Powell the reason Chen was not interested in him, but Chen stopped him from doing so.[30]
    • The Crippler did start a discreet romance with Silver Sable's personnel manager Lorna Kleinfeldt[32] (who initially was in favor of firing him).[24] They were once seen engaged in a physical romantic activity; the details of their relationship are unclear .[32]
  • The Crippler adopted a frivolous attitude, making jokes both in combat[24] and otherwise, even if he knew that Silver Sable[5] and Amy Chen disapproved them;[28] on the other hand, his jokes helped him bond with Powell,[48] who had a similarly inelegant humor.[30] Occasionally he mocked his enemies,[10] thou he also mocked his allies.[30] Some of his lines were too brutal, bantering about sadistic activities he may be involved in, and Quentino[10][11] and Battlestar doubted whether the Crippler was kidding or not.[51]
  • The Crippler disliked fighting robots, because they did not suffer pain, and also being in nature instead of in a city or even a sewer.[29] The Crippler also disliked Nazi ideology,[16] which was one of his reasons to leave Hydra, another reason being that "Nobody gives me orders, not even me."[3] The Crippler did like whips, an interest that was well-known,[45] and, being appreciative to female beauty even in untasteful ways,[5] he enjoyed pornographic magazines.[1]
  • The Crippler rarely admitted being baffled, instead trying to focus on the issue at hand.[48][52]

Attributes

Abilities

Carl Striklan (Earth-616) from Silver Sable and the Wild Pack Vol 1 19 001

Trained in the use of several weapons, the Crippler enjoyed using a flamethrower.

The Crippler was an extraordinary fighter in both armed and unarmed combat, having been trained by the U.S. Marines, the New York police, Hydra, and the Wild Pack, not to mention his self-taught experience as a streetfighter.[4] He was an acrobatic fighter who used his feet, arms and hand-held weapons against several enemies at the same time,[17] also able to confront more powerful enemies in a one-on-one fight, immediately understanding the strength and weaknesses of his rivals.[5] His fighting style was brutal, aiming to cause pain and break his enemies' bones, even without a need.[5][8][51] He had especial expertise in many hand weapons, being especially proficient in the use of knives, staves and whips,[4] but also favoring heavy chains that he used both as a blunt weapon and to tie up his opponents.[7] He was accurate enough to deflect an incoming knife with his Cobrabation[3] and, as he was a sadomasochist, he was willing to suffer painful wounds as a way to advance his strategy; for example, by getting cut then, instead of even complaining, licking the open wound.[7] This deviant behavior could be puzzling for his opponents.[7][5]

The Crippler was also proficient in the use of ranged weapons, including custom rifles (such as the acid rifle he used against the Human Torch)[28] but he frequently used his flamethrower as a ranged weapon of choice,[3][5][1][12][41][42][44][61][48] even in situations in which it was inadvisable,[5][11] partly because his sadistic streak was stimulated when he saw and smelt his enemies burning.[5][1]

While not superhuman, the Crippler trained his physical strength, typically with weight lifting,[31][62] which allowed him to lift at least 220 pounds over his head, maybe up to 440 pounds;[4] he was able to carry a weakened Ernst Sablinov[16] (who weighed 162 pounds)[63] in his arms.[16] While fighting the Cyberwarriors, the Crippler failed to protect himself adequately and at one point was punched by one of the enemies; luckily his teammates saved him.[33]

The Crippler has demonstrated other skills, including:

  • Bounty hunting.[5][8]
  • Climbing.[29]
  • Dealing with cyanide-filled teeth, including recognizing them and removing them, even with the subject unwilling.[25]
  • Jetpack piloting, even armed.[40]
  • Stealthily entering buildings to spy enemies.[3]
  • Undercover work.[1]

Weaknesses

The Crippler was a very good fighter, but he proved to be not a rival for Silver Sable, who defeated him fairly[5] and several times broke his defenses;[25] still, she had great respect for the Crippler's skills.[38] Other people who could beat the Crippler with some ease include the Human Torch,[28] Venom,[46] and one of the Pit-Vipers, who got rid of the Crippler's attack with a fighting movement.[1] In a battle against the Cyberwarriors, the Crippler failed to protect himself adequately and was punched; he would have been killed, but his teammates saved him in time.[33]

The Crippler disliked fighting robot enemies, because those did not suffer when attacked, and always favored enemies who would express their pain.[29] The Crippler was also unprepared when he saw Stingray's cloaked submarine.[35] During the Infinity Crusade, the Crippler was affected by the Goddess's goodwill wave that caused most people to stop fighting and look for alternatives.[18][12]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

As the Crippler was a smoker, he sometimes used his cigarettes to burn his enemies, especially after capturing them, as a form of torture.[24]

Weapons

Carl Striklan (Earth-616) from Daredevil Vol 1 320 001

With the Cobraton.

  • Cobrabation: A sectioned telescoping steel baton designed by Hydra[4] that the Crippler could easily collapse[5] or extend with a wrist movement.[7] The Crippler used it to hit his enemies as a stave,[17] in which case he could break his enemies' bones,[51] or to make them trip; he was even able to use it to deflect attacks,[7] and occasionally used it against allies mockingly.[32] Once he hit the superhuman Sandman with it, but the Sandman's powers spoiled the Cobrabaton, so he demanded that the Sandman would get him a new one.[25]
  • Flamethrower: The Crippler's ranged weapon of choice was a napalm-firing flamethrower.[1][48] The Crippler enjoyed using it due to the pain in caused on his enemies[5][47] and because the fire could hardly be put off.[48] When confronted to fire-resistant enemies like the Lilin, the Crippler switched to melée attacks.[42] Daredevil once sabotaged the Crippler's flamethrower to make it explode; the Crippler dropped it so as to not be too hurt from it,[47] but he replaced it for further missions.[51]
He used other custom weapons provided by Silver Sable as needed,[50] and when working for Hydra, he also had a handgun.[3]

Transportation

The Crippler moved along in a big[3] motorcycle[4] especially when operating as a bounty hunter.[8] He occasionally chained up his prisoners and towed them on the asphalt using his motorcycle.[3]

As a member of the Wild Pack, he was frequently transported in the Pack's flying vehicles, the Stealthcrafts. The Crippler was never seen piloting a Stealthcraft, but he did reprimand Deathlok when the latter made a blunder at the controls.[29]

Notes

Carl Striklan (Earth-616) from Silver Sable and the Wild Pack Vol 1 35 001

The Crippler.

  • The website Universo Marvel speculates that Wright based his creation Crippler in Willem Dafoe's character Raven Shaddock in the 1984 movie Streets of Fire - The Crippler's overalls and speech (specifically the line "looks like I finally found someone who likes to play as rough as I do" from his first appearance) suggest so.[64] 11 years after the Crippler's first appearance, Dafoe would portray a different Marvel character, the Green Goblin, in the movie Spider-Man (2002).
  • The Crippler's real name is mostly written "Carl Striklan".[4][26][19][14][15][22][65] In his first appearance, his surname was alternatively written Striklan or Stricklan, sometimes in the same scene.[3] In only two occasions, his first name was written Karl.[1][8] At no point any known official source has named him Carlton, thou some websites have used this name.

Trivia

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #15
  2. ↑ Venom War: Lethal Protectors #1
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 3.29 3.30 3.31 3.32 3.33 3.34 3.35 3.36 3.37 3.38 3.39 3.40 3.41 3.42 3.43 3.44 3.45 3.46 3.47 3.48 3.49 3.50 Daredevil Annual #7
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #33 ; Crippler's profile
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 5.22 5.23 5.24 5.25 5.26 5.27 5.28 5.29 5.30 5.31 5.32 5.33 5.34 5.35 5.36 5.37 5.38 5.39 5.40 5.41 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #2
  6. ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #35 ; corrections
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 Daredevil Annual #8
  8. ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #24
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Venom War: Lethal Protectors #3
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #4
  11. ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #5
  12. ↑ 12.00 12.01 12.02 12.03 12.04 12.05 12.06 12.07 12.08 12.09 12.10 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #17
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #27 ; Hydra's profile
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #5 ; Hydra's profile
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #5 ; Hydra's profile
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #25
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #8
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 18.8 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #16
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #1 ; Baron Strucker's profile
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #1 ; Baron Strucker's profile
  21. ↑ Taskmaster #1
  22. ↑ 22.00 22.01 22.02 22.03 22.04 22.05 22.06 22.07 22.08 22.09 22.10 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #10 ; Silver Sable's profile
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #1
  24. ↑ 24.00 24.01 24.02 24.03 24.04 24.05 24.06 24.07 24.08 24.09 24.10 24.11 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #3
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 25.5 25.6 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #18
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Marvel Encyclopedia #Marvel Knights ; Appendix
  27. ↑ Marvel Encyclopedia #Spider-Man ; Silver Sable's profile
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 Fantastic Four #373
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5 29.6 29.7 29.8 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #6
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #7
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #9
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 32.5 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #10
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 Deathlok (Vol. 2) #18
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Deathlok (Vol. 2) #19
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #11
  36. ↑ Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #12
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Daredevil #319
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 38.3 38.4 Daredevil #320
  39. ↑ Captain America #419
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 Fantastic Four #372
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 Amazing Spider-Man #375
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 42.4 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #19
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 43.4 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #20
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #21
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #22
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 46.2 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #23
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 47.2 Daredevil #328
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 48.3 48.4 48.5 48.6 48.7 48.8 48.9 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #29
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #30
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #33
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 51.3 51.4 51.5 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #34
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 52.2 52.3 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #35
  53. ↑ Spider-Man Unlimited #16
  54. ↑ Amazing Spider-Man 2000 #1
  55. ↑ Thunderbolts #41
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 Doctor Doom #2
  57. ↑ Doctor Doom #4
  58. ↑ Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1
  59. ↑ Taskmaster (Vol. 2) #1
  60. ↑ Venom War: Lethal Protectors #1–3
  61. ↑ Daredevil #327
  62. ↑ Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #26
  63. ↑ Avengers NOW! #1 ; Silver Sable (Ernst Sablinov)'s profile
  64. ↑ Gregory Wright in Universo Marvel.com (in Spanish)
  65. ↑ Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1 ; Lightbright's profile
  66. ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #35
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