Hypnotist (Dara) (Earth-616)

History

The man known as the Hypnotist was apparently a man named Dara who was a practitioner of the dark arts. He was a priest of evil and was worshiped by the ancient Egyptians as the god of night and darkness. He claimed to be "all the evil ones since time began". Having studied the black arts he had found the key to immortality but was required to drink the blood of young women in order to remain alive and youthful. His activities over the centuries are mostly unknown.

By the 20th century, Dara had assumed the alias of Cory Doone as well as using his mystical powers to project a death's head image and hypnotize people as the Hypnotist a criminal leader whom sought world domination. Stationed in New York, the Hypnotist established connections with criminal thugees in India, the Leopard Men of Africa, and the Italian Mafia. However his need to drink the blood of young women attracted the attention of the Human Torch and Toro who rescued his latest would-be victims in 1954. By this point, the Hypnotist was mobilizing the worlds criminal empires to overthrow world governments on February 1st. When New York police Chief John C. Wilson discovered there was a connection between the Hypnotist and Cory Doone. The Hypnotist attempted to force him to burn the documents, but the Torch and Toro stopped this and paid a visit to Doone's estate. Doone tried to trap the heroes, but they broke free and chased Doone across the world and learned his plot.

Doone returned to the United States and as the Hypnotist captured Chief Wilson's daughter Betty Wilson. The Torch and Toro attacked Doone's estate again, where he revealed he was really the Hypnotist and Dara the black magic practitioner. Weakened from lack of blood, Dara then crumbled into dust.

Attributes

Powers

Dara claimed to be a powerful practitioner of the black arts, but the exact extent of his abilities in this regard have not been fully explored. He has exhibited an ability to project an image of death's face and use it to hypnotize his victims, placing them into an obedient trance. Once the hypnotic connection was broken, those effected by it eventually returned to normal.

Dara was also immortal and long lived, maintaining a youthful appearance.

Weaknesses

Dara's immortality was dependent on regularly drinking the blood of young women. Failure to do so would result in his instant death.

Links and References

References