—Rafferty[source]I am the lurking fear. I am the growing hate. I am the killer of men... The slayer of giants... The destroyer of hope. I am Rafferty. And I wait in the darkness of all men's souls.
History
Born to a poor family in Georgia, Rafferty was a sadistic killer from a young age. As a teenager, he murdered his own parents, framing a neighbor for their deaths. He briefly became involved with organised crime in New York, before joining the army to escape a crime family he'd run afoul of. His skill at killing soon caught the attention of his superiors, and he was assigned to a special forces unit, tasked with the most deadly missions.
On an assignment in the Middle East, Rafferty's entire squad was killed by a team of enemy super-powered Ultras. The sole survivor, Rafferty developed an obsessive hatred of Ultras, and became convinced it was his destiny to kill them all. After a series of scattered murders of Ultras, Rafferty came to the attention of the Sportsman Edwin Mosely, who saw him as a useful tool to eliminate what Mosley perceived as a glut of superhumans who could pose a threat to his own ambitions. Mosley offered Rafferty a deal; work with him in order to make it easier to eliminate all the other Ultras. Rafferty agreed, and Mosley provided him with the technology to help him track down Ultra-powered individuals.[1]
Rafferty now began his killings in earnest, stalking and killing dozens of Ultras across the United States.[2] He mostly targeted inexperienced and untrained Ultras rather than established superheroes, however he did almost kill the hero Warstrike,[3] and even briefly incapacitated the nigh-invulnerable Prime.[4]
Having completed his first wave of killings, Rafferty intended to lie low for a little while before continuing his murderous crusade. However, his patron, Edwin Mosely, ordered him to make one more kill – the baby Penny Slater, an Ultra who possessed seemingly miraculous healing powers. Reluctantly, Rafferty traveled to San Diego, where he found the baby within the city's cathedral. By this point, his rampage had attracted a great degree of attention, and he found himself trapped within the building as it came under police siege. Opting to delay killing the child while she could still serve as a hostage, Rafferty prepared for a long stand-off. To further buy time, Rafferty agreed to meet with Alec Swan, the detective known as Firearm, who had been investigating Rafferty's killings for some time.[5]
The situation quickly degenerated into a firefight, with Rafferty and Firearm exchanging shots across the cathedral. His plans falling apart and determined to take Firefight and the baby Penny down with him, Rafferty detonated explosives, setting the building ablaze. Lunging towards Firearm amid the inferno, Rafferty was shot in the head by the detective and fell dead into the flames.[6]Paraphernalia
Weapons
See Also
- 13 appearance(s) of Rafferty (Earth-93060)
- 3 mention(s) of Rafferty (Earth-93060)
- 7 image(s) of Rafferty (Earth-93060)
- 3 quotation(s) by or about Rafferty (Earth-93060)
- 7 victim(s) killed by Rafferty (Earth-93060)