| Batroc the Leaper | |
|---|---|
 Batroc the Leaper as depicted inUnbelievable Gwenpool #24 (January 2018). Art byGurihiru. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Tales of Suspense #75 (March1966) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Georges Batroc |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations |
|
| Partnerships | Gwen Poole |
| Notable aliases | The Leaper |
| Abilities |
|
Georges Batroc the Leaper (French:Batroc le Sauteur) is a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Created by writerStan Lee and artistJack Kirby, the character first appeared inTales of Suspense #75, 1966.[1] He is a mercenary and a master of the French form of kick-boxing known assavate, commonly depicted as an adversary ofCaptain America,[2] and a mentor ofGwen Poole. Batroc's name derives from the wordbatrachia, a classification of amphibians that includes frogs, which also plays on the stereotype of calling French people frogs.[3]
Georges St-Pierre portrays Batroc in theMarvel Cinematic UniversefilmCaptain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and theDisney+miniseriesThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier andanimated seriesWhat If...? (both 2021).
Batroc, created byStan Lee andJack Kirby, first appeared inTales of Suspense #75 in March 1966. He has reappeared in various Marvel titles ever since.[4]
Sporting a new costume designed byJohn Romita Jr., Batroc served asKlaw's top lieutenant in the first arc ofReginald Hudlin's 2005 re-launch ofBlack Panther.[5]
Sporting a muted, subtle redesign byGurihiru, Batroc served as the primary mentor ofGwenpool inChristopher Hastings' 2016–2018 seriesThe Unbelievable Gwenpool, with their relationship being described as "one of the warmest aspects" of the series.[6][7]
Georges Batroc was born inMarseille,France, and served in theFrench Foreign Legion. He is aFrench costumed mercenary who specializes insavate (also known as "La Boxe Française"), a form ofkickboxing, with acrobatic skills and unusual articulate flexibility. Although he has primarily appeared in the pages ofCaptain America, he has also faced off against thePunisher,Spider-Man,Deadpool,Hawkeye,Iron Fist andGambit. Batroc has occasionally led his own team, "Batroc's Brigade", although the membership has changed over time.[8] The group has primarily fought Captain America.
In the character's first appearance, he was hired byThem to steal the Inferno-42 cylinder. He first battledCaptain America during this mission. When Batroc introduced himself with typical bluster, Cap revealed, to Batroc's delight, that he had already heard of the mercenary: "Batroc the Leaper, eh? A master of lasavate, the French art of boxing with the feet!"[9] Later, he was again hired byHydra and abductedSharon Carter for them. He lured Captain America into a rematch, in which he insisted Hydra not intervene, and again lost; however, when Hydra agents prepared to kill both Cap and himself, Batroc, incensed at such "men wizout honair", switched sides to help Cap against Hydra.[10] In both of these stories, Batroc was regarded as a deadly combatant, his skill respected by enemies and employers alike.
Batroc was then hired by a foreign power to locate a "seismo-bomb" with the first known Batroc's Brigade (consisting of the originalSwordsman and theLiving Laser). Batroc battled Captain America again.[11] TheMachinesmith'sBaron Strucker android known as "the Hood" then hired a new Batroc's Brigade (consisting of thePorcupine andWhirlwind) to battle Captain America.[12]
Batroc then formed a third Batroc's Brigade, which consisted of various unnamed henchmen, rather than known supervillains, since supervillains had failed Batroc in the past. The alien Jakar, concealing his true nature and intent, hired this group to abduct children from New York and to battle Captain America and theFalcon. Although Batroc felt no compunction about abducting children, upon learning Jakar's true nature and his intent to use the children's souls to revive his comatose race, he felt his "sense of honair" had been violated by the deception, and he again switched sides, aiding Captain America and the Falcon to rescue the children.[13]Ward Meachum then hired Batroc's Brigade, who battledIron Fist and a ninja warrior, several Brigade members dying in the process.[14]
For a while after that, Batroc operated without a Brigade. Alongside an extra-dimensional demon ally, Batroc attempted a theft oftransuranium, but was stopped by Captain America andSpider-Man.[15] Batroc was also a member of the ersatz "Defenders", a group of villains who were impersonating the actualDefenders. They committed robberies while posing as members of the Defenders, until stopped by a Defenders contingent.[16] AlongsideMister Hyde, Batroc attempted an extortion scheme against Manhattan. He battled Captain America, but when Mister Hyde decided to carry out the threat, which would kill thousands, Batroc, again showing that there were some lines he would not cross, aided Captain America against Hyde, saving the city.[17]
Batroc then formed a new, longer-lasting lineup of Batroc's Brigade - this one consisting ofZaran the Weapons Master andMachete. This team was first seen whenObadiah Stane contracted them to steal Captain America'sshield and Batroc finally succeeded.[18]Trick Shot then hired Batroc's Brigade to battleHawkeye.[19]Baron Helmut Zemo then hired Batroc's Brigade to acquire the fragments of theBloodstone. They battled Captain America andDiamondback.[20] The Brigade was later hired byMaelstrom to help him build a device that could destroy the universe and battled theGreat Lakes Avengers.[21] Alongside Snakebite, Batroc also battled thePunisher.[22]
Later, Batroc the Leaper showed up as a member of a small army of villains organized by Klaw to invadeWakanda, which included theRhino, theRadioactive Man, the Cannibal, and theVatican Black Knight. He was defeated byBlack Panther's royal bodyguards.[23]
During the crossoverJLA/Avengers, Batroc appears as a brainwashed minion ofKrona.[24]
Batroc had a daughter, Marie, who is teamed in villainy with the daughter of similar B-list supervillain theTarantula. Both daughters take their fathers' respective costumes and titles. TheTaskmaster expresses his shock that the Tarantula and Batroc are heterosexual before soundly beating the two villains' offspring, tossing them effortlessly off of a building before shooting them in the heads, killing them both, noting that he also "hates ethnic stereotypes."[25]
Batroc briefly served among the group of villains forcibly drafted intoBaron Helmut Zemo'sThunderbolts army. But after returning to federal custody, Batroc registered with theSuperhuman Registration Act,[26] and was sent to a superhuman training facility located atMarine Corps Base Quantico inVirginia to train recruits in themartial arts[27] before being transferred over toCamp Hammond.[28]
Ultimately, however, Batroc found government work unsatisfactory and returned to his mercenary life, confronting the newCaptain America while on a job to steal an item from theUnited Nations.[29] Also, he was working withThe Man with No Face, a mysterious being from Captain America's past.[30] It is soon revealed that Batroc stole the originalHuman Torch's remains for reverse engineering.[31]
During the "Dark Reign" storyline,Quasimodo analyzed Batroc the Leaper forNorman Osborn. He states that Batroc should be apprehended and punished to serve as a warning to anyone who dares desert theFifty State Initiative.[32]
By the events ofThe Unbelievable Gwenpool, Batroc and a handful of other super individuals were corralled into working forMODOK against their wishes.[33] He was fine with it, figuring on earning some money until MODOK would eventually decide to kill him. There he met themetafictional Gwen Poole a.k.a.Gwenpool who killed their team's assassin and took credit for his kills, earning her an unwanted place on the team.[34] Finding out that she has no powers and only killed the assassin through luck, after noticing her lack of skill during a fight withThor, he decided to turn her in, until she convinced him that she was actually from another universe and knew useful information;[35] Batroc is surprised to realise from Gwen's information that he remembers nothing from before his first fight withCaptain America, with Gwen explaining that he did not exist before that point due to it being his first appearance, and that he was based onFrenchstereotypes, hisWikipedia page mentioning his name to be derived fromfrogs.[3][35] Batroc then decided to make Gwen less of a liability by teaching her actual combat moves and the use of weapons, allowing her to subsequently defeat MODOK when he independently found out her secret and took over the team briefly;[36] that comingChristmas, Batroc then took time to mourn the deaths of his wife and daughter.[37] After a fight with some aliens in which they did not get paid, and their base was destroyed, the group broke up,[38] briefly reuniting after being captured byArcade.[39]
After Gwen learns her series is coming to an end as a result of choosing to be a hero rather than a villain, erasing an older alternate "evil" version of herself from existence,[40][41] she convinces Batroc to let her participate in a heist of acasino owned byChance; having been informed of Gwen's new-found ability to manipulate reality, Batroc has Gwen catch thesound effects as he kicks in the door of Chance's safe, allowing him to do so silently, before escaping with Chance's gold upon being caught by him.[42] After learning from Batroc that Chance was "aSpider-Man bad guy" she had not recognised, and that they have been out "Robin Hooding", Gwen is touched when Batroc reveals that he had put the money aside for her into legitimate accounts, and believes life as a hero is better for her than the mercenary life he lives.[42] Accepting her series' cancellation and that futureMarvel Comics writers will not provide Batroc the same characterisation he has had inThe Unbelievable Gwenpool, instead relegating him to being ahenchman and minor antagonist, Gwen bids farewell to him and prepares to face oblivion.[42][6][3] Over a finale montage set over several decades, Batroc joins Gwen in confronting MODOK when he returns from space and remains in contact with her.[43][7]
During theSecret Empire storyline, Batroc the Leaper, theLiving Laser andWhirlwind are trapped inside theCosmic Cube and attack a haggard, bearded man in a torn World War II army uniform who identifies himself as Steve Rogers. He is assisted by people that appear to beSam Wilson and aBucky Barnes who never lost his arm.[44]
During the "King in Black" storyline, Batroc the Leaper is among the villains recruited by MayorWilson Fisk to join hisThunderbolts at the time ofKnull's invasion.[45][46]
Batroc the Leaper has no superhuman abilities, but is in peak physical condition in every respect. He is an Olympic-levelweightlifter and has extraordinary agility and reflexes. His leg muscles are particularly well developed, enabling him to leap great distances equal to an Olympic athlete. He is an expert martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant who specializes insavate, and he is also adept at other martial arts such asKrav Maga.[47] He is also skilled inparkour.[47] He is also a skilled military tactician, having formerly been in the French Foreign Legion.
Batroc is also an experienced thief and smuggler who can speak both French and English.
TheUltimate Marvel incarnation of Batroc the Leaper is a French jewelry thief. This version's martial arts skills are also present. When he and his thugs were robbing a jewelry store, they are stopped by the newSpider-Man's "venom strike".[48]
In theMC2 continuity, Batroc the Leaper still operates his own criminal syndicate, until stopped byAmerican Dream.[49]
A zombiefied version of Batroc the Leaper appears in thethird installment of theMarvel Zombies series, where he is killed byAbsorbing Man's trademark concrete ball and chain.[50]
In the alternate continuity of the 2005 "House of M" storyline, Batroc the Leaper is a member of theHood'sextensive-criminal empire.[51] He participated in the takeover of Santo Rico and stayed to fight when the Red Guard came, to protect thesapiens population. He was the first of them to die, attacked byAgent Toad and terminated by two ofS.H.I.E.L.D.'s soldiers.[52]
InDeadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again, Batroc appears alongside Bullseye as one of two mercenaries sent by Red Skull to kill Deadpool after he starts killing off villains. They are ambushed by Deadpool however and Batroc ends up killed by him.[53]
Georges Batroc appears in media set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe, portrayed byGeorges St-Pierre.[58] This version is anAlgerian mercenary and pirate.
Batroc the Leaper appears in the motion comicMarvel Video Comics: Training Day, voiced by Mark Oliver.[citation needed]
Batroc the Leaper received an action figure inHasbro'sMarvel Legends toy line.
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