User blog:Mattia Garavini/Pure Evil proposal: Deacon Blackfire

This PE proposal is about one of the lesser Batman villains, Deacon Blackfire.

What's the work?
Batman: The Cult is a 1988 four-issue mini-series written by Jim Starlin, illustrated by Bernie Wrightson, colored by Bill Wray and edited by Denny O'Neil. The series tell how a mysterious man, Deacon Blackfire, has created a secret underground cult by persuading the homeless people of Gotham in order to spread disorder, fear and eventually take over the city. He also kidnaps, tortures, drugs, and converts Batman in order to use him against the very city he swore to protect.

Who is he and what he has done?
Deacon Joseph Blackfire is a sinister and mysterious preacher and a villain in the DC comics, Blackfire is stated as being over 100 years old, and is portrayed as a power-crazed, sadistic, callous, manipulative, and charismatic con artist and cult leader skilled in manipulation and brainwashing. Blackfire claimed to be a Native American shaman who was entombed alive after being found guilty of killing a tribal chief and committing heresy.

Deacon Blackfire is a cult leader who believes humanity is a lost cause and deserves to be purged. Establishing his cult by kidnapping, torturing, and brainwashing homeless people into becoming his loyal followers, Blackfire uses them to begin butchering criminals across Gotham, from entire crime gangs to petty pickpockets. Brainwashing Batman into assisting him, Blackfire assassinates numerous politicians across the city and kills dozens of police officers and soldiers before seizing control of Gotham City. Blackfire then allows crime and anarchy to run rampant throughout the streets, along with holding mass lynchings and executions regularly and displaying the bodies for all to see. Claiming to be immortal, Blackfire regularly bathes in a huge cauldron of human blood, having used the blood of hundreds of innocents for his baths. When confronted by Batman, Blackfire tries to force him to kill him in order to make himself a martyr and convince his followers to carry on his human-purging quest. Whether he is truly hundreds of years old or just a shrewd con man is left ambiguous, but regardless, Deacon Joseph Blackfire was a narcissistic and misanthropic psychopath who stood out as one of the few villains Batman nearly killed due to his depravity.

Heinous standards
Despite being a short-lived character, Blackfire managed to reach Joker's level of nastiness, not only he isn't content with using faith to manipulate desperate homeless people into becoming vicious killing machines to stroke his own ego, but he also turned Gotham into a tyrannical reign of terror and regularly bathes in huge amounts of human blood to keep himself young, as well as breaking Batman both phisically and mentally without any emotion other than smugness.

Mitigating factors
I don't think so.

Final verdict
Of the crimes Deacon Blackfire commited in the miniseries The Cult, this is an easy yes for me. As usual, is up to you to decide if he fits the criteria or not.