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| “ | You know I love you no matter what, right? I mean, I don't say it enough, but… you're my brother, and you always will be no matter what you do. And you can always tell me what's going on. | „ |
| ~ Keith to Peacemaker. |
| “ | ONE GOT OUT! A BLACK! | „ |
| ~ Keith revealing his racism upon seeing Leota Adebayo, and his most infamous quote. |
Keith Smith, also known as Captain Triumph, is a major antagonist in the second season of the DC Universe superhero series Peacemaker.
He is the Earth-X counterpart of Keith Smith, the older brother of Peacemaker who, unlike his mainstream counterpart, wasn't accidentally killed by Chris as a child and lived into adulthood alongside his brother. However, due to Earth-X being conquered by the Nazis during World War II, Keith would grow up to become a white supremacist and ruthless enforcer of their regime.
Initially a supporting brother to Peacemaker, once he learned that the Chris Smith he had been interacting was a doppleganger from another dimension who had killed Earth-X's Chris, Keith became hateful towards Peacemaker. When the situation further escalated and his father was killed by the 11th Street Kids due to a miscomunication, Captain Triumph went on a vengeful rampage and became hellbent on killing Peacemaker.
He is portrayed by David Denman, who also played Roy Anderson on The Office and Ralph Vento in Greenland.
Biography[]
Past[]
Keith Smith was born to Auggie Smith and an unnamed mother on Earth-X, some time after the Nazis won World War II and took over the planet, with his brother, Chris, being born several years later. Two years after Chris's birth, their mother passed away. Throughout their lives, Auggie raised his sons lovingly, in stark contrast to the horrific abuse that his Earth-1 counterpart subjected them to. As a result, Keith grew up to have an incredibly close bond with his father and brother.
At some point, the three Smiths became technologically-enhanced "superheroes" and formed the Top Trio, a team of white supremacists who enforce the Nazi Party's regime on Earth-X. Keith took up the mantle of "Captain Triumph", while Auggie became "Blue Dragon" and Chris became "Peacemaker".
Despite living in a world run by Nazis, Auggie strongly disagreed with their ideologies. Viewing himself as too weak to fight the system, he instead began to teach his beliefs to his sons. However, this most likely backfired, with both Keith and Chris implied to be pro-Nazi superheroes.
Peacemaker season 2[]
Unbeknownst to Keith, Chris is unceremoniously killed by his Earth-1 counterpart in self-defense. Feeling immense guilt and being oblivious to Earth-X's racism, Chris-1 assumed his alternate counterpart's identity and began acting as the Peacemaker of Earth-X.
Keith, noticing Chris's odd behavior, became concerned that his brother had gone back to using drugs. Not long after, Chris would save a building full of people from the terroristic Sons of Liberty, with Keith arriving, destroying the group's helicopter, and allowing it to crash into the city without any concern for nearby citizens. Keith then congratulated and embraced Chris, with the latter failing to notice Keith's total disregard for public safety.
Later on, Keith, driving home from A.R.G.U.S., spotted Leota Adebayo, a black woman and a companion of Chris’s from Earth-1, walking down the street. Screeching his truck to a halt, Keith, believing a minority had escaped from the concentration camps, would lead the white people in the surrounding neighborhood in chasing her down.
Later, Auggie and Keith would discover that Chris is from an alternate world and confront him. Despite the fact that he previously killed their Chris, Auggie would recognize that it was accidental, while an enraged Keith intended on seeking revenge for his brother.
Despite Keith’s protests, Auggie would allow the 11th Street Kids to return to their world, before being brutally killed by a suddenly-appearing Vigilante. Now hell-bent on revenge for both his brother and father, Keith would attack the group, ultimately being overpowered and gravely wounded until Peacemaker begged everyone to stop, not wanting to see his brother die again.
The 11th Street Kids returned to Earth-1 while Keith was quickly rescued by paramedics and rushed to an Evergreen hospital. Despite being aware that Peacemaker spared his life out of guilt for the incident, Keith's desire to kill Peacemaker remained as he was given medical attention.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- There is plenty of foreshadowing towards Keith's true nature as a Nazi:
- His "superhero" name, Captain Triumph, is likely a reference to Triumph of the Will, an infamous Nazi propaganda film that is often credited for popularizing Adolf Hitler among the German populace. This is especially glaring since Keith Smith is not Captain Triumph in the comics, meaning that his "superhero" name must have been chosen for a specific reason.
- When talking to Chris, he pronounces the city of Blüdhaven with an emphasis on the umlaut, indicating that the people of Earth-X are used to German pronunciations.
- He shows zero concern for the collateral damage caused by him crashing the Sons of Liberty's helicopter, which makes sense considering the Nazi Party's social Darwinist philosophy; in his mind, anyone who died from the ensuing explosion simply wasn't strong enough to survive.
- Keith drives a Ford truck. Henry Ford, despite being American, was known to be antisemitic and opposed the United States' entry into World War II, so it makes sense that he and his company would be spared by the Nazis.
- In a more innocuous moment, when Keith first sees Eagly, he simply calls him a "bird", despite Eagly clearly being a bald eagle, an iconic symbol for the United States of America. Given that the United States was conquered by Nazis on Earth-X, it's more than likely that the bald eagle's iconicity has long since been forgotten, meaning that Keith has genuinely never seen one before despite being American himself.
- In the official Peacemaker Season 2 Podcast, James Gunn described Captain Triumph's character arc as his villian origin story.
- In the same Podcast episode, James Gunn revealed that the original script for Season 2 Episode 7 had Keith be killed by Harcourt, but it was decided to rewrite the ending of the episode to have Keith survive thus leave the possibility for him to return in a future project.
- His allegiance to the Nazis is somewhat ironic, as in the comics, Captain Triumph was an American pilot who fought in World War II.
External Links[]
- Captain Triumph on the DCU Wiki
- Captain Triumph on the DC Wiki
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