Tyler Randall, aka The Reaper, was the misunderstood main antagonist from the First Season of Smallville, appearing in the episode "Reaper".
He was portrayed by Reynaldo Rosales.
Contents
Personality
Tyler was the "freak of the week" for the episode, though he was not truly villainous like most of the others. He used his Metahuman ability of tactile disintegration to relieve the suffering of terminally ill people and saw himself as something of an angel of mercy.
History
Reaper
Tyler was taking large doses of painkillers for unexplained reasons. These drugs would be a contributing factor to how Tyler gained his powers. Tyler visited his elderly dying mother in the hospital. She asked him to help her die as she was in pain and being kept on a life-support machine and requests to be buried in Smallville. Tyler attempted to smother his mother with a pillow, but hospital orderlies came in to stop him.
A struggled ensued and Tyler was accidentally shoved through a window and fell 20 feet to his death. However, when his body was taken down to the morgue, Tyler suddenly awoke. He had worn a piece of kryptonite on a bracelet and the green stone had become lodged in his wrist after his fatal fall.
The stone's properties reacted with the painkillers still in Tyler's blood and this is supposedly what revived him and granted him his powers. After awakening, Tyler grabbed the coroner's arm and reduced him to dust before running away.
The next day, Tyler met the Kents while working as a driver for Mobile Meals. Together they visited the home of the elderly Mrs. Sikes and Tyler was saddened to find that she sickly and housebound. Mrs. Sikes mistook Tyler for Clark but Martha politely corrected her. They have brought her irises today and she asks them to bring white roses the next day.
Late that night, Tyler Randall arrives at Mrs. Sikes' home having come to put her out of her misery. As Tyler walks in the door her dog Pepper begins barking as usual but Tyler quiets the dog forever and gives Mrs. Sikes a white rose. He takes her by the hand, and she turns to ash.
Some time later, Tyler met with Martha Kent and offered to help carry a crate of vegetables or her. However, he wasn't wearing gloves at that moment and his fingers touched the produce and reduced it to ash. Clark saw his mother cornered by Tyler and stepped in to save her.
Although Tyler touched Clark's face, his power didn't seem to work as Clark's Kryptonian physiology healed his cells faster than Tyler could kill them. Clark's skin turns gray and he winces in pain, but he throws Tyler across the room, and his face returns to normal. Tyler vanished. After hearing about the failing health of George Fordman, Tyler tells Lana he doesn't want to hurt anybody. He just wants to help and decides to visit the hospital and relieve Whitney's father's suffering.
Clark found Tyler in Mr. Fordman's room who knocked Whitney unconscious. Clark appeared to stop Tyler and told him that all he was doing was murdering people after throwing him out of the room. He also informed Tyler that his mother was still alive, having recovered after his last visit.
Clark took Tyler to find his mother sleeping peacefully at home. Tyler realized he hadn't been relieving people of their pain; he had been reliving himself of his own pain. Tyler was overcome with guilt because of what he had done and chose to atone by destroying himself. He put his hands together seemingly in prayer and was disintegrated by his own power.
