  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, strong drug use, extremely traumatic themes, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Vigilante from the DC Extended Universe. Fo his DCU counterpart, see Vigilante (DC Universe). |
| “ | Do you think I feel good when after some dude does some atrocious act, that I have to kill them? When I find out someone murdered an innocent person, or sold somebody heroin, or did some graffiti, and I kill that person with my bare hands, their eyeballs popping out of their skulls, you think that gives me pleasure?... Well, it does. It gives you pleasure too, Peacemaker. That's 'cause we're born killers. What separates us from other killers is we only kill bad people. Usually. Unless there's a mistake. Now, do I sound like a f--king maniac? | „ |
| ~ Vigilante to Peacemaker. |
| “ | Yeah, I was a late bloomer. I didn't go through puberty until my mid-20s. I mean, I didn't care 'cause I don't have emotions like people do, but the other guys, after Chris came up with a nickname for them, usually based on their penises, they would just walk into the other room and sob, because that would become their name for the rest of their life. | „ |
| ~ Vigilante to Leota Adebayo. |
Adrian Chase, best known as Vigilante, is one of the two tritagonists (alongside Emilia Harcourt) of the HBO Max original streaming series Peacemaker.
He is a busboy by day and a sadistic crime fighter at night, as well as an avid fan of Peacemaker, even joining him in an iteration of Task Force X to stop an invasion of aliens known as Butterflies. He also serves as one of the two archenemies (alongside Peacemaker) of Auggie Smith, AKA White Dragon.
He is portrayed by Freddie Stroma, who also played his DCU counterpart and Cormac McLaggen in the Harry Potter franchise.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Adrian Chase was born on June 30th, 1991 in the United States to unnamed parents, and is the younger brother to Gut Chase. According to Adrian, his father would reveal his sexuality to his wife, and his mother left the family afterward. At some point, Chase decided to become Vigilante under the same name, and would ruthlessly kill anyone who broke the law by committing severe or small crimes.
Due to his actions, he gained the attention of the authorities and was wanted on multiple counts of murder. While keeping his alter-ego a secret, Adrian worked as a busboy at Fennel Fields, and encountered Christopher Smith (also known as "Peacemaker") through his brother. He became a fan of Smith's work as a vigilante, and wanted to befriend his idol before Peacemaker was sent to Belle Reve.
Peacemaker[]
While working at Fennel Fields, Chase noticed Peacemaker in his costume speaking with some people, and became enthusiastic as his idol had returned. The following day, Adrian arrived at Smith's trailer and comforted his idol, as the latter was starting to question his ideology. Vigilante would try to raise Peacemaker's spirits by shooting appliances with him, throwing dynamite at each other, and having a sexual encounter with Amber Calcaterra. When Peacemaker continued to work with Task Force X to deal with Project Butterfly, Adrian followed them as he didn't trust the other members. He was spotted by Emilia Harcourt and argued with her, but he continued to stalk the task force when they traveled to the Goff residence to eliminate the family.
When Peacemaker was ordered to kill Royland Goff and his wife and children, he hesitated and Vigilante told him to move so he could kill them. Vigilante killed Royland's wife and children without hesitation, but before he could the last living Goff, he was attacked by Judomaster. Vigilante and Peacemaker attempted to defeat their opponent, but the two were easily defeated and taken to the Goff house, where Chase was tortured by Royland. The two were freed when the task force used explosives, and Smith succeed in killing Goff by shooting his head. Before leaving the residence, Vigilante and Peacemaker saw a butterfly leave Goff's body, and Smith would capture the alien insect before it could escape.
After being rescued by the group, Adrian drove Smith to his father's home where he noticed that Auggie Smith was a racist, and expressed his disgust to Peacemaker. Smith would learn that his father was framed for his crimes and was taken to prison, and apologized to Adrian for not showing sympathy for allowing him to be tortured. Chase then drove him to the Evergreen Corrections Center, where he spoke with Leota Adebayo, who believed that Smith was a good person, but that his father should be taken care of so that he could be happy. Adrian then decided to kill Auggie, having himself get arrested and sentenced to the corrections center to confront him. Upon angering Auggie and the Aryan Brotherhood, Chase quickly defeated the inmates before being placed in handcuffs, and told Auggie that he was a terrible father. This would make Auggie think that his son was trying to kill him, and Chase realized his mistake after being released by Harcourt.
Vigilante becomes an active member of "Project Butterfly", bonding during missions like investigating the Glan Tai site. In combat, he proves himself a capable fighter, enthusiastically killing several "Butterfly" hosts. When the team is about to be killed by a rampaging gorilla named Charlie, Vigilante and others team up to kill it. Economos lands the final blow with a chainsaw, which slightly annoys Vigilante because he wanted that glory.
Vigilante's bluntness and lack of a moral filter often cause awkwardness in the team. He continues to needle Adebayo about her morality while also defending Peacemaker from judgment, making it clear his loyalty lies entirely with his idol. Framed alongside Peacemaker for several murders, they evade law enforcement after the Goff incident.
Vigilante joins the team to attack the Coverdale Ranch, which was housing the Butterflies' food source; the giant alien nicknamed the "Cow". However, the White Dragon (Peacemaker's father) ambushs Vigilante, Peacemaker, and Economos. Injured, Vigilante was still active and continues fighting Smith's white supremacist followers alongside Peacemaker. He uses his combat skills to kill some of Smith's men but is outmatched by the White Dragon's advanced armor. Vigilante tries to help Peacemaker directly in the battle against Smith, but the armor's tech and weaponry make it difficult. He shows his usual reckless bravery, rushing in without a clear plan. At one point, Vigilante manages to stab or attack White Dragon’s suit to create an opening for Peacemaker. When Peacemaker ultimately kills his father, Vigilante doesn't question it or judge him—he simply accepts it, reinforcing his loyalty.
After the confrontation, Vigilante continues with Peacemaker and Economos to rejoin Harcourt, Adebayo, and the rest of the group. At the Coverdale Ranch, he fights the Butterflies ferociously, buying time for Peacemaker to take out the Cow. He gets shot and is stabbed repeatedly, but survives and refuses to stop, showing his superhuman pain tolerance and determination. Even after being severely injured, Adrian survives the mission and is last seen casually walking away from the hospital after briefly checking in.
Personality[]
Adrian Chase is enthusiastic to help others and sadistically loves violence. He isn't very intelligent, but he ultimately wants to make friends, reaching the point of considering Christopher Smith as his best friend due to the admiration that Chase has for him. Underneath, he's rather awkward and has a "shoot first, ask questions later" attitude, acting like something of a man-child. However, Chase showed to be very confident when he went to confront Auggie Smith, as he didn't show fear.
Appearance[]
Adrian Chase is a man in his early 30s. He is quite handsome, has brown, wavy hair, green eyes, and a clean-shaven face. Although quite tall and physically fit, Chase is not as tall and hasn't the same muscle mass as Peacemaker, but rather he is shorter, faster and more agile. He is also regularly seen wearing glasses.
Abilities[]
- Peak Human Condition: Chase has trained his body to its peak for his crime-fighting activities. He is highly resilient and durable. Despite him being called skinny by Peacemaker, this shows when he's able to withstand being tortured by Royland Goff. His toes are strong enough for Goff having a hard time to cut it off, although the blade he used could have been dull and required more force.
- Expert Martial Artist: Chase is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist. He is able to fight the master martial artist, Judomaster alongside Peacemaker though was defeated. Chase later demonstrated his combat knowledge even further when easily incapacitating multiple prison inmates at the same time.
- Knife Expertise: Chase is proficient at using knives in combat. He was able to use his two combat knives during his fight against Judomaster.
- Master Marksman: Chase is highly skilled in the use of firearms and the compound bow as seen he trained with Peacemaker. He used a submachine gun to shoot a smiley face. Chase was able to take out three members of the Goff family in quick succession with a sniper rifle.
- Stealth: Chase is skilled at stealth tactics. He was able to follow Peacemaker and his team twice without being spotted until he revealed himself.
Quotes[]
| “ | And now, Papa Bear, ou... | „ |
| ~ Vigilante preparing to kill Royland Goff. |
| “ | If it walks like a duck, it's either a duck, or a duck wearing some type of... human costume. I don't know! He's unable to hide his distinctive walk. | „ |
| ~ Vigilante to Peacemaker on his father Auggie. |
| “ | You're a bad dad. | „ |
| ~ Vigilante to Auggie Smith. |
Gallery[]
_04.jpg "Vigilante (DCEU) 04.jpg (252 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Vigilante's visor is not the ski googles design from the comics and resembles the V-shape used by Dorian Chase, Adrain's brother in the comics.
- Vigilante needs glasses to see, which may be why his mask has a visor instead of just eyeholes.
- Vigilante using Colt SAA revolvers when shooting with Peacemaker is probably a reference to the first Vigilante, Greg Saunders.
- Vigilante is 5'11".
- Chris Conrad was originally going to portray the character before he left production due to creative differences.
- There's a fan theory that Vigilante is in love with Peacemaker.
- Freddie Stroma as Vigilante is one of the few castings that remain the same in James Gunn's DC Universe reboot.
External Links[]
- Vigilante on the Heroes Wiki
- Vigilante on the DC Extended Universe Wiki
