Doctor Diehard

Doctor Diehard
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Justice League Europe #15 (June 1990)
In-story information
Full name	Hans Leckter
Team affiliations	Extremists
Abilities	Generates magnetic fields

Doctor Diehard is the name of three fictional DC Comics supervillains.

First Diehard

The first Doctor Diehard was part of the evil gang called the Extremists. He was based on the Marvel Comics supervillain Magneto, and like him has the ability to generate powerful magnetic fields. ^[1]

Diehard Robot

The second Doctor Diehard was a robotic duplicate of the first, one of many robots created by the inventor Mitch Wacky on the otherdimensional world of Angor, as part of a theme park attraction. After the death of virtually all heroes and villains on the planet, the evil Dreamslayer used the robot duplicates to re-create his villain team, the Extremists. After traveling to Earth, the Extremists almost took over the world before being defeated by Justice League Europe. The Extremists robots were then exhibited in Madame Clouseau's Wax Museum in Paris. They were later used by Dreamslayer a second time on the island of Kooey Kooey Kooey, and still later as pawns of Twilight in a battle with Supergirl. The Diehard robot had all the powers of the original. ^[2]

Countdown

In the Countdown to Final Crisis tie-in series Lord Havok and the Extremists, A new version of Diehard is introduced on Earth-8. Hans Leckter runs a school for Metahumans, and chooses the best students to join his special team, the Zen Men, much like Marvel's Professor X. Diehard is the most openly rebellious member of the Extremists, constantly challenging Lord Havok's decisions. His school is destroyed by Monarch's forces in #4, killing his students and wife, causing him to lash out at Havok in his grief, and after unsuccessfully trying to rally the Extremists against him, is killed by his teammates.

In #5, how Diehard came to join the Extremists is revealed. His school was deemed too dangerously powerful by the government, and was laid siege to by the Meta-Militia. Rather than risk a fight, Hans, then a man of peace, willingly surrendered. He and his students were placed in an internment camp, where power-dampening chips were planted in their palms, and they were given the choice to live in the camp's squalor, or join the Meta-Militia, which some of Hans' students, like One-Eye, agreed to. Some time later, Hans' daughter, Anna, was killed by a guard who had tried to force himself upon her, and his son, Jack, was killed trying to avenge her. Their death caused Hans to throw off the reins of peace, and, after a repentant One-Eye destroyed his chip, lead his students in a rebellion. Their first escape attempt failed miserably, but the second, with help from Lord Havok, succeeded. In gratitude for Havok's assistance, Hans joined the Extremists.

Powers and abilities

Doctor Diehard is capable of manipulating and channelling magnetic fields. He can manipulate iron and iron-based alloys to his whim. He can explode metal constructs, and manipulate ferrous objects with nearly unlimited range. He can also fly under this own power.

The second Doctor Diehard is a robotic construct and has been deactivated and reactivated on numerous occasions.

The post-Infinite Crisis Doctor Diehard has the same abilities as the original Doctor Diehard.

See also

• Lists of DC Comics supervillains

References

1. Jimenez, Phil (2008), "Extremists, The", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 117, ISBN   978-0-7566-4119-1, OCLC   213309017
2. The Unofficial Tracer Biography