Chief (comics)

The Chief
The Chief. Art by Tony Daniel.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963)
Created by	Bob Haney Arnold Drake Bruno Premiani
In-story information
Alter ego	Dr. Niles Caulder
Team affiliations	Doom Patrol
Abilities	Genius-level intellect

The Chief, real name Niles Caulder, Ph.D., is a fictional character from DC Comics and the leader of the Doom Patrol.

He first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963) and was created by Bob Haney, Arnold Drake, and Bruno Premiani.

Co-creator Arnold Drake has confirmed in an interview that his inspiration for The Chief was the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, specifically Sherlock Holmes' elder brother, Mycroft.

Dr. Niles Caulder is a paraplegic gifted with a genius-level intellect. Caulder uses his scientific knowledge to develop numerous inventions and innovations that have made him wealthy. Caulder founded and organized the team called Doom Patrol to protect the innocent and fight crime, and to teach humanity to accept others who live as ostracized "freaks," who have been radically transformed from terrible accidents. It is Caulder's genius that allowed the team members to survive (e.g., designing Robotman's body, devising Negative Man's medicated bandages), and helped grant their freakishness and amazing abilities.

Caulder developed an interest in creating better life at a young age. Proving at a young age to be both a brilliant inventor and engineer, Caulder received funding from a mysterious benefactor. Thanks to the funding, Caulder succeeded in creating a chemical capable of prolonging life. Ultimately, it was revealed that the benefactor was a man called General Immortus, who hired Caulder to create a chemical to replace the one that had been prolonging his life for centuries but was now failing. When the young scientist discovered the truth about his employer, he refused to continue the work. Immortus responded by implanting an explosive device in Caulder's upper torso, which he could set off remotely, and any attempt to remove it while Niles lived would also detonate it. Caulder eventually devised a plan to get the bomb out, but it cost him his ability to walk. The incident inspired and reminded Caulder that a better life may come from surviving a tragic event, such as his own. Another general and another explosive device seemingly obliterated the Doom Patrol team but Niles and most of the others came back from that as well.