Cornelius Stirk
| Cornelius Stirk | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Detective Comics #592 (November 1988) |
| Created by |
Alan Grant (script) Norm Breyfogle (art) |
| In-story information | |
| Notable aliases | Fear |
| Abilities | Can cause fear or hallucinations through telepathy |
Cornelius Stirk is a fictional character in DC Comics.
He first appeared in Detective Comics #592 (November 1988) and was created by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle.
Stirk is a supervillain who, like Scarecrow, uses fear to get to his victims. Stirk has the ability to make other people see him as someone else, allowing him to get close to his victims. He operates under the delusion that he requires the nutrients and hormones from peoples' hearts in order to stay alive, and these are best prepared with norepinephrine by inducing fear in the victim prior to death.
In his first appearance, Stirk is released from Arkham Asylum after being certified as sane. He had been confined since the age of 16 for trying to kill a classmate. After his release, Stirk subsequently stops taking his medication and begins his escalation into a serial killer.
Despite his many murders, Stirk professes to dislike violence. He also dislikes light and therefore operates almost exclusively at night. Oddly, he refers to almost everyone as "sir".
Stirk makes a brief cameo in the beginning of the four-part storyline The Last Arkham, where Jeremiah Arkham, Arkham Asylum's new director, utilizes more barbaric methods to "cure" him. When Stirk refuses to take his medication, for instance, Jeremiah has two orderlies brutally beat him with billy clubs and forces the medication down his throat.
During the "Knightfall" storyline, Stirk works with the Joker in an attempt to kidnap Commissioner Gordon. However, Stirk tries to kill Gordon rather than kidnap him, much to Joker's dismay. Gordon hallucinates that Stirk is actually Batman as Stirk tried to kill Gordon with a knife. Batman stops Stirk, but Gordon is still screaming in fear. In order to capture Stirk, Batman is forced to leave a terrified Gordon with his wife, who brings him to a hospital.
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Wikipedia