Introduction:
With Legends of Tomorrow being awesome i thought to myself, shouldn’t i pay tribute to one of my favourite characters in comic books. I love Firestorm and i am a huge fan of the Hawks but there is really only one character that i consider to be greater than all of them as well as one of the greatest villains/anti-heroes in DC Comics. Yes i like this character more than the likes of Zod and The Joker. He has towed the line between good guy and bad guy and his weapon while not unique is still one of my favourite weapons of all time.It’s time to introduce you to one of my favourite villains of all time - The Rival to the Flash, Leonard Snart aka Captain Cold. He is the leader of the Rogues and will stop at nothing to beat his long time rival - Barry Allen aka the Flash which LSwan covered in his blog. Like LSwan did with barry I’ll also be compositing Post-Crisis feats with New 52 feats but i will be giving Captain Cold both his cyrokinetic powers despite the fact he lost them and his cold gun. Also for those who are concerned that this entire blog will just be Ice Puns...i make no promises.
Background:
I will be mainly looking at his New 52 Origin since it’s so similar to his Pre 52 Origin. Like his arch rival Barry Allen - Leonard’s life was not a happy one at all but unlike Barry who has one parent that cared about him Leonard has none. He grew up being the the son of an abusive father (who if you have watched the CW Show was played by Micheal Ironside who was both Sam Fisher and Darkseid).He also had a mother...who abandoned him,ouch well most supervillains don’t really have happy backstories do they. Leonard Snart was raised in extremely poor conditions as a child never truly having the love he deserved and only really havinh any positive attachment to two people - his younger sister Lisa and his his grandfather who unlike his abusive father had a very normal job as a Ice Delivery Man.His grandfather helped Leonard and Leonard would intern grow up very cold as he associated cold with positive feelings. His father, meanwhile is responsible for why Leonard is so emotionally cold as he treated him with coldness especially after his grandfather died when he was twelve. No longer being able to take the amount of abuse he received from his father he ran away from home leaving his sister Lisa who would later become known as the Golden Glider alone with their father, as he is very protective over his younger sister (fat lot of good it did as in the Pre New 52 universe Lisa Snart would eventually get killed off and turned into a Black Lantern - let’s just say that wasn’t a very pleasant family reunion)his life of crime. During his first robbery he was apprehended by Barry Allen aka The Flash. While in prison he learned about a cold engine and decided you know what should i do make a cold gun. You make this makes no sense but this is actually brilliant - you see one of The Flash’s biggest weaknesses is Cold.While Captain Cold knew he would be more then enough to take on the Flash he realized that it would be better if he had his own super villain team that was solely focused on taking down the Flash and so he formed one of my personal favourite super villain teams of all time - The Rogues.
Oh look it’s a Power Rangers Villain meetup convention
While leaving the Rogues Leonard grew very annoyed att the fact that they could not prevent the Flash all of their attempts at crime.The one rule that had been put into place - no killing didn’t not help matters. After anotther failed robbery the Rogues eventually broke apart and his frustration and guilt over the issue drove him to just shoot the shit and start drinking.He would eventually bounce back and later would join the Justice League along with Lex Luthor so right now things are looking good for the guy but considering this is Snart we are talking about things will eventually get bad for him.
Weapons and Equipment:
Cold Gun:
Chill...
While in some versions of the character he has Cyrokensis most versions of the character have him using the Cryo Gun. Captain Cold’s gun is able to create absolute zero. Surprisingly you think this would be impossible in real life but nope there is a Gas that can turn objects to absolute zero and it’s called Quantum Gas.
The Cold Gun like Quantum gas is capable of completely stopping the movement of atoms which i must say is a very impressive ability and far more powerful than Mr Freeze’s gun. Using the power of Absolute Zero the gun can Freeze people in blocks of ice, he can stop The Flash who is one of the most overpowered heroes in comics as shown with him attacking Wally West. Cold’s gun can fire large enough blasts that can freeze an entire skyscraper (damn) and it can get precise enough to freeze only the barrels on guns Cold’s gun can not only freeze objects in place but it also can create objects made out of cold - for example he can create giant walls of ice (Like Mei from Overwatch).He can go full on Elza and fire dozens of snowballs at once and create cages near friction-less ice. His cold can even create icicles inside someone's body and get this you know how ice’s biggest weakness is fire (anyone who knows their Pokemon can tell you that) - well Captain Cold’s Ice Gun is so powerful that it can even counter fire, that shouldn't even be possible. Hell the ice fired from Captain Cold’s gun is so strong that it can not even be melted by Heatwave’s flamethrower which fires extremely hot blasts of fire.There is one more thing i need to talk about but i am going to talk about it a bit later - i am sure you are going to have a field day with this one,
Snow Goggles - He also wears a pair of snow goggles which allow him to see clearly even while firing his gun
Parka - He wears a specially-made parka designed to withstand his own extreme cold temperatures and move around ice with no issue
Cold Grenade - He uses this as a last esort - while fighting the Black Lantern Reverse Flash Snart used this grenade to freeze the entierity of Iron Heights as well as The Reverse Flash (whos the best Flash villain now, bitch).
Powers and Abilities:
Non Ice Based Abilities:
Looks like The Flash got put on ice
Genius Intellect - While his cold gun certainly makes his a dangerous individual what makes him truly deadly is that he has high intellect. This has allowed him to beat some of the most powerful heroes alive like the Flash. He readies himself for anything and plans everything right down to the slightest detail with back-up plans and manipulation - he is always prepared for any scenario. He also had great Leadership skills and turned the Rogues into one of the most feared super villain teams in the DC Universe..
Peak Human Speed and Strength - Cold was strong enough to hold his own against skilled foes in hand-to-hand combat without a weapon and once threw Mirror Master into a stone wall with little to no effort and even strong enough to punch a frozen jaw clean off with one punch. Since he gained powers in the New-52, he has gained superhuman strength though it is unknown if he has kept that since his powers got taken away by Deathstorm. Captain Cold is not only strong but powerful - he can dodged Heatwave's flamethrower and is fast enough to fire his gun quicker then Heatwave who can create walls of flame faster than Jay Garrick’s reaction speed. He can even take out 10 men before they can even blink.
Adapt Memory - He is capable of memorizing the details of every job but simply by analyzing the info he has been given.
Ice Based Abilities:
Cold Field -
It’s like the Matrix
Cold has a "Cold Field" around him at all times and i know what you must be thinking - how does that work, well i think i would let Captain Cold explain it thanks to his Cold Gun. The effectiveness of the field depends on if his foes are at close range. The Cold Field is so strong it can even stop bullets in mid-air and can even freeze liquid. Captain Cold’s cold field is so strong that the only ones who have managed to get through it are the Flashes and even they have a hard time getting through. The field is strong enough to freeze human limbs it can even slow the Flash down to a snail's pace, allowing Cold to hit him with his ice beam.
Ice Manipulation
Surprise Bitch
Due to an experiment Snart gained the ability to manipulate the cold without the use of his iconic cold gun though he sometimes uses the cold gun out of habit. Using his cyrokinetic abilities he can trap opponents in ice, creating massive walls, coating the ground with slippery black ice which if you live in Scotland you would know that Black Ice is an absolute pain to deal with. He can create ice grenades to quickly freeze an area, and forming huge icicles in order to defend himself. If he gets angry enough he can even freeze and shatter a foe’s limbs..ouch.He once froze an entire lake. With his increased strength and speed he he fought the Flash on equal ground. Sadly due to Deathstorm he lost his Cyrokentic abilities and now uses his gun. Ah well i am sure DB would use both versions of Captain Cold.
FEATS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Despite being mainly human, Captain Cold has done some insane things and is easily one of the greatest ice users in fiction. He has fought The Flash one of the greatest heroes in the DC Universe, has injured Superboy has become the leader of one of the most feared villain groups in the DC Universe and has even become a member of the Justice League alongside Lex Luthor.
- Out Freezed and defeated Mr Freeze who is known as one of the most powerful ice users.
- Killed Chillblaine, stole his technology, with ease.
- Has defeated the likes of the Flash, Heatwave and the Top
- Even while having no weapons and just having cold air around him, he shattered the arm of some poor fool who tried to hurt him
- He once freezed Tar Pit, a walking mass of molten tar with a core temperature of over 480 degrees Celsius (900 Fahrenheit)
- Injured Superboy with his Cold Gun who skin is far more dense than a normal human.
- Matched his gun with Superman's heat vision whose heat vision can get hotter than the sun and even managed to match Heat Wave's gun, both of which can injure the Flash
- Once froze an entire skyscraper
- Froze and killed the Top, who is strong enough to destroy ice created by one of the greatest magicians in the DCU - Zatanna
- Once froze an entire section of a city
- Has beaten both Wally West and Barry Allen
- Once killed a mirror version of himself
- Once defeated her sister who was reanimated into a Black Lantern by freezing her and shattering her into millions of pieces.
- Froze a Black Lantern with a cold grenade. The resulting blast froze over an entire prison and trapped the Black Lantern in ice
Weaknesses:
Surprisingly Snart has a sense of honor, he won’t kill unless frustrated and especially won’t kill The Flash, Women and Children meaning he holds back when fighting the likes of the Flash because he has no desire to kill them. Also he is a bit of a control freak and get enraged when a plan doesn’t work. Finally while he did get a superhuman upgrade with his new powers he is still human and thus susceptible to injuries that could affect humans. Also the Flash can get close enough to him with his super speed and knock him out and once he is knocked out there goes his field.
Summary:
Age: 30-40s
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 196 lbs.
Affiliation: Injustice League, Justice League, Lexcorp, Rouges, Rip Hunter’s team,Secret Society of Supervillains
Destructive Capacity: Varies - with Cyrokentic abilities City Block Level+, With Ice Grenade, Large Building Level +. With Cold Gun - Building Level +
Speed: Peak Human, Superhuman with Cyro Abilities,
Durability: Peak Human, Superhuman with Cyro Abilties.
Powers/Abilities/Equipment:
Ice Gun
Ice Grenades
Cryokinesis
High Intelligence
Amazing Leadership skills
Superhuman Strength
Superhuman Speed
Superhuman Durability
(With powers)
Ice Field.
Conclusion:
So that’s Captain Cold, personally he is one of my favourite super villains and one of my favourite comic book characters of all time. I love his relationship with the Flash. He is one of the greatest ice users in fiction and while he may not be as iconic as Sub-Zero or Glacius i think he has earned his spot as being a great icer user. Don’t mess with Leonard Snart or he will give you the cold solder, or freeze you in a block of ice - whatever works. I am loving Legends of Tomorrow and i can’t wait to see more of this guy
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