Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciler George Pérez, Adrian Chase first appeared in New Teen Titans #23 and as the antihero Vigilante' in New Teen Titans Annual #2. After his initial appearance, the character gained his own ongoing Vigilante series, initially written by Wolfman and later included writers such as Alan Moore and Paul Kupperberg.
Adrian Chase was a New York Citydistrict attorney unlike his father Charles Chase. He sought justice his own way as the Vigilante after his wife Doris Chase and their children were killed by mobsters. Adrian was initially shown taking pains to make sure he did not kill his enemies and would regularly use non-lethal weaponry to disable his opponents. Throughout the Vigilante series, Chase was tormented over the justice of his actions and the pain brought to others. Chase flirted with abandoning his Vigilante identity after he savagely beat an ex-convict who turned out to be innocent. Eventually, Chase did abandon his Vigilante identity, believing that he could be both more effective and happier as a judge. But during his absence, the Vigilante identity was assumed by two of his friends without his knowledge. But after Wells killed a police officer and in the wake of Winston's death at Peacemaker's hands, Chase once again assumed the Vigilante role, believing it was the only way to protect his loved ones. However, his experiences with Welles and Winston had damaged his fragile psyche beyond repair, causing him to adopt more vicious tactics in his war on crime. Seeking revenge on Peacemaker, the out of shape Adrian gets beaten in a fight and unmasked on live TV, thereby ending Chase's secret identity and forcing him even further into the Vigilante role. Eventually, Chase became ever more conflicted over the violence he engaged in and the harm he caused to those around him. He also became increasingly mentally unstable—alternating between bouts of enraged violence, paranoia and terrible remorse for his actions. Near the end, he even resorted to murdering innocent police officers who got in his way. His mounting guilt culminated in Chase contemplating the course of his life and then committing suicide. Before his death, he frequently battled Cannon and Saber and Electrocutioner. Adrian makes an appearance in the Day of Judgmentlimited series, as one of the dead heroes in Purgatory. He and the others run interference, battling the guardians of the realm, so other living heroes can escape with the soul of Hal Jordan. When the crisis concluded with Jordan assuming the Spectre mantle, Jim Corrigan appeared briefly on Earth, stating that the efforts of Chase and other heroes in Purgatory had earned an appeal in the shining city. It is been revealed recently that Adrian is the brother of Dorian Chase.
Powers and abilities
As the Vigilante, Adrian Chase is a superb hand-to-hand combatant, a brilliant marksman, and a master of the lariat. He also possessed the ability to heal quickly and regenerate his body from injuries as serious as stabbings or gun shot wounds, although he was capable of dying if the injuries were severe enough.
In other media
Television
portrayed Adrian Chase's live-action debut on The CW's Arrow as two different depictions.
The character's Earth-1 version, as season five's main antagonist, was born Simon Morrison while primarily appearing as the supervillainPrometheus while retaining his comic counterpart's occupation as a district attorney and a marriage to Doris Chase.
The character's Earth-2 doppelgänger operates as the Hood in the final season. Oliver Queen looks for Dwarf Star particles for the Monitor on Earth-2 but stumbles upon a crime scene and encounters the Hood and Black Canary. He learns that Tommy Merlyn has stolen the particles and plans to destroy the Glades. Oliver teams up with Adrian and Black Canary and successfully stops Tommy's plan. When Earth-2 is destroyed by an anti-matter wave, Adrian's fate left unknown.
