Constantine Drakon

Constantine Drakon
Constantine Drakon; art by Phil Hester.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Green Arrow vol. 3 #27 (2003).
Created by	Judd Winick Phil Hester
In-story information
Abilities	Master martial artist

Constantine Drakon is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. He is a martial artist created by writer Judd Winick and artist Phil Hester as a villain to Green Arrow, and he first appeared in Green Arrow vol. 3 #27 (2003).

Fictional character biography

Childhood

Although his exact height has not been given, the Greek assassin Constantine Drakon is a short individual. As a child he was teased for this by other children. Once he started killing people at the age of ten, however, he found he was no longer sensitive about his stature. He claims that he had nothing strange or traumatic in his upbringing to turn him to murder, he was simply curious to see what he could do. Discovering that he was a prodigy at killing, Constantine proceeded to make a living out of it. He considers what he does not just a job but a vocation, and takes pride in the businesslike manner in which he operates.

Coming to Star City

When troll-like monsters began to terrorize the Elevast Corporation's construction sites (for a high-end retail center in a depressed area of Star City), the corporation hired Constantine Drakon. Drakon's job was to eliminate the monsters and cover up the link between them and the Elevast corporation. Oliver "Green Arrow" Queen's investigations into the monsters put him in direct confrontation with the European assassin. In their first encounter, Drakon soundly defeated Green Arrow, killing a friend of Connor Hawke (Oliver Queen's son) and crucifying Green Arrow with his own arrows, choosing not to kill the archer because he wasn't being paid enough to kill superheroes yet.

Why Drakon didn't kill Green Arrow.

Drakon's next victim was attorney Joanna Pierce, niece of Black Lightning, who discovered information proving that an imperfect vaccine the Elevast Corporation produced had in fact turned human beings into the troll-like creatures. Joanna Pierce had recently met and become involved with Oliver Queen. Although they had broken up almost immediately after starting a relationship, her death would greatly disturb him for some time to come.

Drakon would subsequently invade the Green Arrow household looking for copies of Joanna Pierce's evidence and face Connor Hawke in battle. Connor was losing the battle badly when he received assistance from Mia Dearden (Speedy). Even then, he was only able to defeat Drakon by shooting though Mia's shoulder while Drakon was holding her hostage, and then blowing up the building with Drakon in it.

After that, Drakon did not appear until he was hired by Brick as part of a revenge scheme against Green Arrow. Drakon attacked Green Arrow's former sidekick Arsenal, cutting the young hero's throat and taking him prisoner. Mia and Connor again squared off against Drakon, who again outclassed them in martial arts skill. But the two heroes outwitted him for a second time, this time luring him into a trap set by Shift of the Outsiders.

Return

After the One Year Later shift, Deathstroke the Terminator plead guilty to all charges he was accused of in order to get into prison to meet with Drakon. The two of them broke out of prison and confronted Team Arrow. Despite being outnumbered 4 to 2, Deathstroke comments that Team Arrow "should have brought more guys." He is defeated and apprehended when the Justice League arrives to rescue Team Arrow.

Powers and abilities

While Constantine Drakon is not stated to have meta-powers, he is nonetheless an extraordinary martial artist with incredible physical attributes. Drakon has shown himself to be exceptionally skilled with firearms, and willing to use them. He has also shown spectacular speed in all of his appearances, catching multiple arrows fired at him on several occasions, as well as throwing a knife into a man's shoulder so quickly, no one even saw him perform the motion.

References