| “ | on't do this, Bengal. Don't make me fight you again. I know how the past can bury you -- ! You have to rise above it! You have to, or the past will kill you --way before you get the chance to kill it! | „ |
| ~ Night Thrasher to Bengal. |
| “ | Captain Marvel's words echo in my head: "...the folks who never asked to be placed in the line of fire." That shockwave of unintended consequences? It's mainly felt by the people on the ground. Bus drivers, teachers, librarians, secretaries, fast food managers, mass transit technicians... the people who keep our world moving forward. | „ |
| ~ Night Thrasher. |
Dwayne Michael Taylor, also known as Night Thrasher, is a superhero from Marvel Comics.
After witnessing the death of his parents, Dwayne was adopted by their killers Tai and Andrew Chord and trained to become a living weapon against crime. Adopting the vigilante mantle of Night Thrasher, he uses his suit of armor, gadgets ad family's wealth to fight against crime and corruption. He also formed the New Warriors, a team consisting of numerous superheroes to help him in his fight against criminals and supervillains.
He was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, and first appeared in Thor #411 in December 1989.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Dwayne Michael Taylor is the son of war veteran Daryl Taylor, and his high school sweetheart Melody Ann Taylor. He's also the half-brother to Donyell Taylor, who was born from Daryl's extramarital affair with a woman during a Chicago business trip.
Becoming Night Thrasher[]
When he was young, Dwayne witnessed the murder of his parents by Andrew Chord, who was their old friend and Daryl's former military commander. The murder was orchestrated by the sorceress Tai, still holding contempt against Daryl for refusing to join the pact and have children with her daughters. After their deaths, Tai and Chord became Dwayne's legal guardians, and the sorceress manipulated his memories to prevent him from remembering who killed his parents. Once under their care, Taylor was trained to become a crime fighter, fueled by his desire to avenge his parents. Once ready to fight against crime, he took on the title of Night Thrasher and befriended the siblings Midnight Fire and Silhouette.
Adventures[]
Thrasher developed a strong friendship with the two, even developing a romantic relationship with Silhouette. However, it ended after Silhouette was seemingly killed and Fire blamed the vigilante over the loss of his sister. Fire later become a villain himself after the incident, and Taylor asked Chord to create him a suit of armor to deal with enhanced criminals. Encouraged by Tai and Chord and fondly remembering his teamwork with the siblings, Taylor decided to form a team named the New Warriors. Recruiting Nova, Firestar, Namorita, Marvel Boy and Speedball, the team fought against supervillains such as Terrax and the Juggernaut.
The team eventually came into conflict over Taylor's ethics and extreme stance on handlings criminals, and he disbanded the team to focus on learning the truth about his past. He joined Diego Casseas' Folding Circle alongside members of the pact to face Tai, but the former revealed his true intentions to sacrifice them for power. After stopping Casseas, Taylor restarted the New Warriors to stop threats. He also became the legal guardian of ex-Avenger Elvin Haliday, after he was kicked off the team and lost his grandmother to the Poison Memories. Due to spending his time with Haliday and abandoning the New Warriors, he wasn't able to help them save a brainwashed Namorita and was voted out.
After quitting the Psionex team due to their unstable behavior, Taylor retired from vigilantism to focus on running his father's company. He worked with a microbiologist named Zachary Smith Sr. to develop a cure for cancer, but learned the the microbiologist's son developed it to use his powers. This hurt the Taylor Foundation financially and resulted in the microbiologist dying when taking the cure, as he attempted to prove that it worked. Dwayne then adopted Zachary Smith Jr. and used what money he had left to bankroll and promote the New Warriors on a reality show.
"Death" and Return[]
The team traveled to Connecticut for their show, which ended with Night Thrasher and the team being killed by the supervillain Nitro. While the rest (except Speedball) were killed, Taylor was pulled into the future by the Collector and forced to take part in the contest of champions. While believed dead by the world, his half-brother Donyell took on his mantle and started his own New Warriors. While in the Battlerealm, Maestro became the realm's new ruler after dethroning the Collector and the Grandmaster and transported Night Thrasher with the Ultimates back home.
Later on, Night Thrasher convinced the Punisher to join him, Black Widow, Moon Knight, Ghost Rider and Cole-Aves in fighting against Baron Zemo. Thrasher also joined the Avengers Emergency Response Squad under Captain America's command.
Trivia[]
- The character was based on Tom DeFalco's research on what was selling to teenagers, and was pointed to a skateboarding magazine like Thrasher.
- The character was intended to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe tv show New Warriors before it was cancelled.
- He is often compared to the DC Comics superhero Batman due to their past and using their wealth to fight crime.
