Circle Killer (serial killer; possessed by one of the Undying; Cable story)

circle_killer-undying-full CIRCLE KILLER

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human (alien-possessed, which likely granted him certain superhuman powers);
active circa 1947 A.D. (at least)

Occupation: Unrevealed;
I don't think serial killer is an occupation, although it is what his life's purpose was;

Group Membership: None;
among the many other victims/hosts of the Undying (including Blockade/Dexter Parish, Andy Carmody, Domino/Neena Thurman, Irene Merryweather, Esther Parrish, Randall Shire, numerous others unidentified)

Affiliations: None known;
former pawn of an unidentified member of the Undying;
while possessed by a member of the Undying, their base/ship's artificial intelligence may have been an ally (or an enemy)

Enemies: (While possessed by a member of the Undying): At least 17 murder victims

Known Relatives: None circle_killer-undying-face

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly Cleveland, Ohio circa 1947 A.D. (at least)

First Appearance: (Mentioned) Cable II#80 (June, 2000);
(seen) Cable II#81 (July, 2000)

Powers/Abilities: The host person who became the Circle Killer has not been seen prior to this possession, and any abilities, etc. remain unrevealed.

Possessed by an unspecified member of the Undying, he carried what looked to be a meat cleaver and killed as many people as he could until being caught.

While possessed, he apparently had a circle-within-a-circle pattern on his forehead, although this may or may not have been visible to all those around him.

He may or may not have also had some degree of psychic and/or energy powers, and /or enhanced strength or durability.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'; there is no frame of reference compared to other people; he looks like he could easily be 6'2" to 6'4", but it could also be that he was very stocky and not that tall)
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 250 lbs.; see above)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Strawberry blond, including full beard (it looks more yellow/blond in the digital version as shown here, but my wife, Wendy, who has much better color version than I, confirms that it is strawberry blond in the the original comic)

History:
(Cable II#80 (fb) - BTS / Cable II#81 (fb)) <1947> - A crazed murderer (possessed by one of the Undying) stalked the street of Cleveland, leaving his "circle within a circle" mark at the scene of all of his murders.

The newspapers dubbed him the Circle Killer because of the symbol he left at the murder scenes.

He was finally caught and convicted of 17 murders.

At his execution via electric chair, his last words were "I can't be stopped...for I am Undying."

(Cable II#80 - BTS) - In the modern era, an unidentified SHIELD agent noted to Commander George Washington Bridge that the symbol on the head of Blockade' (Dexter Parrish, possessed by Aentaros of the Undying) reminded him on an old serial murder case, the "Circle Killer." Bridge told the agent to investigate that further, but the agent advised Bridge that it was a cold trail as the Circle Killer had been caught and executed over fifty years ago (see comments).

(Cable II#81 - BTS) - Clarity's agent Lea related the history of the Circle Killer to Cable.

Comments: Created by Robert Weinberg, Michael Ryan, and Scott Hanna.

As there is no reason to doubt the 1947 date of the Circle Killer's activities, the "fifty years ago" reference should be considered topical, meaning that it was about 50 years ago when that story was published, but now it is over 70 years ago.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Circle Killer should be distinguished from:

CIRCLE of DECAY (Tim Alpert, R.B. Wallace) - cult of decadence and corruption, pawns of Tiboro. Magical powers--Dr. Strange II#54
CIRCLE of COMBAT - Olympian method of proving the truth of ones' words by combat--Thor I#467
CIRCLE of the DRAGON - see DRAGON CIRCLE--Jungle Action#19
CIRCLE of PAVANE (Ampere, Brawler, Pavane, Wanda) - mutant family from Transia --Avengers I#377
CIRCLE of SERPENT’s BLOOD (Chow Loo) - sect of Si-Fan--Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#4
"Circles" - see Chemistro (Curtis Carr)--Hero for Hire I#12
"Circles" - see Chemistro (Calvin Carr)--Power Man and Iron Fist I#91
other "Circle" or "Killer" characters, groups, items, events, races, or places...

images: (without ads)
Cable II#80, pg. 14, panel 2 (full body, small);
panel 3 (electric chair)

Appearances:
Cable II#80 (June, 2000) - Robert Weinberg (writer), Michael Ryan (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Mark Powers (editor)
Cable II#81 (July, 2000) - Robert Weinberg (writer), Michael Ryan (penciler), Andrew Pepoy (inker), Mark Powers (editor)

First posted: 05/04/2023
Last updated: 05/21/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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