Known Relatives: None known

Aliases: Roger Loomis

Base of Operations: Currently unknown;
Formerly the Borders of the Land of the Dead;
Formerly mobile

First Appearance: (New) Defenders I#133 (July, 1984)

Powers/Abilities: Manslaughter has limited telepathic powers that enable him to perceive the functions and current activity of the nervous systems of other people.  He uses this ability to influence other’s peripheral vision and hearing, effectively making himself invisible unless looked at straight on. He has demonstrated the ability to transfer emotions and pain through psychic links.  Manslaughter shares a form ("host body") with Roger Loomis, whose form he controls almost all the time.  Manslaughter has demonstrated impressive skills with electronics, laying traps, with various types of weapons, and is also very agile.  Oh, and he’s stark-raving mad, baby, yeah.

Height: 5' 7"     Weight: 115 lbs.   Eyes: Blue   Hair: Red-blond

History: Little is known about the early history of Manslaughter, including the source of his powers and abilities. He may possibly be a mutant.

((New) Defenders I#151 (fb)) - Manslaughter grew up on the streets in poverty.  At some point, he used his latent psychic abilities to track down the Eternal, Interloper, in the Siberian wilderness, and learned fighting skills from him.Interloper also trained Manslaughter in the use of his psychic abilities, but kept some things secret because he sensed that Manslaughter was potentially dangerous.Because Manslaughter was the only human to find Interloper in centuries of time, Interloper was willing to overlook Manslaughter’s madness.Eventually, Manslaughter left and decided to become an assassin-for-hire.

((New) Defenders I#135 (fb)) - Manslaughter gained a reputation as a deadly villain. He took his jobs seriously and used careful planning and execution, but he thrived on the joy he found in trapping and killing his victims rather than in the money. Though caught several times, he reportedly had broken out of prisons "from San Quentin to Dannemora."

((New) Defenders I#133) - After the Defenders helped expose Mr. Ozu’s drug-running business, Ozu hired Manslaughter to kill the Defenders. Manslaughter agreed, feeling that killing some superheroes might be fun.

((New) Defenders I#134 (fb)) - After carefully studying and planning the demise of each Defender, Manslaughter left several messages at Defenders Mansion over a three-day period taunting them with death.He arrived at the Mansion and began setting elaborate traps for individual members of the team that would shake their confidence.He slipped a lei of flowers around Cloud’s neck while she relaxed by the pool, and stuffed the lei with garter snakes and a threatening note.He taped another such note to Angel’s back while Angel flew through the house. When Iceman was working out on the chest press, a trap was sprung that branded the words "The Heat is On" on his chest.Valkyrie’s sword, Dragonfang, was stolen and replaced with another threatening note.

((New) Defenders I#134) - As the Defenders related to the Beast the pranks that had been played, Manslaughter finally revealed himself, holding Dragonfang.Valkyrie threw a blade at Manslaughter, but he caught it in air.After he confessed he was after them only for the fun of it, a preset bomb exploded on the TV when Manslaughter snapped his fingers, then he used his powers to ‘vanish’ before their eyes.Later in the evening, the Defenders were all huddled together, determined not to give Manslaughter the chance to catch them alone, but eventually Cloud went to use the restroom.Manslaughter jumped out at her and slit her throat.The rest of the Defenders split up to search the house. Manslaughter attacked Iceman and broke his neck; he shot Angel with a laser gun and with a deadly nerve gas, and left the Angel to fall to his death; he sliced Valkyrie’s leg with Dragonfang, which he had soaked in a deadly poison which worked with the sword’s magic to defeat Valkyrie.When Manslaughter boasted of his telepathic powers to Moondragon, she hit him with a telepathic blast that unwittingly linked their minds.Manslaughter purposefully sliced his own hand so that Moondragon would feel the pain through the link.Cloud hit Manslaughter with a lightning bolt, then Iceman froze him in an ice-block.The Beast revealed that the Defenders had laid a trap for Manslaughter (Cloud’s neck had been vapor and couldn’t be slit, and the dead Iceman had been a vaporous Cloud in an ice-shell).They had rescued the wounded Angel and Valkyrie.Beast promised to turn over Manslaughter to the authorities.

((New) Defenders I#135) - Beast held Manslaughter in a kitchen overnight while Angel and Valkyrie got medical attention.He was released into the custody of Sheriff Garvin Macken, who would later turn him over to General Argyle Fist.

((New) Defenders I#135 - BTS) - Fist turned Manslaughter over to SHIELD for special holding facilities they had for metahumans.

((New) Defenders I#150/2) - Months later, Manslaughter returned to Defenders Mansion and shut off their security system.He picked up Sassafras (the Beast’s dog) and waited for the team to return.

((New) Defenders I#151 (fb)) - When Candy Southern returned to the Mansion, Manslaughter dressed her in a costume, gave her a codename of Southern Belle, and tied her on the bed.He set up several traps for the Defenders’ return.

((New) Defenders I#151) - Manslaughter greeted the team disguised as a hologram of Candy Southern. He kissed the Angel and knocked the Angel unconscious before revealing himself, stating that he was so impressed with the team that he wanted to join them.He used hologram covers to get away, then attacked the team individually, like before.Iceman and Candy Southern got folded up in a bed; desiccant tape on Andromeda’s mouth inhibited her breathing; Gargoyle got stuck to the wall with Andromeda’s trident. Manslaughter laid a trap he was particularly proud of by planting empty chicken buckets and potato chip bags (from places nowhere conveniently near) full of deadly spiders.  As the Beast fought the spiders, Manslaughter parried with Valkyrie and fled again after the team surrounded him. 

(Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal Infinity Comic#8) - Manslaughter was among a group of criminals in jail wanting to beat up Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal.

Comments: Created by Peter B. Gillis, Don Perlin, and Kim DeMulder.

Manslaughter sits in one of the stranger corners of Marvel obscurity. He's crazy (but there's crazier), he's ruthless (but there's, er, ruthlesser), and he's obscure (but there's others more obscure). His powers are bizarre, but he has a striking track record against powerful characters like the Valkyrie. And he's been on three teams, though he really doesn't have much to show for it. Consider the Roger Loomis side of him ancient history, likely, even if Manslaughter ever does show up again.