Cavalier (Mortimer Drake) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
Publication history
The character first appeared in Detective Comics #81 (November 1943) and was created by Don Cameron and Bob Kane.
Fictional character biography
Mortimer Drake
Mortimer Drake was a man of exotic and idiosyncratic taste. When he found himself unable to purchase more exotic valuables for his collection legally, he resorted to theft. Donning a costume resembling that of a Musketeer, he called himself the Cavalier. His course of actions ultimately brought him into conflict with Batman and Robin. His code of gallantry was important to him; in one story, he helps an old woman carry her groceries in the middle of making his escape.
Drake matched wits against Batman and Robin several times, and escaped them in each encounter, but Batman was able to deduce the Cavalier's identity, leading to Drake's eventual imprisonment.
In Batman Family #10, Batgirl and Batwoman teamed up to defeat Killer Moth and the Cavalier. Cavalier could not find a way around his code, which prevented hitting females, but after a self-examination he concludes "the devil with gallantry" and hit Batgirl with his fist.
Five issues later, in Batman Family #15, Killer Moth teamed up with Cavalier again and made a bet with him that he could find the way into the Batcave from Batgirl before the Cavalier could get the same knowledge from Robin. While Killer Moth was led to a fake cave, Cavalier was shown a large nest, which led the Cavalier to the conclusion that Robin was an alien bird lifeform.
Before Crisis on Infinite Earths the Cavalier existed both on Earth-One and Earth-Two. The stories where he harmed women, something that neither the Earth-One nor Earth-Two versions of him would ever do, can be assigned to the alternate world of Earth-B, an alternate Earth that included stories that could not be considered canonical on Earth-One or Earth-Two. Later "Earth-B" would be formally divided into two separate Earths: Earth-Twelve and Earth-Thirty-Two.
Post-Crisis, Cavalier appeared in Justice League America #43-44 as part of a group of supervillain drinking buddies who were trying to regain their lost items of power. He was defeated by Blue Beetle, who clotheslined him in an alleyway.
During "Knightfall", he faced Batman once again, but was defeated with ease. Cavalier had become insane and was kept in Arkham Asylum. It remains to be seen how Drake went insane, or if his origin has changed because of the first crisis. The Cavalier was later said to have been in a closeted gay relationship with Captain Stingaree, another low-level Batman villain.
He appeared in Justice League of America (vol. 2) #2 as an informant for Black Lightning within the Society.
His back was broken by Bane in Secret Six #7, but he acted as a bodyguard for Leslie Thompkins in Battle for the Cowl: Gotham Gazette. Both stories were published in the spring of 2009, though their relative chronology has yet to be determined. In Red Robin #16 he is shown to still be acting as a bodyguard to Dr. Leslie Thompkins.
The Cavalier's re-entry into active crime followed, when he was seen attempting multiple small heists around Gotham, only to be foiled each time by Batman or Catwoman. However, those small crimes were merely an attempt to hide his role as the mastermind behind the embezzlement of millions of dollars from the Wayne Enterprises pension fund. Eventually, Batman and Catwoman, working together, were able to follow the money trail to Drake, expose his role in the embezzlement, and return the funds.
In September 2011, The New 52 revised the fictional history and characters portrayed in the DC Comics superhero comic book line. In this line-wide revision, Cavalier is now a user of the fictional strength-enhancing drug called Venom. He is shown battling Batwoman.
Hudson Pyle
In Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #32-34 (June–July 1992) writer James Robinson and Tim Sale introduced a new Cavalier by the name of Hudson Pyle into the Batman official continuity in his story-arc entitled Blades. Since Blades takes place early on in Batman's career, Hudson Pyle is actually the original Cavalier, and therefore may have even influenced Mortimer Drake.