Shrapnel is a

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...

in the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

universe. He is primarily an enemy of the

Outsiders Outsider(s) may refer to: Film * Outsider (1997 film), ''Outsider'' (1997 film), a 1997 Slovene-language film * Outsider (2012 film), ''Outsider'' (2012 film), a Malayalam-language Indian film * Outsiders (1980 film), ''Outsiders'' (1980 film), a ...

and the

Doom Patrol Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appe ...

. Shrapnel has appeared in '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' and

season two Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * ''2econd Season ''2econd Season'' is the second and most recent album by Atlanta-based rapper Unk. Release It was released on November 4, 2008. Guest Performers The album features gu ...

of ''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

'', portrayed by

Sean Maher Sean Maher (born April 16, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Simon Tam in the science fiction television series ''Firefly'' and follow-up movie ''Serenity''. Early life Maher was born in Pleasantville, New York to Jos ...

in the latter.

Publication history

Shrapnel first appeared in ''

'' vol. 2, #7 and was created by

Paul Kupperberg Paul Kupperberg (born June 14, 1955) is an American writer and comics editor. He is currently a writer and executive editor at Charlton Neo Comics and Pix-C Webcomics, and a contributing author with Crazy 8 Press. Formerly, he was an editor for D ...

and

Erik Larsen Erik J. Larsen (born December 8, 1962) is an American comic book artist, writer, and publisher. He currently acts as the chief financial officer of Image Comics. He gained attention in the early 1990s with his art on Spider-Man series for Marvel ...

Fictional character biography

Very little about Shrapnel's past and identity is known, although it is known that his name is Mark Scheffer and that he was a normal human at one time and has an ex-wife and two very human blond-haired daughters. Shrapnel has tried to stay incognito, but failed to do so after deciding to slaughter anyone who caught even a glimpse of him. He was discovered by the Doom Patrol in Kansas while on a murder spree and forced into combat by the team.

Celsius The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The ...

quickly flooded Shrapnel encasing him within a solid prison block of ice. Shrapnel blew it apart, hitting Mrs. Caulder point blank and hospitalizing the heroine. It is also noted that

Rhea Jones J.A.K.E. 1 J.A.K.E. 2 J'onn J'onzz Jack Jack of Clubs Jack of Fire Jack O'Lantern Jack the Ripper Jackal Jackhammer Jaclyn Jade Jacob Ashe Jakeem Thunder Java Java is a fictional character appearing in American comic ...

was not able to magnetize any control over Shrapnel. It was energy blasting

Tempest Tempest is a synonym for a storm. '' The Tempest'' is a play by William Shakespeare. Tempest or The Tempest may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''The Tempest'' (1908 film), a British silent film * ''The Tempest'' (1911 film), a ...

who worked out that Shrapnel is a series of organic cells creating a single consciousness - that feeds on the blood of victims. Shrapnel escaped the encounter with the

. He has since joined the Society. Shrapnel has later resurfaced as one of the exiled supervillains in ''

Salvation Run ''Salvation Run'' is a seven-issue 2007-2008 DC Comics limited series which was designed to tie into the company's major event series ''Final Crisis'' in 2008. Premise The premise of the series, which is based on a pitch by George R. R. Martin, ...

''. In the ''DC Special: Cyborg'' mini-series, Shrapnel has joined the

Cyborg Revenge Squad The Superman Revenge Squad is the name of two fictional organizations in the DC Comics universe. As their name suggests, it is a group of Superman villains who banded together to defeat the Man of Steel. Pre-''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' In Pre- ...

. Following the ''

Final Crisis "Final Crisis" is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely b ...

'', he was with

Cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

III's

Secret Society of Super-Villains Secret Society of Super Villains (SSoSV) is a DC Comics title that debuted in May–June 1976. The series presented a group of DC's supervillains, mostly foes of the Justice League of America. The series was cancelled with issue #15 in July 1978, ...

at the time when

Genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

was created. He was defeated by

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

. Shrapnel appeared in the inter-company crossover '' JLA/

Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...

'' as one of the villains who attack the

Vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...

and

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). The character is a pastiche of Namor. Initially ...

in Metropolis. He actually makes the first attack, but the Vision blocks it by increasing his density. After the two heroes are subdued, Shrapnel prepares to blast Aquaman when

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

attacks him and knocks him out.

Powers and abilities

As a being made of organic metal, Shrapnel has

superhuman strength Superhuman strength is a superpower commonly invoked in fiction and other literary works such as mythology. A fictionalized representation of the phenomenon of hysterical strength, it is the power to exert force and lift weights beyond what is ...

and stamina. He does not have to eat or sleep in this form. In addition, the metal plates on Shrapnel's body can be projected into explosive bursts. Each scale is a living organism controlled by Shrapnel's consciousness, so once fired they can be directed and recalled at will. Pieces lost by Shrapnel will eventually die, but he can regenerate new ones.

In other media

* A variation of Shrapnel appeared in the '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' episode "When OMAC Attacks!", voiced by Greg Ellis. This amalgamated version is General Kafka (a foe from

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...

's '' OMAC'' comic), a Russian war criminal who claims to have hailed from a poor Russian village that was razed during an unspecified conflict, which doomed the survivors to poverty and famine, and seeks revenge for this. He is unknowingly manipulated by

Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

into fighting OMAC and attempting to cause a meltdown in New York City, during which he is transformed into an organic metal being with the ability to metabolize any form of physical assault used against him to empower himself amidst a lab accident. With Batman's help, OMAC ends the battle by raising his shield and tricking Shrapnel into tiring himself out. * Mark Scheffer appeared in ''

'', portrayed by

. Introduced in the episode "Blast Radius", this version is a human anti-government serial bomber who is part of a terrorist militia group under the alias of Shrapnel. After bombing two government buildings in

Starling City Star City is a fictional city that appears in stories published by DC Comics, best known as the traditional home of the superheroes known by, or affiliated with, the shared alias of Green Arrow. Beyond that, it is also known to other characters ...

, Scheffer targets Sebastian Blood's Unity Rally, but is thwarted and captured by the

. In the episode "Suicide Squad", Scheffer becomes a reluctant member of the titular

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

. While attempting to abandon them on their first mission, he is killed by

Amanda Waller Amanda Blake Waller (née White), also known as "the Wall", is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Legends'' #1 in 1986 and was created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and ...

via a nano-bomb implanted in the squad members' heads to keep them in line.

References

External links

Rapsheet: Shrapnel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shrapnel (Dc Comics) Comics characters introduced in 1988 Doom Patrol DC Comics supervillains DC Comics male supervillains DC Comics characters with accelerated healing DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics metahumans Fictional terrorists Characters created by Erik Larsen Suicide Squad members Fictional Russian people Fictional generals