Flag-Smasher
First Appearance: Captain America 312
Died In: Captain America 438, although there wasn't enough left to identify, so how "dead" he is remains to be seen... (No death in comics is permanent without a body, an autopsy, a funeral, and a futile attempt or two employing supernatural means to bring the bad guy back -- and even then ya gotta hope he doesn't suddenly pop up and announce he has a healing factor so powerful it can regenerate things like organs and spines!)
Told Ya! Despite being blown to itty bitty pieces, Flag Smasher (and his subversive organization) have resurfaced in the Marvel Universe with nary a scar.
What's His Problem? The son of a famous Swiss politician devoted to world peace, Flag-Smasher decided after his father's death during a riot that peace could not be gained by anything as passive as politics. Discovering that the average joe in the street couldn't be roused to non-patriotism by impassioned speech, Flag-Smasher created ULTIMATUM ("Underground Liberated Totally Integrated Mobile Army To Unite Mankind"), a group of like-thinkers determined to violently bring about global unity. Flaggy fought his own organization, however, when he found out the Red Skull was secretly financing their activities. To him the symbol of Nazi Germany was as repulsive as any other national symbol; cursing his own scruples, he asked for Captain America's help in destroying a bomb meant to bring an end to all technology (Captain America 348-349). Despite that, he never could bring himself to like or even respect Captain America, and was willing to kill himself if that meant taking out Cap as well.
Favorite Quote: "I despise you for your fanatical devotion to your ideals. I hate that you have proven my physical superior twice now. I don't deserve a foe as ... grand as you. You must die." (Captain America 322; Flag-Smasher rejects all that Captain America stands for, even though it represents the universal respect he himself secretly craves).
Abilities: In an effort to fit in when he was a lad, Flag-Smasher made a point of learning the language of what-ever country his father was stationed in, becoming a brilliant linguist by the time he reached adulthood. During a sojourn in Japan he discovered an aptitude for the martial arts. After early battles with Captain America ended in defeat, Flag-Smasher used an exo-skeleton that absorbed the force used against him, which he then turned back upon his enemies. And he liked to carry a mace, although why he picked that particular medieval weapon is beyond me. Either he thought smashing things was most effective with a mace, or between the Black Knight and the Dread Knight the lance patent wasn't available...
Heroes He Kept Running Into: The smasher of national symbols first set his sites on the symbol of the United States, Captain America; he was surprised when the Captain proved the more capable fighter and astounded when the Living Legend of W.W.II went out of his way to save enemy lives. Flag-Smasher also had a very unpleasant run-in with Captain America's replacement -- unpleasant for Johnny Walker, that is. Flag-Smasher trounced the future U.S. Agent thoroughly and left him suspended halfway in a frozen pond to die of hypothermia. (Why don't these bad guys ever just out-and-out kill super-powered folks, eh? Sure, they'll knock off innocent bystanders left and right, but give 'em a hero and they have to get creative!) Moon Knight was the one who slammed Flag-Smasher into jail; rescued by some loyal ULTIMATUM followers, Flag-Smasher tried to take out Captain America once and for all by blowing himself up. It was messy ... and unsuccessful.
Most Despicable Act: For all his insistence that he was an idealist devoted to the abolishment of political boundries, Flag-Smasher always resorted to typical terrorist tactics to get his point across. He held an entire audience at a Captain America press conference hostage, hijacked planes, attempted to blow up national monuments, and ordered the random execution of hostages to punctuate his demands for world unity without nationalism. It was during such a stand-off that Flag-Smasher unintentionally achieved his greatest success; when one of Flaggy's henchmen began to fire into a crowd, Captain America shot back, killing the terrorist. It represented the first (and last) time Cap took a life since World War II. The event has haunted Steve Rogers ever since, and for a time even crippled his effectiveness as Captain America.
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