Vigilante is the name used by several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Notable individuals to assume the alias include Greg Saunders and Adrian Chase.
An original incarnation of Vigilante named Vincent Sobel appears in the television series Arrow, played by Clayton Chitty and Johann Urb and voiced by Mick Wingert. Freddie Stroma plays the Adrian Chase incarnation of Vigilante in the DC Extended Universe television series Peacemaker.
Fictional character biographies
Greg Saunders
The original version of Vigilante was a western-themed hero named Greg Sanders (later retconned in the 1990s to "Saunders") who debuted in Action Comics #42 (November 1941). The Vigilante had a teen sidekick introduced in 1942, Stuff the Chinatown Kid.
Adrian Chase
Adrian Chase first appeared as the second version of Vigilante in The New Teen Titans Annual #2 (August 1983) by writer Marv Wolfman and penciler George Pérez. Chase was a District Attorney in New York City who went rogue after his wife and children were killed by a gang boss.
Alan Welles
The third person to assume the Vigilante identity was Alan Welles, a fellow judge and friend of Adrian Chase. His first appearance was in Vigilante #7, and later in Vigilante #20 as Vigilante. He secretly operated in a much more violent manner, even executing petty thieves. His mental instability eventually led him to gun down police officers and civilians. Chase though felt responsible for this threat and began a long investigation to take down Vigilante, until Chase found out he was Welles, forcing Chase to kill him.
Dave Winston
The fourth person to assume the Vigilante identity was Dave Winston, Adrian Chase's bailiff. He refused to kill and traded on the fierce reputation of Vigilante to intimidate information out of thugs. He debuted in Vigilante #23 and later as Vigilante in Vigilante #28. He believed that the Vigilante's efforts were noble and worthwhile. When Alan Welles was killed after ruining the Vigilante's reputation, Winston took up the mantle believing that the city needed the Vigilante. When Chase found out about Winston's actions, he chose to wash his hands of the affair. When Chase and girlfriend Marcia King boarded a plane for Europe, it was hijacked; Winston and Peacemaker both responded to the emergency, but Winston was killed by Peacemaker in front of Chase, making Chase believe he was unable to escape the Vigilante's legacy.
Patricia Trayce
The next Vigilante was Patricia Trayce, a rogue Gotham City police detective who teams up with Deathstroke the Terminator in the Deathstroke the Terminator series written by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. Trayce found Adrian Chase's gear and adapted the guise. She was also Deathstroke's lover. She first appeared in Deathstroke the Terminator #6. In Deathstroke the Terminator #11, Pat takes up the Vigilante uniform. She was trained by Deathstroke, and soon started to work alone.
Adeline Kane
Justin Powell
Late in 2005, DC published a Vigilante limited series by writer Bruce Jones and artist Ben Oliver. The identity of the title character is initially left mysterious, but apparently this is a new incarnation of the character.
His name was Justin "Jay" Sutter. When he encountered a murderer as a child, he created a second personality in his mind, The Vigilante. At some point, he changed his name to Justin Scott Powell and would become the Vigilante subconsciously. While Powell was unaware of the Vigilante personality, the Vigilante knew about Powell. At the miniseries' end, Powell was able to reconcile the two personalities.
The Vigilante was last seen, alongside Wild Dog and the current Crimson Avenger, on a rooftop in the great battle of Metropolis, raining bullets down on the Trigger Twins, the Madmen, the second Spellbinder, and others in Infinite Crisis #7.
Dorian Chase
The most recent Vigilante appeared in Nightwing #133–137. While he wears a costume similar to Adrian Chase's, it is a new depiction under the mask.
The Vigilante also appears in Gotham Underground, set after his initial encounter with Nightwing. He is shown to be a formidable fighter, but is defeated easily by Batman.