Paladin (comics)
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Paladin is a Marvel Comics character, a mercenary. He first appeared in Daredevil (Vol. 1) #150 (January 1978). While he claims that Paladin is his real name, he often goes by the name Paul Denning (an obvious play on his nom de guerre). Though not precisely a supervillain, his mercenary activities often bring him into conflict with superheroes.
[edit] History
An unabashed womanizer, Paladin will often flirt with any woman who catches his eye. He briefly dated the Wasp at a time when she was separated from Hank Pym, much to the Black Knight's jealously, who was also attracted to her. For a time, he also enlisted Generation X into helping him retrieve a sword for Adrienne Frost, the sister of current X-Men member Emma Frost. During this period, the mutant known as Jubilee was strongly attracted to Paladin, but that affection disappeared when Generation X and Paladin later went their seperate ways. He has also been a longtime ally to Silver Sable and her Wild Pack organization. Paladin's strength, speed, stamina and reflexes are all slightly superhuman; he can lift up to one ton of weight unaided. He is also a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant, marksman, actor, espionage agent, bodyguard and detective.
Paladin has a certain amount of honor. For example, he was once hired by a corrupt government to assist rebels as part of a sting operation. He aided the rebels in a bombing-laying operation at a government facility. When the rebels were caught, his government handler remarked how lucky they were that the bomb had not gone off. Paladin replied, "I'm sorry, that would have been extra," and activated the bomb by remote control while driving away.(Amazing Fantasy, Vol 2, #16)
While he has been written using lethal force, his preferred weapon is his stun gun, which disrupts the nervous system sufficiently to render most people unconscious.
Very recently, Paladin took down Daredevil with a sniper rifle from a helicopter at a great distance. He did so for the FBI, in exchange for getting his record expunged. The hit, while serious, was not fatal.
He is a main character in the new Heroes for Hire series, although as Misty Knight said he was just there for the money. As it turns out, he was a traitor to the group, only using the Heroes as a means to hunt down Captain America for S.H.I.E.L.D.. He single handedly defeated Captain America and the entire Heroes for Hire team, with the exceptions of Tarantula, and Orka, who weren't present when the fight took place, with a special gas weapon that affected the nervous system. He them radioed S.H.I.E.L.D. and told them he had Captain America in custody. However, he did not account for Shang-Chi's ability to hold his breath over an extended period (thanks to his martial arts training) and was overpowered by him. Shang-Chi then aided Captain America. Captain America switched costumes with Paladin so S.H.I.E.L.D. took Paladin into custody in his place. It is unlikely he will be paid for his botched job.
