COPPERHEAD

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Real Name: Davis Lawfers
Aliases: None
Identity: Secret
Occupation: Civil Servant, Professional Criminal, Mercenary
Citizenship: American Citizen with a Criminal Record
Place of Birth: Rochester, New York
Known Relatives: Unknown
Group Affiliation: Serpent Society, Serpent Squad
First Appearance: Captain America #337 (1987)
History: Davis Lawfers began his life by earning a degree in business administration and had pursued the career as a Civil Servant. However, when Viper (Madame Hydra) recruited him into the fold, she provided him with the Copperhead costume, and explained she had wanted him to infiltrate the Serpent Society, so that she could learn about their motives and take over them when the time was right.

Along with Black Racer, Puff Adder, and Fer-de-Lance, Copperhead took part in a string of robberies in Las Vegas. This drew the attention of Captain America (who, at the time, was merely going by the moniker of The Captain). All of them were defeated and imprisoned. However, Viper’s plan had worked exactly as she’d hoped, as this had captured the attention of Sidewinder, the leader of Serpent Society, who teleported into the prison and offered them each a position into Serpent Society, which they accepted, and he teleported each of them away.

Maintaining his alliance with Viper, when she attacked, they were able to overthrow Sidewinder, who almost died (he was saved by Diamondback). Those who did not accept Viper as the new leader were poisoned, at which point, most then agreed to serve her in order to save their own lives. Copperhead was all too happy to continue to follow Viper, despite her ruthless behavior, when it came to poisoning Washington, D.C.’s water supply that turned those who drank the water into humanoid serpents. Captain America helped defeat Viper and Sidewinder refused to return to the Serpent Society, feeling betrayed, so Cobra, now calling himself King Cobra, took over as leader and offered even those who served Viper a position in Serpent Society. Copperhead accepted, but would eventually depart after a failed mission to recover a Cro-Magnon skull from the mystical scholar known as Mister Jip.

Copperhead would later be seen with several members of Serpent Society, when the Skrull Invasion took place. The Nova Corps had arrived and Copperhead was quickly defeated by Nova during the confrontation, when the Nova Corp freed the hostages from Copperhead and the other Serpent Society members.

Copperhead would go on to fight Spider-Man a few times (unknowing that it had been actually Doctor Octavious, better known as Doctor Octopus who had taken over Peter’s mind and body). Copperhead even remarked how Spider-Man seemed unusually quiet and lacked his traditional banter, for which Spider-Man was always known for.

Copperhead would be seen again, with members of Serpent Society, when he, Black Racer, and Cottonmouth ambushed Sam Wilson (formerly the Falcon, now Captain America). However, this had been a set up by Diamondback and she betrayed Captain America, feigning that Black Racer had stabbed her, only to have Diamondback stab Captain America and paralyze him. He was brought before Viper (Jordan Dixon) who explained he’d rebranded Serpent Society into a better business called Serpent Solutions, then proceeded to throw the paralyzed Captain America out the window. He was saved by the newest Falcon (Joaquin Torres) and together, they returned and defeated Serpent Solutions, though for reasons unknown Copperhead was not there during that fight, though he’d been a part of the ambush.

Later, Copperhead was among the members of Serpent Solutions to fall under Mephisto’s sway and commit horrible acts of violence. This was stopped by Nighthawk. They would resurface again, following Viper (Jordan Dixon) who was now calling himself Pit Viper, and seeking to complete a ritual to summon Mephisto to their side. For reasons unknown, Copperhead is not among them, despite having fallen under Mephisto’s influence previously.

His whereabouts are currently unknown.

Height: 5’5″
Weight: 140 lbs
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown with Grey

Powers: Davis Lawfers possesses no superhuman abilities.

Weapons: Copperhead wears a suit of armor that is equipped with weaponry and affords him some degree of protection from injury thanks to its micro-mesh chainmail. It also is equipped with a fang-like grappling hook, and suction cups that allow him to stick to walls to scale them. It is also equipped with devices on his wrist that produces paralyzing electrical blasts.

Note: Gamer’s Handbook of the Marvel Universe #4 originally stated this Copperhead was the same character as the one who debuted in Human Fly #8. The Human Fly’s Copperhead was only called “Reynolds” in those appearances, so Copperhead’s real name was given as “Robert Reynolds”. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #6 retconned this, and identifies this Copperhead as Davis Lawfers and Copperhead from the Human Fly character’s real name is now revealed as “Arthur Reynolds”.