Darkman is the titular fictional protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

 from the 1990 superhero film Darkman

Darkman

Darkman is a 1990 superhero action film directed by Sam Raimi. It is based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal's horror films of the 1930s...

. The character originated in a short story written by the film's director, Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi

Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...

, titled "The Darkman," and is based on the Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

' movie monsters

Universal Monsters

Universal Monsters or Universal Horror is the name given to a series of distinctive horror, suspense and science fiction films made by Universal Studios from 1923 to 1960...

. He was portrayed by Liam Neeson

Liam Neeson

Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...

 in the original film, and by Arnold Vosloo

Arnold Vosloo

Arnold Vosloo is a South African American actor, best-known for playing Imhotep in The Mummy and its 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns, as well as the role of the superhero Darkman in the sequel Darkman II: The Return of Durant and its 1996 sequel, Darkman III: Die Darkman Die...

 in the sequels.

Fictional character biography

In the third film and the unaired television pilot

Television pilot

A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 his biography is slightly retcon

Retcon

Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...

ned, but the character's canonical history is as such: Peyton Westlake was a mild-mannered scientist working on a synthetic "skin" capable of aiding burn victims and was in a good relationship with the district attorney Julie Hastings, who indirectly caused his injuries by telling corrupt developer Louis Strack, Jr that he could not build his "city of the future" without a permission document from Westlake's laboratory. At this, Strack hired sadistic mobster Robert G. Durant to get the document and in the process, Durant and his gang brutally disfigured Westlake, killed his assistant and destroyed his lab.

Julie believed he was dead and a funeral was held, but Westlake's hideous body was placed in a clinic that used various experiments to sever Westlake's pain receptors and enhance his strength to superhuman

Superhuman

Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...

 level. The experiments however affected Westlake's mental stability and he becomes an impulsive, bipolar, sarcastic and violent man. Westlake escapes the clinic and seeks refuge in an abandoned building in the film's city. He hides his grotesque appearance with bandages and a trenchcoat and using his synthetic skin, which only lasts 99 minutes in light, manages to rebuild a relationship with Julie, claiming he survived his "accident" and constantly has to flee so that she does not see his true face. As "Darkman", he begins ruining Durant's illegal activities by framing his gang so Durant kills his own men, including his possible implied lover. After discovering the culprit is Darkman, Durant attempts to kill him from a helicopter using a gatling gun

Gatling gun

The Gatling gun is one of the best known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. It is well known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat...

. Darkman manages to defeat his archenemy by literally clinging to the helicopter and using his strength to pull it into a tunnel and exploding the chopper. Darkman gratifyingly yells "Burn in Hell!".

After this, Darkman poses as Durant in order to infiltrate Strack's new skyscraper, which was the reason the developer hired Durant in the first place. But Strack suspects Darkman will come after him and takes Julie hostage. Strack also taunts Darkman by calling him a "monster" and after a battle atop the skyscraper, Darkman nonchalantly flings Strack to his death, realizing that vengeance and rage cannot satisfy his sorrow. He also decides that he can never be with Julie because of his disfigurement and promptly abandons her, and vows to become a vigilante

Vigilante

A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....

 and bringer of justice

Justice

Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...

.

After a year of crimefighting, Darkman is shocked to discover that Durant is alive and back in town and that he must again battle his archenemy and avenge a scientist named Brinkman, who he managed to partner with in order to work at perfecting his synthetic skin so he may lead a normal life. After defeating Durant, Darkman found a new enemy in drug lord Peter Rooker, who proved to be his most powerful adversary after going through a process that makes his strength equal Darkman's. Darkman managed to bring down Rooker by posing as him but felt conflicted as he fell in love with Rooker's wife and children, who he had to abandon as well to resume his life as a vigilante. Beforehand, however, he finally manages to perfect his synthetic skin, but uses the only sample to heal Rooker's daughter.

Powers and abilities

Due to clinical experiments, the nerve endings connected to Darkman's skin have been severed, rendering him immune to pain

Congenital insensitivity to pain

Congenital insensitivity to pain , also known as congenital analgesia, is one or more rare conditions where a person cannot feel physical pain...

, but unable to feel physical sensations. Additionally, to compensate for his loss of physical feelings, adrenaline flows unchecked through Darkman's body, enhancing his physical strength

Physical strength

Physical strength is the ability of a person or animal to exert force on physical objects using muscles. Increasing physical strength is the goal of strength training.-Overview:...

, speed, agility, and durability, but increasing his emotional output.

Using his synthetic skin, Darkman is able to pose as criminals and trick them into engineering their own downfall.

Personality

Darkman possesses the ethics of a superhero such as not harming innocents but the tenacity and impulsiveness of a psychopath, such as reveling in the suffering of criminals and a dangerous temper, as seen in Darkman when he (disguised as his former self) breaks the fingers of an obnoxious carnival worker for refusing to give Julie Hastings the prized elephant and when Julie refuses the prize, he remarks "Take the fucking elephant!" and when a cat hisses at him, he is enraged and argues with the cat and accuses it of thinking he is a "freak of nature". Despite his temper and preference for violence, Darkman also has a morbid sense of humor in sticky situations, when he breaks into a business meeting whilst attached to Durant's chopper, he remarks to the businessman "Excuse me!" before being pulled off again and when Strack begs for mercy, stating murder will haunt his conscience, Darkman, after only a slight hesitation, drops him to his death and remarks, "I'm learning to live with a lot of things".

Darkman

This film documents Darkman's origins and his relationship with Julie, and systematically showing his descent into a vengeful criminal killer and his first battle with Durant and the businessman Strack.

Darkman II: The Return of Durant

Durant has survived his ordeal from the first film and plans to take over the city using futuristic weaponry. Only Darkman can stop his archenemy and avenge one of Durant's latest victims.

Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die

Drug lord Peter Rooker has allied with a scientist who also worked on Darkman's super-strength and invulnerability, has invented a steroid that enables him to have super-strength but mental instability. To top it off, Darkman poses as Rooker and has a conflict between killing Rooker or saving the evil villain's family.