Hardcore (comics)

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caption=
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Hardcore
real_name=
species=
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Cage #1" (Apr 1992)
creators=Marcus McLaurin and Dwayne Turner
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
status=
alliances=Overseer and trainer of the Untouchables
previous_alliances=
aliases=
relatives=
powers=|

Hardcore is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.

Hardcore is an assassin and enforcer with hands that could cut through steel, who served as an enemy of Cage.

Fictional character biography

Hardcore was an assassin in the employ of Cruz Bushmaster, and first clashed with Cage soon after Cage began operating out of Chicago. ["Cage" #1] Hardcore then clashed with Dakota North while stealing information on Cage's past. ["Cage" #2] Hardcore next sent the Untouchables (Kickback, Nitro, and Tombstone) to attack Cage and capture Dakota North. ["Cage" #3] Kickback attempted a rebellion against Hardcore, but Hardcore thwarted the rebellion. ["Cage" #4] Hardcore nearly succeeded in killing Cage. ["Cage" #7] Hardcore then blew up the "Black Hole" in Colorado. ["Cage" #8]

Later, Hardcore held Cage, his brother and father, and Dr. Noah Burnstein prisoner in St. Croix, the Virgin Islands. Hardcore was revealed to have persuaded Mickey Hamilton to work against Cage, and oversaw Burnstein's endowment of Cruz Bushmaster with superhuman powers. Hardcore also fought Cage once more. Hardcore apparently was killed in an explosion of the automobile he was driving (and the detonation of one of his own manrikisas) when it plunged into water. ["Cage" #12]

Powers and abilities

Hardcore was an athletic man with no superhuman powers. He had hardened and sharpened his hands, enabling them to penetrate steel. The nails on his left hand were long and sharp and could be used like blades. Hardcore was an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, highly trained in Japanese martial arts. He was an expert in explosives.

Hardcore wore a "kinetic Kevlar vest" that afforded him protection from Cage's superhumanly powerful blows. Hardcore employed a wide variety of traditional Japanese weaponry, much of which he modified for special uses. For example, he used manrikisas, chain-like weapons, many of which he equipped with internal tasers, explosives, or incendiaries. Hardcore also used bullet-like sanjira, which he gave diamond tips, and shuriken (throwing stars). He also used a gun that simultaneously fired shock drugs and gas and then flew towards its target and exploded; he also used plastic explosives.

References