Night Thrasher (Character)

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Real Name: Dwayne Taylor

Created by: Tom DeFalco (writer) and Ron Frenz (artist)

1st appearance: Thor #411, December 1989

Team Affiliations: New Warriors

Legal Status: U.S citizen with no criminal record

Height: 6’3              Weight: 220 lbs

Eyes: Brown                   Hair: Black

Relatives: Daryl Taylor (father, deceased), Melody Ann Taylor (mother, deceased), Donyell Taylor/Bandit (1/2 bother), Elvin Holiday/Rage (ward), Zachary Smith Jr./Microbe (ward, deceased), Chord (Legal Guardian)

Biography

Dwayne Taylor’s life changed when he witnessed his parents’ gunned-down in-front of him [New Warriors V1. #4, #25]. Family friend Chord along with elderly Tai helped him hone his martial arts skills. They later supported Dwayne as he fought crime in a vow to avenge his parents deaths by making all criminals pay [New Warriors V1. #2]. During the day he ran his family’s business but by night he was the bane of criminals everywhere, he was the NIGHT THRASHER!

His first brush with a team was when he met Silhouette and Midnight’s fire. He was impressed with their precision and their shared zeal of fighting crime. They spent three weeks together and he fell in love with Silhouette. Despite best laid plans the cops showed up during a pivotal mission and when he stopped Midnight’s Fire from killing the cop he caused Silhouette to be shot. Enraged Midnight’s fireslashed him across the cheek before vowing revenge [New Warriors V1. #2].

The New Warriors

In anticipation of facing Midnight’s Fire again he created a combat suit to protect him from injury and supply him with equipment. He went on to found and lead the New Warriors [New Warriors V1. #1]. During their first assignment they fought Terrax the Untamed and met the Avengers [New Warriors V1. #1]. After the New Warriors had been created Midnight’s Fire resurfaced. They finally had their rematch and Dwayne found himself outmatched in sheer speed, skill and strength. Luckily the weapons and equipment he had made managed to give him the eventual upper hand. It was during their fight he learned that Silhouette was alive. Enraged by how far his friend had fallen he almost killed Midnight’s fire and had to be stopped by the team. Before turning Fire over to the cops he slashed him across the cheek the same way Fire had done to him years before [New Warriors V1. #2]. 

The New Warriors later faced the Psionex team of super villains [New Warriors V1. #4] and Star Thief [New Warriors V1. #5-6]. Silhouette also re-entered his life when she was set upon by the assassin Bengal [New Warriors V1. #7]. After defeating Bengal he fought the Punisher with Silhouette caught in the cross fires [New Warriors V1. #8-9]. Back from that adventure him and Silhouette had to face Emma Frost and her Hellions [New Warriors V1. #10]. When the Sphinx changed time he was central in returning things to normal [New Warriors V1. #11-13].

When he later found out that the Taylor foundation had shady records he confronted Chord about his involvement. After fleeing initially Chord, tearfully tried to commit suicide to atone for his past wrongs [New Warriors V1. #18]. The team managed to save Chord’s life and was drawn into conflict with the immortal mutant Gideon [New Warriors V1. #19]. Thrasher then disbanded the team in a fit of rage [New Warriors V1. #20].

Chord was then captured from the hospital and he ran amok of Bengal once more [Night Thrasher: Four Control #1]. As he searched for Chord he also took the fight to the shady personalities that had seemingly corrupted the Taylor Foundation, like the immortal mutant Gideon [Night Thrasher: Four Control #2-3]. By the time he tracked down Chord he realized his mentor had put the whole thing in motion to stop the corruption in the Taylor Foundation and atone for his sins against Dwayne. These events managed to reconcile them [Night Thrasher: Four Control #4].

While shutting down the Taylor Foundation’s other illegal activities he was recruited into the folding circle along with Midnight’s fire in hopes of learning more about his family [New Warriors V1. #21-22]. Lead to the Dragon’s breadth temple he finally learned the history of his parents, why they were killed and by whom [New Warriors V1. #24-25].

Growing up

He dealt with these revelations by upgrading his suit [New Warriors V1. #26]. When Rage’s grandmother was killed and he wanted vengeance Thrasher tried to stop it. Though he was unsuccessful he understood why the boy had killed the perpetrator [New Warriors V1. #38]. He went on to become the boy’s sole guardian [New Warriors V1. #39]. During the Child’s Play crossover they had to deal with the Upstarts who tried to kill Firestar [New Warriors V1. #45-46].

Thrasher then decided to expand the New Warriors ranks but was captured alongside the original team by the first Sphinx [New Warriors V1. #47]. The villain was beaten when the original New Warriors joined a newer version lead by his ½ brother Donyell/Bandit. Both the original Sphinx and lady Sphinx joined together before departing for parts unknown [New Warriors V1. #50]. When tensions between himself and Nova boiled over because of his past and secretive nature the team split. Only Rage sided with him effectively moving the new warriors out of his control [New Warriors V1. #57]. In the absence of his team he recruited and trained the Psionix team [New Warriors V1. #60]. When the New Warriors were on the verge of being defeated by Genocide, his team the New Psionix made their debut. There was still tension between him and original team especially when they realized the extreme measures they employed. With no one to reign him in they feared Thrasher was headed down the same road as Midnight’s fire [New Warriors V1. #63]. Later when the team was taken down once more him and Rage went to their aid [New Warriors V1. #74]. This lead to a reconciliation with his old teammates [New Warriors V1. #75].

When a new team was formed he watched them from a distance and tracked down Iron Fist to aid him against the villain Junzo Muto who had killed his new martial arts teacher [New Warriors V2. #6-7]. He was unable to stop Junzo from stealing the powers of the Iron Fist though he managed to hold his own against the superior villain. While allied with these New Warriors he had tension with Aegis [New Warriors V2. #8]. He later decides to help the team by becoming their leader which they accept [New Warriors V2. #10].

Reality TV and Death

In modern times his company suffered severe loses when he backed a cure for cancer which fell through. To save the company he made a deal with television executives. His team was then re-branded as a reality TV superhero show. He agreed to the filming because any town the team entered was automatically insured against whatever damage took place during a battle [New Warriors V3. #1]. Debrii was added to the team by the show runner much to the dismay of the originals [New Warriors V3. #4].

They found mixed ratings and success which helped his company through its troubled times. The show was eventually cancelled though [New Warriors V3. #6]. In a last ditch bid to boost rating Night Thrasher and three other team members tried to apprehend a quartet of villains including Nitro.  It was disastrous and resulted in thousands of deaths along with the team and sparked the superhero “Civil War” [Civil War #1, 2006].

Aftermath

Surprisingly he left all his assets to his estranged ½ brother Donyel Taylor who carries on as the new Night Thrasher [New Warriors V4. #1-8]. His body was checked by his brother to see if he was really dead. The Autopsy confirmed the body at Stanford was in fact Dwayne Taylor.