Derek Powers, aka Blight, is a major enemy of Terry McGinnis, the Batman of the future shown in the animated series Batman Beyond. He is the evil CEO of Wayne-Powers Tech who was exposed to a mutagenic nerve gas of his own design. In an attempt to save himself, Powers underwent a radical treatment involving exposure to high levels of radiation, but the mutagenic properties of the gas, combined with the radiation, transformed Powers into a monstruous metahuman who constantly gave off lethal levels of radiation.
History[]
Originally a business rival of Bruce Wayne's, Derek Powers successfully forced the merger of Wayne Enterprises with his own company and formed Wayne-Powers. With Bruce's health in decline, Powers was able to lead the company as he saw fit and directed it towards the production and sale of weapons.
In the late 2030s, Powers had begun developing a deadly chemical agent which he intended to sell to aggressive nations. When he attempted to ship out this gas, he was interrupted by the new Batman. During this incident, Powers was exposed to the mutagenic nerve agent and would have been killed by it had he not immediately received medical attention. He was treated via heavy radiation exposure, but the virus caused his body to mutate in reaction to the therapy, making him perpetually radioactive. Along with his transformation, Powers took on the villainous persona of "Blight".
Powers continued his illicit business practices while, at the same time, trying to hide his condition from the public, including his own board of directors. He started wearing synthetic skin that hid his mutated visage and contained the radiation he constantly generated, but over time these skins would deteriorate. Blight's radiation emissions would become more intense whenever he got angry, so it did not help when Batman started regularly interfering with his operations.
Eventually, the truth about Powers' condition was exposed to the board of Wayne-Powers when he was confronted in his board room by a fisherman over his company's pollution of Verdeza's rivers. Enraged, Powers burned through his false skin and attacked both the fisherman and Bruce Wayne, but Terry McGinness - the new Batman - arrived and confronted him. Blight ran away, thus he became a wanted fugitive.
Unbeknownst to him, this incident had been staged by Derek's son Paxton, who wanted to bait his father into exposing himself, so he could assume leadership of Wayne-Powers in fact as well as name. Blight contacted Paxton and told him to dispatch Wayne-Powers's medical staff to restore his skin, so that he could get out of Gotham. Instead, Paxton called an ambulance, under the pretense of trying to help. Facing the possibility of being arrested, Blight was compelled to go underground. He retreated to an abandoned nuclear submarine that cloaked his radiation signature. Apparently the only person aware of his location was his secretary Miss Winston who provided Powers with food.
However, Batman managed to track him down, at Paxton's behest, and taunted Blight, luring him into a prearranged location. Enraged, Blight asked why he was tormenting him, and Batman revealed that he had killed his father. However, Powers didn't know who he was talking about. At that point, Paxton's men entrapped Blight in a special net built to drain his radiation. Paxton revealed his true intentions, saying his father had taught him that the only way to acquire true power was to seize it, which was why Derek now had to die. When Batman tried to stop Paxton, the net was damaged, and Blight revived. His rage and radiation went out of control. The submarine was destroyed from within, and sank with Blight on board. His body was never found, and he was presumed dead, though Batman still believed him to be alive.
Appearance[]
As Derek, he has the appearance of a adult man with white hair and formal clothes. However, after being mutated, his appearance changed drastically as his flesh became luminescent, glowing neon green and revealing a black skeleton beneath. Following his mutation, Blight began wearing synthetic skin made in his original image to hide his condition from the public. However, the radiation he gave off would constantly eat away at the synthetic coverings, forcing him to change skins regularly to maintain his facade.
Powers and Abilities[]
As his monniker suggests, Blight became a walking radiation emitter. Because of his dangerous amounts of radiation, he was capable of manipulating it into blasts of power that he cast from his hands, but then his powers grew and, furthermore, he could emit wide range waves of energy. He was able to produce blasts of radioactive fire from his hands, or cascading waves of radiation from his entire body. The radiation projectiles that he fires cause extreme burns and dizziness. Blight is also capable of transferring heat into other materials, as seen when he irradiated Batman's Batrope and turned it into a glowing ray of light.