History Characters / Vigilante

->'''First Appearance''': ''ComicBook/TheNewTeenTitans'' Vol 1 #23, 1982

->'''Universes:''' [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Earth-Two]], [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Earth-One]], [[ComicBook/PostCrisis New Earth]], Prime Earth, [[ComicBook/DCTheNewFrontier Earth-21]], Franchise/{{DCAU}}

* TheHeroDies: His HeelRealization, SanitySlippage, Peacemaker outing his identity, and the deaths of various friends, either by taking up his mantle or being associated with him would end up driving Adrian to end his own life.

* CoolHat: Like any self-respecting cowboy, he wears a white Stetson cowboy hat.

* OddFriendship: Has this with Shining Knight, one's a modern-day [[VigilanteMan vigilante]] with a fondness for [[{{Cowboy cowboys]], the other is an Arthurian knight FishOutOfTemporalWater who still clings to his culture even if he's not in the right era. How they managed to strike a {{Bromance}} is anybody's guess, the only out-of-universe explenation is the both of them being ComicBook/SevenSoldiersOfVictory members in the comics.

* {{Foil}}: He is his predecessor Adrian's perfect equal and opposite. Whereas Adrian was meticulous in his work and was terrified by the chance he'd harm an innocent, Alan kills anyone in his way no matter who they are, even while saying that he would never hurt an innocent. While Adrian was always worried about if he was doing the right thing while genuinely trying his best, Alan is confident in his goals in spite of the carnage he leaves behind. Finally, while both end up dead, the source highlights their differences - Adrian finally sees how far he's fallen and kills himself out of guilt, while Alan is killed by Adrian himself when he becomes too dangerous to keep alive.

* VillainProtagonist: When your first outing as a "hero" has you desperately trying to kill ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} it's pretty clear what side you're really on. His mental instability only made things worse as he also gunned down police officers and innocents.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: As insane and dangerous as he is, what makes Alan such a threat is that he genuinely believes that he's doing the right thing for the people. As a result, there are very few lines he's unwilling to cross for the sake of his goal.

* DoomMagnet: By the end of the series, Adrian's actions have either killed or ruined the lives of everyone he comes across, with J.J., Alan, and Dave dead, Theresa fleeing, Marcia driven insane, countless dead and traumatized citizens left in his wake, inspiring plenty of unprepared people to take up vigilante justice and suffer for it, and ultimately Adrian himself committing suicide.

** He's utterly disgusted by the second Vigilante's casual murder of police officers.

* CopKiller: Adrian kills a police officer for the first time in issue #38. It's the largest sign that he's finally beginning to lose what remaining bits of heroism he still has left.

* AntiHeroSubstitute: Adrian was already pretty anti-heroic, but Alan removes what few scruples he had, leaving only a dangerous lunatic who kills anyone in his way.

* {{Hypocrite}}: He goes on and on about how he's defending the innocent and respects police officers, but he'll kill both of them without any hesitation or regret even if there's literally no reason to do it.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: As insane and dangerous as he is, what makes Alan so dangerous is that he genuinely believes that he's doing the right thing for the people. As a result, there are very few lines he's unwilling to cross for the sake of his goal.