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Amanda Waller/White Queen & Maxwell Lord/Black King (Checkmate)
Checkmate — Amanda Waller / White Queen, Maxwell Lord / Black King
Played By: Pam Grier and Gil Bellows
An enigmatic government agency with a Chess Motif, Checkmate competes with Major Zod to be the main antagonist of Season 9. Run by the White Queen and the Black King, Checkmate keeps tabs on paranormal activity and has a definite With Us or Against Us mentality.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Waller is far better looking than she is in the comics. Though, she's played by Pam Grier, so that's not all that surprising.
- Alternate Self: Waller has three on Earth-Prime, Earth-1, and Earth-12, while Lord has one on Earth-1.
- Asshole Victim: It is hard not to root for Zod when he throws Waller into a windshield, then burns the whole Checkmate castle to the ground with heat vision.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Waller and Lord.
- The Chessmaster: Waller.
- Chess Motifs: No kidding. All agents are assigned a chess-themed codename (Pawn, Knight, Rook, etc.) that denotes their rank within the organization. Moreover, Checkmate itself is split into two halves — intelligence (headed by the White Queen) and field operations (under the Black King).
- Fantastic Racism: Waller is fine with aliens - so long as they're on her side. Since the Kandorians are outliers, and can't guarantee that, she orders her men to exterminate them. Fortunately, Clark rescues them just in time.
- Hunter of Their Own Kind: Lord's conversation with disgraced former DA Ray Sacks reveals that unlike Waller, he is completely opposed to the idea of superhumans running about, regarding them as a threat to "order", and plans on eliminating them, starting with the Blur.
- Iron Lady: Waller, to no one's surprise.
- Mind Rape: Lord's specialty.
- Necessarily Evil: How Waller sees the group.
- Out-Gambitted: By Zod.
- Properly Paranoid: Waller's aims to assemble a superhuman army prepared to avert an "oncoming apocalypse" sounds completely batshit crazy, even accepting that there are aliens on Earth, and that Checkmate is somewhat aware of their presence. However, her gambit to get the JSA active again, did indeed ultimately assist in stopping Darkseid's campaign in Season 10, even if they didn't end up forming in the way she intended.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: In her paranoia to protect the world from hostile aliens, she uncovered the Kandorians' hidden base, and captured them, and took in their current leader, Faora, and attempted to have them killed. While Clark eventually rescued them, Faora's whereabouts were considered unknown until Zod confirmed that she is dead (whilst withholding the info that he killed her). While Waller is not responsible for her death, the hostile encounter was the last straw for the more peace-minded Kandorians and pushed them (back) into militancy as they accepted Zod's account of what happened, and he restored their powers so that they could conquer Earth, making them become the very threat to the planet that Waller was trying to prevent.
- Super Hero Packing Heat: Lord.
- Telepathy: Lord.
- With Us or Against Us: Waller's attitude towards Clark and superhumans in general.
Cameron Mahkent/Icicle II
Cameron Mahkent / Icicle II
Played By: Wesley Macinnes
"Your fate is in my hands, or I guess I should say, it's on my head."
The son of Joar Mahkent, a former enemy of the Justice Society of America, Icicle is recruited by Checkmate to serve as an assassin, with the promise that they will help him locate and kill off the JSA's members. Appears in Season 9's "Absolute Justice".
- Adaptational Badass: Icicle in the comics is a competent, B-list supervillain. This one's a little stronger, to say the least. Not only did his father manage to kill Hawkgirl in the Back Story, but Cameron himself has near Story-Breaker Power, freezing anything that's within the immediate vicinity of his target. He's able to take out three members of the JSA, and might well have done more if he hadn't put on the Helmet of Nabu.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the comics, Cameron hated his father and the feeling was mutual, since Joar abused and abandoned his son after blaming him for his wife's death.
- Alternate Self: Has two, one as a leprechaun named Red on Earth-Prime and one as himself on Earth-2.
- Avenging the Villain: Hawkman put his father, the original Icicle, in a coma. Now he's out for revenge on the JSA.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Was deeply distraught after Hawkman put his father, the only family he had left, in a coma and made it his mission to get revenge on the JSA for it.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: His jacket, complete with chains and studs.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Using the Helmet of Nabu interferes with his concentration and allows his defeat.
- Lamarck Was Right: His father's use of freezing weaponry granted Cameron his powers.
- Not What I Signed on For: When Waller reveals her real goals to him.
- Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: Him versus the JSA. He's rather sneeringly contemptuous of their ages, to boot.
- Professional Killer
- Psychotic Smirk: His usual facial expression.
- Revenge: On the Justice Society for killing his father.
- Self-Made Orphan: His mom died of hypothermia giving birth to him, and he himself performs a Mercy Kill on his comatose father.
- Unwitting Pawn: Of Waller and Checkmate. He's actually listed as a "Black Pawn".
- Walking Wasteland: His presence alone causes snowstorms. Luckily, they leave with him.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: May have been done to him by Waller.
- Villainous Lineage: His dad was a contract killer with a freeze gun; Cameron is a government assassin with cryogenic energies in his bloodstream.
Stuart Campbell
Stuart Campbell
Played By: Ryan Mc Donell
A Checkmate agent and former employee of Tess Mercer, Stuart is a top computer hacker and technician. He was recruited by Checkmate after being betrayed by Tess.
- Alternate Self: Has one on Earth-Prime as Kurt Weaver.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Post-recruitment. Beforehand, his outfit was a little less classy and a little more homeless person.
- The Cracker: Good enough to keep out Chloe, and hack Watchtower's security.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Objects to Tess' plan to keep Lois inside the mind reading machine, as it could seriously damage her.
- Eyepatch of Power: After being shot in the face by Tess.
- Geek: A stereotypical nerd pre-recruitment.
- Hollywood Hacking: His and Chloe's hackwar is definitely this, with them both throwing up firewalls and trying to break one another's codes.
- Perma-Stubble: Post-recruitment.
- Revenge: Wants it on Tess.
- Took a Level in Badass: After being recruited by Checkmate.
General Slade Wilson
General Slade Wilson
Played By: Michael Hogan
"Well, let's just say the reaper can swing his sickle at me, but I'm beyond Death's stroke now."
An aging general with a long history of war-crimes charges behind him, Slade is the man chosen by the government to enforce the Vigilante Registration Act. Very much the ideological opposite of Rick Flag, Slade believes that no one can be allowed the power to threaten the government and seeks to defend America from all threats, wherever they may come from. He's crazy, to say the least. A key antagonist in the first half of Season 10.
- Adaptational Wimp: In the comics he’s one of the deadliest men in the world, but due to being an In Name Only Composite Character with Wade Eiling he lacks any of that.
- Age Lift: While Deathstroke is sometimes given an extended life span, none are actually shown to be as old as this version.
- Alternate Self: Has one on Earth-Prime, Earth-1, and one on Earth-9.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Of both A.C. and Oliver.
- Composite Character: He's equal parts Slade Wilson/Deathstroke and General Wade Eiling from Justice League Unlimited.
- Disc-One Final Boss: His defeat marks the season's halfway point and the beginning of the end for the VRA, making it a truly major plot point. Yet he's still just an unwitting pawn of Darkseid.
- Evil Old Folks: Looks to be somewhere in his sixties or older.
- Eyepatch of Power: As of the end of "Patriot".
- Eye Scream: He loses an eye after being caught in an explosion.
- Hypocrite: Claims to hate superpowers and powerless vigilantes who deem themselves above the law and yet, A.) Overreaches his authority by building unsanctioned interrogation facilities without the okay from his superiors. Leading into B.) Utilizing advanced military grade engineering to give himself an enhanced leg up on the competition, gaining Superhuman Strength, Speed, reflexes and a Healing Factor for good measure.
- In Name Only: Besides his name, eventual eye patch and his daughter in the comic continuation, he has nothing in common with his comic self.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Which is rather ironic when one takes into account his Patriotic Fervor and obsession with all things American.
- Lamp Shade Hanging: Gives a chilling one to Clark just after he exits a burning building."Well lets just say the reaper can swing his sickle at me, but I'm beyond Death's Stroke now."
- Made of Iron: Didn't flinch after getting hit with Hawkman's mace, and somehow survived the destruction of the oil derrick in "Patriot".
- When Lois hits him in the face with a glass object, the cut on his head can be seen healing itself.
- Mark of the Beast: Has the Omega sign tattooed on his skull, courtesy of Darkseid.
- No One Could Survive That!: The reaction of other characters to his surviving the explosion in "Patriot".
- Patriotic Fervor: His motivation."No civilian should have more power than the law."
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Invoked; he never states it aloud but seeing as the government Slade works for turned a blind eye to his many, many atrocious war crimes due to his effectiveness in the field. The guy even looks up to some of the worst sociopaths in human history and was still commemorated to Lieutenant General and eventually General rank in the military.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Courtesy of Clark sending him to the Phantom Zone. He gets sent back later, albeit in a coma.
- Shut Up, Kirk!: Clark gives him a speech about how he's stopping people from trusting the very government he's trying to defend, and demands that Slade let him save him from the exploding facility. Slade tells him to shut up, responding that he'd rather die along with the Blur than be saved by "an abomination".
- Took a Level in Badass: Between "Patriot" and "Icarus", having gained superpowers from government enhancements.
- With Us or Against Us: His attitude towards Superheroes. He feels the same way about their supporters/allies and, given his rather brutal treatment of Lois when she refuses to answer his questions, it's probably safe to say that the ally trio that is arrested by the VRA should be thankful that Trotter, despite her status as a Sociopathic Soldier, was the one handling their interrogations.
Lieutenant Trotter
Lieutenant Trotter
Played By: Lori Ann Triolo
Formerly aide to General Slade Wilson, Trotter took control of the Department of Domestic Security's VRA strike team following Wilson's imprisonment in the Phantom Zone. She captured several members of the Justice League and Justice Society, imprisoning them in a virtual reality world while she attempted to figure out how to neutralize or control their powers. Defeated by the combined efforts of the League, Chloe Sullivan and the Suicide Squad, she was left imprisoned in her own virtual reality program.
- Dragon Ascendant: For an episode, anyway, she takes over Slade’s position.
- Grand Theft Me: In the virtual world, she temporarily jacks Chloe's avatar in order to mislead Clark.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: Trapped in her own virtual world.
- Sociopathic Soldier: She's basically General Ripper, Junior.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: After the VRA legislation passes, Trotter's agency gains an absurd amount of power, to the point where she is able to order a mandatory curfew for all citizens of Metropolis, in addition to all her violations of privacy rights.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Her reasoning for not just shooting Chloe on sight are basically nonexistent, especially since she had 90% of the main heroes already in custody anyway and therefore didn't really need Chloe alive. By the time she gives her soldiers the order to kill Chloe, it's already too late.
- With Us or Against Us: Shares her superior's attitude towards the vigilantes, as well as their supporters, given the way she acts towards Emil, Lois, and Tess. Who knows what would've happened to Tess and Emil if she'd gotten away with them but not the rest of the team.
Steve Trevor
Steve Trevor/Agent 47
Species: Human
The childhood friend of Diana of Themyscira and the current director of the D.E.O.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Steve and Diana have never been childhood friends before, and he wasn't an ex of Lois' in the comics. Also, the idea of Hippolyta raising him after they leave Themyscira has never appeared in any prior adaptation.
- Alternate Self: Has one Earth-1 and on Earth-76.
- Amicable Exes: He and Lois get along really well, though its implied their relationship wasn't that serious.
- Childhood Friend Romance: He met Diana when he was around six years old, and the two become a couple when they reunite as adults.
- One Degree of Separation: Steve is the ex of Lois, who is the cousin of Chloe who was the childhood friend of Lois' future husband Clark and who would later encounter Steve's childhood friend Diana.
Suicide Squad
In General
Suicide Squad
- Badass Crew: Between Rick Flag, Deadshot, Plastique, and Warp, they count.
- The Chessmaster: The Squad, as a whole, is proving to be superb at warping events to their own advantage. Bonus points to Deadshot for his method of putting the Squad's mark on Clark.
- Cool Car: The Squad van, which appears in "Ambush". It's effectively a mobile base, equipped with state-of-the-art electronics, tracking equipment, satellite up-links and a missile launcher.
- Enemy Mine: With the Justice League as of "Collateral". Who knows how long that'll last.
- Evil Counterpart: The team, as a whole, to the Justice League. They both hate the VRA, they're both made up of superhumans and led by a Badass Normal, and they both try to stay under the radar. The Squad goes much, much further in their attempts at taking down the act, though.
- Heel–Face Turn: Chloe blackmails the Squad into making a collective one.
- Put on a Bus: After "Collateral".
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Suicide Squad, Deadshot, Warp, even Plastique. None of them are real reassuring, to say the least.
- Weaponized Car: The Squad van is equipped with a homing missile launcher, in addition to all its other gadgetry.
- Western Terrorists: See Flag's entry for how.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: They just vanish after "Collateral" with no real reason.
Rick Flag
Rick Flag
Played By: Ted Whittall
"Let's show these boys what it's like to mess with the Suicide Squad."
The Squad's leader. Flag is, to put it mildly, very damaged. Formerly the field leader for Checkmate's teams of super-powered agents, his lengthy association with metahumans has caused him to identify with them instead of normal people. He's violently opposed to the VRA, and wants to force every superhero to see things his way, regardless of their own feelings.
- Alternate Self: Has one on Earth-1.
- Anti-Hero: Flag has a genuine regard for superheroes, and is gathering an army to fight off Darkseid in an effort to save the Earth...but his Blood Knight tendencies continually serve as a foil for the JLA's more tempered methods. To elaborate, Flag is technically on the same side as Clark and the JLA on the issue of registration; the problem is that he's way too eager to use violence to resolve this issue. In "Collateral", he ends up coming to the rescue of the captured superheroes, and he never gives away their secrets. Still, Clark and his friends try to convince him to be more diplomatic, and try to warn him that his militia-style tactics are unintentionally giving the VRA more material to use as anti-vigilante propaganda.
- Badass Normal: At first, his badass status is somewhat doubtful, but after watching him attack a government special ops team in "Collateral", using only his own mundane abilities? Definitely.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Seems fond of it.
- Complexity Addiction: As evidenced by his absolutely 1960s-ish plan to kill General Lane. He has Deadshot on the team. Does he use him? No. Instead, he uses a laser in a pen given to the general's daughter Lucy to guide in a homing missile that he launches from the back of his van. There's complex, and then there's that.
- Foil: To Oliver.
- Guns Akimbo
- Jerkass Has a Point: Pretty much everything Flag predicted about the VRA—namely that the officials in charge would abuse their power, persecute the superheroes, and threaten America's freedoms—turned out to be exactly what ended up happening after the VRA legislation passed, making Flag's warnings seem like a Cassandra Truth. After this happens, Flag fights to rescue Clark and the other JLA members from the lab where they are being held.
- Just Between You and Me: To Oliver about Chloe's "death".
- Large Ham: Dear God. Flag chews more scenery in a few episodes than Zod did in a season, complete with reciting The Star-Spangled Banner as he fires a missile at General Lane.
- Patriotic Fervor: He really loves America, and views the government's VRA program as a genuine threat to America's freedoms. Clark fully agrees with this view, but not with Flag's militia-style solutions.
- Properly Paranoid: Flag would seem totally nuts if the guy running the Vigilante Registration Act wasn't General Slade Wilson. Indeed, pretty much everything Flag predicted about the VRA—namely that the officials in charge would abuse their power, persecute the superheroes, and threaten America's freedoms—turned out to be exactly what ended up happening after the VRA passed, making Flag's warnings seem like a Cassandra Truth. The heroes are hunted and persecuted by General Wilson and Lieutenant Trotter, privacy rights were routinely violated by the VRA, and it's mentioned that Trotter's agency even forced a mandatory curfew onto all citizens of Metropolis.
- Secret-Keeper: Flag knows the identities of all the heroes. So far he's told nobody. Makes sense, since he genuinely respects them, and wants to earn their trust.
- Smug Snake
- Sociopathic Soldier: Flag's a mix of Types I, II and IV — a radical militia-esque ex-soldier with Patriotic Fervor and blatant insanity to spare, and whose previous missions for the government have more or less broken him.
- Superhero Packing Heat: Two pistols, and a carbine.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Flag's attempt at assassinating General Lane involved a missile. To kill one guy.
- Western Terrorists: Flag's a U.S. militia-esque nut who lashes out at anyone who wants to force super-powered vigilantes to register, complete with political assassinations, bombings and missile strikes.
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You Look Familiar: His actor played Lana's martial arts trainer in Season 8's "Power".
Floyd Lawton / Deadshot
Floyd Lawton / Deadshot
Played By: Bradley Stryker
"Somewhere out there, we all got a bullet with our name on it."
A contract killer at the top of America's Most Wanted lists, Deadshot is retained by Flag to mark the Blur with the Squad's symbol. Using Cat Grant as bait to draw Clark out in the open, Deadshot succeeds, although he's imprisoned for it; Flag and Plastique later bust him out. The best shot in-universe, Deadshot affects a laid-back demeanor that conceals his fatalistic tendencies and disillusionment with life.
- Alternate Self: Has two on Earth-Prime as himself and a man named Vincent & one on Earth-1.
- Badass Longcoat: Along with the hat it completes his image of being a modern day gunslinger.
- The Fatalist: Big time."Somewhere out there, we all got a bullet with our name on it."
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a very ugly one over his eye.
- The Gunslinger: Very much, as he would not be out of place in a western.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: He puts a bullet down the tailpipe of a car.
- Marked Bullet: Deadshot writes his victims' names on his bullets.
- Nietzsche Wannabe: If his conversation with Cat is any indicator, definitely.
- Professional Killer: Likely the best since he's at the top of the wanted list.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Goes with his Cowboy motif.
- Steampunk: Possibly the best way to describe Deadshot's combo of Wild West appearance with grungy future-tech.
- Truer to the Text: As surprising as it is to hear, the Smallville version of Deadshot is only one to resemble the character in his original appearance. Deadshot's more famous costume wouldn't appear until much later, and while he dressed in a top hat and tuxedo in the comics he was presented as more of gunslinger than an assassin.
- Villainous Valor: You gotta give Deadshot points for going after Clark with a gun, despite being fully aware of the latter's Nigh-Invulnerable status. As it turns out, getting hit and going to prison was actually part of the plan, and Deadshot went through with it despite the risks. Pretty ballsy, that.
Bette San Souci/ Plastique
Bette Sans Souci / Plastique
Played By: Jessica Parker Kennedy
First appearing in Season 8, Bette is a homeless girl with the power to project rings of explosive force from her body. On the run from LuthorCorp's Black Creek facility, she is taken in by Chloe, whom she later turns on. Captured and imprisoned in Belle Reve after a brief battle with Clark, Bette was loosed by Tess Mercer on the condition that she join Tess' Injustice Gang (see LuthorCorp and Associates) where she was code-named "Plastique". Following the defeat of the Gang, she was recruited into the Suicide Squad by Flag sometime before Season 10. Best described as paranoid, selfish and bitter, she's a beautiful fit with the rest of the Squad.
- Alternate Self: Has two on Earth-Prime, one as herself, and one as Barry Allen's daughter from a possible timeline.
- Black Eyes of Crazy: When Bette uses her powers, her irises glow yellow and her pupils narrow to black slits.
- Broken Bird: Plastique retains this status from her first appearance. She is a very damaged little girl.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome / What Happened to the Mouse?: Her final appearance revealed she'd joined the Squad while they were still Clark's enemies. No mention of her after the Squad made its collective Heel–Face Turn.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: When she uses her powers.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: After joining the Injustice Gang and the Suicide Squad.
- It's All About Me: Bette is out for herself and nobody else. She wants to stay free and safe, and anyone who she suspects might compromise that tends to end up dead.
- Person of Mass Destruction: She causes objects to explode, whether they're the size of a person, or the size of a bus. If you're name isn't Clark, you better run.
- Race Lift: Was a Quebecois terrorist in the comics. Here, she's of Asian (perhaps French-Indochinese) descent.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: She's a part of the Suicide Squad in the beginning of season ten, but doesn't show up with Flag and Deadshot when they come back in "Collateral," and is never mentioned.
Emil LaSalle/Warp
Emil LaSalle / Warp
Played By: Elias Toufexis
- Mission Control: For the Squad, doubling as their getaway man.
- You Look Familiar: His actor played Meteor Freak Bronson in Season 6's "Static" and a character named Luke in the Season 3 episode "Asylum".
