Blackguard

"*Oh my God! Is it a werewolf?*"

"*Yo, they sat me next to a WEREWOLF!?! **Yo, lemme out!!!** I do not fuck with werewolves!*"
—Harley Quinn and Blackguard[src]
**Richard Hertz**, also known as **Blackguard**, was a criminal who used a special combat suit and equipment for jobs. He was a member of the first Task Force X strike team sent to Corto Maltese. When Hertz and the team arrived on the island, he betrayed his allies by contacting the Corto Maltese Armed Forces and giving the team's location away in a vain attempt to gain his freedom. He was quickly killed by the army while trying to reconvene with them on arrival.

## Biography

### Life of crime

Hertz was born in April 22, 1993. At some point in his life, Richard became a criminal and was later apprehended and imprisoned at Belle Reve Correctional Center for unknown crimes.

### Mission in Corto Maltese

#### Recruitment

In 2020, Hertz joined Task Force X and was tasked with infiltrating in the island country of Corto Maltese and destroying the Nazi-era prison and laboratory known as Jotunheim and all traces of the disastrous Project Starfish in the process, in exchange for a 10-year sentence reduction once the mission was completed. Secretly, Blackguard contacted and made a deal with the Corto Maltese Armed Forces, hoping they would help him to escape and advising them of details of the mission such as its date and the exact location, this prompted the soldiers to prepare for Task Force X's arrival and take them by surprise.

Three days before the mission to Corto Maltese, Blackguard came outside of a bathroom and saw Bloodsport cleaning the floor in the mess area. He then pulled off a piece of toilet paper stuck on his shoe and tossed it to Bloodsport before squeezing by Waller and her gathered men. Upon leaving the mess area, Blackguard uncomfortably asked permission to pass through the door where Waller's team was waiting to recruit Bloodsport to the mission with the squad.

Once the day had arrived, Blackguard had his suit returned and then prepared to depart from Belle Reve to Corto Maltese, while awaiting Savant's arrival, Blackguard annoyed a soldier by alerting him with drawing a weapon from his suit. Once Savant arrived with Flag, Hertz and his companions headed for the Sheba helicopter to depart. While they waited for the vehicle to start, T.D.K. helped Blackguard put on his belt. Finally, the pilot Briscoe announced the start of the journey going to Corto Maltese.

On the way to Corto Maltese, Blackguard asked what species Weasel was, thinking that he was a dog, his companions then said that he looked like an Afghan hound. Harley Quinn proposed that he was a werewolf, scaring Blackguard who wanted to quickly get away from Weasel, Rick Flag then calmed them by saying that he was just a weasel. As soon as the talk was over, Flag notified them of their arrival on the island so they could prepare their positions to jump out of the helicopter.

#### Betraying the Squad

*"Hey, guys! Hey. You can come out now, it's just me. I'm the one who contacted you. Look, look. I brought everybody, look. They're right behind me. Whoa. Hey. Hey, guys. Whoa. We got a deal, right? Uh... Uh... I'm the one who called you -"*
―Blackguard, compromising Task Force X to the Corto Maltese Armed Forces before being killed[src]
When they landed on the water, Blackguard began to swim to the shores of the island like the rest of Task Force X, getting into position. While the team distractedly observed the presence of soldiers, he almost immediately gave the team's position away and started walking up to the soldiers while shouting the arrival of the squad. A group of soldiers quickly lit up the entire beach with spotlights as Blackguard attempted to defect to them, whilst Captain Boomerang attempted to retrieve him.

However, Blackguard continued to approach, increasingly nervous, while still yelling he was the one they contacted. Flag heard this and immediately notifying Waller of Blackguard's betrayal. While he was still walking, Blackguard's face was suddenly blown off by a single shot of a soldier, killing him instantly. Hertz's body fell to the ground and the soldiers proceeded to attack the rest of the members after learning of their presence, starting a battle.

### Legacy

Blackguard's actions ultimately assisted in the deaths of most of his teammates, as the military now had a perfect lock on their position due to his intel. Ironically however, they also had the effect of ensuring that the Corto Maltese forces would be too distracted with the decoy team to prevent the entrance of Team 2, the preferred Task Force X group that Waller sent in.

## Personality

Hertz is cocky and overconfident in his abilities, seeming relaxed enough to play chicken with the guards of Belle Reve by pretending to make a move for his gun. He's also rather dimwitted, attempting to surrender himself and his team to the Corto Maltese Armed Forces, earnestly asking if Weasel was some kind of dog, and being terrified when he's told it might be a werewolf. He is also very treacherous, having betrayed Task Force X to Corto Maltese to save himself, who kill him regardless of their deal.

## Powers and abilities

### Powers

* **Energy construct creation**: With his suit, Blackguard was capable of creating an energy construct.
* **Superhuman strength**: Blackguard had strength exceeding that of regular humans.

### Abilities

* **Skilled combatant**: Blackguard was skilled at hand-to-hand combat.
* **Skilled marksman**: Blackguard was skilled in using firearms, particularly his twin pistols.

### Weaknesses

* **Dimwittedness:** Blackguard is gullible and naïve and easily fooled. He also isn't very knowledgeable, even regarding some more basic things.

## Equipment

* **Blackguard suit**: Hertz uses this suit to shield himself and hold his equipment when on missions or pulling off crimes.
* **Smith & Wesson M&P**: Blackguard uses two of these guns to help him pull off crimes and missions.

## Relationships

### Enemies

* Task Force X - former teammates turned enemies
	+ Rick Flag † - former team leader
	+ Cory Pitzner/T.D.K.
	+ Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang † - indirect victim
	+ Weasel
	+ Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn
	+ Brian Durlin/Savant † - indirect victim
	+ Gunter Braun/Javelin † - indirect victim
	+ Mongal † - indirect victim
	+ Robert DuBois/Bloodsport
* A.R.G.U.S.
	+ Amanda Waller - former manipulator
	+ John Economos - former mission coordinator
	+ Emilia Harcourt former mission coordinator
	+ Flo Crawley - former mission coordinator
	+ Fitzgibbon - former physician
	+ Briscoe - former mission transport
* Starro † - former target
* Corto Maltese Armed Forces - allies turned killers

## Trivia

* This is the first onscreen adaptation of Blackguard.
* According to his file in *The Suicide Squad*, Hertz was 28 years old and was born in April 22, 1993.

## Behind the scenes

* In the original comics, Richard Hertz was a common criminal recruited by a Metropolis-based villain organization known as the 1,000. They granted him the ability to create energy constructs of a shield and a mace, and he took up the codename **Blackguard**. He fought Booster Gold, and was later recruited into the Suicide Squad. During one seek-and-destroy mission, a teammate known as the General turned on Hertz and beheaded him.
* The Blackguard Mystery Mini figure for *The Suicide Squad* depicts Blackguard with a whip. Additionally, there is a whip icon on the top right corner of the Blackguard character card included with Splat hair products. The reason for the inclusion of the whip is unknown, however with a seemingly random mention of Blackguard's suit allowing him to create energy constructs on the Splat card, it is possible a scene of him using the whip was cut from the film, or the character will return in the future.
* Lance Herota was a stunt double for Pete Davidson in the role of Blackguard.

## References

The **DC Universe Wiki** has a collection of images and media related to **Blackguard**.

1. ↑ Richard Hertz's file.
2. ↑ ‘Doctor Who’s Peter Capaldi Joining James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’; Is ‘SNL’s Pete Davidson Next?
3. ↑ The Suicide Squad - Roll Call
4. ↑ Jump up to:4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Gunn, James (writer and director) (August 6, 2021). *The Suicide Squad*.
5. ↑ Jump up to:5.0 5.1 5.2 Splat Blackguard card