T.D.K.

"*What does T.D.K. stand for?*"
"*It stands for me. It's what a name is.*"
—Javelin and T.D.K.[src]
**Cory Pitzner**, also known as **The Detachable Kid** or **T.D.K.** for short, is a metahuman with the ability to detach his own arms and telekinetically control them. He used this skill in combat and crime, becoming a convicted felon and member of the first Task Force X strike team sent to Corto Maltese. Upon reaching the island, Pitzner was forced to confront Corto Maltese's soldiers with the team and showed his skills, but was left in critical condition.

## Biography

### Criminal life

At some point in his life, Cory Pitzner turned to crime, becoming known as the Detachable Kid, or T.D.K. for short. However, he was apprehended and taken to Belle Reve, where he became a member of Task Force X.

### Mission in Corto Maltese

#### Recruitement

In August 2020, Pitzner joined the team on a mission to Corto Maltese to destroy the Nazi-era prison and laboratory known as Jotunheim, and in the process destroy the mysterious and dangerous Project Starfish in exchange for the sentence being reduced for 10 years, for which Amanda Waller recruited him as part of the first strike team. Once the day to begin the mission arrived, a nano-bomb was placed in Pitzner to prevent his escape and he was taken in a truck along with the rest of his companions to the outskirts of Belle Reve where they would wait for Savant.

While he waited, T.D.K. had a soda being watched by a guard. Once Savant along with Colonel Flag arrived, the squad gathered heading towards the Sheba helicopter piloted by Briscoe to travel to Corto Maltese, while Pitzner continued to drink the soda. Before starting, T.D.K. helped Blackguard put on his seat belt, during the trip, Javelin asked T.D.K. which his letters meant, so he replied that it meant himself. When Blackguard asked what species Weasel was, T.D.K. said it was an afghan hound.

#### Battle on the Corto Maltese Beach

"*T.D.K.! Two o'clock!*"
"*T.D.K. is The Detachable Kid?*"
—Rick Flag and Harley Quinn[src]
Upon reaching the island, Rick Flag gave the signal to jump into the waters and start swimming to the beach of Corto Maltese, T.D.K. got into position like his companions, however Blackguard revealed his betrayal of Task Force X, calling out to the Corto Maltese military and starting the fight. John Economos told Colonel Rick Flag to deploy T.D.K., and he revealed that his name stood for “The Detachable Kid.”.

T.D.K. detached his arms and used them to hit and slap the troops ineffectively, to the confusion and astonishment of the other team members. Soon, the fight became worse for Task Force X, each member getting killed one by one. T.D.K.'s arms were shot by the Corto Maltesean troops, causing him a lot of pain that made him cry out in suffering and leaving him in critical condition on the ground. However, T.D.K. survived despite his condition, being left with only serious injuries.

## Personality

When describing all the characters of *The Suicide Squad* as being from different genres, James Gunn described T.D.K. as being from "some kind of Saturday morning cartoon show," to which Nathan Fillion laughed, possibly in agreement. The teasers for the film show T.D.K. to be fun-loving, enthusiastic, and mischievous.

## Powers and abilities

### Powers

* **Anatomical liberation**: T.D.K. can painlessly detach his arms and legs from his body easily and at will, which he can use to distract, bewilder, and physically beat his enemies with like a club. In addition, he can telekinetically control his detached limbs making them levitate by moving his shoulders, these loose arms can hit the enemy with little force and cause annoyance.

### Weaknesses

* **Limb vulnerability**: If T.D.K.'s limbs are injured after being detached from his body he'll still feel the pain from those injuries, as seen when Corto Maltese soldiers repeatedly shot his floating arms causing him immense pain until he fainted from the bleeding of his floating arms and was left in critical condition.
* **Weak and Slow Limbs**: T.D.K.'s limbs are very weak and slow, only being able to lightly smack his targets and be a minor annoyance.

## Equipment

* **Protective suit**: T.D.K. wears a suit to mask his identity and protect himself in combat.

## Relationships

	+ Rick Flag † - leader
	+ Gunter Braun/Javelin †
	+ Brian Durlin/Savant †
	+ Mongal †
	+ Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang †
* Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn - former teammate
* Weasel - former teammate
	+ Amanda Waller - manipulator
	+ John Economos - mission coordinator
	+ Emilia Harcourt - mission coordinator
	+ Flo Crawley - mission coordinator
	+ Fitzgibbon - physician
	+ Briscoe - mission transport
* Starro † - target
* Corto Maltese Armed Forces
* Richard Hertz/Blackguard † - teammate turned enemy

## Trivia

* T.D.K was never shown or otherwise confirmed as deceased; when he was last shown, he was in critical condition, but still alive. It was therefore possible, albeit unlikely, that he survived.
	+ However, James Gunn has later confirmed T.D.K survived on Twitter, stating that he didn't die despite his condition.
* T.D.K is possibly based off of Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, a joke prospective hero who tries to join the 'Legion of Super-Heroes'. His entire power was to detatch his arms and use them as blunt instruments.

## Behind the scenes

* Oliver Keller was a stunt double for Nathan Fillion in the role of the Detachable Kid.
* His unique ability to detach his arms and legs from his body indicate that he may be an adaptation of Floyd Belkin, aka Arm-Fall-Off-Boy (later Splitter) from DC Comics under a different name.
* The majority of the marketing for *The Suicide Squad* kept the Detachable Kid's powers a secret, as well as his full name, only referring to him as T.D.K.
* James Gunn stated on Twitter that it was important to note T.D.K.'s life signs when last he's seen, implying he lived through the events of the film.

## References

The **DC Universe Wiki** has a collection of images and media related to **T.D.K.**.

1. ↑ Jump up to:1.0 1.1 Splat trading card
2. ↑ Jump up to:2.0 2.1 "The Suicide Squad - Exclusive Official Clip (2021) Margot Robbie, Idris Elba | IGN Premiere" - YouTube
3. ↑ Jump up to:3.0 3.1 3.2 James Gunn on Twitter
4. ↑ "Nathan Fillion Boarding James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’" - Variety
5. ↑ "THE SUICIDE SQUAD - Roll Call" - YouTube"
6. ↑ Jump up to:6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Gunn, James (writer and director) (August 6, 2021). *The Suicide Squad*.
7. ↑ The Suicide Squad (@SuicideSquadWB) - Twitter