Headhunter

**Headhunter** (**Cassius Brand**) is an ex-sniper and vigilante featured in the *Bind Tiger* and *Headhunter* series. He is the younger brother of billionaire Opus Brand and, like his brother, is of South African and Swiss descent. He is known for his prolific use of guns, heavy artillery, and explosives, his penchant for violence, and an unsettled psyche due from his military service. He also employs a variety of military vehicles, obtained by his tentative friendship with another deserter and disillusioned military man, Arms Dealer.

He is first introduced in *Night Visions*, pursued by Detective Jack Harrow for his alleged connection to the murders of retired generals. After learning of the true motive behind their assassinations, Harrow turns a blind eye and lets Brand escape, though he is still considered at large and regarded by much of the public as a menace. Since then, he is featured often in *Blind Tiger*, mostly as an accomplice but other times as an enemy, and his own series *Headhunter*. He also makes appearances in *Zone 13*, *Crimson Dusk*, and *Black Lotus*, involved in the fight against the Puppetmaster that eventually claims Crimson Cloak's life and Ghoul's sanity.

## History

In the "Medal of Honor" run of *Night Visions*, a new killer is on the scene after General Lester Lee, a decorated and retired military leader, is found dead on the balcony of his apartment with a bullet to the head and a disarmed time bomb strapped to his chest. This leads Jack Harrow to seek out Arms Dealer, who aided him in the capture of a domestic terrorist several months earlier in exchange for his freedom. He has returned to his underground gun smuggling business, but also promised Harrow he would no longer kill anybody innocent. Examining the bomb, he says that, despite being crude and hand-made, definitely has the mark of someone with a military background, which also lines up with the suspected murder weapon, an M9 Beretta, the standard sidearm of the Marine Corps. He eventually tracks down Cassius Brand, living under the alias Gary Shaw, but he eludes capture, going on to kill several more of his former superior officers before being confronted again by Harrow. Brand explains that he deserted the military and changed his identity after discovering that several covert missions that he and his squad mates were carrying out under Lee's orders were actually helping to supply a sex-trafficking operation run by several higher ups. He remained overseas, trying to stop the operation at its root, but finds that Lee and his associates, catching heat for their operation, have retired with honors and returned to America. He rescues a warehouse full of women and girls, severing the head off of the officer in charge, the first of many. However, he finds that his pregnant fiancee was murdered as penance for his actions. He comes to America to finish his business. Hearing this, Harrow allows him to kill the kidnapped general and escape, pretending to be overpowered. With his face all over the news, Brand starts wearing a dark suit and mask and calls himself the "Headhunter", remaining in Zone 13.

In the opening run of *Blind Tiger*, "A Blinded Tiger Can Still Hunt", Brand becomes an ally of Ben Tanaka in the fight against the Sawscale Vipers and their leader, Red Specter, also encountering Fatal Fist in the process, with whom he would also ally himself in the future.

The solo *Headhunter* series concludes with Brand's first encounter with his brother, who believed he was dead all this time until seeing him on the news. He agrees to keep his existence a secret, but refuses to help him carry out his violent deeds. This enrages Cassius, who knows of Opus's connection to Crimson Cloak, realizing that his brother doesn't trust him. He deals with his fractured psyche while continuing to fight crime his way, taking out major gangs and criminal organizations singlehandedly. Oracle, who was present at the murder scene of his fiancee, after learning about Headhunter's connection to her, tells him that there was somebody else involved in her death - his brother. In a delirious rage, Cassius goes to Opus's house fully-armed and holds his son at gunpoint, demanding that he tell him about the murder. Opus insists that he had nothing to do with it, and just as Cassius is about to pull the trigger, Crimson Cloak bursts through the window and restrains him, the shock of which snaps him out of his delirium. However, that still leaves the question unanswered. Ghoul notices a family picture of Cassius, Opus, and their father, and the striking resemblance between the latter two. Knowing how hazy Oracle's visions can be, he suggests that maybe she mistook their father for Opus, an impossible notion since their father died in combat nearly twenty years prior. They later find that he had elected to be part of an experimental program in exchange for an annual stipend (this was before Opus created his company and earned his fortune). This agreement led to his dead body, with brain still alive, being injected with an experimental regeneration serum that heals his wounds and brings him back to life. However, he lost significant brain function during the time he was dead, only about twenty minutes, and is a shell of a man. The government finds a use for him, implanting a network of nodes in his brain that can excite neurons remotely, allowing them to control him, calling him Golem. Headhunter confronts Golem, reluctant to kill but willing to do so if he has to. Seeing his sons after years, their father manages to resist the mind control for a moment, long enough to apologize to Cassius and kill himself by triggering a bomb. Following this experience, Opus agrees to help his brother, buying him a secluded hangar on an island just off the coast of Zone 13. This is the conclusion of the *Headhunter* series, picking up with *Headhunter: Reminders of War*, two years later.

## Characterization

While a good man at heart, Brand is driven nearly mad by what he witnessed in war, the guilt of his involvement in war crimes, and the death of his fiancee and unborn child. This, and a vengeful spirit, lead him to be very violent and quick-tempered, evident in his habit of collecting the heads of his victims. However, he has many redeeming qualities: a soft spot for women and children, and an adamant rule of never hurting innocent people, not even as collateral.

## Supporting characters

While Opus provides him with his headquarters, Opus Technologies doesn't manufacture the weapons he's looking for, and thus is supplied and aided by Arms Dealer, with whom he shares a resentment towards the military establishment and a quest for justice. However, wheelchair-ridden, Arms Dealer relies on Headhunter to actually execute the plans.

Blind Tiger also occasionally assists Headhunter, appearing in both *Headhunter* and *Headhunter: Reminders of War*.