Calvin Rose (Prime Earth)

Calvin Rose is the early 21st Century incarnation of the "Talon", an assassin of the Court of Owls, having escaped from them before being given the immortality-inducing electrum treatment most receive.

History

Chosen as a Talon

Calvin Rose was eight years old when his father locked him in an old dog kennel and threw away the key. He kept hitting the chain to the gate with a rock for three nights with no progress. On the third night, he found the chain's weak spot and hit it off, running from his home until his legs gave out. He soon discovered an old man who performed at Haly's Circus, who took him in and trained him to become an escape artist. Over that summer, he could pick any lock that you could throw at him. By age ten, he knew fourteen different ways to escape from a straitjacket. When the old man passed away, Calvin took over his act. When Calvin was thirteen, he was set for a star act of the Gotham spectacular: the biggest show of the year. However, Mr. Haly took him to a private performance for the Court of Owls. He did his usual performance, albeit in the dark. It was the first time since the kennel that Calvin felt trapped, but he manages to calm himself and escape. Mr. Haly gave him over to the man from the Court, where he agrees to join the court so that he can get rid of evil people.^[1]

Fleeing the Court of Owls

After that he undergoes years of training to become a Talon, Calvin is instructed to kill the Talon that he is meant to replace. As a final test, he is put into a maze that he must complete. However, he manages to escape from the maze (being the first one to ever do this) and is accepted into the Court. He was sent on a mission to break into the apartment of the late Eric Washington, whose company Security had been developing the most advanced security systems for years. Since his death, the company - and his apartment - had been inherited by his twenty-three-year-old daughter Casey, much to the chagrin of his investors. The Court had ordered Calvin to bring an end to the Washington bloodline. Until he had broken into the apartment and prepared himself for the murder he would have to commit, Calvin had not thought why the Court had not specifically asked him to target Casey Washington. This was because she had a two-year-old daughter named Sarah. He started to feel sick as he realized that these were not bad people, so he knocked Casey out and escaped with her and Sarah, fleeing the Court's wrath in the form of other Talons who wanted to bring him back and kill him in the process.^[1]

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Undeath and Resurrection

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Member of Batman, Incorporated

After a brief time as "Gothamite" when hallucinating like much of Gotham under the impression that Gotham City is a utopia, doing such things as fighting the non-hallucinating Batman,^[2] Talon was cured of the toxin, like much of Gotham save for those who had died in the course of Scarecrow's plot.

Some time later, following the rise and fall of the Secret Society of Super-Villains and the Crime Syndicate, he was called by Penny-Two on behalf of the entire Batman Family for his help alongside that of Casey in bringing Gotham back from the chaos caused by a year of villainous rises and falls with the purposes of discrediting and killing Batman and destroying the city, in which he helped Red Hood and Batgirl and eventually was present for the attempted, albeit unsuccessful, arrest of Lincoln March.^[3]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Electrum Enhancement: After his death, Calvin's system was infused with a chemical compound called "Electrum" that could reanimate dead tissue and heal living tissue over and over again. The compound is fueled by body heat.^[4] He lost this enhancement after his ressurection in a Lazarus Pit.^[5](Formerly)
- Accelerated Healing: Due to the synthesized electrum in his blood, Calvin could recover from bodily injuries at a superhuman rate.^[6]
- Immortality: Due to the synthesized electrum in his blood, Calvin could come back to life over and over and wouldn't age.^[6]^[7]
- Pain Resistance: Thanks to the Electrum and years of training, Calvin was immune to pain.^[7]

Abilities

Acrobatics
Escapology: Calvin is, arguably, the best escape artist in the world. While not showed competing against another escape masters, Calvin showed since a young age talents to find out the best possible ways to get out of every deadly situation with success.
- Lock Picking
Peak Human Condition: Calvin Rose has already shown agility, strength, speed and endurance in several points of his career.
Stealth
Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)
Swimming

Weaknesses

Electrum Dependency (Formerly): When Calvin was defeated, he required an alloy known as electrum to continue functioning.^[4] This weakness disappeared after his ressurection in a Lazarus Pit.^[5]

Vulnerability to Cold (Formerly): After his resurrection, intense cold became a weakness as the Electrum needed heat to function properly.^[4] This weakness disappeared after his ressurection in a Lazarus Pit.^[5]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Infrared Goggles
Smoke Bombs

Notes

Calvin Rose's first appearance could possibly be in Batman (Volume 2) #3 in a picture of a Talon labeled 2006, as this overlaps with the timeline that he would've been active. However, there's evidence to suggest the Talon in the picture could also be either William Cobb or Alton Carver, making this appearance inconclusive.