The Hangman: A Doctor and A Crimelord

The DC Hangman

In the DC Universe, there are actually several characters named the Hangman. They don’t seem to be related to one another but try to find justice in a similar way. Today, we’ll discuss two of these: Robert Dickering and Sofia Falcone.

Bob Dickering: An Undead Hangman

The first hangman to discuss is called Bob Dickering. There isn’t too much known about him, but all that we have, we’ll discuss! Such as that Bob Dickering, was not really alive but had some interesting superpowers.

Past of Bob Dickering’s Hangman

Bob (full name: Robert Dickering) was an army doctor in the American Civil War. He did not come out of this civil war alive. Instead, Bob was accused of being a spy and murdered. This happened because he saved the life of a blinded enemy soldier.

Being DC’s Hangman

Right before his passing away, Bob was approached by someone who introduced themselves as the Devil. They offered him a job; he could go back to DC’s world of the living and track down a certain amount of evil men. What were the reasons for this so-called Devil? That wasn’t quite known to Bob. Nonetheless, he returned and came back alive. At night, he was tracking down evil men as the Hangman, but in the day he was saving lives as Dr. Robert Dickering. He also teamed up with the Sandman and the Green Lantern on certain occasions.

The Hangman’s Abilities & Powers

When becoming the Hangman, Bob also received quite some powers. Most of these were not abilities he had throughout the whole day. Instead, when he transformed at night to become the masked avenger, the Hangman, he also received several powers with dark energy. He could summon ropes, project fear on others, project darkness, and could teleport. Two of the powers/abilities he has even during the day are his immortality (Bob still looks the exact same way he did in 1864) and a broad knowledge of medical stuff.

Weaknesses of Bob

There is also a weakness that comes with all of Bob’s dark power. A weakness that, honestly, makes him look like a vampire. Which he isn’t… although he did come back from the dead as well? Maybe the Hangman is? But that’s a story for another time! Anyway, when his transformation happens, Bob or the Hangman (depending on who he is at that time) has to get out of the sunlight. Because that can extremely pain him. Which is especially not ideal when fighting your enemies.

Sofia Falcone: A Ruthless Hangman

After Bob, there was another Hangman (or even during the same time, maybe) named Sofia Falcone. The two didn’t have anything to do with one another but simply received the same name. She was a crimelord in Gotham City and the daughter of Carmine Falcone, an enemy of Batman and the head of the Falcone Crime Family.

Sofia Falcone and becoming DC’s Hangman

It wasn’t actually that Sofia was born as the Hangman, or was it for a big part of her life. It took quite some time. She and her two brothers (Mario and Alberto) were raised by her mother and father, who were already involved in crime as well. She started her training quite early and became a manipulative criminal in no time. Ever since she was young, Sofia also had a lot of rage within her. She was even aggressive to her own father - who was indifferent about everything. Out of the three Falcone siblings, Sofia was the most loyal to her father.

From Jail to Holiday

Before Sofia even became the Hangman, another crimelord appeared in town. A villain who seemed to be wanting to hurt the crime families, especially the Falcones. At this time, Sofia was already married to someone named Rocco Gigante and had two children named Luigi and Vincenzo. This villain was called “Holiday” because they attacked the crime families on holidays. Sofia was in jail at this time. What exactly for? Probably some kind of crime, but not important. Her father got her out and sent her to take down holiday. She went to her aunt, to the Riddler, and even to the Gunsmith; but they all knew nothing. It took years before she came onto the right path. Indirectly, Holiday even set Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face in motion. Then, on New Year’s Eve, it was revealed that Sofia’s own sibling, Alberto, was actually Holiday, and he got captured.

And That’s When She Actually Became The Hangman…

After everything, Sofia wasn’t done. Harvey Dent had helped her brother hurt so many people, and thus, he had to be hurt in return. Sofia hired Pino and Umberto Maroni to help her. Dent was already in the Arkham Asylum, so it wasn’t like there was much to do. But as they were planning how they could still hurt Dent, someone tried to enter Sofia’s building. Who it was? Not sure, but maybe Catwoman, who told Sofia that Carmine’s body - the head of the family had passed away during all of this - told Sofia that the body was missing. All of this angered Sofia. She became The Hangman and started hurting people. Lots of people. Especially targeting anyone who was only slightly associated with Harvey Dent.

Sofia’s Hangman’s Abilities & Powers

Sofia had a few abilities while she was DC’s Hangman. She didn’t have any special superpowers, but she still had excellent leadership skills and some hand-to-hand combat skills. Most of this was taught to her by her parents when she was growing up.

Let us know what you think about DC’s Hangman (or Hangmen, as there are multiple) in the comments and receive a small gift! Have you ever heard of them? Or would you be interested in learning more?