Anton Arcane is a

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

appearing in

American comic books An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. The character first appeared in '' Swamp Thing'' #2 (January 1973), and was created by writer

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...

and artist

Bernie Wrightson Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017) was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein, adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his other ho ...

. He is the

archenemy In literature, an archenemy, (sometimes spelled as arch-enemy) or nemesis is the main enemy of the protagonist — or sometimes, one of the other main characters — appearing as the most prominent and most-known enemy of the hero. Etymolog ...

of Swamp Thing, the protagonist of the comics.

Fictional character biography

Arcane is a scientist whose obsession with gaining immortality has led him to create monstrous creatures known as " Un-Men", as well as other monstrous biogenetic experimentations involving the dead. He was able to resurrect his deceased brother Gregori as the Patchwork Man. He is also a skilled magician, which he channels through his experiments. Living in the mountains of Europe with his niece

Abigail Abigail () was an Israelite woman in the Hebrew Bible married to Nabal; she married the future King David after Nabal's death (1 Samuel ). Abigail was David's third wife, after Ahinoam and Saul's daughter, Michal, whom Saul later married to ...

, Arcane is introduced after he discovers and lures Swamp Thing to his castle home. Arcane sought to use his scientific and magical abilities to transform his body into the Swamp Thing's form, while changing the Swamp Thing back into Alec Holland. Arcane is eventually killed in battle with Swamp Thing and resurrected twice before being sent to

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

. Arcane later possesses the body of Abigail's husband, Matthew Cable, and gains reality-altering abilities. Swamp Thing exorcises Cable's body, but he is rendered comatose, eventually dies, and becomes a ghostly raven.

''The New 52''

In ''

The New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...

'' continuity reboot, Anton Arcane is the avatar of the Rot, a cosmic force associated with death and decay. After Swamp Thing defeats him, Arcane is imprisoned and his daughter Abigail replaces him as the Rot's avatar. He eventually escapes, but is greatly weakened.

''DC Rebirth''

In the ''

DC Rebirth DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 (2011–2016) initiative in May 2016 as its launching point ...

'' relaunch, Arcane allies with the Floronic Man to create a variant of '' Cordyceps'' that can infect humans before Animal Man and the Parliament of Bacteria stop him.

Powers and abilities

Anton Arcane possesses the knowledge of creating synthetic organs and skin, from those he made his Un-Men with. He also possesses many arcane artifacts, as well as

necromancy Necromancy () is the practice of Magic (paranormal), magic involving communication with the Death, dead by Evocation, summoning their spirits as Ghost, apparitions or Vision (spirituality), visions for the purpose of divination; imparting the ...

, which enables him to control the dead. In ''The New 52'', Arcane is the avatar of the Rot, enabling him to manipulate rot, death, and decay to his will.

In other media

Television

* Anton Arcane appears in '' Swamp Thing'' (1990), portrayed by Mark Lindsay Chapman. * Anton Arcane appears in '' Swamp Thing'' (1991), voiced by Don Francks.

Film

Anton Arcane appears in '' Swamp Thing'' (1982) and '' The Return of Swamp Thing'', portrayed by Louis Jourdan.

Video games

* Anton Arcane appears as the final boss of '' Swamp Thing'' (1992). * Anton Arcane appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arcane, Anton Characters created by Len Wein Comics characters introduced in 1972 DC Comics businesspeople DC Comics characters who use magic DC Comics cyborgs DC Comics demons DC Comics fantasy characters DC Comics film characters DC Comics male supervillains DC Comics scientists DC Comics telepaths DC Comics undead characters Fictional demons Fictional avatars Fictional cannibals Fictional characters who use magic Fictional characters with death or rebirth abilities Fictional counts and countesses Fictional insects Anthropomorphic insects Fictional rapists Fictional Romanian people Mythology in DC Comics Vertigo Comics characters Fictional biologists