Willis Stryker (Earth-1010)

{{Character Template
 * Image                  = Diamondback (Willis Stryker).png
 * ImageSize              = 250px
 * RealName               = Willis Harold Stryker
 * CurrentAlias           = Diamondback
 * Aliases                =
 * Identity               = Secret
 * Affiliation            = Harlem's Paradise; formerly the Rivals
 * Relatives              = James Lucas (father); Dana Stryker (mother, deceased); Luke Cage (half-brother)
 * Universe               = Earth-1010
 * BaseOfOperations       = Harlem, New York


 * Gender                 = Male
 * Height                 = 6' 4"
 * Weight                 = 200 lbs
 * Eyes                   = Brown
 * Hair                   = Black
 * UnusualFeatures        =


 * Citizenship            = American
 * MaritalStatus          = Single
 * Occupation             = Criminal
 * Education              = High school (incomplete)


 * Origin                 = Human
 * PlaceOfBirth           = Harlem, New York City
 * Creators               = Archie Goodwin; George Tuska
 * First                  = TBA


 * HistoryText            = ===Early Life===

Rejected Son
"The great Reverend Lucas wasn't man enough to give his first son his last name. You see, I was still Willis Stryker. But his real son was Carl Lucas. But here's the crazy thing. Nobody said nothing. And Carl and I we grew up best friends, but there was all this tension. You could just feel it like a draft coming in from under a door. I just wanted him to see me. I was a good boy. I did well in school. But he always loved Carl more."

- Diamondback

Willis Stryker was born when his mother, Dana Stryker had an affair with James Lucas, a preacher who she was working as a secretary for. However Lucas refused to leave his wife and therefore rejected Stryker, having his own son named Carl Lucas two years later. Lucas' mother was thought to be unable to have children, leading to Lucas being called, The Miracle Baby, something that enraged Stryker as the truth about him also being the preacher's son was kept hidden from everybody, including Lucas whom Stryker became friends with.

Boxing Training
"Why you doing this Carl? Cause some fool smacked you up outside of a bowling alley? You're gonna get yourself killed." "Nah, I'm gonna get this dude Willis, it's about respect!" "We're city champs Carl, my arm, your legs, you got nothing to prove alright."

- Willis Stryker and Carl Lucas

When the young Carl Lucas was beaten up in front of a bowling alley by another teenager, Stryker helped train Lucas how to box by taking him to a gym in their home city of Savannah. Even though he told Lucas that he had nothing to prove to anyone, Lucas remained determined to prove himself as a skilled fighter and get his revenge for the recent attack.

Lucas then went on to note that he was a part of the proud Lucas family and had to prove himself to James Lucas, which only annoyed Stryker more due to his own relation to the Lucas family, although he kept quiet about his own thoughts to Lucas. Stryker basically taught Lucas how to fight, reminding him to keep focused on his breathing while he threw his punches. Stryker later watched Lucas in a boxing match, yelling out advice and support from the side of the ring and eventually celebrating when he won the match, with Stryker excitedly cheering for his friend's great victory in the fight.

The Rivals
Willis and Carl were recruited into The Rivals. The gang consisted mostly of Carl Lucas, Stryker, Shades and Comanche. They engaged in many gang fights with The Diablos, a rival gang. Stryker started seeing a woman named Reva Connors, but after he was seriously beaten in a gangland brawl, Reva turned from Stryker and started going with Lucas.

Fall from Grace
"When it came time for sentencing, the preacher convinced the judge to let his golden boy join the Marines. Me? Juvie. Got jumped two days in. Boy drew a shank and I killed him in self-defense. So I got sent away to hard time. And sweet Dana? Oh, her cancer ate her alive and she died alone in a shelter without a friend in the world."

- Diamondback

Time later, Stryker and Lucas stole a Red Corvette, just for a joyride and discussed music, with Stryker noting he liked Prince and Lucas liked Michael Jackson. They were pulled over by police and arrested. James Lucas convinced the judge to let Lucas go so he could join the Marines. As for Stryker, he was put in juvenile detention where he was attacked and killed the inmate in self defense and sent to prison. Hating the Lucas family, Stryker vowed revenge.

Framing Cage
Willis, devastated by jealousy of both his father's attention towards Carl and Reva choosing to go out with the latter, framed Lucas by planting drugs in his home. Carl was sent to Seagate Prison.

Sending in Shades
"Whys this feeling like a takeover?" "It's not, if it was, you would never even see Diamondback coming. He wants you to win."

- Cottonmouth and Shades

Using guns made by Hammer Industries, Stryker, who now used the name Diamondback, set up a business deal with Cottonmouth to sell the guns to Domingo Colon and others based in Harlem. However when one of these sales was interrupted by a robbery, leading to all of the money being stolen, Diamondback sent Shades to investigate. As Cottonmouth's operation continued to be challenged by the activities of Luke Cage, who was revealed to actually be Carl Lucas, Diamondback had Shades take control of the situation and offered to sell Cottonmouth the Judas Bullet to then kill Cage.


 * Powers                 =
 * Abilities              = *Master Marksman: Stryker is a master marksman. He is highly skilled with various firearms such as assault rifles, pistols, and sniper rifles.
 * Expert Martial Artist: Stryker is a highly skilled combatant. He is skilled in Boxing, as he has taught this fighting style to Luke Cage. In their later fights, Diamondback was able to hold his own against the super strong Cage, although during one fight Cage was weakened by Judas Bullet wounds and another fight, Diamondback had used his Battle Suit to enhance his own strength.
 * Knife Mastery: Stryker is also highly proficient in knife throwing.
 * Strength               = Stryker has the strength of a human male who engages in intensive regular exercise.
 * Weaknesses             =


 * Equipment              = *Judas Gauntlet: The gauntlet allowed the user to punch with a superhuman strength. It is powerful enough to crush a man's bones with a single punch, and while Luke Cage could survive hits from it due to his unbreakable skin, it was strong enough to launch him several feet into the air and cause him pain.
 * Power Suit: A powered suit developed by Hammer Industries that absorbs kinetic energy to reduce damage to the user, and power gauntlets that enable to user to inflict massive damage. It is also incredibly durable, able to withstand Luke Cage's punches and Shades' gunshots with almost no damage done to the user.
 * Transportation         =
 * Weapons                = *Judas Bullets: Special ammunition developed by Hammer Industries from repurposed Chitauri technology from the Chitauri Invasion of New York.
 * Fostech Origin-12: A shotgun that has been heavily modified and customized by Hammer Industries to fire the specialized Judas Bullets. Diamondback used this high powered firearm in conjunction with the Judas Bullets on numerous occasions to attempt to kill Luke Cage but failed each time.
 * Walther PPK
 * Knives: Stryker used both conventional knives and modified ones.

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 * Notes                  = *Though they have a similar name, Diamondback has no connection or relation to anti-mutant hater William Stryker.
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