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Captain Cold, real name Leonard Snart, is a comic book villain created by
as one of the rogues of . He is a leader of the . A fan favorite, Captain Cold has served as a bitter enemy to the Silver-Age Flash , both enemy and grudging friend to the third Flash , and one of the killers of the fourth Flash .
Cold was the second supervillain to face the Silver-Age Flash in
#8 (June 1957).
's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains Of All Time List ranked Captain Cold as #27.
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Cold takes his position as head of the Rogues very seriously. He employs a no-drugs rule (evidenced by his brutal beating of
for his cocaine habit), docks pay for senseless violence (a 90% payout cut for the new 's antics with stray dogs and T-bombs), and will kill only on certain occasions (he killed the Top for setting the newer rogues against him and his set of ), leading the Rogues in their "code of honor" and refusing to kill women or children.[]
Captain Cold was not entirely as cold-hearted as his name suggests. He deeply cared for his sister, aka the Golden Glider, and looks out for the well being of his fellow Rogues at all times, going so far as to arrange a secret funeral for Captain Boomerang. After killing the supervillain Chillblaine in revenge for his sister's murder, he is later shown sitting at his coffee table drinking alcohol, and unable to open the door for his usual prostitute, realizing that his "heart's not always cold".[]
Although generally portrayed as rough around the edges at best, and known for his blunt attitude towards women, Cold has been shown to have a surprisingly moral streak at times. When circumstances have forced him to team up with the Flash, he has kept his word and avoided opportunities to stab Flash in the back even after the immediate crisis has been dealt with, admitting in private that he respects his enemy even if he operates on the other side of the law from him.[]
Leonard Snart was raised by an abusive father and took refuge with his grandfather, who worked in an ice truck. When his grandfather died, Len grew tired of his father's abuse and set out to start a criminal career. Snart joined up with a group of small-time thieves and in planning out a robbery, each was issued a gun and a visor to protect their eyes against the flashes of gunfire. This visor design would later be adapted by Snart into his trademark costume. In recent years he has added a radio receiver to them which picks up the police band to monitor local law enforcement. Snart and the other thugs were captured by the Flash and imprisoned. Snart decided to go solo, but knew he had to do something about the local hero, the Flash.
Snart read an article that theorized that the energy emissions of a
could interfere with the Flash's speed. He designed a weapon to harness that power and broke into a cyclotron lab, intending to use the device to charge up his experimental gun. As he was finishing his experiment, a security guard surprised Snart. Intending to use his gun only to scare the guard, he inadvertently pulled the trigger and discovered that his weapon had been altered in a way he had never imagined. The moisture in the air around the guard froze. Intrigued by this twist of fate, Snart donned a
and the aforementioned visor and declared himself to be Captain Cold - the man who mastered absolute zero. Snart then committed a series of non-lethal crimes, on one occasion placing the city in suspended animation in an attempt to force Iris West to marry him as he had fallen in love with her when he saw her in the prison, but the Flash got through a wall of ice and was able to reverse the process. He later fell in love with a newscaster, and competed with
(in his first appearance) over her in a crime spree, but they were both beaten by the Flash. But after Barry Allen's death, during the , Captain Cold became a
with his sister Lisa, the .
During the events of , Captain Cold lost his soul to
but Wally West brought it back to the land of the living. He soon returned to crime, this time a member of Wally's Rogues Gallery. The Rogues had first been assembled when another Flash foe, the super-intelligent
had broken them out of jail to distract the Flash. The Golden Glider had abandoned her bounty hunter career and had started partnering with a series of thugs who she dressed in a costume, armed with a copy of Captain Cold's signature Cold Gun, and called . Already distraught over the death of her lover, the , it seemed that the supposed death of her brother pushed her over the edge. But the last Chillblaine was a little smarter and more vicious. He murdered the Golden Glider, prompting Captain Cold to hunt him down, torture him and kill him by freezing his outer layer of skin and then pushing him off a high rise building. Not long after that, Snart was framed by a new incarnation of . He used his Element Gun to simulate Cold's gun, using ice and cold to murder several police officers before Captain Cold and the Flash discovered who was actually responsible. With the death of his sister, and having killed Chillblaine and Mr. Element in vengeance, Cold has again become an unrepentant criminal. However, during a confrontation with , Cold actually worked with Wally West to defeat the powerful magic user, although this was mainly because he and
had been betrayed by Grimm and wanted revenge.
Captain Cold was declared the leader of the Flash's Rogue's Gallery. His skill and experience have made him a strong leader to the likes of the , the new , the new , and the . Len seems to have taken the young Captain Boomerang under his wing, after the elder Boomerang was recently killed. Tabloids rumoured that Captain Cold's sister, the Golden Glider, was Boomerang's mother, making him Captain Cold's nephew. This turned out to be false, however, as the new Boomerang's mother has been revealed to be , who is also the mother of . Despite his more ruthless nature as of late, Captain Cold's heart is not completely frozen, evidenced by having sent flowers to honor , murdered wife of the .[]
Traditionally, Captain Cold is driven by three things: money, women, and the desire to beat Barry Allen. Although not the lech that Captain Boomerang was, Len Snart has an eye for the ladies, particularly models. When Barry Allen died, Captain Cold drifted for a while, jumping back and forth over the lines of crime and justice. He was captured by the
and served time in the , worked with his sister as a bounty hunter (Golden Snowball Recoveries), and, with his longtime friend and sometimes nemesis , encountered
of the . He has teamed up with various villains over the years other than the many Rogues. These include
and the . His favorite baseball team is the . "Plays 'em regular and dumb," according to Mark Shaw, the .[]
In the 2006 "" storyline, he and several other Rogues are approached by
with a plan to kill the Flash (then ). Though Inertia was defeated, Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, Heat Wave, Mirror Master and Abra Kadabra killed Bart with a combined barrage of their elemental weapons. He, Heat Wave, and Weather Wizard seemed to express guilt, however, after learning the identity of the Flash and how young he was.
Captain Cold is one of the exiled villains featured in the 2007-08 miniseries
along with his fellow Rogues: , , , and .
In the 2008 miniseries , Captain Cold and the Rogues briefly joined 's Secret Society of Super Villains. In
story, however, Cold and the rest of the Rogues reject Libra's offer, wanting to stay out of the game. Before they can retire, they hear of Inertia escaping and decide to stick around long enough to get revenge for being used. Cold and his group is challenged by a new set of Rogues, formed by Libra to be their replacements. The new group, having kidnapped Cold's father, challenge the Rogues, and are defeated and killed. Cold goes to his father, talking to him about the abuse he suffered, and the fate of his sister. After the elder Snart insults him and his mother, calling them weak, Cold punches him, but finds himself unable to kill him, instead getting Heat Wave to do it. The Rogues have their confrontation with Inertia, despite interference by Zoom and Libra, and kill Inertia. Libra then reveals that he needs the Rogues because Barry Allen has returned from the dead, and the Flashes are potential threats to him and Darkseid. Though shocked by the news that Allen is alive, Cold still rejects his offer of membership. After regrouping, Cold and the other Rogues agree not to retire, claiming that the game is back on. In "Final Crisis" #7, someone that looks like Captain Cold appears as a
and is seen fighting the Female Furies alongside the other Justifiers under Lex Luthor's control.
In the 2009
miniseries, Captain Cold is seen with the other Rogues, reading about Barry Allen's return and telling that need more of the Rogues. The Rogues are still debating Allen's return with Cold saying its time to pull out their contingency plan that
came up with stating, "In case The Flash returns, break glass."
"" storyline, the Rogues realize that the bodies of various dead Rogues are missing and prepare to fight them. Captain Cold knows that his sister, the Golden Glider, is among the reanimated
but is still ready to lead the Rogues against the zombies. He is confronted by the Black Lantern Glider, who attempts to use his feelings of love for her against him. However, Captain Cold manages to suppress these feelings long enough for him to fight back, freezing her within a block of ice. He subsequently kills Owen Mercer by throwing him into a pit with his Black Lantern father when he learns that Owen has been feeding people to his father in the belief that consuming flesh will restore him to life, informing Owen that Rogues do not kill women and children.
In The Flash (Vol. 3), Captain Cold and the Rogues visit Sam Scudder's old hideout and unveil a giant mirror with the words In Case of Flash: Break Glass written on it and release beings from a Mirror World upon breaking it. However, Captain Cold is told by Mirror Master he had discovered that the giant mirror is actually a slow acting poison.
In the timeline of the 2011 company-wide reboot of all its superhero titles, , Captain Cold is reintroduced as a younger man than in the previous timeline. His origin remains the same, however, his sister Lisa has not been the Golden Glider, and is instead dying of . Upon learning that the hospital does not have enough energy to power a laser that could save her life, because of an EMP seemingly caused by the Flash, Cold blames him for everything that has happened to him, including a falling out with the Rogues, and decides to break the rules of their "game" and kill the Flash. Captain Cold has undergone experiments that have given him ice-based metahuman powers, including the ability to slow down the molecules around him, creating a field of inertia that reduces the Flash's speed to human level, allowing Captain Cold to touch him and effortlessly beat him. He and the Rogues are set to return, but later defeated them with help from Flash, and the .
After freeing the Trickster and attending the meeting at the Justice League Watchtower, the Rogues return to Central and Keystone City, only to see that both have been destroyed by Gorilla Grodd. Grodd returns to Central City during the eclipse, while a ceremony commemorating Flash between the humans and gorillas is occurring. Grodd proceeds to take control of Central City as its king and renames it Gorilla City. Captain Cold sees the city's cops tied up from Grodd, and proceeds to free them. He then asks Mirror Master to help him get to the hospital where his sister is being held in order to check on her. While there, the Crime Syndicate send Black Bison, Hyena, Multiplex, Plastique and Typhoon to finish Grodd's work and destroy the hospital. The Rogues are able to hold them off, only to be interrupted by Deathstorm and Power Ring, who were sent by Ultraman to deal with the Rogues for resisting the Crime Syndicate's offer to join them. After battling Deathstorm and Power Ring, Deathstorm attacks Captain Cold and is able to extract his freezing powers from his DNA. Mirror Master attempts to get the Rogues out through the Mirror World, but Power Ring destroys the mirror causing the Rogues to be separated. Captain Cold ends up at Luthor and his Kryptonian clone's location where they are also joined by Black Manta, who has retrieved Black Adam from the ocean. Luthor realizes that, with the help of his clone, Black Adam, Black Manta, and Captain Cold, he may be able to stop the Crime Syndicate. Captain Cold and the rest of the squad, now joined by , ,
and , infiltrate the fallen Watchtower, where Black Manta kills the Outsider and Cold proceeds to shatter 's right leg after having frozen the molecules in it with his cold gun. He then unmasks the hooded prisoner brought over from , revealing it to be Alexander Luthor, who is their version of , Mazahs, who states he will kill them all.[] After defeating the crime syndicate, Captain Cold is pardoned by the U.S government. Cold and Luthor become members of the Justice League.
Like the majority of the Flash's rogues, Snart had no innate superhuman powers. He instead relied on his cold guns and instincts. Over the years Snart had modified his weapons to allow a variety of effects such as:
A cold beam that freezes anything it hits instantly.
Creating a cold field where people and objects literally stop in their tracks. Cold uses this ability to slow down The Flash's movements.
Bathing his opponent in a wide beam of ice designed to freeze the skin of the target so they stay conscious and do not go numb to the pain. Cold used this to kill Chill Blaine who murdered Cold's sister to make him suffer as much as possible.
Creating a slippery field of ice which can slow down the Flash.
Forming sharp stalagmites on the ground to impale his enemies. Used to kill Chill Blaine after freezing the outer layer of his skin so he could inflict as much pain as possible.
An "ice grenade" which was stated to "turn this place into an iceberg". Used to freeze everything in a large radius, and the whole of Iron Heights during the events of .
Creating "mirages" out of extreme cold-like heat.
Fellow ice-based villain
has noted that Cold is the only cold-themed villain in the DC Universe to have mastered 'absolute zero' with his weapons.
In the New 52 universe Captain Cold initially had metahuman ice powers, including the power to slow down the Flash with an inertia field, but these powers are later lost in the
series, with Cold reverting to using his classic ice gun.
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Like his fellow Rogues, Captain Cold's costume was developed by , personal Tailor to the Rogues, allowing Cold to withstand the rigors of his Cold abilities. For 50 years his costume has stayed virtually the same. Slight variants include:
instead of the traditional yellow.
with a single eye slit rather than the traditional individual eye slits, (during his work with the Suicide Squad).
instead of the traditional spandex material.
The white "frost" on his parka painted or sewn onto it, but some variants have it as an additional piece of white cloth that loosely sits over the top of the parka.
The freeze gun is a
colored pistol with one main
and two to four tubes also emitting from it. Although it has been drawn in a multitude of ways by DC artists, this basic original design has always been kept.
Captain Cold appears in 's series . Here he robs a
casino where some DC heroes and others are attending a boxing match between
and . Captain Cold bursts in and freezes 's hand attached to a phone,
hears the call from his home in and turns into the Flash, and stops Captain Cold from freezing Vegas in cryogenic detonators. While trying to escape, Flash crashes the copter with the henchwoman in and takes him down, the Flash rewired his gun and it frozen him inside.
Based in the
universe, Captain Cold is part of a group of ice-themed villains called the "Ice Pack" that encased a city in ice and snow. The Ice Pack appear in DC Super Friends #16 (August 2009).
A teen version of Captain Cold known as Kid Kold appeared in the
comic as an enemy of . Like his adult counterpart, Kold had a sister who was also a supervillain, dubbed Ice Kate.
The 25th century Captain Cold is a heroic Captain Cold as part of the 25th Century cops known as
from 's future, and the team's leader.
Captain Cold had made two appearances in the animated-continuity comic . In issue #12, he and other ice-related villains encased an African city in ice.
In the 2011 "" storyline, set in an alternate timeline, Captain Cold is a hero going by the name Citizen Cold. He retains his current wardrobe and weaponry, and is Central City's main hero, with a museum similar to the , and a Rogues Gallery similar to that of the Flash, though he has killed some of his opponents. It is hinted that his heroics are a cover to hide a terrible secret. He is contacted by
to join in the fight against
and . When
refuses to join, Citizen Cold declines as well. After Citizen Cold defeats , he returns home and sees a news report that his sister, , has been arrested for killing their brutal father. When
discovers Citizen Cold's true identity, that of a former low-level criminal, Citizen Cold confronts him before he can reveal this information, and freezes Wally in a block of ice. Later, Citizen Cold invites
to dinner, but it is interrupted by calls that his sister Lisa has been kidnapped by the . Citizen Cold tries to rescue Lisa, but the Rogues attack him for revenge on what he did to them. Citizen Cold is too late and Lisa is killed. Citizen Cold is injured while escaping and collapses outside his car near Iris. Iris then brings him to her home. After he recovers, he gives her a key to his penthouse, and an offer to join him when he leaves Central City. He then goes after the Rogues, killing them all for what they did to his sister. When he returns home, he is confronted by Iris and the Pied Piper, who had revealed to her his murder of Wally. Citizen Cold attempts to kill Pied Piper, but Iris uses one of his own weapons to freeze him in a block of ice, just as he did to Wally.
At the time when the "Forever Evil" storyline was happening, Grid access the files of Rhonda Pineda where the
version of Leonard Snart was a police officer alongside Mick Rory where they have been pursuing
and Rhonda. When Jonathan and Rhonda wanted the two of them to fight to the death upon being captured, Mick won the fight only for him to be killed by Jonathan anyway.
Captain Cold on the 1990s The Flash TV series
Captain Cold has also appeared in live-action form in the 1990s
episode "Captain Cold". He was played by actor . Here Captain Cold (costumed in a ) was an infamous albino hitman, who uses a nuclear-powered freeze weapon to kill his victims. He was hired by Central City crime boss Jimmy Swain () to kill local mob bosses and then the Flash. Flash managed to capture Captain Cold, who was taken to jail, but later managed to escape. This version of Captain Cold is named Leonard Wynters.
Captain Cold makes a cameo appearance in "Prophecy", the second to last episode of the series . He is shown as one of the members of Marionette Ventures, a cadre of super villains organized by , his target was . He is portrayed by an uncredited actor and has no onscreen dialogue.
portrays Leonard Snart/Captain Cold on 's . In the first season episode "Going Rogue", Snart and his crew are in the midst of stealing a Kahndaq diamond, when
thwarts the heist. One of Snart's henchmen shoots a security guard, distracting Flash, allowing for Snart and his gang's escape. Snart is intimidated by the Flash and longs to up his game. Subsequently, Detective Joe West and
reveal his backstory that Snart's father was a former police officer who is convicted for , and Snart turns to crime before enrolling high school. He obtains a stolen "cold gun" from S.T.A.R. Labs, created by
as a fail-safe against Barry Allen in the event he ever turned nefarious as the enemies he fights. Snart joins a museum tour of the Kahndaq Dynasty, trying to steal the prized diamond again, this time succeeding. Snart uses the gun to test The Flash's limits, murdering an innocent man in the process. Later, he attempts to kill The Flash by having him rescue several passengers on a derailing train. After The Flash succeeds in rescuing all the passengers, Snart freezes him to the ground. Before he can kill him, Ramon, Felicity Smoak and
are able talk him down, and he walks away, with the stolen diamond. Cisco also gives Snart the moniker of Captain Cold. Snart is later seen recruiting a man by the name of
who is fond of pyrotechnics.
animated series , Captain Cold is one of two Flash villains (along with ) who appear as members of 's . Dick Ryal and
provide the voice of Captain Cold in different episodes. This version of Captain Cold was depicted as having pale blue skin.
Captain Cold as he appears in Justice League
Captain Cold appears in the
episode "Flash and Substance", voiced by
He joins fellow Rogues: Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master, and Trickster into doing various attacks on Flash on the verge of the
grand-opening in . It is also mentioned in the episode that he's married, which is ironic considering his womanizing ways in the comics.
Captain Cold is featured in , voiced by . He and
are mentioned in "The Golden Age of Justice" where they were stopped by Batman. In "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster," Captain Cold assists Heat Wave and Weather Wizard into robbing a bank where they end up fighting Batman. During the fight, Captain Cold and the Rogues mention about the loss of their Flash. With the help of Jay Garrick and Kid Flash, Batman was able to defeat the Rogues. By the end of the episode, Barry Allen returns to Batman's time just as Captain Cold, Heat Wave, and Weather Wizard were in the midst of a robbery. The Rogues were glad that their Flash is back as Barry Allen joins Jay Garrick and Kid Flash into beating up the Rogues.
Captain Cold appears in , voiced by . In "Independence Day," Captain Cold was robbing a jewelry store in Central City only to end up defeated by Flash and Kid Flash. In "Terrors," Captain Cold (alongside fellow ice villains , , and ) were sent to
where Superboy and Miss Martian infiltrate the prison as the Terror Twins. Batman's suspicions of the four ice-based villains being in Belle Reve is confirmed when Captain Cold, Icicle Jr., Killer Frost, and Mr. Freeze meet up with
in his plot to cause a mass breakout. Captain Cold was defeated when his inhibitor collar was reactivated. In "Coldhearted," Captain Cold alongside the other four ice-based villains were seen in their cells when Hugo Strange tells Batman and Flash that none of the ice-based villains have left their cells at the time when five ice fortresses attacked the United States. According to , it was stated that Captain Cold and the other ice-based villains had helped to power one of the ice fortresses. In "Satisfaction," Captain Cold targets a bank that is near where
is having a bridal shower. His robbery is thwarted by Rocket, Zatanna, Miss Martian, Batgirl, Black Canary, Bumblebee, and Wonder Girl.
Captain Cold appears in one of the
shorts on the
block, voiced by .
Captain Cold appears in Lego Batman: Be-Leaguered, voiced by .
Captain Cold appears in the
movie , voiced by . He attempts to rob a casino in Vegas before The Flash stops him. This version is depicted as bald and wearing an all-white cloak similar to the .
Captain Cold appears in , voiced by an uncredited . In the movie, Captain Cold along with , , and
are part of the villains who seek to go after the bounty for Superman. They attack and defeat Batman, but before they can finish him, Superman defeats them with his heat vision.
Captain Cold appears in
voices by . In the beginning of the film he and the Rogues are attacking the Flash, but
betrays the Rogues and attaches bombs to them, which cannot be removed. The Justice League arrive and manage to dispose of the bombs.
uses one of his own weapons to freeze Captain Cold's belt and rid away from the bomb radius to save Captain Cold's life. In the distorted timeline of the 'Flashpoint' event, Captain Cold's name was Citizen Cold and he was a superhero.
Captain Cold appears in , voiced by .
Captain Cold appears in , voiced again by Steven Blum.
Captain Cold appears in , voiced by
In the hero campaign, Captain Cold (alongside Heat Wave, Mirror Master, and Weather Wizard) is a boss in the Stryker's Island alert. In the villain campaign, Captain Cold is located in the power core area of the Hall of Doom offering missions to higher level villains. In the tie-in comic book "DC Universe Online Legends", which begins in a possible future, Captain Cold dies attempting to defend the Kryptonite-poisoned Superman from Lex Luthor.
Captain Cold appears in , voiced again by Steven Blum.
Captain Cold appears as a playable character in , voiced by .
Forever Evil #7
Batman & Robin Vol. 2 #33
Wallace, Dan (2008). "Captain Cold". In Dougall, Alastair. The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: . p. 67.  .  
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #1
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #2
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #3
The Flash: Rebirth #1 (April 2009)
The Flash: Rebirth #6 (February 2010)
Blackest Night: The Flash #1 (December 2009)
Blackest Night: The Flash #2 (January 2010)
Blackest Night: The Flash #3 (February 2010)
Flash Secret Files and Origins (2010)
The Flash vol. 3 #5 (September 2010)
The Flash vol. 4 #6 (February 2012)
The Flash vol. 4 #7 (March 2012)
The Flash annual #1
Forever Evil #3
Forever Evil #6
DC: The New Frontier #2 (April 2004)
Teen Titans Go! #53
The Flash (vol. 3) #1 (April 2010)
Justice League Adventures #12
Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #1 (June 2011)
Flashpoint #1 (May 2011)
Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #2 (July 2011)
Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #3 (August 2011)
Justice League Vol. 2 #26
Fowler, Matt (July 18, 2014). .
Fitzpatrick, Kevin (). . .
- A detailed analysis of the history of the Flash by comic book historian Alan Kistler. Covers information all the way from Jay Garrick to Barry Allen to today, as well as discussions on the various villains and Rogues who fought the Flash. Various art scans.
- An online index to the comic book adventures of the Flash.
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