Inquisitor

INQUISITOR

Real Name: Hector Sanchez

Class: Human

Occupation: Detective, religious fanatic

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: Ramirez (father)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Spain

First Appearance: Batman I #320 (February, 1980)

Powers: The Inquisitor was a religious fanatic and a cold, calculated murderer.

History: (Batman I #320) - Hector Sanchez was the son of a Spanish man named Ramirez, who abandoned his family and joined the priesthood. Sanchez grew up to become a police officer, and was heavily influenced by his father’s religious fanaticism. Cardinal Ramirez saw all of modern live as inherently sinful, and viewed the younger generation of priests as devils in disguise. Sanchez assumed the costumed identity of the Inquisitor, dedicated to eradicating what he saw as evil from the world, and hoping to start another Spanish Inquisition He planned a series of murders based on the cardinal sins, killing one young priest and coating him in bronze to represent pride and freezing another in a food locker to represent gluttony. Batman learned of the murders and visited Spain to investigate. Cardinal Ramirez was feuding with Father Pinto, and Batman met Sanchez, who claimed to be guarding him against attacks from the Inquisitor. Cardinal Ramirez didn’t want Sanchez working with Batman, fearing that the Caped Crusader was a devil, and Sanchez asked Batman to back off, saying that if he staid he’d fall victim to cardinal sins. Batman talked to Pinto, who was murdered by a crossbow bolt loaded with a neurotoxin shot through his window. Batman pursued the killer to an old chapel at the foot of a mountain. He caught up to Gorko, a hunchbacked man, and his master the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor said he wanted to restore morality to Spain, and had to kill the priests he believed were leading men away from God. He opened a trapdoor that dumped Batman into an oubliette and told Gorko to finish him off. Batman escaped and caught Detective Sanchez in the act of trying to lock Father Guedes inside a bank vault. Batman realized he was the Inquisitor because of his reference to the cardinal sins, which were the themes of the Inquisitor’s murders. They fought, and Gorko aimed his crossbow at Batman but missed, killing his master. After the Inquisitor’s death Batman went to confession to talk to Cardinal Ramirez. He told Ramirez he’d done some research and learned that he’d fathered Sanchez before he entered the priesthood, and his warped views on morality shaped his son’s murderous crusade.

Comments: Created by Denny O'Neil & Irv Novick.