Peacemaker • Christopher Smith
The Peacemaker is a pacifist diplomat so committed to peace that he was willing to use force as a superhero to advance the cause. He uses an array of special non-lethal weapons, and also founded the Pax Institute. Most of the villains he goes up against are dictators and warlords.
The post-Crisis on Infinite Earths version of Peacemaker differs slightly from the pre-Crisis version of the character. Smith learns that his peace-through-violence efforts were the result of a serious mental illness brought on by the shame of having a Nazi death camp commandant for a father. He believes his father's spirit haunts him continually and criticizes his every move, even as he tries to live down his past.
Becoming a particularly deadly vigilante who would kill at the slightest provocation, he begins to believe that the ghosts of the people he killed, or who were killed in his vicinity, are collected inside his helmet and can offer him advice and commentary. For a time, the Peacemaker serves as a U.S. government agent under the auspices of Checkmate, a special-forces unit, hunting down terrorists until his own behavior becomes too extreme. Peacemaker plays a part in the Janus Directive. Although he is seen as a helpful ally, some of the other heroes think that he is too extreme to be helping them out. He eventually crashes a helicopter to destroy tanks controlled by the supervillain Eclipso and is reported dead. His soul shows up in the realm of Purgatory in the Day of Judgment series. A team of heroes has shown up to recruit the soul of Hal Jordan. The guardians of Purgatory do not like this and Peacemaker, along with other dead vigilantes, rally and provide enough of a distraction so the group could return to Earth.
Peacemaker later appears in the Watchmen sequel "Doomsday Clock", partaking in the battle on Mars against Doctor Manhattan.
In the pages of "Infinite Frontier", Peacemaker returns as a member of the Suicide Squad, breaking into Arkham Asylum to bring in Talon a few minutes before the Joker Incident.
