Snakeman Enemy: Pitaya (Patreon)

Alright, next new Snakeman enemy is the leader of the Desert Flower drug cartel, Pitaya!!

ORIGIN

One of the fastest growing drug cartels to combat the Black Caiman cartel was the Mexican Desert Flower cartel of Mexico. Named so after a rare and magical cactus plant hidden deep within the deserts of Mexico, it was from this cactus plant that the cartel was able to synthacize and create a new highly addictive psychedelic drug made from the psychoactives within the plant. This new drug, known as “Mirage”, gave those who took feelings of euphoria and ecstasy never felt before, but the long-term effects prove increasingly dangerous to those who developed an addiction to it. Regardless, Mirage proved to be the cartel’s meal ticket to rising to the top of the Mexican drug cartel, its popularity and distribution quickly spreading across the country, slowly leaking into the United States and Southern American’s countries. And it fell on the Snakeman to put a stop to the cartel’s growth and distribution of Mirage.

In his mission to dismantle the Desert Flower Cartel, the Snakeman came into conflict with it’s leader, calling himself Pitaya. Once known as Raulu Cortez, he had been a semi-major player in the Black Caiman cartel, eventually leaving upon discovering the magical desert cactus that allowed him to create Mirage. But Raulu’s rise to power was not without consequences, as during the early stages of synthesizing the cacti plant Raulu had been struck by one of the cacti’s thorns, and for his greed the magical properties of the cacti turned him into a living neo-human version the very plant he sought power from. Despite his curse, Raulu was able to harness it into a weapon against his enemies with the cacti’s dangerous psychedelic poisons flowing through his body. 

Powers/Abilities

Magical Cactus physiology grants Pitaya regenerative ability, thorn production and the ability to lace his thorns with a dangerous psychedelic venom.

Leader of the Desert Flower Cartel.

Given that Snakeman's home term is Central and South America, giving him a drug cartel-based enemy was a no brainer. While the Black Caiman cartel is still the big drug cartel/criminal organization in my universe and Snakeman will be facing them too, I specifically wanted to give Snakeman a separate cartel for him to focus on while the rest of the NRGVerse is sharing the Black Caiman cartel. And for awhile now I've had this idea for a supervillain who had cactus-like powers, including the ability to produce a psychedelic venom from his cactus body, so I decided to bring that idea into Snakeman and build the smaller cartel around that. One thing I should mention about Snakeman is that while he's immune to all animal venoms and most plant-based ones, Snakeman's aztec mythology means that he is vulnerable to poisons and toxins of a magical or mythological nature. So Pitaya's own venom is able to affect Snakeman too, making him a very dangerous enemy.

Hope you guys like this new villain for Snakeman! Let us know what you think with a comment below!

Snakeman: Desperado of the Jungle © NRG Comics

Design by TonyTempest

Art by Danilo Cassonato