Werner Zytle (Prime Earth)

Werner Zytle is Count Vertigo, a disgraced European royal who uses a machine in his ear to create the dizzying "Vertigo effect".

History

Werner Zytle was born to a noble house of the tiny nation of Vlatava with a claim to the throne, but his family lost their fortunes and had to flee to Canada. There, Zytle became involved with organized crime, using the profits from his illegal activities to finance return to Vlatava and reclaim his birthright. He succeeded and ascended the throne.

Though appearing to be a kind and benevolent monarch, he continued to be involved in organized crime, using the alias Count Vertigo.^[2] In Seattle, Vertigo fought against the vigilante the Green Arrow and his sidekick Roy Harper until he was driven off by the interference of an electro-shock arrow of Harper's design with his vertigo-inducing implant.^[3]

After Harper had a falling out with his mentor, Vertigo used his implant to hypnotize him into participating in a plot to hijack the minds of the people of Seattle through wireless data signals. They were confronted by the Green Arrow, however, who broke Vertigo's sway over Harper, and was instructed by him to use another electro-shock to short out the implant.^[4] Vertigo blamed Harper for his defeat and subsequent incarceration, though he used Vlatavan assets to bribe his jury and ensure that he was detained in comfort.^[5] For a time, Vertigo worked for the United States Governmental intelligence agency Checkmate as the "Knight" of its White Queen Amanda Waller.^[6]

When Green Arrow traveled to Vlatava to rescue a kidnapped Shado, Vertigo challenged him to a fight. With an implant in his ear that could create unbalancing and nauseating waves, Vertigo had the upper hand until Green Arrow used an EMP arrow in his quiver.^[2]

Count Vertigo later joined Richard Dragon's Longbow Hunters.^[7]

Incomplete
There's something missing here. This section of the article is incomplete, and contains information, but requires more before it can be considered complete. You can help DC Database by editing this page, providing additional information to bring this article to a higher standard of quality.

DC Rebirth

Vertigo was one of a number of villains set against the Justice League in Denver, Colorado by an artificial intelligence known as Genie. Though he was able to incapacitate most of the League, he was easily dispatched by Cyborg, who was immune to his sensory manipulations.^[8] He also attended a gathering of villains hosted by arms dealer Tiger Shark, hoping to secure a supply of weapons for Vlatava by killing Nightwing, a superhero lured onto Tiger Shark's yacht. The hero ultimately escaped him, however,^[9] and saved Vertigo and his fellow villains when the yacht was destroyed.^[10]

To eliminate any other contenders for the Vlatavan throne, Vertigo pursued his half brother Abelard to the city of Bludhaven, under the protection of Nightwing. Hoping to overwhelm Nightwing with the numbers of his followers, he used his implant to jam the hero's calls for support, though Nightwing ultimately succeeding in summoning the Batman Family to his aid.^[1] On Christmas, he hypnotized the people of Seattle into marching into the ocean as revenge against the Green Arrow, whose partner the Black Canary was unaffected and disrupted Vertigo's signal. Freed from Vertigo's control, the Green Arrow saved the Canary and captured his foe, trapping him in a fantasy by turning his hypnosis inwards before turning him over to the authorities.^[11]

Vertigo was restored to reality and incarcerated at Stryker's Island Penitentiary, where he took advantage of a security breach to attack the Green Arrow, who was able to orient himself by gravity while in freefall, countering Vertigo's sensory manipulation and dispatching him with a sonic arrow.^[12] He was eventually transferred to Seattle's Mount Rainier Correctional Facility, where he spent his time honing the power of his implant,^[5] developing the ability to completely warp his victims' sense of reality, which he used to escape and terrorize the city. Vertigo demanded the presence of the then-deceased Roy Harper, only to be talked down by the Green Arrow with the revelation of Harper's death.^[13]

Incomplete
There's something missing here. This section of the article is incomplete, and contains information, but requires more before it can be considered complete. You can help DC Database by editing this page, providing additional information to bring this article to a higher standard of quality.

Infinite Frontier

Count Vertigo attended the "White Market," a sale of advanced weaponry to supervillains, in Gotham City. When the event's infiltration by the city's heroes was discovered, Vertigo joined many other villains in attacking the daytime vigilante the Signal, forcing him to flee.^[14] He worked with his fellow villains establish the T.R.U.S.T. organization and a new incarnation of the Secret Society of Super-Villains as a more down-to-earth, self-interested counterpoint to the apocalyptic villainy of the Legion of Doom.^[15] Under Deathstroke's leadership, the Secret Society went to war with the League of Shadows, whose agent Dragonfly targeted Vertigo.^[16] He and the rest of the Society were placed under the protection—and watch—of Batman Incorporated, but were sprung by Deathstroke for an assault on the League's headquarters^[17] in Nepal. Out of loyalty to Deathstroke, Vertigo and the Secret Society resurrected him via Lazarus Pit when he fell in that battle.^[18]

Deathstroke had the Society lay siege to Titans Tower, the headquarters of his foes the Titans, where Vertigo overpowered Titans Academy student Tress until ordered to withdraw.^[19] With Prometheus, he hunted the superhero Sideways, only to be captured by Black Adam. Adam presented Vertigo to the superheroes gathered at the Hall of Justice, intending to demonstrate the necessity of lethal force against Deathstroke's army of villains, but Vertigo was saved and taken into captivity by heroes opposed Adam's brutality.^[20]

Dawn of DC

On one occasion, Vertigo suffered a humiliating defeat in Central City at the hands of the young speedster Thunderheart.^[21] Another implant, an explosive device, was inserted into Vertigo's head^[22] and he was incarcerated at Belle Reve Penitentiary, where he became aware of the machinations of Amanda Waller. When the penitentiary was breached by Roy Harper and the Black Canary, seeking information on Waller, Vertigo used his powers against the intruders and Waller's operatives, but ultimately revealed to Harper that Waller had committed herself to gathering resources, and she had learned that the Green Arrow was alive but lost in space and time.^[23] His explosive implant was removed and he was released from his cell by Doctor Georgia Sivana, allowing him to escape Belle Reve and return to Vlatava on the condition that he kill Mary Marvel,^[22] a hero by whom he had once been defeated.^[24] Though he was able to incapacitate her, she was rescued by her Amazonian allies Cassie Sandsmark and Yara Flor, who overcame Vertigo's manipulations and defeated him.^[22]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Cybernetic Enhancement: As a child Werner was subjected to a procedure that grafted to his brain an implant that granted him several superhuman abilities.^[25] Through the years his implant has constantly been upgraded and miniaturized to the point where it is now a barely noticeable disc on the back of his head.^[11]
  • Vertigo Effect: Thanks to his implant Vertigo can emit waves capable of unbalancing his enemies and disrupt their aim and equilibrium, prolonged exposure to his Vertigo Effect causes bleeding from nose, eyes, ears and consequent death. His power can also affect electronic targets like targeting systems and telecommunications. At his peak he is able to project his Vertigo Effect for a mile in every direction.
  • Hypnosis: Vertigo can also use his implant to hypnotize people and put them in a trance where they experience dreams and nightmares. He was able to put most members of Team Arrow and hundreds if not thousands of citizens of Seattle into such a state and make them walk in the ocean to die.^[11]
  • Illusion Casting: By using his powers at their maximum levels Vertigo can generate illusions that completely override an enemy's sense of reality but doing so is extremely risky as it taxes his implant and may cause him great damage.^[13]

Abilities

• Leadership

Weaknesses

• Technological Reliability: Vertigo draws all of his powers from his implant and if damaged his powers can stop working properly.^[11]
  

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Gravity Boots^[3]

Notes

• Count Vertigo was created by Gerry Conway and Trevor von Eeden, first appearing in World's Finest #251. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Count Vertigo first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Green Arrow (Volume 5) #22 by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino.
  

Trivia

• Count Vertigo is among the foes of the Green Arrow memorialized with a statue in his likeness within the Arrowcave.^[26]

Related

• 51 Appearances of Werner Zytle (Prime Earth)
• 21 Images featuring Werner Zytle (Prime Earth)
• 2 Quotations by or about Werner Zytle (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Werner Zytle (Prime Earth)

Footnotes

Green Arrow Villain(s) This character is or was primarily an enemy of Green Arrow, or his supporting cast including Black Canary and Team Arrow. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Green Arrow Villains."

Checkmate Member This character was a member of the top secret government organization Checkmate. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Checkmate members" and "Government Agents" categories.

Secret Society of Super-Villains member This character is or was a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, a cadre of super-villains who band together to accomplish feats no one super-villain can do alone, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Secret Society of Super-Villains members" category.