Created by: Rik Offenberger
Art by: Gilbert Monsanto

PERSONAL INFORMATION

REAL NAME: Zander Theodoropoulos
IDENTITY: Publicly known
OCCUPATION: Criminal
PLACE OF BIRTH: Mandraki, Dodecanese Islands, Greece
CITIZENSHIP: United States of America
MARITAL STATUS: Single
KNOWN RELATIVES: None
KNOWN ALLIES: None
GROUP AFFILIATIONS: The Pride
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Washington, D.C.
EDUCATION: Mandraki High School
FIRST APPEARANCE: G-Man Comics 3in1 #3, April 2023
HEIGHT: 6’5″ (196 cm)
WEIGHT: 268 lbs. (122 kg)
EYES: Brown
HAIR: Brown

HISTORY

Zander Theodoropoulos was a lion tamer from Mandraki, Greece, who traveled with the circus in a lion-taming act called “Ηρακλής και το καμάρι.” When he came to America “to make it big,” he and his pride of lions joined Circo Lorenzo.

For three generations spanning more than 100 years, Circo Lorenzo was a premier circus attraction for Spanish-speaking audiences. If you spoke Spanish anywhere in North America, chances were you had seen Circo Lorenzo. The circus itself was a third-generation operation, with many performers coming from multigenerational circus families. It featured beautiful aerial acts and tremendously funny clowns, but it was best known for its animal acts. The lion tamers were fierce, and audiences could hardly believe they survived night after night. When the circus’s lion tamer died in a freak accident, Zander Theodoropoulos, who spoke multiple languages, stepped in. The act’s name was changed to “HÉRCULES Y EL ORGULLO.” When Circo Lorenzo was sold to Adrián “El Jefe” Londoño, Zander discovered that he had become involved in a circus of crime. When Payasos del Crimen, a band of 10 clowns, began committing crimes across America, Zander and his lions also began a life of crime.

Unable to hide from the authorities as a giant of a man accompanied by three lions, Zander uses his lion-taming techniques to stage higher-value crimes that support both himself and his animals. Counting on people’s natural fear of lions to force them into submission, he embarked on a series of bank and armored-car robberies.

POWERS & ABILITIES

Zander has no superpowers. He took in the lions as orphaned cubs and raised them to adulthood as domesticated, tame animals. They are still lions, with 3-inch (7.5-centimeter) claws and mouths that can open 1 foot (30 centimeters) wide, but they are trained to respond to Zander’s commands.

Zander uses operant conditioning to teach his lions to connect behaviors with signals and rewards them for correct responses. Whenever the lions behave in the desired way, or even come close to the desired behavior, Zander provides positive reinforcement, usually in the form of food. This increases the likelihood of the behavior occurring again. He then uses a technique called shaping to refine each behavior. Zander combines operant conditioning with classical conditioning so the lions respond to cues such as the snap of his fingers rather than following a physical target.