Hush (comics) - Powers and Abilities

Powers and Abilities

Thomas "Hush" Elliot has no superpowers on his own. He has spent a vast portion of his life honing his skills enough to be a match for the Dark Knight. Formerly known as one of the finest surgeons of his time, Thomas Elliot has an incredible intellect and is also a master planner, with tactical skills equaling those possessed by the Caped Crusader. Indeed, Hush's greatest skill is his talent for thinking like his opponents and for using their abilities against them. Ironically, Bruce Wayne received his strategic skills from Elliot during their childhood before their parents' deaths.

Hush is an expert marksman, able to shoot two batarangs out of the air and set off C4 using twin M1911.45 caliber pistols, his weapons of choice (his skill has been compared to that of Deadshot). While not possessing the kind of training that Bruce Wayne acquired, Hush has proven his ability to fight hand-to-hand. He shows expertise and competence, being able to fight almost on par with Batman.

Despite his advanced marksmanship, his demeanor far distant from the one of the gimmicked villains usually rampaging through Gotham, and original reliance solely on his strategic abilities, Thomas Elliot's medical background has recently been shown in his arsenal of choice, as he's shown using scalpels as throwing or slicing knives, and employing a large array of drugs, muscle relaxants and other surgical appliances as weapons along with his handguns.

Hush is a brilliant surgeon and has been able to perform breakthrough medical operations, thought impossible by many, like granting Harold Allnut a fully functional body, removing his hunchback and giving him the ability to speak, repairing Harvey Dent's face (with only a small scar to show for it), inventing a virus which accelerated Killer Croc's devolution, and tearing out Selina Kyle's heart without any lasting damage (though he had help from the criminal Mr. Freeze on the last endeavor).

Hush is also able to perform plastic surgery on himself, no matter how painful it may be, using minimal anesthetic and sheer force of will. He's implied to have removed the pacemaker installed on his own heart by himself, and has shown the ability to grant himself the appearance of someone else, such as Bruce Wayne, without using masks but only a long series of planned surgeries on his own face, with the aid of a simple mirror.

Thomas Elliot previously had access to the vast resources of the Elliot household, putting him on par with Bruce Wayne, and so he's fully able to fund his more expensive plans, and get the cooperation of the main villains in Gotham, like Mister Freeze. However since the Heart of Hush storyline Catwoman tapped his resources, reducing him to poverty. He then put in motion several plans, the earlier ones foiled by Selina herself, to use his newfound resemblance to Bruce Wayne to leech off the vast resources of the Wayne household, cutting off the Bat-Family from it as well (although this plan was thwarted when he underestimated his foes, finding himself merely a puppet of the Bat-Family and their allies as he serves to create the impression that Bruce Wayne is still alive after his 'death' during Final Crisis).