Rainbow Raider

Rainbow Raider (Roy G. Bivolo) is a supervillain appearing in comic books by DC Comics. His real name is a pun based on the acronym "ROYGBIV", a mnemonic for the colors of a rainbow. He is a minor, though recurring, enemy of the Flash and other heroes.^[1]

Rainbow Raider
The Rainbow Raider as depicted in Who's Who in the DC Universe (July 1991). Art by Ty Templeton.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	The Flash #286 (June 1980)
Created by	Cary Bates Don Heck
In-story information
Alter ego	Roy G. Bivolo
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Rogues Black Lantern Corps Color Queens
Notable aliases	Chroma Prism
Abilities	Special goggles allow projection of hard-light rainbows for travel or attack Can alter people's emotions by coating them in certain colors

Two incarnations of the Rainbow Raider appear in The Flash, with Roy G. Bivolo appearing in the first and ninth seasons, portrayed by Paul Anthony, and a female incarnation named Carrie Bates appearing in the seventh season, portrayed by Jona Xiao.

Publication history

Rainbow Raider first appeared in The Flash #286 (June 1980), and was created by Cary Bates and Don Heck.^[2]

Bates said in a 2008 interview that "Rainbow Raider's color-blindness (as well as the color-emotion powers and origin) was an attempt on his part to emulate those classic Rogues' Gallery villain origins Bates enjoyed so much from the sixties".^[3]

Bates elaborated on the characters creation stating "Having grown up on a Flash Rogue’s gallery full of villains who were adept at weaponizing things like mirrors, cold, heat, magic, boomerangs, etc., Julie and I thought the color spectrum gimmick had the potential to be a worthwhile addition."^[4]

Fictional character biography

As a child, Roy G. Bivolo always dreamed of a career as an artist, a lofty goal considering he was completely colorblind. He would often paint what he thought were beautiful pieces of art, and indeed showed great technical skill only to be told that it was made up of clashing colors. His father, an optometrist, attempts to cure Roy's condition and creates sophisticated goggles that can produce rainbow light beams.

Roy, now the Rainbow Raider, embarks on a crime spree focused mostly on art galleries, saying that if he could not appreciate the great works of art in them (due to his disability), then no one else will.^[5][6] After being imprisoned in Belle Reve Penitentiary, the Rainbow Raider joins the Color Queens gang alongside Crazy Quilt, Doctor Light, Doctor Spectro, and Multi-Man.^[7][8]

Roy is later killed by Blacksmith.^[9] He is temporarily resurrected as a Black Lantern in Blackest Night and permanently resurrected in The New 52 continuity reboot, where he is known as Chroma.^[10][11][12]

Rainbow Raiders

Main article: List of criminal organizations in DC Comics § Rainbow Raiders

Since Rainbow Raider's death, a team of color-themed supervillains have dubbed themselves the Rainbow Raiders in his honor.

Powers and abilities

Rainbow Raider's powers are derived from the special goggles he wears, which allow him to project solid beams of rainbow-colored light he can either use offensively or as a slide for travel. In addition, he can coat people in certain colors of light to induce emotions (coating someone in blue light, for instance, would make them sad).

Reception

Heavy.com lists Rainbow Raider as one of the worst supervillains of all time.^[13] Francesco Marciuliano from Smosh.com ranked Rainbow Raider as having one of the worst supervillain gadgets of all time.^[14]

Other characters named Rainbow Raider

• Jonathan Kent posed as a supervillain called Rainbow Raider as part of a plot to get Superboy to capture gangster Vic Munster and his gang by using a hypnotic device on his helmet. Munster later used the Rainbow Raider identity before being defeated by Superboy.^[15]
• Dr. Quin (a villain from the first Dial H for Hero series) appears in House of Mystery #167 (June 1967) as a different Rainbow Raider whose powers are derived from a rare crystal.^[16]

In other media

Television

• Two incarnations of Rainbow Raider appear in The Flash:
  • Roy G. Bivolo appears in the first and ninth seasons, portrayed by Paul Anthony.^[17] This version is a metahuman capable of inciting anger via eye contact and a member of the Red Death's Rogues.
  • A female incarnation named Carrie Bates / Rainbow Raider 2.0 appears in the seventh season episode "Good-Bye Vibrations", portrayed by Jona Xiao.^{[citation needed]} She is a former collections officer who was fired for cancelling debts instead of collecting them and became a metahuman capable of inducing euphoria.
• Roy G. Bivolo appears in the Teen Titans Go! episode "Real Art", voiced by Scott O'Brien.^{[citation needed]}
• Rainbow Raider makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Harley Quinn episode "B.I.T.C.H.".^{[citation needed]}

Film

Rainbow Raider appears in Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.^[18][19]

Video games

• Rainbow Raider appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.^[20]
• Rainbow Raider appears as a downloadable playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham as part of the "Rainbow" DLC pack.^{[citation needed]}

Miscellaneous

• Rainbow Raider appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold #14.^[21]
• Rainbow Raider appears in The Flash tie-in novel The Haunting of Barry Allen.^{[citation needed]}