Chato Santana was the ruthless and powerful leader of a dangerous street gang in Los Angeles who gained pyrokinetic powers following an encounter with Lazarus Lane and the supernatural being Chutriel.
After a rival gang sold drugs on his turf and refused to give him a cut, Chato attacked them at their home, setting the building ablaze. Entering the building, he found that not only the gangsters, but also a woman and children, had died in the blaze. Distraught, he allowed himself to be taken into custody.
Creation
Chato Santana was created by Jai Nitz and Phil Hester. He made his first appearance in El Diablo #1.
Character Evolution
Modern Age
Born in California but primarily raised in Mexico, Chato Santana joined Los Reyes Locos, a street gang, at a young age. Ruthless and intelligent, he quickly rose to the head of the gang. Following a police sting and subsequent betrayal from his second-in-command Jorge, Chato was left paralyzed and imprisoned. Briefly kept in a hospital room with a comatose Lazarus Lane, Chato was nearly killed after his old gang sent hitmen after him, believing he had turned state's evidence. Nearly dead, he travelled to the spirit world, where Lazarus Lane passed the El Diablo curse to him. Taking his revenge on the would-be assassins, Chato fled the hospital with Lane and took up the identity of El Diablo.
This version of the character was subject to the El Diablo curse, which is laid upon a person by the supernatural being Chutriel, a spirit of vengeance and punishment. As El Diablo, Chato is immortal and extremely resistant to injury; while he is in the El Diablo form he is healed from all wounds he suffered as Chato; as Chato, he is paralyzed from the waist down. He is able to see the sins a person has committed written on their souls, and is forced by his powers to seek vengeance on them. He is able to see both the spiritual and corporeal planes at the same time, and to see and communicate with spirits. The curse is able to influence him to go where he needs to be, and ensures that he has whatever he needs to carry out his mission. He carries a flaming whip and a hellfire pistol, both of which are only able to strike sinners. He has a supernatural horse named Sombra.
Post-Flashpoint
Chato appears as a member of the Suicide Squad in the New Suicide Squad series. While fighting the Fist of Cain, Chato ends up sacrificing himself to save the other members of Task Force X by using his powers to banish himself and Rose Tattoo to hell.
Chato later reappears in the Suicide Squad Most Wanted: Deadshot and Katana mini-series, with no mention of him having been to hell. When Deadshot runs away from a mission to find and kill his father, Amanda Waller sends the Suicide Squad (Chato, Cheetah, Captain Boomerang and Harley Quinn) to hunt Floyd down and bring him back to Belle Reve. Chato has grave misgivings about the mission and expressed a reluctance to hurt Lawton, whom he considered a friend. Later on, Deadshot's replacement Will Evans goes rogue, and when Chato tries to stop him with a wall of fire, Evans retaliates by killing Chato with a bullet to the head.
Major Story Arcs
El Diablo
Chato as supernatural entity El Diablo
Chato as supernatural entity El Diablo
On the run with Lane, Chato travels to New Mexico where he seeks out and defeats one of El Diablo's ancient enemies. Against Lane's wishes, he returns home to try to seek revenge against the agent who incarcerated him, Alex Aaron. Finding Aaron under attack by Vorpal he saves the agent, but finds himself unable to harm Aaron, an innocent. Learning from Aaron that his treacherous second-in-command was an undercover cop who went rogue, he hunts him down and takes revenge, while Lane simultaneously dies in a fight with Vorpal, fully passing the El Diablo curse to Chato.
Becoming aware of a broader conspiracy at work, he moves to Arizona to begin investigating his curse and the people who are after him. He is tipped off by Aaron as to the location of the villainous group Cerberus, but during his attempt to find them his girlfriend is murdered. Distraught by recent events and the curse forcing him to kill his friends, he attempts to commit suicide by super villain, but is prevented by the Freedom Fighters. He and Vorpal immediately make a truce and turn on the heroes. During the fight with the Freedom Fighters, Chato is forcibly separated from Chutriel, taken into police custody, and sentenced to death. He is executed, but rises from the grave as El Diablo shortly after, and seeks revenge on the goddess who orchestrated the separation, Ninhursag. He fights and defeats the spawn of Ninhursag and Chutriel, Ghatanothoa, and finally fully accepts the role of El Diablo.
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