Dagger (David Rennington)

David Rennington is the owner of a blade manufacturing company called Rennington Steel. When facing hard times, Rennington starts masking himself as the Dagger, running an old-fashioned protection racket until being apprehended by Batman. He is later recruited by Ra's al Ghul in Batman #400.

Character History
Thirty years after Batman had battled the arch-criminal the Dagger, a second Dagger surfaced in Gotham, this one a motorcyclist in a purple costume with daggers strapped to his arms and legs. The outfit was accented by orange gloves and boots, a kerchief concealing his nose and mouth, and a "D" on his chest.

Dagger was running an old-fashioned protection racket and those who didn't pay up got a taste of his blades. Batman discovered him one evening as Dagger thrust his blade into the tire of a moving semi trailer belonging to a trucking company that refused him. The Batmobile fared little better, its engine punctured by another knife that sent the flaming vehicle into the Gotham River.

The dagger in question proved to be a custom tailored knife manufactured by Rennington Steel, a business based north of the city in rural Stokely. Batman arranged a midnight consultation with the firm's owner to look at sales records. David Rennington, a curly-haired, bearded Len Wein lookalike, explained that the operation had fallen on hard times.

"My family CREATED the market for craftsmanship quality blades here in America -- carrying on a tradition that extends back six hundred years. ... NOBODY cares about quality anymore. 'Too expensive,' they say. 'Not enough demand.' I'm glad my father isn't alive to see -- Never mind."

Excusing himself, Rennington returned a few moments later -- as Dagger. Initially, Rennington had the advantage, operating as he was in a plant that he'd known since childhood. Gradually, though, he realized that he'd threatened to doom the family business to scandal by revealing his plan to refinance the company to Batman. Distracted, Dagger failed to see Batman swing up behind him on a giant sword replica hung in the display room. Leaving Rennington for the local authorities, Batman drove into the night.

Dagger was among dozens of villains freed in a mass jailbreak engineered by Ra's al Ghul in 1986. Accompanied by the Cavalier and another ace marksman, Deadshot, Rennington joined in a rampage through Gotham but never had a chance to confront the man who'd captured him. The three villains were utilized by the Joker and the Penguin along with Killer Moth and the Mad Hatter as part of a plan to drape electrified wire over the GCPD station and hold the entire police force hostage. Ra's al Ghul's daughter, Talia, took down Dagger with the sharp thrust of the elbow to the back of his neck.

David Rennington continues to serve out his sentence at Blackgate.

Powers and Abilities
Dagger II was an expert marksman and skilled at knife-throwing. He is an average hand-to-hand combatant.