Derek Sampson

"Rene didn't listen to what I said, and he created a superhuman."

- Oliver Queen on Derek's transformation into a meta-human

Derek Sampson was a drug-dealer, specializing on Stardust drug, as well as a crime boss that opposed the Green Arrow and a rival crime lord Tobias Church. After being thrown into a vat of chemicals, Sampson experienced a mutation, losing his sense of pain and acquiring accelerated healing.

Biography
Derek Sampson was one of Stardust drug dealers in Star City that was targeted by the District Attorney Adrian Chase as a potential snitch on the other dealers in the city. At the same time, he was being hunted by Team Arrow, and especially Rene Ramirez, for his series of crimes related to spreading the drug.

Unhappy with Green Arrow's patient methods, Wild Dog took Evelyn Sharp on a recon mission, which quickly turned into an attack on the drug dealers' hideout. Sampson managed to successfully fight Ramirez back, to the point the brawl was now on the matter of life and death. With Evelyn's help, Rene pushed Derek off, throwing him into a vat of Stardust and other assorted chemicals, leaving him for dead.

The next day, Derek's condition was so messed up by a mix of chemicals, altering him on a molecular level, that he was mistaken for dead by the police, the prosecution, and the coroners. By the time he woke up from his condition, Derek was about to be sliced on the coronoer's table for an autopsy report. Derek attacked the coroner, killing the man, and commenting on how he didn't feel anything. Now regenerating with great speed and ignoring all pain, Derek assaulted the hospital's security, invulnerable to bullets. The security guards were eventually saved by the Green Arrow, who tried to stop the mutated criminal, but was now overpowered by Sampson. The vigilante escaped, while Derek decided to return to his organization.

On his way to his gang, Sampson killed a police officer that tried to shoot him down, then re-introduced himself to his partners in crime, referencing Mark Twain in saying that the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated. Derek announced that drug dealing was too small of an operation, and decided to start thinking big: creating an army of meta-humans with the same formula that gave him superpowers, to topple down Tobias Church and take Star City back. Derek's gang then went on a raid of Allman Industrial, stealing a Molecular Transmodality Processor to refine the formula that would allow to create new mutated thugs.

Team Arrow targeted Sampson's hideout once again, with Curtis Holt setting up an explosive to destroy the gang's supply of the refined Stardust and the Molecular Transmodality Processor. Sampson fought the Green Arrow once again, taunting him with the mention of his newfound powers. However, he was defeated when the vigilante sliced through his tendons, making Derek unable to walk. The next day, he was apprehend by the police and finally arrested.

Powers

 * Enhanced physical condition: Due to the molecular mutation caused by a mix of chemicals related to the Stardust drug, Derek's physical capacity was increased, at the very least, in terms of strength and durability, in addition to an accelerated healing factor.
 * Enhanced strength: Due to the molecular mutation, Derek was much stronger than a normal human.
 * Enhanced durability: Due to the molecular mutation, Derek was able to take more damage than a normal human. Furthermore, he stopped feeling pain from even the most dangerous and potentially fatal wounds.
 * Accelerated healing factor: Due to the molecular mutation, Derek was able to heal much faster than a normal human.

Abilities

 * Expert hand-to-hand combatant: Derek was an experienced and incredibly powerful hand-to-hand brawler, alone among his gang who was able to overpower Rene Ramirez, a similarly trained fighter; and required a two-on-one and the use of (potentially) lethal force to bring him down one.
 * Leadership: Derek was a charismatic leader, able to unite the gangsters under his command, who at first considered him dead and a lost cause, into a force with purpose, to take the city back from Tobias Church

Behind the scenes

 * Derek's last name, Sampson, may be a reference to the Biblical character King Samson, a Hebrew king that was granted superhuman strength by God.