- For other uses of the term Vertigo, see Vertigo (disambiguation).
- "Tie me up, lock me down it doesn't matter - there will always be a Vertigo, always someone to pick up the mantle. You have given it the power. Don't you see? Don't you see?"
- —Werner Zytle[src]
Vertigo is a deadly narcotic that makes its users disoriented. It was first developed by Cecil Adams, known as "Count Vertigo" (formerly "The Count"), and later by Werner Zytle. Years later, Ricardo Diaz created a large Vertigo supply, though it was destroyed by Green Arrow and Spartan.
When injected directly into the bloodstream while in its purest form, Vertigo affects the thalamus, where all the information from the pain receptors are collected. This causes the victim to believe that they are in excruciating pain. The effect can last for days, until the heart eventually gives out and stops beating. With the modified version introduced by Werner Zytle, Vertigo not only induced excruciating pain, but also made the user hallucinate their greatest fear. Ricardo Diaz's Vertigo could cause such vivid hallucinations it gives the victim a hard time telling hallucinations from reality and can impair rational thinking.
History
Thea Queen was given some Vertigo by her friends at her 18th birthday party. At first, she was reluctant to use it, but after seeing her mother with Malcolm Merlyn, Thea consumed the entire packet of Vertigo and while under the influence, took her convertible out for a joyride. Thea eventually crashed on the side of the road and was taken to the hospital, where they found the narcotic in her system, and she was promptly arrested once discharged.[2]
When Oliver Queen found out that his sister had gotten Vertigo, he arranged a meeting with Cecil Adams, aka "The Count". In doing do however, Oliver was injected with Vertigo and therefore, unable to aim. Oliver took the rest of the sample to Felicity Smoak, who analyzed it and determined it was being produced in an abandoned juvenile center in the East sector of The Glades. There, Oliver confronted Cecil without his bow and dosed him with a double syringe of Vertigo, causing Cecil to go into a near-vegetative state for some time and sent to a mental institution.[3]
During this period, Cecil's psychiatrist Dr. Webb and his accomplice began redistributing the drug with a new ingredient, chlorpromazine, until Oliver and John Diggle stopped them.[4]
Following The Undertaking, Cecil recovered and began redistributing yet another version of Vertigo in a gambit to eliminate the Hood (now the Arrow). This ended in Cecil's death and further distribution of this drug was halted.
Werner Zytle soon took up the mantle of Count Vertigo and began as a simple pill-pusher before redistributing Vertigo yet again, but with a new added effect from mushrooms that cause the user to see their greatest fear. Like the original Count, Zytle often used needles to force the drug into others, but replaced handheld syringes with thick throwing darts when he decided to take over the criminal underworld.[5]
Ricardo Diaz created a large Vertigo supply, though it was destroyed by Green Arrow and Spartan. Councilman Kullens ,under Diaz's orders, dosed Oliver with Vertigo giving him intense hallucinations, (for example, Oliver saw Felicity Smoak, Adrian Chase, Laurel Lance, Rene Ramirez, Dinah Drake, Curtis Holt, Raisa, Ricardo Diaz, and himself as the Hood) making it hard for Oliver to tell what's real and what isn't. The Vertigo almost got Oliver killed, thankfully he was saved by Felicity.
Appearances
Arrow
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
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The Flash
Season 2
- "Gorilla Warfare" (mentioned)
Season 3
DC's Legends of Tomorrow
Season 1
- "Pilot, Part 1" (mentioned)
Behind the scenes
- The colors of the pills, green and black, are the same as Count Vertigo's costume in the DC comics.
- In small doses, Vertigo is supposed to resemble 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), a psychoactive drug known as "ecstasy" which causes elevated blood pressure, agitation, mass hemorrhaging, and violent convulsions.
References
- ↑ "Vertigo"
- ↑ "Trust but Verify"
- ↑ "Vertigo"
- ↑ "Unfinished Business"
- ↑ "The Calm"
| Other versions of Vertigo (Earth-1) | ||||
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