Roland RayburnPersuader

Roland Rayburn was a mutant, but was totally unaware of his abilities. Rayburn had the uncanny knack for persuading others to do his bidding which had helped him to become a very successful Wall Street trader. The Kingpin's organization soon became aware of Roland’s mutant power and orchestrated a kidnapping. The former Kingpin employee, Tombstone, abducted Rayburn and brought him to the Arranger. Tortured and brainwashed, Rayburn became an employee of the notorious crime boss and took the code name Persuader. It was at this time the southwestern gang leaders, the Lobo Brothers, had become a threat to take over the Kingpin’s empire, and the Arranger made plans to eliminate the Lobo Brothers by “persuading” the Punisher to kill them. Rayburn and the Punisher traveled to the Lobo Brother's home in Texas to assassinate them, but they were followed by Spider-Man. Spider-Man would not allow the Punisher to kill the gang leaders in cold blood, and this led to the two heroes fighting each other while the Lobos got away. Dealing with the Punisher distracted Spider-Man just enough to be grazed by a bullet from a second gunman belonging to the Kingpin's crime syndicate. Injured and at the mercy of the Punisher, Spider-Man could do nothing to prevent himself from being killed. The Persuader demanded that the Punisher shoot Spider-Man, but it was that order that allowed the Punisher to break the Persuader's hold over him. The Punisher explained to the Persuader that his will was only bent and not broken. He would have hunted down the Lobo Brothers without being persuaded to do so. The Persuader couldn’t keep the Punisher under his control and that is what led to his demise. Rayburn was shot to death by the Punisher ending his short lived criminal career.