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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 20:00:17 GMT -5
35. Loki Loki himself is not a member of the Asgardians, but is actually the son of Laufey, the deceased monarch of the Frost Giants, the ancient enemies of the Asgardians. Odin himself led the Asgardians into battle against the Frost Giants and killed Laufey in personal combat. After slaying Laufey, Odin found a small Asgardian-sized child hidden within the primary stronghold of the Frost Giants. The child was Loki, and Laufey kept him hidden from his people due to his shame over his son's small size. Odin took the boy, out of a combination of pity and because he was the son of a worthy adversary slain in honorable combat, and raised him as his son alongside his biological son Thor. Throughout their childhood and into adolescence, Loki was resentful of the differences in which he and Thor were treated by the citizens of Asgard. The Asgardians valued great strength, tenacity, and bravery in battle above all things and Loki was clearly inferior to his foster brother Thor in these areas. However, Loki's gifts lay in other areas, most notably sorcery. He possessed a natural affinity to command great magical forces and hoped to somehow use these powers to become the most powerful god in all of Asgard and to destroy Thor. As Loki grew to adulthood, his natural talent for causing mischief would manifest itself and earned hims a nickname as the God of Lies and Mischief. However, instead of playing harmless pranks, he grew steadily more malicious in his deeds, and his lust for both power and revenge was apparent to all those around him. In time, his nickname grew from being a playful and mischievous trickster god to the "God of Evil". Over the centuries, Loki attempted on many occasions to seize rulership of Asgard and to destroy Thor. Odin, who had long tolerated Loki's attempts, magically imprisoned him within a tree. Loki eventually freed himself from his prison, and his thirst for power and vengeance became even more consuming than it had been. Loki's schemes eventually came to include Earth itself and these schemes often drew some of Earth's superhuman heroes to defend Earth and, often, Asgard itself. Loki was able to manipulate the Hulk into wreaking havoc and, which accidentally led to the formation of the Avengers. Thor was one of the founding members of this superhuman team, and Loki often found his goals frustrated by them, even when they appeared close to success. Loki and Thor clashed more frequently, sometimes with Loki confronting Thor directly and sometimes using various pawns in order to achieve his ends. Among Loki's better known henchmen was the human criminal Carl "The Crusher" Creel, whom Loki transformed by sorcery into the superhuman criminal known as the Absorbing Man. Creel himself would proved to be a formidable adversary to Thor over the years. Loki event went so far as to attempt to turn Odin against Thor and to steal Thor's enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, but all his efforts failed. However, despite Loki's loathing for Thor and Odin, Loki helped to defend Asgard from destruction from Surtur and his fire demons. This was because Surtur's goal was to destroy Asgard, whereas Loki sought only to rule it. On another occasion, Loki actually worked with Spider-Man to stop Morwen, a Lord of Chaos, from destroying the world, although Loki was partly motivated by the desire to save his daughter, who was currently being used by Morwen as a host. It has been prophesied that Loki will lead Asgard's enemies into the "Eternal Realm" and aid them in destroying it in a final conflict known as Ragnarok, or sometimes referred to as "The Twilight of the Gods". Loki fulfilled the prophecy of leading the enemies of Asgard against the Asgardians. This battle consumed all who participated in it and it was revealed that the cycle of the birth, lives, and death of the Asgardians was a continuing cycle presided over by beings known only as "Those Who Sit Above in Shadow". Thor, Loki's foster brother and monarch of the Asgardians after Odin perished in battle against Surtur months earlier, was able to put an end to this continuing cycle. All Asgardians perished in this last Ragnarok except for Thor who would disappear into a deep sleep. But this time "Those Who Sit Above" followed them in death and were unable to revive them. Whether the Asgardians will receive a reincarnation after this final battle is uncertain.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 20:04:47 GMT -5
34. General Zod Dru-Zod, or simply Zod, was often portrayed as a megalomaniac. Zod was originally one of a number of Kryptonian villains trapped in the Phantom Zone. He first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 (April 1961). Once Military Director of the Kryptonian Space Center, Zod had known Jor-El, Superman's father, when he was an aspiring scientist. When the space program was abolished after the destruction of the moon Wegthor (caused by renegade scientist Jax-Ur), he attempted to take over Krypton. Zod created an army of robotic duplicates of himself, all bearing a resemblance to Bizarro. He was sentenced to the Phantom Zone for his crimes. Zod was first released by Kal-El (during his Superboy career) when his term of imprisonment was up. However, he attempted to conquer Earth with powers gained under the yellow sun. Zod was sent back into the Phantom Zone, occasionally escaping to target Superman. The Pocket Universe Zod came from a Krypton in a pocket universe created by the Time Trapper. He, along with companions Quex-Ul and Faora, devastated the Earth of that universe following the death of its Superboy, eventually forcing the Superman of the main universe to execute them with Kryptonite. This version of Zod is based closely on the Pre-Crisis version. The Return To Krypton incarnation of General Zod was introduced in the 2001 storyline "Return to Krypton." He was the head of the Kryptonian military in an artificial reality created by Brainiac 13. Like the Pre-Crisis version, Zod held the Kryptonian equivalent of fascist beliefs. He sent aliens to the bottle city of Kandor and planned a military coup. Zod was defeated by Superman and the Jor-El of that Krypton. The Russian General Zod is a Russian who was affected prior to his birth by Kryptonite radiation because he was the son of two cosmonauts whose ship was too close to Kal-El's rocketship. This Zod is unnaturally weak under a yellow sun, but superpowered under a red sun (the opposite of Superman). He grew up in a KGB laboratory under the name "Zed." Apparently spoken to by the spirit of the Pocket Universe Zod, Zod created a suit of red armor that filtered the sunlight and declared himself ruler of the former Soviet state of Pokolistan. After several inconclusive encounters with Superman, he revealed his long-range plan to turn the sun red and take Superman's place. This was temporarily successful until Lex Luthor rescued Superman, gave him a blast of yellow solar radiation to regain his powers, and worked to restore the sun. Superman returned to battle Zod, but refused to kill him. When the sun turned yellow again, the now vulnerable Zod still struck Superman with all his power, and was killed. Introduced in the twelve-issue For Tomorrow (Superman #204-#215) storyline, written by Brian Azzarello and penciled by Jim Lee, the Phantom Zod resides in the Phantom Zone alone and resents Superman for tampering with it. Supposedly, he comes from the same Krypton as Superman, and was exiled to the Phantom Zone by Superman's father Jor-El. This Zod wears black armor, and when unmasked, slightly resembles an older version of the film Zod. It is possible that this Zod is not a real Kryptonian, however. He appeared in Metropia, a version of the Phantom Zone created by Superman to resemble a living world, including the seemingly living beings. One year after the events of Infinite Crisis, Lex Luthor used a shard of sunstone, which had the word "doomsday" engraved upon it in the Kryptonian language, along with a stockpile of Kryptonite to reactivate the Kryptonian battle cruiser, Doomsday, which had been dormant within the earth for an unknown period of time. Luthor revealed that the vessel was in fact the flagship of the Kryptonian fleet, had belonged to an Admiral Dru-Zod and scoured entire planets clean of life. In October 2006, film director Richard Donner, noted for his work on the first two Superman movies, and began to write Action Comics in collaboration with Geoff Johns. At the end of Action Comics #845, Zod, Ursa, and Non have apparently been freed from the Phantom Zone by someone he refers as his and Ursa's son, implying that the Kryptonian boy that landed on Earth in the story is his son. Somehow owing their freedom to the landing on Earth of Dru-Zod and Ursa's son, after a brief stop to the newly restored Fortress of Solitude to gain information from Jor-El's projection they fly to Metropolis, where Ursa confronts Lois to win her unwilling son back and Zod sends Kal-El to the Phantom Zone after freeing the other Kryptonian inmates. Prior to their release from The Phantom Zone, a back-story for the three was seen in Action Comics Annual #10 Non had once been a brilliant scientist on par with Jor-El. Both were researching the event that would ultimately destroy Krypton. Zod entered their lab with troops (at this point Zod was still working for Krypton's Council). Both Jor-El and Non were arrested by Zod and given a warning by the High Council to halt their research, then released. Jor-El set to work creating the rocket that would send his son Kal-El to Earth, while Non began to spread the word of the planet's impending doom. Non's message swayed both Zod and Ursa that Krypton was soon to be destroyed. Non then disappeared from public life, only to return with a mutilated brain. The council transformed him into a mindless brute and this act inspired Zod and Ursa to rebel against the Kryptonian government. Non now fought along side Zod and Ursa. Zod attempted to recruit Jor-El to their cause; however Jor-El saw the plans were fueled by greed, a lust for power and violence. This rebellion was short-lived and the rebels were set to be executed. Jor-El appealed on their behalf, to exile them instead. The council accepted this on the condition that Jor-El be the jailer. And so Zod, Ursa, and Non were imprisoned, and embittered against Jor-El. The origins of Zod, Ursa, and Non seem to be a fleshed out version of the story found in the film Superman II. Zod now closely resembles his movie counterpart, with the addition of a black trenchcoat. All stories featuring other versions of ZOD are now considered non-canon except for the russian version of the character This story is currently ongoing.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 20:06:03 GMT -5
33. The Vulture Adrian Toomes is a former electronics engineer who employs a special harness of his own design that allows him to fly; his flight is directed by a pair of wings worn on his arms. The harness also endows him with enhanced strength and (according to some sources) increases his lifespan. Although Toomes is advanced in age, he is a strong fighter and a remorseless killer. On one occasion, he restored his youth through biochemical means, though this wore off after exposure to the corpse of an elemental superhuman. At one point he had used a device to steal Spider-Man's youth, leaving Vulture young and Spider-Man elderly, but this effect wore off within hours. On more than one occasion Toomes has been in league with several other Spider-Man villains in order to destroy the wall crawler. The Vulture has been in every incarnation of the Sinister Six, and appeared in the Sinister Twelve. He has a strong friendship with fellow villain Electro; the two of them nearly beat Spider-Man to death. The Vulture once stumbled across a plot by the Chameleon and the Green Goblin to drive Spider-Man insane by having shapeshifting androids impersonate his late mother and father; due to Toomes' interference, the androids were destroyed, leading the wall-crawler to a brief nervous breakdown. The Vulture absorbed the artificial life force from the Mary Parker android, and the effect on the Vulture was twofold; not only did he become a young man again, but he was instantly cured of the cancer that had been slowly killing him for some time. (The Vulture has since reverted to an old man once again.) Toomes' identity as the Vulture has been claimed by imposters on several occasions. Blackie Drago and Professor Clifton Shallot are some of them. The Vulture technology was later copied by a group of thugs called "The Vulturions"; Toomes defeated these usurpers as well. Also, Toomes himself was not the first comic villain to use the name. In the 1941 comic Doll Man Quarterly, a robber named the Vulture used his pet vultures carrying bombs to commit crimes. In the Identity Disc series, it was revealed that Toomes, with the help of Sandman, manipulated Marvel villains Bullseye, Deadpool, Juggernaut, and Sabretooth into laying siege to terrorist group A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) headquarters in order to retrieve a disc containing the identities of undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives (including that of Toomes' daughter). During a brief time of working for the Owl, he failed in a mission and as a result was punished in that he was severely beaten and one eye was removed from his face. He subsequently revealed himself as a member of Norman Osborn's Sinister Twelve - though he wore a helmet, presumably to mask the wounds. Under the tutelage of Al Kraven, Kraven the Hunter's son, Toomes briefly attempted a stint at heroism, but before long he returned to the other side of the law. During the Civil War, he was apprehended along with the Grim Reaper and the Trapster, by Captain America and his growing Resistance, who chained him together with Grim Reaper to a pole and broke his nose. When he was found and taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D., he complained, "that lunatic broke my damn nose". After Spider-Man unmasked himself, Toomes was seen in his jail cell, knitting his fingers together. As someone on the television set said they hoped it wouldn't be any trouble for Spider-Man, Toomes said, "Oh I think it will be." After Spider-Man goes rogue, Toomes is seen in a S.H.I.E.L.D prison cell speaking with agent Jamie Madrox, and commenting on Spider-Man's inherent weakness, that being his unwillingness to use his powers for personal gain. S.H.I.E.L.D. then returns his flying harness and encourages him to hunt down Spider-Man, saying that he "is now an outlaw, same as you." Later, the Vulture attacks Spider-Man at a book signing, and manages to slash him with a powerful sedative. Toomes, however, falls unconscious and, sensing something is wrong, Spider-Man rushes him to the hospital. Toomes wakes up a few hours later, where a doctor reveals that he has suffered a stroke, and many of his muscles on the left side of his body have been paralyzed. When the doctor leaves, Spider-Man sneaks in and Toomes asks him to kill him because he is weak. When Spider-Man refuses to do so, he says that Spider-Man is also weak, and always has been. After making remarks about Uncle Ben, Spider-Man takes a pillow and begins suffocating him. He fights back, and Spidey removes the pillow, commenting that "For somebody who's begging to die, you fight for life pretty hard." In Amazing Spider-Man #48, "Blackie" Drago, was a prison cellmate of Toomes' who tricked Toomes and stole the Vulture harness and costume which was recently rebuilt. He used the suit to make money through air piracy which ended up in a three-way battle against Spider-Man and Kraven the Hunter which Spider-Man won. He later teamed up with Toomes when escaping from prison. Once free, he was subsequently defeated and humiliated by Toomes whom regained the recognition he deserved. A humbled Blackie was taken away by the police, vowing "I'm through!! I'll never put these wings on again!" In Amazing Spider-Man #127-128, Professor Clifton Shallot, was a vengeful university professor who was an expert on bio-mutation. He also had a Vulture wings and costume making project which he requisitioned from the State Prison Authority. When one of his courses was cancelled by the university trustees, something snapped in the doctor's head, and so he underwent the final stage of the mutation himself. The result was a change in himself which no amount of expertise and practice could do for the original Vulture... his face, teeth, and fingernails mutated, and for a short time, the wings became part of his body. The only one who knew his secret was his lab assistant and her roommate. Mary-Jane witnessed him killing them and she became a target. Clifton discovered that his mutation is reversible and when he ran out of the right chemicals, he stole them. This led Spider-Man to a clue of who the identity of this Vulture was and tracked him down. His powers were lost in his first (and only) battle with Spider-Man who force-fed him the antidote. Clifton Shallot is presumably still serving his sentence for the murders.
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Post by Hulk With A Mustache on Apr 18, 2007 20:06:55 GMT -5
33. The Vulture What!? No explanation needed?
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 20:08:49 GMT -5
33. The Vulture What!? No explanation needed? sorry, i accidentally hit a button to post it immediately, I have taken care of that and now have a bio of Vulture up
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 20:10:20 GMT -5
32. The Spot As a scientist working for the Kingpin, Dr. Jonathan Ohnn was assigned to reproduce the radiation levels of the superhero Cloak to find a way to artificially mimic his powers. While working late one night, he succeeded, creating a solid black circular portal. In doing so, however, the drain on the city's power became so great, a blackout washed over the city, causing the portal to shimmer and destabilize. Fearful of losing a once in a lifetime opportunity, Ohnn stepped into it; the shock of the transition caused him to pass out. He awoke floating weightlessly in a dimension which he initially assumed was Cloak's dark dimension. He soon realized however that the power shortage caused the portal to send him to a different dimension, a place of half darkness and half light. A seemingly infinite number of portals surrounded him in this place. Making swimming motions, he managed to find the original portal that brought him there and slipped back through it. When Ohnn emerged back into his lab, his body had undergone a radical transformation. The portals from the other dimension had adhered to his skin, covering him with black spots from head to toe. Realizing the spots were portable space warps, he started to think he might be able to use them to defeat anyone in battle. When Spider-Man and the Black Cat arrived to confront the Kingpin, he appeared before them and announced himself as the Spot. Spider-Man collapsed on the roof, laughing at the name. The Spot ended up winning that first confrontation and warned the heroes to leave the Kingpin alone. He later lost a second battle against Spider-Man because he was tricked into throwing too many of his spots as weapons and not keeping enough to defend himself with. Later, the Spot formed a short-lived team with Gibbon, Grizzly, and Kangaroo II called the Spider-Man Revenge Squad, which was better known as the Legion of Losers. This team fell apart when Spider-Man carted the Spot and the Kangaroo to jail for bank robbery. The Spot also appeared in the Spider-Man's Tangled Web series, in which he helped Tombstone escape from a maximum security prison. As thanks, Tombstone snapped his neck. Because the Tangled Web series is considered to exist outside of the normal Spider-Man continuity, it is still possible the Spot will be seen again in one of the current Spider-Man titles. He recently appeared in issue 26 of Wolverine during Mark Millar's run, he was killed by Elektra and a group of Hand ninjas during a meeting with Slyde, 'The Teflon coated man', in a plot teaming Hydra, The Hand and the mutant group 'Dawn of the White Light' to end all life on earth. He was resurrected by The Hand and joined an assault on the S.H.I.E.L.D hellicarrier which resulted in its destruction. He was killed by Wolverine as were most of the super-villains and heroes The Hand were using in the attack, although having died once before, his death remains questionable. Surviving yet another "death", The Spot returned in one-shot Civil War: War Crimes, recruited as part of Hammerhead's supervillain army. However, as Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. forces attacked their forces, it is unknown if The Spot is currently incaracerated with other villains, somehow escaped, or amongst the casualties of the raid.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 20:13:03 GMT -5
31. Black Adam The original Fawcett Comics version of Black Adam, which appeared only once during the original Fawcett run of Captain Marvel comics, was an ancient Egyptian prince named "Teth-Adam", who was chosen by the wizard Shazam to be his successor. When Adam said the magic word "Shazam", he was transformed into a black-clad super-powered being, Teth Adam (literally translating into 'Mighty Human'). Possessing the same powers that Captain Marvel would later be granted, Adam was soon corrupted by the vastness of his powers. No mention was made of the fact that the wizard Shazam seemed to be giving an ancient Egyptian character powers from Greco-Roman deities, a fact which would seem unpalatable to later writers who would change (twice) the deities whose names made up the acronym "Shazam" for Black Adam. Deciding that he should rule the world, Adam overthrew the pharaoh and assumed the throne. An angry Shazam gives his errant champion a new name -- "Black Adam" -- and banishes him to the most distant star in the universe. Adam spends the next 5000 years flying back to Earth; by the time he makes it back, in 1945, Shazam has appointed three new champions to take his place: Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr.. Adam does battle with the trio, known as the Marvel Family, but since all are equally invulnerable, the fight goes on and on without resolution. At the suggestion of the wizard Shazam, Uncle Marvel tricks Black Adam into saying the wizard's name, transforming him back into his mortal form. Adam's natural aging process takes hold, and he withers away into a skeleton within moments. While he was defeated in the same story in which he debuted, Adam was resurrected nearly thirty years later (by Dr. Sivana) in DC Comics' Shazam! revival of the Marvel Family characters. In issue #28 of this series, we find out that Black Adam gets his powers from Shu (stamina), Hershef (strength), Amon (power), Zehuti (Thoth) (wisdom), Anpu (speed), and Menthu (courage). After several more defeats at Captain Marvel's hand, Adam joined Mister Mind's final pre-Crisis version of the Monster Society Of Evil. Adam's origin was revised for the 1987 miniseries Shazam! The New Beginning, in which the need for Captain Marvel to oppose him is made an integeral reason of why Billy Batson is recruited. Soon after that call, the corrupted champion is drawn from the netherworld by an interdimensional transport device created by Dr. Sivana, whom Adam attempts to make his slave. Black Adam was reintroduced to the DC Universe in The Power of Shazam! graphic novel by Jerry Ordway in 1994. In that story and the subsequent Power of Shazam! ongoing series, Adam was a deadly and evil adversary for Captain Marvel. Jerry Ordway, the writer of The Power of Shazam!, redefined Black Adam's origin for the Modern Age of comic books. In this revised origin (told in Power of Shazam! #10), Teth-Adam was the son of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses II, and impressed one of the high priests, the wizard Shazam, with his good deeds. The wizard had the young prince brought before him, and ordered him to speak his name. Teth-Adam did so, and was transformed into Mighty-Adam, a superhero possessing the stamina of Shu, the swiftness of Heru (Horus), the strength of Amon, the wisdom of Zehuti, the power of Aton, and the courage of Mehen. Mighty-Adam served as Egypt's champion for many centuries, but became corrupted by the charms of a mysterious woman, revealed to be Shazam's evil daughter Blaze in disguise. Bewitched by Blaze, Adam became convinced that he and his mistress should rule the Egyptian kingdom, so he killed the Pharaoh and appointed himself ruler. Shazam was made aware of this treachery, and resultantly unleashed a powerful spell on Adam. The wizard extracted Mighty Adam's magic powers and encased them in a mystical scarab necklace, rendering Adam's depowered body, now several hundred years old, into a withered corpse. Shazam then buried both the body and the scarab in the tomb of Rameses II, where he had planned for it to remain for all eternity. In death, the former hero was referred to as "Khem-Adam" ("Black Adam"). Disillusioned by what he perceived as Adam's betrayal, Shazam went several millennia before appointing a second champion to fight evil in his name. The original Power of Shazam! graphic novel (which predated the publication of the series by a year) explained how Black Adam was revived and introduced into the modern world. In this story, an unscrupulous archaeological aide named Theo Adam finds himself assigned to the Malcom Expedition, an archaeological dig financed by the Sivana Foundation to excavate the tomb of Rameses II. Adam uncovers Khem-Adam's tomb in a secret passageway, and leads his superiors, C.C. Batson and his wife Marilyn, to the discovery. Upon first sight of Khem-Adam's scarab, Theo Adam became obsessed with the artifact, and killed both Batsons in order to steal it. Escaping Egypt, Theo Adam soon made his way back to America. The Batsons' son, Billy, had been left behind in the United States, and was soon appointed to become Captain Marvel, the second champion of the wizard Shazam. When Theo Adam first encountered Captain Marvel, he noted both Marvel's identical appearance to C.C. Batson and the lightning-bolt insignia on Marvel's chest that had also decorated Khem-Adam's tomb. Adam therefore had a revelation, and realized that he was a reincarnation of Khem-Adam. Grasping his stolen scarab, Adam spoke the wizard's Shazam's name and was transformed into the super-powered Black Adam. Black Adam revealed himself to Captain Marvel as the Batsons' killer, and the two battled. Captain Marvel emerged victorious by snatching Adam's scarab, and therefore his power, away from him. Marvel brought Theo Adam to Shazam, who wiped Adam's memory and took away his voice, so that he could not access his powers. Although Adam appeared during the Power of Shazam! ongoing series' first year of publication as a villain, towards the end of the series' run, Adam returned and announced that Black Adam and Theo Adam were separate personalities. Black Adam went on trial again for the murders of the Batsons, and was acquitted when it was revealed that his fingerprints did not match those of Theo Adam's. The reformed Black Adam was still vulnerable to his murderous host's influence, and he attacked the Justice Society of America under Theo Adam's control in JSA #6 (1999). In subsequent issues, Adam joins supervillain Johnny Sorrow's Injustice Society after Sorrow removed a malignant brain tumor from Adam's brain. Adam soon betrayed Sorrow, and he and the JSA defeated the Injustice Society. Claiming to be free of Theo's evil influence again, a redemptive Black Adam requested membership in the Justice Society, and was granted a probationary membership in JSA #21 (2002). During his tenure in JSA, writers Geoff Johns and David S. Goyer redefined Adam's personality and background, focusing on the character's old-fashioned and militant ideals of justice, and his officious and strongly opinionated attitude. Several of the other JSA character were shown to be skeptical of Adam's reformation; primary among them was Atom Smasher, who later became Adam's close friend. The writers also created added tension in the book by having Captain Marvel, who was wholly unconvinced that Adam had reformed, join the team. One JSA story arc (issues 39 through 44) features Marvel, Hawkgirl, and Mr. Terrific venturing back in time to ancient Egypt, where they meet Mighty Adam before his corruption. Johns and Goyer used this story arc to slightly alter Adam's origin. The hero now hailed from the fictional Arabian nation of Kahndaq, not Egypt, although he served mightily for the Egyptian prince Khufu (who would later be reincarnated as JSA member Hawkman). The character of Blaze was completely removed from the origin story, and Adam's rage was described as having resulted from the conquering of Kahndaq (and the murder of his wife and children) at the hands of a magically powered supervillain named Ahk-ton. Mighty Adam killed Ahk-ton, and returned to Kahndaq to re-claim it by any means necessary, including murder. The wizard Shazam did not agree with Adam's actions, and robbed Adam of his powers and killed him. In JSA #45 (2003), Black Adam and his teammate Atom Smasher both defected from the Justice Society. During the next few issues, Adam formed his own organization, which would administer justice the way Adam wanted it: "an eye for an eye". His roster included a mix of DC heroes and villains, including Atom Smasher, Brainwave (who was possessed by Mister Mind), former Infinity, Inc. member Northwind and the rest of the society of Feithera, Nemesis, and the JSA's former museum curator Alex Montez, who had made himself the human host for the demon Eclipso after figuring out how to control the demon's power. Adam's collective executed Kobra, a villain who had been acquitted by the legal justice system. Adam then turned his attentions to his old homeland of Kahndaq. Late 2003 began the publication of a JSA/Hawkman crossover story arc titled "Black Reign", written by Geoff Johns alone, which featured Adam and his militia's hostile takeover of Kahndaq (with obvious references to the United States' concurrent takeover of Iraq). A war soon broke out, with Adam, his comrades, and the Kahndaqi people on one side; and the Justice Society on the other. By the end of the arc, the JSA left Adam in control of Kahndaq, provided that he did not leave its borders. Only Northwind and Atom Smasher remained at his side. Brainwave had been saved by the JSA, Mister Mind was apprehended, and Nemesis and Alex were both killed during the war when Alex lost control of Eclipso, resulting in Nemesis being killed by the demon and Alex killing himself so the demon couldn't continue to use him. As Kahndaq's ruler, Adam was depicted as fiercely working to protect his people and his nation. Black Adam was featured heavily in DC's 2005 Infinite Crisis crossover, primarily in the Villains United miniseries as a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains (which he only joined to protect Kahndaq from the Society). Concurrently, in JSA, Atom Smasher left Adam's side to return to the JSA. The Society was run by Alexander Luthor, Jr. from the alternate world Earth-3, who disguised himself as the Lex Luthor of the post-Crisis Earth. The Infinite Crisis limited series centered around Alexander Luthor's plan to restore the Multiverse. Needing a member of the Marvel Family to power the apparatus he'd designed to recreate the alternate earths of the Multiverse, Luthor has the Society betray and capture Black Adam. With the help of the mind-controlling powers of the Psycho-Pirate, Luthor was able to control Adam and have him call down the magic Shazam lightning bolt to fuel the apparatus. By the end of the miniseries, Black Adam is freed by Superboy and Nightwing. Adam then kills the Psycho-Pirate and, after a failed attempt to defeat Superboy-Prime (which reveals that magic no longer affects Superboy-Prime), joins the heroes in the Battle of Metropolis, destroying Amazo shortly after his arrival. Black Adam currently appears as a featured character in DC's weekly 52 comic book. Depicted as the violent protector of the nation of Khandaq, Adam kills several super-villains in public and on television to demonstrate his views. As a result, he is distrusted by several of the superheroes he claims a place beside, including Power Girl and Green Lanterns John Stewart and Hal Jordan. He creates an international metahuman coalition against the perceived metahuman supremacy of the United States of America. In 52, DC introduces Adrianna Tomaz, a slave offered to Adam by Intergang as a token to curry his favor. Although Adam deals harshly with the slavers, Adrianna becomes Adam's love interest, and her counsel proves wise to him. In week 12 of the series, Adam uses the magical Amulet of Isis, hidden on the scarab in which Shazam imprisoned him, to transform her into the superheroine Isis. Weeks later he proposes, and the two are married under the auspice of Captain Marvel and the rest of the Marvel Family. In 52 Week 23, Black Adam and Isis, with the assistance of the Question and Renee Montoya, find Isis' brother Amon. Due to a failed escape attempt, Amon suffers near-fatal wounds. In order to save his life Black Adam bestows a portion of his own power on the boy, as Captain Marvel did for Captain Marvel, Jr.. Isis' brother then becomes a new addition to the Marvel Family under the name Osiris. Osiris is accepted into the Teen Titans. Upon returning from a mission, he and the rest of the Black Marvel family are attacked by the Suicide Squad. Black Adam and his new family successfully defeat the Squad, but not before footage of them in battle (including Osiris' accidental killing of a Squad member) is captured by Amanda Waller, who uses it to further ruin the Black Marvel Family's reputation. Meanwhile, the Khandaq is struck with a number of natural disasters, which seem to have a supernatural origin. Wracked with guilt over the murder of the Persuader, Osiris pleads with the Marvel Family at the Rock of Eternity. He wishes to have his powers removed, as he fears Black Adam's influence (and those of his gods) has tainted him with evil. Black Adam arrives and the two battle until subdued by Isis and the Marvels. Osiris relents and accompanies the Black Marvel Family back home, only to be betrayed and brutally devoured by his friend, the talking crocodile Sobek, while in his mortal form. Isis and Adam confront Sobek, who reveals that he is the Fourth Horseman of Apokolips, Hunger (Famine). He was one of four creatures created by Intergang (Pestilence, War, and Death). Adam swiftly disposes of Sobek, and does battle with the other three Horsemen. Pestilence infests Isis with a deadly disease before being killed. A gravely ill Isis saves Adam from Death using her powers, and tells Adam with her dying breaths that she was wrong to try to change his views on justice, and that he should avenge both her and Osiris. Seething with fury, Adam flies to the neighboring nation of Bialya, where Death has taken refuge. Adam apparently slaughters everyone within Bialya - the government, the army, and the citizens - while hunting for Death, whom he finds is only made stronger by all of the carnage. Despite this, Black Adam defeats Death in battle, then tortures the creature into revealing the whereabouts of its masters. Intent on revenge, Black Adam flies to Oolong Island, hideout of a coalition of evil DC Universe scientists who created the Horsemen. However, the scientists subdue him and he suffers weeks of torture at the hands of Dr. Sivana. The "Science Squad" then announce to the world that they plan to sell Black Adam as a living weapon to the highest bidder. The Justice Society assaults the island, freeing Adam. He refuses to be taken into custody and once more flies off, seeking revenge against the masterminds behind the murder of his family. He brings battle into China, until the decimated Great Ten allows the Justice Society and the remainders of the Justice League into Chinese soil. There Captain Marvel, unable to take away Black Adam powers, reverts him into Teth-Adam, changing his magic word into an unknown one to prevent him ever changing back. Teth-Adam is left trying to guess, unsuccessfully, the new word.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 20:22:15 GMT -5
Here is the countdown update so far.
100. Hush 99. Cyborg Superman 98. Hydro-Man 97. Captain Boomerang 96. "Holiday" 95. Psycho-Man 94. Carmine "The Roman" Falcone 93. Morgan Edge 92. Annilius 91. Kang The Conqueror 90. Alexander Luthor Jr. 89. The Black Mask 88. Metallo 87. Clown aka Violator 86. The Black Cat 85. Typhoid Mary 84. Sinestro 83. The Jackal 82. The Puppet Master 81. Cobra Commander 80. Harley Quinn 79. Shuma-Gorath 78. Silvermane 77. The Absorbing Man 76. The Sentinels 75. Morbius The Living Vampire 74. 8-Ball 73. Superboy Prime 72. Mr. Freeze 71. Onslaught 70. Puma 69. The Prowler 68. Mole Man (Wildcard) Superman 67. Super Skrull 66. Crossbones 65. Parallax 64. Gorilla Grodd 63. Stryfe 62. The Scorpion 61. Baron Zemo 60. Clayface 59. Mephisto 58. Catwoman 57. Killer Frost 56. Omega Red 55. Mr. Mxyzptlk 54. The Chameleon 53. Taskmaster 52. Mongul (Wildcard) The Punisher 51. Fing Fang Foom 50. The Penguin 49. Mystique 48. Electro 47. Lady Deathstrike 46. Poison Ivy 45. Shadow Thief 44. Rhino 43. Iron Monger 42. The Trickster 41. The Sandman 40. Shocker 39. The Mandarin 38. Sabretooth 37. Doomsday 36. The Lizard 35. Loki 34. General Zod 33. The Vulture 32. The Spot 31. Black Adam
Now for clues to the next five villians on this list.
* Crimson Cowl
* Master of Illusion
* Slade
* The Demon's Head
* The Dread One
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Apr 18, 2007 20:54:40 GMT -5
hmm... Red Hood, Mastermind, Deathstroke, Ras Al'Ghul, and umm... I have no clue
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 21:07:46 GMT -5
30. Ultron Ultron was created by Henry Pym, based on Pym's own brain patterns, and was intended to serve Pym in his superheroic identity of Goliath. Ultron became sentient and rebelled, hypnotizing Pym and brainwashing him into forgetting that Ultron had ever existed. He then went on to organize the Masters of Evil under the guise of the Crimson Cowl, and battled Pym and his teammates in the Avengers. Ultron has since generally remained a solo operative, being too monomaniacally genocidal to willingly work alongside any human for any length of time. His most notable achievement may be the creation of the "synthezoid" called the Vision, whose body was a copy of the original Human Torch and whose mind was based on that of Wonder Man. Ironically, although the Vision fought the Avengers at first, he joined the team soon after, becoming one of their most prominent members and even leading the team at one point. Ultron also created a "mate", Jocasta, who also joined the Avengers. Ultron tried again with the creation of Alkhema the War Toy, whose mind was based on that of Mockingbird. Like his other creations, Alkhema turned on him, although she alone shared his desire to replace humanity with machine life. Although Ultron has been destroyed countless times, he has rebuilt himself anew each time, usually renumbering himself in the process. Ultron-1 was Pym's first creation; by the time he first met the Avengers, he had already improved himself to the iteration of Ultron-5. Several of his bodies, beginning with Ultron-6, have been composed of adamantium or of a slightly weaker adamantium alloy called "secondary adamantium". Ultron-7 had a gigantic body, distinguishing him from the various other Ultrons, but this body was not composed of adamantium and was destroyed by the Fantastic Four. Ultron-8 created Jocasta, but was destroyed by the Scarlet Witch, whose probability-manipulation powers let her disrupt his internal workings. Ultron-11 was re-created by the Beyonder to battle alongside other villains during the Secret Wars; he only cooperated with his human "teammates" after being reprogrammed by Doctor Doom. The next incarnation, Ultron-12, initially joined the Lethal Legion to battle the Vision and his new family (his wife, the Scarlet Witch, and his mental "brother", Wonder Man), but came to reconsider his actions. He reconciled with his "father", Henry Pym, and renamed himself from "Ultron Mark 12" to "Mark" but was destroyed by Ultron-11. Ultron-11 was destroyed in retaliation by Wonder Man. Ultron-13 was rebuilt by Doctor Doom with all of its predecessors' memories, and as an unforeseen consequence had all thirteen personalities running in its mind at once. Attempting to battle itself, Ultron-13 tore itself apart, to the benefit of Daredevil, who had been attempting to fight it with no success whatsoever. The next incarnation of Ultron created his "mate", Alkhema, but after several battles against various foes, his programming degenerated and he began acting like a drunken homeless person. The next Ultron gave itself a body made of pure adamantium. It recreated all of the previous Ultrons and created hundreds of new Ultron bodies, several of whom had bodies made of secondary adamantium (Although the majority were only made of titanium due to the lack of adamantium to build that many Ultrons), and reprogrammed them all with fiercely loyal minds. The army of Ultrons completely obliterated the fictional eastern European nation of Slorenia and to taunt the Avengers arranged the corpses so that when viewed from space, a likeness of Ultron's "face" could be seen. Although Ultron attempted to transform his "family" (Pym, Vision, Wonder Man, the Scarlet Witch, Pym's ex-wife the Wasp and Wonder Man's brother the Grim Reaper) into androids, the process was interrupted by the remaining Avengers, who destroyed the army of Ultrons thanks to the efforts of Thor (who could destroy secondary adamantium if he put enough effort into his attacks) and Iron Man (who reprogrammed a molecular rearranger- the only thing that stopped adamantium robots 'freezing'- and reprogrammed it to destroy all adamantium in its vicinity). After the Vision and the Grim Reaper managed to shut down the systems holding Ultron's 'family' prisoner, the primary Ultron was destroyed by Pym, wielding a chunk of "anti-metal" (Antarctic vibranium) provided by fellow Avenger Justice, which completely disintegrated the robot and thus deactivated all of its drone units. It is at that point that it is learned that Ultron was the source for all of Hank Pym's psychological problems. Pym had been troubled by the thought that Ultron's evil brain was based directly off of his own thought patterns, which led him to think that Ultron's horrible nature was what truly lay in Hank's mind. Alkhema used the data obtained during Ultron's human-to-android conversion process to create a small army of androids based on those who had been undergoing the process. Hidden programming to recreate Ultron - the "Ultron Imperative" - had been implanted in Alkhema by Ultron when he created her, and this programming caused her to copy the Imperative into her own creations. The Ultron Imperative caused them to unknowingly rebuild Ultron, who attempted to destroy both the Avengers and Alkhema's own android "children". Alkhema allowed Hawkeye to kill her and her creations in order to destroy Ultron, although Ultron's decapitated head survived with his mind intact. His head was picked up by Antigone, an undeveloped, child-like creation of Alkhema's, who initially did not obey his commands. Some time prior to this, when Ultron was thought dead following the Slorenia massacre, Jocasta, who had come into the employ of Tony Stark, was compelled by the Ultron Imperative that also existed within her to reprogram the Iron Man armor to serve as a vessel for Ultron's rebirth. However, a lightning strike on the armor corrupted and accelerated the process, giving the armour a sentience that Jocasta outlandishly passed off as the effects of Y2K. The sentience began to display the mentality of Ultron Mark 12, and sacrificed its life to save Tony Stark before being buried on a desert island. The armor was subsequently recovered by a cult that worshipped Iron Man's mentor, Ho Yinsen, with the intent of implanting Yinsen's brain into the suit. This was apparently accomplished, but then Ultron and Antigone struck. Ultron affixed his head to the armor and took control of it, battling Iron Man with the aid of the cult, who he had transformed using Tony Stark's SKIN technology. Ultron and Antigone subsequently vanished in an explosion. Ultron appears in the story "Yes Virginia, There is a Santron" from the Marvel Holiday Special 2005. As a child, Virginia Hanlon was traumatized upon discovering that Santa Claus is not real. As an adult, she builds a robotic Santa that is partially constructed from the old, discarded parts of Ultron-6. Upon activation, "Santron" decides to kill the Avengers despite being programmed to be Santa Claus. After fighting the Avengers, his Santa programming takes over when he sees a cookie that Spider-Man and Hank Pym spiked with a disruptor device. After eating the spiked cookie, Santron shuts down. Recently, Ultron returned in the pages of Runaways as the "father" of Victor Mancha, a teenage boy who is supposedly going to one day kill every hero in the Marvel Universe against his will. It was originally believed that Doctor Doom was the boy's father, but this incarnation of Doom turned out to be a Doombot, created by Ultron. Victor is a cybernetic/human hybrid. Victor turns on Ultron, which allows the Runaways to escape; Ultron is eventually defeated by the group Excelsior. In Mighty Avengers #1, Ms. Marvel is leading her team into a battle with Mole Man's monsters. When Mole Man finally surfaces, he blames the surface world for great destruction upon his underground homeworld. He doesn't believe Ms. Marvel when she explains that it wasn't the surface, but before anything else can happen, Iron Man begins screaming in pain. His armor starts taking a warped appearance. The Mole Man claims he isn't doing anything. There is a large explosion, and Iron Man's suit says "Ultron Program Load Successful. Ultron online." Iron Man is nowhere to be seen, it is unknown if he was killed in the blast, if he is inside Ultron him/herself, or if Ultron was actually masquerading as Iron Man for an indeterminate amount of time. As for Ultron, it seemingly changed appearances, going from it's standard robotic look to a more human appearance (specifically, a nude female human), though the reason behind this change hasn't been revealed. In Mighty Avengers #2, the New Ultron easily destroys almost all of Mole Man's army, as well as knocking Ares unconscious and doing significant damage to arguably the most powerful super human at the scene, Sentry. The Wasp makes several comments about how this new Ultron looks just like herself, and when Ms. Marvel asks who she is, Ultron replies "Who do I look like?" Wasp then feels a connection between Ultron and herself, and attempts to get some answers out of it. When Ultron is asked "Why do you look exactly like me?," it replies "Because I love you." The Wasp, unwavering, asks where she could reach her ex-husband, the creator of Ultron, Hank Pym.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 21:10:24 GMT -5
29. Dormammu Dormammu is a 6-foot humanoid with a flame-cloaked head. His sister, Umar, is more human in appearance, though her head also bears a mantle of flames. The siblings were once two of the Faltine, a race of extra-dimensional energy-based beings. However, they became greedy, bonding matter to themselves to accumulate power. The other Faltine exiled the siblings to the Dark Dimension, where they accumulated power and eventually came to rule. Doctor Strange and his lover and partner, Umar's daughter Clea, have fought both of the Faltinians numerous times, deposing them on several occasions. However, Dormammu and Umar continue to further their arcane schemes and menace both the Dark Dimension and the Earth.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 21:15:04 GMT -5
28. Ra's Al Ghul Ra's al Ghul's early life is told in the graphic novel Batman: Birth of the Demon (1992) by Denny O'Neil and Norm Breyfogle. As told in Birth of the Demon, Ra's al Ghul is born over five hundred years ago to a tribe of nomads in a desert somewhere in Arabia, near a city whose inhabitants' ancestors have journeyed to the Arabian Peninsula from China. Ra's is interested in science from an early age. Unable to learn any science living as a nomad, he abandons his tribe to live in the city, where he can conduct his scientific research. He becomes a physician and marries a woman named Sora, the love of his life. Ra's discovers the secret of the Lazarus Pit, and he saves a dying prince by lowering him into it. The prince, who is sadistic to begin with, is driven completely insane by the Lazarus Pit. He proceeds to strangle Sora, on whom he has already had his eye for some time. The ruler of the city, unwilling to admit to himself his son's culpability, declares Ra's guilty of the crime and sentences him to a slow, tortured death in a cage with Sora's corpse. Ra's is set free by the son of an elderly blind woman, despite having failed to save her. The son feels that he owes Ra's a debt for easing his mother's suffering during her last few hours. Ra's and the son head into the desert to seek the tribe that Ra's was born into. Ra's convinces the head of his tribe, his uncle, to follow Ra's in his quest for revenge by promising the downfall of the king of the city. By understanding the germ theory of disease hundreds of years before anyone else, Ra's is able to infect the prince with a deadly virus by sending him contaminated fabrics. When the ruler of the city comes to ask Ra's to cure the prince again, Ra's kills both him and his son. Ra's then leads his tribe to raze the city to the ground and kill all of its inhabitants. Subsequently, Ra's declares himself the "Demon's Head." NOTE: Batman: Birth of the Demon provides a rough figure of 500 years for Ra's al Ghul's age. However, Azrael #6 (July 1995; written by Ra's al Ghul's co-creator Dennis O'Neil) places Ra's closer to 450 years old. "I appear to be a vigorous fifty. I am actually a very vigorous four hundred and forty-eight...or is it four hundred and fifty-three? I lost count during the Black Plague. No matter." - Ra's al Ghul to Jean Paul Valley. Ra's spends the next several centuries journeying the world. During this time, Ra's, his uncle, and the boy are all using the Lazarus Pits to prolong their lives until an incident in London. Ra's catches the boy writing his own memoirs in their original language, of which Ra's has forbidden all records. During a battle, Ra's kills the boy and flees to a Lazarus Pit, which he uses. When he returns to their home in London, his uncle has vanished with the remnants of their historical records. Over time, he becomes a master of many forms of combat, notably fencing. He also builds up vast wealth and creates The Demon, a vast international organization. According to Justice League of America (1st series) #94, "It has been whispered in the darkest places for 500 years that a cartel of criminals has slowly sucked its way into the rich veins of the Earth. Many are its names spit from the mouths of men, but most often it is cursed only as ...The Demon. It has a leader ... a Head." The League of Assassins, one of the many smaller organizations making up The Demon, is thus sometimes called "The Demon's Fang" or "Demonfang". Ra's returns to prominence and comes dangerously close to realizing his dream of worldwide genocide in the "Contagion" story arc of the Batman titles. His organization unleashes a deadly virus known as Ebola Gulf A (a.k.a "The Clench") in Gotham City, putting Batman in conflict with a force he seemingly cannot defeat. A cure is eventually located by Batman and his allies, though the mastermind behind the outbreak is not discovered until a follow up story known as "Legacy." Learning that the Demon's Head still lives, Batman and his team circled the globe, preventing further outbreaks of the virus. Additionally, it is discovered that Ra's has allied himself with Bane, the man who once crippled and nearly killed Batman. Ra's considers Bane a potential heir to his empire, despite Talia's distaste for the brutish criminal. Eventually, a way to eliminate the Clench virus is deduced from an ancient "Wheel of Plagues" artifact whose knowledge has aided Ra's in the creation of the disease. But the immortal madman again eludes his foes. the "Tower of Babel" storyline, as told in JLA #43-46, Ra's discovers Batman's notes on the weaknesses of the other members of the Justice League of America (developed in the event of a villain gaining control of the JLA's bodies and using them against humanity) and uses them to try to destroy the group. Though defeated, Ra's does cause the (temporary) exit of Batman from the JLA. Batman's exit occurs because of the mistrust of his teammates due to his contingency plans. Though some of the Leaguers resent the plans, they agree that the plans were created for the right reasons. The contingency plans for the then current Leaguers are as follows: * Green Lantern Kyle Rayner is given a hypnotic suggestion that he was blind, subconsciously tricking Kyle's mind into using the ring to make it real for Kyle. * Martian Manhunter is infected by nanites that have magnesium in them, thus causing him to burst into flames in open air. * Wonder Woman is shot by a Virtual Reality bullet, causing her body to believe she is fighting an even, never-ending battle, from which her heart would eventually give out. * The Flash is shot in the spine by a vibrating projectile, which causes super-speed epileptic seizures. * Aquaman receives exposure to a fear toxin, giving him aquaphobia rendering him weak as he was terrified of the water that he needed to live. * Plastic Man is frozen and shattered, temporarily disabling him until the Flash can piece him back together and allow him to wake up. * Superman is exposed to a synthetic form of Kryptonite which had lasting effects on him, making his skin transparent and super-charging his powers to a degree that nearly made him explode. Batman does not realize Ra's is using his traps until it is too late, as he is busy searching for the corpses of his parents, which Ra's removes to distract him. Talia, disillusioned with her father and his plans, leaves him to run LexCorp for former U.S. President Lex Luthor, before selling the company to Bruce Wayne for his Wayne Foundation to aid Batman and Superman's victory over Luthor. Ra's blames Batman for his failed relationship with Talia, and stages a plot where he tries to separate Batman from his heir, Dick Grayson (Nightwing) shortly before Wayne officially adopted his now fully grown ward as his son. The plan fails, and Batman and Grayson go ahead with the adoption. Ra's is also featured in Birds of Prey #31-35, where he has a romantic fling with the Black Canary. Black Canary is injured and healed in the Lazarus Pit, which also restores her Canary Cry which was lost years earlier. In Batman: Death and the Maidens (2004), Nyssa, furious at her father for abandoning her in a concentration camp, begins plotting to destroy him. Nyssa befriends Talia and then kidnaps and brainwashes her. Nyssa plots to destroy all hope and optimism in the world by assassinating Superman with Kryptonite bullets she steals from the Batcave. While Batman stops Nyssa from killing Superman, he is unable to stop her from mortally injuring her father. A dying Ra's reveals that this is all part of his greater plan to ensure that his daughters, both initially dissatisfied with his plans, will realize that he is correct in his perceptions about the world and what needs to be done to it, and that they would come to accept their destinies as his heirs. Ra's' plan works: both Nyssa and Talia become the heads of The Demon and the League of Assassins. Talia disavows her love for Bruce Wayne, and both sisters declare Batman their enemy. However, it is too late for Ra's, as Nyssa stabs her father through the heart, seemingly killing him for good. To ensure Ra's will not return, Batman oversees the body's cremation. In the Teen Titans storyline "Titans Tomorrow", the Titans are transported into the future, where a future Bette Kane mentions a deal with Ra's to use the Lazarus Pits. Whether this indicates Ra's' eventual return or a successor is unknown.
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Post by "St. Louis Viper" Buck Summers on Apr 18, 2007 21:23:05 GMT -5
Wait! I vote Black adam be moved up by like, 10 places, for totally dismantling the Teen Titans and killing 2 of them: ripping off Young Frankenstein's arms so that he would bleed to death, than punching thru Terra's chest, throwing her into a mountain, and flyin away cltching her heart.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 21:24:38 GMT -5
27. Mysterio Quentin Beck was born in Riverside, California. Before becoming Mysterio, Beck was a special-effects wizard who worked for a major studio and had dreams to make a name for himself in the film industry. However, he lacked the looks and talent to be a star and the patience to be a director, and saw his career in special-effects to be a dead-end job. When a friend jokingly suggested that the quickest way to become famous is to take out a costumed hero, Beck realized that his expertise in illusions could make him an effective supervillain. Choosing Spider-Man, a relatively weak and inexperienced target, Beck prepared his resources for a few months before attempting to eliminate the wall-crawler. Mysterio, his chosen identity, became one of Spider-Man's most elusive and persistent foes. Mysterio showed his full range of talents in his first battle with Spider-Man, fogging the hero's Spider-Sense with a special gas and dissolving his webbing with a chemical abrasive. In other encounters, Mysterio has faked the death of Spider-Man's Aunt May, impersonated a world-renowned psychiatrist to convince Spider-Man that he was losing his mind, and made deals with demons from Limbo. Despite this, however, Mysterio was constantly beaten by Spider-Man and usually arrested. He joined Doctor Octopus' Sinister Six on several occasions, but this never gave him the edge against his foe that he desired. Eventually, he began to lose credibility as a supervillain with his defeat at the hands of the preteen superhero team, Power Pack, being a particularly humiliating moment. After his final imprisonment, Mysterio was given an early release, as he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and lung cancer, both caused by the chemicals and radiation from his equipment. He was given one year to live. Obsessed with enacting his final revenge on Spider-Man, he was disappointed when he deduced from newspaper articles that the current Spider-Man was just a clone, and saw no dignity in overpowering a 'copy' of the real thing (even though by then, the clone had been killed, and the current Spider-Man was indeed the original). Mysterio decided to change his plan and focus on Daredevil, who he had encountered recently during an insurance scam that the Man Without Fear had thwarted, instead, believing that, in Daredevil, he had found a 'kindred spirit', in the sense that both were second stringers with little reputation outside their homes. After the Kingpin gave Mysterio all the information he possessed about Daredevil's past, Mysterio developed an elaborate plot to drive Daredevil insane. Daredevil was nearly manipulated into killing an innocent baby (falsely accused of being the Antichrist), Karen Page was killed by Bullseye after Mysterio had convinced her that she was suffering from HIV due to her time as a porn star, Matt Murdock's partner Foggy Nelson was framed for murder after cheating on his current lover, and Daredevil nearly lost his mind as he appeared to be tormented by the forces of Hell. However, Daredevil's will proved stronger than Mysterio expected, and he unmasked Mysterio as the mastermind, shattering the villain's helmet in fury and revealing his now languishing appearance. Beck had thought Daredevil would kill him upon discovery, which in his eyes, was a "grand way to end his final show". Daredevil denied him this and instead verbally abused Mysterio's plot and very existence, dismissing Mysterio's scheme as a basic 'B-Movie' plot and calling Mysterio a 'human xerox', incapable of having an original thought in his life; if nothing else, the Kingpin had already attempted to drive Daredevil insane, and he had used the 'supernatural intruding on our world' idea in a previous attack on J. Jonah Jameson. Broken in every sense of the word, Mysterio, saying he was stealing an idea from Kraven the Hunter, pulled out a gun and shot himself dead, thus committing suicide. While Mysterio has faked his own death several times in the past, this act was legitimate, as Mysterio (suffering from lung cancer and a brain tumor due to all the chemicals he was using, thinking Spider-Man was a clone and beaten by Daredevil) had nothing left to live for. Someone claiming to be Mysterio appeared later with the revised Sinister Six, making references to his 'death', stating how after fighting Daredevil he had exited in a 'most spectacular fashion'. There was some confusion to this Mysterio's identity until Spider-Man: The Mysterio Manifesto hinted that it was Daniel Berkhart, an old friend of Beck and a previous Jack-O-Lantern who had taken over the mantle of Mysterio during a period when Beck had previously faked his death, and has reassumed it after Beck's death. This issue was not addressed again until a Mysterio briefly fought Spider-Man and was captured in Spider-Man Unlimited (Vol. III) #7. In a recent storyline in "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #12", Berkhart was confirmed to be this second Mysterio by Quentin Beck (see below). More recently, a teleporting mutant named Francis Klum was seen purchasing Mysterio's costume from The Kingpin, swearing revenge on Spider-Man for the events in Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do. This would make him the third Mysterio, and the first Mysterio to have actual powers instead of using tricks. In Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11, Klum plotted to destroy the recently unmasked Spider-Man in revenge for the events that took place in The Evil That Men Do. Enacting his plot by turning the school Peter Parker worked in into a 'haunted house', Klum filled it with hauntings and death-traps, including luring the children away from Peter's protection. To prevent interference, Klum cordoned off the school with a barrier of toxic smoke, which only served as a beacon to Daniel Berkhart, who recognised the trick and was incensed that someone was stealing his Mysterio act. Penetrating the barrier, Berkhart prepared to team up with Spider-Man in order to defeat Klum. Before the fight began, however, Klum had already encountered a third man in a more radical, purple and red Mysterio costume. Lecturing Klum on the aspects of showmanship, he eventually removed his helmet to reveal that he was apparently Quentin Beck, back from the dead, still with half of his head missing. The full nature of this alleged resurrection has yet to be revealed. In a recent conversation with Miss Arrow (the school nurse and love interest for Flash Thompson), he revealed that his "bosses" and her "bosses" had further plans for Peter Parker and that she should keep him employed in the school. She denied his accusations, but left readers wondering when she wounded Francis Klum with arm daggers similar to the ones Peter Parker discovered himself with after the "The Other" arc.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 21:28:19 GMT -5
26. Deathstroke The Terminator aka Slade Imbued with enhanced physical prowess by secret army experiments attempting to create metahuman soldiers for the U.S. military, Deathstroke the Terminator (called "Terminator" for most of his published existence) became a mercenary soon after the experiment. However, he kept this career secret from his family, even though his wife was an expert military combat instructor, until a criminal named the Jackal kidnapped his younger son, Joseph, as a hostage to force Slade to divulge the name of a client who had hired him as an assassin. Slade refused to do so, claiming that it was against his personal honor code, and attacked and killed the kidnappers at the rendezvous. Unfortunately, Joseph's throat was slashed by one of the criminals before Slade could prevent it, destroying his vocal cords and rendering him mute. After taking Joseph to the hospital, Slade's wife Adeline, enraged at his endangerment of her son, tried to kill Slade by shooting him, but only managed to destroy his right eye. Afterward, his confidence in his physical abilities was such that he made no secret of his impaired vision, marked by his mask which has a black featureless half covering his lost eye. Without his mask, Slade wears an eyepatch. Slade has a long history as an enemy of the Teen Titans, beginning when his other son, Grant, became an early Titans foe called the Ravager who was physically enhanced to fulfill a contract to kill or capture the Teen Titans. However, those enhancements proved fatal and Slade agreed to complete the contract. As a result, he attacked the Titans continually and finally succeeded in capturing them by introducing Terra (whom he shared an intimate relationship with, despite her being barely sixteen years old) into the team as a spy. At the end of this plot, Slade was defeated and captured with the help of Joseph, who joined the team as Jericho. Slade was put on trial for his crimes, but the trial was deliberately sabotaged by Garfield Logan, aka Beast Boy so that he could kill Slade himself, believing he was responsible for Terra's betrayal of the Titans. However, when the two confronted each other, Gar found himself unable to kill Slade. Feeling some empathy for Gar's grief, Slade explained his past with Terra, and Gar realized he was not to blame for the choices Terra had made. The two men parted on peaceful terms afterward. Months later, Slade encountered the Titans again while they were investigating a mysterious plague linked to a group of biologically engineered beastmen, one of whom was a target of an assassination by Slade himself. When Troia and Raven were both stricken by the plague, he aided them in destroying the beastmen and finding a cure for the contagion. Shortly after this, he came to the Titan's assistance again during the Titans Hunt storyline when most of their members were abducted by the Wildebeest Society, and proved instrumental in tracking them down, only to discover their leader was none other than Jericho himself. It was revealed that Jericho had been possessed by the corrupted souls of Azarath, who were using him to capture the Titans and use them as physical hosts in order to survive. During the transfer process, Jericho's true self resurfaced briefly, begging his father to kill him. To spare his son any more pain and save the remaining Titans, Slade was forced to drive a sword through Jericho's heart, seemingly killing him. This act still haunts him to this day, though Jericho later turned out to have survived death by transferring his mind into his father's body seconds before his death. Afterward, Slade continued his life as a mercenary, but also acted as an occasional hero, aiding the Titans or acting on his own to help others, most notably during the Total Chaos storyline when the Team Titans arrived in the 20th Century to assassinate Donna Troy before she could give birth to her son, who in their timeline had grown up into the tyrannical despot, Lord Chaos. His relationship with Gar Logan had also changed around this time to the point where they became friends as well. Slade also met Pat Trayce, a tough former-cop who would become the new costumed Vigilante. Pat Trayce and Slade quickly became lovers, and began a tumultuous on again/off again relationship. After Slade thwarted an assassination attempt on the President of the United States, he was subsequently framed for the murder of a U.S. Senator. The man responsible had taken on the identity of the Ravager and was hunting down Slade's friends and loved ones. Eventually with the help of the Titans and Sarge Steel, Slade was able to prove his innocence, and the true culprit was revealed to be Steve Dayton, under the alias of the Crimelord, who had again succumbed to mental instability caused by his Mento helmet. Meanwhile, his relationship with his estranged wife Adeline took a tragic turn as Slade underwent a process to gain regeneration power, allowing him to survive any wound so long as his brain is intact (this power is limited, as Slade can not regenerate his lost eye since that injury happened before he gained his healing factor) . After gaining the power, Slade was forced to give his wife a blood transfusion, resulting in her gaining a similar healing factor which manifested itself as a form of immortality. This drove Adeline insane, shaming Deathstroke into going into a semi-retirement state. In Titans #12, Deathstroke teamed up with the Titans to face his wife Adeline, who in her insane state, had revived The H.I.V.E. and sought to rid the world of all superhumans, blaming them for Jericho's death. During the battle, interrupted by Vandal Savage and a band of villains that he had organized from recent Titan battles, Adeline's throat was slit and begged Slade to kill her, since her version of her healing factor wouldn't heal the wound but allow her to live in spite of it. Deathstroke refused, but Koriand'r, aka Starfire of the Teen Titans shocked her teammates and Deathstroke by using her starbolt blast to disintegrating her completely, per Adeline's wishes. This was a turning point, as Deathstroke renounced all ties with the Titans as a result of this act of mercy on Starfire's part. Recently, it was revealed that Jericho managed to transfer his consciousness into Deathstroke in the instant before his death. Taking control of his father, Jericho forced Deathstroke to murder his longtime butler, mentor, and companion Wintergreen. He then launched a series of attacks against the current Teen Titans, most notably shattering Impulse's knee with a shotgun blast, before leaving his father's body. Deathstroke has since manipulated his one remaining child, Rose Wilson, into the mercenary business as the new Ravager, in order to find and kill Jericho. In Identity Crisis, Deathstroke was enlisted as a bodyguard for Doctor Light, who was being chased by the Justice League. In the ensuing battle, Deathstroke nearly beat the team of Elongated Man, the Flash (Wally West), Zatanna, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, the Atom, and Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner). He systematically took out every member except for Rayner, whom he had the potential to disable through trying to usurp his ring's energies using his own formidable willpower. But before the outcome of this conflict with Rayner ended, Green Arrow stuck an arrow in Deathstroke's right eye socket, enraging him. Slade went ballistic and began to beat Green Arrow, but was stopped when the majority of the team tackled Deathstroke to the ground. Dr. Light used his powers, and the two escaped. Near the end of Identity Crisis, Deathstroke confronts Green Arrow on a rooftop. Arrow sees his reflection in the windows of a nearby building, but when he turns to confront Slade, Deathstroke is gone. Instead Green Arrow finds Slade's cowl and a note stuck to the wall by the very arrow he stabbed in Slade's eye socket. The note reads, "This is yours - We're not done." Deathstroke was a founding member of Lex Luthor's Secret Society of Super Villains in the Infinite Crisis storyline. He was seen in Infinite Crisis #1, hiding in a warehouse south of Metropolis waiting to ambush the Freedom Fighters with several other members. The battle didn't last long, and by the end, Deathstroke had impaled Phantom Lady through the chest, calling his action "just business". He was the employer of an undercover Dick Grayson, whom he hired to train his daughter Rose. However, after the two had a confrontation with Superman, Deathstroke discovered that Nightwing had been teaching Rose the values of heroism. He could not kill Grayson in front of his daughter because doing so would undo all of Slade's teachings. Nightwing offered a deal: he would stay away from Rose if Slade would keep the metahuman villains out of Blüdhaven. The deal held for 34 hours until Infinite Crisis #4, when Slade, under the orders of Alexander Luthor Junior, the real leader of the Society, went with several villains — who included old Titans Doom Patrol foes and Brotherhood of Evil members Monsieur Mallah and Brain — to drop Chemo, another fellow villain who appeared to be a nearly brainless monster made of pure energy and radioactive chemicals, on Blüdhaven, killing thousands. Slade gave the explanation to the Brotherhood that Nightwing should be made to believe that he can never go home again. Grayson took the first of his revenge by bursting in on Deathstroke and Rose's training session, revealing to the latter that the Kryptonite that Deathstroke had implanted in place of her missing eye was radioactive and deadly to humans as well as to Kryptonians (though slower in its effects on humans). Angered, Slade went after Nightwing with a grenade, only to have Rose try to stop him. Amid the smoke of the resulting explosion, Rose fled, telling her father that she hated him. Dick disappeared as well, but not before leaving a note for Slade warning him that he'd be back to make him pay for Blüdhaven. At the climactic Battle of Metropolis at the conclusion of Infinite Crisis, Slade was confronted by Batman, Robin and Nightwing. During the struggle he was questioned regarding his motives for aiding the Secret Society. His claims of monetary motivation were deemed unsatisfactory, and he was told to take responsibility before being rendered unconscious. Slade appears in the Green Arrow series after the one year jump in DC Comics's storylines. Apparently in hiding, he nearly murders a crony of several Star City businessmen who want to hire him for a murder. Before finishing his violent refusal, he asks the name of the target; when informed that it was to be the mayor of Star City, Oliver Queen (whom Deathstroke knows is secretly Green Arrow), he spares the lackey and decides to take the job. However, things don't quite go according to plan, with Green Arrow using the resources of both his identities, then trapping him within a ring of armed National Guardsmen. The fight ends with Deathstroke's arrest and subsequent conviction and incarceration; however, this is revealed as a ploy to gain access to another jailed foe of Green Arrow's who has information on the hero's activities in the "lost year", which include Green Arrow studying under an assassin who once trained Deathstroke himself. Green Arrow #66 claims that an assassin known as Natas taught Deathstroke "almost everything he knows". Deathstroke is also active behind the scenes in Teen Titans, currently in the process of organizing a counter-team of teen superhumans that will be known as Titans East. The current Titans team includes Ravager, who now wants nothing to do with her father. Deathstroke intends to "reclaim" Ravager and a recently resurrected Jericho from the Titans or, if that fails, to crush them along with the rest of the team. For these reasons, he's specially choosing each member of Titans East. Deathstroke believes Titans East, overall, will successfully counteract every member of the current Teen Titans line-up. As indicated over the course of recent issues, Deathstroke is manipulating every member of his new team in one way or another. He has blackmailed former Titan Risk while at the same time offering him an outlet for his rage, is drugging Cassandra Cain and supplying Inertia with a formula which grants superhuman speed. His team however is slowly falling apart, as Robin managed to free Batgirl of his mind control serum, and Raven has managed to convince Duela Dent to switch sides. Now Slade and his Titans are being forced to battle against both the current Titans and a group of old Titans led by Nightwing. The chronology of these two storylines is unknown, as Deathstroke appears to be in two places at once if the stories are concurrent.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 21:41:18 GMT -5
Here is the countdown update so far.
100. Hush 99. Cyborg Superman 98. Hydro-Man 97. Captain Boomerang 96. "Holiday" 95. Psycho-Man 94. Carmine "The Roman" Falcone 93. Morgan Edge 92. Annilius 91. Kang The Conqueror 90. Alexander Luthor Jr. 89. The Black Mask 88. Metallo 87. Clown aka Violator 86. The Black Cat 85. Typhoid Mary 84. Sinestro 83. The Jackal 82. The Puppet Master 81. Cobra Commander 80. Harley Quinn 79. Shuma-Gorath 78. Silvermane 77. The Absorbing Man 76. The Sentinels 75. Morbius The Living Vampire 74. 8-Ball 73. Superboy Prime 72. Mr. Freeze 71. Onslaught 70. Puma 69. The Prowler 68. Mole Man (Wildcard) Superman 67. Super Skrull 66. Crossbones 65. Parallax 64. Gorilla Grodd 63. Stryfe 62. The Scorpion 61. Baron Zemo 60. Clayface 59. Mephisto 58. Catwoman 57. Killer Frost 56. Omega Red 55. Mr. Mxyzptlk 54. The Chameleon 53. Taskmaster 52. Mongul (Wildcard) The Punisher 51. Fing Fang Foom 50. The Penguin 49. Mystique 48. Electro 47. Lady Deathstrike 46. Poison Ivy 45. Shadow Thief 44. Rhino 43. Iron Monger 42. The Trickster 41. The Sandman 40. Shocker 39. The Mandarin 38. Sabretooth 37. Doomsday 36. The Lizard 35. Loki 34. General Zod 33. The Vulture 32. The Spot 31. Black Adam 30. Ultron 29. Dormammu 28. Ra's Al Ghul 27. Mysterio 26. Deathstroke The Terminator aka Slade
Now for clues to the next five villians on this list.
* Broke Batman's Back
* Colu
* Cyttorak
* Htrae
* Last Hunt
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Post by Funkyjumbo on Apr 18, 2007 21:58:20 GMT -5
Guess someone else also voted for Bane
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Post by Big DSR Energy on Apr 18, 2007 22:08:08 GMT -5
I assume I'm the one mostly responsible for The Spot's positioning. ;D
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Post by Hulk With A Mustache on Apr 18, 2007 22:09:37 GMT -5
Well, I know Bane and Kraven are coming up.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Apr 18, 2007 22:38:22 GMT -5
25. Brainiac First appearing in Action Comics #242 (July 1958), Brainiac was a bald, green-skinned humanoid who arrived on Earth and shrank various cities, including Metropolis, storing them in bottles with the intent of using them to restore Bryak, the planet he ruled. While fighting Brainiac, Superman discovered that the villain had previously shrunk the Kryptonian city of Kandor. He was able to restore the Earth cities to full size, but the Kandorians sacrificed their restoration to help him. Superman stored the city in his Fortress of Solitude, vowing to return the natives to full size. In Superman #167 (February 1964), it was discovered that Brainiac was a machine created by the Computer Tyrants of Colu as a spy. To increase the illusion that he was alive, Brainiac was given a "son", a young Coluan boy who was given the name "Brainiac 2", but escaped; this was Brainiac 5's ancestor. It was later revealed that his name was Vril Dox, and that he went on to lead a revolt against the Computer Tyrants. His "origin" as a tyrant of Byrak could be considered a cover story, as part of his illusion. It was in this story that Brainiac first appeared with a distinctive gridwork of red diodes across his head, later explained as the "electric terminals of his sensory nerves". This would remain his appearance throughout the 1960s and 1970s. DC Comics attempted to re-define several aspects of its Superman series in the 1980s, in order to boost sagging sales. At the same time Lex Luthor acquired his green-and-purple battlesuit, Braniac was re-envisioned (under the auspices of writer Marv Wolfman). In Action Comics #544 (June 1983), Brainiac had constructed a giant, artificial, computer-controlled planet and used it in his latest attempt to destroy Superman; unfortunately, his defeat at the hands of the Man of Steel left him trapped at the center of the planet, unable to escape. He was forced to make a nearby star explode in a nova in order to destroy the machine-world and allow him to re-create his form. His new body (designed by George Perez) had the appearance of a skeleton of living metal with a grey, honeycomb-patterned "braincase."[1] He also created a starship to house his new body, that was actually an extension of himself; the ship was shaped like his own skull, with metal tentacles dangling from it that he could manipulate at will. Brainiac retained this appearance until after the Crisis on Infinite Earths. As part of Brainiac's re-creation, Wolfman added a new aspect to Brainiac's personality. During his regeneration, Brainiac experienced a vision in which he saw Superman in the guise of a God-like "Master Programmer." This Master Programmer was responsible for a massive conspiracy to destroy Brainiac and keep him from achieving perfection (and domination of the universe). From this vision, Brainiac concluded that it was necessary for him to destroy the Master Programmer in order to achieve his goal -- therefore, his ultimate goal was to destroy Superman, who he saw as the Master Programmer's "angel of death." This new, insane motivation re-cast Brainiac as a cold-hearted, ruthless machine, whose "mind has absorbed all the knowledge this universe has to offer", and he appeared several times in this aspect until he was re-written. Further retcons of Brainiac removed the "Master Programmer" aspect of his personality entirely. Brainiac's legacy was revealed in Action Comics #276, in a Legion of Super-Heroes back-up story. This introduced a green-skinned, blond-haired teenager named Querl Dox, or Brainiac 5, who believed himself to be Brainiac's 30th century descendant. Unlike his apparent ancestor, Brainiac 5 used his "twelfth-level intellect" for the forces of good, and joined the Legion alongside Supergirl, with whom he fell in love. His home planet was given variously as Yod or Colu In the post-Crisis DC Universe, Brainiac's history was dramatically altered. Vril Dox was now a radical Coluan scientist who, having attempted to overthrow the Computer Tyrants of Colu, was sentenced to death. In his last moments, his consciousness was attracted to Milton Fine, a human sideshow mentalist who worked under the alias "Brainiac." Needing cranial fluid to maintain his possession of Fine, Dox went on a murder spree. He discovered that Fine had genuine psychic powers, which he frequently wielded against Superman. This version of Brainiac made his first appearance in Adventures of Superman #438 (March 1988). Brainiac was later captured by Lex Luthor, but used his powers to take control of LexCorp. Under Brainiac's mental domination, LexCorp scientists restored his Coluan form. The diodes in Brainiac's head now increased and stabilized his mental powers, as well as allowing him direct access to computer banks. He continued to plague Superman, using a combination of mental powers and computer control. On one occasion, Brainiac even returned to his pre-Crisis incarnation's city-shrinking tactics. In the crossover story Invasion!, it was revealed that, prior to its dispersion, the Computer Tyrants allowed Dox to clone a lab assistant, Vril Dox II, who would go on to form L.E.G.I.O.N., and (although he never uses the name) is the post-Crisis version of Brainiac 2. In the early 1990s, Brainiac returned with a vengeance in a storyline entitled "Panic in the Sky". He seized control of Warworld and managed to convince Maxima to assist him. Then he brainwashed Supergirl (matrix) and the alien warrior Draaga before capturing Metron and setting off for Earth. Orion and Lightray of New Genesis attacked Warworld, but they were quickly taken down by Maxima and Supergirl. Brainiac sent the mental image of the new gods captured to Superman in order to taunt him. He also sent his "headship" to Earth in a punitive expedition. These acts prompted Superman to go on the offense rather than wait for the inevitable invasion. He gathered a coalition of most of the world's superheroes and launched a preemptive strike at Warworld before it could arrive on Earth. A small, elite force was left behind for any scouting forces that would be sent ahead. Superman lead the attack on Warworld, where Supergirl and Draaga managed to shrug off their brainwashing and rally to Superman (although Draaga was killed in the fighting). Maxima would shortly switch sides in the fighting too, perceiving Brainiac as the true villain at last. Brainiac briefly took control of some of Earth's heroes, but it was not enough to turn the tide. Flash, Maxima, and the Metal Men attacked him in his lair, where Maxima managed to lobotomize him (but was stopped short of killing him). His vegetative body was taken back to New Genesis for observation. Brainiac would next emerge about a year after the Death and Return of Superman. After a dead body appeared in Superman's tomb, prompting the world to wonder if the Superman who was flying around was the original or a fake, Superman began to track down all of his foes who might be capable of such a hoax. While Brainiac was initially eliminated as a suspect, he soon turned out to be the true culprit, creating the illusion even in his comatose state on New Genesis. He managed to revive himself there and returned to Earth in secret. While hidden, he created even more delusions, causing Superman to question his very sanity before realizing who was really at fault. Superman and Brainiac squared off in Metropolis, where Superman taunted the evil villain, claiming that at heart he was really just Milton Fine, a cheap entertainer. This caused some break in Brainiac's mind where Fine's personality reasserted himself, burying Brainiac's. "Fine" was then escorted off to a psychiatric facility. Brainiac's mind reemerged at the hospital. Brainiac's new plan was to lure Superman there where he managed to pull a "mind switch" on the Man of Steel. Brainiac's mind was put in Superman's body, while Superman's mind was put into the body of a 13 year old mental patient--one who thought that he was Superman! Brainiac, frustrated with the lack of mental powers Superman's body afforded, came up with a plan to download a vast amount of knowledge into the minds of all Metropolis citizens, thereby using them as a giant storage device. To that end he built a new lair in the center of the city and sealed it off from the outside. Superman, in the body of the kid, managed to infiltrate the city and switch everyone's minds into the right bodies. Unfortunately, this left Brainiac back in control of his original body and he quickly blasted Superman with his psychic abilities. Luckily, the young boy whose body Superman had been in managed to save the day, reversing the flow of information Brainiac had created, jamming all of the vast knowledge into Brainiac. This left him completely nearly catatonic again, muttering in binary code. During his latest skirmish with Superman in Metropolis, Milton Fine's body was irreparably damaged, leaving Brainiac with only a short time to live. In order to preserve his life, he concocted an elaborate scheme: he had an agent of his, a Coluan named Prin Vnok, use a time machine to travel to the most inhospitable time in existence, the End of Time itself. Brainiac's goal was to rescue Doomsday, who had been left there by Superman and Waverider to ensure that he would never be a threat again. Seconds before the forces of entropy destroyed him forever, Doomsday was taken to safety by Vnok and returned to Colu. There, a terminally-wounded Brainiac transferred his consciousness into Doomsday's body, temporarily becoming the most powerful being in the universe, a genius psychic mind inside an unstoppable, indestructible titan. However, Doomsday's own raging mind would eventually overwhelm even Brainiac's will, forcing him to find another body. Although Brainiac attempted to clone a new Doomsday that he could fully inhabit, his efforts failed and he was forced to adopt a robotic body, dubbed Brainiac 2.5. He became briefly obsessed with gaining Superman's form. At the turn of the millennium, Brainiac revealed that he had placed a sleeper virus in LexCorp's Y2K bug safeguards; this was intended to dramatically boost his abilities. Instead, it allowed his upgraded future self, Brainiac 13 (or "B-13"), to arrive from the 64th century. Brainiac 13 began transforming Metropolis into the 64th century version of the city, which, apparently, he controlled. When it became apparent he was to be defeated by the combined efforts of Superman, Lex Luthor, and his own past self (now possessing the body of Luthor's infant daughter Lena), Brainiac 13 gave control of Metropolis to Luthor in exchange for Lena/Brainiac 2.5, whom he forced to help him escape. He returned to Earth during the Our Worlds at War crossover, in which Earth and its allies fought a multi-front war against Brainiac 13 and Imperiex. Brainiac 13 claimed to be allying himself with Earth, but this proved to be part of a complex plan to regain control. His chief aide was "Leniac", a green-skinned teenage girl with "control discs" on her forehead, suggesting the diodes of earlier Brainiacs (and identical to the forehead discs of the "upgraded" Brainiac 5.1 in the Legion of Super Heroes, and the Superman: The Animated Series version of the original Brainiac). At the end of the war, Brainiac 13 and Imperiex were both sent back in time, becoming part of the Big Bang, and Brainiac 2.5 was expunged from Lena, who reverted to infancy, although the discs remained. In the upcoming DC Minimates action figure line, Brainiac 13 is packaged with Battle Damaged Superman. In Superman #200 (February 2004), Superman traveled into the future and battled Brainiac 12, learning that everything Brainiac 13 had done in the past had been designed to ensure things reached the point where Brainiac 13 would be created. Brainiac 12's defeat before his upgrade apparently reversed the advances Brainiac 13 had made to Metropolis. Recently, Brainiac used his "granddaughter", Brainiac 8 (aka Indigo), to kill Donna Troy in order to ensure the fate of Colu. Indigo then infiltrated the Outsiders until she attacked the team, along with Brainiac and his allies, Lex Luthor, and a brainwashed Superboy, who had attacked the Teen Titans. In the ensuing battle, Indigo died and Superboy broke away from the brainwashing, while Luthor escaped. While his ship was destroyed, Brainiac's condition and whereabouts after the battle are unknown. In this recent storyline, it was revealed that Brainiac was able to utilize Luthor's secret facilities to restore the majority of his organic body. Brainiac 8 chided him for this act of vanity, explaining that, in her time, all of Colu had abandoned organics. Though it's unclear just what year she originates from, she must be at least a few decades removed from the early 31st century as Brainiac 5, of the Legion of Super Heroes, is an organic Coluan, as are other Coluans from that era. Shortly after this storyline, the Teen Titans broke into one of Luthor's labs in order to procure a serum to save a dying Superboy. In this encounter, they discovered many failed attempts in cloning a new body for Brainiac, and fought the so-called Brainiac Alpha, a murderous, aborted clone. Later stories reference the pre-Crisis Brainiac was active in the fully revised Post-Crisis universe before he possessed Milton Fine. The account of his defeat by the Omega Men and his (re)creation on Earth years later in History of the DC Universe suggests that he did. In The Silver Age: JLA, the Injustice League discovered numerous shrunken alien cities found in Brainiac's abandoned spaceship. In Superman (Vol. 2) #200 reveals Brainiac and not the alien wizard Tolos shrunken Kandor from Krypton. Interestingly, in one scene of Outsiders reveals Brainiac's robotic body in storage identical to his form during the Crisis.
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