Villains in the Superman Universe

The article Villains in the Superman Universe deals with the opponents of the cartoon character Superman .

First, a summarizing overview of the general development of the villain ensemble over the past decades, which have adapted to the zeitgeist , is given.

In the second section, the individual adversaries who appeared in the Superman stories ( comics and films ) at different times are presented in short character sketches. They are sorted alphabetically.

Ensemble of the Superman villains over time

Superman owns one of the oldest and most extensive galleries in the comic book world. His best-known opponent is Lex Luthor , who has made life difficult for the "man of steel" in numerous incarnations since the early 1940s - from the stereotypical Mad Scientist to the turbo-capitalist entrepreneur. To this day, he has appeared in every film adaptation of the Superman story, mostly embodied by prominent actors like Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey . Actors like John Shea or Michael Rosenbaum slipped into the role on television .

In the general public, the undisputed best-known Superman opponent, Luthor is commonly regarded as Superman's archenemy or nemesis. Other well-known enemies of Superman's are the alien scientist Brainiac from the planet Colu, the wizard Mr. Mxyzptlk from the 5th dimension, the cyborg human Hank Henshaw, the dictator Darkseid from the planet Apokolips, the failed Superman clone Bizarro and the monster Doomsday , that Superman killed once .

A special position in Superman's villains gallery is taken by Superman's first opponent of the ultra-humanite , who is one of the first “supervillains” in comic history and one of the “forefathers” of a character type. Ultra-Humanite is a scientist who can transfer his mind to other bodies, including animals.

During the Second World War, Superman fought mainly against the German National Socialists - up to and including Adolf Hitler , whom he, like Stalin, captured in the story How Superman would end the War (1940) and dragged before the Court of Justice of the League of Nations - whom he took to the Theaters of war overseas, but also - in the defense against acts of sabotage - on the “home front”. In addition, the “man of steel” also fought in the Pacific against the troops of Japanese military fascism .

Parallel to his struggles with the “absolutely evil from the real world”, the superhero was also repeatedly confronted with child-friendly clowns and picturesque weirdos, such as the Prankster (1942), a notorious prankster , or the Toyman (1943) who tried To attack Superman with elaborate toys. With the crazy Mr. Mxyzptlk (1944), who was introduced into the series towards the end of the Second World War, a trend finally turned from life-threatening fights with bloodthirsty opponents, as they were owed to the attitude to life of the war years, to good-natured troubles with basically lovable chaots which were more in keeping with the spirit of the dawning time of peace.

With the radioactive extraterrestrial material kryptonite , which can kill Superman and which has appeared more and more frequently in the comic series since the 1940s, a plot element was also introduced into the series that made it possible to also target normal human crooks without any "super" - Skills to turn into serious threats for the all-powerful hero. The mineral, shimmering green in its original state, has become an eternal Achilles' heel in the Superman comics.

In the 1950s, the “steel man” - influenced by the zeitgeist of the decade of space travel programs and nuclear research - primarily dealt with aliens and terrifying monsters. The most important and enduring of these aliens was the green-skinned scientist Brainiac from the planet Colu. In addition, Superman - a reminiscence of the fears of a nuclear disaster , fueled by the trauma of the atomic bombs - created Bizarro for the first time, a distorted reflection of himself.

In the 1960s, Superman continued to deal primarily with the "alien of the week", but also dealt with the products of laboratory accidents such as the parasite . Typical opponents of the time were also robots, of which Metallo became the most famous, and birds of paradise like the space cowboy “Terra-Man”.

The 1970s continued to bring threats of cosmic proportions to the steely man on the one hand, such as the gods of the planet Apokolips under their despotic leader Darkseid . In complete contrast to this, Superman had to deal with tricky everyday situations and the pranks of sports reporter Steve Lombard, a work colleague of his alter ego Clark Kent, more and more.

The 1980s brought a trend towards increasingly brutal adversaries, such as the cruel alien warlord Mongul or the troubled Vietnam War veteran Bloodsport. The increasing brutalization of entertainment, which was once aimed at children and young people, continued in the 1990s and 2000s and was already reflected in the names of the culprits: Examples are Bloodthirst , Massacre or Killer-Cyborg .

With the monster Doomsday - which even managed to kill Superman (in The Death of Superman ) - another highly regarded villain was created in 1992. The jokers of earlier times, on the other hand, have almost completely disappeared: In the 1990s, the prankster was seen in just five of almost a thousand Superman comics published in that decade, while the toyman, who used to protect children against adults, mutated into a terrifying child killer. Since the 1980s, beings from the underworld - zombies, demons and the like, such as the prince of Hell Neron, Lord Satanus or the revenant Silver Banshee - have often become protagonists of Superman and the entire DC universe. In addition to the robots of the 1950s to 1980s, new high-tech beings appeared, such as the woman named High-Tech, but above all the cyborg superman .

An overview of villains in the Superman universe

Aethyr

Aethyr is an extra-dimensional entity, a so-called "Oversoul" (composed of countless lost souls) that ruled over the Phantom Zone . The Phantom Zone was once used by the residents of Krypton to banish their most dangerous criminals. One day General Zod and several other criminals escaped from the zone and managed to transfer Superman and his Kryptonian friend and former opponent Quex-Ul there. Quex-Ul was killed while trying to escape Aethyr and the Phantom Zone, but Superman managed to escape and - with the help of the Justice League - thwart Zod's plan to move Earth into the Phantom Zone in revenge on Superman ( Phantom Zone # 1-4, 1982).

In other media

In the TV series Smallville , Aethyr is just like Nam-Ek a subordinate of General Zod, based on the character Ursa from the film Superman II - Alone Against All .

Anomaly

Anomaly ("Anomalie", German: Abart ) is a clone of the criminal and murderer Floyd Barstow created by the research facility Projekt Cadmus . Anomaly made her debut in Adventures of Superman # 539 (Author: Karl Kesel , Illustrator: Stuart Immonen ).

The purpose behind the clone experiment was to prove that a person's crime is not a question of genetic makeup, but of socialization. They hoped to be able to prove that there is no such thing as a criminal gene . The experiment seemed to have succeeded at first - Barstow's clone turned out to be a peaceful and decent man, free from any criminal tendencies. Eventually, however, he was plagued by nightmares in which he was doing bad things. Barstow lost control of himself and turned into Anomaly and committed numerous crimes. Later, transformed back into Barstow, he tried to hide these acts out of shame.

As an anomaly, Barstow has the ability to transform his body into any substance he touches. After several arguments with Superman , Barstow was handed over to Project Cadmus again, where efforts have since been made to free him from his alter ego. Anomaly belonged to the first formation of the Morgan Edge founded organization Superman Revenge Squad . Later he also briefly joined the Intergang crime syndicate .

Arclight

Arclight , aka Noah Pastenetti, is a mob debt collector. He made his debut in Superman # 99 from April 1995 (Author: Dan Jurgens ). When his bosses discover that Pastenetti is passing on information about the mob's activities to reporter Alicia Allison Parker, they lock him up in a nuclear power station and blow it up. Pastenetti survived the explosion, but was permanently altered by the radiation released. Instead of a physically tangible body, from then on it consisted of living energy. To give shape to this energy, he wears a containment suit developed by LexCorp . Since then, Pastenetti has waged a private war against the mob, in the course of which he murdered numerous members. After several unsuccessful attempts to arrest Arclight, Superman finally catches him with the help of Jimmy Olsen and the Newsboy Legion ( Superman # 104).

Atomic Skull

The Atomic Skull , aka Joseph "Joe" Martin, is a mentally ill person who thinks he's the hero of an old 1940s movie series .

The film series Atomic Skull is a government agent who investigated the activities of the evil Doctor Electron in the 1930s, who turned him into the Atomic Skull through one of his inventions. Skull falls in love with Electron's daughter Zelda Wentworth, who supports him in the fight against Electron and his henchmen. Eventually he thwarts the doctor's plans and turns back into his old self.

Joe Martin was a student who worked as a messenger at the STAR Labs to finance his studies. It was there that it was finally discovered that he has the meta-gene that enables people to develop superpowers. He was radioactively contaminated in a laboratory accident. When he was attacked by three muggers shortly afterwards, he suffered a serious head injury. Martin suffered from a concussion and in his deep confusion believed from then on that he was one of his own favorite heroes. Martin continues to believe that Superman is actually his archenemy "Doctor Psycho" who tries to deceive him. He also thinks that the reporter Lois Lane is his lover Zelda, who has been brainwashed by Doctor Psycho.

Atomic Skull possesses a variety of superpowers - superhuman strength, speed, and endurance, as well as the ability to fire off deadly infrared and microwave bursts and the ability to fly - as a result of its atomic radiation. A side effect of Martin's radiation is that his head is constantly giving off X-rays, which make his skull visible through the scalp. Joseph Martin made his debut in The Adventures of Superman # 483 from 1991, the Atomic Skull in Action Comics # 670 (1991). An earlier version of the character - with Michaels' alter ego - made its debut in issue # 303 of the first Superman series in September 1976 (Writer: Gerry Conway , Illustrator: Curt Swan )

When Martin can finally be cured of his obsessions, he tries - with the help of Superman - to become a hero.

Atomic Skull appears in the cartoon series Justice League Unlimited (US dubbing voice: Lex Lang ). Here he is an adversary of the hero Wildcat, a member of the Legion of Doom , a villain group around the intelligent gorilla Grodd , later when Lex Luthor took over the Legion, Atomic Skull was one of his supporters, and supports the heroes in the last episode of the series against the alien dictator Darkseid .

Black Zero II

Black Zero II is an intelligent computer program or -virus with Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes in the booklet Superman & the Legion of Super-Heroes conflict. According to this story, the virus was created thousands of years ago by the terrorist group of the same name, Black Zero , and then existed for centuries hidden in the technology from which Superman's Fortress of Solitude was later built. When the Legion visits Superman's Fortress, Black Zero II is accidentally activated. Then the program subjects Superman and the Legion to a virtual reality course in which they relive different stages of Kryptonian history. The culmination of this illusion - which should culminate in the virtual destruction of Krypton and at the same time the real destruction of the earth - Superman and the Legion can finally avert by short-circuiting Black Zero.

Baron Ruthven

Baron Ruthven is a vicious vampire. Ruthven made her debut in Man of Steel # 14 from 1992 (Author: Louise Simonson , Illustrator: Jon Bogdanove ). Visually, it is based on the title character from Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's film Nosferatu , embodied by Max Schreck , and based on the vampire of the same name in European folk tales . Ruthven corresponds to the traditional vampire material of the Carpathian nobleman, equipped with superhuman abilities , who goes out at night to suck out the blood of mortals. In addition to the classic vampire skills, he also has the gift of taking possession of people.

Barrage

Barrage (German: "Barrage"), alias Karnowsky, is a professional thief. He made his debut in 1988's Superman Annual # 2 (Writer and Illustrator: John Byrne ), where he lost his arm in an altercation with the Metropolis Police Special Force, led by Maggie Sawyer. Barrage later wears a sturdy, armed combat armor and a visor . Karnowsky does not have any superpowers, but he does have considerable engineering skills. His trademark is the mechanical prosthesis on his right arm, from which he can fire projectiles of all kinds. His goal is to take revenge on Sawyer and kill them, which has always failed.

Bizarre

See main article Bizarro .

Blackrock

Blackrock is the name of several Superman opponents who resort to a magical black stone that gives them considerable abilities. The first black rock debuted in Action Comics # 458 in April 1976.

In its original version, Blackrock was a Dr. Peter Silverstone created stone that looked like a black jewel (Blackrock jewel) that he used to transform people of his choice - first the television producer Sam Tanner, later his nephew Les Vegas - into superhuman beings with superhuman abilities.

Silverstone later created an energetic being that played the role of Blackrock, and eventually even took on this identity himself by using a powerful stone that could integrate electromagnetic energy into the human organism: thus he acquired the ability to fly, fire bursts of energy and became immensely strong. In his new identity as Blackrock, he met Superman several times in battle.

With the restart of the Superman series, the backstory of Blackrock was rewritten. Now the "Blackrock Jewel" was more of an alien symbiont, which gives the person with whom it connects enormous abilities, which are based in particular on increasing their natural character traits. In this new continuity, Silverstone went blind after abusing the Blackrock gem's powers for too long. The "Blackrock Jewel" was eventually stolen by the escaped convict Sam Benjamin, who murdered Silverstone and brought the stone into his power. After his defeat by Superman, Benjamin was arrested and the Blackrock of Superman was apparently destroyed by throwing him into the sun. From there it was finally recovered by Bizarro at Lex Luther's insistence. Luthor gave the stone to the South American revolutionary and drug smuggler Lucia, who was seeking revenge on the Man of Steel for her arrest by Superman. After Lucia's defeat by Superman, the latter tried to secure the stone from new access by hiding it in his fortress of solitude. From there, however, the symbiote was able to escape on its own and in quick succession, first with Plastic Man , then with Batman and finally with Jimmy Olsen , all of whom were able to free themselves from the influence of the harmful jewel.

Blaze and Satanus

Blaze and Satanus (also Lord Satanus) are two demons who are up to mischief in Superman's hometown Metropolis . Blaze - a female demon - and Satanus - a male demon - are two warring siblings who, disguised as humans, fight their personal feud on earth. The two are the product of the union of the wise and good-natured wizard Shazam , the mentor of Superman's friend Billy Batson , and an unknown demoness. Blaze made his debut in Action Comics # 655 July 1990 (writer: Roger Stern , artist: Bob McLeod ), Satanus in Adventures of Superman # 493, August 1992 (writer: Jerry Ordway , artist: Tom Grummett ).

Thanks to their ability to transform their own shape at will, nothing of the demonic appearance of the two usually remains when they appear in their human shells: while Satanus poses as the respectable businessman and magazine editor Colin Thornton, Blaze takes age Ego of a nightclub owner named Angelica Blaze . When Colin Thornton (who made his debut in Adventures of Superman # 460 from November 1989, without a demonic background being hinted at, so that it can be assumed that his alter ego was only subsequently imputed to him) Blaze is with Superman's alter ego, the journalist Clark Kent and his colleague and wife Lois Lane became friends, who not only have an apartment in the same apartment building as Thornton, but also occasionally hang out with him privately - without Kent and Thornton knowing anything about the double life of the other. Kent has also worked intermittently as editor-in-chief of Thornton's weekly Newstime Magazine - one of the most successful competitors to Kent's regular employer, The Daily Planet . The real goals of Blaze and Satanus were never explained satisfactorily, but always left somewhat shadowy: On the one hand, as "traditional demons", both were out to take control of the souls of mortals, on the other hand they were embroiled in a bitter private war, in Superman and the people of Metropolis were only extras on the fringes, on yet other occasions each had their own indefinite, ominous plans for the city of Metropolis.

As demons, Satanus and Blaze have considerable power: Both are skilled in “black magic”, which enables them to make themselves invisible, to move to other places , and to transform themselves and other living beings and objects at will. In addition, both are superhumanly strong and have the ability to communicate telepathically with other beings or to read minds.

For unexplained reasons, Satanus and Blaze are in a bitter rivalry with one another: They fight each other down to the blood and always try to thwart each other's plans - if necessary, by openly or in camouflage on Superman's side. Both Blaze and Satanus always avoid direct confrontations with Superman and his allies as far as possible: Instead, they stay in the background, from which they as "chess players" pull their strings and let others act for them. Direct face-to-face encounters between them and Superman are therefore extremely rare and fights even more rare, as both prefer to evade such encounters through their ability to move their own body to another place through sheer willpower and magic . Instead, they prefer to create henchmen who do their will and do the "dirty work": Blaze created the demonic creatures Silver Banshee and Skyhook , while Satanus invented the drug DMN , which temporarily turns the users into monsters and whoever they are with Replenishment of the highly addictive drug can supply, are loyal to you. Superman holds a personal grudge against Blaze for being responsible for the death of Jerry White, son of Superman's friend Perry White , the editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet: Blaze killed White and tried to take possession of his soul. Superman couldn't prevent the boy's death, or at least prevent his soul from being taken. Satanus's greatest achievement so far was to rebuild the city of Metropolis, which was destroyed by Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor by detonating numerous explosive charges and turned into a field of ruins, using black magic. to make all other people believe that the (by him without her knowledge) manipulated sorceress Zatanna rebuilt the city with the help of Superman, Perry White and the Martian Manhunter . At last Colin Thornton was revealed as Satanus by the being Specter , the personified wrath of God, and carried off into the afterlife.

Blind spot

Blindspot (" blind spot ") is a thief who works for the Intergang criminal syndicate, which is based in Metropolis , and who can make himself invisible with the help of a special suit. Blindspot made his debut in Superman # 44 in June 1990 and, after several failed attempts to arrest him, was arrested by Superman and the private detective Slam Bradley ( Adventures of Superman # 483, 1991).

Bloodhounds

The Bloodhounds are a task force set up by the Cadmus research facility to find a way to neutralize Superman should it prove necessary. It consists of Mac , Tracker and Blood , three elite soldiers armed with high-tech weapons that enable them to stand up to Superman. The Bloodhounds made their debut in Superman # 58 from August 1991 (Writer and Illustrator: Dan Jurgens ). After capturing Superman once, they appeared variously as background characters in stories that played in Cadmus, but eventually disappeared as opponents from the Superman series.

Bloodthirst

Bloodthirst (Eng. "Blood thirst") is a monstrous being who lives in the underground of Metropolis and who strives to cause chaos and mischief by bringing as much suffering and destruction as possible to other living beings. Bloodthirst - who made his debut in Superman: Man of Steel # 27 (writer: Louise Simonson , illustrator: Jon Bogdanove ) - is a bald, disfigured man who resembles the character of Dr. Frank N. Furter from the Rocky Horror Picture Show is modeled after. Bloodthirst's arms and legs are covered with bizarre pores that secrete a green gas, his face is a terrifying grimace. The obscure man - who by his own account is more than 1000 years old - has superhuman physical strength and the ability to teleport himself and change his shape at will. According to Superman, Bloodthirst's lust for murder and destruction is driven by no goals other than "evil itself".

When he first met Superman on the "Spilled Blood" storyline, Bloodthirst recruited other villains like High Tech and Bloodsport to wreak havoc in Metropolis by equipping them with modern weapons and hiring them to massacre the city ( Man of Steel # 27 and # 28). Superman was able to defeat the two and eventually locate Bloodthirst, but he was unable to prevent them from escaping.

Boss Moxie

Boss Moxie is one of the most powerful gang leaders in Metropolis. He is the founder of the Intergang crime syndicate , which he set up in the 1930s. After being arrested by officer Jim Harper and the Newsboy Legion , Moxie was sentenced to fifty years in prison in Stryker's Island, Metropolis City Prison.

In his absence, Intergang began to disintegrate but was finally resuscitated by Moxie's son, Bruno Mannheim and the businessman Morgan Edge on the instructions of the alien despot Darkseid to act as a pioneer for the long-term invasion of Earth, which Darkseid had planned. This second incarnation of the Intergang was eventually crushed by Superman. When Moxie was released from prison at the age of 90, he set out to create a third incarnation of the group and again to take over the reins of Intergang. In an attempt to take revenge on the newsboys or the clones of the original newsboys created by the Cadmus project , Moxie met the genius researcher Dabney Donovan . Donovan, a former Project Cadmus employee, took gene samples from Moxie, who was fatally wounded in a fight with the Newsboys, and created a clone 50 years his junior ( Guardians of Metropolis # 4, 1994). Together with other clones of former "Intergangsters" from the 1940s ( Noose , Rough House , Torcher, Machine Gun ), Moxie and Vincent Edge , the father of Morgan Edge, finally founded a new Intergang.

This new Intergang finally made life difficult for Superman in various adventures from 1997 to 1999: Moxie tried to take control of the underworld of Metropolis, but failed due to the resistance of Lex Luthor , who finally took control of Intergang , let his henchmen go on thief tours, mostly thwarted by Superman, tried in vain to take revenge on Guardian (a clone of the police officer Jim Harper who had arrested him) ( Adventures of Superman # 550, 1997), and hunted down Superman's friend Jimmy Olsen hoping to find out about this Superman's secret identity. After Donovan and his henchmen were gradually hunted down by Superman, Moxie was finally arrested.

Brainiac

See main article by Brainiac

Brawl

Brawl ("fight, wedges") is a superhumanly strong creature created by Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor . Brawl, one of Superman's strongest opponents, made his debut in Superman: Man of Steel # 53 from February 1996 (author: Louise Simonson , illustrator: Jon Bogdanove ). He is a tall, well-built man with greenish armor scales on the shoulders and neck and long reddish hair. Brawl is the product of a laboratory experiment in which a man named Bill, who officially died while treating a brain tumor, was fused with genetic material from the alien monster Doomsday to create a hybrid of human and Doomsday. Doomsday's genetic material was taken from Luthor from a piece of bone that had splintered off in the battle with Superman. A microchip implanted in Brawl's skull gave Luthor control of Brawl, which he could remotely control from a safe distance. Luthor tested his creation by running Brawl amok in Metropolis . After Superman was able to defeat the hybrid in a first fight, Brawl was interned in the research facility "STAR-Labs". From there, the monster was able to escape a mass outbreak caused by the criminal parasite , only to run amok again in Bridgewell Heights, a suburb of Metropolis. When Brawl met his partner "Rosebud" from his previous life as Bill and began to remember his past and those responsible for his transformation, Luthor killed him with the help of a self-destruct mechanism built into the control chip in Brawl's brain ( Action Comics # 724, 1996).

Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim

See Bruno Mannheim

Brute

Brute was a superhuman strong, big and rough (Engl. Brute ) Alien, which was commissioned by the "galactic Tribunal" with the arrest of Superman. He made his debut in Superman: Man of Steel # 50 from November 1995. Together with his " milk brother " Mope , Brute worked as a smuggler. After his arrest by the tribunal, a kind of intergalactic court, he and Mope were sentenced to death. Since the tribunal was interested in an arrest of Superman, for whom it believed a strong fighter was needed, Brute was offered a pardon for him and Mope if he would help arrest Superman and bring him to justice. Brute accepted the offer and helped kidnap Superman from Earth to the planet of the Tribunal. However, because he violated the rules of the Tribunal in arresting Superman and engaged in an avoidable fight, his pardon was withdrawn and Brute was executed by shooting him alive, tied to a rocket, into the sun. Superman avenged Brute's death, eventually despite their hostility, by overthrowing the tribunal together with Mope - who was also killed in the argument.

Burton Thompson

See Burton Thompson

Cauldron

Cauldron ("cauldron") is a "living" combat robot based on the combination of mechanics and human DNA. It was created by the Cadmus project . The character made his debut in Action Comics # 695 from January 1994 (Writer: Karl Kesel , Illustrator: Jackson Guice ). Cauldron was created on the basis of genetic material from elite soldier Kevin Crowe , a member of the Cadmus security team, who was seriously injured in the battle with the monster Doomsday and has since been in a wheelchair. Since Crowe is a man of moral principles, the robot created from his genes also originally became a “good being”. After the corrupt scientist Dabney Donovan had taken control of Cauldron by manipulating the technical control devices at Cadmus, the robot was forced against his will to commit crimes for Donovan. There were a number of arguments with Superman. To escape Donovan's control, Cauldron eventually committed suicide when he was struck by the rubble while rescuing residents from a collapsing building.

Cauldron II

Cauldron II is a replica of the first Cauldron, a living robot that is based on the cybernetic amalgamation of human DNA with robotics. He made his debut in Action Comics # 731, March 1997 (Writer: David Michelinie , Illustrator: Tom Grummett ). Cauldron II was made by the Russian criminal Nikolai Karpov according to the blueprints of the first Cauldron after a corrupt employee of the research facility Projekt Cadmus - which created Cauldron I - sold it to Karpov. To test his new "acquisition", Karpov Cauldron II ran amok in the port of Metropolis. Superman could not destroy the almost overpowering robot - which, unlike Cauldron I, was able to absorb energy and was therefore practically invulnerable. Instead, he managed to drive Cauldron II inside the earth to the core of the earth, where Cauldron II has been trapped since then.

Cerberus

Cerberus is a mysterious creature that after the hellhound Cerberus is named from Greek mythology. He is a crumpled dog-like creature with several heads which he can remove at will and replace with other reserve heads. He made his debut in Superman: The Man of Steel # 1 from July 1991 (Writer: Louise Simonson , Artist: Jon Bogdanove ). Cerberus is also the leader of a criminal organization named after him ( Cerberus Organization ).

Cerberus tried to cause unrest and confusion in Metropolis for reasons that have never been clarified (for example, he attacked the facilities of the LexCorp group and tried to kidnap Lois Lane ) and sent various opponents into the fight against Superman. For example the superhumanly strong chicken Blockhouse, the mercenary Jolt, as well as Rorc and Sergeant Belcher and most recently the cyborg Metallo . If his henchmen were defeated in the fight with Superman, Cerberus used to render them harmless by remote control by activating special microchips implanted in their brains that detonated small explosive charges that did not kill the bearer, but turned them into mentally weak "vegetables". In the case of Metallo, this failed because the cyborg in the fight with Superman and the policeman Dan Turpin that led to his defeat was sprayed with a special foam that isolated his skull from the radio waves from Cerberus transmitter, so that the order to destroy Chip couldn't reach. During interrogation, Metallo finally revealed the whereabouts of Cerberus.

In Man of Steel # 13 from 1992, Superman managed to locate Cerberu's hiding place in a mountain range outside of Metropolis, and defeat the gang leader. He was seen later, among other things, during the "Joker's Last Laugh" storyline as an inmate of the prison "The Slab".

Chemo

Chemo is a high-rise giant made of chemicals encased in a transparent containment suit that is equipped with prosthetic hand and leg units and artificial eyes. Chemo debuted in Showcase # 39 from July 1962 (Writer: Robert Kanigher , Illustrator: Ross Andru and Mike Esposito ). Since chemo is not a living being, but only imitates life, it is practically immortal: After each destruction, chemo can "collect" itself anew and shape it into a new shape. Chemo is able to produce every known poison and every known acid in his body and to release them at will to his surroundings or to use them as a weapon against opponents.

Chemo was originally a 20 foot plastic tube made by eccentric scientist Ramsey Norton. It was in this tube that Norton collected the chemical residues of his failed experiments in his laboratory in order to stimulate himself. When Norton finally introduced a seemingly inoperable growth medium (with which he had wanted to grow plants that should be so large that one could saturate entire nations with them) into this plastic tube, he inadvertently created the "essence" chemo : Awakened under the influence of the growth serum the tube to life, Norton poisoned, grew into a being several meters tall and began a campaign of destruction, in the course of which it destroyed everything that came in its way. Only the Metal Men - a group of living robots - could stop chemo. Chemo was later stopped by Superman on most of his destruction trains. During the invasion of Earth by the alien giant Imperiex , the US government used chemo as a weapon against Imperiex. Later the terrorist Deathstroke Chemo used as a tool to destroy the city of Blüdhaven. After this last terrible act of chemos, Superman catapulted the being into space to make chemo harmless for good.

In the cartoon series Justice League , a nameless, chemo-modeled monster appeared.

Chesire

Chesire , aka Jade Nguyen, is a mercenary and assassin. The character made his debut in 1983 New Teen Titans Annual # 2 (Writer: Marv Wolfman , Illustrator: George Pérez ). Visually, Chesire is an attractive woman with a Eurasian phenotype and skin that is whitewashed with golden brown. Her clothing is mostly jade-green combat suit with a matching headband. She has long black hair and black eyes, is 1.75 m tall and weighs 61 kg. A special feature is a flower tattoo on her left breast.

Jade Nguyen was born to a French father and a Vietnamese mother. She had an unhappy childhood, was separated from her parents in unexplained circumstances, and eventually fell into the hands of a human trafficking ring that sold her into slavery. As a result of this traumatic experience, she became psychologically unstable and aggressive. After murdering her master, she was adopted by the Chinese freedom fighter Weng Chan, who took her on his travels in the Far East. He instructed her in various martial arts and trained her to be an excellent acrobat and guerrilla fighter. At sixteen, she met the local assassin Kruen Musenda in Africa, who shared her extensive knowledge of poisons. Eventually she married Musenda and was married to him for two years, until his death. After his death, she started working as a mercenary.

For years, Nguyen was enemies with the Teen Titans , a group of young crime fighters. Regardless of this, she fathered a daughter, Lian, with one of the Titans, Roy Harper (Speedy - the former sidekick of Green Arrow ), whom she later handed over to the father for upbringing. Together with the mercenary Deathstroke , she stole some Russian nuclear warheads in order to blackmail the world. To back up their demands, they wiped out the state of Qurac in the Middle East with a bomb. Later she formed the mercenary group "The Ravens". During this time, she found out that her real father was the American Senator Robert Pullman, who first raped her mother and then abandoned her with the newborn child. Nguyen was a member of various other criminal groups such as Vandal Savage's "Tartarus" group and the "Secret Six" and has worked with other mercenaries such as Catman and KGBeast . During her time with the Secret Six, she became pregnant again, this time from Thomas Blake (Catman). After nearly being killed in an argument with Slade Wilson (Deathstroke), she retired to a chalet in the Himalayas, where she lives with the son who emerged from her relationship with Blake.

Chesire appeared in the 5th season of the animated series Teen Titans . Outwardly, she is very similar to her comic incarnation and also has excellent martial arts skills, but, contrary to her representation in the comics, wears a cat mask.

Circe

Circe was created in 1949 as an opponent to Wonder Woman , but since 1958 she has repeatedly stood against Superman . She later states that she is also a Kryptonian ( Action Comics # 243, August 1958: “The Lady and the Lion”).

Composite superman

Composite Superman is the name of three villains based on the idea of ​​merging Superman and Batman into one character. These "composite supermen" have all the powers and abilities of both heroes combined and externally resemble a vertical attachment of the right half of Batman's body and the left half of Superman. The character made his debut in World's Finest Comics # 142 from June 1964 (Author: Edmond Hamilton , Illustrator: Curt Swan ).

Joseph Meach was originally a guard at the Superman Museum in Metropolis. When struck by lightning, he developed a variety of superpowers and went mad. He developed the obsession to first defeat Superman and Batman, and then to usurp world domination. For this purpose, he assumed a completely green form and dressed in a costume that was modeled on the costumes of Batman and Superman: the right half corresponded to Batman, the left half to Superman. In a duel, the powerful Meach proved to be stronger than Superman and Batman together, thanks to his telepathic talent he was even able to find out their secret identities. The heroes could only win the victory over the composite Superman when he miraculously lost his powers - which were limited in time - and became Joseph Meach again, who had no memory of his existence as composite Superman.

A second composite Superman was introduced in World's Finest Comics # 168 from August 1967. This was an alien named Xan who came to earth to avenge his father, who had once been defeated by Superman and Batman. First, Xan tried to rush Meach against Superman and Batman again by turning him into the composite Superman a second time. After this plan had failed due to Meach's, now decent, character - Meach preferred to kill himself in order not to have to be used as a weapon against his new heroes - Xan decided to make himself the new composite Superman. Xan recreated the Meaches accident and received the same, almost limitless powers as this one ( World's Finest Comics # 283, 1982). Together with the Legion of Super-Heroes , however, Superman and Batman finally managed to defeat this second composite Superman, who was now called Amalgamax .

A third composite Superman was created in the series Superman / Batman by the magician Mr. Mxyzptlk by merging the supermen and batmen of several realities.

In issue # 56 of the Impulse series , his archenemy Inertia created a composite superboy by feeding the supercomputer Crayd'll with data that enabled it to transform itself into a hybrid of superboy and Batman's junior partner Robin .

The composite Superman made an appearance on the cartoon Justice League Unlimited . Here he was a mix of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman . In 2005, DC Direct released a composite action figure called Superman.

Conduit

Conduit , aka Kenny Braverman, was a terrorist who harbored a personal grudge against Superman's alter ego, journalist Clark Kent. Conduit made his debut in Adventures of Superman # 0 from 1994 (Writer: Karl Kesel , Illustrator: Barry Kitson ).

Contessa del Portenza

See Contessa del Portenza .

Copperhead

Copperhead (copper head after the English name for the copper head snake ) is a thief and assassin, a hybrid of man and snake, with whom Superman had various dealings . He made his debut in The Brave and the Bold # 78 from June 1968 (Writer: Bob Haney , Artist: Bob Brown).

Copperhead began his career as a snake-costume-wearing thief in Gotham City: after his capture by Batman , he began to work as a contract killer, killing his victims by strangling them with the tail of his battle suit, snake-style. The combat suit was also equipped with mimetic devices that made Copperhead look extremely similar to a snake: by artificial poison traps, he could paralyze or kill his opponents with the venom venom, thanks to the solid armor of the costume he was extremely difficult to be vulnerable (e.g. resistant to firearm bullets) and with the artificial tail it could also break human bones and walls with ease. As a trained contortionist , it was also possible for him to bend his body almost at will and to hide himself almost impossible to find even in the smallest of spaces. Copperhead's grueling activity was stopped again and again, especially by Superman and Wonder Woman . To give his notoriously unsuccessful career new impetus, he finally sold his soul to the demon Neron, who transformed the man in the snake costume into a real hybrid of man and snake, who now had more real fangs, was superhumanly strong and agile. In his new incarnation, Copperhead was involved in arguments with Superman and Superboy, among others, before he was finally killed by agent Kate Spence.

Copperhead appeared as Lex Luthor's henchman in the cartoon series "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited" (US dubbing voice: Efrain Figueroa , later Jose Yenque ).

Cyborg superman

See entry Killer Cyborg below.

Dabney Donovan

See Dabney Donovan

Dagda

Dagda is a magical being that belongs to the so-called Millennium Guard .

Darkseid

Darkseid is the ruler of the planet Apokolips and one of the strongest opponents of Superman. For countless centuries there has been war between the planets New Genesis and Apokolips. While the heroic New Gods of New Genesis believe in peace and harmony, the people of Apokolips only know oppression and slavery under the crushing hand of Darkseid. Unfortunately, the cruel ruler of Apokolips will not be satisfied until he has conquered the entire cosmos. To this end, Darkseid has targeted the earth as the source of the hard-to-define anti-life equation that is supposed to guarantee him rule over all living beings, including Superman. Darkseid has long been looking for a way to destroy the New Gods and rule the cosmos. Once second in line to the throne of Apokolips, Darkseid murdered his brother Drax in order to use the powerful "omega effect" and to rule his desperate world unchallenged. Later, on his search for the anti-life equation, Darkseid came to Metropolis, where he equipped the Intergang so that it could serve as his vanguard to conquer the earth. However, Superman prevented Darkseid and his entourage from gaining a foothold on Earth.

He is voiced by actor Michael Ironside in the series Superman and Justice League . In the cartoon Superman / Batman: Apocalypse he is spoken by Andre Braugher . Darkseid will be the big bad guy in Smallville's season 10 .

Deathtrap

Deathtrap (Eng. "Death trap") [also Locksmith, "locksmith"], aka Carl Draper, is an engineer who specializes in the development of "insurmountable" security systems that should be able to trap criminals with super skills in the prison system to keep public institutions safe from attacks by meta-beings. Draper made his debut in Adventures of Superman # 517 from November 1994 (author: Karl Kesel ), in which he was commissioned to construct a secure prison cell for the powerful criminal Kenny Braverman, aka Conduit . In order to check the quality of his constructions he lures Superman again and again into the most ingeniously designed traps. Deathtrap enjoys the intellectual battle (battle of wits) that results from the competition. Deathtrap observes Superman's attempts to escape from a safe distance through cameras and detectors and only communicates with him via an imaginatively designed light hologram depicting a stereotypical super villain with a cape, etc.

The original suggestion for Draper's cat-and-mouse game with Superman was a provocation of his daughter, who - his arrogance deliberately irritating - teased that her father would not be able to hold the hero permanently in one of his traps. Afterwards, Draper made numerous attempts to set Superman inescapable traps, from which he was ultimately able to escape again and again - mostly through cunning and cleverness rather than through excessive use of his superpowers. The weaknesses of Draper, who later began to call himself Locksmith, were his over-sized ego and arrogance. Another preferred victim of Draper is the escape artist Mister Miracle , whom he once tried to imprison with Superman. Later, Draper's daughter secretly took over her father's identity as a Deathtrap behind her father's back and set a trap for Superman.

Desaad

See Desaad .

Demolitia

Demolitia (also Bloodsport III), alias Marita is a brutal vigilante who is up to mischief in Metropolis . She made her debut in Action Comics # 718 (Writer: David Micheline, Artist: Kieron Dwyer ).

Marita Chevez was originally an average woman who lived in Metropolis with her mother. When Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor destroyed Metropolis with explosives, Chevez was buried under the rubble of a skyscraper. She was finally rescued after several days by a group of looters who raped her. In her urge for revenge, she swore from now on to protect the "innocent" and punish the guilty: for a while she practiced massive bodybuilding and steeled her body. She acquired so-called "Bloodsport" technology from an unknown person. H. a mini-reporter that can be attached to the palm of a person, which allows them to teleport weapons from an arsenal at will. She dressed in an outfit that was similar to that of the original Bloodsport and henceforth went on the hunt for criminals under the name Demolitia: She murdered some street thugs and hunted the gunman Richie Corday. Superman prevented Demolitia from killing him but could not arrest Demolitia, who evaded him by teleporting herself away. Demolitia later made a futile attempt to assassinate Lex Luthor ( Superman's nemesis Lex Luthor # 2) and worked briefly for Wonder Womans nemesis Circe ( Wonder Woman # 175).

DNAliens

See DNAliens .

Doomsday

The extraterrestrial geneticist Bertron wanted to create the "perfect being" on Krypton , who defied death using evolution. He created a true monster whose only goal is the destruction of other forms of life. Doomsday destroyed Bertron and his laboratory and began a path of death and destruction over the planet and later through the universe, which eventually led him to earth. But there the Justice League and Superman got in his way. After a long, tough fight that ended in Metropolis , both Doomsday and the Man of Steel died ( see: The Day Superman Died ). Doomsday has subsequently proven that death does not stop him, but that he becomes even more resilient each time, because every cause of death is fatal for him only once. In the series Smallville Doomsday has a human (Kryptonian) Alter Ego Davis Bloom and is the son of Faora and General Zod and came as Kal-El during the meteor shower of Krypton to Earth.

Dreadnought

See Psi Phone and Dreadnought .

Dreadnought, aka "Jacob Thiede Hennerbichler Einfalt" is a German businessman who made his debut in comic 123 "Superman versus the Billionaires." He had a large amount of kryptonite and allied with Lex Luthor to beat Superman. Da Superman Due to the large amount of kryptonite, he asked Wonder Woman to arrest them. Jacob was able to escape, but his face was disfigured by the kryptonian radiation, which is why he put on a mask and henceforth called himself Dreadnought.

Effron the Sorcerer

Effron the Sorcerer ("Effron the Sorcerer") is a magician from a magical land called Veliathan, with whom Superman had to deal on various occasions. The figure has only appeared in the "old" Superman series so far, after the restart of the Superman series in 1986, Effron has not yet appeared. The character made his debut in World's Finest Comics # 210: "World of Faceless Slaves!" (March 1972). It was created by Elliot S. Maggin , who modeled Effron after Irving Effron, the father of a friend whom Maggin found a particularly imposing figure. Effron's vague agenda in the stories in which he appeared always envisaged turning people (and Superman) into faceless beings for unexplained reasons to serve him.

Emerald Empress

Sarya from the planet Venegar forms the Fatal Five with Tharok, Validus, Mano and the Persuader. Through the emerald green "Eye of Ekron" (the Emerald Eye of Ekron), a mystical object, she is able to fly, shoot energy beams and survive in space.

Euphoria

He brainwashes people by depriving them of the negative emotions that in turn give him the superpowers.

Eve Teschmacher

Eve Teschmacher (also Miss Teschmacher , played by Valerie Perrine ) is the assistant to Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor in the films Superman and Superman II - Alone Against All . She enjoys the luxury life led by Luthor. However, she complains that it is taking place underground in particular and does not unconditionally support Luther's plans, which results in her saving Superman's life when he is exposed to radiation from kryptonite . While Luthor and his assistant Otis are in jail, she is not detained and is helping to free them. Her mother lives in Hackensack, New Jersey .

In the Arrowverse , Eve Teschmacher appears in the Supergirl series and is portrayed by Andrea Brooks .

Faora Hu-ul

A Kryptonian criminal and murderer who managed to escape from the Phantom Zone after the fall of Krypton . Also known as Ursa in Superman II - Alone Against All . In Superman: The Animated Series she was called Mala. She is the wife of General Zod in the Smallville series. Antje Traue plays Faora in Man of Steel .

Frank Sixty

Frank Sixty is a criminal tinkerer ( cyberneticist ) who belongs to the criminal syndicate Intergang . Sixty made his debut in 1999 Action Comics # 758 (Writer and Illustrator: Stuart Immonen ). He created , among other things, a robotic giant lobster on behalf of Boss Moxie , the then boss of the gang, to kill Superman. After Sixty cheated on Moxie and "delivered it to the knife", he was arrested, whereupon Sixty concluded that he was now the boss of the Intergang himself. Sixty's whereabouts after Bruno Mannheim took over Intergang is unclear.

General Zod

Actor Terence Stamp (2007)

General Zod , also (Dru-Zod), is a criminal officer hailing from Superman's home planet Krypton. Zod, who made his debut in Adventure Comics # 283 from April 1961, is one of the most famous Superman antagonists due to his appearance in the second Superman film from 1980. Since he is a Kryptonian like Superman, he has the same powers as the hero and is therefore one of the few opponents who are really physically equal to Superman. Zod is usually portrayed as arrogant and arrogant. The film character is recognizably based on the biblical angel Lucifer : like him, Zod rebels against the authorities and tries to take control, is defeated and banished by an overpowering father figure. Finally he and his entourage come to earth to fight against the son of his damned man.

In its original version, Zod was just a megalomaniac officer who, due to his crimes , was locked in the Phantom Zone - a special dimension in which the Kryptonians kept their criminals - along with other Kryptonian criminals ( Adventure Comics # 283). In this zone, time stands still and you have to atone for your sins forever. According to this version, he had once been the director of the Kryptonian space center and had also known Superman's father, the Kryptonian scientist Jor-El. Zod eventually attempted to usurp control of Krypton with the help of an army of robotic duplicates of himself, but failed with this endeavor and was banished to the Phantom Zone for life. Later he was freed from the zone in this variant by the growing Superman, who did not know about the seriousness of Zod's crimes. After Zod tried to conquer the earth, it came to an argument with the character then still known as Superboy, who was able to defeat him and banished him again to the zone. In the further course of the Superman series, Zod managed to escape from the zone again and again and to deliver new trials of strength with the now grown-up Superman.

After the restart of the Superman series in 1986, Zod initially disappeared from the Superman continuity, but eventually returned as an inhabitant of the "pocket-sized universe", an artificial universe created by the time traveler named Time Trapper. This new Zod, together with his helpers Quex-Ul and Faora, destroyed the earth of this "mini-universe", but was finally defeated by Supergirl and Superman, who had been called over from his universe into the pocket - sized universe to stand by the inhabitants against Zod. Not knowing how to keep Zod prisoner, Superman executed him with the help of kryptonite.

In 2001, a third variant of Zod was introduced in the "Return to Krypton" storyline, in which Superman travels to the supposedly still existing planet Krypton , which ultimately turns out to be part of an artificial reality created by the thought-manipulating villain Brainiac : This Zod is a fascist officer who rules the supposed krypton in Brainiac's illusion. Zod military coup is eventually stopped by Superman and Jor El before Superman returns to his own reality.

The fourth variant of the figure was a Russian officer: he was the son of two Russian cosmonauts who had been exposed to kryptonite during a space trip. As a result, her genetic makeup was changed, which also affected her son. From then on, under the rays of a red sun, he possessed the same powers as Superman. At the behest of the spirit of the dead Zod from the pocket universe - who could speak to him for unexplained reasons - he took his name (Zod) and built himself a battle armor that was able to store red rays of the sun and thus give him Superman-like powers to lend. Strengthened in this way, he tried several times in vain to murder Superman, to transform the yellow sun of the solar system into a red sun and to take Superman's place as protector of the earth. In one of these attacks, Zod (IV) eventually died of overexertion.

In the twelve-part storyline “For Tomorrow” ( Superman # 204- # 215), the latest version of Zod was finally introduced: This Zod - created by Richard Donner , the author of the old Superman films - is very closely based on the film version. After a failed coup attempt, he was banished to the Phantom Zone along with Ursa and Non, which was guarded by Superman's father Jor-El. After the destruction of Krypton, the zone came into Superman's possession. A son of Ursas and Zod finally freed the three villains from their exile and enabled them to return to "reality", where they competed with Superman in a modified modification of the 1980 film plot. The main difference is in Zod's attempt to regain his son Chris Kent, who is in Superman's care. Visually, this Zod is very similar to the actor Terence Stamp and his black uniform from the 1980s film, but also wears a black trench coat.

In Richard Donner's first two Superman films (1978 and 1980), Zod is played by the actor Terence Stamp . While he only plays a supporting role in the first film - the opening sequence of the film shows Zod's exile in the Phantom Zone by Superman's father Jor-El and his vow to take revenge on Jor-El and his descendants - he appears as Superman's central adversary in the second film on. Freed from the phantom zone by the consequences of the explosion of a hydrogen bomb in space, Zod and his helpers Non and Ursa come to earth. Through the rays of the earth's yellow sun, they acquire the same powers as Superman and try to use them to conquer the earth. Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor comes to their aid. After much back and forth, at the end of the film, Superman finally succeeds in robbing the three villains of their strength with a special device in his fortress of loneliness and thus defeating them. While some variants of the film imply that the trio - deprived of their powers - was killed by Superman in battle, some "cut versions" and "lost scenes" show the arrest of the three Kryptonians, who have now become normal people, by an arctic police force . Stamp embodies Zod as an arrogant and arrogant opponent of Superman's.

In the TV series Smallville , Zod appeared in several episodes as a disembodied villain (almost all prisoners in the Phantom Zone are phantoms, detached from their bodies so that they cannot escape from it), who first prepares for the body of young Lex Luthor in To take possession and use it to later conquer the earth. Zod's spirit can eventually be separated from its host and sent back to the zone. Zod's henchmen are named Nam-Ek and Aethyr in "Smallville", but Brainiac also helps him escape the Phantom Zone. In the ninth season, a clone of the younger Major Zod is the main antagonist of Clark Kent / Kal-El.

Zod is one of the most referenced Superman villains in American pop culture. In particular, the pithy words "Kneel before Zod", which Terence Stamp utters in the second Superman film after his supposed victory over Superman, have become something of a catchphrase in the United States and are still quoted today, for example in the Animated series " Family Guy " or the " Daily Show " with Jon Stewart . They have also been used extremely successfully as text inscription for bumper stickers for several years.

Gretchen Kelly

See Gretchen Kelly .

Gus Gorman

Actor Richard Pryor (1986)

August "Gus" Gorman (played by Richard Pryor ) is an unemployed person who discovered his talent as an exceptionally talented programmer by chance. He appears in Superman III - The Steel Lightning as an opponent of Superman's.

Gorman is basically a good-natured person who is abused by the criminal industrialist Ross Webster for his purposes. Webster uses Gorman's talent to manipulate the economic markets through computer-induced mishaps (misuse of satellites, changing the routes of oil tankers, etc.) and thus to get closer to his goal of economic rule over the world.

Gorman also helps produce artificial kryptonite , which has similar effects on Superman as red kryptonite in the TV series Smallville or Lois & Clark , with the difference that it shimmers green. Superman loses all interest in being a hero and becomes angry. The following representation by Christopher Reeves is very reminiscent of Bizarro .

Light grammite

Hellgrammite is a hybrid of man and insect who lives as a thief and mercenary in Metropolis . The character made his debut in The brave and the Bold # 80 from October 1968.

Hellgrammite was originally an entomologist named Roderick Rose who subjected himself to a self-experiment in the course of which he was transformed into a hybrid of humans and insects. He gave himself this name after the larva of the so-called Dobsonian fly known as Hellgrammite. As a Hellgrammite, he had superhuman strength and jumping ability. His plans mostly revolved around transforming other people into weakened forms of himself in order to establish a people of insect-human hybrid beings. This led to confrontations with Batman and the Creeper ( Brave and the Bold # 80) and with Green Arrow and Black Canary ( World's Finest Comics # 248-249). He later worked as a mercenary in Metropolis. In this capacity he tried several times to assassinate Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor, on whom a corrupt subordinate had put a bounty to ensure that his selfish machinations would go undetected. However, he was prevented from carrying out his plans twice by Superman and the scientist Kitty Faulkner and once by Supergirl . Hellgrammite later entered into a pact with the demon Neron, which gave him new powers in exchange for his soul: Since then, Hellgrammite has been significantly stronger and less vulnerable than before.

In the cartoon series "Justice League Unlimited" Hellgrammite appeared as a member of the rogue group Legion of Doom and as a participant in the gladiatorial fight "Meta Brawl".

High-tech

High-Tech is a “female” robot created by Professor Taddaeus Killgrave that Superman had dealt with on various occasions . High-tech was used as a henchman for other villains, such as the insane Bloodthirst and the terrorist Manchester Black .

Host

Host (en. "Host") is a robot made of white metal in the shape of a giant, in which the souls of all members of a murdered extraterrestrial people are gathered. He made his debut in Superman # 5, May 1987 (Writer and Illustrator: John Byrne ).

Hunab

Hunab is one of three magical beings that belong to the "Millennium Guard".

Incl

Inkling is a professional thief who has the ability to make himself “immaterial” and then simply walk through objects (e.g. walls) and people. Inkling was originally a homeless man who lived on the streets of Metropolis and then made himself available to Burton Thompson, head of STAR Labs, as a test subject for a mysterious experiment. In the course of this experiment he acquired his special skills. The experiences in the STAR-Labs seem to have massively deranged Inkling psychologically: He is mentally highly confused, disoriented and incoherent in his behavior, his thinking and his expressions. Inkling acted as a thief for a while, especially of money and jewelry, but mostly escaped without his prey. This came about by making himself immaterial in his escape and going through walls, while his prey remained material and so kept away from the walls. After several unsuccessful attempts to arrest Inkling, Superman and the detective Slam Bradley succeeded in capturing Inkling in his immaterial state by means of an energetic force field and holding it in this. After his capture, they handed him over to Thompson again - although they did not know about Thompson's connection to the Inkling. The character has not appeared since.

Intergang

The Intergang is a criminal syndicate that operates in Metropolis. The organization was introduced to the Superman universe in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen # 133, October 1970 (Author: Jack Kirby ).

The first version of Intergang, which appeared in the Superman adventures written by Jack Kirby in the 1970s, was an association of terrestrial criminals who were commissioned by the alien despot Darkseid and who had the task of paving the way for those of him Prepare to invade the earth. Darkseid's considerations were that the Intergang through their activities would create chaos and confusion and so gradually weaken the defenses of the earth, which would enable him to strike a victorious blow against the planet and bring it into its power. In order to advance this plan, Darkseid equipped the members of the Intergang (Intergangster) with futuristic technology from his home planet Apokolips (weapons, vehicles, sound tube teleporters), occasionally provided them with some of his followers from Apokolips and gave the Intergangsters advice on how to get one ensure that their plans are carried out as successfully as possible.

He appointed the gangster Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim ( Jimmy Olsen # 139) to be the first leader of Intergang . At his side he placed his servants Simyan and Mokkari , two scientists from Apokolips, who use their skills as geneticists to breed an almost inexhaustible mass of monsters in their laboratory ("Evil Factory") by combining human and extraterrestrial DNA Mannheim and his men supported the implementation of their plans. In order to further support the activities of Intergang in Metropolis, Mannheim also had the media mogul Morgan Edge, the president of the largest television station in Metropolis (Galaxy Broadcasting), kidnapped and replaced by a clone created by Simyan and Mokkari. He used his control over the media empire ruled by Edge to support Intergang financially and medially. After the captured Edge was able to escape from the captivity of the Intergang, Superman and Jimmy Olsen finally succeeded in putting the Intergang to an end and arresting Mannheim, while the Edge clone was mistaken for its "DNA donor" by Darkseid's servant Tombstone Gear was murdered.

After the restart of the Superman series in 1986, the history of the Intergang was also completely overhauled. The impetus for founding the syndicate came from Apokolips in this new variant, but now the real Morgan Edge (not a clone) was the secret boss of Intergang. While he was actually a respectable businessman in the old version of the Superman material, in the new version he merely pretended to be, but organized the activities of Intergang behind the deceptive facade. Mannheim was his "man for the rough" who directed the group's more important operations. When reporters Cat Grant - who started an affair with Edge to find out what he was doing - and Clark Kent (Superman's alter ego) finally managed to reveal Edge's double life, Edge suffered a heart attack due to the stress. Edge first came to the hospital and was then sentenced to a long prison term: while his father Vincent Edge continued his legal activities, Mannheim took over the management of Intergang. Another difference to the original version was that it was not Darkseid, but Darkseid's servant Desaad, who only pretended to be Darkseid, the spiritus rector of Intergang and that his motive for founding Intergang was not the preparation of the ground for an invasion, but pure joy in the suffering and pain of others (Desaad phonetically based on the writer de Sade after whom the word sadism is named).

Superman finally managed to put a stop to Mannheim and the rest of the Intergang: While most of the gang members (such as the scientist Thaddaeus Killgrave) were imprisoned, Mannheim died - apparently - when he tried to escape through a sound tube teleporter collapsed when he was halfway through it.

The Intergang was finally re-established by Boss Moxie , Mannheim's father, who had been in prison since his involvement in the gang crime in Metropolis in the 1940s and was only released from prison when he was over ninety. Working with the ingenious geneticist Dabney Donovan, a renegade member of Project Cadmus , the aged Moxie managed to give himself and his "lieutenants" a second life: Donovan created young clones of Moxie and his accomplices from the 1940s: Noose, Roughouse, Machine Gun and Torcher. Not only did these clones have superhuman abilities, but Donovan had also introjected the memories of their DNA donors so that they could remember all the experiences of their “godparents” as if they had lived them themselves.

While old Moxie died, his young clone took over the leadership of the second generation of Intergang. Moxie was subsequently involved in power struggles with the escaped prisoner Morgan Edge and with Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor , who both tried to take over the Intergang. In addition, Moxie's henchmen were mainly busy chasing the Skinman, another old rival, and chasing the reporter Jimmy Olsen - whom Moxie mistakenly assumed knew Superman's secret identity. While Torcher and Machine Gun were killed in an altercation with the Metropolis Police Force, Moxie, Noose and Roughouse were gradually arrested by Superman. Most recently, cyberneticist Frank Sixty took command of the group in order to fill the vacuum created after Moxie's departure.

Most recently, the Intergang was re-established again - this time by Mannheim, who had survived his alleged death - namely as a kind of criminal sect that venerates the biblical murderer Cain as a saint and celebrates crime as the “great dominant power” of the 21st century . As holy scripture, the cultic new Intergang falls back on a stone book that was supposedly made of the rocks with which Cain killed his brother Abel.

Intergang appeared in various episodes of the series "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman", "Smallville" (with Rutger Hauer , later Patrick Bergin as Morgan Edge), "Superman: The Animated Series" (dubbing voice of Mannheim Bruce Weitz), "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited".

Isabella Theroux

Also known as "Isobel". She is an ancestor of Lana Lang from the TV series Smallville and a real witch. Shortly before her execution, she prepares a spell that will later occupy Lana Lang's body.

Jackal

Jackal ("jackal") is a hybrid of humans and jackal, the origin of which has not yet been clarified. He is a killer who poses as a crime fighter and imposes his idea of ​​justice on others. His approach is brutal and ruthless. The character debuted in 1992 Action Comics # 683 (Author: Roger Stern ). Jackal has the appearance of a man with various characteristics of a jackal (sharp claws and teeth, an animal-like face, fur-like mane, dark skin tone, and more). The jackal primarily hunts down criminals such as drug dealers or arsonists.

Jax-Ur

Jax-Ur, like General Zod , is a Kryptonian criminal. He was also banished to the Phantom Zone and thus escaped the fall of Krypton. The animated series Superman: the Animation Series is based on Jax-Ur Zod, who was banished to the Phantom Zone together with his accomplice Mala after an attempted coup on Krypton, which Superman's father Jor-El was able to prevent. However, they later escaped on Earth, but were relegated to the zone again after a long fight with Superman.

Jax-Ur also appears in the movie Man of Steel and is played by Mackenzie Gray .

joker

In The Batman / Superman Movie , Lex Luthor and the Joker team up to wipe out Superman and Batman .

Jolt

Jolt is one of Cerberus' sidekicks .

Kalibak

See Kalibak .

Kancer

Kancer is a being that General Zod created from cancer cells from Superman's body (debut in Action Comics # 777, May 2001).

Kekona

See Kekona .

Killer cyborg

The body of the astronaut Hank Henshaw was destroyed by lethal, cosmic rays during a routine flight in space. The astronaut's consciousness managed to survive by taking refuge in the spaceship's computer. Henshaw returned to physical life by downloading himself into Superman's birth matrix. He was reborn as a power-obsessed killer cyborg with equal shares of Superman's DNA and the indestructible kryptonic alloys of the Matrix. He was driven mad by the loss of his humanity.

Killgrave

Professor Thaddeus Killgrave is the stereotypical mad scientist in Superman's villain gallery. Killgrave, who made his debut in Superman # 19, July 1988 (Writer and Illustrator: John Byrne ), is an extremely short man (2.5 feet "tall") with a Napoleonic complex that drives him to make up for his small height with particularly ambitious goals. Outwardly, Killgrave stands out not only because of its crunchiness but also because of its unmistakable pot-cut hairstyle and thick glasses. Hairstyle and glasses together give it a particularly grotesque and eccentric look. The name Killgrave is a descriptive name , which is composed of the English words kill ("to kill") and grave (grave) and thus characterizes its wearer as a particularly destructive and bloodthirsty person.

Killgrave is a danger for Superman above all because of his ingenious abilities as an inventor and engineer, which enable him to tackle the “man of steel” with new and fantastic high-tech devices: In the past he created, among other things, futuristic devices Main battle tanks, jet packs , molecular disruptors that allowed him to go through walls, and nuclear warheads to accomplish his goals and kill Superman.

Superman first met Killgrave when he thwarted his plan to usurp world domination. Since then, Killgrave has been an enemy of the "man of steel". In order to get revenge on the hero, he equipped the insane Joker with nuclear warheads ( Superman # 9) and created the cyborg woman High-Tech ( Action Comics # 682), which he incited on Superman. In addition, Killgrave worked with Toyman for the criminal syndicate Intergang - which gave him access to modern, alien technology from the planet Apokolips - and the terrorist Manchester Black. An attempt to murder Superman after losing his powers ( Action Comics # 659) failed, as did Killgrave's plan to take control of the "B13" technology, which controls the technology of the city of Metropolis.

Kirichitan

Kirichitan , aka Dr. Noah Brasil, is an extreme environmental activist who is active in Metropolis . In the name of nature, Kirichitan wants to take revenge on the city for its sins against the environment. He made his debut in Action Comics # 740, January 1998 (Writer and Illustrator: Stuart Immonen ). During his actions, Kirichitan dresses in the traditional costume of Japanese samurai (helmet and breastplate). He was eventually stopped by Superman and the Metropolis Police Special Force.

knockout

See knockout .

Kryptonite Man

The Kryptonite Man is a man whose body is made of kryptonite, the radiation-contaminated remains of his destroyed home planet Krypton, deadly for Superman. He made his debut as the Kryptonite Kid in Superboy # 83 from September 1960. In Superman # 299 from May 1976 he finally appeared as Kryptonite Man. Because of the nature of his body, the Kryptonite-Man is traditionally one of Superman's deadliest opponents and one of those villains that the "Man of Steel" finds the hardest to get at. In the original version of the 1960s, the Kryptonite Man was a man who flew through a cloud of kryptonite gas during a flight through space and then transformed into a being made of living kryptonite. Following the reboot of the Superman franchise in 1986, the Kryptonite Man was introduced in 1991 in Superman # 43 as a failed, green-skinned clone of Superman's created by alien scientists Simyan and Mokkari. In addition, a third variant of the character made its debut in the Superman / Batman series: an energy being made of gaseous and light-form kryptonite that can take control of the bodies of other beings. The latest variant of the figure is a man named K. Russel Abernathy, who was introduced to the Superman series in 2006: This is a scientist who investigated kryptonite in search of new energy sources and was contaminated in a laboratory accident and transformed into a being made of living kryptonite .

Lenny Luthor

Actor Jon Cryer (2004)

Lenny (played by Jon Cryer ) is the nephew of Lex Luthor . He appears in Superman IV - The World on the Edge and frees his uncle from prison. Together they create Nuclear Man .

Lex Luthor

See main article Lex Luthor .

Lobo

See main article Lobo .

Locksmith

See deathtrap .

Loophole

Loophole ("back door"), aka Deke Dickson, is a petty thief who has the unflattering reputation of being the "most unsuccessful" criminal in Metropolis. Loophole, a skinny man with a gray hairline, made his debut in Adventures of Superman # 505 from October 1993 (author: Karl Kesel , illustrator: Tom Grummett ) and has since acted repeatedly as a " comic relief " character in the Superman comics. Loophole's appearances are always to be seen in the context of a running gag that is told with the help of the figure: This gag consists in the fact that Loophole's robberies are always thwarted by Superman with ease, with Loophole always finding himself in the disadvantageous and embarrassing situation at the end, thanks his unusual ability to simply walk through material things - which Superman uses tricks against him - to "get stuck" in some objects in a very special way. When he first appeared, he was stuck, for example. B. stuck in the door of a vault (his body was half in the vault and half in the vestibule).

Loophole is a former employee of the research facility STAR-Labs , who stole an experimental device ("immaterializer") from his employer, with the help of which he can make himself "immaterial". In this state it can neither be touched nor do walls etc. hold it back. Since the control unit for his "immaterializer" is very sensitive to the effects of heat, it was always easy for Superman to put Loophole down with his heat eye. He destroyed the control unit and Loophole got stuck. Loophole first appeared in the dubious honor of being the first villain to be captured by Superman on The Reign of the Supermen storyline after his resurrection from the dead. Other "incidents" of this kind occurred in Adventures of Superman # 520 and # 538, in JLA / Avengers # 1 and Superman # 97, as well as the anniversary edition Superman Forever - Loophole was always accompanied by female assistants who were equipped with similar devices during his break-ins were.

Lord Satanus

See Blaze and Satanus

Luke Benson

Luke Benson (played by Jeff Corey ) is a villain from the movie Superman and the Mole Men . He is the leader of a group of frightened people from the town of Silby who plan to kill the so-called mole people.

Machine gun

Michael "Mike" Gunn, called Machine Gun , is a member of the Intergang Criminal Syndicate . Gunn, who debuted in Adventures of Superman # 544 from March 1997 (author: Karl Kesel , illustrator: Stuart Immonen ), has the ability to turn his arms into machine guns from which he can fire projectiles that grow inside his body. It is unclear whether this ability is innate or was given by genetic manipulation by genetics expert Dabney Donovan when he made a clone of Gunns. Since Gunn is far inferior to Superman by himself, he usually attacks him in collaboration with several accomplices.

Machine Gunn originally served as a lieutenant for Boss Moxie in the 1930s and 1940s . As a classic gangster of the time of the Great Depression - wearing a suit, wide-brimmed fedora hat and the tommy gun as the typical weapon for members of organized crime - he fought variously against the superhero Guardian and the Newsboy Legion . Machine Gun retired after Moxie's arrest and the death of his partner and lover Ginny McGree, aka Torcher. After that, Gunn remained completely calm for decades, until finally - at the age of eighty - at the request of Moxie, who had just been released from prison at the age of ninety, he returned from retirement and joined the Intergang again. But instead of taking action, Gunn Moxie's new accomplice, Dabney Donovan, allowed DNA to be extracted from him and cloned so that a younger self of himself, along with the clones of other former Moxie's helpers, could help build a new interface. When reporters Clark Kent and Lois Lane tracked down old Gunn, the latter committed suicide to cover up for his younger self ( Adventures of Superman # 544). Like all Donovan's clones, young Gunn had memories of his genetic father.

After the death of his genetic father, Gunn Jr. resumed his relationship with the also cloned McCree and tried to adapt to his new environment in the 1990s, which was completely alien to him as a child of the 1940s. Together with gangsters Noose and Rough House, they formed the leading quartet of the new Intergang - in which Machine Gunn took on the role of "Toug Guy". Gunn murdered the detective Skinman who had discovered the new Intergang ( Adventures of Superman # 544), hunted the reporter Jimmy Olsen with the other Intergangsters , committed break-ins, fought a rematch with the Guardian ( Adventures of Superman # 550/2) and tried to track down the kidnapped daughter of Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor ( Superman Forever # 1). After young Gunn was also killed twice ( Adventures of Superman # 544 and # 552) - once he committed suicide to avoid arrest like his old counterpart and once he was shot by Moxie to appease Lex Luthor he will be awakened both times by making new clones . However, after Donovan was arrested by Superman and the police ( Adventures of Superman # 562) there was no one who could have cloned Gunn after his third death in an exchange of fire with the Metropolis Police Force ( Adventures of Superman # 562), so that he could has not yet returned.

Magog

Magog is an antihero in the Kingdom Come saga set in a dystopian future of Superman's. Magog - who debuted in Kingdome Come # 1 from 1995 (author: Mark Waid , draftsman: Alex Ross ) - is named after the Old Testament figure of the same name (Book of Genesis , Book of Ezekiel , Revelation of John ) ( Magog ). The figure is optically based on the brutalist and overloaded design trends for superheroes from the 1990s, hated by their creators, in particular on the figure of the cruel antihero Cable published by Marvel Comics .

Magog ("The Man of Tomorrow") is a brutal, violent hero in the future world of "Kingdom Come", whose methods and ideals completely contradict the seemingly old-fashioned and "morally sour" values ​​and approaches of Superman's. In the scenario of "Kingdom Come" the apparently more contemporary Magog finally inherits an aging Superman as the leader of the earthly heroes after the "Man of Steel" - unable to accept the values ​​of modern times - bitterly retires and his place as protector mankind gives up. After Superman's disappearance, Magog forms a team of brutally and relentlessly acting superheroes ( Justice Bataillon ) with whom he enforces his own cruel and bloody idea of ​​justice to great public applause for several years. However, after the entire US state of Kansas is destroyed in a nuclear disaster in one of these actions , Superman and the other, milder heroes of the old generation return and try to bring Magog to his senses. After several arguments with Superman, a Magog traumatized by the experience of the destruction of Kansas, remorsefully realizes the error of his path to justice, tries to repent and from then on - in line with Superman's ideals - strives to save as many lives as possible. Finally, Magog goes to Paradise Island as a hermit to find himself ( Kingdom Come # 4).

Mainframe

Mainframe is a secret organization of cyborg beings that strives to usurp world domination. Mainframe debuted in Superman: Man of Steel # 71 from 1997 (Writer: Louise Simonson , Artist: Jon Bogdanove ). The group is led by the charismatic quantum physicist Override, who has long-term plans to transform humanity into a new breed of cyberlife beings. The name of the group and the names of its members are based on terms from the jargon of the IT industry.

Other members of the group are: Baud , an extravagant, spirited cyborg woman who has electromagnetic powers and who has so far collided with Superman most often and who, among other things, was a member of the Superman Revenge Squad, Download , who downloaded herself and everyone around her Teleport to another place, output , a living calculator and code breaker , which instead of a face has a monitor on the display of which a cartoon-like representation of his former face can be seen, scareware , the muscle man of the group, as well as Bit and Byte , two insectoid techno -Pets. After several arguments, Superman succeeded in locking the mainframe into another dimension, with the help of the group of high-tech specialists known as Hairies, from which the group had not yet been able to break out ( Superman: 3D , 1998).

Mammoth

Mammoth (Mammoth), aka Baran Flinders, is a superhumanly strong man with an enormous stature. He belongs to a group called "Fearsome Five", which, in addition to their confrontations with Superman, is primarily enemies with the Teen Titans , a group of juvenile crime fighters, and the Outsiders, an adult counterpart of the Titans. Mammoth may be mentally and emotionally lagging behind, but makes up for it with extreme physical strength, endurance and almost limitless robustness. He made his debut like his sister Selinda - to whom he has almost absolute loyalty - and the other members of the Fearsome Five in New Teen Titans # 3 from December 1980 (author: Marv Wolfman , illustrator: George Pérez ).

Mammoth, a "mountain of a man", clashed with Superman on various occasions, including when he came to Metropolis on a thief tour ( Superman # 50). Mammoth's attempt to distance himself from his criminal life and, together with his sister in a Tibetan monastery, to achieve spiritual purification through inner contemplation and thus to start a new life, ultimately failed and he returned to his old existence.

On television, Mammoth appeared in the animated series "Teen Titans" (US dubbing voice: Kevin Michael Richardson) as a stooge of the HIVE crime syndicate, which he serves as a dumb muscle man. He was also seen as the final boss in both Titans video games.

Massacre

Massacre (dt. Massacre) is an alien warrior who strives to prove himself in the fight against other warriors. Massacre, who debuted in Adventures of Superman # 509 (author: Karl Kesel ) from February 1994, is a gigantic, stocky, red-skinned alien who wears an Old Testament-like robe and has the ability to transform his body into living light to travel through the universe at the speed of light in his relentless search for new combat partners. He is extremely cruel and brutal, his special gifts are his almost limitless physical strength (after Doomsday he is perhaps the most physically strong opponent of Superman's) and the ability to see a few moments into the future and thus to be able to foresee every move of his opponent . On his travels through space, Massacre is accompanied by a petite, scavenging alien named Skimmer .

Superman first met Massacre when he came across a spaceship destroyed by Massacre while traveling through space. Massacre took the opportunity to challenge Superman to battle, killing Superman's friend Auron and then fleeing. Later, Massacre came to earth in Metropolis to resume the prematurely broken fight with Superman but was finally defeated in a duel.

Massacre was later arrested by the intergalactic tribunal and sentenced to death for "thousands of murders" and cruelly beaten to death by relatives of his victims ( Superman # 106). Later, however, he awoke to new life in an unexplained manner and from then on served the monarch Maxima from the planet Almerac as a warrior. During the Our World's at War storyline, Massacre was apparently killed when Maxima's spaceship was destroyed by the alien Imperiex and exploded ( Man of Steel # 117).

match

See match .

Metallo

Metallo is a cyborg and one of the oldest and most popular villains in the Superman series. In its original version - under the name "Metalo" - the character made his debut in the story "Man of Steel Versus Man of Metal" from the comic book World's Finest Comics # 6 from the summer of 1942; The figure has been called Metallo since Action Comics # 252 from May 1959. Since then, Metallo has been an integral part of Superman's villain gallery in various incarnations that sometimes had very little in common.

In its original version from 1942, Meta (l) lo was an unnamed scientist who faced Superman in combat armor. This first "Metallo", which was equated with Metallo for decades, was later specified for the sake of clarity as George Grant - and thus as a separate character from Metallo.

In 1959, the “real” Metallo finally made its debut. He was introduced as a man named John Corben who, after committing a perfect murder, suffered a heart attack while fleeing the scene. His irreparably damaged body was accidentally salvaged by the scientist Professor Emmett Vale, who transferred Corbens consciousness into a robot body, which he covered with artificial tissue so that Corben still looked like a human on the outside. His body was powered by uranium, but Vale told him that kryptonite would be a more reliable and permanent source of energy. Corben began to strive for the mineral from then on. Corben then started working as a journalist for the Daily Planet. Fearing that Superman might find out about his criminal past, he planned an attack on the hero's life in order to get rid of the only man who could possibly be dangerous to him. Corben finally died when he stole a supposed chunk of kryptonite from the Natural History Museum in Metropolis and tried to build it into his body as an energy source: he noticed too late that it was just a prop and not a real kryptonite.

In Superman # 310 from April 1977, Roger Corben made his debut , the brother of John Corben, who became a Metallo in his place and wanted revenge for his brother's death.

After the 1986 restart of the Superman series, Metallo's backstory was also completely overhauled: In the new version he is a little thief who was seriously injured in a car accident but was found and rescued by the scientist Professor Emmet Vale by accident. Vale transplanted Corben's body into a robot body powered by a 1 kg chunk of the alien mineral kryptonite - after the alloy from which the robot's body was made, Vale named this metallo. The robotic body of the murdering Metallo is extremely similar to the killer robot " Terminator " from the film of the same name with Arnold Schwarzenegger .

Vale, who thought Superman was a member of an alien invasion armada, then ordered Metallo to kill him. Metallo refused to carry out this order and killed Vale - but he came into conflict with Superman nonetheless: Since Corben remained true to his lifestyle as a thief and thug even in his new identity, arguments with Superman were inevitable. His kryptonite heart nearly killed the man of steel when he first met Metallo. However, after the robot was defeated and taken into custody, Metallo was eventually dissected by businessman Lex Luthor and the kryptonite chunk removed. Luthor later had a ring made from this. Metallo was able to reactivate and escape through a backup system. Since then he has crossed the blades with Superman and his allies Steel , Superboy and Supergirl again and again in the course of rather small goals . After a pact with the demon Neron, in exchange for his soul, Metallo received the gift of “morphing” his body into any metal: He could include and integrate other technical devices in his body, and weapons grow out of his body and transfer one's consciousness to other technical or metallic objects. The most effective way to defeat him in this state was to isolate his robot head from other metallic objects so that - unable to connect to other metallic objects - he became helpless. During these years he was often seen as a henchman or manipulated instrument by other, more intelligent villains such as Lex Luthor, Conduit or Cerberus . The suspicion that John Corben was the murderer of the Wayne couple, the parents of Superman's friend Batman , turned out to be unfounded.

The scientist Hiro Okamura - whose family invented the metallo alloy - was finally able to separate Corbens consciousness from Metallo by transferring it into a clone body from its original human body.

In real-life series like Superboy and "Lois & Clark" Metallo was embodied by actors like Michael Callan and Scott Valentine . His original story as a seriously ill criminal whose brain is transplanted into a kryptonite-powered robot body was essentially retained - with slight variations.

As a cartoon character Metallo appeared in the series "Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited" (US dubbing voice: Malcolm McDowell and Corey Burton ). In this version, too, he is a thief, whose brain - albeit by Lex Luthor - is transplanted into a robot body. On behalf of Luthor, as a loner and as a sidekick of Gorilla Grodd or the Intergang, he meets Superman here on various occasions. In addition, Metallo appeared in the video games "Superman: Shadow of Apokolips" and "Superman Returns" (for the film of the same name) as a villain character.

Meteorite freaks

Meteorite freaks are frequent opponents of Clark Kent in the TV series Smallville .

Misa

See Misa .

Mr. Mxyzptlk

Mr. Mxyzptlk [ məksɪtzpʌlk ; pronounced "Mix-yez-pittle-ick"] (Mxy, Myxie, Myx) is a mischievous magician from the 5th dimension and one of the oldest and most famous Superman opponents. Mxyzptlk made his debut in Superman # 30 from September 1944 (Writer: Jerry Siegel , Artist: Joe Shuster ). Strictly speaking, Mxyzptlk (Mxyz) is not a real villain, just a mischievous joker who is not concerned with causing serious harm to Superman or anyone else or achieving other "bad" goals, but simply striving to develop his foolish sense of humor to act out. To do this, he comes every 90 days from the 5th dimension (which he calls "Zrfff") - a sphere in which other natural laws apply and almost limitlessly powerful beings live - to the earth to pester Superman with his jokes. Since Mxyzptlk is not bound by the laws of nature of the 3rd dimension, in which Superman's reality is, but is above them as an inhabitant of the 5th dimension, he has almost unlimited power during his visits, which the inhabitants of the 3rd dimension like Magic appears. His enormous popularity was reflected in publications such as New Year's Evil: Mr. Mxyzpltk (1998) or World's Funnest , in which he plays the leading role and Superman himself is only the gnome's plaything.

Since Mr. Mxyzptlk is a magical being, he does not have a definite and fixed form, but is able to adapt his appearance to his respective wishes and mood changes. In its original version in the 1940s, he was a short, bald man in a purple suit with a green bow tie and a derby hat. In the 1950s, he was finally given a futuristic-looking yellow doublet with a purple belt, which he still wears in slight variations as a “charming dress” today. When he visits the earth, he usually appears as a short male 0.53 m tall with thin arms and legs. He then wears yellow trousers and a yellow doublet, sometimes sleeveless, but sometimes also with sleeves, the hems of which (on the collar, pullover folds, armholes) are purple. Also purple (or pink) are his boots (sometimes Babuschen ), gloves, belt and hat. As a hat, he usually wears a bowler hat that is too small. He also often smokes large cigars. His skull usually appears a bit oversized compared to the rest of the body, is bald on the upper side, but has two tufts of white hair that protrude to the sides as if electrically charged. Some artists (like Jon Bogdanove or Mike McKone ) portray him as a very cartoonish figure, others (like Curt Swan , Jerry Ordway or John Byrne ) depict him as a person with his height would look. Often it is also pointed out that he adopts his cute appearance in the 3rd dimension, since his true five-dimensional appearance cannot be grasped by residents of the 3rd dimension due to their “limited sensory perception”.

The spelling and the normative pronunciation of the name of Mxyzptlk has changed again and again over the decades. Originally it was called Muxptlk, it wasn't until the 1950s that Mxyzptlk (in the series Superboy Master Mxyzptlk ) was committed. The phonetics of the name have been changed even more frequently. Versions given by the publisher included: Mix-Ill-Plick, Miks-yez-pit-lik, mix-yez-PIT-lek, mix-yez-PIT-ul-ick and mix-yez-pittle-ik . "Mix, yes, spit, lick," es Mix-Ill-Plick, Miks-il-piti-lik, Mix-yiz-SPIT-Lik !, "Mits-l-plitz-ick", mux-ITZ-pulk [ məksɪtzpəlk].

Mxyzptlk has the ability to create matter (ie objects, people, etc.) from nothing, to give inanimate matter the ability to move autonomously, it can fly and make itself invisible, it can teleport itself and others and float, it can look like stroll at will, travel through time and much more. Basically, he can do anything he can imagine. Some stories like Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow by Alan Moore present more serious and philosophical approaches to the character and portray Mxyzptlk as the most dangerous of all Superman opponents, so he once allied himself with Lex Luthor . The majority of Superman adventures, however, portray him as a “mischievous rascal” who is clearly a tormentor and a thorn in Superman's flesh and undoubtedly one of the hero's most powerful opponents, but also one of the “purest souls” and the least malicious characters in the rogue gallery of the "man of steel", who simply lacks the insight into the harmfulness of many of his actions, since the vulnerability of material things and human beings in the 3rd dimension are strange and incomprehensible to him. In any case, he usually shrinks away from really serious acts that cause lasting suffering to others.

Although Superman is far inferior to the all-powerful Mxyzptlk in terms of his powers, the latter has chosen him as his favorite victim for teasing, teasing and playing pranks in the 3rd dimension. Thanks to his almost unlimited power, the little magician can force Superman to go along with every joke, no matter how absurd, and every absurd amount of fun. He can transform Superman into other beings by snapping his fingers, conjure up clothes on and off his body, move him to other places or rob him of his strength - all by virtue of his will. Examples of Mxyz's actions include trying to seduce Superman's girlfriend Lois Lane in the cover identity of playboy Ben DeRoy , organizing a race between Superman and the super-fast hero Flash , and the theatrical reenactment of Superman's death by conjuring up the monster Badabim-Bada-Boomsday (an allusion to the Superman killer Doomsday), the bringing into being of the “Daily Planet” high-rise, the attempt to reconnect Clark Kent and Lois Lane after a relationship quarrel, a metaphysical confrontation with death, the creation of red Kryptonite (which Superman temporarily transformed into a normal person) and the creation of a phenomenal epidemic of luck that resulted in everyone in Metropolis having their greatest wishes fulfilled at once (e.g. winning the lottery).

Mxyzptlk has two weaknesses: On the one hand, due to the strange natural laws of its dimension, it can only travel to the 3rd dimension every 90 days - the reason for this has never been explained - and on the other hand, you can force it to go into the 5th dimension against your will to return if he is tempted to pronounce his name backwards (Kltpzyxm; spoken: kil-tip-zee-zim [ kɪltɪpzizɪm ]). The latter has the consequence that it is thrown back into the 5th dimension with a loud "pouf" and a small cloud of smoke. To tempt him to make the crucial mistake, Superman Mxys usually has to "cheat" with crazy tricks and deception maneuvers, for example to get him to write his own name backwards on a giant typewriter and to do similarly absurd things. Mxyz's vanity and overconfidence as well as his innocence are the character traits that usually lead Superman's attempts to trick him to success and make it possible for him to take the little gnome by surprise.

Mxyzptlk is also often used by the authors in parodistic stories that look at the world of Superman comics from a humorous, self-ironic angle or even remove the dividing line between fiction and reality in a self-referential way by giving the characters of the stories the knowledge confer that they are within a fictional world: For example, in Man of Steel # 75, in which Mxyzptlk is temporarily killed, from 1998 there was an encounter between Mxyzptlk and the editor of the "Superman" group of the DC publishing house , Mike Carlin , who appears to the magician as “the highest being” after his death, while Carlin's office and the drawing room next to it are presented as the “beyond” of the Superman stories.

In the comic book Young Justice # 3, a complete origin of the character was presented for the first time. According to this, Mxy was originally a serious researcher from the 5th dimension, who traveled to the 3rd dimension out of scientific curiosity and gained his bizarre sense of humor from the young heroes Robin, Superboy and Impulse through the collective consumption of Three Stogees films discovered. As a result, his personality changed fundamentally: the strict and docile, black-haired scientist became a little gnome with protruding tufts of white hair, his strict, systematic mind had changed into a quirky, wildly sparkling, crackling powerhouse of unreason, the ever new absurdities and brings forth abnormalities.

After Mxyz temporarily surrendered 99% of his powers to the insane villain Joker and thus almost triggered a gigantic catastrophe - only Superman and Mxy together managed to rob the madman of his abilities again - he became more sensible and sensible for a while: again in possession of his powers he eliminated the world of chaos and anarchy created by Joker and restored normal order. In the One-Shot World's Funnest , Mxyz struggled with the cute gnome Bat-Mite - Batman's Mr. Mxyzptlk, so to speak - while in the Ruin storyline he was temporarily stranded in the 3rd dimension and helped Superman, the crazy professor Defeat hamilton. Mxyz was fatally injured in the confrontation with Hamilton. At the end of the story it remained open whether he had actually died or whether he had been able to save the 5th dimension by saying his name backwards at the last second. The latter is suggested because in the last picture he was seen lying dying on the floor, whispering something inaudible, which, as the context suggested, was probably the palindrome of his own name. Almost nothing is known about Mxyzptlk's home in the 5th dimension, only his wife, in Mxyzptlk's home dimension "Quinto partner", Ms. Gsptlsnz and a few other residents were introduced to Superman adventures over time.

Mxyzptlk appeared as a character in the animated series "The Adventures of Superman" (1967 by Filmation), "Superfriends" (1970s; US dubbing voice: Frank Welker ; pronounced: Miks-ill-plik), Superman: The Animated Series (US- Dubbing voice: Gilbert Gottfried , "mix-yes-split-lick"). Mxyz's girlfriend, Ms. Fsptlsnz, also appeared in the Superman series.

In the TV series Superboy from the 1980s Mxyzptlk was from Michael J. Pollard embodied in the series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman stepped Howie Mandel in the role of Zaubergnoms on. In the series Smallville , Trent Ford appeared in the episode "Jinx" as Mikail Mxyzptlk . He was also seen in the computer game Superman Returns as the narrator of the " Imingames Menu" . All of these versions varied Mxyz's character, purpose, approach, and appearance more or less slightly, but remained essentially true to the character.

Due to its originality, the figure of Mxyzptlk is one of the most well-known figures of the Superman universe among the general public and is accordingly frequently referenced. Countless caricatures, homages and allusions to him have been made in pop culture. Examples of this would be the characters The Great Gazoo from the series The Flintstones , Mr Ogg from the series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Skillit from The Mask Mxyzptlk. The Marvel Publishing developed by Mxyzptlks modeled the figure of the Impossible Man (in an in-joke was in Superman indicated # 50 of 1990 that the two figures are the same person in reality various incarnations, that is different looks that takes the gnome in different worlds) . The band Mixel Pixel is named after him.

Mxyzptlk is also mentioned in the science fiction novel series Perry Rhodan in volume 2612, page 48, where one of the main characters in the series says: "I'll teleport us on board before anyone can say the name Mxyzptlk backwards."

Mokkari

See Mokkari and Simyan .

Mongul

Mongul is an alien warlord bonded to Superman in bitter hatred. He made his debut in DC Comics Presents # 27, November 1980 (Writer: Len Wein , Artist: Jim Starlin ). Mongul calls himself the "Lord of the Warworld", a huge, planet-sized, mobile space fortress that he once commanded and used as a tool for his expeditions through space. Mongul is a strongly built, yellow-skinned giant (approx. 2.80 m). He has physical strength, stamina and invulnerability similar to Superman. In addition, he is telepathically gifted, can move himself with the help of a teleportation device and fire powerful beams of energy from a plaque that has grown into his body on his chest. Mongul was originally created by Starlin as a counterpart to the villain character "Thanos" from Marvel Comics, which Starlin had created while working for this publisher. Mongul's character, more than most other Superman villains, is dominated by bad traits: he is greedy, selfish, cruel, and ruthless. Mongul is intelligent in a worldly sense, but not interested in spiritual things beyond his own everyday circle. He has neither charisma nor other character traits that give him the inner loyalty of his subordinates: accordingly, he enforces their allegiance through brute force.

Mongul met Superman several times in the last years of the old Superman series (1938–1986), with whom he always fought extremely brutal duels. Probably the best-known story in this series is the story " For the Man Who Has Everything " from Superman Annual # 11 from 1985, which was published by the FAZ in Volume # 1 of the classics of comic literature as one of the best Superman stories ever was awarded.

Mongul was originally the ruler of his own people: after they overthrew him in a revolution and forced him to flee, he vowed to return one day in order to regain control over his subjects. To this end, Mongul finally took control of the Warworld. With their help he built a galactic empire that he ruled with an iron hand. For the amusement of his subjects, he had gladiator fights held at Warworld. In order to oppose his champion, a warrior named Draaga, a worthy opponent, Mongul finally brought Superman into his power, who had to fight Draaga as a gladiator. Together, Superman and Draaga finally managed to end Mongul's rule over the Warworld and drive it out. Exasperated by his defeat, Mongul was stranded on a small, backward planet on which he at times led a miserable existence. There he finally met the killer Cyborg , another opponent of Superman's, who suggested an alliance: Together they wanted to take revenge on Superman, kill him and transform the earth into a new warworld. While trying to implement this transformation process, Coast City, the home of the hero Green Lantern , was destroyed. Ultimately, however, Superman managed to triumph over the Cyborg and Mongul together with Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Steel, Supergirl, the Eradicator and Superboy. Mongul was detained in a special prison, from which he later escaped. Again he was defeated by Superman and Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner). Mongul was eventually slain by the demon Neron after he turned down his offer to exchange his soul for a gift of his choice.

Mongul appeared in the cartoon series “Justice League Unlimited” (US dubbing voice: Eric Roberts ).

Mongul II

Mongul II is the son of Mongul. He looks like his father's face and has the same skills as his father. Mongul II made its debut in Showcase '95 # 8 from September 1995 (Author: Jeph Loeb ). Mongul II took over his inheritance after the death of his father. At first he pretended not to have inherited its cruel and ruthless character and that he was benevolent towards humanity. After a brief collaboration with Superman, however, he turned against him. Later he fought - occasionally supported by his sister Mongal - against Superman and Green Lantern on various occasions and was briefly a member of the special unit Suicide Squad .

Mongal

Mongal is an alien warrior who Superman clashed with on various occasions. She is the daughter of Mongul . The character made his debut in Superman # 170. Together with her brother Mongul II, Mongal fought against Superman on various occasions, but was always defeated. After the death of the warrior queen Maxima from the planet Almerac, Mongal was elected ruler of this planet. However, in the course of an argument with her brother, Mongal was killed ( Green Lantern # 8, 2006).

Morgan Edge

See Morgan Edge

Mr Z

Mr. Z is a man of unknown origin who Superman dealt with on various occasions. He appears to be some kind of magician - this has never been specifically confirmed - with his agenda unclear. The source of Mr. Z's abilities - most of which can be found in the area of ​​mind manipulation - seems to be a magical jewel that crowns the walking stick that he always carries around with him. Mr. Z - who has the ability to rise from the dead - made his debut in Superman # 51, January 1991 (Writer and Illustrator: Jerry Ordway ).

When he first met Superman, Mr. Z tried, for reasons unknown, to lock the "man of steel" in his magical jewel. However, this managed to free himself from the stone thanks to his overwhelming willpower. Mr. Z managed to escape the hero, however. Shortly afterwards, Superman met Mr. Z again - or for Mr. Z for the first time, for himself for the second time - when he was taken on a journey through time to the 1940s and Z met him as an officer in the Wehrmacht during the events of the Second World War . The third time they met - again in the present - Mr. Z, using his psychosuggestive skills, managed to erase Superman's memory during an argument on a remote island in the South Pacific. The disoriented Superman remained amnesia for a few days on the Pacific Island until his friends Guardian, Professor Hamilton and Lois Lane tracked him down and restored his memory. In the ensuing argument with Mr. Z, his magical jewel was destroyed, whereupon he in turn lost his memory. Superman then returned to Metropolis, leaving the confused Mr. Z, who was no longer dangerous, as a harmless, slightly confused hermit on the remote island. Superman took the remains of Mr. Z's jewel to his fortress of solitude in the Arctic, where he has kept the pieces ever since.

neutron

Neutron , aka Nathaniel Tryon, is a mercenary who has superpowers based on atomic energy (super strength, flying, invulnerability, ability to fire energy rays, energy absorption powers). He made his debut in Action Comics # 525, November 1981 (Writer: Marv Wolfman, Illustrator: Joe Staton). He owes his strength to a reactor accident that he caused when he broke into a nuclear power plant with two other thieves (together as a TNT trio). His body was transformed into living energy in this accident, which is held together by a containment suit. Since then, he has been offering his powers to the highest bidder under the code name Neutron: His clients in the past have included Conduit, Manchester Black and the Secret Society of Super Villains. For Conduit - who had found out Superman's secret identity - he was supposed to murder his adoptive parents, the Kent couple, Manchester Black put him on employees of the Daily Planet to lure Superman out of the reserve for a fight and for the Intergang he was supposed to be Clark Kent (Superman ) to murder. After his arrests, Neutron was held at the STAR-Labs research facility and interned in the Slabside Island prison ("The Slab"). In the past, Neutron has belonged to the terrorist group “Fearsome Five” and once teamed up with the assassins Warp and Plasmus and once with the thug Radion. With Professor Radium, Geiger, Mister Nitro and Reactron, he formed the “Nuclear Legion”, a group of thieves with unclear objectives.

Noose

Noose ("gallows noose") is a clone of a criminal from the 1940s who belongs to the criminal organization Intergang. Noose, who made his debut in Adventures of Superman # 544 (author: Karl Kesel, draftsman: Stuart Immonen) in 1997, has the ability to shape his body at will and thus use it as a tool and weapon. He owes his name to his tendency to deform his hands into long elastic "ropes" with which he strangles other people to death like a gallows rope.

Noose was originally working as an "enforcer" for gangster Boss Moxie in the 1940s. He was eventually arrested and died in prison. Noose was later cloned by the geneticist Dabney Donovan on the instructions of Boss Moxie in order to assist him again as an accomplice in the realization of his criminal plans: The clone joined the criminal gang Intergang formed by Moxie as a "man for the rough" and ended up in this capacity on various occasions in conflict with Superman, who eventually arrested him. For further information, see entry "Intergang" above.

Nuclear Man

Nuclear Man (played by Mark Pillow, voiced by Gene Hackman ) was an opponent in Superman IV . It was created by Lex Luthor and his nephew Lenny Luthor through a nuclear explosion in the sun using a Superman's gene sample and is only viable through the rays of the sun. Its powers include flight, super strength and energy discharges (lightning).

Otis

Actor Ned Beatty (1990)

Otis (played by Ned Beatty ) is one of Lex Luthor's sidekicks in Richard Donner's two Superman films. He is a short, plump and simple-minded man who, from a film-dramaturgical point of view, primarily fulfills the function of a punch line for Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman). Otis has no gifts worth mentioning, either physically or intellectually - on the contrary, with his simple-mindedness and ignorance he harms Luther's interests rather than using them.

parasite

The Parasite is one of the “classic” Superman villains, which means that it is one of the most traditional opponents of the hero, who has appeared again and again for years and has been used in almost every incarnation of the material Has. The parasite is a former caretaker of the STAR-Labs research facility, who since a laboratory accident has had the gift of being able to suck out the life force (or superpowers) of other beings through physical contact. So it parasites the forces and energies of other beings like a parasite. While the parasite absorbs the power of a victim, the victim is increasingly weakened by his attacks and, if not separated from him, dies of emaciation. In the old Superman series (1938–1986), the real name of the parasite was Maxwell Jensen , and since the series was restarted in 1986, its alter ego has been called Rudy Jones . He made his debut in Action Comics # 340 in August 1966. Newer versions add muscle mass to the villain, decrease his intelligence and make his head resemble a leech .

Prankster

The prankster ("someone who plays pranks"), aka Oswald Loomis, is a former television entertainer who occasionally pests Superman with (rather harmless) pranks. He made his debut in Action Comics # 51 from 1942. The Prankster is one of the oldest recurring villains in the Superman franchise from the 1940s to the 1980s. He appeared again and again as a "fancy joker", the Superman with absurd pranks and pranks Treated gimmicks that were mainly taken from the arsenal of comic films and the children's amusement industry (e.g. throw cakes, box devils, etc.). Its visual appearance is correspondingly “cartoon-esque”: The prankster is relatively small, round, grows a long mustache, which it often stretches with relish, and has a childlike-looking tooth gap in the manner of Alfred E. Neumann . He did not have a real agenda beyond "nonsense".

After the reboot of the Superman franchise in 1986, Loomis was introduced as a retired children's television star who celebrated his crude humor in a banal humorous franchise called Uncle Oswald . Frustrated by the cancellation of his show, he finally began a campaign of revenge against the management of his station by gradually murdering the directors. While attempting to kill Morgan Edge, the station's chairman, Loomis was caught by Superman and imprisoned in Stryker's Island prison. Another attack on Edge's life also failed. Since the authors did not know how to tell any stories for adult readers (to whom the new Superman series has been specially tailored since 1986) with the very childlike figure of the prankster, the figure otherwise remained almost unused (only four stories occurred between 1986 and 2000 on). In order to upgrade the figure and make it “contemporary”, Loomis was finally allowed to enter into a pact with the demon Lord Satanus. In exchange for his soul, the being from Hell gave him a new, younger and more athletic body. So one could explain a changed appearance and a new approach of the prankster in his crimes. After the defeat of Satanus by Superman, the prankster worked briefly for the crook Manchester Black, before finally entering the service of Lex Luthor ( Superman # 651).

In the TV series "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" , the prankster was embodied in two episodes by Bronson Pinchot .

Preus

Preus is a refugee from the bottle city of Kandor, a city from the planet Krypton that was shrunk by the evil wizard Tolos (including its inhabitants), which Superman later took control of and kept in his secret hiding place, the Fortress of Solitude. Since then, the hero has tried to enlarge the city again and to help its inhabitants to freedom. Preus made his debut in 2004 Superman # 202 (Writer: Joe Kelly, Artist: Talent Caldwell). Preus was born in the city of bottles and there eventually rose to a sergeant of the security forces that organized the residents of Kandor. Preus developed into an outspoken racist who wanted to accept only the residents of the city from Krypton, while he faced the other residents of the city from all parts of the universe with xenophobic feelings. With the help of a woman named Lyla, who traveled through time, Preus finally managed to escape from Kandor and escape to earth: under the earth's yellow sun, he soon developed the same powers as Superman (invulnerability, super strength, super speed, X-ray vision, telescope Heat vision, super senses and flying) and is therefore one of the superhero's most powerful enemies. Preus, who was still clinging to his racist ideas, founded a sect by rallying racist Americans in a desert town called “God's Peake”, who from then on worshiped him as a god. Preus attempts to take the place of the hero as the new Superman and to soar to the new god of the earth have so far failed. The last time they met, Superman inflicted severe wounds on Preus that resulted in him having to be hospitalized. His whereabouts since then are unclear.

Prometheus

Prometheus is a professional criminal with whom Superman and the rest of the Superman-led superhero team of the Justice League ("Justice League") face. Prometheus, who made his debut in the 1997 comic book New Year's Evil: Prometheus # 1 (author: Grant Morrison, draftsman: Arnie Jorgensen), is designed as a kind of "anti-Batman", ie as a dark reflection of the famous comic hero of the same name. He is a normal mortal man who, thanks to numerous futuristic technical devices and a cunning intellect, is one of the most dangerous opponents of the superhero team.

The name Prometheus for the villain is derived from the name of the titan Prometheus from Greek mythology. The idea of ​​naming the villain after the mythological figure is based on the idea of ​​author Grant Morrison - Prometheus' inventor - of the "Justice League" (JLA) as a kind of association of modern gods: every hero who belongs to the team, is, according to Morrison's understanding of the JLA material, the modern incarnation of a god in ancient mythology. Superman is modeled after Zeus, the father of the gods, Batman the god Hades, Wonder Woman the Hera, Plastic Man the god Bacchus, etc. To put the "icing on the cake" of this idea, Morrison created the JLA series in the late 1990s during his authorship of the JLA series a villain who should stand for the Justice League as a pantheon of modern gods, as the cunning Prometheus stood for the gods of mythology, whom he repeatedly outwitted, led astray and stole - this he then consequently also called Prometheus. Just as the mythological Prometheus robbed the gods of fire from Olympus (or from the flaming chariot of Helios), the Prometheus of the Superman comics appropriately penetrated the headquarters of the superheroes (Watchtower) on his first appearance in order to steal from them.

In addition, as already mentioned above, the figure of Prometheus consistently follows the concept of an anti-Batman. The villain is clearly laid out as an antipode of Batman, both in its origin story and in its character and appearance: He is extremely similar to this one and yet fundamentally different: while Batman's parents were respectable citizens, who were led by a criminal in front of their son were shot, the parents of Prometheus (whose true identity has not yet been clarified) were "Bonnie and Clyde" -like professional criminals who were shot by the police in front of their son after a coup in the course of a speedy chase. While Batman devoted himself to fighting criminals in revenge for what criminals had done to his family, Prometheus devoted his life to the fight against "law and order" - against the state, the authorities and the police and judiciary in revenge for the death of his parents by police bullets in particular. While Batman was a "superhero," Prometheus became a super villain. In addition, the young Prometheus, like the young Bruce Wayne (Batman), had a very intimate and personal relationship with his parents over whose death he had snow-white hair out of shock as a child.

After the death of his parents, the young Prometheus accumulated a considerable fortune by accessing his parents' hidden bag storage and extorting considerable sums of money from the mob using secret information he had learned from his parents. At sixteen, Prometheus went on a long trip around the world to prepare for his battle against the forces of "order and law" (another parallel to Batman who undertook a similar long journey for the opposite purpose). During his “apprenticeship years” Prometheus learned, among other things, the craft of a pit fighter in Brazil, worked in Africa as a mercenary and as a terrorist in the Middle East, studied silat in Malaysia and attended various universities. In the Himalayas he discovered the monk-inhabited city of Shamballa, which was inhabited by monks who worshiped evil itself. He also apprenticed to them. Inside the temple of Shamballa, an old spaceship was also discovered, which was the central devotional object of the monks' cult. In this he found an artifact that he called "key" for short because of its appearance and format. This turned out to be a handy teleporter that enables Prometheus to penetrate into the ghost zone, another dimension also known as the limbo or phantom zone. This is basically nothing other than an infinite, empty white nothing. From then on Prometheus used this as his headquarters, to which he always withdrew when he wanted peace. He built a small house in the ghost zone that he uses as the base of his operations and also began to do technical research in the seclusion of the ghost zone. So he finally developed a combat suit with many technical refinements that made him one of the most dangerous men in the world. The most important part of his equipment is a mnemonic helmet, which allows him to read the knowledge stored on compact discs directly into his brain and to make the knowledge and skills of other people directly available and to apply them with perfect mastery. In addition, he has various firing devices on his wrist with which he can fire projectiles, acid and poison darts, as well as a device that he calls Tonfa or Nightstick, which enables him to strike with the power of a super being despite his normal physical strength.

Prometheus first appeared when he infiltrated the JLA headquarters on the moon under the code name "Retro" in order to undertake an attack on the group that was to serve as a beacon of the destruction of the "order" he hated. Although he defeated nine of the eleven members of the group gathered there and easily kept the remaining two at bay, and Superman was about to carry out Prometheus 'order to commit suicide to save the lives of innocent people, Prometheus' plan ultimately failed when the Antihero Catwoman got involved in the events in the watchtower. Prometheus had not foreseen the presence of the professional thief - who had come to steal in the watchtower - and therefore did not take it into account in his planning for the attack on the league. Unable to control the situation, Prometheus fled to the Ghost Zone after Catwoman surprised and injured him. A second attack on the league team on behalf of Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor also failed after various initial successes (destruction of the Watchtowers) when Batman succeeded in sabotaging Prometheus equipment and the skills of master martial artists, which he had stored in his helmet through the physical abilities of the disabled professor Stephen Hawking replaced what Prometheus de facto incapacitated. Having become harmless through this manipulation, Batman could easily defeat and arrest Prometheus. An attempt by the aggressive JLA member David Harbecke to kill the defenseless Prometheus was barely prevented.

Prometheus later worked briefly as a thief in the city of Star City, where he came up against the vigilante Green Arrow. Immediately afterwards he entered into a long partnership with Batman's enemy, the terrorist Hush, whom he helped to assassinate, among other things, the eco-activist Pamela Isley. After the end of his partnership with Hush Prometheus was seen, among other things, fighting with the criminal Lady Shiva ( Birds of Prey # 94) - whom he defeated - and as a stooge of the criminal organization "The Society" founded by Luthor. While working for this group, Prometheus killed, among others, the agent Peacemaker III. Most recently, Prometheus was cured of his infection with a plant poison developed by Isley before her death. Another argument with Huntress ended without result.

Prometheus also appeared in the console game Justice League Heroes on Nintendo DS.

Psi Phone and Dreadnought

Psi-Phon and Dreadnought are two aliens who made life difficult for Superman on various occasions. Both made their debut in Superman # 19, July 1988 (Writer: John Byrne, Artist: Jerry Ordway). Psi Phon is a yellow-skinned gnome (1.06 m tall) with extremely thin limbs, Dreadnought is a brawny, pink-skinned giant with powerful teeth and huge horns sprouting from its head. Psi-Phon has - as its name suggests - psi powers that enable it to “latch” into the brains of beings with superpowers through sheer willpower and to prevent them from using their powers through mental barriers. He can also transfer their powers to dreadnought (phonetically based on " dread nought ", "fear nothing"), who has the ability to simulate the abilities of other beings. Dreadnought can also vary in size and weight at will and has superhuman physical strength due to its stature.

Rajiv Naga

Rajiv Naga was a corrupt businessman with bitter hostility to Clark Kent's (Superman) wife, reporter Lois Lane. After Lane took Naga's brother to jail through an investigative report, Naga had Lane's husband (who had just lost his powers at the time) kidnapped in order to blackmail Lane. However, he managed to free Kent and seriously injure Naga: With a hard blow to his neck, she destroyed his larynx, so that Naga has since needed a microphone surgically integrated into his throat in order to be able to speak (with a metallic under-sound). Naga's further attempts to avenge himself for the loss of his voice and the shameful defeat of Lane were also unsuccessful: an attack on Metropolis with killer satellites and an attempt to kidnap Lane while on a business trip in Australia ultimately failed. Naga was eventually - after a fight with Superman, Lois Lane and their father Sam Lane - killed in an explosion in his hiding place on Mount Uluṟu (Ayers Rock) in the heart of Australia.

skirt

Rock ("Rock"), aka Micah Flint, is a retired astronaut who was named after a failed experiment by LexCorp to enable humans to live in space, into a gigantic, rock-like appearance. He made his debut in Superman: Man of Tomorrow # 8 from spring 1997 (author: Roger Stern, illustrator: Tom Grummet). Rock is a tall man with a stocky build and sandstone-colored, rock-like skin. He is extremely pain-resistant and has considerable physical strength, which, however, are significantly lower than those of Superman.

Rock, who is extremely bitter about the loss of his human appearance, seeks revenge on the businessman Lex Luthor - Superman's archenemy - who not only financed the experiment thanks to Flint, but also through his relentless insistence on rapid success caused the out of control and thus the failure of the same and was thus directly responsible for Flint's transformation into rock. Rock's first attempt on Luther's life was foiled by Superman. Later, on the initiative of Morgan Edge, a rival of Luther and another enemy of Superman, Rock teamed up with the criminals Barrage and Parasit to form the second formation of the "Superman Revenge Squad" ( Action Comics # 736) to put an end to the hero and then to be able to take revenge on Luthor unhindered. But this action was, as well as a confrontation with the alien named Scorn and a short collaboration with the terrorist Manchester Black, unsuccessful.

Ronal

Ronal is a merman, i.e. H. a hybrid of human and fish with a human upper body and a fish fin as the abdomen. He is a doctor gifted in magic from the underwater city of Tritonis and made his debut (nameless) in US Superman # 135 from February 1960. He got his name in Superman # 138 from July 1960. Superman met the talented surgeon Ronal when he was Clark Kent's (Superman) college friend, the mermaid Lori Lemaris, healed from a serious illness. Ronal and Lemaris eventually married and were harmoniously married for several years. Eventually, however, Ronal was mentally corrupted and driven insane by the magical staff to which he owed his miraculous abilities as a medicin. Obsessed with the idea of ​​robbing his staff, he began to distrust those around him and suspect everyone he met of hostile intentions. He transformed harmless sea creatures into aggressive monsters that would be loyal to him by virtue of his magic. When Superman was finally able to place Ronal in the Marine Biology Institute of Metropolis, the magic wand (or the magical jewel that gave it its power) broke in a duel and Ronal was turned to stone. The "statue" that was once Ronal is occasionally shown as an allusion in the background of various Superman stories.

Rorc

Rorc is an agent of the Cerberus organization, see "Cerberus" entry above.

Ross Webster

Ross Webster (played by Robert Vaughn ) is Superman's main enemy in the third Warner Brothers feature film about the superhero. Webster is an eccentric (he had a ski jump including artificial snow built on the roof of his company skyscraper) and immensely wealthy industrialist who, together with the ingenious computer hacker Gus Gorman, tries to upset the world economy in his sense through clever computer manipulation and thus the economic rule over the Bringing the world to himself: For example, he sabotaged the petrochemical industry and the coffee industry - with the exception of his own investments - in order to benefit from the increased prices. With Gorman's help, Webster first fabricates artificial kryptonite, which Superman temporarily transforms into a callous indifferent who no longer cares about Webster's machinations, and later - when Superman has found his way back to his old self - builds a supercomputer with which he tries the superhero To finish off. At his side are Gorman, his sister Vera Webster and his lovely assistant Lorelei Ambrosia. In the end it almost seems as if Webster's supercomputer is capable of defeating Superman, but at the last moment Gorman - who shrinks from the utmost - helps the hero to overcome the computer and defeat Webster. Paradoxically, after his defeat, Webster is not sent to jail, but simply disappears without any explanation for his disappearance or even astonishing the other characters.

The role of Ross Webster was quickly taken over into the script of the film after the actor Gene Hackman, due to personal differences with the producers of the Superman film series, was unwilling to play his role as the villain Lex Luthor - which he had played in the previous films - to take over again. Vaugn was hired to replace Hackman. However, since they did not want to confuse the audience by having the same role played by different actors, the name and role of Luthor were replaced by the newly invented Webster. The latter basically only differed in name from Luthor, but was extremely similar in character as well as in its habitus, background and agenda.

Rough House

Rough House is a 1940s criminal clone. He is a superhumanly strong, vigorous, stupid and gentle man who looks like a harmless civil servant with his glasses and old-fashioned clothes. He belonged to the second formation of the Intergang under Boss Moxie. For further information see entry "Intergang" above.

ruin

Ruin is the criminal alias of Superman's old friend Professor Hamilton. For more information see the entry " Professor Hamilton ".

Scareware

Scareware is a superhumanly strong cyborg belonging to the terrorist group "Override". For further information see the "Override" entry.

Scavanger

See Scavanger .

Scorch

Scorch (English scorch "scorch"), aka Aubrey Sparks, is. She made her debut in JLA # 61 from February 2002.

Sergeant Belcher

Sergeant Belcher ( Sergeant Belcher ) is an agent of the Cerberus organization, see "Cerberus" entry above.

Sidney Happersen

See Sidney Happersen .

Silver Banshee

Silver Banshee (s. Silver "silver" banshee "death omen spirit"), also known as Siobhan McDougal, is a female demon (spirit of revenge), who is on the loose in Superman's hometown of Metropolis. Silver Banshee is an extremely pale, tall (2.10 meters tall, weighing 86 kg) woman with a dead-like appearance. Silver Banshee made his debut in Action Comics # 595, December 1987 (Writer and Illustrator: John Byrne). She has superhuman physical strength and speed, as well as the gift of being able to start a deadly howl.

Siobhan McDougal was the first-born daughter of Garret McDougal, the head of an ancient Gaelic clan that had ruled the islands between Scotland and Ireland for millennia. A family tradition required that the firstborn children of the McDougal clan descend into a grotto near the Broen family castle in order to perform a magical ritual that symbolically confirmed their birthright as the leader of the clan. When Siobahn's father died, she claimed the right to be the firstborn child and thus the leadership of the clan. Behind Siobhan's back, however, her uncle Seamus - who found the idea of ​​a woman as head of the McDougal clan unbearable - intrigued against her in order to withhold the leadership of the clan from her. Instead, Seamus wanted Siobhan's younger brother Bevan to be the new leader of the clan. In order to enforce her claim to leadership against her uncle, she decided to perform the old ritual alone - but was disturbed by her brother Bevan. The consequence of this interruption was that the mystical powers had conjured up the Siobhan, punishing them for improperly performing the ritual by banishing them to the underworld.

Thanks to the help of a being called Crone, Siobhan was finally able to escape from the underworld and return to earth in the form of the female vengeance spirit Silver Banshee. In return, Crone demanded that Banshee get him an occult book from her father's possession. Returning to Earth, Banshee began a grueling campaign of revenge against her family, killing anyone who stood in their way. In search of the family's magic book that her uncle had sold, she finally came to Metropolis, where she clashed with Superman. With her death howl - a special gift that Crone had bestowed on her - she could almost kill the superhero, who only managed to overcome her with the help of Martian Manhunter, another superhero. Two further attempts to get hold of the magical book also failed. Superman's allies Batman finally managed to locate the lost book: after handing it over to Superman, who brought it to the McDougal family castle in Ireland, Siobhan, Bevan and Seamus apparently died and were dragged into the underworld by Crone.

Later, among others, the demons Blaze and Hecate resorted to the services of Silver Banshee in their confrontations with Superman. After she had been briefly in the service of the demon Lord Satanus, Banshee came briefly to the small town of Leesburg - home of Supergirl - where she took possession of the body of Supergirl's friend Mattie. After Supergirl was able to separate the two of them, Banshee disappeared again. Banshee was last seen working as a bounty hunter - uncharacteristically for her - when she tried to collect the $ 1 billion Lex Luthor bonus on the hero ( Superman / Batman # 3).

Silver Banshee appeared in the animated series Justice League Unlimited as a member of the League of Doom (US dubbing voice: Kim Mai Guest ).

Mokkari and Simyan

See Mokkari and Simyan

Skinman

The skinman (" skin man ") is a criminal about whose origin and goals almost nothing is known. The figure appeared primarily as a figure on the sidelines of various Superman adventures from 1997/98. There it was always suggested that the Skinman would play an even more significant role in the future course of the series - but this has not happened so far. The Skinman is best known for the fact that he once pretended to be Clark Kent (Superman's secret identity) and was promptly shot in this guise - only to “rise” shortly afterwards - so that the impression was briefly that Kent was dead. His motives were Kent to dress up was of course never revealed, but only formed the hook for another adventure (the hunt for the "shooter" - Mike Machinegun, a sidekick of Intergang). The skinman has the ability to take on the shape of other people and to deform his body as he likes. In addition, he is almost invulnerable and apparently even "immortal": He has already died several times, only to take action again shortly afterwards as a "revenant". The skinman seems to be in a competitive relationship with the criminal gang Intergang, which is based in Superman's hometown, as their rival he appeared several times on several thieves - but the background to this antagonism was never revealed either.

Skyhook

Skyhook is a monstrous creature created by the demoness Blaze from the soul of the London child killer Dr. Aleister Hook, who was lynched by residents of the city in the 1880s after kidnapping and killing several children. Lying dying, Hook had given his soul to Blaze in exchange for an "afterlife": This transformed Hook into Skyhook, a terrifying, green-skinned figure who wraps himself in tattered rags, hides her face behind a hood and instead of hands hooks Has claws, which gives it its name. It also has long wings that allow it to fly. Skyhook made his debut in Superman # 15, March 1988 (Writer and Illustrator: John Byrne).

Blaze finally sent Skyhook to the American city of Metropolis, Superman's home, to cause trouble there. There he lives in the city's sewers, from which he only occasionally emerges to look for new child victims, whom he takes to his realm, where he transforms them into winged beings who must serve him. Skyhook is particularly hostile to Superman's friend Maggie Sawyer, a tough police officer from Superman's hometown of Metropolis, whose daughter, Jamie, he killed. Later attempts to kill other children (including Superman # 38, Man of Steel # 49) - such as Keith White, the adopted son of Perry White and the boss of Superman's alter ego, the reporter Clark Kent - were mostly made by Superman and / or Sawyer are foiled and usually ended in the "death" of Skyhook. However, since Skyhook is a demon and not a living being, he can resurrect after he has been destroyed in battle - if his mistress (Blaze) likes to summon him again.

Sleez

See Sleez .

Stinger

See stinger .

Taddaeus Killgrave

See the Killgrave entry above.

Titano

Titano the super monkey is a giant gorilla who has made life difficult for Superman time and again since the 1950s. Titano - an African gorilla about eight meters tall - is unequivocally influenced by the cinema monkey King Kong . He made his debut in Superman # 127 from February 1959.

Titano was originally a monkey named Toto, who was shot into orbit by NASA as part of a test flight in a rocket (a clear reminiscence of the bitch Laika, which the Soviets sent into space a few years before Titano's first appearance in 1959 in a sensational rocket test in 1957 had). During his flight through the earth's atmosphere, Toto was bathed in radioactive radiation that genetically modified him and turned him into a giant gorilla. Afterwards he had almost unlimited physical strength and stamina, as well as the ability to fire laser-like kryptonite rays from his eyes. The latter gift in particular made Titano a dangerous opponent for Superman. The role of the "white woman" from the King Kong films mostly took on Superman's lover, the reporter Lois Lane, in the Titano adventures.

In 1987, author John Byrne developed a modern version of Titano in the story "Tears for Titano" . In this new variant, he is a chimpanzee that was tortured by the US government in cruel animal experiments ( Superman Annual # 1). This monkey eventually turned into a gorilla (sic!) As a result of one of the experiments, which began to hunt Dr. Thomas Moyers , to make the head of the research project, whom he regarded as the originator of his torments. Superman prevented Titano from killing Moyers, who in turn reversed the monkey's transformation into a giant and turned him back into a tiny chimpanzee - with Titano dying. In allusion to Titano, a giant monkey appeared in the Superman comics of the 1990s as the advertising mascot of a pizza company called "Titano's Pizza" : This was a giant gorilla with a chef's hat that adorned the company's advertising posters, TV spots and pizza boxes in the background of the Superman stories were seen.

Titano was seen on television in 1967 in the animated series "The New Adventures of Superman" : In the episode "The Chimp Who Made it Big" , the origin story of the monkey from the comic series was retold almost 1 to 1. In the 1990s, Titano appeared in the animated series "Superman: The Animated Series" in the episode "Monkey Fun" (US dubbing voice: Frank Welker ) in which his well-known Origin story was retold again - this time a little more freely.

In allusion to Titano, characters were later created such as Stupendo, the Simian Supreme in the series "Supreme", in the series "Tom Strong" a Titano-like monkey named " Terrifo the Super Ape " and " Titano On Million " appeared.

Tolos

Tolos is an alien magician who is bound to Superman in bitter enmity. He is actually a being of living pink-purple energy and made his debut in Superman # 107 from 1995 (Author: Dan Jurgens). Tolos was the owner of a shrunken city called Kandor which he kept in a bottle. Kandor is inhabited by countless - also shrunken - beings. These are creatures from different planets that Tolos and the previous owners of the Bottle City captured, shrunk and moved into the city. Many of the residents are also descendants of the original sacrifices of Tolos- The Bottle Towners' bodies can summon Tolos from the bottle at will to temporarily take control of them. His preferred body was a green-skinned, Chinese-looking man with white hair, who corresponded to the cliché of the magician that Tolos used in an ideal-typical way.

This was covered with a dimensional barrier, i. H. Kandor existed in another dimension, which made it impossible for the inhabitants of the city to leave the bottle: Tolos could access the city from the outside and travel around in it, but the inhabitants were unable to break through the barrier. When he had no more use for a body, he sent it back to the bottle, where the actual owner then regained control over it. Superman first met Tolos during a journey through space in the space city of Haven, where he had settled as a faith healer at the time. Tolos helped Superman to heal his injured friend Mope but then tried - in vain - to take over Superman's body and banish it to Kandor. Tolos was forced to flee. However, he later came to Earth and tried again to capture Superman and lock him up in Kandor ( Action Comics # 725). This attempt also failed when Tolos was apparently killed by the Daxamite Cil Gand , whose body he took over by his suicide ( Superman # 116). Superman then took Kandor into custody and tried to find a way to free his inmates. As it turned out later ( Man of Steel # 69), Tolos had survived and went into hiding inside Kandor, where he inhabited the body of the warrior Faern . After his renewed defeat against Superman and the hero Atom, Tolos was able to merge in the dimensional barrier that is clinging to the glass of the bottle city and has since been a living prisoner in the energetic phase barrier.

Toyman

The Toyman (Eng. "Toy Man"), alias Winslow Schott, is a mentally ill former toy maker who makes life difficult for Superman with his inventions. The toyman, who debuted in Action Comics # 64 from September 1943 (author: Jerry Siegel, draftsman: Joe Shuster) is one of the most traditional and popular Superman villains and has experienced various incarnations over the decades. For his crimes he uses modified toys that are equipped with miraculous abilities. Although they are always cute to look at, his creations are sometimes extremely dangerous. His inventions include life-size wind-up tanks, acid-spraying water pistols and toy soldiers with real rifles. The original Toyman as he was created in the 1940s was a flamboyant clown who teased Superman with grotesque inventions without representing any real danger. In the 1990s, the author Dan Jurgens developed the Toyman - until then an affable, extremely child-loving, plump little man with voluminous hair and a cute, colorful suit with a bow that made him look like a character from a Victorian children's book by Lewis Carroll - into one cruel, passionate child murderer.

In the 1940s, the Toyman was one of the most common Superman adversaries, and in the 1950s to 1990s it was a somewhat frequent adversary. After the Superman series restarted in 1986, the toyman was re-introduced in 1988's Superman # 13 as an unemployed British toy maker. He comes in this new version in Superman's hometown Metropolis to take revenge on Superman's archenemy, the businessman Lex Luthor, that he was laid off after the takeover of his employer company by Luthor's corporation LexCorp, because his toys were no longer up to date. His attacks on Luther's life are foiled by Superman, who eventually puts him in prison. In later adventures he first emerges as the protector of children, whom he kidnaps in order to prevent their careless parents from accessing them ( Action Comics # 653). Later ( Superman # 83) he goes through a dramatic change: Out of bitterness that an action figure that was made of him and sold in the series “Superman's Enemies” was not accepted by the children and degenerated into a slow shopper, while others “ more brutal “opponent figures sold much more often, he decided to redefine himself. The toyman shaved his bald head and began to hear voices - especially those of his dead mother - encouraging him to commit horrific crimes. Out of hatred of the children who refused to accept him as a “dear villain”, he begins to kidnap children as “playmates”, to abuse them and to murder them. The children he murdered included Adam Grant, the son of reporter Cat Grant, a friend of Superman's alter ego Clark Kent ( Superman # 84). This psychotic toyman later teamed up with the cyborg (Superman Red / Superman Blue), among others. This new Toyman, created by Dan Jurgens, has been interpreted by critics as a genre-critical reflection with which the author wanted to denounce the excessive popularity of cruel, bloodthirsty and ruthless villains compared to bizarre sympathizers in the 1990s. This is supported by the self-referential references in the comics that fictional children within the comics are more interested in those opponents of Superman's who have no scruples than those who are good-natured.

In the 1970s, a second toyman, a copycat, was created with Jack Nimballer. This debuted in Action Comics # 432 from February 1974. He used the same modus operandi as the first Toyman but wore a jester costume. This toyman was eventually killed in Superman # 305 by Schott, who reclaimed his identity as a "toy man" after the murder.

A second Toyman (debut in Superman # 177) occasionally appears in the “Superman / batman” series . This is a young Japanese inventor named Hiro Okamura, who equips the heroes with inventions.

The Toyman appeared in numerous other media: 1966 in the cartoon series "The New Adventures of Superman", in the 1970s and 1980s in the cartoon series "Challenge of the SuperFriends" (US voice: Frank Welker). In the Superboy series of the 1980s, Gilbert Gottfried portrayed a Toyman blend. In the series "The Adventures of Lois and Clark" from the 1990s, Sherman Hemsley (later also Grant Shaud) appeared as Toyman (who is always referred to as Winslow P Schott). The cartoon series "Superman: The Animated Series" presented a very dark variant of the character (US dubbing voice: Bud Cort ), which also appeared in the series "Justice League", "Justice League Unlimited" and "Static Shock". This toyman resembles an ever-grinning living doll that prefers to use rockets and other heavy weapons.

Tribunal Prime

Tribunal Prime was an insane extraterrestrial judge who had Superman abducted into space for a show trial during the Trial of Superman storyline, in which he was charged on behalf of the destruction of Krypton by the deeds of an ancestor. Tribunal Prime - a blue-skinned, stocky-built alien in a white robe - was fueled by a wild, unsuspecting hatred of Superman, the reasons for which were never explained (a continuation of the "Trial" storyline, which sets out the motives for his actions should never came about). He made his debut in Superman: The Man of Steel # 50 from November 1995 (writer: Louise Simonson, illustrator: Jon Bogdanove). After Superman was able to prove his innocence for the deeds of his ancestors, the other judges of the tribunal turned against Tribunal-Prime and ordered his arrest for corruption and abuse of office. While trying to evade arrest, Tribunal-Prime was eventually shot dead by one of his own guards.

Turmoil

See Turmoil .

Ultra-humanite

The Ultra-Humanite is the oldest Superman opponent ever. He made his debut in Action Comics # 13, June 1939 (Writer: Jerry Siegel, Illustrator: Joe Shuster). The ultra-humanite is a mad scientist who has the gift of putting his consciousness into any body of his choice and henceforth to control that body. In the early Superman stories, the humanite took possession of countless bodies of various kinds (that of the actress Dolores Winters, that of a tyrannosaurus, a giant insect and that of a mutated albino gorilla). The actual body was that of a crippled, bald scientist with ingenious abilities, who uses his inventiveness to equip his henchmen with futuristic weapons and to transport his own body into ever new "host bodies". His goal was - as was common at the time - to usurp world domination. The Humanite was Superman's original archenemy, but only appeared in this role until 1940, only to be replaced by the character of the scientist Lex Luthor, in whom the authors saw more potential. With Action Comics # 21 from 1939, the character disappeared from the Superman franchise for several decades. In the 1970s the character was revived in the Justice Society series ( Justice League # 195): Here the Humanite lost his ability to put his mind into new bodies after he had transported him into the body of a white-haired giant monkey. This monkey was henceforth - with ingenious common sense and the physical strength of a gorilla - one of the main villains of this series, in which he fought against the heroes of the Justice Society and the All Star Squadron. After the restart of the Superman series in 1986, the Ultra Humanite occasionally appeared as a villain in series such as Justice League of America or Legends of the DC Universe, as well as in Elseworld stories such as Superman / Batman: Generations . He was also - as a cultured intellectual trapped in a monkey's body - in three episodes of the cartoon series Justice League (US dubbing voice: Ian Buchanan ).

Underworlders

See article Fiends .

Ursa

Actress Sarah Douglas

Ursa is a criminal from the planet Krypton . She came through the Phantom Zone to planet Earth, where she, General Zod and Non spread terror. They appear in Superman II - Alone Against All , with Ursa played by Sarah Douglas .

Was

War is a superhumanly strong thug who belongs to an African American youth gang in Metropolis. He made his debut in Superman # 147 from 1999.

Warworldlers

The Warworldlers are three aliens named Grub , Clawster , Rambeau , who come from the Warworld, a planet-sized space station. In a failed attempt by the villain Brainiac to conquer the earth with the help of the war world, the Warworldlers were stranded on earth. In Superman's hometown of Metropolis - where they unexpectedly found themselves again - from then on they lived underground in the sewers and temporarily lived with the underworlders, a group of benign hybrid beings that had created the government project Cadmus, which in the underground shafts and sewers of the city a pathetic one To lead existence. After the pernicious character and evil goals of the Warworldlers were recognized, the three were cast out and imprisoned by the underworldlers. After it turned out that the underworlds could not keep their three bad cousins ​​permanently, they were handed over to the authorities of the city of Metropolis.

White rabbit

See White Rabbit .

Zod

See at General Zod .

See also

• Characters from the DC Universe
• Minor characters in the Superman universe
• Villains in the Batman Universe

literature

• Scott Beatty : Superman: The ultimate guide to the Man of Steel , New York 2002 (English).
• Michael L. Fleisher: The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes , New York 1976 (English).
• Phil Jimenez : The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the characters of the DC Univers , New York 2004 (English).
• Superman Villains Secret Files , New York 1998 (English).