Darkseid
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Darkseid is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics Universe created by Jack Kirby as part of the Fourth World series of comic books in the early 1970s. He first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 (November 1970). Darkseid has risen in popularity, and become one of the most powerful and well-known villains of DC Comics.
According to writer Mark Evanier, Jack Kirby modeled Darkseid on actor Jack Palance [1].
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[edit] Fictional character history
Son of Yuga Khan and Heggra, Darkseid is the ruler of the planet Apokolips, a post he obtained after assassinating his mother. He is obsessed with finding the Anti-Life Equation in order to use it to rule the universe; this goal also includes conquering his rival planet, New Genesis, ruled by the Highfather. A destructive war between the two worlds was stopped only with a diplomatic exchange of the sons of Highfather and Darkseid. Darkseid's son Orion is surrendered to the Highfather while Darkseid receives Scott Free, who later becomes the master escape artist Mister Miracle. This turns out to be a setback for Darkseid with his biological son growing up to value and defend the ideals of New Genesis in opposition to his father.
Darkseid was one of the featured villains in the (non-continuity) crossover of the Teen Titans and Marvel Comics' X-Men. Like most crossovers between Marvel and DC, there was a Marvel villain in addition to the DC villain - in this case, Dark Phoenix and (something unusual) another DC villain also appeared: Deathstroke the Terminator (since Darkseid was not a well-known villain for the heroes at the time the comic was launched). In the DC/Marvel crossover, Darkseid's counterpart in the Marvel Universe was shown to be Thanos.
[edit] Recent history
Darkseid's latest attempt to attack Earth was through the kidnapping of Supergirl. He had hoped that he was able to use Black Kryptonite to brainwash Supergirl, thus providing him with a leader for his Female Furies, as well as a warrior on par with Superman. However, this plan backfired as Batman and Superman were able to save Supergirl. This set forward a plan of revenge by Darkseid to destroy Supergirl; this plan also fails as Supergirl is teleported out at the last minute. Superman is set into an unparalleled fit of rage as he hurls Darkseid into the Sun where they attempted to destroy each other. Superman beats Darkseid unconscious enough to throw him into the Source Wall, where Superman declares that, "For years and years, you've tried to learn the secrets of ultimate power from the other side. But you will never get the answers—just like the others who are entombed here. This is where you belong. Along with all the other failures in the universe." The mysterious appearance of the Maximums has been linked to Darkseid.
To pay a debt incurred to an alternate reality Darkseid and in order to realign the timeline, Superman recently freed Darkseid from his entombment.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Darkseid is an incredibly powerful being with many god-like abilities. His main power is the Omega Effect, a form of energy that he fires from his eyes. This effect is not only a relentless attack, but it is capable of teleporting the target to any location Darkseid chooses and recall them later or erase the target from the universe and similarly reform them. Darkseid has pinpoint control over his Omega Beams, and his unerring aim allows it to travel in straight lines or bend, twist, or curve around corners. The Omega Effect can also pass through nearly any known barrier. In the third part of the Hunter/Prey storyline, he claimed that no being had yet withstood the full force of the Omega Effect, but Doomsday nonetheless survived the attack. Superman has also withstood a blast from the Omega Beam, but with severe pain and damage as a result. In the Justice League Unlimited finale, Destroyer, Batman became the only being, at least in the DCAU, that has ever evaded the Omega Beam.
Darkseid possesses superhuman strength, stamina, and invulnerability that at least rival those possessed by Superman. He has proven capable of overpowering the mighty demon Etrigan, and Lobo once hurt his hand when he landed a punch on Darkseid. Additionally, Darkseid possesses a regenerative healing factor and immortality which is common among the more advanced beings of the Fourth World.
Darkseid is also a master of manipulation, and possesses incredible psionic abilities. He once mentally dominated nearly three billion Daxamites simultaneously. Darkseid can transmute matter, as he demonstrated by turning the Daxamite warrior Ol-Vir into dust, and Slo-bo into a statue. He is also able to dissipate and disperse the molecules of any object or organism, effectively erasing them from existence. Darkseid has the ability to generate mental avatars, and is able to levitate himself and others telekinetically with ease.
He can also mentally control most known forms of energy, allowing him to erect protective force fields and project withering energy bolts.
As a god-like being, Darkseid has several powers that surpass most other beings in the known universe. He can seemingly create life and matter from nothing, as he did when he created the being known as Strayne, and can travel through time and between dimensions as easily as any New God.
Darkseid also possesses a great intellect. His genius surpasses that of most other known beings in the universe. He is a master planner and strategist, and his armies are nearly unbeatable under his leadership.
[edit] Personality
Darkseid's personality can vaguely be described as evil incarnate. He is not merely content to control but seeks to dominate those under him into totally obedient and morally corrupt caricatures of individuals. The planet Apokolips is a world that resembles Hell because of Darkseid's need to be worshipped as a god and the need to nurture the most horrible aspects of the human spirit. On Apokolips, Darkseid's subjects are raised in a personality cult to venerate him and to sacrifice themselves gladly in his name.
Darkseid practices great emotional restraint, always maintaining a calm and disciplined composure despite the furious rage that often boils within him (his son, Orion, has inherited this rage but cannot control it as well as his father, relying on his Mother Box to keep his emotions in check). He seems to possess a twisted form of honor, but this code is 'flexible' depending on his mood; it seems he desires to be thought of as an honorable being, but never lets this stand in the way of his gaining power or revenge.
Darkseid especially takes delight in seeing the mighty brought low, whether in strength or moral conviction. His primary weakness may be his obsession to get even with people who have gotten the better of him, especially Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, the New Gods, and now possibly the Joker. During the latest Batman/Superman story arc (Issue #25 "With a Vengeance"), the Joker attempted to control Darkseid when the Clown Prince of Crime gained powers similar to Mister Mxyzptlk. It was later revealed that Bat-Mite was inside the Joker the whole time. (Bat-Mite literally crawled out of his mouth). Darkseid actually attempted to vaporize the Joker with his Omega Beam at one point, but seemed to miss on purpose.
[edit] Darkseid's agenda
Darkseid's greatest ambition is to eliminate all freewill from the universe and re-shape it into his own image. To this end, he seeks to unravel the mysterious Anti-Life Equation, which will allow him to control completely the thoughts and emotions of all living beings in the universe. The Anti-Life Equation has often been portrayed as a quasi-mystical power that forces a listener to agree with whatever the wielder says, while other times, it is portrayed as a comprehensive scientific theory on how to dominate any living mind, whatever its nature may be.
While he has yet to obtain a complete working copy of the Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid has tried on several other occasions to achieve dominance of the universe through other methods. He has a special interest in Earth, as he believes humans possess collectively within their minds most, if not all, fragments of the Anti-Life Equation. If he should conquer Earth, Darkseid will probe the mind of every human to piece together the Equation.
[edit] Destiny
As with gods in other mythologies, Darkseid is incredibly powerful, but cannot escape his ultimate destiny. It has been foretold that Darkseid will meet his final defeat at the hands of his son, Orion, in a cataclysmic battle in the fiery Armaghetto of Apokolips. Presumably this outcome would occur at the climax of the New Gods series, but the title's unforeseen cancellation instead brought Darkseid's story arc to an unceremonious end, and both he and Orion were brought into the mainstream DC Universe, while Jack Kirby moved on to other projects.
While this changeover kept Darkseid alive as a character, some fans feel it is to his detriment. No writers appear willing to write the ultimate resolution to the character, either out of respect for Kirby or because they are not about to kill off one of DC's most popular villains. As well, the idea of reversing or annulling the prophecy has been turned down, also out of respect to Kirby. At the present time, Darkseid and Orion will not have their final battle in the foreseeable future, and thus both characters, while still active, are in a story arc "limbo."
Outside of the mainstream DC Comics canon, Darkseid's ultimate fate has been described several times:
- In the DC Animated Universe, Darkseid died off-screen in the Justice League episode "Twilight," was reconstituted in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Alive!" and finally disappeared upon discovering the Anti-Life Equation in the following episode (also the series finale), "Destroyer."
- In the post-apocalyptic miniseries Kingdom Come, Orion has now deposed Darkseid, fulfilling the prophecy, and is ruler of Apokolips. However, the changes that he wished to make (democracy, freedom) quickly failed, making him bitter and cynical. Superman is disappointed in Orion's progress and says his new demeanor is more like Darkseid than ever.
- In the Great Darkness Saga, Darkseid survived into the 30th century. Having been forgotten by almost everyone, he defeated the era's two most powerful villains (Mordru and the Time Trapper) and absorbed their powers, subsequently using those abilities to enslave the entire population of the planet Daxam. Commanding an army of billions (each with the same powers as Superman), he launched a full-scale assault on the United Planets. Only the efforts of the Legion of Super-Heroes and its allies were able to prevent him from conquering the entire known universe (Once a part of mainstream DC Comics continuity, this story was erased -- along with 36 years of Legion continuity -- as a direct consequence of the Zero Hour crossover event in 1994).
- A very distant possible future of the DC Universe was shown in DC's 1998 line-wide crossover event DC One Million. Here, in the one-shot Martian Manhunter #1,000,000, it is shown that by the year 85,271, Darkseid had long since died in a final battle with Martian Manhunter (which cost the Martian his physical form, causing him to be merged with Mars).
- A much closer alternate future was seen during Rock of Ages, a JLA story written by Grant Morrison. Here, in a story roughly fifteen years from the "present day," Darkseid has found the Anti-Life Equation and become absolute ruler of Earth. Darkseid is rendered into a vegetative state at hands of Green Arrow and the Atom, before the whole Earth is blown up by Orion in order to kill Darkseid for good. This possible future has been averted.
In Superman/Batman #25, Mister Mxyzptlk revealed that Darkseid's destiny was yet to be written and that their futures were tied together via the cryptic statement "From the fourth world into the fifth dimension. Kinda like the ring tone of that, Big D."
[edit] Recent characterizations
Although Darkseid had previously been written as a near-unbeatable and omnipotent foe, his recent characterizations have shown him to be somewhat powered down as a result of the more personal enmity his animated version has for Superman. While he still outstrips his animated counterpart in strength, speed, and stamina, the level to which he has been reduced places him at comparable tier of power to the comic version of Superman. In one instance, his Omega Effect is deflected by Wonder Woman's bracelets, a feat that normally would have been impossible according to previous continuity. This power reduction may be due to events occurred during the Our Worlds at War storyline. It is explained that during these events Wonder Woman gained her revenge against Darkseid for killing half of Themyscira's population by placing a portion of her own soul into Darkseid.
In Grant Morrison's 2005 Mister Miracle miniseries, it was revealed that Darkseid finally discovered the Anti-Life Equation, which he then used to destroy the Fourth World altogether. The New Gods fled to Earth, where they hid: Highfather and his followers are now a group of homeless people, Metron is an epileptic, the Black Racer is an old white man in a wheelchair, Desaad is an evil psychiatrist, Granny Goodness is a pimp for the Female Furies, and Darkseid himself is now an evil businessman who is referred to only as "Dark Side." It is revealed in Seven Soldiers #1 that Darkseid actually gave the Sheeda North America in return for Auracles, Earth's first superhero. This is, in turn, purely in order for Darkseid to get Shilo Norman, whom he considers the "Avatar of Freedom," in his clutches so that he can eventually destroy the New Gods. How much of this change is actual, or how much a re-imagining of the New Gods as archetypes of the real world is unclear. As it stands though, the series (which is in DCU continuity) ended with Darkseid in his current form as "Dark Side" claming the beginning of the "Dark Era."
[edit] Other appearances
Darkseid appeared in the later seasons of The Super Friends animated television series. He would frequently combine the villainous agenda of the episode with the scheme of forcing Wonder Woman to marry him. He was voiced by Frank Welker, with the same throaty growl that Welker had given Inspector Gadget villain Dr. Claw. Jack Kirby said that the network executives tried to go behind his back and call the character "Darkside" for the Super Powers TV show, but Kirby was adamant about the name staying the same.
In addition, he appears in Bruce Timm's DC Animated Universe, where he is voiced by Michael Ironside. Timm explained that Darkseid was brought into the series in an effort to boost Superman's rogues gallery and give him a more powerful villain to contend with. In this animated version, Darkseid possesses speed, strength, and stamina on par with Superman (in addition to his Omega Beams), although he is frequently shown to be on the losing end of any hand-to-hand battles with the Kryptonian.
After making a series of brief "teaser" appearances throughout Superman: The Animated Series, Darkseid was featured prominently in a pair of popular two-part episodes. "Apokolips...Now!" shows Darkseid leading his forces in an invasion of Earth. Darkseid confronts Superman and offers him a place at his side, but Superman rejects the offer, leading Darkseid to declare: "If you will not be my knight, you will be my pawn." Darkseid's plan is foiled by the appearance of armies from New Genesis, the leaders of which declare Earth to be under Highfather's protection. Just as Darkseid leaves, in one of the most shocking moments of the series, he tells Superman that no victory comes without a price, and before he steps through the portal to Apokolips, uses his Omega Beams to vaporize Dan Turpin, a hard-boiled police officer who had been Superman's friend, whom Bruce Timm had based on Darkseid's creator Jack Kirby. In the audio commentary for this episode, Timm explains that Turpin's funeral was intended as a tribute to The King, going so far as to hire a real-life rabbi to deliver the fictional flatfoot's eulogy.
Later, in "Legacy," the two-part series finale for Superman: The Animated Series, Darkseid makes good on his promise of making Superman his pawn. He captures the Man of Steel and brainwashes him into thinking that he is Darkseid's adopted son. Darkseid sends Superman on several conquests throughout the galaxy before sending him to invade Earth. When Superman regains his memory, he finds that he has destroyed parts of Metropolis, nearly killed Supergirl, and lost the world's trust. Traveling to Apokolips, Superman seeks revenge on Darkseid and engages him in a brutal fistfight. This is the only time Darkseid engages in a direct fight throughout the show, ending with Superman managing to turn Darkseid's Omega Beams back on him. Superman then tosses Darkseid's battered self down to his slaves, telling them that they are now free to do what they want. To his shock and disgust, the slaves pick up Darkseid and carry him away, promising to help him. Darkseid tells Superman that "I am many things, Kal-El...but here, I am God."
Darkseid later returned in the Justice League episode "Twilight," where he teamed up with Brainiac to destroy the Justice League. Now harboring a severe hatred towards Darkseid, Superman initially attacked Darkseid when he arrived in the Watchtower and refused to aid him against Brainiac, justifying his behavior by claiming that Darkseid was only setting up the League to betray them. Ultimately proven correct, Superman had to be dragged away from a fight with Darkseid by Batman, who had actually goaded Superman into helping Darkseid in the first place; following an explosion at Brainiac's headquarters, Darkseid disappeared for a time, and in Justice League Unlimited, a civil war broke out on Apokolips between Granny Goodness and Virman Vunderbarr during his disappearance.
In the two-part series finale of Justice League Unlimited, Lex Luthor tries to resurrect Brainiac by having the Legion of Doom transform their base into a spacecraft to find lost pieces of Brainiac's last base; but with Tala's help, Gorilla Grodd attempts a coup to retake control of the Legion, leading to a battle between members loyal to Grodd and Luthor. In the end, Luthor defeats Grodd and disposes of those loyal to Grodd. When the Legion reaches the location, Luthor uses Tala's magic to restore Brainiac, but instead resurrects Darkseid, who is now infused with the essence of Brainiac.
Darkseid rewards Luthor for his help by giving him and the Legion a quick death. The remnants of the Legion soon appear alive and well back on Earth, having been saved by a force field created by Sinestro and Star Sapphire, and go to the Justice League to warn them of Darkseid.
Darkseid makes his way to Earth, sending his forces around the globe with drilling machines to make it like Apokolips. Darkseid himself eventually engages Superman in a lengthy battle across the city. The battle at first leans towards Darkseid's favor until Superman finally decides to "cut loose" with everything he's got after witnessing Batman's valiant attempt to fight Darkseid himself. From this point, Superman dominates the battle until Darkseid manages to use the Agony Matrix, a pain induction weapon, against him.
Darkseid is about to cut out Superman's heart with a Kryptonite knife when Lex Luthor appears and shows him the recently acquired Anti-Life Equation, which he attained with the aid of the New God Metron. Although Luthor seemingly perishes with Darkseid in an explosion of light, Batman remarks that they will likely see the two again.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- DCDP: Darkseid - DC Database Project
- Supermanica: Darkseid Supermanica entry for the Pre-Crisis Darkseid
- Index to the Earth-1 Fourth World stories
| Superman | |
|---|---|
| Creators: | Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster |
| Characters: | Superman (Clark Kent) • Lois Lane • Jimmy Olsen • Perry White • Jor-El • Ma Kent • Pa Kent • Lana Lang • Steel • Supergirl • Superboy (Kon-El) • Krypto |
| Villains: | Lex Luthor • Bizarro • Brainiac • Cyborg Superman • Darkseid • Doomsday • Eradicator • General Zod • Metallo • Mongul • Mr. Mxyzptlk • Parasite • Toyman • Ultra-Humanite • Intergang • Phantom Zone villains |
| Locations: |
Daily Planet • Fortress of Solitude • Krypton • Metropolis • Smallville |
| Storylines: | Relationship of Clark Kent and Lois Lane • Alternate versions of Superman • Publications • Superman in popular culture |
| Miscellanea: | Kryptonite • Powers • Symbol |
