Legion of Super-Villains
The Legion of Super-Villains is a team of supervillains who appear in comic books published by DC Comics, primarily as enemies of the Legion of Super-Heroes. They first appeared in Superman #147.
Publication history
The Legion of Super-Villains were created at a time when Superman editor Mort Weisinger was consciously adding new elements to the "Superman mythos" over a period of years, building an extended cast of supporting characters who could provide new story opportunities. The creation of the Legion of Super-Heroes was part of that plan, and in the Legion's fourth appearance, it was suggested that Lex Luthor would someday lead a group of super-villains. This would come to fruition seven months later, in Superman #147's story "The Legion of Super-Villains".Fictional team history
In pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity, the Legion of Super-Villains was founded by Benno Tarik, who suffered irreparable damage to his vocal cords during a battle with the Science Police and developed a pathological hatred of law and order. Tarik founded a school for supervillains, which served as the headquarters and recruiting grounds for the Legion's first incarnation, and blackmailed Colossal Boy into joining as a teacher.The Legion first appears when Lex Luthor creates a radio to contact the future, feeling there must be an evil counterpart to the Legion of Super-Heroes. He is broken out of jail by a gun, flying belt, and force-field helmet being sent into his cell. Luthor meets the trio of villains - Cosmic King, Lightning Lord, and Saturn Queen - who tell him of their origins. They cause trouble for Superman and lure him to a planetoid where he is captured in a Kryptonite field. Superman is sentenced to death before the adult Legion of Super-Heroes appears and rescues him. Luthor threatens to kill Superman, but Saturn Woman offers herself in his place. Superman asks for a tribute and is released after promising not to rescue Saturn Woman. Saturn Queen is given a fragment of Saturn's rings, which influence her into reforming, and the other villains are jailed. However, they would battle Superman at other points.
Several other incarnations of the group form over the years, led first by Sun Emperor and then by Nemesis Kid. In the last incarnation, they conquer Orando, the homeworld of Princess Projectra, and transport it to another dimension as a base of operations. Each villain is assigned to kill one Legionnaire, but only Nemesis Kid succeeds, fatally wounding Karate Kid.
Post-Crisis
In the fourth volume of Legion of Super-Heroes, the Legion of Super-Villains disbands and several of its members reform. Echo joins the Legion during the Five Year Gap, but resigns after the events of Black Dawn. Lightning Lord returns to his home planet of Winath to work on his family's farm. Ron-Karr joins the Legion of Substitute Heroes and Spider Girl joins the Legion, changing her codename to Wave. Saturn Queen marries Matter-Eater Lad and becomes the queen of her homeworld Titan. These events were erased from continuity following the Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! event, which rebooted the Legion's continuity.Post-Zero Hour
Following Zero Hour, the Legion of Super-Villains appears in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds, a tie-in to the Final Crisis event. This incarnation of the Legion is led by Superboy-Prime and includes Lightning Lord, Saturn Queen, Cosmic King, Sun Emperor, Beauty Blaze, Ol-Vir, Tyr, Zymyr, Hunter, and Chameleon Chief as well as Black Mace, Universo, Dr. Regulus, Grimbor the Chainsman, Mordru, Esper Lass, Magno Lad, Micro Lad, Echo, Terrus, the League of Super-Assassins, the Fatal Five |Persuader], Mano, and the [Justice League of Earth.The Legion of Super-Villains also appears in Superman/Batman, where its members attempt to remake the universe by tampering with the origins of Superman and Batman and adopting them as their "children", transforming them into the dictators of Earth and eliminating other members of the Justice League. Superman and Batman overcome their brainwashing due to the Darkseid of another reality telling them what had happened. They restore the timestream to its proper course and take the villains to the 31st century to be imprisoned, but retain their memories of the altered timeline.
Roster
- Akka - Expert martial artist from the planet Sklar. She was killed by Saturn Queen.
- Beauty Blaze - Possesses heat and fire-based abilities.
- Chameleon Chief - A Durlan who can shapeshift and transmute matter.
- Cosmic King - He possesses transmutation powers similar to Element Lad.
- Echo - Sound and sonic-based abilities.
- Esper Lass - She possesses telepathic powers similar to Saturn Girl.
- Hunter - The son of the original Hunter, he seeks revenge on the Legion for his father's death.
- Immortus - A living brain implanted in a powerful android body.
- Lightning Lord - A Winathian who is the brother of Garth Ranzz and Ayla Ranzz and shares their ability to generate bioelectricity. Having been born an only child on a planet where twin births are the norm, Lightning Lord developed an anti-social personality in response to being ostracized.
- Magno Lad - He possesses magnetic abilities similar to Cosmic Boy.
- Micro Lad - Can shrink in size like Shrinking Violet. Killed by Akka.
- Nemesis Kid - Can adapt the power to defeat any single enemy. Killed by Princess Projectra.
- Ol-Vir - He is a Daxamite who possesses similar abilities to Mon-El, but lacks his immunity to lead.
- Questor - A technologically amplified Coluan with heightened intelligence.
- Radiation Roy - A former applicant to the Legion of Super-Heroes who can emit radiation from his body. After trying out as Radiation Roy, he was rejected for not having enough control over his powers, as the radiation could potentially harm the Legion and civilians. Roy is not immune to his own powers and wears a containment suit to protect himself.
- Ron-Karr - A Neptunian who can become flat.
- Saturn Queen - A time-travelling telepath from the future.
- Spider Girl - Has super-strong prehensile hair.
- Sun Emperor - Has solar powers similar to Sun Boy.
- Sun Killer - Possesses the powers of a star.
- Terrus - Possesses ground-based abilities and a body made up of a swarm of insects.
- Tyr - A warrior from the planet Tyrraz with a bionic gun in place of his right arm.
- Zymyr - A native of the planet Gil'Dishpan who can create portals.
- Lazon - He can turn into light.
- Mist Master - He can turn into any vapor or gas.
- Neutrax - In addition to neutralizing the powers of anyone for a short time, he rides in a flying chair that resembles Metron's Mobius Chair.
- Silver Slasher - She has a metallic-enhanced body and sharp nails.
- Titania - A super-strong female who is Silver Slasher's cousin.
- Black Mace - A highly trained and super-strong mercenary.
- Doctor Regulus - A mad scientist with pyrokinetic abilities.
- Fatal Five - A group consisting of five of the greatest criminals in the universe.
- * Emerald Empress - Possesses various abilities derived from the Emerald Eye of Ekron.
- * Mano - Possesses a disintegrating anti-matter touch.
- * Persuader - Wields an atomic axe that can cut through anything.
- * Tharok - A man who was transformed into a cyborg after losing the left side of his body in an accident.
- * Validus - An alien monster with super-strength, enhanced durability, energy projection, and immunity to telepathy.
- Grimbor the Chainsman - A master craftsman and expert trap master.
- Justice League of Earth - A group of Legion of Super-Heroes rejects who attempt to save Earth by turning it into a xenophobic society.
- * Earth-Man - He can absorb and duplicate superpowers.
- * Golden Boy - He can change the structure of any element into gold via touch.
- * Storm Boy - He can control the weather.
- * Tusker - He has ivory-like tusks that can grow to certain sizes, and possesses a healing factor and enhanced strength, durability, and agility.
- Mordru - A powerful wizard.
- Superboy-Prime - A version of Superboy from Earth-Prime.
- Universo - An ex-Green Lantern Corps member with hypnotic abilities.
In other media