Fatal Five

Fatal Five
Cover art for Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #120, featuring four of the Fatal Five with Brainiac 5 and Gates, by Phil Jimenez.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceAdventure Comics #352 (January 1967)
Created byJim Shooter
In-story information
Member(s)Founders:
Emerald Empress
Mano
Persuader
Tharok
Validus
Substitutes:
Flare
Caress
Mentalla
Mordecai

The Fatal Five is a supervillain team of the 30th century in the DC Comics universe.[1] They were created by Jim Shooter and first appeared in Adventure Comics #352 (1967) as enemies of the Legion of Super-Heroes.[2]

Fictional team history

Cover to Adventure Comics #352, art by Curt Swan.

The Fatal Five first appear in The Death of Ferro Lad as a band of super-criminals whom the Legion recruit to help destroy the Sun-Eater threatening Earth.[3] They are offered pardons for their assistance, but reject them and band together, confident that they are powerful enough to try to conquer the worlds they had saved.[2]

A later incarnation consisted of the Emerald Empress; the Persuader; Flare, a Rimborian with the power of fire; Caress, who has a deadly acidic touch; and Mentalla, a Legion reject who is secretly working against the Five, trying to secure a spot in the Legion.

The first storyline in Legionnaires (1993) has the SW6 Legion face a Fatal Five comprising Tharok, Mano, the Persuader, a new Emerald Empress, and a monstrous being called Mordecai.

Zero Hour

Following Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!, which reboots the Legion's continuity, the original Fatal Five are reintroduced in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #78 (1996), again assembled to help fight the Sun-Eater, which was later revealed to not exist. Notably, in this incarnation, the analogue of the Emerald Empress is simply called the "Empress" and is more a skilled melee combatant than a magic user.

In the Teen Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes crossover, the Persuader uses his "atomic axe" to recruit alternate universe variants of the Fatal Five, forming the Fatal Five-Hundred,[4] before the two teams use the Cosmic Treadmill to return them to their original universes.[5]

One Year Later

In The Brave and the Bold, Epoch takes a version of the Fatal Five to the present day to assist him in gaining a powerful weapon. After Batman and Blue Beetle defeat him, he abandons them in the 21st century. After Batman and Tharok are accidentally fused, the group are returned to the future, where they appear to be already in the Legion's prison.

Final Crisis

All five Fatal Five members were among the supervillains in Superman-Prime's Legion of Super-Villains.

DC Rebirth

In DC Rebirth, the Emerald Empress comes to the 21st century to destroy Saturn Girl and forms a contemporary incarnation of the Fatal Five consisting of Magog, Brainiac 8, Selena, and Solomon Grundy.[6]

Members

Emerald Empress

Main article: Emerald Empress

Mano

Mano is a mutant with the ability to generate deadly antimatter from his right hand. A native of the planet Angtu, which he destroys for his people mistreating him, Mano must wear a special suit to survive on other planets. His helmet obscures his face, making it appear as a silhouette.[2]

Persuader (Nyeun Chun Ti)

Main article: Persuader (comics)

The Persuader originates from a high-gravity planet, and thus possesses enhanced physical abilities. Before becoming a supervillain, he was a gang enforcer and gained his name from his ability to intimidate others.[7]

The Persuader wields an atomic axe that is mentally linked to him and can allegedly cut through anything. It can even destroy metaphoric or intangible things, such as air, gravity, and the barriers between dimensions.[8]

Tharok

Tharok is the leader of the Fatal Five.[9][10] He is a small-time crook whose body is vertically bisected in the explosion of a stolen nuclear device.[11] The people of his world, holding life sacred, rebuild him using robotic parts, which greatly boosts his intelligence, but leaves his evil tendencies unchecked.[2][12] Tharok is later killed in battle with the Legion of Super-Heroes, and the Fatal Five disband. However, Tharok is resurrected in subsequent reboots of the Legion's continuity.[13][14][15]

Validus

Validus is a monstrous member of the Fatal Five who possesses superhuman strength and durability and the ability to generate mental lightning bolts.[16][2] He is later revealed to be Garridan Ranzz, the son of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, who Darkseid kidnapped and transformed into a monster shortly after his birth.[17] Eventually, Validus is returned to his human form, with a similar monster, Mordecai, replacing him in the Fatal Five.

In subsequent reboots of the Legion, Validus is unrelated to Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl. In the "Threeboot" continuity, he is a Winathian nature spirit known as the Lord of Lightning.[18][19]

Other versions

In other media

See also: Emerald Empress § In other media, and Persuader (comics) § In other media

Television

Film

The original Fatal Five appear in Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, with Emerald Empress voiced by Sumalee Montano, Tharok by Peter Jessop, Mano by Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, Persuader by Matthew Yang King, and Validus having no dialogue.[23][24][20][21][22] After the Emerald Empress and Validus are taken to the 21st century to be imprisoned in Oa, Tharok, Mano, and Persuader travel back in time to force Jessica Cruz to lead them to their missing teammates. While fighting the Justice League and Star Boy, the Fatal Five are buried alive by Cruz.

Video games

The original Fatal Five appear as character summons in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[25]

Miscellaneous

See also

References

  1. ^ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 90–91. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  2. ^ a b c d e Wallace, Dan (2008), "Fatal Five", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 119, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1, OCLC 213309017
  3. ^ Wells, John (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 173. ISBN 978-1605490557.
  4. ^ Teen Titans (vol. 3) #16 (November 2004)
  5. ^ Teen Titans/Legion Special (November 2004)
  6. ^ Supergirl (vol. 7) #10-13. DC Comics.
  7. ^ "The Fight for the Championship of the Universe!" Adventure Comics #366 (March 1968)
  8. ^ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 307–308. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  9. ^ Wells, John (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 173. ISBN 978-1605490557.
  10. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 308. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  11. ^ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 437. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  12. ^ The Legion (and the Legion of Substitute Heroes) first encountered the League of Super-Assassins in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #253-254 (July–August 1979).
  13. ^ Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #269-271 (November 1980-January 1981)
  14. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 342. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  15. ^ Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds (August 2008-September 2009)
  16. ^ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 457–458. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  17. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  18. ^ As seen in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds.
  19. ^ Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 6) #1 (July 2010).
  20. ^ a b c "Emerald Empress Voices (Legion of Super-Heroes)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved April 21, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  21. ^ a b c "Persuader Voices (Legion of Super-Heroes)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved April 21, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  22. ^ a b c "Tharok Voices (Legion of Super-Heroes)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved April 21, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  23. ^ Morrison, Matt (July 22, 2018). "Justice League vs The Fatal Five Animated Movie Announced For DC Universe". Screen Rant.
  24. ^ Couch, Aaron (January 7, 2019). "'Justice League vs. The Fatal Five' Sets Voice Cast (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  25. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 4, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  26. ^ Duncan, Phillip (August 3, 2007). "Legion of Super Heroes at McDonald's". allaboutduncan. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  27. ^ "Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #1 - Yesterday's Hero (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved April 21, 2024.