As DeSaad serves as Darkseid's master torturer, his name refers to the Marquis de Sade. At one point, DeSaad had an assistant named Justeen, a reference to de Sade's novel Justine, although she bore little resemblance to the title character.
DeSaad was originally a New God from New Genesis who was manipulated by Darkseid, leader of Apokolips. Darkseid tricked DeSaad into believing that his cat had killed his other pet, a bird. Goading the boy to avenge the bird, Darkseid manipulates the youth into burying the cat alive. The bird returns, having flown off; in a rage, DeSaad kills the bird and leaves New Genesis to become Darkseid's lackey.[4]
DeSaad is seemingly killed during an attempt by Darkseid to penetrate the Source. He is subsequently found to have "bonded" with Orion, causing the latter to become cruel and manipulative. The two are later separated. While missing, DeSaad's second-in-command, Justeen, plots to overthrow him and become closer to her beloved Darkseid.[5]
In Countdown to Final Crisis, DeSaad captures and tortures Martin Stein, attempting to take the power of Firestorm for himself. When Jason Rusch arrives to rescue Stein, DeSaad hijacks the Firestorm matrix and takes control of it.[6] He is defeated and separated from the Firestorm matrix by Atomic Knight, but flees before he can be captured.[7] After disrupting a battle between Darkseid and Mary Marvel, DeSaad gives Darkseid a compound that was unsuccessfully used to access the Anti-Life Equation. DeSaad is then released from Darkseid's service, but he has transported the Pied Piper to Apokolips as Brother Eye arrives. DeSaad claims the Piper can channel the Anti-Life Equation and control the planet. Before the Piper can do so, Brother Eye finishes assimilating Apokolips. After recovering, DeSaad confesses to masterminding the Trickster and the Piper's ordeal.
In Salvation Run, DeSaad oversees the training of the New Gods of Apokolips on a planet where Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad had dumped the exiled villains. When he discovers them on this planet, he arranges for the Parademons to eliminate the least powerful villains so that he can train the stronger ones for an unknown goal. Ultimately, the villains escape back to Earth.[8]
Following Death of the New Gods, many of the fallen Apokoliptan gods had taken on human forms. DeSaad, posing as Doctor Bud Fogel, raises the public against Lex Luthor's Everyman experiments, eventually trapping and capturing Infinity, Inc. DeSaad makes further appearances in the series Terror Titans, where he conditions the Infinitors to fight in the Dark Side Club's metahuman tournament. After the brainwashed superhumans break free of the Anti-Life Equation, DeSaad is electrocuted and captured by Static.
The New 52
DeSaad is reintroduced following The New 52 relaunch, which rebooted the continuity of the DC Comics universe. During Darkseid's first incursion on Earth, DeSaad appears in Apokolips discussing with Steppenwolf about cloning the DNA of a captured and tortured Superman to create a new type race of Parademon.[9] Five years later, he impersonates Michael Holt, attempting to capture Power Girl.[10]
Powers and abilities
As a New God, DeSaad is nigh-immortal, being long-lived and immune to diseases and toxins. DeSaad is a brilliant inventor of weapons and a master of torture. DeSaad has created many torture machines and devices.
In The New 52, DeSaad is strong and resistant enough to lift several tons easily and face powerful beings like Power Girl. In addition, he has a high level of invulnerability and is functionally immortal. DeSaad's powers include telepathy, absorption and control of emotions. DeSaad is able to enter people's minds to manipulate their emotions and feed on their worst feelings; even without manipulating them, he becomes more powerful. He has demonstrated the ability to create illusions either in its real form or in the form of other people. Another of his powers is the absorption of energy; he can feed on different types of energy and even manipulate it.
Other versions
An alternate universe variant of DeSaad makes a cameo appearance in JLA: The Nail #1.[11]
DeSaad appears in Justice League (2001), voiced again by René Auberjonois.[14] In the episode "Twilight", Darkseid kills DeSaad for criticizing his military action to gain the Anti-Life Equation.
DeSaad appears in the tenth season of Smallville, portrayed by Steve Byers. This version owns a fetish club franchise called "Club DeSaad" and possesses several psionic powers, such as telekinesis, which he uses to manipulate and corrupt people. Throughout the series, he serves Darkseid until he is killed by Green Arrow in the series finale.
DeSaad appears in Justice League: War, voiced by Bruce Thomas.[14] This version oversees the process that transforms captured species into Parademons. He is later killed by Superman, who became unstable and aggressive after being partially subjected to the process.
↑ 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.88. ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "DeSaad Voices (Superman)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved November 1, 2023. 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.
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