Doomsday is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, the character first made a cameo appearance in Superman: The Man of Steel #17 (November 1992) before being fully introduced in Superman: The Man of Steel #18 (December 1992).[2] He has become one of Superman's most enduring enemies belonging to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
Doomsday ranked as #46 on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time.[3] He is best known as the character that killed Superman in The Death of Superman story arc "Doomsday!". He appears in the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where he was portrayed by Robin Atkin Downes through voice acting and motion capture.
Doomsday was conceived in 1991 during an annual brainstorming session with the editors and writers of Superman comics, in response to a concern by some writers that most of Superman's foes at this point either relied on technology or their intellect to outmaneuver Superman or had some natural advantage against him, wanting to create a new foe with great physical power to match him. Several writers proposed having Superman die at the hands of a "bestial foe", and editor Mike Carlin scribbled this idea on the wall chart as "doomsday for Superman". Inspired, they chose "Doomsday" as the name for this villain.[4]
Doomsday is depicted as a monstrous genetically engineered being from the depths of prehistoric Krypton. His creator imbued him with few feelings, mostly hate and desire for destruction, which led to his destroying worlds and eventually finding Earth, where he met Superman.[6] The character is best known as Superman's killer in the 1992 storyline, "The Death of Superman".
The Ultimate Killing Machine
Originally known as "The Ultimate," Doomsday was born in prehistoric times on Krypton, long before the humanoid Kryptonian race gained dominance over the planet about 250,000 years ago. It was at that time a violent, hellish world, where only the absolute strongest of creatures could survive.[7][8] In a cruel experiment involving evolution, intended to create the perfect living being, the alien scientist Bertron released a humanoid infant (born in vitro in a lab) onto the surface of the planet, where he was promptly killed by the harsh environment. The baby's remains were collected and used to clone a stronger version. This process was repeated over and over for decades as a form of accelerated natural evolution. The agony of these repeated deaths was recorded in his genes, driving the creature insane and to hate all life.
Doomsday in promotional artwork for DC Comics T-shirts, art by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding.
As it evolved, the child eventually became able to survive the high temperatures and searing atmosphere, only to be quickly slain by the vicious predators that inhabited the planet. Over time, and without the assistance of Bertron's technology, he gained the ability to thrive on solar energy without the need for food or air, to return to life and adapt to overcome whatever had previously killed him. The Ultimate hunted and exterminated the dangerous predators of Krypton. He then killed Bertron, whom he had come to identify as an enemy.[7]
The Ultimate escaped Krypton via a ship that regularly arrived to deliver supplies to Bertron (who had wanted little contact with the planet's natives) and went on a killing spree across several planets. It began 245,000 years earlier on planet Bylan 5, where Apokoliptian prince Uxas (the future Darkseid) was about to wed a princess (to obtain that planet's chemical deposits for Apokolips's weapons factories). The Ultimate killed Uxas' ally Master Mayhem almost instantly and instilled great fear in Uxas, having watched their fight. Just as the Ultimate and Uxas were about to meet in combat, Uxas was forced to flee; the Ultimate's rampage had caused the planet's atmosphere to become toxic, thereby rendering the chemicals worthless to Apokolips. The Ultimate hitched a ride on an escaping shuttle, which crashed on Khundia. The warring Khundian clans united to build protective armor for a warrior named Kobald, who they hoped would survive long enough to force the Ultimate onto a rocket. Once the rocket was in space, the Ultimate killed Kobald and the resulting explosion sent him hurtling through space.
He next crossed paths with a Green Lantern named Zharan Pel, beating him to death. The Ultimate took the Lantern's power ring and, sensing the power of the Guardians of the Universe, headed towards them. The thousands of Green Lanterns that were sent to stop him were slaughtered. He continued to Oa, where a single Guardian fought him. Wary of the others joining the fight, fearing the Ultimate would absorb their powers as he believed was happening to his powers, he, as a last resort, sacrificed himself in battle to defeat him. The release of energies by the Guardian caused a tear in space through which the Ultimate fell.
Eventually arriving on the planet Calaton, he ravaged that world for three years.[7] With only the capital city left, the royal family combined their life forces into a single energy being, the Radiant.[7][9] The Radiant killed the Ultimate with a huge blast of energy, laying waste to over a fifth of his planet in the process. In common Calatonian burial procedures, the Ultimate's seemingly dead body was suited and shackled to prevent his spirit from escaping into the afterlife, and he was shot into space because the murders he committed made him unworthy of burial on Calaton. Eventually, his metallic casket crashed on Earth, the force of the impact driving it deep underground.[7]
Doomsday's first full appearance, on the cover of Superman: The Man of Steel #18 (December 1992); art by Jon Bogdanove and Dennis Janke.
After freeing one arm and breaking out of his buried vault, The Ultimate went on a rampage in Midwestern America, where he first encountered the Justice League. He defeated the entire team of superheroes in a matter of minutes, which attracted the attention of Superman.[9] Most notable is that the creature fought the whole time literally with one hand tied behind his back (due to his ancient burial cables), yet was still able to lay waste to all opposition and much of the surrounding area. The only Justice Leaguer who could defend herself against the creature was Maxima. The creature gained its new name when League member Booster Gold remarked that the rampage resembled "the arrival of Doomsday". The comment reached the broadcast media and led to the creature becoming known by its new name of Doomsday. Five Leaguers, including Superman, combined their energy powers to take down Doomsday, but succeeded only in destroying the last of his burial cables, allowing him to use both hands, thus worsening the crisis.
During his rampage, Doomsday's interest was captured by billboards and television spots advertising violent wrestling competitions held in Metropolis, which appealed to his blood lust and enticed the otherwise mindless creature to head towards the city. In counterattacking the creature, Superman found that his opponent's power was more than a match for his own and was getting stronger. He realized that if Doomsday actually reached Metropolis, the resulting battle could conceivably destroy the city and kill millions of innocent people. Doomsday developed a strong desire to murder Superman, a desire that was later explained in the Hunter/Prey miniseries: "from the agony of continually dying during his creation process, Doomsday developed in his genes the ability to sense anyone Kryptonian, as well as an overriding instinct to treat any such being as an automatic threat".
In the space of a few issues of the Superman comic book series, Doomsday battled Superman in a titanic struggle, leading the hero to conclude that the creature would continue to attack relentlessly and endlessly, with no fear or compassion. Matters came to a head in Superman (vol. 2) #75, wherein both Doomsday and Superman beat each other to death in front of the Daily Planet building in Metropolis.[9]
Following the battle, four super-beings appeared and took up Superman's mantle, two of them declaring themselves to be the real Superman. One was a half-man/half-machine who greatly resembled Superman with cybernetic implants where Superman had sustained the greatest amount of damage from Doomsday's blows. This "Superman" took custody of Doomsday's body. After strapping the body to an asteroid with an electronic device attached, the Cyborg Superman flung Doomsday into deep space on a trajectory supposedly certain to never intersect any other planet. The issue ended with a panel of a reawakened and laughing Doomsday, still chained to the asteroid but otherwise alive.
Rematch: Hunter/Prey
After passing through a wormhole, Doomsday's asteroid was found by a deep-space scavenger ship. Upon examination of the peculiar-looking drifting rock, the ship's crew retrieved the object, hoping to find something of value. The scavenger vessel happened to be on a route to Apokolips, the home of the now-powerful tyrant Darkseid, now empowered by the fabled Omega Force long after his first encounter with Doomsday. Doomsday was fully rested and, after slaughtering the crew of the salvage ship, found himself landing on the harsh world. This was to be the setup for a final showdown between Doomsday and Superman, who had been uneasy about the possibility of Doomsday's resurrection. With the help of his Justice League contacts, Superman procured a Mother Box, a sentient computer, after Darkseid's servant Desaad contacted Earth about a problem on Apokolips.
Unknown to Superman, Doomsday had faced and beaten Darkseid in single combat despite his improved powers, even after withstanding the full effect of Darkseid's Omega Beams and was laying waste to Apokolips. Before Superman could deal with Doomsday, Desaad opened a boom tube to Calaton – the first world where Doomsday was successfully defeated – and sent Doomsday through to what he believed was his defeat at the hands of the Radiant. Doomsday was able to adapt, however, and overcome any opponent because of the process by which he was created, so, although the Radiant had defeated him once, he would not be able to defeat him again. Likewise, even though Superman had killed Doomsday once before, he was unable to do so again. Superman, while knowing this – having learned Doomsday's history by the time-manipulating Waverider – was obsessed with stopping Doomsday and followed him to Calaton. He fought Doomsday again with the help of the Mother Box, but, despite it providing him with extra weapons such as an ultrasonic gun and an energy sword, Superman met with defeat as Doomsday's evolutions rendered him immune to Superman's attacks, such as his auditory channels being sealed by new bone growths or his knuckle-bones being able to shoot out of his body to 'pin' Superman in the air. Eventually, with his left arm having suffered a compound fracture and most of his weapons lost, Superman was forced to use one of Waverider's time travel devices to leave Doomsday stranded at the End of Time, where Doomsday met the one force he could not overcome: entropy. Upon returning Superman to the present, the Mother Box healed Superman's injuries and then "died". On Apokolips, Darkseid, despite being beaten to near-death by Doomsday, became fascinated with him after witnessing his abilities first-hand and learning his origin from Waverider.
The Doomsday Wars
Doomsday returned yet again in the miniseries The Doomsday Wars. In this series, Prin Vnok, an underling of Brainiac, uses his technology to travel to the End of Time to retrieve Doomsday to combine the beast's massive power with Brainiac's formidable intellect after Brainiac's original body was badly injured in his last fight with Superman (this was explained as having taken place at the time of the timeline's reconstruction following the events of "Zero Hour"; the reconstruction of time meant that Brainiac was able to change the events of Doomsday's defeat). He was unable to erase Doomsday's consciousness with drugs, however, because he reacted too fast for the process to work. With Doomsday's strength of will too strong for Brainiac to permanently overwhelm him on his own, Brainiac instead chose to use a human host to genetically engineer a Doomsday clone without the mind of the original, while temporarily lodging in Doomsday's head to use the creature's strength until he would be forced out. He chose to use Pete Ross and Lana Lang's newborn baby, born eight weeks premature and transported by Superman to a hospital. Brainiac intercepted Superman and stole the baby to hurt his long-time foe, correctly deducing that it was the child of someone close to Superman and feeling that the baby's still-malleable DNA would make him ideal for the plan. In the end, Superman thwarted Brainiac's plot by driving him out of Doomsday's body via the use of a telepathy-blocking "psi-blocker", simultaneously rescuing the baby from Brainiac's equipment after his foe's treatments brought the child to full-term before infusing him with Doomsday's DNA. He then lured Doomsday to the moon, where he placed him in a kind of stasis with four Justice League teleporters. Perpetually transporting between those four booths, Doomsday would never be more than 25% integrated, and was thus unable to escape.
Our Worlds at War
Following these events, Doomsday was released by Manchester Black's Suicide Squad to battle Imperiex, a threat judged to be greater than Doomsday himself.[9] Once freed, Doomsday slaughtered the Squad, then went on to battle Imperiex's numerous probes (his mind having been altered by Black to regard them as the threat he normally perceived Superman to be), which had thus far managed to seriously injure or kill most of Earth's heroes. Doomsday tore through numerous probes with seemingly little effort, while aided by Superman – the only time the two enemies would come close to teaming up – before finally confronting Imperiex. Imperiex proved too much for Doomsday – he blasted the creature, reducing him to a glowing skeleton.
Sentience
Superman (vol. 2) #175 commemorated the 100th issue since the death of Superman in battle with Doomsday, by staging a rematch. Doomsday's skeleton was retrieved and his flesh regrown by Lex Luthor using Superman's Kryptonian DNA, who gave Doomsday to Darkseid to repay Earth's war debt to Apokolips (Darkseid sought to control Doomsday since their last encounter). By this time, Doomsday had evolved intelligence and sentience. Luthor arranged for the Joker to set Doomsday loose in Washington, D.C., to demonstrate that he was "in good working condition". It also happened to be the anniversary of the day that Superman had died while stopping Doomsday. Despite being weakened by kryptonite exposure when Luthor attempted to exploit Doomsday's Kryptonian origins, Superman's heart was restarted by Black Lightning and he reached Doomsday just as the monster was struggling with the Martian Manhunter. Learning from J'onzz that Doomsday wanted to kill Luthor because he blamed Luthor for his "death" in the Imperiex War, Superman would soon fight Doomsday again and, this time, humbly defeat the creature by knocking him out and proving to himself and the world that Doomsday would never again be Superman's equal:
You're different now. You can think for yourself. So think about this. Before, you were a mindless thing. Nothing could hurt you. You couldn't feel pain, much less understand it. But once you have felt it—it changes you—forever. And you'll begin to understand something new. Fear. I've lived with it all my life. You don't want to die again, do you? The agony of what's happened to you affects your speed—your strength...and that little bit of doubt—that you cannot win today—grows. You understand now, don't you? You will never hurt me again. You will never kill me again. Never again!
Darkseid attempted to replicate Doomsday, producing an army of Doomsday "clones". Darkseid was unable to duplicate perfectly the creature in all its raw power but still used the replicates as his foot soldiers, typically for diversions or intimidations. They were defeated by a combination of heat vision and Batman's batarangs during an attack on Paradise Island, while Darkseid kidnapped the newly arrived Kara Zor-El/Supergirl.[11]
When Superman travels to Apokolips to reclaim the life of Steel, Darkseid's wife Mortalla orders his troops to release Doomsday to help Darkseid. Doomsday's short freedom was quickly halted by Steel in the Entropy Aegis, an armor with incredible power that had been built out of the remains of an Imperiex probe. Doomsday disappeared and was seen wandering the harsh lands of Apokolips.[12]
With his newfound intelligence, Doomsday escapes Apokolips and returns to Earth. He assists Superman in battling Gog and is viewed as a hero in the future.
Doomsday returns in Superman #681, crashing in Metropolis shortly after the representatives of Kandor meet with the President. He is killed in battle with Superman, Supergirl, and the Kandorians. Afterward, Sam Lane obtains Doomsday's corpse and tasks Lex Luthor with upgrading him.[15]
Reign of Doomsday
During the "Reign of Doomsday" storyline, Doomsday returned to carve a new path of destruction throughout the DC Universe. His journey started in the Steel one-shot and continued into Outsiders (vol. 4) #37, Justice League of America (vol. 2) #55, Superman/Batman Annual #5, Superboy (vol. 4) #6 and into the milestone Action Comics #900.[16][17] Doomsday, exhibiting an increased, broadened power set which seemed to adapt to each of his opponents, attacked, defeated and abducted Steel, the Cyborg Superman, the Eradicator, Supergirl, and Superboy, before taking them to a cloaked satellite at the former location of New Krypton. Superman discovered that this was all part of a plot by Lex Luthor. After locating the satellite, Superman attempted to free his allies, only for them all to discover the apparently still-inert body of Doomsday, as well as three separate clones, each with a different power set.[18]
Attempting to flee from the clones with Doomsday, the Superman Family discovered that their ship was on course for Earth with the potential to trigger an extinction-level event if it were to strike. Their attempt to divert the ship was interrupted by a being called "Doomslayer", who resembled a cyborg version of Doomsday and was later revealed to be a Doomsday clone who was tossed down an infinite tube that gave it time to evolve. Doomslayer effortlessly tore Eradicator apart and proclaimed that Earth must die for the future.[19]
Doomslayer believed the original Doomsday to be an infection, so it planned to destroy Earth, as it considered Earth to be ground zero for Doomsday's "infection". Superman and his friends escaped the ship with the original Doomsday and stopped the ship from crashing onto Earth, pushing it into Metropolis's bay. Afterward, Doomslayer attacked the city with the Doomsday clones, determined to erase all trace and knowledge of Doomsday from existence.[20]
The clones spread across the world, wreaking havoc, while Doomslayer's second plan was to entice the Doomsdays to reach the Earth's core so that he could expand the universe inside the ship's tower and destroy the planet from within, thus erasing all knowledge of Doomsday from the universe. In S.T.A.R. Labs, Superman's allies used the original Doomsday's body to try to find a way to stop the Doomsday clones. Doomsday awakened, but Eradicator (who was thought to be killed by Doomslayer) was in control. As Eradicator and the heroes attacked the Doomsday clones, he warned that Doomsday's mind was beginning to awaken.[21]
In the final battle, a weakened Superman made contact with the ship's artificial intelligence before it reached Earth's core, hoping to have the tower teleport away. Meanwhile, the Doomsday clones were defeated by Earth's heroes and sent back into the pit in which the tower was located. Eradicator arrived and defended Superman, now very weak, from Doomslayer, quickly throwing Superman out of the tower and allowing himself to be trapped with Doomslayer before the tower teleported away.[22]
The New 52
Doomsday, as the character appeared on the cover of Batman/Superman #3.1: Doomsday (November 2013). Artwork cover by Tony Daniel, Sandu Florea and Tomeu Morey.
In The New 52 (a 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), Doomsday made his official debut in September 2013 as a part of "Villains Month".[23] In Batman/Superman #3.1, Doomsday attacked Krypton many years ago when Lara was a lieutenant in the elite military seminary. Colonel Zod faced him wearing an ancient armor of Krypton's warrior founders but their battle caused the death of thousands of Kryptonians. Zod apparently defeated Doomsday, sending him to the Phantom Zone. Years later, General Zod, now also imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, communicated with the child Kara Zor-El, telling her how he admired the creature because it destroyed everything, an attribute he sought for his people to be strong as years of complacency had made the Kryptonians weak. Zor-El narrated a prophecy in which the last knight of the House of El will travel to a distant planet after the destruction of Krypton. The last knight will be found by Doomsday later and will battle him to save his people, sacrificing his own life to do so.[24]
In Superman/Wonder Woman, Doomsday mysteriously appears in the North Atlantic Ocean and fights Wonder Woman, breaking her arm before vanishing. After describing her attacker to Superman, both travel to the Fortress of Solitude where Diana identifies Doomsday on a Phantom Zone viewing device. Superman assumes that the walls of the Phantom Zone are failing, which has allowed the momentary escapes for Doomsday.
Months later, the creature once again escapes the Phantom Zone to wreak havoc across the globe, changing into an even deadlier form; now, every living thing in its vicinity dies, and even physical structures crumble. Superman, Wonder Woman, Steel, and the Justice League struggle to defeat it, even calling on the aid of Lex Luthor; in the end, Superman drags Doomsday's body to the planet Venus and incinerates it. Believing Doomsday dead, Superman returns to Earth, only to watch in horror as the creature teleports there. Finally realizing he has no choice, Superman kills Doomsday, slicing the monster in half and, as it disintegrates, inhaling its ash-like remains to contain them within his indestructible body. However, soon after, he starts to change, mentally showing signs of exacerbated stress and aggression, and gradually physically as well, resembling Doomsday more and more. It is revealed that Doomsday was released by the Phantom King (Xa-Du), on instigation of Brainiac; the latter orchestrated it to get rid of Superman as he prepared to assimilate the consciousnesses of all human beings in the world. Superman managed to take control of the raging power and fury of Doomsday for long enough, however, to attack and defeat Brainiac's gigantic mother ship, dragging it into a black hole, ridding himself of the Doomsday infection in the process.[25]
DC Rebirth
In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". After the death of the New 52 Superman, the pre-Flashpoint Superman appears to confront Lex Luthor as he attempts to proclaim his new role as Metropolis's protector in the absence of the Man of Steel, but their fight is interrupted when Doomsday emerges from a coffin that was being transported by an unidentified group in a hovercar above them.[26] As Superman and Lex attempt to fight the creature, Superman is troubled to realize that this Doomsday operates at a strength level similar to the creature he faced for the first time in his world, but also has some degree of strategic planning, attacking passing trains and civilians to distract Superman and Luthor.[27] As Wonder Woman appears to assist, Doomsday departs, but Superman and Wonder Woman are able to intercept him before he reaches Superman's wife, Lois, and their son Jon.[28] While Wonder Woman takes Lois and Jon to the JLA Watchtower for safety, Superman is confused when an unknown group appears and attacks Doomsday,[29] but they are swiftly defeated. He subsequently manages to lure Doomsday to his own makeshift Fortress. Lois and Jon plea to Diana to help Clark when he struggles in containing him and she soon joins the battle again. This allows Clark time to use the Phantom Zone projector to trap his foe, but he is unaware that the unknown group led by Mr. Oz intercepted the Phantom Zone beam and have captured Doomsday for their own unknown purposes.[30]
After the merging of the timelines of both pre and post-Flashpoint Superman in "Superman Reborn", Doomsday had become smarter and escaped from his confinement when Tim Drake, who had also been imprisoned by Mr. Oz, opened all the cells to escape. Tim Drake from the "Titans Tomorrow" timeline, who had also been imprisoned there, came to his rescue and stunned Doomsday several times with rounds of Kryptonite ammunition. Unable to take him down, he tricked him into re-entering his cell by chasing a hologram of Superman.[31]
Powers and abilities
Doomsday was developed in one of the harshest habitats in all of existence: prehistoric Krypton. Through cloning technology, the infant continually returned to life and evolved, becoming resistant or immune to whatever killed him before, ultimately permanently acquiring the capability to regenerate and evolve without technology. After the Radiant killed him the first time they fought, Doomsday grew immune to the Radiant's energy-projection and even managed to withstand Darkseid's full Omega-Effect.[1] The amount of damage dealt to Doomsday determined the length of time it took for him to fully recover. During his outwardly undamaged death at Superman's hands, he only needed some days to recover, but when Imperiex reduced him to a skeleton, it took months. His entombment in a Calatonian burial suit and metal vault lasted hundreds of millennia. After being killed by the Radiant and subsequently undergoing the impact of the casket on Earth, his body was sealed underground in total darkness, depriving him of solar energy and greatly slowing his resurrection.[citation needed]
Doomsday had a highly accelerated healing factor that allowed him to quickly regenerate from most damage. When his side was cut by Superman with a plasma sword, it closed within moments. As a result of his engineering, Doomsday did not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep, and his body was almost solid mass with no internal organs, the masses of bone like material covering his body likely acting as some form of exoskeleton.[1]
Resistance
Doomsday also was able to develop/evolve resistance from ordinary injuries. Superman once used a sound gun to greatly discomfort him, but Doomsday's auditory canals closed up, making him impervious to Superman's weapon.[1]Waverider once paralyzed Doomsday with energy while seeking to perceive Doomsday's presence, but the second attempt backfired as Doomsday triggered a feedback burst that briefly disrupted Waverider.[1]
In essence, Doomsday gradually became more invulnerable if not injured beyond his ability to recover, which has so far been undefined. Doomsday developed weapons and abilities that countered the powers of an opponent. He managed to cancel out the pure-energy Radiant by slamming into him while generating a dark counter-energy; to greatly extend his claws and develop a poison to strike Superman in flight and reel him in;[1] to breathe flames against the fire-sensitive Martian Manhunter, and apparently neutralize his defensive phase-shifting power.[32] Doomsday's skeleton protruded through his skin in razor-sharp spurs, which provided protection to his few vital organs (brain, eyes and nervous system), and acted as claw-like weapons on his hands, elbows, and knees. In addition, the tips of these protrusions are lethally poisonous even to powerful Apokoliptians like Darkseid.
Doomsday was immensely resistant to heat, cold, and conventional damage, allowing him to survive in the most inhospitable worlds, or in the vacuum of space. His superhuman endurance and invulnerability were able to withstand Darkseid's full-powered "Omega Effect" without any apparent damage. This is an immunity he shares with Superman, being as he is technically Kryptonian.[1]
Waverider's words suggest that Doomsday's body could have been completely destroyed after his battle with the Radiant, suggesting that his healing factor has its limits, but at this point Doomsday was left so damaged that he remained 'comatose' for several thousand years while trapped and cut off from the solar energy he required to sustain himself. After his subsequent evolutions, it is unlikely that anything is capable of doing sufficient damage to him to bring him to this state again.[1]
Strength
Doomsday possessed enormous superhuman strength that is significantly greater than Superman and at one point this enabled him to effortlessly stand his ground against the entire Justice League, including Superman and Orion.[33] He was able to break Superman's left arm with limited effort, as well as outmatch and beat Darkseid unconscious in combat.[1] However, his strength has limits: the immensely strong Calatonian alloy cables, in which he was entombed, continued to partially restrain him during his initial rampage on Earth, with the last of the cables only being destroyed when the Justice League unleashed a full-power assault to try and stop him. It was never stated how long he had struggled to free his left hand before his escape.
Doomsday possessed seemingly inexhaustible stamina, and was not noticeably slowed down from fighting Superman for an entire day. His speed and agility were vastly disproportionate to his bulky stature, and he was able to match Superman in this regard, once even managing to grab the Flash while the hero was in motion. He could not fly, but traveled by leaping miles at a time. Superman took advantage of this in their first battle by trying to keep him airborne by flying into the sky.
After being regrown by Lex Luthor, Doomsday was genetically part-Kryptonian due to his genes having been spliced with Kal-El's. However, with the exception of his flame-breath, he displayed no additional abilities. In fact, he was shown to be weaker than previously when he was single-handedly beaten by Superman. This was attributed to intelligence that he developed, causing him to fear the death that awaited him if he lost, but did not explain how a simple minor concussion could incapacitate his healing factor for the time he remained unconscious.[32] He apparently lost his intelligence when he was sent back in time, reverting him to his original state of fearlessness.
Once he gained some of Superman's Kryptonian DNA, he became susceptible to kryptonite. Unlike Superman, it caused him pain, but could not kill him. This rendered him controllable, but given his ability to adapt, this may not be permanent – it is unknown if he must first die and resurrect to gain immunity to something.
Other powers
During his confrontation with Steel, Doomsday spontaneously developed the power of flight, and the ability to cover his body with metallic armor, capable of resisting even Steel's paralyzing nanites.[34] In a later confrontation with the Outsiders, as he sought to confront the Eradicator, he demonstrated the ability to absorb energy from Looker and Halo's attacks and send it back to them in a massive burst manipulating raw power like the Eradicator.[35] During his battle with the Cyborg-Superman, the Cyborg tore through portions of Doomsday's body, which were quickly replaced with bionic parts of his own, giving itself vast technopathy.[36] When confronting Superboy, the monster showcased a blue glow in its eyes, indicating Tactile Telekinesis power even greater than his own,[37] but it has since been revealed that these Doomsdays were actually clones of the original, each specifically designed to take out Steel, Henshaw, Eradicator and Superboy, putting them at a disadvantage when pitted against the other Supermen.[38]
In the DCU revamp, Doomsday was revealed to grow and evolve in stages since its genesis. Growing as well as gaining in biomass and power over the course of its own development cycle, it was soon revealed that when it killed Superman post-reboot, it was only in its larval stage.[39] While undergoing its adolescence phase, the monster created a giant clump of its own biomass as a makeshift cocoon, which steadily built up its physiological structure to its current state by feeding on the natural wildlife around it. Whence it hatched from its incubator, Doomsday became only that much greater an extinction level threat, now able to move to and from the Phantom Zone at will, using it as a hub for spontaneous teleportation.[40] This was made possible due to its physical strength being vastly augmented to the point it could breach the dimensional barrier through physical force alone.[41] He'd grown so powerful in such a short amount of time that the creature could overpower the demigoddess Diana of Themyscira in a straight forward battle with ease, going so far as to break both of her arms.[40]
Doomsday was still in the stages of his evolution, to help it along he developed a form of death aura which sapped the life out of anything and everything around him within a couple hundred yards.[42] Growing more and more powerful the more he killed and the more lifeforce he consumed, an extension of this power was a toxic spore cloud he emitted from his own body which expedited the leeching process. Doomsday's deadly miasma had the effect of making everything around him wither and die at an accelerated rate; such as sand glossing over into black onyx, sentient life burst into flames several meters away, even buildings spontaneously dissolving at a molecular level upon exposure to his poisonous fugue. Even a solar powered Kryptonian couldn't stand to be in his presence for more than a few minutes at a time.[43] The virulent also has the effect of turning anyone and everyone affected by it into an iteration of Doomsday himself.[44] Moreover, those who kill him become a receptacle for his essential self, taking on his more vicious and bloodthirsty characteristics as well as his powers.[45]
Doomsday-related characters
There have been other characters that have been connected with Doomsday in different ways that often include either a mutation, his DNA being spliced with another character, and the occasional clones.
All-American Boy
An alternate variant of Doomsday appears in Superman/Batman. This version is Joshua Walker, a human soldier who was infused with Doomsday's DNA as part of a government experiment led by Amanda Waller and codenamed All-American Boy.[46] However, Superman defeats Walker and returns him to normal, after which Waller helps rebuild Smallville in exchange for keeping her involvement secret.[47]
The Devastator, an amalgamation of Doomsday and Batman from Earth -1, appears in Dark Nights: Metal and Dark Nights: Death Metal. This version formerly operated as Batman before transforming into Doomsday to defeat his universe's version of Superman, retaining his mind and being able to return to human form at will.[50][51]
Doombreaker
In Infinite Frontier, it was revealed that construction worker Lloyd Crayton witnessed Superman's first fight with Doomsday. He later obtains one of Doomsday's bones, transforming him into a four-armed monster resembling him called Doombreaker.[52]
Doomed
In Convergence, Doomsday's spores transform S.T.A.R. Labs intern Reiser into Doomed.[53]
Doomslayer
During the "Reign of Doomsday" storyline, Lex Luthor used the DNA sample of Doomsday to create a clone called Doomslayer in a plot to dispose of Doomsday.[54]
Other versions
All-Star Superman
An alternate universe variant of Doomsday appears in All-Star Superman. This version is Jimmy Olsen, who temporarily transformed himself using a formula created by Leo Quintum.[55]
An alternate universe variant of Doomsday appears in DC Comics Bombshells. This version is Faora, who transformed after injecting herself with Raven's blood.
Flashpoint
An alternate universe variant of Doomsday appears in Flashpoint. This version was created by Sam Lane and the military as part of Project Six before being killed by the metahuman Alexandra Gianopoulos.[57][58]
Hypertension
An alternate universe variant of Doomsday appears in the Superboy story arc "Hypertension".[59]
A possible alternate future version of Doomsday who became the Time Trapper appears in Superman (vol. 6).[64]
World Without Young Justice
A teenage incarnation of Doomsday known as "Doomsboy" appears in the Young Justice story arc "World Without Young Justice".[65]
In other media
Television
Live-action
Doomsday appears in the eighth season of Smallville,[66] portrayed by Dario Delacio.[citation needed] This version was created on Krypton via its strongest creatures' DNA to serve as Major Zod and Faora's "son" and kill Kal-El.[67] Its genetic material became attached to the young Kal-El's spaceship and traveled to Earth, where it befriended Lex Luthor and was given up for adoption in 1989. Receiving the name "Davis Bloome" (portrayed by Sam Witwer),[68] he went on to become a paramedic and fall in love with Chloe Sullivan before recognizing Clark Kent as Kal-El,[69] which causes him to periodically transform into Doomsday. Throughout the season, Bloome struggles to maintain control over Doomsday before Sullivan uses black kryptonite to separate them and Kent traps Doomsday underground. Following this, Bloome and Jimmy Olsen fight over their shared love of Sullivan before mortally wounding each other.[70] Witwer was offered the chance to return in the ninth season, but ultimately declined as he felt it would be difficult for both the characters and audience to accept.[71]
Doomsday appears in Krypton. This version was originally Dax-Baron (portrayed by Staz Nair), a Kandorian with a unique genetic mutation who was convinced he would be the one to end a Kryptonian civil war and allowed Kryptonian scientists Wedna-El and Van-Zod to experiment on him until he became Doomsday.[72] He was subsequently put into cryo-stasis, but is eventually freed in the present by Seg-El, who seeks his power to stop Brainiac despite Adam Strange's protests.[73] Zod eventually captures Doomsday to weaponize him in his campaign to colonize other planets before sending him to Krypton's moon Wegthor to defeat a rebellion against him. After Wegthor is destroyed, Doomsday is presumed dead before being found in a frozen meteorite.
Doomsday appears in Superman & Lois, initially portrayed by Tyler Hoechlin and later motion-captured by Paul Lazenby.[74][75] This version was originally Kal-El / Bizarro, a corrupted version of Superman from an inverted universe who was killed by Mitch Anderson before being resurrected by Bruno Mannheim, experimented on by Lex Luthor, which turns him into Doomsday. Throughout the third and fourth seasons, Doomsday serves as Lex's enforcer until Lois Lane reminds the former of his time as Bizarro. Nonetheless, Luthor mutates Doomsday further, diminishing the latter's mental capacity, before Steel incapacitates the monster and Superman flies him into the sun. Though Bizarro's memories return, he allows Superman to kill him.
Doomsday appears in the Justice League two-part episode "A Better World". When he grew too difficult to control, Cadmus abandoned the project and launched Doomsday into space, but he damaged the rocket before leaving Earth's orbit and crash-landed. After returning to Earth, he battles the Justice Lords, who arrived from their native universe to conquer the main universe, until their version of Superman lobotomizes him.
In the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Doomsday Sanction", Doomsday regenerates his brain and is taken into Project Cadmus' custody until disgraced member Achilles Milo releases him to kill his superior Amanda Waller. However, Doomsday kills Milo instead and escapes to fight Superman before being defeated. After failing to interrogate him for information on Cadmus, Superman imprisons Doomsday in the Phantom Zone.
Doomsday makes a cameo appearance in the Legion of Super Heroes episode "Phantoms" as a prisoner of the Phantom Zone.
Doomsday appears in the Teen Titans Go! episode "Doomsday Preppers", voiced by Asher Bishop. This version is childish and wants to befriend the Teen Titans.
Doomsday appears in Superman: Doomsday.[75] This version is an improperly programmed biomechanical supersoldier and doomsday device that is incapable of distinguishing friend from foe, destroying everything in its path because it must. After being unearthed by LexCorp, Doomsday rampages throughout Metropolis before fighting and eventually being killed by Superman.
An army of Doomsday clones appear in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.[75] Darkseid creates them to attack Themyscira, but they prove significantly weaker than the original. While Superman easily defeats them, he and the other heroes involved realize the clones were used as a distraction so Darkseid could kill Lyla and kidnap Kara Zor-El.
In the DCAMU film Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Darkseid used Doomsday's DNA and spliced them with Parademon DNA to create an army of hybrid creatures called Paradooms.
An illusion of Doomsday makes a cameo appearance in Injustice.
Doomsday appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Benjamin Jansen.[75] Additionally, LexCorp conducted experiments on Smallville's citizens via Doomsday's DNA, turning them into Doomsday-like creatures, while a modernized Doomsday carrying a spore plague appears in a later update.
Doomsday appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.
Doomsday appears as an unlockable character in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced again by Fred Tatasciore.[75]
Miscellaneous
The Injustice incarnation of Doomsday appears in the Injustice: Gods Among Us prequel comic. The Joker infects Superman with Scarecrow's fear toxin, causing Superman to hallucinate a pregnant Lois Lane as Doomsday and fly her into outer space. When she died, a nuclear bomb that the Joker tied to her pulse detonated in Metropolis.[86] Sometime later, Superman brings the real Doomsday under his control via a harness that limits his ability to act independently.
Merchandise
Doomsday received a figure in the Justice League Unlimited tie-in toy line as part of a six-pack.
Doomsday, based on his appearance in Superman: Doomsday, received a figure from Mattel.
Doomsday, based on his appearance in Injustice: Gods Among Us, received a figure from DC Collectibles as part of a two-pack with Catwoman.
Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Lex Luthor originally appeared in Action Comics #23. He has since endured as the archenemy of the superhero Superman.
Krypton is a fictional planet appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly appearing or mentioned in stories starring the superhero Superman as the world from whence he came. The planet was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and was named after the chemical element krypton. The planet was first mentioned in Action Comics #1 and made its first appearance in Superman #1 (1939).
Bizarro is a supervillain or anti-hero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman, and first appeared in Superboy #68 (1958). Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books, the character has often been portrayed as an antagonist to Superman, though on occasion he also takes on an antihero role.
Darkseid is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Kirby, the character first made a cameo appearance in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134, before being fully introduced in Forever People #1.
Brainiac is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, and debuted in Action Comics #242. He has since endured as one of Superman's greatest enemies. The character's name is a portmanteau of the words brain and maniac.
Kryptonians are a fictional extraterrestrial race within the DC Comics universe that originated on the planet Krypton. The term originated from the stories of DC Comics superhero, Superman. The stories also use "Kryptonian" as an adjective to refer to anything created by or associated with the planet itself or the cultures that existed on it.
General Zod is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Superman. The character, who first appeared in Adventure Comics #283, was created by Robert Bernstein and initially designed by George Papp. As a Kryptonian, he exhibits the same powers and abilities as Superman and is consequently viewed as one of his greatest enemies alongside Lex Luthor, Darkseid, and Brainiac. He is also well known for his catchphrase, "Kneel before Zod!".
The Eradicator is the given name of four different fictional comic book characters, appearing in books published by DC Comics. The first iteration was an antihero character appearing in The Flash series of comics. The second was a superhero having a recurring role in Superman stories, and the remaining two first appeared in 2013 and 2017, respectively.
Henry "Hank" Henshaw is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, and normally goes by the name Cyborg Superman. Created by writer-artist Dan Jurgens, the character originally appeared primarily as an enemy of Superman, however in recent years he has also been an enemy of the Green Lantern Corps.
Superman of Earth-Two (Kal-L) is an alternate version of the fictional superhero Superman, who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was introduced after DC Comics created Earth-Two, a parallel world that was retroactively established as the home of characters whose adventures had been published in the Golden Age of comic books. This allowed creators to publish Superman comic books taking place in current continuity while being able to disregard Golden Age stories, solving an incongruity, as Superman had been published as a single ongoing incarnation since inception. This version of the character first appeared in Justice League of America #73.
Superboy is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A modern variation on the original Superboy, the character first appeared as Superboy in The Adventures of Superman #500, and was created by writer Karl Kesel and artist Tom Grummett.
The Superman Revenge Squad is the name of two fictional organizations in the DC Comics universe. As their name suggests, it is a group of Superman villains who banded together to defeat the Man of Steel.
The Superman dynasty, an extension of the House of El, is a lineage of DC Comics superheroes. The term is used for the descendants of Kal-El, the original Superman, who continue to uphold his legacy of heroism well into the 853rd century, as depicted in the DC One Million crossover. Repeated references to members of the Superman dynasty, as Superman's "descendants" and at least one reference to them as the "blood of his blood" would seem to indicate that they are, in fact, the biological descendants of Superman in some fashion.
Faora is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. The character was created by Cary Bates and Curt Swan, and first appeared in Action Comics #471. Most commonly, Faora is an ally and sometimes the wife or lover of Superman's Kryptonian nemesis General Zod.
Samuel Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the father of Lucy Lane and Lois Lane and the father-in-law of Clark Kent / Superman.
Christopher Kent (Lor-Zod) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Action Comics #844 and was created by Richard Donner, Geoff Johns, and Adam Kubert.
Lex Luthor is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As Superman's archenemy, he has been portrayed in almost every Superman media franchise and adaptation.
"Reign of Doomsday" is a 2011 comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics that ran through the Superman family of books, The Outsiders and The Justice League of America. The crossover involves Doomsday hunting down Steel, Superboy, Eradicator, and Cyborg Superman, the four main characters introduced in the wake of the controversial The Death of Superman storyline in 1992. Though the current iteration of the character was not present in the original The Death of Superman storyline, Supergirl appears in the crossover as well due to being part of the Justice League. The storyline draws its title from Reign of the Supermen, the immediate follow-up to The Death of Superman.
"H'El on Earth" is a Superman crossover story arc published by DC Comics. Written primarily by Scott Lobdell, it details the appearance of H'El, a mysterious Kryptonian. The plot of "H'El on Earth" follows H'El's plan to restore Krypton and the Superman family's attempts to stop him.
↑ 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.96. ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
↑ Tye (2012), p.243: "Next [Mike Carlin] scribbled on his storyboard "doomsday for Superman". Others chimed in, trying to imagine a villain omnipotent enough to do in Superman and how a world without him would look. By the time they left the room, they had a rough outline for a series of stories. Superman would duke it out with an all-new evil predator who was tearing apart Metropolis. What to call him or it? The answer was there on Carlin's chart: Doomsday".
↑ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p.239. ISBN978-1-4654-8578-6.
↑ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp.76–78. ISBN978-0-345-50108-0.
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