Legion of Doom

Last updated
Legion of Doom
Legion of Doom.jpg
Publication information
First appearance TV:
Challenge of the Superfriends , Episode 1: "Wanted: The Super Friends" (September 9, 1978)
Comics:
Extreme Justice #16 (May 1996)
In-story information
Base(s)Hall of Doom
Leader(s) Lex Luthor
Member(s) Bizarro
Black Manta
Brainiac
Captain Cold
Cheetah
Giganta
Gorilla Grodd
Riddler
Scarecrow
Sinestro
Solomon Grundy
Toyman

The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains who originated in Challenge of the Superfriends , an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. [1] The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Universe, appearing in comics, as well as further animated and live-action adaptations, and also video games.

Contents

History

In each episode of Challenge of the Superfriends that they appeared, the Legion of Doom would enact a plot against the Super Friends and a plot to take over the world only to be met with defeat by the end of the story. In some episodes, they would escape capture through a last-minute escape plan often contrived by Luthor. Other times, the Legion of Doom (or portions of it) would end up apprehended.

The episode "History of Doom" showed that Lex Luthor assembled 12 supervillains in order to form the most powerful and sinister group the world had ever seen.

Development

When the Challenge of the Superfriends season was originally conceived, it was named Battle of the Superheroes and featured the introduction of Captain Marvel to the Super Friends. The group that challenged the heroes was to be called the "League of Evil", led by Captain Marvel's nemesis Doctor Sivana. However, Filmation was producing Shazam! and The New Adventures of Batman which prevented the use of characters such as Mister Atom, King Kull, Beautia Sivana, Joker, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and Catwoman. Early conceptual art drawn by Alex Toth also included Heat Wave, Poison Ivy, and Abra Kadabra. [2]

The Hall of Doom

The Legion of Doom's headquarters was the Hall of Doom which was located in Slaughter Swamp (just outside Gotham City). The facility, which resembles Black Manta's helmet, could be lowered or raised above the swamp water's surface. It could fly or enter space using rockets. The Hall of Doom's mobility could be controlled through remote control helping the Legion to escape on several occasions. Its defenses included laser weapons and the ability to time travel.

In "Doomsday" after Sinestro, Black Manta and Cheetah are abandoned by the rest of the Legion after they take control of a mental device, they use it to create another Hall of Doom, which attacks the original one and enables the Legion to be captured.

In "History of Doom", the Hall is shown being constructed in a barn just after the Legion formed. Black Manta proposes that they have it in the ocean, Captain Cold proposes to have it underneath the polar ice caps, and Gorilla Grodd proposes that they have it in the jungle. As a compromise, Lex Luthor decides to have it within the waters of Slaughter Swamp as it is flown to that location.

Members

There were thirteen members of the Legion of Doom:

MemberAlter egoDescriptionPowersTraditional enemyVoice actor
Bizarro Tnek KralcTwisted duplicate of Superman created from a duplication ray by Lex Luthor on Earth.Same as Superman, but often behaves in an erratic and irrational manner, such as freeze beams from his eyes and flaming breath as opposed to Superman's heat ray and freezing breath. Superman William Callaway
Black Manta David HydeDeep sea diver and would-be ocean conqueror.Enhanced strength, water breathing ability (through artificial gills), high tech equipment, laser beams. Aquaman Ted Cassidy
Brainiac Vril DoxEvil alien android.Super-intelligence, advanced technology.Superman Ted Cassidy
Captain Cold Leonard SnartBlue-suited master of low temperatures.Absolute-zero ray guns. Flash Dick Ryal
Michael Bell
Cheetah Priscilla RichCheetah suit-wearing woman.Cat-like reflexes, claw-tipped gloves. Wonder Woman Marlene Aragon
Giganta Doris ZeulStole Apache Chief's magic powder to duplicate his powers.Ability to grow, super strength while in giant form.Wonder Woman [3] and Apache Chief Ruth Forman
Gorilla Grodd GroddMegalomaniacal exile from Gorilla City.Super-intelligence, peak gorilla strength.Flash Stanley Ralph Ross
Lex Luthor NoneMad scientist and founder/leader of the Legion of Doom.Evil genius, highly advanced weaponry.Superman Stanley Jones
Riddler Edward NygmaUses riddles to taunt and confuse adversaries while committing crimes.Puzzle creation, problem solving, super intelligent evil genius, puzzle themed traps and gadgets. Batman and Robin Michael Bell
Scarecrow Jonathan CraneUses his fear gas to bring peoples' worst fears to life.Fear gasBatman and Robin Don Messick
Sinestro Thaal SinestroRenegade ex-Green Lantern.Yellow power ring Green Lantern Vic Perrin
Don Messick (additional dialogue)
Solomon Grundy Cyrus GoldA super-powered gangster revived as a zombie in Slaughter Swamp.Great strength, invulnerabilityGreen Lantern, [4] Batman, and Superman. Jimmy Weldon
Toyman Jackson "Jack" Nimball Dresses as a jester and uses toy-based tactics to commit crimes.Creates destructive toys.Superman Frank Welker

Other Legion episodes

While Challenge of the Superfriends was the series spotlighting the Legion of Doom, they appear in a few Super Friends shorts:

Members of the team have solo appearances in later episodes.

Lex Luthor appears in:

Brainiac appears in:

Bizarro appears in:

Riddler appears in:

Scarecrow makes an appearance in The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians episode "The Fear" while also introducing his real name of Jonathan Crane.

Appearances in comics

Members of the Legion of Doom made some appearances in the Super Friends spin-off comic title based on the TV series:

The Legion of Doom in their Justice incarnation. From left to right: Clayface, Poison Ivy, Solomon Grundy, Parasite, Toyman, Sinestro, Black Manta, Scarecrow, Brainiac, Lex Luthor, Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, Cheetah, Riddler, Bizarro, Giganta, Black Adam and Metallo. Art by Alex Ross and Doug Braithwaite. Legion Of Doom (Justice).jpg
The Legion of Doom in their Justice incarnation. From left to right: Clayface, Poison Ivy, Solomon Grundy, Parasite, Toyman, Sinestro, Black Manta, Scarecrow, Brainiac, Lex Luthor, Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, Cheetah, Riddler, Bizarro, Giganta, Black Adam and Metallo. Art by Alex Ross and Doug Braithwaite.

In other media

Television

Film

Video games

Miscellaneous

Cultural impact

See also

Notes

  1. One of the nicest bits in "Alive!" was consciously making Luthor's team the villains that the audience had seen most of, more or less, and cared about. Which was good, since we were hopefully making the audience worry about and root for Luthor's group. This also let us come as close as we could to the classic 13 LOD villains. Grodd was now the enemy and was dead; Captain Cold wasn't around; Devil Ray and Grundy were gone and we couldn't use Scarecrow or Riddler, so we were left with: Luthor (who kind of counted as Brainiac), Bizarro, Giganta, Cheetah, Sinestro and Toyman. And no, I couldn't keep all 13 straight two years later without referring to my script and Wikipedia.
    Matt Wayne (dcanimated.com)

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