Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, longevity, senses, and durability
Heat vision
Wind and freeze breath
Solar energy absorption
X-ray vision
Flight
Enhanced intellect
Telepathy
Technopathy
Shapeshifting
Energy manipulation
Genetic manipulation
Previously
Intangibility
Power augmentation
Psionic manipulation
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 (and sometimes supervillain) having a recurring role in Superman stories, and the remaining two first appeared in 2013 and 2017, respectively.
Adam Rayner portrays a version of Morgan Edge who is revealed to be a Kryptonian and Superman's half-brother named Tal-Rho in the TV series Superman & Lois. He eventually lets himself get possessed by Kryptonian life-forces through a device called the Eradicator.
In Action Comics #687 (June 1993),[14] the character appeared as The Last Son of Krypton, and became the featured character in Action Comics through the Reign of the Supermen story arc, beginning with Action Comics #687-689. The character was "resurrected" in Action Comics #693 (November 1993) and then featured regularly in Outsiders, first appearing as a member of the team in issue 3. The character was featured in his own three-issue eponymous limited series in 1996.
Fictional character biography
First Eradicator
The Eradicator, in its original humanoid form. Art by Jackson Guice (pencils), Denis Rodier (inks), and Glen Whitmore (colors).
In the distant past, a dying alien race creates a number of containment devices in which to preserve their culture. They send them into space with contact teams, intent on meeting other civilizations. When a small group of these aliens arrives on the planet Krypton, they are met by the militant Kem-L, who kills them and corrupts one of the devices. Its new mission is to preserve his ideal of Kryptonian culture by eradicating all others — and thus the device becomes known as the "Eradicator."[2]
In its original form, the Eradicator resembles a stylized small rocket. Its top section is a prolate spheroid, which exudes a blue glow and is approximately three times the size of an egg.[clarification needed] This is connected via four thin mounting brackets to a glossy orange tail fin section of equal length. The ten equally spaced fins each have the shape of a pointed quarter ellipse, with the tapered end extending slightly beyond the rear of the squat main cylindrical body tube.
On Krypton, the Eradicator does all that it could over the years to protect Kryptonians, even from themselves. When a group of Kryptonian explorers leave Krypton in search of a new planet to colonize, the Eradicator alters their birthing matrices and makes them fatally allergic to lead, thus creating Daxamites.[citation needed] To further ensure that nobody left Krypton, the Eradicator alters Kryptonians by encoding in them a genetic defect so that they will instantly perish if they leave their world.
One of the surviving aliens, known as the Cleric, takes the Eradicator and leaves Krypton with a group of followers.[15] Unfortunately, they die soon thereafter, as the Kryptonian genetic link to their home planet precludes their survival off-world. The Cleric keeps the Eradicator for 200,000 years, until he encounters Superman on Warworld, while Superman was in self-imposed exile from Earth due to his guilt over executing three Kryptonians from a pocket universe.[3] With the device, the two exchange memories - which explains that Kal-El was able to leave Krypton thanks to genetic treatments his father had undergone to cure his DNA of the Eradicator's defect - and the Cleric has a vision of Superman in combat with Mongul. The Cleric wishes to save Superman's life, and the Eradicator transports Superman to the Cleric's asteroid.[16] The Cleric notices that the device has changed to protect Krypton's sole survivor, and he and Superman use it to heal their wounds, both physical and spiritual.[17][18] As they talk about their pasts, the Cleric assures Superman that his departure has only deprived his world of a great hero rather than sparing it from the threat he perceived he had become, confident that Kal-El would only have killed when he had no other choice to preserve justice. When the Cleric gives the Eradicator to Superman, he rapidly ages and dies as the link to the Eradicator extending his life is severed. Superman marks the Cleric's grave with his symbol to reflect the impact the Cleric had on him.[18]
Although Superman initially kept the Eradicator as a simple memento, it eventually attempted to activate and psychologically convert Superman into a 'true' Kryptonian, causing him to adopt Kryptonian clothes and a more ruthless attitude as it assembled the Fortress of Solitude in Antarctica. Superman was initially untroubled by this, even after Professor Hamilton tried to point out how he had nearly killed the alien gladiator Draaga when he could have just defeated him and ended the bout, but when the Eradicator attempted to kill Jonathan Kent, Superman fought off its influence and hurled the Eradicator into the sun.
The Eradicator's controlling consciousness was able to use the energy of the sun to give itself a humanoid form, but Superman and Hamilton were able to drain its energy back into the Fortress.
The Eradicator as The Last Son of Krypton, in Action Comics #687 (April 1993). Art by Jackson Guice (pencils), Denis Rodier (inks), and Glen Whitmore (colors).
After Superman was killed by Doomsday, the Fortress robots reactivated the Eradicator's consciousness, driving it to 'steal' Superman's body and take it to the Fortress. With Superman's body as a template, the Eradicator was able to create a new humanoid form for itself based on Superman's own, but dependent on Superman's corpse to act as a 'battery' for it, with Superman absorbing solar radiation that was then channeled into the Eradicator. As a result of this new form, the Eradicator came to believe itself to be Superman on some level, showing access to some of his memories- although it lacked his vision powers and instead fired energy blasts from its hands- but it also adopted a more ruthless approach, such as killing a would-be rapist and breaking a safecracker's hands. After Superman's body was restored to life, the Eradicator realized the truth of its nature and sacrificed itself to help restore Superman to full strength during the final confrontation with the Cyborg Superman.
Following Superman's return, the Eradicator's apparently dead body was examined at S.T.A.R. Labs, and merged with Dr. David Connor. The merged Eradicator joined the Outsiders, and occasionally teamed up with Superman. The Eradicator dealt with Dr. Connor's personal life, and more of the device's history was revealed.[19]
The original Eradicator program was revealed to still exist in the Fortress of Solitude's computers and, following the destruction of the Fortress in Superman's battle with Dominus, the Eradicator took the form of Kem-L, and again attempted to brainwash Superman. The David Connor Eradicator realized that the program was still active, and merged with the remains of the Fortress to control it. The Fortress-Eradicator took the form of a gigantic Kryptonian battlesuit, and gained a form of multiple personality disorder based on his conflicting programming. When it learned of the origin of Krypto, Superman's pet dog-like creature, a creature with amazing powers, the shock to the original directive of Kryptonian purity was enough to correct its programming. It then decided that this dog shouldn't exist and tried to destroy it and Superman held him in suspended animation in his new Fortress, eventually telling him Krypto's full origin once he had learned it himself.
Most recently, the Eradicator returned to his humanoid form. He wears a new outfit which, like the "Krypton Man" costume, is a combination of elements from Superman's costume and Kryptonian robes. He has gained the ability to sense beings that should not be in the DC Universe, such as Mr. Majestic, which may be related to his original programming against alien influences. Later, the Eradicator was seriously injured by an OMAC. He was said during the Infinite Crisis to be in a coma at Steel's headquarters, Steelworks.[20]
A new Eradicator has now surfaced in Markovia claiming to be an ambassador from New Krypton. Although he is not the original Eradicator, he has all the original's memories. While Eradicator helped Geo-Force in Markovia, Doomsday appeared and attacked him. Eradicator was quickly defeated and abducted. Later, after realizing Steel, Superboy, and Supergirl had also been abducted, they all worked together to try to escape. Superman showed up to help, but in the end Eradicator was killed by a new, more-evolved Doomsday. However, realizing that the new Doomsday was one of a series of clones created by Lex Luthor to keep Superman distracted, the Eradicator was able to transfer his consciousness into the comatose body of the original Doomsday. Using the original Doomsday as his host, the Eradicator was able to help the other heroes contain the Doomsday clones, eventually sacrificing himself to destroy the other clones by trapping them in a pocket dimension.[21]
Eradicator II (Supergirl)
This Eradicator was a probe created by Supergirl's fortress to destroy the clone of its "master" which it first thought was Power Girl and later believed was Supergirl herself.[22]
DC Rebirth version
Another Eradicator made its debut in the 2016 relaunch initiative DC Rebirth, in Superman (vol. 4) #2 (July 2016). After Superman and his son, Jonathan, defeat an aquatic creature forced to terrorize a crew aboard an icebreaker, the Eradicator (in its spherical form) absorbs blood left over from Jonathan, detecting that he is human and Kryptonian and originates from the House of El. It flies to the Fortress of Solitude and is allowed to enter due to it containing Jonathan's genome. It begins to assimilate more Kryptonian genome as well as items belonging to Clark Kent. The Eradicator takes on a Superman-like appearance and declares that it will also save Kal-El.[23]
This Eradicator is part of a group created by General Zod to seek out and arrest Kryptonian lawbreakers. They were directed to draw out the lawbreakers' life force and transfer them to a Phantom Zone projector, with the bodies being put into cryo-chambers to await trial. Seeing Superman's rocket leave Krypton as it explodes, the Eradicator sought out the passenger, going from solar system to solar system until discovering the Kryptonian DNA of Jonathan on Earth. Stating that the Kryptonian line must remain pure, the Eradicator attempts to purge the human DNA and starts to absorb Jonathan, but Krypto jumps in front of the beam and is absorbed. Superman then attacks the Eradicator.[24]
In its original technological form, the Eradicator could teleport Superman from Warworld to Earth;[26] manipulate molecular structures to create the Fortress of Solitude,[27] synthetic Kryptonite, manipulate genetics to a great degree; keeping the Cleric alive for millennia;[18] augmenting or bestowing special powers onto others like the virus which gave Jimmy Olsen temporary stretching powers.[28][29] Holding sway over time/space Eradicator could retrieve Kryptonian technology from the past (implied to be through the Phantom Zone);[27] manipulate vast quantities of energy to reshape entire planets/star systems or alternate weather patterns,[30] and even having psychic abilities capable of influencing the minds of Superman and Matrix.[31][32]
The Eradicator's body was created from the genetic template of Superman's when the latter dies at the hands of Doomsday, giving the Eradicator physiology similar to a Kryptonian's (and to Superman's in particular). As a result, the Eradicator possesses similar powers to that of Superman, such as incredible strength, speed, reflexes, invulnerability, and flight. He also possesses ultra-acute senses but to a limited degree. Being a program from Krypton, the Eradicator possesses extensive knowledge of Krypton and is extremely intelligent, as well as having the ability to compute and process information at incredible speed. After his adoption of a Superman-derived body, he retains at least some of Superman's memories, as described above.
Eradicator has abilities to absorb, convert, and release various forms of energy greater than those of natural Kryptonians, typically projecting energy as powerful blasts from his hands or eyes. He was able to survive exposure to massive amounts of kryptonite radiation. After the Eradicator and Mr. Majestic fought, Mr. Majestic altered the Eradicator's programming to make him more aware. The full extent of his programming alteration is unclear, although it has been shown that he can sense beings and gateways from alternate realities such as the Bleed, a limbo dimension.[33]
The program also had the ability to control and commandeer various technologies be they Kryptonian or Terran in nature, Eradicator could remotely connect to any and all the machinery within Superman's Fortress of Solitude or any technology made on earth at will.[34][35] Being a sentient device he/it can also store and manifest any kryptonian machinery from its person at will which greatly magnifies the droid units melee.[36] Eradicator is made up of living energy, as such he is also capable of controlling physical density at will,[37] able to become immaterial for a time to bypass attacks or even possess people's bodies if need be.[38] In Rebirth publishing, Eradicators could use their energy-based powers to store and ferry the collective quintessence of other Kryptonians, allowing it to absorb souls to augment itself and store the essential soul of Krypton.[24]
Other versions
In a 2001–2002 storyline, Superman visited a version of Krypton resembling its Silver Age version, but with "Eradicator assassins", giant robots used by General Zod and the Science Council as part of "the Eradicator solution", and later by Jor-El against Kryptonian religious zealots.[39][40] Superman eventually discovered that this version of Krypton had been created as a trap for him by the villainous Brainiac 13, using the Eradicator Matrix, which he had stolen from the true Krypton along with Jor-El's diaries. The Eradicator Matrix is described as having been "designed to save Krypton by transforming a nearby husk of a planet into a habitable paradise"; Brainiac 13 uses it to transform a planet in the Phantom Zone into a replica of Krypton based on Jor-El's favorite period in Kryptonian history, and its inhabitants into Kryptonians.[41]
In Action Comics #850 as a part of One Year Later, a flashback shows Jor-El muttering about "damned Eradicators" while preparing to send Kal-El into space.[42]
The Eradicator was the name used by Senator Creed Phillips in the Flash. He patrolled the streets of Keystone and Central City as a vigilante who killed villains with his touch (which turned them to protoplasm) and had a split personality. He finally killed himself as his evil personality was trying to kill The Flash.[43]
Elements of the Eradicator and Superboy / Kon-El are incorporated into a clone of Superman nicknamed Kell-El / Superman X who appears in Legion of Super Heroes, voiced by Yuri Lowenthal.[45] This version is from the 41st century, was created by the artificial intelligence K3NT to oppose Imperiex, and possesses immunity to and the ability to create Kryptonite due to having it built into his DNA during his creation.[46]
The Eradicator device appears in Superman & Lois.[47] This version was created by Lara Lor-Van to preserve Kryptonians' minds following Krypton's destruction. However, Tal-Rho uses it in an attempt to eradicate human society by implanting Kryptonian consciousnesses into Smallville's residents. Tal-Rho is eventually foiled by Superman, who uses a solar flare on the Eradicator to undo the conversions before taking it to the Fortress of Solitude. Tal-Rho eventually recovers the Eradicator and implants General Zod's consciousness into a weakened Superman, who breaks free with help from John Henry Irons. In response, Tal-Rho uses the Eradicator to implant himself with thousands of Kryptonian life-forces, gaining the power to instantly implant said consciousnesses into humans. However, Irons uses a solar-powered kinetic hammer to depower and defeat Tal-Rho.
Film
The Eradicator appears in Kevin Smith's script for Superman Lives. This version would have been a special suit created by Jor-El to serve as Superman's protector and rescue him from death.[48][49]
Elements of the Eradicator are incorporated into a Superman clone and a robot butler based in the Fortress of Solitude who appear in Superman: Doomsday.[50]
Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1. Lois is an award-winning journalist for the Metropolis newspaper the Daily Planet and the primary love interest of the superhero Superman and his alter ego, Clark Kent. In DC continuity, she is also his wife and the mother of their son, Jon Kent, the newest Superboy in the DC Universe.
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).
Action Comics is an American comic book/magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics Publications and as National Periodical Publications, before taking on its current name of DC Comics. Its original incarnation ran from 1938 to 2011 and stands as one of the longest-running comic books with consecutively numbered issues. The second volume of Action Comics beginning with issue #1 ran from 2011 to 2016. Action Comics returned to its original numbering beginning with issue #957.
The Phantom Zone is a prison-like parallel dimension appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is mainly associated with stories featuring Superman. It first appeared in Adventure Comics #283, and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp. It was frequently used in the Superman comics before the continuity was rebooted in the 1980s, after Crisis on Infinite Earths, and has appeared occasionally since.
Jor-El is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Jor-El first appeared in the Superman newspaper comic strip in 1939.
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.
"The Death of Superman" is a crossover story event mostly featured in DC Comics' Superman-related publications. The crossover, which originated from editor Mike Carlin and writers Dan Jurgens, Roger Stern, Louise Simonson, Jerry Ordway, and Karl Kesel, began in December 1992 and lasted until October 1993. It was published in Superman, Action Comics, The Adventures of Superman, Superman: The Man of Steel, Justice League America, and Green Lantern. Since its initial publication, "The Death of Superman" has been reprinted in various formats and editions.
The Fortress of Solitude is a fictional fortress appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. It is the place where Superman first learned about his true identity, heritage, and purpose on Earth. The fortress functions as a place of solace/occasional headquarters for Superman and is typically depicted as being in frozen tundra, away from civilization. Its predecessor, Superman's "Secret Citadel", first appeared in Superman #17, where it was said to be built into a mountain on the outskirts of Metropolis. By issue #58 it is referred to as the Fortress of Solitude, seems at a glance to be a freestanding castle, and is said to be located in a "polar waste". When the Fortress reappears in 1958 and for the first time takes center stage in a story, it is again an underground complex in a mountainous cliffside.
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 famous catchphrase, "Kneel before Zod!".
Superman: The Wedding Album is an American comic book published in 1996 by DC Comics. It is notable for featuring the wedding of Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane in DC Comics continuity, an event that was nearly 60 years in the making.
Bo "Bibbo" Bibbowski is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is typically shown as a good friend and supportive advocate of Superman.
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.
Lara is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Lara first appeared in the Superman newspaper comic strip in 1939. Lara is the biological mother of Superman, and the wife of scientist Jor-El. Lara Lor-Van is Lara's full maiden name, as "Lor-Van" is the name of Lara's father. Most depictions of Kryptonian culture show that Kryptonian women use their father's full name as their last names before marriage. After marriage, they usually are known simply by their first names, though various versions show they use their husband's full name or last name as their married last name.
Superman is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the DC Comics superhero Superman as its protagonist. Superman began as one of several anthology features in the National Periodical Publications comic book Action Comics #1 in June 1938. The strip proved so popular that National launched Superman into his own self-titled comic book, the first for any superhero, premiering with the cover date summer 1939. Between 1986 and 2006 it was retitled, The Adventures of Superman, while a new series used the title Superman. In May 2006, it was returned to its original title and numbering. The title was canceled with issue #714 in 2011, and was relaunched with issue #1 the following month which ended its run in 2016. A fourth series was released in June 2016 and ended in April 2018, while the fifth series was launched in July 2018 and ended in June 2021. The series was replaced by Superman: Son of Kal-El in July 2021, featuring adventures of Superman's son, Jon Kent. A sixth Superman series was released in February 2023.
Superman: The Man of Steel is a monthly American comic book series that ran for 136 issues from 1991 to 2003, featuring Superman and published by DC Comics. As a result of introducing this series alongside its already existing titles, DC Comics was able to publish a new Superman comic each week. Included in these 136 issues were two special issues: #0 and #1,000,000, which were tie-ins to Zero Hour: Crisis in Time and DC One Million, respectively.
Kelex is a fictional robot appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Superman.
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 and/or lover of Superman's Kryptonian nemesis General Zod.
The origin of Superman and his superhuman powers have been a central narrative for Superman since his inception, with the story of the destruction of his home planet, his arrival on Earth and emergence as a superhero evolving from Jerry Siegel's original story into a broad narrative archetype over the course of Superman's literary history and as the character's scope continues to expand across comics, radio, television and film.
"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.
Jon Kent is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, the son of Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane, he first appeared in Convergence: Superman #2. Jon is the newest character in the DC Universe to assume the superhero persona of Superboy, and later Superman. As Superboy and Robin, Jon and Damian Wayne appeared in several Super Sons comic book series featuring their shared adventures. Jon later takes on the Superman mantle and stars in the comic series Superman: Son of Kal-El.
References
↑ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p.122. ISBN0-8160-1356-X.
↑ 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.103. ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
↑ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp.86–87. ISBN978-0-345-50108-0.
↑ Ordway, Jerry(w),Ordway, Jerry(p),Janke, Dennis(i)."The Nature of the Beast"Superman,vol.2,no.41(March 1990).New York:DC Comics.
↑ Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1990s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p.259. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. The issue also featured four teaser comics that introduced a group of contenders all vying for the Superman name...The Eradicator returned in a preview tale by writer Roger Stern and artist Jackson Guice.
↑ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p.56. ISBN978-0-345-50108-0.
↑ Tales from the Dark Multiverse: The Death of Superman #1
↑ "Kell-El Voice - Legion of Superheroes (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 28, 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 opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
↑ "Eradicator Voice - Reign of the Supermen (Movie)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 28, 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 opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
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