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| Source: Warner Bros/DC |
He isn't Superman's oldest or most well-known enemy outside the comics (at least until he appeared in Batman v Superman), but he is one of Superman's greatest. He's one of the only villains who can match and even exceed Superman physically. He's also one of the few enemies who has actually killed Superman (at least temporarily). We're talking about Doomsday, the powerhouse alien warrior who has fought Superman on many occasions, and Superman physically cannot defeat. Here are some fun facts you may not have known about the Ultimate Enemy.
- Doomsday was conceived by writer-artist Dan Jurgens. His goal was to create a villain who could compete with Superman physically. Most of Superman's villains can only compete with him mentally like Lex Luthor or with some natural advantage like Metallo's kryptonite heart.
- Doomsday first appeared in 1992 for the storyline, "Death of Superman." He was created for the express purpose of killing Superman in a massive promotional event.
- An idle comment by Superman editor Mike Carlin led many to believe DC originally planned for Doomsday to be an escaped alien mental patient. It's believed controversy over the idea of turning the mentally ill into a villain led them to change him to an escaped prisoner. However, Carlin later insisted the comics were already written by the time of the controversy, and they never intended Doomsday to be a mental patient.
- His first "appearance" consisted of a series of cameos in a series of Superman: The Man of Steel comics. In a series of panels, we only saw a gloved fist smashing through a metal wall.
- In the original "Death of Superman" storyline, readers were given no explanation for the origin of Doomsday. He simply smashed his way from an underground bunker sealed and chained inside a green bodysuit, tore himself free, and began a rampage of destruction.
- Doomsday's origin wasn't revealed until the mini-series, Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey. In the second issue, it's revealed that Doomsday was originally known as the Ultimate, a being created in prehistoric Krypton by the mad alien scientist Bertron.
- Bertron took an infant Kryptonian and threw it into the harsh and toxic environment of Krypton. The baby was almost instantly killed. Bertron gathered the remains, cloned it, and ejected it into the Kryptonian wilderness again. Bertron repeated the process for decades, triggering a form of artificial evolution. Over time, the baby evolved into a creature that could adapt to any injury. The cycle of death also caused the creature to become purged of all emotion except blind rage and hatred for all life.
- The creature eventually rebelled and killed its creator, and escaped Krypton to wreak havoc across the galaxy. It became known as the Ultimate. In a battle with a powerful alien warrior named the Radiant, the Ultimate was seemingly killed by a blast that destroyed a fifth of the planet Calaton's surface.
- The Calaton bound up the Ultimate inside a metal casket to keep his "soul" from escaping the afterlife and shot it into space. The casket floated through space for thousands of years and eventually crash landed on Earth. After escaping its vault on Earth, the creature begins a path of destruction towards Metropolis.
- Doomsday gained his name when Booster Gold described him as "the arrival of Doomsday."
- Since Doomsday is Kryptonian, he has enhanced strength, speed, and durability under the yellow sun. However, his body is far stronger and more powerful than any Kryptonian, including Superman. He also has the ability to regenerate and adapt to any injury, making him (so far) immortal.
- Doomsday has evolved to survive on sunlight alone, requiring no food, water, or even air.
- At one point, it's claimed that Doomsday has no internal organs except a brain, eyes, and nervous system, making him even harder to kill.
- Doomsday's bony protrusions are extremely sharp, capable of cutting even Superman's near-invulnerable skin.
- Even though Doomsday is most often described as "he," Doomsday technically has no gender with no reproductive organs.
- Doomsday is driven to kill Superman by an ability to sense other Kryptonians and see them as an automatic threat.
- When Superman returned from his "death," he fought Doomsday again. But the alien had adapted to endure even Superman's strength. Superman was forced to use a time machine to send Doomsday into the distant future to the End of Time, where Doomsday could do no harm and had no enemies to fight. However, Doomsday later escaped with the help of Brainiac and returned to fight again.
- Doomsday has been a member of the Suicide Squad and the Secret Society of Super-Villains.
- Over time, Doomsday has developed intelligence and sentience. With his new mind has come a fear of pain and death, which Superman has exploited to control him.
Resources:
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