The Fatal Five is a supervillain team of the 30th century in the DC Comics DC Universe.
Fictional team history
The Fatal Five first appear in
The Death of Ferro Lad story arc, as a band of criminals whom the Legion recruited to help destroy the Sun-Eater, consisting of the
Emerald Empress, Mano, the Persuader, and Validus, and led by Tharok.
The five are offered pardons for their assistance, but reject them and band together, confident that they are powerful enough to try to conquer the worlds they had saved.
A later incarnation consisted of the Emerald Empress; the Persuader; Flare, a Rimbor with the power of fire; Caress, who has a deadly acidic touch; and Mentalla, a Legion reject who is secretly working against the Five, trying to secure a spot in the Legion.
The first storyline in Legionnaires (1993) has the SW6 Legion face a Fatal Five comprising Tharok, Mano, the Persuader, a new Emerald Empress, and a monstrous being called Mordecai.
Zero Hour
Following
, which reboots the Legion's continuity, the original Fatal Five are reintroduced in
Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #78 (1996), again assembled to help fight the Sun-Eater, which was later revealed to not exist. In this incarnation, the Emerald Empress is simply called the "Empress" and is more a skilled melee combatant than a magic user.
In the Teen Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes crossover, the Persuader uses his atomic axe to recruit alternate universe variants of the Fatal Five, forming the Fatal Five-Hundred, before the two teams use the Cosmic Treadmill to return them to their original universes.[ Teen Titans (vol. 3) #16 (November 2004)][ Teen Titans/Legion Special (November 2004)]
All five Fatal Five members were among the supervillains in Superman-Prime's Legion of Super-Villains.
DC Rebirth
In
DC Rebirth, the Emerald Empress comes to the 21st century to destroy Saturn Girl, only to also fight Supergirl. To combat Supergirl after failing to take her down on her own, she forms a version of the Fatal Five consisting of Magog, Brainiac 8, the sorceress Selena, and a clone of Solomon Grundy.
[ Supergirl (vol. 7) #10-13 (August - November 2017)]
Members
Emerald Empress
Mano
Mano is a mutant born with the power to disintegrate anything that he touches by generating
antimatter from his right hand. A native of the planet Angtu, which he destroyed for his people mistreating him, Mano wears a special suit to survive because he cannot breathe the atmosphere of most planets. The suit's helmet obscures his face, making it appear as a silhouette.
Persuader (Nyeun Chun Ti)
The Persuader originates from a high-gravity planet, and thus possesses enhanced physical abilities. Before becoming a supervillain, he was a gang enforcer and gained the Persuader moniker from his ability to intimidate others.
[ Adventure Comics #366 (March 1968)]
The Persuader wields an "atomic axe" on a long shaft, resembling a halberd. It is mentally linked to him and can cut through anything, occasionally including purely metaphoric or intangible things such as air, the force of gravity, and the barrier between dimensions.[Greenberger and Pasko, pp. 307–308.]
Tharok
Tharok is a small-time crook who attempted to impress his superiors by stealing a small nuclear device. It detonates unexpectedly when the local police fire on him, vertically bisecting his body.
[Greenberger and Pasko, p. 437.] Tharok is converted into a cyborg, which greatly boosts his intelligence but leaves his evil tendencies unchecked.
One of the Fatal Five's main attempts to defeat the Legion is masterminded by the Dark Man, a clone of Tharok. Tharok and the Dark Man are seemingly killed, resulting in the Fatal Five disbanding.[ Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #269-271 (November 1980-January 1981)]Jeff Rovin (1987). 081601356X, Facts on File. 081601356X
[ Legionnaires #34 (February 1996)]
Powers and abilities of Tharok
The entire left-hand side of Tharok's body is mechanical. It possesses great strength and durability and the arm can be configured into various weapon forms. It also has a cybernetic brain that is connected to Tharok's own, giving him genius-level intelligence.
Validus
Validus is a monstrous member of the Fatal Five who possesses superhuman strength and durability and the ability to generate lightning.
[Greenberger and Pasko, pp. 457–458.] He is later revealed to be
Garridan Ranzz, the son of
Garth Ranzz and
Saturn Girl.
Darkseid kidnapped Garridan shortly after his birth, transformed him into a monster, and transported him back in time, where he became a member of the Fatal Five.
Validus is later returned to his human form, with a similar monster named Mordecai replacing him in the Fatal Five.
In the "Threeboot" continuity, Validus is a nature spirit from the planet Winath who is known as the Lord of Lightning. Lightning Lord is part of a cult that worships him.[ Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #32 (September 2007)] Furthermore, Garridan Ranzz appears as a separate entity, depicted as a child who was never transformed into Validus.[ Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 6) #1 (July 2010)]
Powers and abilities of Validus
Validus possesses immense strength and durability, enabling him to easily overpower Superboy. Superboy estimated that Validus possesses 12 times his strength.
In addition, Validus can generate energy bolts from his brain that are powerful enough to incapacitate a
Kryptonian or
Daxamite with a single hit.
Other versions
-
An alternate universe iteration of the Fatal Five appears in Tangent Comics, consisting of Ice, Shadow Thief, Kid Psycho, Deathstroke, and Count Viper.
-
An alternate universe iteration of the Fatal Five, amalgamated with various Marvel Comics characters, appears in the Amalgam Comics one-shot Spider-Boy Team-Up, consisting of Agamotto, Manorb, Sparticus, Deathlok, and Valinus.
In other media
Television
-
The original Fatal Five appear in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Far From Home", with Cara Kesh / Emerald Empress voiced by Joanne Whalley, Tharok by Tomas Arana, Persuader by an uncredited Kin Shriner, and Mano and Validus having no dialogue.
[ 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.][ 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.][ 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.]
-
The original Fatal Five appear in Legion of Super Heroes, with Sarya / Emerald Empress voiced by Jennifer Hale in the first season and Tara Strong in the second, Tharok by David Lodge, Persuader by David Sobolov, and Mano and Validus having no dialogue.
Film
The original Fatal Five appear in
Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, with Emerald Empress voiced by
Sumalee Montano, Tharok by
Peter Jessop, Mano by Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, Persuader by Matthew Yang King, and Validus having no dialogue.
After the Emerald Empress and Validus are taken to the 21st century to be imprisoned in Oa, Tharok, Mano, and Persuader travel back in time to force
Jessica Cruz to lead them to their missing teammates. While fighting the
Justice League and
Thom Kallor, the Fatal Five are buried alive by Cruz.
Video games
The original Fatal Five appear as character summons in
.
Miscellaneous
-
Happy Meal figurines of the Fatal Five were released as a tie-in to the Legion of Super Heroes animated series.
-
The Fatal Five appear in Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century.
External links
