| Gorilla Grodd | |
|---|---|
 Gorilla Grodd as he appeared on the cover ofThe Flash #172 (August 1967). Art by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | The Flash #106 (May 1959) |
| Created by | John Broome (writer) Carmine Infantino (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Species | Meta-Gorilla |
| Team affiliations | |
| Notable aliases | Drew Drowden William Dawson (when in human forms) |
| Abilities |
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Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. Created byJohn Broome andCarmine Infantino, the characterfirst appeared inThe Flash #106 (May 1959).[1] He is an evil, super-intelligentgorilla who gained mental powers after being exposed to a strange meteorite's radiation. The character serves primarily as an antagonist ofThe Flash, but has also fought other heroes such asBatman andSuperman.
Grodd has appeared in several forms of DC-related media, including television series and films. He has been voiced byStanley Ralph Ross,Powers Boothe,John DiMaggio, andDavid Sobolov, among others.
Gorilla Grodd is a hyper-intelligent telepathicgorilla able tocontrol the minds of others. He and other gorillas gained sapience and psychic powers after an alien spaceship crashed in their area.[2][3] The gorillas lived in peace until their home was discovered by explorers. Grodd forced one of the explorers to kill the alien and took overGorilla City, planning to conquer the world next.Solovar telepathically contactsBarry Allen to warn of the evil gorilla's plans, and Grodd was defeated. The villain manages to return again and again to plague the Flash and the hero's allies.[4]
In his first pre-Crisis appearance, Grodd meets the Flash while searching for Solovar (who had been imprisoned) during a trip to the human world. Grodd probed Solovar's mind to find the secret of mind control so he could control Gorilla City, using its inhabitants to take over the world. Solovar breaks out of the cage and tells the Flash. The Flash defeats Grodd and temporarily removes his telepathy. When his power returns, he escapes and builds a machine to strip his fellow gorillas of their intelligence. The Flash finds out from Solovar where Grodd has escaped to and destroys the machine. Grodd is again imprisoned, but uses a burrowing machine to escape. Assuming human form, he creates a drug to strengthen his abilities. After easily stopping the Flash, Grodd experiences a side effect that removes his new powers. The Flash arrests Grodd and takes him back to Gorilla City. Grodd fakes his death by transferring his mind into a man inCentral City, but is caught and arrested. Later, he instigates the Flash's Rogues Gallery, breaking them out of jail to distract the Flash after transferring his mind to that of Freddy, a gorilla in a zoo. Thanks to Solovar, the Flash learns of Grodd's escape. Ironically, Grodd, despite using radiation to negate the Flash's speed, is defeated by the gorilla's mate when she hears him mention another gorilla. He and Freddy are restored to their normal bodies.
Grodd is recruited along with several other villains as one of the original members of theSecret Society of Super Villains. In this series, Grodd defeatsKalibak in hand-to-hand combat, but is later defeated byCaptain Comet, who is able to repel Grodd's mental energy.[5] During the hunt for a sorcerer's treasures, Grodd is able to fend offWally West and escape him using the mentally-commanded Quadro-Mobile,[6] then later knocks Comet unconscious,[7] and is shown to be able to hypnotizeStar Sapphire,[8] as well as protect others from mental probing.
In a confrontation with Wally West, Grodd increases the brainpower of most of the animals in Central City. He hopes to endanger all the humans' lives, but this plan backfires because some of the pets are too loyal to their humans. Grodd's plans are defeated by the Flash, assisted by thePied Piper,Vixen, andRex the Wonder Dog.
Immortal villainVandal Savage kidnaps Titans memberOmen to form the perfect team of adversaries for theTeen Titans. Savage approaches Grodd, offering him membership in this new anti-Titans group known as Tartarus and promises of power andimmortality. Grodd joins Tartarus on their mission to synthesize the immortal blood ofH.I.V.E. leaderAdeline Kane as Savage seeks to create a serum that will grant immortality. Their schemes are thwarted when the Titans intervene.Tempest later leads a rescue mission to save Omen from Savage. During the rescue attempt, Tartarus collapses upon itself due to each member having a different agenda, because Omen had purposely chosen members who would not work well together. WhenSiren switches alliances during the battle and aids Tempest in escaping, the Tartarus members go their separate ways.
Grodd has made no fewer than eighteen attempts to eliminate all traces of humanity from the face of the Earth. InSon of Ambush Bug #5 (November 1986), he travels to the Late Cretaceous "to wipe out all traces of human evolution from the time stream" (despite the fact that the ancestors of humanity would be his own ancestors as well). His plans are shattered by the sudden appearance ofTitano andAmbush Bug waking from a nightmare. Whether or not Grodd's plan is a failure is disputable.[9]
In the final issue ofCaptain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, Grodd travels to Earth-C-Minus in an attempt to conquer, but is defeated by the efforts of the Zoo Crew andChangeling of the Teen Titans.[10]
Grodd later does another attempt to conquer Gorilla City by controlling the minds ofCongo Bill, Congorilla,Djuba,Gorilla Boss,Monsieur Mallah, andSam Simeon. In an attempt to expand his mind-control, Grodd suffers brain damage, freeing everyone from his mind-control.[11]
In the 1991Angel and the Ape limited series, Grodd is revealed as the grandfather of Sam Simeon (Angel's partner). This is in conflict withMartian Manhunter (vol. 2) Annual #2 (1999), which states that Simeon is Grodd's brother.
During theFinal Night, Grodd attempted to use a mystical talisman called the Heart of Darkness (normally effective only in eclipses) that brought out the 'inner beast' of humans, turning the population of the town of Leesburg into feral monsters, includingSupergirl. However, Supergirl fights off Grodd's influence, allowing her to oppose Grodd until the sun was restored. Grodd is assumed killed when an icicle fell into him.
One of Grodd's widest-ranging schemes was to arrange Solovar's assassination and manipulate Gorilla City into war against humanity, with the aid of a "shadow cabinet" of prominent gorillas called Simian Scarlet. In the course of this, Grodd absorbs too much neural energy from his fellow apes, leaving him with the intelligence of a normal gorilla.[12] He has since recovered, and a failed attempt to set up a base in Florida leads to his capture and incarceration inIron Heights.
Grodd had been trapped inside the human body of an overweight street bum. He was attacked by a gang known as the Vultures. One of them commented on how their member Iggo had the strength of a gorilla, which reminded Grodd of his true form. Suddenly changing back to his original shape and size, he quickly defeated the gang, making them believe that they are burning in molten lava by using his telepathic abilities. Reading the minds of the crooks, he saw that one of the former members of their gang was a friend of the Flash, and a plan began to form in his mind.
Grodd found another space rock, identical to the one that had given him his powers, and contactedHector Hammond, a human who had also gained similar powers. Grodd was able to take control of Gorilla City after increasing his evolutionary abilities but was defeated once more.
Grodd is also seen in theSuperman/Batman arc "Public Enemies" controlling numerous villains and heroes to take downSuperman andBatman for the prize of one billion dollars offered by thenU.S. PresidentLex Luthor. Despite his use of foes such asMongul,Solomon Grundy,Lady Shiva, andNightshade, Batman is able to deduce the mind behind the attacks and they quickly dispose of Grodd.[13]
Grodd is responsible forHunter Zolomon's crippling, resulting in the man's transformation into the villainous Zoom after trying to change the event to never have happened. Zolomon would often think about how Grodd used him as a plaything in that fight while talking this over with the Flash.[14]
InBirds of Prey, Grodd makes a deal with Grimm to getBlockbuster an ape heart.[15]
In theJLA Classified story arc, Grodd and his forces attack theUltramarine Corps. Grodd has most of the citizens they are protecting killed. He personally eats some of the humans. During the course of this incident,Beryl informs the team that Grodd ranks number three on the latest "Global Most Wanted".[16]
In theJustice League of America Wedding Special, Grodd is among the villains seen as members of theInjustice League Unlimited.
InSalvation Run, Grodd teams up with theJoker to gather their own faction of exiled supervillains.[17] He kills Monsieur Mallah andBrain and was knocked off a cliff by the Joker.[18] Grodd is seen alive and attempting to deliver payback to the Joker.[19]
InJustice League of America, Grodd is shown among the members ofLibra's newSecret Society and placed in the Inner Circle.[20] In theFinal Crisis storyline, Grodd was among the high ranked superheroes and supervillains that were turned into Justifiers.[21] He is sent to apprehendSnapper Carr and Cheetah, but fails.[22]
InThe New 52 continuity reboot, Grodd is the prince of Gorilla City. His abilities are derived from theSpeed Force, which the gorillas refer to as the "Light".[23] The Flash (Barry Allen) first encounters Grodd after a trip through the Speed Force which strands him in Gorilla City, shortly after Grodd has killed his father and become king.[24]
The Flash is hailed as a messenger spoken of in gorilla prophecy by all but Grodd, who sees the interloper as a threat to his ascension and designs for world conquest. When told of the treachery planned by the Ape Elders from his most trusted general, Grodd attempts to kill Barry and assume the mantle of the Light Bringer. The Flash foils Grodd's attempts by outmaneuvering him until Grodd causes the cave they are in to collapse, which allows Flash to escape.[25]
During the "Forever Evil" storyline, Grodd returns to Central City and conquers it, renaming the city Grodd City.[26] Eventually growing bored with this, Grodd leaves Central City to parts unknown.
In 2016, DC Comics implemented a relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to The New 52. Grodd is depicted as the founder of the terrorist organizationBlack Hole and utilizes technology that contains the power of the Speed Force. In addition, he mind-controlledMeena Dhawan into operating as the Negative Flash.[27][28]
In theWe are Yesterday storyline, Grodd appears as a leading member of theLegion of Doom.[29] He manipulatesAir Wave into spying on the Justice League on his behalf, claiming that Air Wave is dying from "tachyon poisoning".[30] Grodd later absorbs Omega energy from the rift created followingDarkseid's death and dubs himself "Gorilla God". However, Air Wave betrays Grodd and defeats him with help from a group of heroes summoned from the past.[31][32] Following his defeat, Grodd allies withTime Trapper and theWorld Forger, forming the Quantum Quorum to deal with Darkseid's return and the damage dealt to the timestream.[33][34]
Grodd's psionic abilities allow him to place other beings under his mental control and transfer his consciousness into other bodies. Grodd also has (on occasion) vast telekinetic abilities ranging from force beams, telekinetic transmutation of matter and lifting thousands of tons mentally. In later appearances, he has shown the ability to absorb intelligence through the consumption of human brains. He possesses great superhuman strength far exceeding that of an ordinary gorilla. He is a scientific genius who has mastered Gorilla City's advanced technology and who has created many incredible inventions of his own.
In the New 52 reboot of DC continuity, Grodd, like all the super apes of Gorilla City, gained their powers from the Speed Force. Being of noble blood King Grodd is tougher, stronger, quicker and far more physically and mentally dynamic than other members of his evolved species. He boasts enhanced gorilla strength, enough to easily rend flesh from bone, pick up and smash cars and injure Flash through his speed aura, being durable enough to resist supersonic punches from the Flash, rip his way out of barbed wire unharmed and even survive impacts from a charging mammoth affected by the speed force.[35][36] He has sharp enough reflexes to keep up with even the most nimble meta-humans with relative ease as he was able to grasp at Flash more than once while he was running, having intercepted many of his high-speed attacks more than once. Another facet to his physiology is that he can assimilate both the knowledge and powers of enemies who they kill by devouring their brains, a process dubbed "Cerecorbis". This process increases Grodd's intelligence and gives him the memories and powers of those he consumes.[37] Via direct ingestion of the Light's energies, he gains enhanced speed and further augmented dynamism, enabling him to overpower Flash in combat. After being trapped in the Speed Force, Grodd gains telepathic abilities, which are normally only possessed by gorilla elders, as well as telekinesis which is unique to him.[38]
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![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(May 2021) |
Gorilla Grodd was ranked 35th inIGN's list of 100 Greatest Comic Book Villains.
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