In each episode ofChallenge of the Superfriends that they appeared, the Legion of Doom would enact a plot against theSuper 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 13 supervillains in order to form the most powerful and sinister group the world had ever seen.
The Legion of Doom's headquarters was the Hall of Doom which was located inSlaughter Swamp (just outsideGotham 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" afterSinestro,Black Manta andCheetah 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.
Twisted 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.
Despite the opening sequence forChallenge of the Superfriends claiming that the Legion's members had "banded together from remote galaxies", ten out of the thirteen are native to Earth; only Brainiac (from Colu), Bizarro (from Bizarro World), and Sinestro (from Korugar) are extraterrestrials.
The episode "Super Friends: Rest In Peace" makes a reference to a former unseen member of the Legion of Doom, the only time such a reference has been made. This was Doctor Natas, the inventor of the Noxium crystal that had the power to destroy all of the Super Friends like mimickingKryptonite for Superman and mimicking a yellow energy for Green Lantern. The Super Friends knew of this crystal and tricked the Legion of Doom into thinking that it had killed all of them using android doubles of the Super Friends while the real ones hid in their space station. They anticipated that the Legion of Doom would throw away the crystal when they no longer needed it. The crystal was retrieved by Apache Chief in a hazmat suit and launched into deep space. It was not explained what happened to Doctor Natas.
Prior to the first televised appearance of the Legion of Doom, a group called the Super Foes appeared in the first issue of theSuper Friends comic book (Nov 1976). Its membership featuredToyman,Penguin,Poison Ivy,Cheetah, Human Flying Fish, and their protégés Toyboy, Chick, Honeysuckle, Kitten and Sardine, respectively, in keeping with the theme of trainees alaWendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog.
WhileChallenge of the Superfriends was the series spotlighting the Legion of Doom, they appear in a fewSuper Friends shorts:
"The Krypton Syndrome": After Superman saves Krypton in the past, he returns to an alternate present. Robin mentions that the Super Friends were defeated by the Legion of Doom.
"Two Gleeks are Deadlier Than One": Though only Giganta and Gorilla Grodd appear, the Legion of Doom is mentioned where the Super Friends investigate rumors that the Legion of Doom are getting back together. Like in "Super Friends: Rest in Peace", the Super Friends used androids to trick Giganta and Grodd into thinking they were destroyed.
"The Revenge of Doom" (Super Friends short): All 13 members of the Legion of Doom appear after getting back together, but only Lex Luthor, Sinestro and Solomon Grundy have dialogue. In this appearance, they salvaged the Hall of Doom disguised as construction workers with the cover-up that they were going to turn it into a museum. Batman and Robin came upon the "construction workers" and demanded to see their permit, which they did, having been obtained by the Department of Parks. When there was a mentioning that the Ion Engines were removed by the Super Friends which would've made it the first flying museum, the Dynamic Duo gets suspicious about the construction workers learning about the top secret operation as the lead construction worker claims that the info of that might've been leaked to the news. With the plot exposed, Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom shed their disguises and capture Batman and Robin. After refurbishing the Hall of Doom and equipping it with new weapons, they have developed a crystallizing ray to immobilize Superman and Wonder Woman. Batman and Robin eventually escape, reverse the effects of the crystallizing ray on Superman and Wonder Woman, and apprehend the Legion of Doom.
Members of the team have solo appearances in later episodes.
Lex Luthor appears in:
"Lex Luthor Strikes Back" (The World's Greatest Super Friends) – using a special camera that would enable him to assume the disguise of everyone, Luthor escapes from prison.
"The Mask of Mystery" (Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show) – Luthor steals data that the incompetent superhero wannabe Captain Mystery had tapped from the Hall of Justice's computers in order to trap the Super Friends.
"The Seeds of Doom" (The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians) – Luthor attacks the city in a giant mechanical spider before he is defeated by the Super Powers Team and Cyborg.
Brainiac appears in:
"Superclones" (Super Friends short) - Brainiac clones Aquaman andEl Dorado creating supervillain counterparts of them as part of a plot to discredit the Super Friends.
"The Wrath of Brainiac" (Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show) – Brainiac collaborates with Darkseid to create android versions of Superman and Wonder Woman. Starting here, Brainiac takes up a more robotic form from this appearance to Brainchild matching his current comic counterpart at the time.
"Revenge of Bizarro" (Super Friends short) – Bizarro makes the Super Friends his slaves. He also uses Red Krytonite on Superman causing him to sprout many arms and legs.
"Bazarowurld" (Super Friends short) – Bizarro tricks Superman and Black Vulcan into going to Bazarowurld where Black Vulcan is placed in a maze of mirrors and Superman is placed in a Red Kryptonite Mine where he becomes a skinny figure.
"Video Victims" (Super Friends short) – Bizarro zaps some of the Super-Friends into aPac-Man-like video game with him controlling the Pac-Man-like creature.
"The Bizarro Super Powers Team" (The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians) -Mister Mxyzptlk brings Bizarro #1 to Earth where he uses an invention that makes Bizarro versions of Wonder Woman, Firestorm, and Cyborg. He later accidentally creates a Bizarro version of Mister Mxyzptlk called Mister Kltpzyxm.
Riddler appears in:
"Around the World in 80 Riddles" (Super Friends short) – Riddler infiltrates the Batcave and sprays Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Robin with Stupid Spray that would decrease their intelligence and had to solve each riddle that would lead to the location of the antidote.
The Hall of Doom serves as the headquarters for theInjustice League inJustice League of America: Injustice League Unlimited (though, this Hall is located in the Florida swamplands).[9]
The headquarters of the Justice League in the future of theSorcerer Kings arc inSuperman/Batman is the Hall of Doom.[10]
An alternate version of the team appeared in the mini-seriesFlashpoint: Legion of Doom, part of the company-wideFlashpoint event. This iteration of the team consisted of supervillains interned in Doom Prison, which is based on the Legion headquarters fromSuper Friends. The membership consisted ofHeat Wave,Plastic Man,Sportsmaster,Killer Wasp, andCluemaster.[11][12][13]
The Legion of Doom (minus Toyman, Riddler, Giganta, Captain Cold, and Black Manta) shrunk the Super Friends while appearing as Rainbow Ghosts in "A Super Friend in Need" in the pages ofScooby-Doo! Team-Up.[16]
In the mini-seriesSuper Powers, Lex Luthor introduces a Legion of Doom featuring Bizarro, Black Manta, Brainiac, Captain Cold, Cheetah, Gorilla Grodd,Pryme, Riddler, Scarecrow, Sinestro, andStarro. Rather than meet in the Hall of Doom, they have a Kryptonite fortress based upon theFortress of Solitude and set upon the ocean.[17]
In the miniseriesKingdom Come, the "Gulag" built byMister Miracle to imprison the younger, more violent heroes bears a strong resemblance to the Hall of Doom. Its warden wasCaptain Comet, and guarded by Kryptonian-powered robots until a revolt andCaptain Marvel destroyed it.[18]
InSuperman #43 (May 2018), theBizarro Legion of Doom on Earth-29 was called asLegion of Fun. It included Bizarro versions of Black Manta, Captain Cold, Cheetah, Giganta, Poison Ivy, Lex Luthor, Riddler, Scarecrow, Toyman, Sinestro (Green Lanturn), Gorilla Grodd (Gorilla-Odd), Joker (Jo-Cryer), Brainiac (Nobrainz), and Solomon Grundy (Solomon Grundzarro).
As part of theWonder Comics imprint,Wonder Twins featured a version of the Legion of Doom. Led by Lex Luthor, the Legion of Doom removed the Scrambler from their ranks after he was incarcerated. After his escape, Scrambler was placed in the Legion's farm league known as the League of Annoyance. Praying Mantis led the League of Annoyance, which also included Aunt Phetamine, Cell Phone Sylvia, Count Drunkula/Baron Nightblood, Malingerer, and Filo Math. While the roster of the Legion was not revealed, the group hosted a villains mixer at the second-best western hotel which included Cheetah,Chronos,Electrocutioner, Giganta,Human Flame,Joker's Daughter,Killer Moth,Kite Man, Metallo, Mr. Freeze, Parasite,Professor Ivo,Professor Pyg,Prometheus,Queen Bee,Rainbow Raider, Red Flag, Scarecrow,Scavenger,Sonar,Trickster, and Toyman.[21]
A future version of the Legion of Doom is introduced in "Future State" led byT. O. Morrow that included Amaz-X,Cobalt Blue, Despera, The Flood, Professor Ivo, Lex Luthor, Screech Owl, and UltraViolet Lantern.[22]
InThe Flash #770-771,Wally West traveled to theSuper Friends universe, where he inhabited the body of theReverse-Flash as he was being inducted into the Legion of Doom.
In the seriesHarley Quinn: The Animated Series - Legion of Bats!, Poison Ivy accepted Lex Luthor's offer to lead the Legion of Doom and chose to reinvent the group as the Ladies Of Doom (later Ladies And Nonbinaries Of Doom). This team includedKnockout,Livewire, Nightfall, Porcelain, and Queen Bee. By series end, all but Porcelain and Queen Bee resigned.
InJustice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong the Legion of Doom was transported to theMonsterverse, where Toyman used the Dreamstone transport and weaponizeGodzilla,Kong, and various other Titans back into their universe against the Justice League. Lex Luthor rebuildsMechagodzilla to do his bidding and tame the Titans to use against the Justice League. After the end of the fight, most of the members were taken in, while Toyman was killed by Godzilla in one of his rampages and Mechagodzilla is destroyed by the Justice League.
While never directly referred to as such inJustice League Unlimited, with only the DVD box set for the third season explicitly doing so,[23] the Legion of Doom served as inspiration for theSecret Society, which is originally led byGorilla Grodd beforeLex Luthor takes over and also includesBizarro,Devil Ray,Cheetah, Giganta, Sinestro, andToyman among their ranks. Series producerBruce Timm said that he wanted to include the Riddler andScarecrow as members as a nod to the original Legion,[24] but could not do so due to the "Bat-embargo", which limited the use of Batman-related characters at the time. By the end of the series, Luthor, Bizarro, Cheetah, Giganta, Toyman, and Sinestro, among others, survive an attack byDarkseid before joining forces with theJustice League to foil his invasion of Earth. Luthor disappears with Darkseid after finding theAnti-Life Equation while the other survivors are given a "five-minute head start" in return. Of this final appearance, series writerMatt Wayne stated that he consciously tried to round up as many of the original thirteen Legionnaires as he could, citing the Legion's Wikipedia page as one source.[a]
In theTeen Titans Go! episode "Snuggle Time", theTeen Titans decide to become supervillains and become the "Legion of Doooom", withStarfire becoming Starfire the Terrible,Cyborg becoming The Cyborg,Raven becoming the Demon of Azarath,Robin becoming Dick Gravestone, andBeast Boy becoming Beast Monster.
The Legion of Doom appear inRobot Chicken DC Comics Special III: Magical Friendship, consisting of Lex Luthor, Sinestro, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Penguin, and Joker. Additionally, multiple incarnations of the Legion from across the multiverse appear as well.
The Legion of Doom appears in thesecond season ofLegends of Tomorrow, consisting of theReverse-Flash,Damien Darhk,Malcolm Merlyn, and a time-displacedCaptain Cold. Additionally, they are assisted by a brainwashedRip Hunter and a reluctantHeat Wave.[25] This version of the group received their name from Legends memberNate Heywood after a cartoon he enjoyed as a child and seek theSpear of Destiny to alter their fates. Despite succeeding, they are betrayed by Heat Wave and defeated by the Legends, who allow theBlack Flash to erase the Reverse-Flash from existence before returning the other Legionnaires to the points in time that Thawne pulled them from with no memory of their time with the Legion.
The Legion of Doom appear inHarley Quinn,[26] led by Lex Luthor and consisting of the Joker, Scarecrow, Cheetah, Bane, Gorilla Grodd, Black Manta, Sinestro, Black Adam,Reverse-Flash, Toyman, Solomon Grundy,Metallo, Captain Cold,Parasite, Riddler, Penguin, Two-Face,Man-Bat,Calendar Man, Killer Croc,Killer Frost, Felix Faust,Livewire,Maxie Zeus,Snowflame,Doctor Trap,Firefly,Volcana,Terra,Tefé, and the Cock King. Additionally,Doctor Psycho was originally a member before he was ousted from the group for calling Wonder Woman and Giganta the "C word" on live television, which led to him siding with Harley Quinn, who seeks to join the Legion throughout the first season. This version of the group is based in Gotham and is described as a supportive community of elite supervillains dedicated to making the world a horrible place, having been behind some of the most evil plots in the 21st century. In the episode "The Horse and the Sparrow", Luthor approaches Poison Ivy with an offer to lead the Legion in exchange for eliminating the Joker. Despite failing the mission, she agrees, recruitingNora Fries as her assistant,King Shark as the head of the IT department,Jim Gordon as a security guard, and Frank the Plant as well. In "Getting Ice Dick, Don't Wait Up", Ivy takes on Volcana, Terra, and Tefé as her mentees, the Natural Disasters.
The Legion of Doom appear in a poster depicted inScooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too!, consisting of Lex Luthor, Riddler, Cheetah, Sinestro, and Gorilla Grodd.[citation needed] Additionally, Giganta and the Joker are stated to be former members and Harley Quinn an associate.
The Legion of Doom appears in aSix Flags New England live show written by Brandon T. Snider, consisting of Lex Luthor, Joker, Riddler, Cheetah, Captain Cold, and Sinestro.[31]
The Legion of Doom appears in the opening sequence forDC Super Friends: The Joker's Playhouse.[32]
Cryptozoic Entertainment released a Kickstarter-exclusive expansion pack for its DC Deck-Building Game Justice League Dark featuring the original Hanna-Barbera Legion of Doom.[33]
Professional wrestling managerPaul Ellering named his wrestling stable the Legion of Doom after the supervillain group, eventually using the name to refer to his chief – and later sole – protégés, thetag team ofThe Road Warriors. When the Road Warriors arrived in theWorld Wrestling Federation in 1990, they changed their team name to the Legion of Doom.
Two Cartoon Network bumpers from 1998 featured the Legion of Doom. One hadThe Powerpuff Girls saving Aquaman and Wonder Woman from the Legion's clutches. The other featured the membership annoying Luthor with petty demands.
In the season six episode ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer, "Normal Again", Jonathan asks Andrew, "Did you even read Legion of Doom?".
An episode ofThe Drew Carey Show featured Drew and his friends getting in trouble being a "gang". Drew gets sent to a counseling session for gangbangers and enters the room to see a group of imposing bikers and gang members sitting around a large table. He quips "the reason I've called you all here is to destroy Superman" as Lex Luthor would do when leading a Legion meeting.
In theHarvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Peanut Puberty", the headquarters for the Legion of Doom was used for a club called the "Legion of Dance".
The first episode of Season 3 ofDuck Dodgers titled "Till Doom Do Us Part" featured the Legion of Duck Doom, led by Agent Roboto and was composed of various villains from the earlier seasons made up of Crusher,Fudd, a Catapoid,Count Muerte, New Cadet,Nasty Canasta, Commandante Hilgalgo, Baby-Faced Moonbeam,Long John Silver the 23rd,K'chutha Sa'am, andTasmanian Warrior. A new villain that is part of the Legion of Duck Doom named Black Eel (a parody of Black Manta) makes his first appearance in this episode.
In theAqua Teen Hunger Force episode "The Last One", the Mooninites tried to organize a league of every single villain that was from Season 1 to 3. Among its members are the Mooninites, Rabbot, Mothmonsterman, Happy Time Harry, Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future, Travis of the Cosmos, Randy the Astonishing, the Brownie Monsters, Romulox, MC Pee Pants's worm, the Trees, Frat Aliens, Oog, Dumbassahedratron, Ol'Drippy, and Major Shake. However, almost all of them got foolishly killed or asked to leave leaving only a small force led by the Mooninites. Afterwards, the Rabbot called the team "Monday Tuesday Wednesday".
In theSmallville episode "Prophecy", a similar group was named "Marionette Ventures" and under control of Toyman. Its members included Black Manta, Solomon Grundy,Metallo,Roulette,Vordigan, and Captain Cold.[34] Marionette Ventures planned to control Metropolis' waterfront property. When Toyman contacts his associates from his prison cell, he has them pass their mission files to one another as they are each assigned to go after a Justice League member after Stargirl was freed from his mind control diodes. Roulette is assigned to target Watchtower, Vordigan is assigned to target Green Arrow, Metallo is assigned to target Supergirl, Captain Cold is assigned to target Flash, Black Manta is assigned to target Aquaman, and Solomon Grundy is assigned to target Black Canary. In the "Smallville Season 11" comics, Metallo made a reference to Marionette Ventures when confronted by Lois Lane and Lana Lang.
In theKrypto the Superdog episode "Mechanikalamity", the Intergalactic Villains Club that Mechanicat is a part of is a spoof of the Legion of Doom and has a base that is similar to the Hall of Doom. Due to Mechanicat's repeated failure to defeat Krypto, he has been unable to get elected as leader with the recent election having the members voting for Glorg to be the leader of the Intergalactic Villains Club.
The music video for the song "P.I.M.P." by rappers50 Cent,Snoop Dogg,Lloyd Banks andYoung Buck features 50 Cent seeking the join the "P.I.M.P. Legion of Doom" who are led by Snoop Dogg. The P.I.M.P Legion of Doom gathers around a round table and the pros and cons of 50 Cent joining their group. Despite not having a Cadillac or a perm, 50 Cent becomes a member by pleasing its members upon showing them his "magic stick".
InJohnny Test, the Evil Johnny Stopping Force Five have a secret base in a swamp that closely resembles the Legion of Doom's secret headquarters.
The song "Trap or Die" by rap artistsYoung Jeezy andBun B contains the lyric "I've got my own Super Friends in a Legion of Doom", referencing the DC characters.
In theNew Orleans region ofCLUBWAKA (World Adult Kickball Association), there is a team named Legion of Doom. Their colors are orange & black and they use a logo that incorporates the Hall of Doom in the imagery. Each member of the team chooses a villain from the DC roster, and one game a season they dress as their villainous alter egos while challenging their opponents to dress in costumes as DC heroes. They are currently in their 12th season and have had over 50 different villains represented.
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.
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