Mantis is the leader of a colony of humanoid insects who migrated fromNew Genesis. In return for his fealty,Darkseid gives him great power. Mantis spends much of his time in a power pod recharging his energy, but can also absorb energy manually. Mantis has at times served as Darkseid's lackey, becoming a founding member of theSecret Society of Super-Villains. Like many of the denizens ofApokolips, he has occasionally risen up against Darkseid.[3]
Mantis is featured in the limited seriesDeath of the New Gods, where he allies with Darkseid's sonKalibak to battle Superman andHimon. During the battle, theInfinity-Man, acting as an agent for theSource, kills Mantis and Kalibak by removing their hearts.[4] Mantis returns followingThe New 52 relaunch, which rebooted the continuity of the DC Comics universe.[5]
Mantis is anenergy vampire who can project tremendous blasts of energy and absorb virtually any form of energy or power source.[6][7] Mantis can also teleport and generate boom tubes which enable him to teleport others.[8] Mantis can also sense and detect energy, enabling him to sense opponents who are invisible and strike those who are intangible.[7]
Mantis possesses a "thermal touch" which enables him to generate heat and he can create "frigi-blocks" which trap opponents in ice.[9] Mantis' most dangerous power is his ability to generateantimatter, which allows him to destroy anything he touches.[10]
^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019).DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 146.ISBN978-1-4654-8578-6.
^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. 193.ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
^DiDio, Dan;Giffen, Keith (w), Giffen, Keith (p), Koblish, Scott (i), Hi-Fi Design (col). "Planet of the Humans" Infinity Man and the Forever People, no. 1 (August 2014). DC Comics.
^abcdef"Mantis Voices (DC Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. RetrievedJuly 17, 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 credits or other reliable sources of information.
