"I am Mars' sole survivor. There is areason for that."

Martian Manhunter is one ofthe DC Universe's odd men out. On the one hand vastly powerful and a member of pretty much every version of theJustice League of America, yet on the other, writers just don't seem to know what to do with him. His past has beenRetconned several times, his personalityvaries by writer, and since he has more powers thanSuperman, he suffers from occasionalmind squicks, frequent bouts ofPlot Induced Stupidity andMind Over Manners to keep him from resolving plots too quickly.

He first appeared inDetective Comics #225 (November, 1955), created by Joe Samachson and Joe Certa. An alien teleported to Earth by aFreak Lab Accident, J'onn J'onzz^[1] decided to use his abilities to help protect the innocent who could not protect themselves. All of his incarnations have that much in common (well, theDCAU andSmallville versions came to Earth on their own, but that's a minor detail).

Factors that havevaried greatly over the decades include whether he is actually theLast of His Kind, whether J'onn J'onzz is his real name, whether the greenhumanoid form he normally assumes in public is his true appearance, whether his memories of Mars are real orfake, and whether hisWeaksauce Weakness to fire is psychological or physical.

His powers vary tremendously, even within a single incarnation. In his earliest proto-Silver Age appearances, he worked mainly withPsychic Powers (and writers kept coming up withnewer and sillier applications as the Age got more Silvery -- like mental ice cream creation and sonic finger-snapping). Since then he's mainly been treated as aFlying Brick with afew extras.

In his solo series from 1998, writerJohn Ostranderrevealed that J'onn largely functioned as the "Superman" of the Southern hemisphere, operating as its most recognizable hero (which makes a lot of sense when you think about it^[2]), as well as maintaining numerous assumed identities the world over, including being a regular cab driver for Clark Kent.

To the non-comic-geek public, he is best known for his role on theJustice League andJustice League Unlimited animated series, where he was voiced by Carl Lumbly. He appeared inBatman: The Brave and the Bold as Batman's close friend, and acts as theOnly Sane Man in a number of episodes. He has also popped up inThe Batman, voiced by Dorian Harewood, onSmallville where he's played live by Phil Morris, and theSo Bad It's Good aborted pilot,TheJustice League of America, where David Ogden Stiers (Dr. Winchester fromM*A*S*H) filled the role. The animated filmJustice League: The New Frontier had MM voiced by Miguel Ferrer. He also appears on the animatedYoung Justice as Miss Martian's (supposed) uncle. He appeared in theDC Extended Universe, played by Harry Lennix.

Note that from2008 to2010 J'onnwas dead, but now he's back. With pants!

As part of TheDC Comicsrelaunch, he became one of the central characters ofStormwatch and has lost most of his friendliness, relationship to other DC characters, and love of Oreos.

If you're looking instead for theVeronica Mars/Buffy the Vampire Slayer crossoverFanfic of the same name, gohere.

Powers used by the Martian Manhunter are amixed bag withno cohesion that nonetheless makes himvery formidable; the ones common to most incarnations are:

• Voluntary Shapeshifting
• Flight
• Super Strength
• Super Speed
• Super Senses (varies)
• Healing Factor
• Psychic Powers, mainly telepathy.
  • Also the ability to createice cream with his mind.
• Nigh Invulnerability, except to fire, hisKryptonite Factor.
• Eye Beams
• Invisibility
• Intangibility, for brief periods.

Note that all these are subject to change without notice; the telefilm J'onn could just barely shapeshift and demonstrated no other powers (it was avery low budget show) but had no problem with heat. TheSmallville Manhunter can't heal within Earth's atmosphere and remains almost exclusively in human form. OnThe Batman, he hastelekinesis. TheJLU version lackedspeed,Invisibility,Eye Beams andweakness to fire was only implied. And so forth.

• A Form You Are Comfortable With: For the last fifteen or so years its been established that J'onn's familiar green skinned muscleman form is a compromise between a human form and his true natural form (which is gaunt, finned, and significantly less human looking.) The reason he doesn't go all the way with this trope is because he can more comfortably maintain this form for longer periods of time.
• Alien Among Us: How much he has to hide his heritage variesfrom writer to writer.
  • While part of theJustice League International this was dropped altogether. In fact,Batman nominated J'onn his successor as leader because he felt that J'onn had a better public image.
• Alliterative Name: Both his real name and his codename.
• Apocalypse How: Pre-Crisis, Mars was fine...right up until 1969's "And So My World Ends" when Commander Blanx engineered a Class 6 Apocalypse by setting Mars on fire and leaving it a lifeless, barren husk. In current continuity, the planet suffered a Class 3, with Malefic's plague, H'ronmeer's Curse wiping out every Green Martian but leaving the rest of the planet intact.
• Arch Enemy: Malefic--and sometimes Despero--is typically seen as J'onn's by the fanbase.
• Axe Crazy: Malefic again. He's basically the Martian version ofThe Joker, only with less humour and moreMind Rape and torture. He is usually credited as the one who wiped out the rest of the Martians
• Bald of Awesome: J'onn and most other Green Martians.
• Bald of Evil: B'rett, B'enn B'urnz, and Malefic. Also Blanx and the majority of White Martians.
• Beware the Nice Ones: GenerallyThe Quiet One of the Justice League, and way, way down low on the "will use extreme violence" list. But actually piss him off, and you'll quickly remember that he's on equal footing withSuperman for all-around power, plus he can transform into ANYTHING he wills, and one of his basic abilities isMind Rape.
• Cain and Abel: J'onn's archenemy is his fraternal twin brother, inPost-Crisis continuity.
• The Cape (trope)
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Jupiter, J'onn's dog who was introduced in one early story and then completely forgotten.
• Civil War: Mars has been engaged in a few. Pre-Crisis, J'onn was actually a leader in the Martian Civil War, leading the Desert Dwellers against Commander Blanx's Pole Dwellers for control of the Blue Flame of Mars.
• Combat Pragmatist: Commander Blanx. He's always got a gun hidden on him somewhere, cheerfully attacks from hiding, and brings in an ally to club J'onn from behind in their duel.
• The Comically Serious: Except during the Detroit era, when he became something of aDeadpan Snarker. Lampshaded byFirestorm duringCrisis on Infinite Earths of all things:

Firestorm: Don't you ever feel cold with those clothes, J'onn J'onzz? Martian Manhunter: Martians feel no cold. Why do you ask? Firestorm: Geez, Mars doesn't need women. It needs a sense of humor.

• • An alternative interpretation is that he'salways aDeadpan Snarker, but most of the time (including in the example above) nobody notices.
• Continuity Drift: In his first story, "The Strange Experiment of Doctor Erdel!", J'onn, masquerading as a human named John Jones, goes sightseeing around the world, comparing his observations to life on Mars. At one point, he mentions in passing a "Great Evolution", which eradicated crime on Mars for centuries. Later stories featured Martian criminals.
• Cool Mask: Mr. V, although it's actually apretty lame mask.
• Cowardly Lion: Commander Blanx. He's aDirty Coward who prefers to let his men do the fighting, and has no problem bringing in an ally to sucker punch J'onnIn the Back in what was supposed to be a man-to-man duel. He'd rather run than fight, and has a healthy respect for his own skin. All that being said though, when he's cornered he proves himself a perfectly capable combatant, nearly killing J'onn, and at one point, throwing down with Superman while on Earth.
• Depending on the Artist: NOBODY can agree on what his true Martian form looks like. Luckily, Martians are shapeshifters, so it doesn't really matter.
• Diabolical Mastermind: Mr. V, alias "Faceless"", leader of the crime syndicate Vulture, who J'onn tangled with frequently in the fifties and sixties.
• Dirty Coward: Commander Blanx. Overlaps withCombat Pragmatist andCowardly Lion.
• Distaff Counterpart: J'onn's young counterpart on theTeen Titans, M'gann Morzz, aka Miss Martian. She's actually a White Martian who'sturned her back on her people's evil ways.
• Evil Albino: Invoked by all Pole Dwellers/White Martians.
• Evil Counterpart: Commander Blanx, pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths. Other evil Martians showed up, but none contrasted with J'onn quite the way that the utterly cold-blooded Blanx did. One could make a case for the non-Martian Despero being another Evil Counterpart, with hisTelepathy, history of persecution, and truly alien status.
• Evil Twin: Ma'alefa'ak (alias Malefic) isliterally J'onn'sEvil Twin post-Crisis.
• Exposition of Immortality: The Manhunter has reminsced about his time on Mars prior to the accident that led to him being teleported to Earth in the 50s, which has shown that he was alive on Mars during the 18th century. His unchanging appearance is credited to Martians being very slow-aging.
• Expy: Malefic to Commander Blanx. Both are Martian leaders with a link to J'onn who chose to wipe out 99% of their own species. They are very different in personality and motivations though, with Malefic being anAxe CrazySerial Killer andMind Rapist, while Blanx is an utterly apathetic sociopath whodid it for the money. One could argue that the current White Martians are, as a species, Expies of Blanx's Pole Dwellers.
• Fantastic Racism: Green vs. White Martians. And Red vs. white Saturnians, the Martians' bioengineered sister species.
  • Note that originally, this wasn't so much racism as nationalism, since Martians of both kinds can alter their color at will. Only in recent years have they been defined as separate species (and then again as one species split in two--It Makes Sense in Context, sort of.)
• Fat Bastard: Mr. V.
• Fridge Brilliance: Vulnerability to fire. One has to wonderwhy later writers keep inventing contrived explanations for J'onn's vulnerability to fire. Mars is cold and has very little oxygen to burn things. Whywouldn't he be vulnerable to fire in a high-oxygen atmosphere like Earth's?
  • Because he's aFlying Brick and in most continuities he even hasEye Beams which are at least somewhat laser-like. An otherwise normal human from Mars might be more vulnerable to fire than a normal human from Earth, but J'onn can go toe to toe with Superman. And he's more vulnerable to flame than he is to heat.
  • Additionally, DCU Mars had a much more Earth-like environment when it was inhabited.
  • The weakness to fire is quite complicated, and haslittle to do with varying relation to physical factors. J'onn's brother lost the weakness when he was stripped of his telepathy, for example.
• Funny Animal: The "Martian Anteater," J'onn'sEarth-C-Minus (well, "Mars-C-Minus," I suppose) counterpart and a member of his world's "JLA" (the "Just'a Lotta Animals)."
• Galactic Conqueror: Despero, aJustice League villain, who nevertheless has a major hate-on for J'onn. Whenever he targets the team, J'onn is usually the first one Despero wants to kill.
• G-Rated Drug: J'onn was very fond ofOreos Chocos during Giffen and DeMatteis' humorous run on the JLA inThe Eighties. WhenBlue Beetle and Booster Gold hid these cookies (in a flashback written byJohn Ostrander)much rampage ensued.
  • This becomes aTear Jerker when a Choco cookie isplaced byBatman on his coffin at the end ofFinal Crisis Requiem.
• The Heart: Of the Justice League.
• I Always Wanted to Say That: InMartian Manhunter Annual #2 (Oct. 1999): "You're probablywondering why I'vecalled you all here today..." Thinking to himself: "Call me whimsical if youmust, but I've waitedyears for the appropriate time and place to say that."
• Immortality: Type II. He can certainly be killed, but if Martians age at all, it must be incredibly slowly.
• Insufferable Genius: Prof. Hugo, a pre-CrisisMad Scientist who demanded recognition from the world.
• It's Personal: With Blanx pre-Crisis, with Despero and Malefic in the later years.
• The Juggernaut: Despero following his most recent power-ups.
• Kill It with Fire: Martians are weak against fire. Pre-Crisis, Blanx used the Martian Blue Flame to execute this strategy against the planet as a whole. That's right--he setMars on fire.
• Last of His Kind: More or less. InReal Life, after Mariner and Viking proved Mars to be a wasteland, DC had to explain how this had happened and what became of J'onn's people. The exact nature of the catastrophe and how many survived it has varied over the years. (That said, although the Green Martians are functionally extinct, the White Martians continue to survive.)
  • Their bioengineered progeny, the Saturnians living on Saturn's moons, are still around, although they don't take much interest in Earthling affairs. Jemm Son of Saturn is the most well-known.
• Mad Scientist: Professor Arnold Hugo, a pre-Crisis enemy.
• Mind Rape: A major crime on Mars;Malefic is naturally guilty of it. Despero is alsovery fond of this, and has inflicted it on J'onn on numerous occasions.
  • J'onn onceforced this on himself. To be fair, the process forcing it was an attempt toforce sanity intoThe Joker's skull.
• Monster Modesty: If he wanted to, he could easily shape-shift a nice suit for him to wear. Instead, he runs around in underwear and a cape.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Especially during theSilver Age. To the point of using "all the powers of space" to createan ice cream cone with his mind.
• Older Than They Look: In John Ostrander's run, it's never established just how long ago the Martian Apocalypse happened (J'onn apparently isn't sure, himself), but the implication is that he was left wandering around a lifeless world, barely maintaining his sanity, for avery long time until Dr. Erdel's teleporter accidentally saved him.
• Only in It For the Money: Why Blanx wiped out Mars in the Silver Age.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Despero, after being reborn in the Flame of Pytaar, addedPlaying with Fire,Mind Over Matter,Reality Warper, andSuper Strength,Super Speed, andNigh Invulnerability to his already considerableTelepathy. These days he's a walking engine of destruction, who requires the entire League to put down.
• Playing with Fire: The Human Flame, and post-rebirth, Despero.
• Psychic Radar: The Manhunter can use his telepathy to pinpoint the location of a desired individual, at some pretty fantastic ranges. Just as well, since he generally has to fly up into orbit in order to not get confused by all the ambient thinking.
• The Power of Hate: Despero runs on it.
• Race Lift: A trend has been to make his standard civilian forms black. As J'onzz is a shapeshifter and and John Jones never had a remotely consistent appearance this has gone over better than most examples (his DCAU and Young Justice voice actors, Carl Lumbly Kevin Michael Richardson, both being black doesn't hurt).
• Secret Identity: In the Silver Age, J'onn J'onzz masqueraded as mind-mannered John Jones, a nameno one could have possibly guessed.
• Shout-Out: Justone throwaway line, but it's toSailor Moon of all things...
• Space Police: Back on Mars, J'onn was a "Manhunter," which is basically a very high-profile policeman. His mother was one, too.
• The Spock
• Sugar and Ice Personality: He's not consciouslytrying to seem aloof; Martian mannerisms are just different. J'onn's really a softy at heart, but people have to get to know him before they realize it.
  • He's also surprisingly funny and whimsical, according to Martian standards, anyway.
• Superpower Lottery: Although the extent of his powers varies depending on the writer, J'onn is usually portrayed as one of the half dozen or so heroes considered more powerful than Superman.
• Super-Powered Evil Side: Knowwhy J'onn and all Green Martians have a fear of fire? Well...it's s psychic block implanted by the Guardians of the Universe to keep their extremely powerful, extremely evil Burning Martian selves held in check.
• The Syndicate: Vulture, a criminal conspiracy from the sixties, led by the enigmaticMr. V. It had agents scattered throughout Europe, and regularly stole weapons technology, missile codes, and top-secret documents in addition to the standard gold, jewels, etc. The organisation was broken up into cells, with each cell being led by one of Mr. V'sBody Doubles.
• Telepathy: J'onn's most frequently used power these days. It's shared by all other Green & White Martians (saveMalefic), and by Despero, who also featuresMind Over Matter,Playing with Fire, andReality Warper abilities.
• Trademark Favorite Food:Oreos - or rather,Chocos.
• Unfinished Business: J'onn with Malefic, Despero with J'onn.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Fear of fire. Martians are actuallyless vulnerable to fire than humans, and because of their shapeshifting abilities, can recover very quickly from any injury that they survive. The problem with fire is that they are terrified of it, and just being near a lighter can render them helpless.
  • J'onn J'onzz himself has been on earth for decades, and no longer has such an extreme reaction to it.
  • I don't think anyone remembers this, but the fear of fire is actually a psychic barrier the Guardians of the Universe put into the Green Martians to stop theirpsychotically powerful Burning Martian selves from taking over the universe. J'onn's is called Fernus, and he was capable of nearly killing the entire Justice League all on his own, with J'onn mystically chained inside his head.
  • Alternatively, J'onn's fear of fire is caused by him having witnessed his entire family being burnt to death, and is therefore not aWeaksauce Weakness but a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
  • It is pointed out that this weakness is not physical at all when his version ofFlashpoint - which is ostensibly the same as his mainstream one, except without the whole heroic path his life took - mentions that he used to be doused with fire by the Russian soldiers who kept him in captivity. This was so frequent that he eventually found out the fire didn't really cause him any harm, and when he did... Well, let's just say it didn't end well for the Ruskies.

• Work
• Character
• IGN Top 100 Heroes
• Martian Manhunter
• DC Comics Characters
• The Fifties
• The DCU