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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 14, 2008 15:05:22 GMT -5
15. Magneto Who is he: Mutant freedom-fighter or terrorist, depending on who you ask. What is he from: Marvel Comics, most notably the X-Men comics. What has he done: Engaged in terrorist acts; destroyed New York, killing a lot of people; has tried repeatedly to enslave humans under mutant control. Intelligence: Extremely clever, cunning, and patient strategist. Power: Leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants, ruled Genosha, and is considered one of the most powerful mutants in the Marvel Universe. Vileness: There is a certain morality to what drives Magneto, but that doesn't excuse him from playing God or justify the means he uses. Sway: Generally very calm and cool and has a smooth approach to getting his way. Purity: Personal tragedy has compelled him to try and accomplish goals out of reach for the average baddie. Physical Prowess: Looks like an old man but has a nice build, and his control over metals and magnetic forces is a difficult force to counter; plus, he is one of the few people who can pull over mixing red and purple in an outfit. Name Coolness: “Magneto” sounds a little lame. Created by: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Portrayed by: John Stephenson voiced Magneto in an episode of the 1978 Fantastic Four animated series. Michael Rye voiced him in an episode of Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends. Ronald Gans voiced him in the animated X-Men pilot, “Pryde Of The X-Men.” In the 1990 FOX X-Men animated series, David Hemblen did the voice of Magneto. In X-Men: Evolution, Christopher Judge did the voice of the magnetic mutant. Tom Kane will do Magneto’s voice in the upcoming Wolverine And The X-Men animated series. Ian McKellan played Magneto in the X-Men trilogy. Comics: The story of Magneto begins during the 1940s, when his parents and his sister are persecuted for being Jewish. They are shot by the Nazis and buried in a mass grave; Magneto manages to survive, only to be captured and sent to Auschwitz in Poland to work in the Sonderkommando. While in Auschwitz, Magneto falls in love with a gypsy named Magda. Together, they escape the prison camp and marry. Magda soon gives birth to their daughter, Anya, who is later killed in a fire, with a mob of people preventing Magneto from rescuing her. Enraged, Magneto's powers manifest uncontrollably, killing the mob and the surrounding townspeople. Terrified, Magda flees Magneto, discovering months later she is pregnant again. After giving birth to the mutant twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch in Wundagore, Magda disappears. Shortly after Magda's disappearance, Magneto is hunted for the destruction of the town, while attempting to search for his former wife, thus forcing him to pay a renowned forger, Georg Odekirk, to create the cover identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte gypsy" for him. Magneto also worked as a hunter of Nazi war criminals for a mysterious agency. At the time using the alias "Magnus," he would meet his future friend and foe, Professor Charles Xavier, while working at a psychiatric hospital near Haifa. There, lengthy debates are held by the two regarding the consequences humanity faces with the rise of mutants, though neither reveals to each other that they both in fact possess mutant powers. However, they are forced to reveal their inherent abilities to one another, while facing Baron Von Strucker and HYDRA. Following the battle, Magneto leaves, realizing that his and Xavier's views are incompatible, with a cache of hidden Nazi gold. The gold, which was also sought by Strucker, provides initial financing for his various enterprises. Magneto's experience in the Auschwitz concentration camp shapes his outlook on the situation that mutants face in the world. Determined to keep such atrocities from ever being committed against mutant-kind, he is willing to use deadly force to protect mutants. He believes that mutants ("Homo superior") will become the dominant life form on the planet. However, he constantly wavers between wanting peaceful existence with Homo sapiens and wanting to enforce his superiority over all humanity. Magneto's first villainous act was attacking a United States military base. He is thwarted by Charles Xavier's mutant students, the X-Men. After forming the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Magneto briefly conquers the fictional South American nation of San Marco in the hopes of establishing a mutant homeland there, but is once again foiled by the X-Men. He later creates Asteroid M, an orbital base of operations in an asteroid he and his followers hollow out, but it is later destroyed in a battle with the X-Men. Magneto next attempted to recruit Namor into the Brotherhood. With the Brotherhood, he next battled Thor. After several unsuccessful attempts at rallying more mutants to his cause, Magneto tries to force the allegiance of the Stranger. A powerful alien being, the Stranger encases Magneto in a special cocoon and spirits him away to another planet, the Stranger's laboratory world. Magneto's Brotherhood splinters, and Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch desert him. Magneto escaped to Earth and battled the X-Men, but was then recaptured by the Stranger. Magneto remains on the Stranger's world for a long time. Magneto eventually escapes and makes his way back to Earth where he attempts to reenlist them to his cause, but his plans are foiled by his former minion Toad, who has grown tired of Magneto's cruel treatment. Magneto then battled the Avengers and the X-Men. Magneto then created the Savage Land Mutates. With the Savage Land Mutates, he clashed with the X-Men and Ka-Zar. With Namor, Magneto later attacked New York City. He later fought the Inhumans Royal Family. He later battled the Avengers once more. Magneto later reorganized the Brotherhood, and fought Professor X and the Defenders. Using ancient and advanced alien technology he finds near the core of the earth, Magneto creates an artificial humanoid he names "Alpha the Ultimate Mutant." Alpha rebels against his creator and reduces Magneto to infancy. Magneto is then placed in the care of Xavier's former love interest, Professor Moira MacTaggert at Muir Island. At Muir Island, MacTaggert tinkers with the infant Magneto's genetic code in an attempt to prevent him from becoming "evil" in adulthood. However, her genetic tampering loses its effect when Magneto activates his powers again. Magneto is eventually restored to adulthood when he is found at Muir Island by the alien Shi'ar agent Erik the Red. Magneto later gathered a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and with them battled Captain America. He then opposed Doctor Doom's conquest of Earth. Eventually, it was revealed how Magnus and Xavier first met in Israel. Magneto later discovers that former Brotherhood members the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are actually his children, simultaneously learning about their recent marriages to the Vision and Crystal. He revealed to Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch that he is their father. He also discovers his granddaughter, Quicksilver's human child Luna Maximoff. Seeing Luna as a bond to the human race he has rejected, Magneto tries to reach out to his children. Angered by his rejection of them and their mother, they push him away and refuse to forgive him. Magneto finds himself allied with Professor Xavier and the X-Men when a group of heroes and villains are abducted by the Beyonder, a nearly omnipotent yet frustratingly short-sighted being. This entity takes them to an alien world to participate in the 1984 series Secret Wars. The characters are sorted according to their desires, and so Magneto was placed with the heroes as his desires were based on a wish to help mutants rather than the more selfish drives of the others. This surprises many of the other heroes, who still believe he is a villain, although they mostly come to accept him as an ally. Captain America even speaks in his defense on some occasions, and the Wasp develops a certain affection for him, although it is tempered by her knowledge of his past. After the Secret Wars are over, Magneto is transported back to his base, Asteroid M, where the alien Warlock, traveling to Earth, collides into the asteroid, breaking it to pieces. Magneto is sent falling towards Earth and into the Atlantic Ocean, sustaining serious injuries. He is rescued by Lee Forrester, the captain of a fishing trawler. Lee helps him recuperate from his injuries and the two share a small romance. After recuperating from his injuries, Magneto is asked to aid the X-Men in battling the returned Beyonder, and Magneto stays with the X-Men even after the Beyonder is defeated. His association with the team softens his views on humanity and Magneto surrenders himself to the law to stand trial for his crimes. A special tribunal is organized. They choose to strike all charges against Magneto from prior to his "rebirth," deeming that this had constituted a figurative death of the old Magneto. However, the tribunal is interrupted by an attack from Fenris, the twin children of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Fenris is defeated but Professor X is brought to near-death due to the strain of the battle and previously sustained injuries. Xavier asks Magneto to take over his school and the X-Men, and tells him that doing so would make amends enough for his past crimes. Magneto agrees and chooses not to return to the courtroom. Instead he takes over Xavier's school under the assumed identity of Michael Xavier, Charles Xavier's cousin. Seeing him try to reform, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver begin accepting him as their father. Though Magneto makes a substantial effort as the headmaster to the New Mutants and an ally to the X-Men, his tenure is disastrous. The Beyonder plagues him yet again, slaying Xavier’s current students, the New Mutants and bringing them back to life soon later. This deeply traumatizes the entire group. He is manipulated by Emma Frost, headmistress of her own school, the Massachusetts Academy, and White Queen of the Hellfire Club, into battling sanctioned heroes the Avengers and the Supreme Soviets. Magneto submits to a trial once again, but uses mind-control circuitry he salvages from the wreckage of Asteroid M to alter the opinions of the head justice in charge of the trial. As a result, he is finally absolved of his past crimes. Magneto does not make that decision lightly and wrestles with it afterwards. Feeling that desperate measures needed to be taken after the genocidal massacre in the Morlock tunnels, Magneto and Storm join the Hellfire Club jointly as the White King. He is unable to prevent his students Roberto da Costa and the alien Technarch Warlock from running away from the school, or prevent the death of the young mutant student Douglas Ramsey after the students sneak away yet again to save a friend, and witnesses the apparent death of all of the senior X-Men on national television. His relationship with the New Mutants deteriorates even further when they see him and the Club work with the demons of the Inferno incident. Magneto later ousts longtime Hellfire Club co-chair Sebastian Shaw in order to establish himself as the head of the Hellfire Club as the Grey King. During this confrontation he reveals his real purpose of raising an army for the coming war between humans and mutants. The New Mutants do not return to Magneto's tutelage, though he goads them by claiming that they will join him of their own free will anyway. Seeing conditions for mutants grow progressively more perilous, Magneto begins seeking allies to protect mutants from humanity. He participates in the "Acts of Vengeance" alongside such established villains as Doctor Doom, the Wizard, and the Mandarin. He also confronts Red Skull, an unrepentant Nazi war criminal, on whom Magneto takes revenge by entombing him alive. He also attacks (and is defeated by) a cosmically powered Spider-Man. He works alongside Rogue, Ka-zar and the American intelligence agent Nick Fury as well as a number of Russian operatives in order to re-establish peace in the Savage Land. This ultimately led to an altercation with Zaladane, who had appropriated the magnetic powers of his then-unknown daughter, Polaris. The conflict ended with Magneto executing Zaladane himself. With her death, he renounced his previous efforts to act as a mentor to the New Mutants and to follow Xavier's beliefs in peaceful co-existence between mutants and normal humans. Tired of the constant state of strife, Magneto builds a second orbital base where he hopes to live a life of quiet seclusion. He is, by this point, a figurehead for the cause of mutant-hood and is sought out by a group of new mutants calling themselves the Acolytes. After this, Magneto sets his sights significantly lower than world conquest: he seeks only a haven for mutant-kind. When he stood trial, one of the charges was the sinking of a Soviet submarine and the deaths of the crew. Influenced by Fabian Cortez of the Acolytes, he announces that the orbital base known as Asteroid M will now be a haven for mutants, but he then proceeds to bringing the submarine back to the surface, obtains its nuclear missiles and places them around the Asteroid pointed towards Earth. He even sets one off when military jets attack him and Rogue while she is trying to reason with him. Magneto later discovers how Moira had tampered with his mind when he had been de-aged. Enraged by this, he feels that his redemption has been a lie. Though it was later revealed that the genetic tampering had lost its effect when he had first used his powers after being re-aged, and thus his actions had never been influenced by Moira's tampering, the damage was done. In retaliation for the nuclear detonation, the Soviets launch another satellite which blasts Magneto's base, while he and the other Acolytes battle the X-Men. Betrayed and abandoned at the last minute by Cortez, Magneto refuses Xavier's pleas to escape with the X-Men back to Earth and he and his followers "perish" in the subsequent explosion. It would later be revealed that Magneto survived the crash, as the Acolyte Chrome had encased him in a protective shell. However, Chrome and the other Acolytes died. The United Nations Security Council, in response to a resurgent Magneto, votes to activate the "Magneto Protocols," a satellite network, in slightly lower orbit than Avalon, which skews the Earth's magnetic field enough to prevent Magneto from using his powers within, preventing him from returning to the planet's surface. In response, Magneto generates an electromagnetic pulse not only destroying the satellites, but deactivating every electric device on Earth within minutes. The X-Men respond by hacking into Avalon's own computer systems to teleport a small team to the station with the aid of Colossus (who had joined Magneto as one of Magneto's Acolytes). Magneto, during the battle with the X-Men, rips the adamantium from Wolverine's bones, which enrages Xavier to the point that he blanks his former friend's mind, leaving him in a coma; this action later leads to the creation of Onslaught. Magneto remains comatose on Avalon worshipped by his Acolytes, under the leadership of Exodus, until Avalon itself is destroyed. During the destruction, Colossus places Magneto in an escape pod sending him back to Earth. This pod is intercepted by Astra, a former ally who now desires his death. Astra clones Magneto and when the clone is ready, she restores Magneto's mind since she feels there is no point in killing him unless he knows it is her doing. After a pitched battle, Magneto triumphs over the clone sending him crashing into a South American barn. However, too weak to continue the battle, the real Magneto goes into hiding while the now-amnesiac clone becomes known as Joseph (christened as such by the nun who discovered him) and eventually joins the X-Men. Since the world believes Joseph to be the real Magneto, Magneto takes his time to plan. He engages in a pair of brief diversions, first posing as "Erik the Red" and revealing Gambit's past crimes to the X-Men, resulting in Gambit's expulsion from the group. Then he kills Odekirk to prevent his true identity from being discovered by Sabra and Gabrielle Haller. Following this, Magneto constructs a machine to amplify his powers and blackmail the world into creating a mutant nation. The X-Men and Joseph, who has fallen under Astra's control again, oppose him. The X-Men defeat Magneto, leaving his powers severely depleted from over-strain, while Joseph sacrifices his life to restore the Earth to normal. The United Nations, manipulated by its mutant affairs officer Alda Huxley, cedes to Magneto the island nation of Genosha, which has no recognized government. Magneto rules that nation for some time with the aid of many who had previously opposed him, including Quicksilver, Polaris, and the founder of the Acolytes, Fabian Cortez. Despite the UN's hopes that Genosha's civil war between humans and mutants would destroy or at least occupy him, Magneto crushes all opposition to his rule and rebuilds the nation by forming an army of mutants dedicated to his cause, including mutants coming from all over the world seeking sanctuary. Eventually, Magneto is able to use the Genegineer's equipment to fully restore his power. Intending to declare war on humanity, he captures Professor X to use as a symbol with which to rally his troops. In the Eve of Destruction storyline, Jean Grey recruits a new lineup of X-Men to help Cyclops and Wolverine rescue Xavier and defeat Magneto. Taking the opportunity for revenge, Wolverine attacks the defeated Magneto, leaving him with serious injuries and crippling him for a time. Soon after this, Genosha is decimated by Sentinels under the orders of Cassandra Nova Xavier, Charles Xavier's previously unknown dead twin sister, whom Xavier had killed in the womb. Magneto and 16 million mutants who were gathered at Genosha are reported deceased. Months after the event, a team of X-Men searching in the debris apparently finds a recording of Magneto's last words. Mutant-supremacist ideas, attributed to him, become wide-spread in the mutant community with some holding him as a martyr of the mutant cause. Magneto has become a Che Guevara-like revolutionary figure in the mutant community. T-shirts and posters with Magneto's face and the phrase "Magneto Was Right" become popular items, even amongst certain students in the Xavier Institute. Meanwhile, the mutant known as Xorn joins the X-Men after being rescued from captivity in China. Xorn is said to be a Chinese mutant with a "star for a brain" and wears a face-concealing metal helmet with a skull-like motif. He also possesses nebulous healing powers, although the only times he was shown to use this ability are when he deactivates a number of microscopic Sentinels and simultaneously restores Professor Xavier's ability to walk, and "heals" a supposedly dead bird. In the Planet X storyline, he eventually removes the helmet, revealing Magneto's face beneath. It is alleged that Xorn never existed and is simply an identity conceived wholly by Magneto. Having "exposed his deception", he then schemes to destroy the X-Men and reverse the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field, increasing his power with the use of a mutant drug called "Kick". He recruits the Special Class and Esme from the Xavier School to serve as his Brotherhood of Mutants, though most eventually turn against him. Before being decapitated by Wolverine, "Magneto" devastates much of New York City and kills Jean Grey using a lethal electromagnetic pulse, causing her to have a massive stroke. Some time later, the X-Men find another Xorn, who identifies himself as Shen Xorn and claims that the "Magneto" who devastated New York was Kuan-Yin Xorn, his brother. Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada later elaborated on this, stating that "Kuan-Yin Xorn came under the influence of as-yet-to-be-revealed entity that forced him to assume the identity of Magneto." This retcon remains the official explanation of the Xorn character and its relationship to Magneto. With the launch of a new Excalibur series, Xavier meets up with the real Magneto who is still alive. Xavier brings with him the coffin supposedly containing the corpse of Xorn (but which is later shown to be filled with guns), and explains how the impostor has killed over 5,000 people including Jean Grey. Magneto is shocked and angry that people think he is capable of committing such an act. Xavier and Magneto put aside their differences to rebuild the island nation, rekindling their friendship in the process. Magneto's daughter Wanda suffers a mental breakdown over the loss of her children and starts to warp reality in order to recreate them, inadvertently resulting in random attacks on the Avengers, until Doctor Strange puts her into a coma to stop her. In Genosha, Magneto hears Wanda's psychic cry for help and, creating a wormhole, whisks her away before the Avengers can do anything. Back in Genosha, Magneto tends to Wanda, becoming more withdrawn and angry, allowing only Xavier to visit, in the belief that Xavier can help Wanda. Xavier is angry to learn that Magneto revealed he was alive, in rescuing Wanda, but agrees to try and help. Months pass with no avail, and not even Doctor Strange's magic helps. The X-Men and the Avengers meet to decide what should be done, and when some of the members suggest killing Wanda, Quicksilver rushes to Magneto to inform him of this development. Magneto admits that he doesn't know what to do anymore and that the groups may be right, but Quicksilver convinces Wanda that she can undo her wrongs, prompting her to warp reality into the House of M. In the new reality, where the New Avengers, the X-Men and the members of Wanda's family all received their 'heart's desires', Magneto is attacked by Sentinels over Manhattan in 1979, and reveals an alleged international anti-mutant conspiracy involving Richard Nixon. This results in Magneto being granted sovereignty over Genosha as leader of the world's much larger and much faster growing mutant population. A group of heroes are brought together by Wolverine, who alone remembers the way the world is supposed to be because his 'heart's desire' was to regain all the memories stolen from him by the Weapon Plus Program, and have their own memories of the "real world" restored by Layla Miller, and they band together and attack Magneto in Genosha, believing him to be the one responsible. During the battle Layla is able to restore Magneto's memories as well, and he confronts his son, enraged that Quicksilver had done all of this in his name. Quicksilver reveals that Magneto would have let Wanda die, but Magneto replies that Quicksilver was only using Wanda and himself, and he would never have allowed this to happen. Furious, Magneto kills Quicksilver by pummeling him with large pieces of steel and then crushing him with a Sentinel. Sensing her brother's death, Wanda incapacitates Magneto and removes his mouth when he tries to talk to her. She revives Quicksilver, telling Magneto that Quicksilver had only wanted him to be happy, but even when she gave Magneto what he wanted he was still a horrible man, and mutants were freaks. With the phrase "Daddy — No more mutants," Wanda changes the world back to its original form and causes ninety-eight percent of the mutant population to lose their powers. Magneto is one of the many mutants to lose their powers, and is left a broken man; although Wolverine contemplates killing him, he concludes that their old foe deserves every second of his crap 'sapien' life. When Quicksilver comes to Genosha to restore the mutants' powers with the Inhumans' Terrigen Mists, Magneto condemns his actions, pointing out the disastrous effects the Mists have on non-Inhumans. An angry Quicksilver attacks Magneto with his new powers from the Mists, savagely beating him until his own daughter Luna begs him to stop. When the Inhumans come looking for their Mists, Magneto tells them what has happened. The Collective, a being comprised of energy from all the former mutants' powers, merges with an energy absorbing mutant named Michael Pointer. The Collective kills all of the most recent incarnation of Alpha Flight save for Sasquatch, and battles the New Avengers before landing in Genosha. There it re-powers Magneto and reveals itself as Xorn. Xorn explains that he took the image of Magneto because he knew mutants would follow him, and that they needed the real Magneto again. Magneto, not in control of himself, begins attacking the New Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents while he pleads for them to kill him. He is taken down with a direct brain attack from mutant S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson. Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, and the Sentry combine their powers and send the Collective/Xorn into the Sun. Michael is separated from the Collective and an unconscious Magneto is loaded into a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter. The helicopter, however, explodes upon take-off through unknown means; his body was not found among the rubble.[33]. However, as of the end of Civil War, it's been revealed that Pointer, who was shown to retain some powers immediately after the separation, is coerced into joining the newly formed Omega Flight, using a suit designed to harness his powers as the new Guardian. Afterwards, Magneto is being looked for by the U.S. Government, the Morlocks, and the X-Men. Professor Xavier has mentioned that he has been unable to locate Magneto with Cerebra, in spite of the increase in power to his recently restored telepathy, suggesting either that his re-powerment by the Collective was temporary or that he may somehow be masking his presence to avoid detection. At this moment, both Professor Xavier and Nightcrawler are looking for Magneto, as are agents of the O*N*E* organization. Xavier and Nightcrawler have found traces of Magneto paying his respects at a local graveyard, standing in front of a tombstone belonging to one of his very first henchmen. Also, the Morlocks are after Magneto for reasons of their own, and use him to justify their terrorist acts. In Uncanny X-Men #491, Magneto is seen talking to a crippled, depowered Morlock, claiming he has lost what once made him superior, implying that the restoration of his powers by the Collective was indeed temporary. However, at the end of the issue when Skids found him at a local cemetery sometime later, and gave him a mysterious book that Masque had in his possession that claimed to chronicle the future of mutantkind, she stated that the book said Magneto was still a mutant, thereby possibly refuting his previous claim of being depowered again. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen. Magneto appeared at the end of X-Men: Legacy #208, apparently at the behest of Exodus to help restore the broken psyche of Professor Xavier. He claims that he is still powerless while he reminisces about the past between the X-Men and the Brotherhood with Omega Sentinel. Together they manage to revive Xavier before being attacked by Frenzy. Magneto wounds Frenzy by firing a medical laser into one of her eyes, prompting Exodus to ask what punishment he would have instilled on a human who injured a mutant (as the Acolytes consider him a human, Exodus even claims that Magneto is dead and that Lehnsherr is just a shell that was left over). Magneto replies "Death" and Exodus proceeds to choke him with his telekinesis before Xavier challenges Exodus on the astral plane. After Xavier defeats Exodus, he leaves Magneto and Karima to try and rebuild his lost memories. “X-Men”: In a German Concentration camp in occupied Poland during 1944, a young Magneto is separated from his parents as they are herded into the camp. In a moment of panic and horror, the boy reaches out and begins to bend the metal gates of the camp with the power of magnetism before being knocked unconscious. Many years later, in Meridian, Mississippi, a young girl named Marie (Anna Paquin) kisses a boy and sends him into a coma. In Congress, Senator Robert Kelly (Bruce Davidson) attempts to pass a "Mutant Registration Act", which would force mutants to publicly reveal their identities and abilities. Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) speaks against the act, but is balked by Kelly. Magneto (McKellan) begins his plans to level the playing field between mutants and humans. Marie, now calling herself Rogue, is on the run from her home and heads to a small town in Canada, where she meets a cage fighter calling himself Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). As the two head off down the road, they are attacked by a mutant called Sabertooth (Tyler Mane), an associate of Magneto. Cyclops (James Marsden) and Storm (Halley Berry) arrive and save Wolverine and Rogue. When Wolverine regains consciousness, Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) explains that Cyclops and Storm are part of a group of mutants who are trying to seek peace with the human race, educate young mutants in the responsible use of their powers, and stop Magneto from starting a war with humanity. Professor X promises to help Wolverine discover his lost past, as well as determine why Magneto is after him. Rogue, in the meantime, has begun to make friends at school and a boy named Bobby Drake (Shawn Ashmore) shows a romantic interest in her. Meanwhile, Senator Kelly is abducted by Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) and Toad (Ray Park), and brought to Magneto, who tests a machine on Kelly that artificially induces mutation. Kelly, thanks to his new abilities, manages to escape imprisonment, and he eventually washes up on a beach. After an accident causes her to use her powers on Wolverine, Rogue is convinced by Mystique (disguised as Bobby) that Xavier is angry with her and that she should leave the school. Professor Xavier, using his mutant locating device called Cerebro, locates her at a train station and sends Cyclops and Storm after her. Mystique, still disguised as Bobby, infiltrates Cerebro and sabotages the machine. Wolverine arrives at the station ahead of the other two and convinces Rogue to stay with Professor Xavier. While Sabertooth and Toad attack Cyclops and Storm inside the train station, Magneto reveals who he was truly after by kidnapping Rogue. Xavier confronts Magneto during his escape, but allows him to leave after Magneto threatens to kill the police that have surrounded the building with their own guns. Senator Kelly arrives at the school, in a rapidly deteriorating condition; his body is rejecting the forced mutation and now disintegrating at the cellular level. Professor Xavier reads his mind and learns of Magneto's mutation machine, which draws power from Magneto himself, severely weakening him in the process. Xavier realizes that Magneto plans to use Rogue's ability to absorb other mutant's abilities on himself, this way Rogue can power his machine. Kelly's body meanwhile continues to reject the mutation and he soon dies when his mutation becomes completely unstable, causing him to disintegrate into a puddle of water. Knowing he must prevent this from happening to anyone else, Xavier attempts to use Cerebro to locate Rogue. Mystique's sabotage causes Professor X to fall into a coma. Jean fixes Cerebro and then uses it herself. She discovers that the machine is on Liberty Island, leading the X-Men to the conclusion that Magneto intends to mutate the world leaders who are meeting for a summit on nearby Ellis Island. The X-Men arrive to stop Magneto as he sets up his machine atop the torch of the Statue of Liberty. They are immediately confronted by Mystique and Toad. Mystique and Wolverine become separated from the others, as Toad takes on Storm, Cyclops and Jean, with considerable success: kicking Cyclops into a side room, launching Storm into the second floor of the building and nearly killing Jean with his sticky slime, which he spits onto her face as she held him with her telekinesis. In the end, Mystique attempts to ambush Wolverine by disguising herself as Storm, but Wolverine recognizes her scent and stabs her. Storm eventually overcomes Toad and electrocutes him with a bolt of lightning. Just as the group arrives at the top of the statue, Magneto and Sabertooth incapacitate the group and continue with their plans. Magneto transfers his powers to Rogue who is forced to use them to start the machine. Wolverine breaks free and initiates a fight with Sabertooth. Wolverine is thrown over the side of the statue and Sabertooth redirects himself to the group to finish them off. Wolverine returns, and Cyclops, with Jean's help, blasts Sabertooth out of the statue. With Jean stabilizing him, Storm uses her abilities to send Wolverine to the top of Magneto's machine. With time running out, Wolverine attempts to stop the machine and save Rogue, but Magneto, now having regained some of his strength, halts Wolverine's claws. Cyclops manages to find a clean shot, wounding Magneto and allowing Wolverine to destroy the machine. Placing her hand to his face, Wolverine succeeds in transferring his regenerative abilities to a dying Rogue. Professor Xavier recovers from his coma, and the group learns that Mystique is still alive when they see her impersonating Senator Kelly on a news broadcast. Xavier visits Magneto in his plastic prison cell, and the two play chess. Magneto warns his friend that he will continue his fight, to which Xavier promises that he (and the X-Men) will always be there to stop him. Xavier checkmates Magneto and leaves. “X-2: X-Men United”: Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), a teleporting mutant, attempts to assassinate the President in the White House, but he fails and escapes. Wolverine reappears after discovering nothing at Alkali Lake, while Storm and Jean find Nightcrawler with the help of Professor Xavier and Cerebro. Cyclops and Professor X visit Magneto in his plastic prison to see if he had any part in the attack on the President. Reading Magneto's mind, Professor X discovers that a covert government operative, William Stryker, has been extracting information from Magneto. A trap is sprung and Cyclops and Professor X are captured by Stryker (Brian Cox) and his assistant Yuriko Oyama (Kelly Hu). A military invasion of the X-Mansion begins, with the soldiers sedating every student they find, some escape, while Wolverine finds Stryker, but is unable to find anything about his past. Impersonating Senator Robert Kelly and Yuriko, Mystique gains information about Magneto's prison and provides a means for him to escape. Wolverine, along with Rogue, Iceman and Pyro (Aaron Stanford), heads to Iceman's home in Boston. After a 9-1-1 call by Bobby's brother Ronnie, the police arrive just as the group is about to leave, ensuing into a dispute with Pyro. The X-Jet arrives to pick them all up, and the X-Men team with Magneto and Mystique. Magneto has learned Stryker orchestrated the attack on the President and has been experimenting on mutants, using a drug injected directly into the back of the neck to control them. Jean reads Nightcrawler's mind and determines that Stryker's base is located at Alkali Lake, inside the dam. He has also stolen enough equipment from Xavier's own Cerebro unit to build a second Cerebro, with which he plans to kill all the world's mutants. Stryker gains control over Professor Xavier through his son, Jason Stryker (Michael Reid McKay), who is able to project powerful visions in the mind, blinding a person to reality. Professor X is instructed to use Cerebro to find and kill all existing mutants. Mystique infiltrates Stryker's base using a number of disguises. As the X-Men enter Storm and Nightcrawler pair off, searching for kidnapped students. Jean, Magneto, and Mystique are attacked by a brainwashed Cyclops on their way to rescue Professor X, causing damage to the generators that keep the dam from collapsing. The force of Jean's telekinetic blast awakens Cyclops from his brainwashing. Wolverine finds Stryker in an adamantium smelting room along with Lady Deathstrike. Wolverine and Deathstrike begin fighting, but it ends with Wolverine killing her. Wolverine finds Stryker on a landing pad, while Stryker attempts to bargain Wolverine with stories of his past. Wolverine leaves him for dead, stabbing him and chaining him to the helicopter wheel. Mystique, disguised as Stryker, uses Jason to convince Professor X to kill all humans. Magneto and Mystique use Stryker's helicopter to escape Alkali Lake, chaining Stryker to concrete rubble, and are also joined by Pyro. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler teleports Storm inside of Cerebro, where she frees the Professor from his telepathic illusion. A malfunction aboard the X-Jet prevents it from taking off, and the dam finally bursts. The flood gets stronger, drowning Stryker. Jean leaves the jet and creates a telekinetic wall in order to stop the wave, and at the same time raises the jet above the flood waters; all the while surrounded by a corona of fire. Jean activates the X-Jet's primary engines, before releasing the torrent of water down on herself. The X-Men are able to supply the President with files from Stryker's private offices, and Professor X warns him that humans and mutants must work together to build peace, or they will destroy each other through war. The film ends with a voiceover by Jean Grey, on the process of evolution. The camera floats over Alkali Lake, showing a vague shape of a Phoenix in the lake. “X-Men: The Last Stand”: A pharmaceutical company called Worthington Labs announces that it has developed an inoculation to permanently suppress the X-gene that gives mutants their powers, offering the so-called "cure" to any mutant who wants it. While some mutants are interested in the cure, including the X-Men's Rogue, many others are horrified by the announcement. In response to the news, the X-Men's adversary Magneto raises an army, warning his followers that the cure will be forcefully used to exterminate the mutant race. Cyclops, still heartbroken about the loss of Jean Grey, returns to Alkali Lake, where Jean sacrificed herself to save the X-Men. Jean appears to Cyclops, and as the two kiss, Jean changes and appears to kill Cyclops. Sensing trouble, Professor Charles Xavier sends Wolverine and Storm to investigate. When they arrive, the two X-Men encounter telekinetically floating rocks, Cyclops' glasses, and an unconscious Jean. Xavier explains that the majority of Jean's power is seated in her unconscious mind (Sigmund Freud's "Id") and that, as a result, her powers are largely fueled by instinct, and not under her complete control. In fact, when Jean was a little girl she was so powerful that he had to put telepathic blocks on her mind to help keep her powers under control. Her bottled up powers manifested themselves as an id-like alternate personality called the "Phoenix" — a purely instinctual creature, ruled only by its own violent desires. Wolverine is disgusted to learn that Xavier has kept Jean in check telepathically, but when Jean awakens, he realizes she is not the Jean Grey he knew. Wolverine asks about Cyclops, but she cannot remember and fears she killed him. Jean pleads with Wolverine to kill her before she harms anybody else, but when he refuses, the Phoenix surfaces and telekinetically slams Wolverine into a wall. She then flees to her childhood home. Magneto, also aware that Jean's powers are loose, meets Xavier at Jean's house. The two men plead for Jean's loyalty until the Phoenix resurfaces, unleashing her devastating power. Furious at being caged within Jean's subconscious for twenty years, she destroys her family's house and engages in a psychic battle with Xavier. She eventually overpowers Xavier and he uses his powers to slow down time, enabling him the opportunity to transfer his consciousness into another body, but also giving him more time to talk to Jean. She finally disintegrates Xavier, and leaves with Magneto; temporarily weakened. Following the losses of Xavier and Cyclops, Rogue decides to take the mutant cure. The X-Men regroup and confront Magneto's army, which is attacking the pharmaceutical company's laboratory on Alcatraz Island. During the battle, Kitty Pryde leaves to save Leech and at the end of the battle, Beast injects Magneto with the cure, nullifying his mutant powers. After this, Wolverine nearly coaxes Jean back to sanity. However, soldiers arrive and fire upon Jean. The Phoenix quickly emerges and begins to disintegrate everything and everyone around her, vaporizing the soldiers. While the other X-Men flee to safety, Wolverine fights his way to Jean, relying upon his healing abilities to save him from her destructive power. Momentarily gaining control, Jean begs Wolverine to save her. Telling Jean he loves her, Wolverine reluctantly kills her with his claws. Despite the X-Men's losses, life goes on. The school will continue, even without Xavier. Rogue returns and tells Iceman she had to take the "cure." The two reconcile and continue their relationship now able to touch each other. Magneto, now an ordinary man, sits at a chessboard and reaches out toward a metal chess piece that trembles slightly, indicating that the cure might not be as permanent as originally thought. Following the closing credits, Dr. Moira MacTaggert checks on a comatose patient who greets her with Xavier's voice, implying that he has transferred his mind into this new body. Spider-Man (1967 TV series): In the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon, Spider-Man battled a scientist named Dr. Matto Magneto wielding a magnetic gun in "The Revenge of Magneto". The character was (very) loosely based on the Magneto character from the comics, and more closely resembled Albert Einstein. His name is mispronounced "Mag-netto" instead of "Mag-neeto." Fantastic Four (1978 TV series): In the 1978 Fantastic Four cartoon, Magneto (voiced by John Stephenson) briefly took control of the team in "The Menace Of Magneto". Here, he isn't depicted as a mutant. Instead he is simply an extremely powerful supervillain with typical aspirations for power. Instead of flying, he moves around in a bizarre, car-like device which he moves using his magnetic powers. Spider-Man (1981 TV series): The solo Spider-Man cartoon from 1981 featured Magneto in the episode "When Magneto Speaks... People Listen". Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends: Magneto returned in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, attempting to free his fellow mutants from prison in "The Prison Plot". He was voiced by Michael Rye. In spite of his Spider-Man television appearances, he has appeared in only two issues of a Spider-Man title. Pryde of the X-Men: Magneto was the main villain in the animated X-Men pilot Pryde of the X-Men - his first actual animated appearance battling the X-Men. Ronald Gans did the voice. X-Men (animated series): .Magneto's voice was provided by David Hemblen in the animated television series X-Men. In the series, he first appears in the third and fourth episodes where he launches a missile but it is stopped by the X-Men. Then he attacks a factory to draw Professor X out, but is stopped by the Professor's telepathy. In the first season finale, he helps the X-Men defeat the Master Mold and the Sentinels. He appears in nearly every episode in the second season, in which he and Professor Xavier are powerless and travel throughout the Savage Land. At the end of that season, all of the X-Men save them from Mr. Sinister, and they regain their powers. In the fourth season, he helps defeat Apocalypse. Later, he lives on Asteroid M until it is destroyed. Disheartened by the destruction of his Asteroid M mutant sanctuary, he does not care about even the impending assimilation of mankind by the Phalanx, until he receives news from the Beast, Forge, Mr. Sinister and Amelia Voght that his son, Quicksilver, has been kidnapped by the Phalanx in the second part of the two-part fifth season premiere. He teams up with them to defeat the Phalanx and save everyone they had captured or assimilated. By the end of the series, he has gathered up an entire army of rebellious mutants, and is poised to conquer the world, but receives news from Wolverine, Cyclops and Jean Grey that Professor Xavier is dying. Relenting, Magneto uses his power in conjunction with Xavier's in order to contact Lilandra Neramani, who takes Xavier to her planet where there is a suggestion that he may be cured. X-Men: Evolution: Magneto's voice was provided by Christopher Judge in the animated television series X-Men: Evolution. During the show's first season he is a shadowy, mysterious manipulator where the X-Men, except for Professor Xavier, do not know of his existence, until the first X-Man, Wolverine, figures it out, although Magneto becomes a more direct threat from the first season finale. In the first season he uses his agent Mystique to assemble a team of mutants (The Brotherhood), and even recruits his own son Quicksilver to spy on them. In the first season finale, he pits the Brotherhood against the X-Men and brings the winners to Asteroid M in an attempt to convince them to join his cause. His decision to leave Mystique behind leads her to betray him (although flashbacks indicate that they have been at odds since Magneto separated Mystique from her newborn son Nightcrawler), and their vendetta lasts throughout the second season. In the second season, Magneto personally recruits a new team, the Acolytes, de-ages himself using the same technology that created Captain America, and finally reveals the existence of mutants to the public after the X-Men and Brotherhood fight off a Sentinel which was meant to destroy every mutant known. In this time his daughter Wanda is introduced, who hates Magneto for abandoning her as a child and leaving her in a mental asylum (when asked about what specific event led to Magneto institutionalizing Wanda, X-Men: Evolution's head writer Greg Johnson stated that "There was no specific event. It was just years of him trying to handle a hostile, out of control child whose powers were promising to be very destructive if he didn't get her put away."). She hunts him down relentlessly until he uses the mutant Mastermind to change her memories, painting him in a new light. In the third and fourth seasons of the show, Magneto dedicates himself to preventing the awakening of the mutant Apocalypse, although all his attempts fail and upon Apocalypse's awakening he is transformed into one of his Four Horsemen after he is thought to have been killed by Apocalypse. He is freed of this enslavement in the finale episode Ascension: Part Two, and is last seen being helped by his two children. In the final moments of the episode, Charles Xavier reveals that he witnessed the future in the mind of Apocalypse, and among the visions he saw was Magneto becoming an ally of the X-Men and training the New Mutants, like he did in the comics. Wolverine and the X-Men: Magneto has been confrimed to appear in Wolverine and the X-Men voiced by Tom Kane. Magneto is shown on a billboard with the word "GENOSHA". In the second trailer, he is shown to rule Genosha and mentioned to have found Professor X unconscious on Genosha after the destruction of the X-Mansion. The best villains all have one thing in common: motivation. Whether it is by the destruction of one person, greed, or world domination, they are all driven by something. However, some have a nobler motivation, and Magneto falls in this category. He was a young prisoner of Nazi concentration camps but survived the Holocaust. However, he survived only to see his fellow mutants be murdered and discriminated in a similar way to the experiences he went through during the Holocaust. Magneto wanted to stop this and formed a partnership with Charles Xavier, who had a similar goal, in order to see his goals come true. However, the two disagreed on how the dream of a human/mutant united world would be achieved: Charles was like Martin Luther King, Jr., hoping to achieve his dream through peace and non-violence (though he does believe in using a team of mutants to protect other mutants from the cruelty of humans); while Magneto was more like Malcolm X, hoping to achieve his dream by any means necessary. Magneto doesn’t want to rule the world or kill the X-Men; he just wants to protect his species from extinction and unite them under his guidance so that no more people will die just because they were born different. But, the lengths that he will go to achieve these goals can’t be justified. He has held the world hostage with nuclear weapons in order to gain control over a sovereign land for mutants. He has attacked the X-Men on numerous occasions when they tried to stop him. He ripped the adamantium from Wolverine’s bones. And, he pretended to be Xorn, infiltrated the X-Men, manipulated the student’s of Xavier’s Academy into believing his philosophy, and attacked New York, killing millions (And, yes, I know these events have been retconned, but it was still done in his name). Also, over the years, his dream of mutant acceptance has been twisted in a dream of mutants ruling over humans, which wasn’t realized until Magneto’s daughter Scarlet Witch warped reality into giving many heroes their heart’s desire. However, these events ended with Magneto and most of the world’s mutants being turned into humans. Then, Magneto was repowered by Xorn and then depowered…or not. It’s hard to explain. Regardless of whether Magneto has his powers or not, he is a survivor. He survived the Holocaust and has died and come back many times. He is driven to see his goal of mutants no longer be persecuted but rather on top of the food chain, and nothing can stop him. You can’t keep Magneto down, and he will achieve his dream by any means necessary.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 14, 2008 15:15:52 GMT -5
Tomorrow, numbers 14-11. Here are the hints:
he made the one ring to rule them all, he will chase his enemy 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round perdition's flames before he gives him up, it isn't safe to go in the water when it is around, and he IS!!!!
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 15, 2008 16:07:33 GMT -5
Countdown time, newbies. Here's number 14: 14. Sauron Who is he: The chief lieutenant of Morgoth, the second Dark Lord, and the forger of the One Ring. What is he from: The Lord Of The Rings. What has he done: Tried to become the absolute power in Middle-earth. Intelligence: Military genius. Power: Pretty much rules all that is evil in Middle-earth. Vileness: Wanted to bring about the total destruction of all that is fair and free in Middle-earth. Sway: Just the mention of his name brings about despair. Purity: Will stop at nothing to rule Middle-earth; also cares for that One Ring. Physical Prowess: Huge man with scary-looking armor, but only fights when he absolutely has to; and he had that scary looking Eye made out of fire. Name Coolness: “Sauron” is pretty cool. Created by: J.R.R. Tolkien. Portrayed by: Sala Baker played him in the opening scene of “The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring.” Sauron did appear in the 1978 animated film “The Lord Of The Rings,” but he wasn’t voiced by anyone Before The Creation Of The World: The cosmological myth prefixed to The Silmarillion explains how Eru (God), “the One”, initiated His creation by bringing into being innumerable spirits, “the offspring of his thought”, that were with Him before anything else had been made. The being later known as Sauron thus originated as an “immortal (angelic) spirit.” In his origin, Sauron therefore perceived the Creator directly. As Tolkien noted: “Sauron could not, of course, be a ‘sincere’ atheist. Though one of the minor spirits created before the world, he knew Eru, according to his measure.” In Elvish (Quenya) terminology, these angelic spirits were called Ainur (sg. Ainu). Those who entered the physical world were called Valar (sg. Vala), especially the most powerful, almost godlike ones. The lesser Valar, of whom Sauron was one, were called Maiar (sg. Maia). In Tolkien's letters, the author noted that Sauron “was of course a 'divine' person (in the terms of this mythology; a lesser member of the race of Valar)”. Though less mighty than the chief Valar, he was more powerful than many of his fellow Maiar; Tolkien noted that he was of a "far higher order" than the Maiar who later came to Middle-earth as the Wizards Gandalf and Saruman. As created by Eru, the Ainur were all good and uncorrupt, as Elrond stated in The Lord of the Rings: “Nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so.” Evil originated with the Vala Melkor. According to a story meant as a parable of events beyond human comprehension, Eru let His spirit-children perform a great Music, developing a Theme revealed by Eru Himself (see Ainulindalë). For a while the cosmic choir made wondrous music, but then Melkor tried to increase his own glory by weaving into his song thoughts and ideas that were not in accordance with the original Theme. “Straightway discord arose around him, and many that sang nigh him grew despondent...but some began to attune their music to his rather than to the thought which they had at first.” The Discord of Melkor would have dire consequences, for this singing was the very Song of Creation, a kind of template for the world to be made: “The evils of the world were not at first in the great Theme, but entered with the discords of Melkor.” However, “Sauron was not a beginner of discord; and he probably knew more of the ‘Music’ than did Melkor, whose mind had always been filled with his own plans and devices." Apparently Sauron was not even one of the spirits that immediately began to attune their “music” to that of Melkor, since it is elsewhere noted that his fall occurred later. Soon it was as if the discords of Melkor were at war with the themes of Eru, the cosmic Music now representing a conflict of good and evil. Finally, abruptly, Eru brought the Song of Creation to an end. To show the spirits, faithful or otherwise, what they had done, Eru gave independent being to the now-marred Music. This resulted in the sub-universe of Eä, where the drama of good and evil would play out and be resolved. Eru allowed the spirits who so wished to enter into the new world of Eä and follow its history from inside. Many did so, Sauron among them. By granting free will to enter into Eä, Eru allowed great evil, as well as great good. The First Age: Entering Eä at the beginning of time, the Valar and their Maia servants tried to build and organize the world according to the will of Eru. In their vast demiurgic efforts, Sauron emerged as “a great craftsman of the household of Aulë”. As the Vala of all crafts, Aulë taught his subordinate Maiar much about the structure, laws and substances of the world, and Sauron would always retain this “scientific” knowledge: “In his beginning he was of the Maiar of Aulë, and he remained mighty in the lore of that people.” Within the vast spaces of Eä, the Valar eventually concentrated their efforts on the realm of Arda, the Earth, where Elves and Men were destined to appear as the “Children of God.” But Melkor, who would later be known as Morgoth the Black Enemy, had also arrived in Arda. Fiercely desiring to become its supreme lord, he opposed the other Valar, who remained faithful to Eru and tried to carry out the Creator’s designs. Around this time, Sauron fell victim to Melkor’s corrupting influence: “In the beginning of Arda Melkor seduced him to his allegiance.” As for Sauron's motives, Tolkien noted that "it had been his virtue (and therefore also the cause of his fall...) that he loved order and coordination, and disliked all confusion and wasteful friction." Thus "it was the apparent will and power of Melkor to effect his designs quickly and masterfully that had first attracted Sauron to him." For a while, Sauron apparently kept up the pretence that he was a faithful servant of the Valar, all the while feeding Melkor information about their doings. Thus, when the Valar made Almaren as their first physical abode in the world, “Melkor knew of all that was done; for even then he had secret friends and spies among the Maiar whom he had converted to his cause, and of these the chief, as after became known, was Sauron.” Almaren was destroyed by Melkor, and the Valar established a new abode in the Uttermost West: the Blessed Realm of Valinor. They still did not perceive Sauron’s dubious loyalties, for he too became “a being of Valinor”. At some point, Sauron left the Blessed Realm and went to Middle-earth, the central continent of Arda. In one text, Tolkien wrote about Sauron that “in Valinor he had dwelt among the people of the gods, but there Morgoth had drawn him to evil and to his service.” It would seem that Sauron now definitely sided with Melkor. No longer just a spy and secret sympathizer, he deserted his service to the Valar and openly joined their great enemy: “Because of his admiration of Strength he had become a follower of Morgoth and fell with him down into the depths of evil.” After joining his new master in Middle-earth, he proved to be a devoted and capable servant: “While Morgoth still stood, Sauron did not seek his own supremacy, but worked and schemed for another, desiring the triumph of Melkor, whom in the beginning he had adored. He thus was often able to achieve things, first conceived by Melkor, which his master did not or could not complete in the furious haste of his malice.” “In all the deeds of Melkor the Morgoth upon Arda, in his vast works and in the deceits of his cunning, Sauron had a part.” In chapter 3 of The Silmarillion, Tolkien writes that by the time the Elves awoke in the world, Sauron had become Melkor’s lieutenant and was given command over the newly-built stronghold of Angband. To protect the Elves, the Valar made war on Melkor and captured him, but Sauron they did not find. Thus, “when Melkor was made captive, Sauron escaped and lay hid in Middle-earth; and it can in this way be understood how the breeding of the Orcs (no doubt already begun) went on with increasing speed.” In the Blessed Realm, Melkor feigned reform, but eventually breached the trust of the Valar and escaped back to Middle-earth. By then, Sauron had “secretly repaired Angband for the help of his Master when he returned; and there the dark places underground were already manned with hosts of the Orcs before Melkor came back at last, as Morgoth the Black Enemy.” Shortly after the return of Melkor-Morgoth, the Noldorin Elves also left the Blessed Realm of Valinor in the Uttermost West against the counsel of the Valar to wage war on Morgoth, who had stolen the Silmarils. In that war, Sauron served as Morgoth's chief lieutenant, surpassing all others in rank, such as Gothmog, the Lord of Balrogs. Known as Gorthaur the Cruel, Sauron was at that time a master of illusions and changes of form; werewolves and vampires were his servants, chief among them Draugluin, Father of Werewolves, and his vampire herald Thuringwethil. When Morgoth left Angband to corrupt the newly-created Men, Sauron directed the war against the Elves. He conquered the Elvish island of Tol Sirion, so that it became known as Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the Isle of Werewolves. Ten years later, Finrod Felagund, the king of Nargothrond and former lord of Tol Sirion, came there with Beren. He dueled Sauron and was defeated (in part because of the curse of Fëanor). Later, he died fighting a wolf in Sauron's dungeons to save Beren. Soon afterwards Lúthien and Huan the Wolfhound arrived, hoping to rescue Beren. Aware of a prophecy to the effect that Huan would be killed by the greatest wolf ever, Sauron himself assumed a monstrous wolf-like form and attacked him. But the prophecy actually applied to the still-unborn Carcharoth, and Wolf-Sauron could not prevail against Huan. In a frenzy of shape-shifting, Sauron slipped in and out of various animal-like shapes and finally back into his accustomed (apparently humanoid) form, but Huan had him by the throat. Lúthien gave him two choices: either to surrender to her the magical control he had established over Tol-in-Gaurhoth, or to have his body killed so that his naked ghost would have to endure the scorn of Morgoth. Sauron yielded, and Huan let him go. He fled in the form of a huge vampire bat, and Lúthien rescued Beren from the dungeons. Afterward Sauron spent some time as a vampire in the woods of Taur-nu-Fuin. Following the voyage of Eärendil to the Blessed Realm, the Valar finally moved against Morgoth. In the resulting War of Wrath, the Dark Lord was defeated and cast into the Outer Void beyond the world. But "Sauron fled from the Great Battle and escaped." Shocked by the overthrow of his master, Sauron repented (truly at first, if only out of fear). He assumed his most beautiful form and approached Eönwë, emissary of the Valar, who however could not pardon a Maia like himself. Through Eönwë, Manwë as Lord of the Valar "commanded Sauron to come before him for judgment, but [he] had left room for repentance and ultimate rehabilitation." Thus Sauron now had a genuine chance of rejoining the forces of good, but he would obviously risk being sentenced to long servitude as proof of his good will. Having wielded great power under Morgoth, Sauron was unwilling to face this humiliation, and so hid in Middle-earth. The Second Age: About five hundred years into the Second Age, Sauron reappeared. "Bereft of his lord...[he] fell into the folly of imitating him." "Very slowly, beginning with fair motives: the reorganizing and rehabilitation of Middle-earth, 'neglected by the gods,' he becomes a reincarnation of Evil, and a thing lusting for Complete Power," eventually rising to become "master and god of Men." In his early career as an independent power, he actually brought material wealth to his subjects: "He made himself a great king in the midst of the earth, and was at first well-seeming and just and his rule was of benefit to all men in their needs of the body; for he made them rich, who so would serve him. But those who would not were driven into the waste places... [He desired] to be both a king over all kings and as a god to men. And slowly his power moved north and south, and ever westward." Sauron eventually initiated a scheme that he hoped would enable him to subjugate the Elves as well. After assuming a beautiful appearance and calling himself Annatar, "Lord of Gifts," Sauron befriended the Elven-smiths of Eregion, and counseled them in arts and magic. To the Elves, Sauron hinted that he was an emissary of the Valar, specifically of the Vala Aulë whom the Noldorin Exiles held in high regard. (He called himself as well Aulendil, Friend of Aulë.) There was a grain of truth in this lie, since Sauron had indeed been attached to Aulë in the remote past before he joined Melkor. Some of the Elves distrusted this "Annatar" or "Aulendil", especially the Lady Galadriel in Lórien and Gil-galad, the High King of the Noldor. The Elves in Eregion, however, did not heed their warnings. With Sauron's assistance, the Elven-smiths forged the Rings of Power, which conferred great power to their bearers. The Elves did not seek "political" dominion, but rather magical powers that would let them maintain all things unstained. Sauron, however, saw that the Rings of Power could also be made into instruments of domination. He secretly forged the One Ring in the volcanic Mount Doom in Mordor. This "One Ring to rule them all" had the power to dominate the other Rings and enslave their wearers to Sauron's will. The Rings of Power were extremely potent, however, and to create an instrument that could dominate even them, Sauron was forced to place the greater part of his native power into it. Yet "while he wore it, his power on earth was actually enhanced". Sauron never intended others to use this Master-ring, and at the time he did not consider the fact that anyone of sufficiently strong will who possessed the Ring would have available to him much of Sauron's own power to dominate: “If that happened, the new possessor could (if sufficiently strong and heroic by nature) challenge Sauron, become master of all that he had learned or done since the making of the One Ring, and so overthrow him and usurp his place... There was another weakness: if the One Ring was actually unmade, annihilated, then its power would be dissolved, Sauron's own being would be diminished to vanishing point, and he would be reduced to a shadow, a mere memory of malicious will. But that he never contemplated nor feared. The Ring was unbreakable by any smithcraft less than his own. It was indissoluble in any fire, save the undying subterranean fire where it was made - and that was unapproachable, in Mordor... It was in any case on his finger.” When Sauron put on the One Ring, the Elves became aware of his intent. They recognized who "Annatar" really was, removed their Rings, and did not wear or use them anymore. Enraged, Sauron responded with military force, initiating the War of the Elves and Sauron and conquering much of the land west of Anduin. This began the Dark Years. He overran Eregion, killed Celebrimbor, leader of the Elven-smiths, and seized the Seven and the Nine Rings of Power that had been previously forged with his assistance (though Durin had already been given one of the Seven by Celebrimbor). The Three Rings, however, had been forged by Celebrimbor himself without Sauron's help. These rings were saved and remained in the hands of the Elves. According to The Lord of the Rings, Celebrimbor entrusted the Three to Gil-galad, Galadriel, and Círdan; but according to Unfinished Tales Gil-galad received two Rings, Galadriel one, and Gil-galad entrusted the third to Círdan. Sauron besieged Imladris, battled with Moria and Lórien, and pushed further into Gil-galad's realm. The Elves fought back, however, and with the aid of a powerful army from Númenor, they destroyed Sauron's army and drove the remnant back to Mordor. The Númenóreans held the most powerful kingdom of Men at this time; they were descended from the Three Houses of the Edain who helped the Elves in their war against Morgoth, and they lived on the island of Númenor in the seas between Middle-earth and Valinor. From this time on, Sauron became known as the Dark Lord of Mordor. He erected Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower, and built the Black Gate of Mordor to prevent any possible invasion. He distributed the remaining rings of the Seven and the Nine to lords of Dwarves and Men. Dwarves proved too resilient to bend to his will (instead being afflicted with greed), but the Men were enslaved to Sauron as the Ringwraiths, his most feared servants. Sauron regained control over most of the creatures that had served Morgoth in the First Age (such as Orcs and Trolls) though it is unclear whether the Balrog of Moria was under his command. The Dragons of the North were not, though according to Gandalf, Sauron apparently intended to form an alliance with Smaug. Sauron also gained power over most of the Men in the East and the South, becoming their god-king. The second Dark Lord was now at the height of his power, having become “almost supreme in Middle-earth… He rules a growing empire from the great dark tower of Barad-dûr in Mordor, near to the Mountain of fire, wielding the One Ring.” Towards the end of the Second Age, Sauron assumed the titles of Lord of the Earth and King of Men. In many ways, the new Dark Lord exceeded the first: “Sauron was ‘greater’, effectively, in the Second Age than Morgoth at the end of the First. Why? Because, though he was far smaller by natural [spiritual] stature, he had not yet fallen so low. Eventually he also squandered his power (of being) in the endeavour to gain control over others. But he was not obliged to expend so much of himself… [He] inherited [from Morgoth] the ‘corruption’ of Arda [the world], and only spent his (much more limited) power on the Rings; for it was the creatures of earth, in their minds and wills, that he desired to dominate. In this way Sauron was also wiser than Melkor-Morgoth.” (Morgoth had rather desired to control the very matter of the world.) One of Sauron’s more peculiar achievements in the Second Age was a constructed language: "It is said that the Black Speech was devised by Sauron in the Dark Years, and that he desired to make it the language of all those that served him, but he failed in that purpose.” A few samples of Black Speech are cited in Tolkien’s narratives, and he noted that it "was meant to be self-consistent, very different from Elvish, yet organized and expressive, as would be expected of a device of Sauron before his complete corruption." Sauron must have devised the Black Speech before he made the Ring, since it bore an inscription in that language, and it is interesting that Tolkien indicates that this was "before his complete corruption." Compare the above-cited statement that Sauron "had not yet fallen so low" as Morgoth had. The time would come, however, when Sauron was almost wholly consumed by evil. Tolkien wrote that he did not think there could be such a thing as "Absolute Evil" ("since that is Zero"), but "in my story Sauron represents as near an approach to wholly evil as is possible. He had gone the way of all tyrants, beginning well, at least on the level that while desiring to order all things according to his own wisdom he still at first considered the (economic) well-being of other inhabitants of the Earth. But he went further than human tyrants in pride and the lust for domination, being in origin an immortal (angelic) spirit." Toward the end of the Second Age, Ar-Pharazôn, the last and most powerful of the Númenórean kings, came to Middle-earth with massive armies, and Sauron's forces deserted him rather than fight. Realizing he could not defeat the Númenóreans with military strength, Sauron actually surrendered. Clad in a beautiful incarnation, he came to Ar-Pharazôn's camp and swore allegiance to the king. He even allowed himself to be taken as a prisoner to Númenor. This was, however, part of a cunning plan to corrupt Númenorean civilization from inside. "Sauron's personal 'surrender' was voluntary and cunning: he got free transport to Númenor." When Ar-Pharazôn in his arrogance took Sauron as a prisoner-hostage, he failed to realize whom he was dealing with: Sauron "was of course a 'divine' person...and thus far too powerful to be controlled in this way. He steadily got Arpharazôn's mind under his own control, and in the event corrupted many of the Númenóreans," destroying "the conception of Eru, now represented as a mere figment of the Valar or Lords of the West (a fictitious sanction to which they appealed if anyone questioned their rulings)". The Akallabêth, the account of the history of Númenor, does not specifically mention the Ring. In his letters, however, Tolkien noted that Sauron "naturally had the One Ring, and so very soon dominated the minds and wills of most of the Númenóreans. (I do not think Ar-Pharazôn knew anything about the One Ring. The Elves kept the matter of the Rings very secret...)" With the power of the Ring, Sauron quickly grew from captive to adviser of the king. He established himself as High Priest of Melkor, "Lord of the Dark," and a great temple was built where human sacrifice was carried out. Having dismissed Eru as a convenient fantasy of the Valar, Sauron portrayed Melkor as the true Lord of the World. Sauron "finally induces Arpharazôn, frightened by the approach of old age, to make the greatest of all armadas, and go up with war against the Blessed Realm itself, and wrest it and its 'immortality' into his own hands". Actually the land could not confer immortality to Men; moreover, Sauron knew perfectly well that it was utterly impossible for the Númenóreans to conquer the Valar. Sauron was deftly creating a situation where (as he thought) the Valar would wipe out the military force of Númenor and remove this threat to Sauron's own plans for world dominion. But Ar-Pharazôn did believe the lies of Sauron, and after years of massive armament, the greatest armada the world had ever seen landed on the shores of Valinor. However, the Valar did not react quite as Sauron had expected. "The Valar had no real answer to this monstrous rebellion, for the Children of God [Elves and Men] were not under their ultimate jurisdiction: they were not allowed to destroy them, or coerce them with any 'divine' display of the powers they held over the physical world. They appealed to God; and a catastrophic 'change of plan' occurred." This appeal of the Valar to Eru resulted in a massive divine intervention which demonstrated that Eru was not just an invention by the Valar. "At the moment that Arpharazôn set foot on the forbidden shore, a rift appeared: Númenor foundered and was utterly overwhelmed; the armada was swallowed up; and the Blessed Realm removed for ever from the circles of the physical world." This development had not been foreseen by Sauron; he had expected only that the Valar would destroy Ar-Pharazôn and the Númenórean armada. "Sauron was, of course, 'confounded' by the disaster, and diminished (having expended enormous energy in the corruption of Númenor)." In the Downfall of Númenor, Sauron's handsome body was destroyed, and he lost forever the ability to take beautiful and charming forms. Yet his spirit rose out of the abyss, and he was able to carry with him the one thing that mattered most. Wrote Tolkien, "I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended." In the essay Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, Tolkien wrote that Sauron "took up" the Ring after returning to Middle-earth. This has made some readers conclude that Sauron had somehow hidden it before his cunning surrender to Ar-Pharazôn, only to recover it when he returned to Middle-earth. From the quotes above, it is however clear that Tolkien did imagine that Sauron possessed and used the Ring during his years in Númenor. After returning to Middle-earth, he "took up" the Ring simply in the sense that he started using it once again. In relatively short order Sauron assumed a new physical form and began to rebuild his forces. Now unable to take such fair shapes as he had used to deceive the Elves and seduce the Númenóreans, he assumed the form of a tall warrior with black armour on burning black skin and had terrible raging eyes, and could only rule through terror and force from then on. The few faithful Númenóreans were saved from the Downfall. With Elendil as their leader, they escaped the cataclysm and founded the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor among the Númenórean colonists and the natives of north-western Middle-earth. At first they believed that Sauron had perished in the Downfall, but it soon became evident that the Dark Lord had returned to Mordor. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien wrote that Elendil and his sons forged the Last Alliance of Elves and Men with Gil-galad to fight Sauron. The Alliance won a great victory on the plain of Dagorlad and invaded Mordor, laying siege to Barad-dûr for seven years. During the siege, Elendil's younger son Anárion was killed by a stone cast from the tower. Finally, Sauron was forced to emerge from his tower and fight, himself. In the battle on the slopes of Mount Doom, Sauron slew both Gil-galad and Elendil, though he himself was destroyed in the process. When Elendil fell, his sword, Narsil, broke beneath him. Taking up the hilt-shard of Narsil, Elendil's surviving son, Isildur, cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand. "Then Sauron was for that time vanquished, and he forsook his body, and his spirit fled far away and hid in waste places." Elrond and Círdan, Gil-galad's lieutenants, urged Isildur to destroy the Ring by casting it into Mount Doom, but he refused and kept it for his own: "This I will have as weregild for my father's death, and my brother's. Was it not I that dealt the Enemy his death-blow?" A few years after the battle, Isildur's army, marching to Rivendell, was ambushed and overwhelmed by a band of Orcs: the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. Isildur put on the Ring and attempted to escape by swimming across Anduin, but the Ring, which had a will of its own and a desire to return to Sauron, slipped from his finger. He was spotted and killed by Orc-archers. The Ring would remain lost beneath the water for thousands of years. The Third Age: The traumatic loss of the Ring greatly weakened Sauron. He did not swiftly rebuild, as he had done following the Downfall of Númenor. Sauron spent the first thousand years of the Third Age as a shapeless, dormant evil. The Elves were now able to use the Rings of Power according to the original intentions of the Elven-smiths, and “for long they were at peace, wielding the Three Rings while Sauron slept and the One Ring was lost”. Galadriel used the power of the Ring Nenya to maintain her realm in Lothlórien, and Elrond using the Ring Vilya did the same in Rivendell. With the healing and maintaining power of the Rings, pockets of the ancient "Elvish world" could be maintained. In Lórien, visitors might feel that they had stepped back in time, as experienced by the Fellowship of the Ring later. The Elves were however aware that this situation might not continue indefinitely. Indeed "many voices were heard among the Elves foreboding that, if Sauron should come again, then either he would find the Ruling Ring that was lost, or at best his enemies would discover it and destroy it; but in either case the powers of the Three [Rings] must then fail and all things maintained by them must fade, and so the Elves should pass into the twilight and the Dominion of Men begin." A full millennium into the new Age, around the year 1050, a shadow of fear fell on the forest later called Mirkwood. As would later become known, this was the first intimation of Sauron manifesting yet again. He established a stronghold called Dol Guldur, “Hill of Sorcery”, in the southern part of the forest. In Mirkwood he was known as the Necromancer (mentioned briefly in The Hobbit), but the Elves did not recognize him at first. As he started to rebuild, Sauron’s ultimate aim was the same as before: world conquest. By now, the shock of the divine intervention at the Downfall of Númenor had worn off, and Sauron "probably deluded himself with the notion that the Valar (including Melkor) having failed, Eru had simply abandoned Eä, or at any rate Arda, and would not concern himself with it any more...he had ceased to fear God's action in Arda". Indeed he had arrived at a self-serving interpretation of the Downfall, assuming that Eru had acted not only against the Númenóreans, but also against the Valar: As the Blessed Realm was removed from the physical world, "Valar (and Elves) were removed from effective control, and Men [were] under God's curse and wrath." To Sauron, it seemed that the world was free for the taking. Actually the Valar were still concerned with the events in Middle-earth, and they were able to send agents back into the physical world. But according to the divine master-plan, Mortal Men were meant to inherit the world from the Elves. Thus "Sauron...was a problem that Men had to deal with finally: the first of many concentrations of Evil into definite power-points that they would have to combat." The Valar would not act to defeat Sauron in a massive intervention comparable to the War of Wrath that overthrew Morgoth; rather they made arrangements so that Sauron's enemies would themselves have a chance of defeating him. They sent a group of five Maiar incarnated in a humble form, as old (if agile) men: "[T]he purpose was precisely to limit and hinder their exhibition of 'power' on the physical plane, and so that they should do what they were primarily sent for: train, advise, instruct, arouse the hearts and minds of those threatened by Sauron to a resistance with their own strengths; and not just do the job for them. They thus appeared as 'old' sage figures." These figures arrived in Middle-earth about a thousand years into the Third Age, just as Sauron began to take shape yet again. For the longest time, they kept a low profile about their origin and purpose. In Middle-earth, they were known as the Wizards, and the most prominent of them came to be called Gandalf and Saruman. Círdan of the Havens, one of the few who knew that they had come from the Blessed Realm, perceived Gandalf as the wisest of the Wizards. He therefore gave to him Narya, the last of the Three Rings of the Elves. Around the year 1100, “the Wise” (the Wizards and the chief Elves) became aware that an evil power had made a stronghold at Dol Guldur. Initially it was assumed that this was one of the Nazgûl rather than Sauron himself. About the year 1300, the Nazgûl did indeed reappear, and their influence would have serious consequences for the nations established by the Númenórean exiles. Over the ensuing centuries, the Witch-king of Angmar (actually the chief Nazgûl acting on Sauron’s behalf) repeatedly attacked the northern realm of Arnor, first in 1409 and finally overrunning the realm in 1974. Six years later, comparatively quickly, the Witch-king was able to enter Mordor and gather the Nazgûl there. In 2000, the Nazgûl issued from the Black Land and took the city of Minas Ithil (later known as Minas Morgul) in one of the mountain-passes. Thereby they also captured an object that would prove most valuable to Sauron: a palantír, one of the seven Seeing Stones that Elendil’s people had brought with them from Númenor at the eve of the Downfall. In 2050 the Witch-king challenged Eärnur, childless king of the southern kingdom of Gondor; the King rode to Minas Ithil, but was never heard of again. From that point on, Gondor was ruled by Stewards. As the power of Dol Guldur kept growing, the Wise came to suspect that the controlling force behind the Witch-king and the other Nazgûl was indeed their original master, Sauron. In 2063, Gandalf the Wizard went to Dol Guldur and made the first attempt to ascertain the truth, but Sauron retreated and hid in the East. It would be almost four centuries before he returned to his stronghold in Mirkwood, and his identity remained undetermined. Sauron finally came back with increased strength in 2460. About the same year there occurred an event that went quite unnoticed at the time, but it would prove very decisive: The long-lost Ruling Ring was finally recovered from the river. It was found by a member of the river folk named Déagol. His relative Sméagol killed him for the Ring, and was eventually corrupted into the creature Gollum. He took the Ring, which he called his "Precious," and hid in the Misty Mountains. In 2850, Gandalf made a second attempt to spy out Dol Guldur. Stealing into the stronghold, he was finally able to confirm the identity of its lord, later reporting to the White Council of Elves and Wizards: “True, alas, is our guess. This is not one of the Úlairi [Nazgûl], as many have long supposed. It is Sauron himself who has taken shape again and now grows apace; and he is gathering again all the Rings to his hand, and he seeks ever for news of the One [Ring], and of the Heirs of Isildur, if they live still on earth.” Eventually the Wizards and chief Elves combined to put forth their might, and Sauron was driven out of Mirkwood in 2941. He had already planned his next move, however, and was willing to abandon Dol Guldur temporarily. Just before Sauron fled Dol Guldur, the peace-loving Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, on an improbable adventure with a party of Dwarves, stumbled across the Ring deep within the Misty Mountains. The Ring had abandoned Gollum, perhaps sensing the increasing power of its Master and wishing to return to him. By now, Gollum himself had become completely addicted to the Ring’s presence; he would spend the rest of his life in a pathetic search for his “Precious.” Bilbo used the power of the Ring to make himself invisible on several subsequent occasions, but was not evil himself and was slow to corrupt; Gandalf later remarked on the "sterner stuff" trait of Hobbits. Just like Gollum, he still developed a sinister attachment to the Ring, but with Gandalf’s help he was barely able to pass it on to his heir Frodo on his 111th birthday. (Any mortal possessing the One Ring stopped aging normally.) Sauron's power had now recovered to the point that he was able to extend his will over Middle-earth. The Eye of Sauron, as his attention and force of will was perceived, became a symbol of oppression and fear. Following his expulsion from Dol Guldur, he returned to Mordor in 2942, publicly declared himself nine years later, and started raising Barad-dûr anew. In preparation for a final war against Men and Elves, he bred immense armies of Orcs, augmenting them with Men from the East and South who (through their leaders) were in his service. The War of the Ring (The events in the Lord of the Rings trilogy): The three volumes of The Lord of the Rings tell the story of Sauron’s last attempt at achieving world dominion, as the Third Age reached its climax in the years 3018 and 3019. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf deduced that the Ring of Power that Bilbo had found in Gollum’s cave was indeed Sauron’s lost Master-ring. He informed Frodo about the true nature of the sinister heirloom Bilbo had left for him, and its terrible potential if Sauron should ever regain it: "The Enemy still lacks one thing to give him strength and knowledge to beat down all resistance, break the last defences, and cover all the lands in a second darkness. He lacks the One Ring... So he is seeking it, seeking it, and all his thought is bent on it." Gandalf went for advice to Saruman the White, leader of the White Council, but discovered that Saruman had been corrupted by his long studies of Sauron. Using the palantír in the tower of Orthanc, Saruman was now in communication with the Dark Lord and acted as his ally, though he also secretly hoped to gain the Ring for himself and use its power to supplant Sauron. In either case, Saruman had totally betrayed the original mission of the Wizards, as defined by the Valar who sent them. Gandalf was held captive atop Orthanc for a time, but soon escaped with the help of one of the giant Eagles of Manwë. Having seized and tortured Gollum, Sauron learned that the Ring had been found by a Hobbit named "Baggins." Sauron sent the Nazgûl to the Shire, Bilbo's home, but Bilbo had left years earlier. The current possessor of the Ring, Frodo, was likewise on his way out of the Shire (on Gandalf's advice). The Nine Nazgûl pursued Frodo and his companions and nearly killed Frodo but were defeated near Rivendell. In Rivendell, Elrond convened a high council of the peoples of Middle-earth to decide how to handle the crisis. The council determined that the Ring must be destroyed where it was forged, since it was utterly impervious to any other flame than the volcanic fires at its place of making. Frodo and his friend Sam (Samwise Gamgee) joined the Fellowship of the Ring, accepting the council's mission to cast it into the volcano. Such a desperate quest would require them to penetrate Mordor itself and make it all the way to the Mountain right under Sauron’s nose, but otherwise the only conceivable way of defeating Sauron would be to actually use the power of the Ring against its maker. Then the one using the Ring would inevitably become infected by its evil and soon emerge as a new Dark Lord, as bad as Sauron or worse. This was a viable option only to a person like Saruman, who had already lost his moral compass. To the extent the Elves went along with the plan, they were deliberately bringing about the end of the Elvish age, which had been artificially prolonged and maintained by the power of the Elven-rings. It was widely expected that these Rings would stop functioning if Sauron's Ring should ever be destroyed, since the Dark Lord had made sure that all the lesser Rings were wholly bound up with the power of his own Master-ring. The dilemma of the Elves can be perceived in Galadriel's words to Frodo when the Fellowship came to her realm in Lothlórien: "Do you not see now wherefore your coming is to us as the footstep of Doom? For if you fail [to destroy the Ring], then we are laid bare to the Enemy [when Sauron recovers it]. Yet if you succeed, then our power is diminished, and Lothlórien will fade, and the tides of Time will sweep it away [because the Elven-rings can no longer hold back time]." In The Two Towers, Saruman used his own army on Sauron's behalf and invaded Rohan. Gandalf, Théoden King of Rohan and the Ents, led by Treebeard, finally defeated Saruman's forces. His stronghold at Isengard was overthrown and Saruman left trapped within the Tower of Orthanc. Thus, one of Sauron's most powerful allies was neutralized. During Saruman's confrontation with Gandalf, the palantír of Orthanc fell into the hands of the Fellowship. Gandalf handed it over to Aragorn, a direct descendant of Isildur and Elendil and hence the rightful owner of the Stone. In The Return of the King, Aragorn used it to show himself to Sauron (who still controlled another Seeing Stone, the one captured from Minas Ithil centuries earlier). Aragorn was leading Sauron to think that he, a pretender to the throne of Gondor, now had the Ring and was preparing to turn its power against its maker. The Dark Lord was troubled by this revelation, and therefore attacked sooner than he had planned by sending an army to overthrow Minas Tirith, capital of Gondor. Immediately after the huge army left Mordor through the pass of Cirith Ungol, Frodo and Sam attempted to enter the Black Land the same way. They had been met by Gollum, whom Sauron had earlier released from captivity while letting him think that he escaped by accident (apparently Sauron hoped that Gollum would somehow lead him to the Ring). For a while, Gollum had acted as a guide for Frodo and Sam. However, he finally betrayed them to Shelob, a monstrous spider-like creature that Sauron regarded almost as a pet of sorts, using her to guard the pass. Gollum was in no way trying to help Sauron, but since the gargantuan spider would have no interest in the Ring, Gollum hoped to recover it from Frodo's remains when Shelob had finished her meal. In the end, Sam drove off both Gollum and Shelob, but not before the monster had bit Frodo and he appeared to have died from her venom. The Orcs found Frodo’s body and stripped him of his gear, but Sam (thinking his master dead) had already secured the Ring. Frodo regained consciousness and was freed by Sam, and the two started the gruelling journey across the plains of Mordor towards Mount Doom. At their closest approach to Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower was still about 30 miles away, and yet the horror of Sauron’s presence was almost like a physical sensation – a “threat that beat upon them as they went: the dreadful menace of the Power that waited, brooding in deep thought and sleepless malice behind the dark veil about its Throne”. The Orcs had sent Frodo’s gear to Barad-dûr, and apparently it was brought to Sauron’s own attention: His spokesperson (the Mouth of Sauron) would later taunt the Captains of the West by displaying Frodo’s equipment, letting them think the Hobbit had been captured. However, Sauron apparently dismissed the incident in Cirith Ungol as a foolhardy attempt to spy out the borders of Mordor. It literally never occurred to Sauron that his enemies were attempting to send the Ring into Mordor to unmake it at Mount Doom. Rather he took it completely for granted that they would try to access and use its power. Sauron regarded all his opponents, even up to Manwë Lord of the Valar, simply as rivals for world dominion and just as cynical as himself: “His cynicism, which (sincerely) regarded the motives of Manwë as precisely the same as his own, seemed fully justified in Saruman. Gandalf he did not understand." Exploiting this blindspot in Sauron's psychology had been Gandalf's strategy all along: "Into his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse [power], that having the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this, we shall put him out of reckoning." Although the army Sauron sent against Minas Tirith was defeated and the Chief Nazgûl destroyed, the Dark Lord still had sufficient armies in Mordor to recover his strength and, over the long term, win the war. Gandalf urged the captains of the West to march on Mordor to divert Sauron’s attention long enough to allow Frodo to complete his mission. If the Dark Lord saw Aragorn attempting to attack Mordor with an obviously inferior force, he would hopefully conclude that the Ring was giving Aragorn delusions of grandeur: “We must march out to meet him at once. We must make ourselves the bait, though his jaws should close on us. He will take the bait, in hope and in greed, for he will think that in such rashness he sees the pride of the new Ringlord.” Failure on the part of Frodo would return the Ring to Sauron, and with its power he would swiftly achieve dominion over all life on Middle-earth, so a "suicide" mission would be justified if only Frodo succeeded in the end. Aragorn marched on the Black Gate of Mordor with seven thousand men. After a brief encounter with the Mouth of Sauron, the battle was joined and went very poorly for the outnumbered Gondor/Rohan armies. Now convinced that Aragorn had the Ring, Sauron apparently reacted just as Gandalf had thought he would: “I will crush him, and what he has taken in his insolence shall be mine again for ever.” Even as the Captains of the West were about to be utterly defeated by the superior might of Sauron's grand armies, Frodo reached his goal, entering the fiery interior of Mount Doom. However, his will failed at the last moment. Unable to resist the growing power of the Ring, he put it on his finger and claimed it for his own. Sauron was instantly aware of him, and his gaze turned immediately to the Door in the Mountain. The fatal fallacy of Sauron’s entire way of thinking exploded into the Dark Lord’s face: “The magnitude of his own folly was revealed to him in a blinding flash, and all the devices of his enemies were at last laid bare. Then his wrath blazed in consuming flame, but his fear rose like a vast black smoke to choke him. For he knew his deadly peril and the thread upon which his doom now hung.” Despite his shock, Sauron responded swiftly to the threat he suddenly faced. Instantly recalling his remaining Nazgûl from the ongoing battle, he commanded them to hasten to Mount Doom in a desperate attempt to secure the Ring. Even riding their monstrous winged steeds, they were not to arrive in time: Gollum viciously attacked Frodo and bit the Ring from his finger. Ecstatic to finally recover his long-lost “Precious”, Gollum teetered on the edge of the abyss, then lost his footing and fell with the Ring into the fire. With “a roar and a great confusion of noise”, the One Ring perished along with all the power Sauron had invested in it, Gollum inadvertently achieving the Quest after Frodo’s failure. In the words of critic Paul H. Kocher: “The irony of evil is consummated by its doing the good which good could not do.” At the Ring's destruction, Sauron's power was immediately broken and his form in Middle-earth was destroyed. His departing spirit towered above Mordor like a black cloud, but was blown away by a powerful wind from the West (the direction of the Blessed Realm and the Valar). His vast empires collapsed, his armies lost heart and dispersed, the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr crumbled and the Nazgûl were consumed in a hail of fire from the Mountain. Sauron himself was crippled for all time. Thus, on March 25th, Third Age 3019, the long reign of terror of the second Dark Lord finally came to its ruinous end. Gandalf had predicted what the destruction of the Ring would mean to Sauron: "If it is destroyed, then he will fall, and his fall will be so low that none can foresee his arising ever again. For he will lose the best part of the strength that was native to him in his beginning, and all that was made or begun with that power will crumble, and he will be maimed for ever, becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape. And so a great evil of this world will be removed." With the destruction of the Ring, Frodo was restored to sanity, and he and Sam were rescued from Mount Doom. Aragorn was crowned King of Gondor and Arnor. He restored the ancient line of Númenórean kings, to that extent mending Sauron's corruption of the lost island realm of Númenor back in the Second Age. As had been feared, all the lesser Rings of Power no longer worked once the Master-ring was gone. There was nothing more for the Elves in Middle-earth; they could no longer hold back time, and with the coronation of Aragorn the world moved into the Dominion of Men. The end of the Elvish age was the price that had to be paid for the downfall of Sauron. Galadriel, Elrond and many other great Elves took ship from the Grey Havens, sailing beyond the "Circles of the World" and going to the Blessed Realm by the grace of the Valar. Gandalf went on the same ship; after two millennia he had completed his mission as Sauron's adversary and returned home to Valinor. Frodo and Bilbo were also allowed to come. For their efforts and sufferings, the two Hobbits would be allowed to experience the Blessed Realm (unmarred by the evil of Morgoth and Sauron) before they fulfilled their destiny as mortals and moved beyond the world of Eä altogether. As for Sauron's own final state, Tolkien noted that he was said "to have fallen below the point of ever recovering, though he had previously recovered. What is probably meant is that a 'wicked' spirit becomes fixed in a certain desire or ambition, and if it cannot repent then this desire becomes virtually its whole being. But the desire may be wholly beyond the weakness it has fallen to, and it will then be unable to withdraw its attention from the unobtainable desire, even to attend to itself. It will then remain for ever in impotent desire or memory of desire." Thus Sauron was "damned" in the sense that he was "reduced to impotence, infinitely recessive." Defeating Sauron was not the final victory over "evil" as such. Even before Sauron's downfall, Gandalf told the captains of the West: "Other evils there are that may come, for Sauron is himself but a servant or emissary." While Sauron in the Third Age surely perceived himself as his own master, he was ultimately serving the principle of evil itself, as introduced by Melkor before the world was even created. Though other "power-points" of evil were bound to arise in a world that was fundamentally marred, Sauron was indeed "the last of those in 'mythological' personalized (but non-human) form.” If any personal demon is ever to seek world dominion once again, it will happen in an eschatological perspective and involve Morgoth himself. It is foreseen that the spirit of Melkor-Morgoth will eventually recover and grow and take shape again. "It would do this (even if Sauron could not) because of its relative greatness." The "Second Prophecy of Mandos" predicts that Morgoth will return "when the world is old". At the Dagor Dagorath or “Battle of Battles”, Morgoth is destined to die at the hands of Túrin Turambar, but of another arising of Sauron, no prophecies foretell. Sometimes, a villain doesn’t actually have to fight in order to prove his villainy. There are a few villains on this list who have other people do their dirty deeds while they sit back and watch the destruction from the comfort of their lair. Sauron is definitely one of those villains. Hell, he doesn’t even really appear in the books that are named after him (he is the Lord of the Rings). And, he doesn’t really need to. I mean, he has enough Orcs to wipe out every good being on Middle-earth. Hell, he probably has the most subordinates of all the villains on this list. And, he sends nearly all of them to destroy the armies of good that oppose him. In a way, Sauron is like the French Taunter from “Monty Python And The Holy Grail”; he doesn’t come down from Mount Doom to fight you, but he is still a huge thorn in the side of his enemies. Also, there is the fear Sauron instills in people. The very mention of his name brings about despair in Middle-earth. And, he created a device to insure that he would succeed in his goal of ruling Middle-earth: the One Ring. This One Ring would be his instrument in controlling the Rings of Power, which Sauron sought to control and use their power to bring about the destruction of all that is good in Middle-earth. Since the other Rings were extremely powerful, Sauron had to place most of his native power, life force and will into it to affect his purpose. Creating the Ring simultaneously strengthened and weakened Sauron's power. On the one hand, as long as Sauron had the Ring, he could control the power of all the other Rings, and thus he was significantly more powerful after its creation than before; and, perhaps even more favorably, putting such a great portion of his own power into the Ring insured Sauron's invulnerability so long as the Ring existed. On the other hand, by bounding his power within the Ring, Sauron became dependent on it; without it he lost much of his power and when cut from his hand he was unable to regain a physical form for 2,500 years. Also, the One Ring he created passed on through the years to different wearers and corrupted some of them. Two notable ones are Isildur, who cut it from Sauron’s hand and chose to keep it rather than destroy, and it ultimately led to his death at the River Anduin; and Sméagol, who was corrupted by the ring into Gollum, killed his friend Déagol to possess the ring, and tried to kill Frodo to stop him from destroying it. In fact, Frodo himself became corrupted by the Ring and didn’t throw it into the lava of Mount Doom; Gollum bit of the finger holding the Ring and fell into the fires of Mount Doom, finally destroying it. Sauron’s evil was so powerful that it was bringing about the downfalls of people who simply held a ring that he made. However, it was this One Ring that ended up leading to Sauron’s downfall. Not only did the forging of the Ring weaken his power but the destruction of the Ring itself would bring about Sauron’s end. You see, the power he put into the ring was the power that was most important to him, the best part of his strength, and with it destroy, he would not be able to rise again. Basically, Sauron was defeated because he put his eggs in one basket. But, he had a good run and went out with a hell of a fight.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 15, 2008 17:15:05 GMT -5
13. Khan Who is he: One of a group of genetically engineered "supermen", a tyrant who was defeated in the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s who was cryonically frozen and discover by the U.S.S. Enterprise. What is he from: The Star Trek universe, most notably the “Space Seed” episode of the original Star Trek series and “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” What has he done: Was a tyrant in his time, tried to destroy the Enterprise, tried to kill Kirk for putting him on Ceti Alpha V. Intelligence: His genetically-superior mind is very knowledgeable about a great many things, but revenge clouds his mind, leading him to make mistakes and take unnecessary risks. Power: Was a tyrannical ruler in western Asia and rules Ceti Alpha V. Vileness: Blowing up harmless science vessels pales in comparison to those awful slug-things he put in people's ears. Sway: This guy was like a religious leader: extremely intimidating, charismatic, and confident. Purity: Had no mercy and was so consumed with revenge on Kirk. Physical Prowess: Possesses super-human strength and is an amazing physical specimen; bonus points for the great pecs and that wild hair. Name Coolness: “Khan Noonien Singh” is pretty cool. Created by: Gene L. Coon and Carey Wilber. Portrayed by: Ricardo Montalbán, who played him in the “Space Seed” episode and the “Wrath Of Khan” movie. It was reported that Montalbán took a substantial pay cut to reprise his role of Khan, because he enjoyed playing the character so much. The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh: The two-volume set novels deal the live of Khan. Volume 1 deals mostly with the Chrysalis Project, which was how Khan Noonien Singh and the rest of the supermen were created. The genetically engineered "Children of Chrysalis" were mentally and physically superior to ordinary men and women. They were five times stronger than the average person, their lung efficiency was 50 percent better than normal, their heart valve action had twice the power of an average human, and their intelligence was double that of normal humans. When Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln begin to learn about this project, Roberta goes undercover as a scientist that wants to join the Chrysalis Project. The members of Chrysalis are convinced that she is who she claims to be, and she is allowed to join. Roberta heads out to an underground complex beneath the Thar Desert in India where the project is housed. Once there, Roberta begins to work out a way to stop the project. Roberta and Gary Seven finally decide that they should blow up the nuclear reactor that runs the underground complex. Of course, being humanitarian, they do not wish anyone to be harmed, so they give all of the scientists plenty of time to leave and Roberta uses Gary's matter transporter to get the children (including the then young Khan) to safety. The complex is destroyed, along with the project's head & Khan's birth mother, Sarina Kaur, who refused to leave her life's work. This was not the last time Khan would have to deal with Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln, however. Gary Seven kept tabs on Khan and initially hopes to train Khan as his successor. But, at the end of the book, Khan betrays Gary and Roberta and the hopes that Khan could be Seven's apprentice are completely shattered. In the second volume, Seven tries to prevent World War Three from breaking out. He has to deal with not only Khan though, but many of the other "Children of Chrysalis," most of whom are now major political figures (an African military strongman, a European dictator, an American leader of a separatist movement, and a religious cult leader, among others). The superhuman men and women begin to battle for power and several of them manage to gain influence. None, however, have more power than Khan. At first, Khan seems to be building an empire, but, after several assassination attempts by fellow supermen and riots of his people, he begins to lose everything. After Khan feels that he is doomed to be defeated, he begins to power up his Morning Star Satellite which will destroy the ozone layer and kill all life on earth after he dies. Seven shows up though, and convinces Khan that it would be better to forge a new life elsewhere using the stolen DY-100 sleeper ship that he and Roberta obtained from Area 51, the SS Botany Bay. Khan and a large group of the other superhumans leave on the ship in search of a better life. The novel ends in 1996 as Seven leaves Earth for retirement. “Space Seed”: On stardate 3141.9 (2267), the Federation starship Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, finds a derelict ship floating in space. The ship is a DY-100 class freighter that was modified as a sleeper ship for cryogenically-frozen passengers. Its hull identifies it as the SS Botany Bay, though there is no historical record of such a ship. It was launched from Earth sometime during the 1990s, in an era known as the Eugenics Wars. Scanning for signs of life, Dr. Leonard McCoy confirms that there is something still alive on board, but is not quite sure if it is human. A landing party consisting of Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Mr. Scott, and historian Lt. Marla McGivers, is formed and beamed over to the freighter. Kirk had selected McGivers because she specializes in late 20th Century history and culture. As expected, the landing party finds the cargo of 84 humans, 72 of whom are still alive, remaining in suspended animation. Despite being nearly 300 years old, they have not aged a day. McGivers finds the stasis tube that contains the body of whom she believes may be the group's leader. Suddenly, the machinery of the capsule lights up and the male occupant inside appears to be reviving. McCoy realizes the life support system is failing and the occupant may die. Kirk breaks the glass door and pulls the man out to revive him. The man is taken back to the Enterprise for a medical examination. Kirk has the Botany Bay taken in tow by a tractor beam, and the Enterprise sets course for Starbase 12, in the Gamma 400 star system. Meanwhile in sickbay, Lt. McGivers marvels over the man, who is a living relic from an era she has studied all her life. McCoy believes he will recover shortly, and should be well enough to answer questions. McGivers leaves sickbay, and suddenly McCoy finds a sharp scalpel at his throat, courtesy of the patient. The man is awake, and demands to know where he is. McCoy responds by suggesting that if the man is going to kill him, he should do so by cutting the carotid artery quickly and cleanly. Impressed with McCoy's bravery, the man puts the scalpel down and introduces himself as "Khan." Mr. Spock discovers that the man is Khan Noonien Singh who, along with his people, were products of the Eugenics Wars, where genetic supermen were bred as perfect soldiers. The soldiers instead became warlords and dominated over one-third of the Earth (including seizing power in some forty nations). Toward the end of the Eugenics Wars, between eighty and ninety of them were unaccounted for. Khan is recorded as being the most dangerous of these warriors, who had dominated much of the world in his own right. In the meantime, Khan is given spacious quarters; however, he protests the armed guard and locked door. Lt. McGivers is sent to talk to him and debrief him on current events. It is clear that McGivers is falling in love with the handsome and powerful leader. Khan takes advantage of her overt kindness, and tells her that he plans to rule mankind once again, and needs her help to take over the Enterprise. At first McGivers refuses to help, but soon she falls more deeply for Khan's charms. Reluctantly, she tells Khan she will do whatever he asks. Khan and McGivers secretly beam over to the Botany Bay and revive the remaining survivors among the Eugenic supermen. They return to the Enterprise in force and seize control. Khan cuts off life support to the bridge, and the command crew passes out. Khan later throws Kirk into a decompression tank, and threatens to slowly suffocate him unless Kirk's command crew promises to follow Khan. Feeling guilty for betraying her ship, Lt. McGivers relents, and frees Kirk from the chamber. Kirk then helps Spock escape his captors, and the two vent nerve gas throughout the entire ship to disable Khan and his hijackers. Khan manages to escape the gas and heads down to Engineering, where he attempts to destroy the Enterprise, but Kirk runs in and a brawl ensues. Kirk is overmatched due to Khan's genetically superior physical strength, but he manages to pull a tool from a console, and using it as a weapon, knocks Khan out. When Khan and the hijackers are rounded up, Kirk holds a hearing to decide their fate. Kirk decides that Khan and his followers should be exiled, and picks Ceti Alpha V, a lush but treacherous world that Kirk believes would be perfect place for Khan to start his kingdom over again. Life on Ceti Alpha V will not be easy, but Khan, impressed with the idea, claims he is up to the challenge and accepts Kirk's offer. Instead of a lengthy court martial for Lt. McGivers, Kirk allows her to go into exile with Khan. Spock makes a statement at the end, saying that he'd like to see what Khan makes of Ceti Alpha V in 100 years, wondering at the "seed" his captain had planted, and what fruit it would bear. To Reign In Hell: The Exile Of Khan Noonien Singh: The book begins with Khan, Lt. Marla McGivers, and most of the other supermen and women that had been with him on the SS Botany Bay arriving on the Ceti Alpha V. Khan is given supplies and a phaser and begins to build a colony on the planet. Khan is challenged several times by his fellow supermen, but remains in control for the most part. Some time after arriving, the next planet in the Ceti Alpha system, Ceti Alpha VI, explodes and disrupts the orbit of Ceti Alpha V. This causes major climate changes and loss of plant and animal life. Khan and the supermen take refuge underground and Khan waits for Kirk to arrive and rescue him and his followers from the hell that has become of the planet. However, Kirk never comes. Throughout the novel, Khan blames his hardships on James Kirk for stranding him on the planet and never checking on him again. After more time passes, several supermen do not wish to follow Khan any longer and try to assassinate Khan by placing a Ceti Eel in Marla McGivers' ear. This bizarre creature causes her to do whatever is commanded of her, and the men order her to kill Khan. Marla's love for Khan allows her to resist enough to instead kill herself. The eel emerges from her ear after her death and Khan sees the reason why she died. After the failed assassination, the rebels leave the underground and form a new faction on the planet, taking control of the vital hot springs that provide the only water on the planet. Khan then battles them, losing many men and women, but winning in the end. At the end of the novel a few years later, Khan sees two men in space suits materialize on the planet's surface. “Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan”: The film opens with an unfamiliar female Vulcan in command of the USS Enterprise, but most of the familiar bridge crew (Spock, McCoy, etc.) are present. Attempting a rescue mission in the Klingon Neutral Zone, the Enterprise is attacked by three Klingon battle cruisers, with the apparent loss of all hands. The situation is soon revealed to be, in actuality, the "Kobayashi Maru Test", an intentional no-win situation designed to test the character of officers-in-training. The unfamiliar character is introduced as Captain Spock’s protégée, Lieutenant Saavik. Admiral James T. Kirk oversees the training session externally. At the same time, aboard the USS Reliant, First officer Pavel Chekov and Captain Clark Terrell are searching for a lifeless planet to serve as a testing ground for "Project Genesis", a device that reorganizes molecular matter on a sub-atomic level, turning barren environments into life-sustaining ones. They beam to the surface of a likely candidate, Ceti Alpha VI, and quickly become captives of Khan Noonien Singh. Khan and his followers were genetically-enhanced fugitives from the late 20th century who had been in suspended animation in space when they had been found by the Enterprise and the then-Captain Kirk. After Khan tried to kill the Enterprise crew and steal the ship, Kirk had banished them to Ceti Alpha V, which at the time had been a lush planet. Khan explains that Ceti Alpha VI exploded six months after their banishment, shifting the orbit of Ceti Alpha V to mirror that of Ceti Alpha VI (which is why the Reliant misidentified it) and causing an environmental disaster. Most of Khan's followers had died, including his wife, as a result and Khan still blames Kirk for his misfortunes. Khan employs the small offspring of a nasty indigenous animal (known to fans as the "Ceti Eel") to control Chekov and Terrell and forces them to reveal the details of their mission, and the whereabouts of Admiral Kirk. Later, the Enterprise is on a training voyage under the command of Captain Spock with Kirk observing. Kirk suddenly receives a garbled message from Space Station Regula I, a remote science laboratory where Kirk's former lover, Dr. Carol Marcus, and son, Dr. David Marcus, have been laboring to create the "Genesis Device". Informing Starfleet Command of the situation, the Enterprise is ordered to investigate. Although the crew are trainees, since they are now on an active-duty mission, Kirk assumes command. En route, Khan, now in control of the Reliant, attacks the Enterprise, crippling her and wounding or killing many of the trainees. During negotiations over the terms of the Enterprise's surrender, Khan reveals his knowledge of, and desire for, the Genesis Device. Kirk offers to deliver himself and "Project Genesis" information to Khan, in return for the safety of the Enterprise's crew. Unknown to Khan, Federation Starships can issue orders to each other when the recipient ship's 'prefix code' is used. While ostensibly recalling the Genesis information from the Enterprise's databanks, Kirk and Spock command Reliant to lower her shields. Kirk launches a successful counterattack, crippling the weapons and warp drive on the Reliant, ensuring Khan can not escape but forcing him to retreat. The Enterprise makes its way to Regula I, where they find most of the Genesis team dead, though some, including Carol and David, have escaped deep inside the planetoid of Regula itself. Chekov and Terrell are also present, but under hypnotic suggestion as spies, allowing Khan to steal the Genesis Device. Khan then orders Terrell to kill Kirk, but Terrell cannot and kills himself instead, while Chekov overcomes the influence of his own "Ceti eel" and faints. Kirk and Spock arrange a rendezvous in code, which Khan fails to decipher; upon returning with the Regula survivors, Kirk takes the Enterprise into the nearby Mutara Nebula, which will interfere with both ships' defenses and weapons. Despite the advice of his lieutenants, Khan pursues in the Reliant. After a game of cat-and-mouse (both starships are more-or-less blinded by the nebula), the two ships exchange fire. Khan's lieutenant and friend, Joachim, is slain; on the Enterprise, radiation leakage forces the warp engine to fail and go offline. Though intelligent, Khan lacks Kirk's strategic experience, and the Enterprise is able to outmaneuver and then cripple the Reliant, killing all of Khan's remaining followers. Khan, mortally injured, activates the Genesis Device, which will reorganize all matter within the nebula—including the Enterprise. Though Kirk's crew detects the activation of the Genesis Device and begins to lumber away using the impulse engines, without warp drive they will not be able to escape the nebula in time. Spock goes to Engineering and, despite taking a fatal dose of radiation poisoning, restores the warp drive, allowing the Enterprise to escape the Genesis explosion. A burial in space is held, and Spock's coffin is sent into orbit of the new planet that the Genesis explosion created. Admiral Kirk and his son, David, make peace, and the crew leaves Genesis reminiscing about Spock. In the final scene the coffin is seen to have soft-landed on the planet. The final monologue, the familiar (but slightly altered) "Space, the final frontier...", is delivered in Spock's voice. “The Wrath Of Khan” is a very appropriate title for the second Star Trek film. Khan is filled with wrath, a insatiable, bloodthirsty hunger for revenge against Captain James T. Kirk. He wants Kirk dead for putting him and his people on Ceti Alpha V after Khan tried to take over and destroy the Enterprise. It was a nice planet, until Ceti Alpha VI blew up, altered Ceti Alpha V’s orbit, and turned the planet into a hellhole. However, Kirk had no idea that would ever happen. But, that doesn’t matter with Khan. The man is consumed with seeing Kirk dead. Khan hasn’t always been a nice guy. Back in the time of the Eugenics Wars, Khan was a tyrant ruler of western Asia. He ruled with a firm but peaceful hand, but he was considered so dangerous that genetic engineering was banned for centuries out of fear of creating another one of him. And, in the “Space Seed” episode, he tried to destroy the Enterprise. However, Khan is presented as having several good aspects. He is gracious, smiling, nodding, and giving praise when Kirk wins a debating point; fearless; and generous. He is not threatened by the success of others, and encourages their self-esteem. He is also ambitious, desiring a challenge commensurate with his abilities. However, this ambition is not tempered by any consideration of the rights of others. And, ironically, he is a mirror image of Kirk, sharing his aggressiveness, ambition, and even his womanizing tendencies, but possessing them in far greater degree. During the TV episode, several of the characters including Scotty and Kirk express their admiration for the man, whilst ambivalently opposing him at the same time. But, he is still a cruel son of a bitch. For one, he put those ear slugs in Chekov and Terrell’s brain that will wrap around their cerebral cortex, allowing the host to become open to any suggestion until the slug grow and kill the host by expanding until the head explodes. However, it is his quest for revenge that makes him such an evil man. Khan won’t stop until Kirk is dead: “I'll chase him 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round perdition's flames before I give him up.” And, he has a cruel death in store for Kirk: “Ah, Kirk, my old friend, do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish that is best served cold? [pause] It is very cold in space!” Even to the end, Khan is willing to die before he gives up his quest for vengeance against Kirk, with his dying breath quoting Moby Dick, a novel about another captain obsessed with revenge: “From hell's heart, I stab at thee. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee.” And, that is just what happens: Khan dies before he gets his revenge.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 15, 2008 17:46:38 GMT -5
12. The Shark Who is it: A shark. What is it from: The Jaws novel and films. What has it done: Killed a lot of people. Intelligence: It’s an animal, but it appears to be smart than usual. Power: It’s stronger that humans. Vileness: Ate that beautiful blonde girl at the beginning of the film, that BASTARD!!!! Sway: Had the town of Amity Island scared to death. Purity: Only wants to eat. Physical Prowess: Like I said, it’s a shark. Name Coolness: It didn’t really have a name, unless you count “Jaws” (which is pretty cool) or “Bruce,” (which is just an average name) the name of the mechanical sharks that was used in the film. Created by: Peter Benchley. Portrayed by: Bruce the Shark, aka three mechanical sharks built for the film. They called them “Bruce” after Steven Spielberg’s lawyer. “Jaws”: The film begins at a late night beach party on Amity Island. A young woman named Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie) leaves to go skinny dipping. While in the water, she is suddenly jerked around by an unseen force and then pulled under. The next morning, police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) is notified that Chrissie is missing. Brody and his deputy, Hendricks, find her mangled remains washed up on the shore. The medical examiner informs Brody that the victim's death was caused by a shark attack, prompting him to close the beaches. Before he can do so, he is intercepted and overruled by town Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton). Vaughn is concerned that reports of a shark attack will ruin the summer tourist season, especially the upcoming Fourth of July celebration, as it is the town's major source of income. Vaughn instead proposes a theory that the victim was hit by a boat propeller. After the town medical examiner backs up the mayor's story, Brody reluctantly goes along with it. A few days later, a young boy named Alex Kintner is attacked and eaten by a shark while swimming off a crowded beach. His mother places a $3,000 bounty on the animal, sparking an amateur shark hunting frenzy and attracting the attention of the professional shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw). Quint interrupts a town meeting to offer his services; his demand for $10,000 is taken "under advisement". Brought in by Brody, marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) conducts an autopsy of the first victim and concludes she was killed by a shark. A large tiger shark is caught by a group of novice fishermen, leading the town to believe the problem is solved, but an unconvinced Hooper asks to examine the contents of the shark's stomach. Vaughn refuses to make a public spectacle of the "operation," so Brody and Hooper return after dark and learn that the captured shark does not have human remains inside. Using Hooper's state-of-the-art boat they come across the half-sunken wreckage of a local fishing vessel. Hooper dons scuba and discovers another victim, the boat's owner Ben Gardener. He also discovers a great white shark tooth in the hull, but drops it after he sees the head of the owner, therefore leaving no proof of the shark. Vaughn still refuses to close the beach and on the Fourth of July the beaches are mobbed. While a prank triggers a false alarm and draws the authorities' attention, the real shark enters an estuary, kills another man and nearly snatches one of Brody's sons. Brody forces the stunned mayor to hire Quint. Brody and Hooper join the hunter on his boat, the Orca, and the trio set out to track down the man-eater. At sea, Brody is given the task of laying a chum line, while Quint uses a large fishing pole to try to snag the shark; the first results are inconclusive. As Brody continues to chum, the enormous shark suddenly looms up behind the boat. After a horrified Brody announces its presence ("You're gonna need a bigger boat!"), Quint and Hooper watch the great white circle the Orca, and estimate the new arrival weighs 3 tons (2.7 metric tonnes) and is 25 feet (8 m) long. Quint harpoons the shark with a line attached to a flotation barrel, designed to weigh the fish down and track it on the surface, but the shark pulls the barrel under and disappears. Night falls without another sighting and the men retire to the boat's cabin, where they compare scars and Quint tells of his experience with sharks as a survivor of the World War II sinking of the USS Indianapolis. The shark reappears, damages the boat's hull, and slips away before the men can harm it. In the morning, while the men make repairs to the engine, the barrel suddenly reappears at the stern. Quint destroys the radio to keep Brody from calling the Coast Guard for help. The shark attacks again, and after a long chase, Quint harpoons it to another barrel. The men tie the barrels to the stern, but the shark drags the ship backwards, forcing water onto the deck and into the engine, flooding it. Quint harpoons it again, attaching three barrels in all to the shark, while the animal continues to tow them. Quint is about to cut the ropes with his machete when the cleats are pulled off the stern. Quint powers his boat towards shore with the shark in pursuit, hoping to beach it. In his obsession with outracing the fish, Quint over-revs his damaged engine, causing it to explode. With the Orca immobilized, the trio try a desperate approach; Hooper dons his scuba gear and enters the ocean inside a shark proof cage: he intends to stab the shark in the mouth with a hypodermic spear filled with strychnine nitrate. The shark instead destroys the cage, causing Hooper to lose the spear and flee to the seabed. As Quint and Brody raise the remnants of the cage, the shark throws itself onto the boat, crushing the transom, causing the boat to begin sinking. Quint slides into the shark's mouth, slashing at it in vain with his machete, before being pulled under and devoured. Brody retreats to the boat's cabin, now partly submerged, and throws a pressurized air tank into the shark's mouth as it rams its way inside. Brody takes Quint's M1 Garand rifle and climbs the mast of the rapidly-listing boat, where he temporarily fends off the attacker with a harpoon. The shark circles around and charges one last time at Brody, who starts firing the rifle at the tank still jammed in the shark's mouth. Snarling "Smile, you son of a...bitch!", he scores a hit, rupturing the tank and turning it into a makeshift torpedo, which blows the shark's head to pieces and sends the rest of its body to the bottom of the ocean in a cloud of blood. Hooper surfaces and reunites with Brody, and the two survivors use the leftover barrels to construct a makeshift raft and paddle back to Amity Island. “Jaws 2”: Two divers discover the wreck of the Orca, Quint's boat. As they are taking photographs, they are attacked and killed by a great white shark. The next day, Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) receives a report that there is an abandoned yacht in the nearby channel. He orders Deputy Hendricks (Jeffrey Kramer) to investigate and recover the underwater camera from the missing divers. Meanwhile, the shark attacks a water skier called Terri and drags her into the water. Terri tries to pull herself up but fails and gets eaten. The driver of the speedboat defends herself by first throwing a gasoline tank at the shark (accidentally spilling some on herself), and then igniting the fuel with a flare gun. The shark begins to burn, as does the inside of the boat and the driver. Then the fire ignites the actual gas tank, and the speedboat explodes. A woman who lives on the beach sees the explosion and reports it to the authorities. The shark manages to escape, but is severely scarred. Brody becomes suspicious after no remains of the water skier or the driver are found in the wreck. Meanwhile, Deputy Hendricks searches for the remains of the victims, accidentally hooking an underwater power line. In addition to these strange disappearances, a killer whale bearing large wounds is beached, which Brody guesses were caused by a shark. A marine biologist, Dr. Elkins (Collin Wilcox) is skeptical, but she confirms to Brody that sharks are attracted to blood, movement, and sound, like sonar or radar. Brody has a meeting with Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) to discuss the possibility that the town is having another shark problem. Vaughn doesn't believe him and warns Brody not to do something hasty. Later, Brody spots a section of the ruined speedboat bobbing in the surf just off the beach, and when he goes to retrieve it, encounters the burnt remains of the boat driver. That night, Brody injects sodium cyanide into a dozen cartridges. Brody tries to contact Matt Hooper but he is out on a expedition at sea. Angered by his older son Mike's (Mark Gruner) reluctance to find a summer job and concerned that he wishes to be out on the ocean sailing, he grounds him, getting him a summer job doing maintenance work at the beach. The next day, from atop an observation tower, Brody believes that he sees the shadow of a large shark approaching the bathers. He orders everyone out of the water, brandishing his gun and creating a panic, and is publicly humiliated when the shadow is revealed to be merely a school of bluefish. However, Brody's suspicions are further fueled when he also acquires prints from the diver's camera showing close-ups of the shark's eye. Brody's suspicions are not shared by the town selectmen and local developer Len Peterson (Joseph Mascolo) at a time when the town is enjoying a revival in its tourist industry. Angry with his performance on the beach, Brody is fired. The next morning, Mike sneaks out of his house to go sailing with his friends, but his younger brother Sean (Marc Gilpin) catches him and insists he be brought along. The teens head out to sea for a sailing regatta. On their way, they pass a team of divers, led by instructor Tom Andrews (Barry Coe). Moments after entering the water, Tom encounters the shark. Panicking, he rushes to the surface, causing an embolism. Meanwhile, two of the teens, Tina (Ann Dusenberry) and Eddie (Gary Dubin), are making out in the middle of the ocean when the shark bumps their boat and Eddie falls into the water. Eddie does not survive the shark attack, which leaves Tina alone in the ocean. Brody drives Ellen (Lorraine Gary) to work, notices an ambulance speeding to the docks and follows it. They find Tom is being put into an ambulance and Brody suspects that something might have scared him below the water. Hendricks inform Brody that their sons are sailing with others, so he insists on taking the police launch to rescue them. Ellen and Hendricks join him. They encounter a floating sailboat with Tina hiding under a blanket inside. She hysterically confirms Brody's suspicions that a shark is responsible. Hendricks and Ellen take Tina into shore while Brody continues to search for the teens in the police launch. All seems well with the teens until the shark appears, bumping one of the sailboats, and causing a panic which leaves everyone ramming each other with their sailboats. Mike is knocked unconscious after banging his head on a metal fitting and is nearly eaten by the shark before two of his friends can pull him out of the water. They save Mike and head back to shore for help. The rest of the teens are floating on the wreckage and tangled boats, drifting away towards the open sea. A Coast Guard marine helicopter spots them, and a line is rigged to tow them into shore. Before the pilot can tow them, the shark attacks one of the pontoons, causing the chopper to tilt and capsize, and drown the pilot. Sean falls into the water and is quickly saved by Marge (Martha Swatek) who heaves him up out of the water onto a floating hull, but she cannot pull herself up when the shark devours her. Brody meets Mike and he informs his father that Sean is still drifting towards Cable Junction with the others. Brody quickly finds them, but the shark appears and Brody runs the police launch aground on the rocks of Cable Junction. Brody tries to tie a rope line, but snatches an underwater power line instead. The teenagers swim to Cable Junction, and the shark manages to scrape one of the teens. Using an inflatable raft, Brody taunts the shark by pounding the power line with an oar, and entices the beast to bite on the power cable and get electrocuted. Brody paddles the raft over to the sailboat wreckage and helps Jackie, one of the teens, and Sean get into the raft. He then paddles them back towards the other teens at Cable Junction. “Jaws 3-D”: The oldest son from the first two Jaws films, Michael Brody (played by Dennis Quaid) now works for SeaWorld in Florida, which is preparing for the launch of its new "Undersea Kingdom," a set of tunnels where people can "view the wonders of the deep without ever getting wet." The film opens with a great white following a team of waterskiers, among them Kelly (Lea Thompson). Their boat stalls, but then its driver gets it going again before anyone is attacked. Michael Brody is the chief engineer and lives with his girlfriend, Katherine Morgan (Bess Armstrong), who is senior biologist at the park. Katherine and her assistants, Dan and Liz, wonder why the dolphins are acting so afraid of leaving their pen. As Sean (John Putch), Michael's brother, arrives to visit, he reveals a deep fear about the water caused by the events depicted in Jaws 2. Kelly, after meeting Michael, Sean, and Katherine in a bar, tries to dispel the phobia by playing in the water naked at nighttime. Meanwhile, Shelby Overman (Harry Grant), one of the mechanics, dives into the water at dusk to repair the gates. He is attacked by a shark and killed, only leaving a severed arm. They are informed of his disappearance by Charlene, a woman with whom Overman is living. She is quite irate at his failing to return, and fears the worst. The next day, Michael and Katherine go down in a submarine to check the tunnels and find Overman. They decide to go into a piece of scenery, the Spanish galleon, although encouraged by Katherine's two dolphins to stay away. They continue the search, leaving the submarine, only to be assaulted by a great white. The dolphins, having sensed trouble from the start and visibly beseeching Kay to stay in the sub, respond to Kay's waving hands. They heroically rescue Mike and Kay by allow them to ride them back to the safety of their dolphin pen. This information is at first disbelieved by park owner Calvin Bouchard (Louis Gossett, Jr.), but is quite exciting to his friend, the hunter Phillip FitzRoyce (Simon MacCorkindale). Kay protests FitzRoyce's intent to kill the creature, so capturing it is the decided course. The baby great white is captured and nursed to partial health by Katherine and Liz. Calvin orders it exhibited as being the first Great White in captivity, but it dies within minutes. Meanwhile, Kelly forces Sean to join her on the bumper boats, not granting any credence to his fear of the sea. But, at the underwater tunnel, a girl is terrified when she sees a hideous corpse, later revealed to be Overman, bob up to a window. Katherine reveals that the bites came from a shark with a mouth a yard across, which is initially ridiculed by FitzRoyce, saying "That would indicate a shark of some 35 ft. in length", which is too big for a normal Great white. That means that the shark's mother has also breached the gates of the park, but she can't convince Calvin of this fact until the shark herself shows up at the window of their underwater cafe. The shark exacts her revenge, first by causing a leak that nearly drowns everyone in the underwater tunnel. She then turns her attention to everyone on the beach. She fails to capture the waterskiers, but capsizes Sean and Kelly's bumper boat, and Kelly gets a laceration from the shark's coarse skin. FitzRoyce leads the shark into the filtration pipes where the water from the ocean is brought into the lagoon, hoping to trap her inside. However, he drifts right into her mouth after his lifeline rope snapped. He prepares a grenade, but he is crushed to death before he can use it. Unaware of this, Michael has gone down to repair the underwater tunnel so the technicians can restore air pressure and drain the water, with Katherine to watch his back. He welds the repair piece, but, with no pressure in the pipe to restrain her, the shark breaks free of the filtration pipe and attacks Kaye again, but as usual, she is protected by her dolphins. They return to the control room with Calvin and the technicians. But, the shark smashes through the acrylic glass, flooding the room. As everyone tries to escape, Mike notices that FitzRoyce's body is still resting in the shark's mouth with the grenade. Mike uses a pole to detonate the grenade and it explodes, blowing the shark to pieces. Kaye and Mike float up to the surface, explaining that Calvin managed to rescue the female technician, though the shark attacked the male technician and dropped him. But Kaye is terrified for her dolphins, until they triumphantly show up in a splash, performing the tricks they refused to do since the movie's beginning. “Jaws: The Revenge”: The story returns to the Brody family in Amity Island. Martin Brody had died of a heart attack, although his widow, Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary), claims that "it was the fear [of the shark] that killed him." She discusses with her youngest son Sean (Mitchell Anderson), and his fiancée Tiffany (Mary Smith), arrangements for the Christmas season. Now working as a police deputy in Amity, Sean is dispatched to clear a log from a buoy. As he does so, he is attacked by a shark. He is killed as his screams are drowned out by the carol singers on the island. Ellen is convinced that the shark had deliberately targeted Sean due to some evil curse, and visits her eldest son, Michael (Lance Guest), in the Bahamas. Michael now works as a marine biologist, fearing he will be attacked next by the shark. Ellen hopes to convince him to take up a new job on dry land. She meets Hoagie (Michael Caine), and they begin dating. Michael's wife Carla (Karen Young) is an artist and one day during her art exhibit, Ellen's granddaughter Thea (Judith Barsi) asks if she can go out on a banana boat with her friend Margaret and her mother (Diane Hetfield). The shark attacks the boat with Thea on it. The shark ends up devouring Margaret's mother in the process with blood flying everywhere. Ellen becomes convinced that the shark has tracked her family to the Bahamas. She takes a boat out to sea on her own, intent on confronting and killing the shark to break the curse, or sacrificing herself hoping the shark will leave her family alone. Hoagie flies Michael and his friend Jake (Mario Van Peebles) out to sea so that they can find Ellen quickly. Hoagie lands the plane on the sea, but the shark sinks it. Looking out for the shark while using a device that emits electromagnetic impulses to drive the shark mad, Jake moves to the end of the prow. The shark unexpectedly leaps from the surface of the water to grab Jake, biting into him and dragging him beneath the surface in a gory fashion. The device causes the shark to repeatedly leap out of the water and Ellen steers the boat directly for the shark, impaling it on the broken bowsprit killing it. After killing the shark, they find Jake wounded but not dead and are able to save him. Near the end of the film, Ellen is relieved that the curse of the shark is no longer on her family. The film ends as Hoagie flies Ellen back to Amity Island. Sometimes, a good monster doesn’t have to be an actual monster. I mean, sure, the Xenomorphs and Predators are pretty damn scary. But, the animals that actually exist on this earth can be just as scary as any alien. And, the shark from “Jaws” proves that. Hell, that shark conjured up so many scares that beach attendance was down in the summer of 1975 due to the film’s profound impact. Though a horror classic, that shark is widely recognized as being responsible for fearsome and inaccurate stereotypes about sharks and their behavior. Peter Benchley has said that he would never have written the original novel had he known what sharks are really like in the wild. He later wrote Shark Trouble, a non-fiction book about shark behavior and Shark Life, another non-fiction book describing his dives with sharks. Conservation groups have bemoaned the fact that the film has made it considerably harder to convince the public that sharks should be protected. That damn shark was so damn scary that it has cause trouble for its real world counterparts. And, there were a lot of things in that original “Jaws” movie that conjured up some many fears. For one, that cello music that played whenever the shark showed up helped. That soft, building music can give people goosebumps even before the great white appears. And, when it does, that shark is vicious and merciless, ripping people in half and eating anyone, from little kids to beautiful blonde girls whose only crime in the world was wanting to skinny dip in the ocean at night (GODDAMN YOU, SHARK!!!!). That shark has come to represent a lot of man’s fears over the years: fear of the unknown, fear of the wild, fear of ourselves and our own brutality and ambition. And, it just looks scary, with its cold, black, “doll’s eyes” and razor sharp teeth. The interesting thing about the shark is that over the years it grown from wild animal into a creature of such great villainous proportions that only our imaginations know the boundaries. Hell, not even three crappy sequels have been able to kill the impact of the fear it created in the first “Jaws” movie. Thanks to the shark in “Jaws,” no one has felt safe in the water since the summer of 1975.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 15, 2008 18:43:50 GMT -5
11. Darkseid Who is he: The tyrannical dictator of Apokolips. What is he from: DC Comics, most notably the Superman comics, Jack Kirby’s Fourth World titles, The Great Darkness Saga, Legends, Cosmic Odyssey, Our Worlds At War, Crisis On Infinite Worlds, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern. What has he done: Ruled Apokolips with an iron fist, waged war with New Genesis tried to make Supergirl one of his followers, attacked the Amazons, the Martians, Earth, and countless other peoples throughout the DC universe. Intelligence: Superhumanly smart and a master schemer and strategist. Power: Rules Apokolips and possesses many powerful technologies. Vileness: He rules a planet called “Apokolips,” which definitely indicates he is not a nice guy. Sway: Fear and intimidation is how he get things done on his planet. Purity: Is consumed with obtaining the “Anti-Life Equation,” which will give him dominion over all living creatures in the DC universe. Physical Prowess: Huge man who looks like he’s made of stone, with superhuman strength, stamina, and durability and has the power of the Omega Beams, twin energy beams he emits from his eyes and can be used as either concussive force or beams of disintegration, capable of erasing most objects and organisms from existence as well as reform them; he also has pinpoint control over his Omega Beams, and his unerring aim allows them to travel in straight lines, bend, twist, or curve around corners, and can pass through matter and energy. Name Coolness: “Darkseid” is pretty cool. Created by: Jack Kirby. Portrayed by: Frank Welker did the voice of Darkseid on the animated series Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians. Michael Ironside did the voice on the 1990s WB cartoon Superman: The Animated Series and Cartoon Network’s Justice League series. David Sobolov does the voice in the video game Justice League Heroes. Comics: The son of Yuga Khan and Queen Heggra, Prince Uxas, second in line to the throne of Apokolips, plotted to seize power over the planet. When his brother, Drax, attempted to claim the fabled Omega Force, Uxas murdered him and took the power for himself; transforming him into a rock-like creature, and taking a new name: Darkseid. At some point, he falls in love with an Apokoliptian scientist named Suli, with whom he has a son, Kalibak; however Suli is poisoned by Desaad on Heggra's behalf, who believes that Suli was corrupting her son. Following Suli's death, Darkseid's heart grew even colder, and has Desaad poison Heggra, finally becoming the supreme monarch of Apokolips. Darkseid had briefly been forced by his mother to marry Tigra, with whom he also had a son; after murdering his mother, Darkseid had both Tigra and their son, Orion, banished on Apokolips. The destructive war between the rival planet, New Genesis, is stopped only with a diplomatic exchange of the sons of Highfather and Darkseid. Darkseid's second born son is surrendered to Highfather, while Darkseid receives Scott Free, who later becomes the master escape artist Mister Miracle. This eventually turns out to be a setback for Darkseid, with his biological son growing up to value and defend the ideals of New Genesis in opposition to his father; it has been foretold that Darkseid will meet his final defeat at the hands of his son in a cataclysmic battle in the fiery Armaghetto of Apokolips. Seeing other gods as a threat, Darkseid invades the island of Themyscira in order to discover the secret location of the Olympian gods, planning to overthrow the Olympians and steal their power. Refusing to aid Darkseid in his mad quest, the Amazons battle his parademon troops, causing half of the Amazon population's death. Wonder Woman is able to gain her revenge against Darkseid for killing so many of her sisters by placing a portion of her own soul into Darkseid. This supposedly weakened the god's power as he lost a portion of his dark edge. Darkseid's goal is to eliminate all free will from the universe and reshape it into his own image. To this end, he seeks to unravel the mysterious Anti-Life Equation, which will give him complete control over the thoughts and emotions of all living beings in the universe. While he has yet to obtain a working copy of the Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid has tried on several other occasions to achieve dominance of the universe through other methods. He has a special interest in Earth, as he believes humans possess collectively within their minds most, if not all, fragments of the Anti-Life Equation. Darkseid intends to probe the minds of every human in order to piece together the Equation. This has caused Darkseid to clash with that of many superheroes of the DC Universe, notably, the Kryptonian Superman. Darkseid works behind-the-scenes, using superpowered minions in his schemes to overthrow Earth, including working through Intergang. Following Darkseid's attempt to attack Earth using a brainwashed Supergirl, Superman, believing Darkseid has destroyed (a reformed) Supergirl, hurls Darkseid into the sun where Darkseid is beaten unconscious by Superman who throws him into the Source Wall. However, to pay a debt incurred to an alternate reality Darkseid and in order to realign the timeline, Superman later frees Darkseid from his entombment in the Source Wall. During his imprisonment in the Source Wall, Darkseid had been drained of his Omega powers. Desaad uses a mind-controlled Superman to retrieve Highfather's staff from the Source Wall, and use it as a conduit to recharge Darkseid's energies, via a portal to the Omega Realm. Darkseid is orchestrating events to his liking, observing what is happening across the universe as the death of the Fourth World draws near, plotting to remake the universe in his own image. As New Gods are killed across the galaxy, Darkseid marshaled his forces on Apokolips, even resurrecting Virman Vundabar despite his earlier attempt to assassinate Darkseid--notably putting his forces in defensive deployments. Darkseid is shown to be apparently manipulating almost all the key characters in Countdown to Final Crisis on a giant cosmic chess board. For unknown reasons, he has given his protection to Jimmy Olsen, vaporizing a parademon for attacking him, and he has ensured that Karate Kid, carrier of the Morticoccus virus, survives. He attempts to recruit Mary Marvel as his sorceress using his pawn Eclipso, but she turns on him and escapes. Darkseid has also assigned Desaad to ensure the "Great Disaster" comes about, and assigns Granny Goodness to recruit new Female Furies from Earth in the guise of Athena. It has been indicated by DC that with the Fourth World at an end, Darkseid seeks the rise of the "Fifth World", possibly on Earth, and is harnessing the Great Disaster and the Death of the New Gods to bring this about. Additionally, Darkseid has been manipulating the Monitor Solomon to bring about a war between the Monitors and Monarch for the fate of the Multiverse. Darkseid turns Jimmy Olsen into a container for the powers of the New Gods. He sends Mary Marvel, whom he had coerced into taking back her dark powers, to capture him. Superman comes to Jimmy's aid, only for Darkseid to take control of Jimmy's powers, making him radiate Kryptonite. Ray Palmer manages to shut off Darkseid's control, and the villain is confronted by a gigantic turtle-like Jimmy. After battling Jimmy across the Metropolis landscape, Darkseid moves in for the kill only to witness The Atom emerge from Jimmy's head. Palmer quickly destroys the vessel of the New Gods' powers freeing them into the void. Enraged, Darkseid is taken by surprise when a Boom Tube opens above the skies of Metropolis. His scion and son Orion emerges from the tube, having managed to escape being murdered by the Infinity Man. Orion and Darkseid battle, and after a furious exchange, Darkseid is killed when his heart is ripped from his chest by his own son. However, shortly after his death, Darkseid is reborn in DC Universe #0, albeit he seems wrecked by constant pain in his new form. Darkseid will be a major villain in the DC Crossover Event of 2008 called 'Final Crisis.' Dark Side, the "human" alter ego used by Darkseid in Morrison's Seven Soldiers series, resurfaces later in the "Club Dark Side" crossover. In Flash #240, he leads an army of fanatics, their will broken by the "spoken form" of the Anti-Life Equation, to kidnap the Tornado Twins, in Birds of Prey #118 he runs a club where superhumans fight to the death, brainwashed by drugs produced by Bernedeth, and in Teen Titans #59 it is revealed that he employs the Terror Titans to capture the Teen Titans and use them in his club fights. In the 1982 storyline from Legion of Super-Heroes entitled "The Great Darkness Saga", Darkseid survived into the 30th century. Having been forgotten by almost everyone, he defeated the era's two most powerful villains (Mordru and the Time Trapper) and absorbed their powers, subsequently using those abilities to enslave the entire population of the planet Daxam. Commanding an army of billions of Daxamites (each with the same powers as Superman), as well as "dark" clones of Superman and other super powered beings, he launched a full-scale assault on the United Planets. Only the efforts of the Legion of Super-Heroes and its allies were able to prevent him from conquering the entire known universe. As a result of his defeat by the Legion, Darkseid sought revenge against two of the team's co-founders, married Legionnaires Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl. When the pregnant Saturn Girl was in labor, Darkseid stole one of her twin children, warped him into the monstrous Validus and sent him into the Legion's past, where he became one of the Legion's deadliest foes as a member of the Fatal Five. Later, when his ploy was discovered, he restored Validus to his original form. After the events of the Zero Hour miniseries in 1994, this storyline and all other previous Legion stories were removed from continuity. However, a new incarnation of the Legion was introduced in 2007, in "The Lightning Saga" storyline in the Justice League of America and Justice Society of America titles. Geoff Johns, one of DC Comics' key writers, has stated that this incarnation of the Legion shares the same history as the original Legion up to the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Since "The Great Darkness Saga" occurred prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths, the question of whether these events are once again part of mainstream DC continuity remains an open one. A variant of the story occurred in Post-Zero Hour continuity, under the title "Foundations". In this version Darkseid called various heroes from the past, including a young Clark Kent, and controlled them to build up his power base (the equivalent of the "dark clones"). His plan was to bring his younger self from the past and absorb his powers. Instead, he was killed by the younger Darkseid, who was subsequently defeated by the Legion alongside two Superboys, Clark Kent and Kon-El, and returned to his proper time. Super Friends: Darkseid appears in Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, voiced by Frank Welker. He would frequently combine the villainous agenda of the episode with the scheme of forcing Wonder Woman to marry him. Jack Kirby said that the network executives tried to go behind his back and call the character "Darkside" for the Super Powers TV show, but Kirby was adamant about the name staying the same. An action figure of Darkseid was also made around this time, as part of the Super Powers Collection. Superman: The Animated Series: Darkseid appears in Bruce Timm's DC animated universe, voiced by Michael Ironside. Timm explained that Darkseid was brought into the series in an effort to boost Superman's rogues gallery and give him a more powerful villain with whom to contend. After making a series of brief "teaser" appearances throughout Superman: The Animated Series, Darkseid was featured prominently in a pair of two-part episodes; "Apokolips…Now!" shows Darkseid leading his forces in an invasion of Earth. Darkseid confronts Superman and offers him a place at his side, but Superman rejects the offer, leading Darkseid to declare: "If you will not be my knight, you will be my pawn." After he captures Superman, he threatens to destroy Earth unless the human race surrenders. Unwilling to capitulate, Detective Dan Turpin, a hard-boiled police officer (based on Darkseid's creator Jack Kirby) who had been Superman's friend, frees Superman. Before Darkseid and Superman can battle, Darkseid's plan is foiled by the appearance of armies from New Genesis, the leaders of which declare Earth to be under Highfather's protection. Just as Darkseid leaves, though, in one of the most shocking moments of the series, he tells Superman that no victory comes without a price, and vaporizes Turpin with his Omega Beams. In the audio commentary for this episode, Timm explains that Turpin's funeral was intended as a tribute to Kirby's death, going so far as to hire a real-life rabbi to deliver the fictional flatfoot's eulogy. In "Legacy," the two-part series finale for Superman: The Animated Series, Darkseid makes good on his promise of making Superman his pawn. He captures the Man of Steel and brainwashes him into thinking that he is Darkseid's adopted son. Darkseid sends Superman on several conquests throughout the galaxy before sending him to invade Earth. When Superman regains his memory, he finds that he has destroyed parts of Metropolis, nearly killed Supergirl, and lost the world's trust. Traveling to Apokolips, Superman seeks revenge on Darkseid and engages him in a brutal fistfight. This is the only time Darkseid engages in a direct fight throughout the show. Darkseid quickly proves too powerful for Superman, but just as he's about to finish off Superman with his Omega Beams, Superman covers Darkseid's eyes, causing a massive explosion that severely injures both, though Darkseid is far worse off. Superman then tosses a battered Darkseid to his slaves. To his shock and disgust, the slaves pick up Darkseid and carry him away, promising to help him. Darkseid tells Superman that "I am many things, Kal-El…but here, I am God." Justice League: Darkseid returns in the Justice League episode "Twilight", seeking help against the threat of Brainiac. Despite severe misgivings, Superman eventually agrees to help after being pressured by his fellow League members. Though they are able to defeat Brainiac, and even follow him back to his base of operations, the entire thing is revealed to be a setup. Darkseid has made a deal with Brainiac, aiding in the capture of Superman in exchange for a truce between the two. However, Darkseid double-crosses Brainiac, using a Mother Box to take over Brainiac's main systems in an attempt to have the super-intelligent machine solve the Anti-Life equation for him. Batman and Wonder Woman (who had been unsuccessfully dispatched to seek help from New Genesis) step in to free Superman, destabilizing Brainiac's power systems. With the base about to explode, all but Superman attempt to escape; Superman is quite insistent on killing Darkseid personally. What follows is a particularly brutal confrontation between Superman and Darkseid, Superman just barely edging out Darkseid. With both ignorant of their impending deaths, Batman interrupts the fight and pulls Superman out via a boom tube just as the asteroid explodes. Just before his inevitable death, Darkseid chuckles to himself about Superman's failure to finish the job. Justice League Unlimited: Following Darkseid's death, as shown in Justice League Unlimited, civil war breaks out on Apokolips between the armies of Granny Goodness and Virman Vundabar in an attempt to fill the vacuum left by his absence, which the Justice League makes an effort to ensure keeps going so that neither of them threaten Earth. In the two-part series finale of Justice League Unlimited, Lex Luthor, obsessed with resurrecting Brainiac, commands the members of the Secret Society to transform their base into a spacecraft which he uses to travel with them to the location of Brainiac's destroyed base. After a failed mutiny which ends in Luthor's favor, he uses Tala as a magic conduit to draw Brainiac's remains together. However, rather than recreate Brainiac, this instead resurrects Darkseid, evidently enhanced by Brainiac's technology. This is suggested in the DVD commentary to be Tala's final "screw you" to Luthor. As a reward for their help, Darkseid grants Luthor and his cohorts a quick death. After reuniting Apokolips under his rule once more, Darkseid stages an attack on Earth and planned to attack New Genesis once he was done. The remnants of the Secret Society, having been saved by a force field created by Sinestro and Star Sapphire, warn the Justice League of the impending threat. Soon after, boom tubes open all over Earth, unleashing an armada upon the planet. Superman tracks down and engages Darkseid in battle. The battle at first leans in Darkseid's favor, but when Batman valiantly attempts to fight Darkseid himself, Superman is convinced to stop holding back. Using his full strength, Superman effortlessly beats Darkseid halfway across the city. Before Superman can finish him off, Darkseid traps him in a neuro-stimulation of pain called the Agony Matrix. Before Darkseid is able to use a Kryptonite knife, Lex Luthor appears and presents him with the recently acquired Anti-Life equation, which he attained with the aid of the New God Metron. Although Luthor seemingly perishes with Darkseid in an explosion of light, Batman remarks that they will likely see the two again. Justice League: The New Frontier: Darkseid has a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: The New Frontier. He is seen during the famous speech by John F. Kennedy amidst a collage of infamous DC villains. Video Games: Darkseid is a playable character in Justice League Task Force. Darkseid appears as the primary villain in the video game Justice League Heroes voiced by David Sobolov. In this continuity he has at some point been trapped in another dimension, and thus remains behind the scenes for most of the story as he manipulates Brainiac with promises of unleashing great power and knowledge in exchange for acquiring a Mother Box from the Justice League Watchtower. Using the power of the mother box and the sensory field matrix that served as his prison, Darkseid is able to escape - saying that he has fulfilled his bargain to help Brainiac unleash great power, with the great knowledge being that one should never trust Darkseid - and remake Earth into a new Apokolips. He subsequently attempted to destroy the League with his Omega Beams, but Mother Box was able to save the League by altering the Omega Effect to send them to another dimension filled with a strange ambient energy that renders the Omega Beams useless. Now protected from Darkseid, the League return to Earth and defeat him, Wonder Woman subsequently using her Lasso of Truth to learn that only the hypercube that imprisoned Darkseid originally can imprison him again. The league activates the cube and Superman defeats Darkseid, imprisoning him once again. With Darkseid defeated, Mother Box restores Earth to normal, with Green Lantern promising to take Darkseid's hypercube somewhere where it can never be discovered and Darkseid released again. There’s a saying on Apokolips: Darkseid is. It means, he is the end all and be all, the alpha and the omega on that planet. However, he wishes to one day have that saying apply to the entire DC universe. And, if you look at Apokolips, then you will know that Darkseid as the supreme ruler of all the universe will be a horrible thing to imagine. The population is a downtrodden lot, including many kidnapped from other worlds before being "broken." The majority of the population are called "Lowlies", a bald and fearful race that has no sense of self worth or value. The Lowlies are subject to constant abuse that ends only with death. Nevertheless, Darkseid has broken them to the point that they love him no matter what. Just look at the last episodes of the Superman animated series. Superman has laid out a beaten Darkseid, but the Lowlies graciously help him up. Darkseid employs many people to do his dirty work. There are the Parademons who serve as the keepers of order on the planet. Higher above the Parademons are the Female Furies who are Darkseid's personal guard. (Male Furies also exist, but are less common) They are blessed with unnatural strength and longevity and are either trained for their position in the Furies from birth, or are promoted from the ranks of general Apokolips troops. The leaders of the Furies are Granny Goodness, who sports the appearance of a matronly old woman while being the most powerful of the guards, and Kanto, who enjoys a unique position as Darkseid's master assassin. The chief guard, Big Barda had a third position under Granny which has not been filled since her defection from the group. Darkseid rules Apokolips as its theocratic god/despot, but he delegates most of the actual day to day ruling to his counselor Desaad. Darkseid has no real contenders for the throne of Apokolips except the demon Mantis, although his sons Orion, Grayven, and Kalibak are also potential contenders. Darkseid is cursed by Grayven and Kalibak's stupidity and Orion's service of good. Interestingly enough, he is responsible for Orion’s morality. In order to bring a truce between Apokolips and New Genesis, Darkseid agreed to give Orion to Highfather, New Genesis’s leader, in exchange for Highfather’s son Scott Free. And, while Orion was treated with love and kindness by Highfather, Darkseid had Free tortured by Granny Goodness in evil orphanage. However, Darkseid has unleashed his evil on other places besides Apokolips. He has attack Mars and Earth on numerous occasions and is obsessed with acquiring the Anti-Life Equation. If you want to know how bad the Anti-Life Equation is, here’s the formula: loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + self-worth ÷ mockery ÷ condemnation ÷ misunderstanding x guilt x shame x failure x judgment n=y where y=hope and n=folly, love=lies, life=death, self=dark side. With it, he will rule the DC universe with the same ironfist that he rules Apokolips with. And, only the collective forces of all the heroes in the DC universe can stop Darkseid.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 15, 2008 18:45:18 GMT -5
Tomorrow, we enter the top ten. Here are the hints:
He controls the dark side, and he's the antagonist for an elementary detective.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 21, 2008 15:21:15 GMT -5
Since I've been gone a week, I'll do the Top Ten on Sunday and Monday. Here are the hints for 8, 7, and 6:
He wants to suck your blood, she's possessed, and he's rich and bald.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 22, 2008 11:54:52 GMT -5
I'm back!!!! Now, let's continue this countdown. Here's number 10: 10. Emperor Palpatine Who is he: Former Senator of Chommell Sector, Former Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, Emperor of the Galactic Empire, and the Dark Lord of the Sith. What is from: The Star Wars Universe. What has he done: Started the Clone Wars, manipulating both sides, so that he could start the Galactic Empire with himself as the Emperor; killed his master, Darth Plagueis, and usurped his power; nearly wiped out the Jedi; tried to manipulate Luke Skywalker into killing his own father. Intelligence: His plan to become emperor is ingenious, and he was able to make it work; plus that Death Star wasn’t a bad idea either. Power: He’s the Emperor and the Dark Lord of the Sith. Vileness: Not only is he responsible for many deaths but he’s also an unsympathetic asshole. Sway: Manipulated two armies into war. Purity: Cares only about being the ultimate ruler of the Galaxy and the Dark Side. Physical Prowess: He’s an old man, but he possesses the powers of the Dark Side and is very good with a light saber. Name Coolness: “Palpatine” is pretty cool, especially with “Emperor” in front of it; also known by the equally cool names “The Emperor” and “Darth Sidious.” Created by: George Lucas. Portrayed by: When he first appeared in “The Empire Strikes Back,” Palpatine was played by an old woman, with the composite image of a chimpanzee for the eyes, and with the voice provided by Clive Revill. In “Return Of The Jedi,” the Prequel Trilogy, and the special edition DVD of “The Empire Strikes Back,” Ian McDiarmid played the Emperor. In the Clone Wars animated series, Nick Jameson voiced Palpatine. Episodes 1 and 2: In “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” set 32 years before “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,” Palpatine is introduced as the senior Galactic Senator from the planet Naboo. The Trade Federation blockades and invades Naboo under the influence and advice of Palpatine's alter ego Darth Sidious. Queen Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) flees to the galactic capital planet of Coruscant to receive counsel from the senator. After a plea for help from the senate results in bureaucratic delays, Palpatine persuades her to make a motion to have Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum (Terence Stamp) removed from office. Palpatine, as Sidious, sends his Sith apprentice Darth Maul (Ray Park) to Naboo to oversee the invasion and find the queen. The invasion, however, is thwarted by Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor); in the ensuing lightsaber duel, both Maul and Qui-Gon are killed. Palpatine returns to Naboo, having been elected the new Chancellor. He tells nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) that he will be "watching [his] career with great interest". In “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones,” set 10 years later, the galaxy is on the verge of civil war, as a growing Separatist movement of planets seeking to secede from the Republic to form the Confederacy of Independent Systems. They are led by Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), a former Jedi and Darth Sidious' new apprentice. After Kenobi discovers that the Separatists are building a secret battle droid army, Palpatine uses the situation to have himself granted emergency powers. Palpatine feigns reluctance to accept this authority, promising to return it to the Senate once the crisis has ended. His first act is to create a Grand Army of the Republic of clones to counter the Separatist threat. The clones had recently been discovered by Kenobi as having been secretly ordered by deceased Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas many years earlier. Palpatine is also influential in having Anakin guard Padmé, which leads to their marriage at the end of the film. The Clone Wars miniseries: Palpatine is a central character in Genndy Tartakovsky's Star Wars: Clone Wars, an animated miniseries set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith that aired on Cartoon Network from 2003 to 2005. Palpatine and Darth Sidious are voiced by Nick Jameson. In the series, Palpatine is busy on Coruscant running the government, and Darth Sidious appears as a hologram giving orders to Count Dooku, General Grievous, and other Separatist leaders. The character is based on McDiarmid's likeness in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. In the first chapter, Obi-Wan informs Palpatine that the Jedi have discovered that the InterGalactic Banking Clan has established battle droid factories on the planet Muunilinst. Palpatine agrees to send a strike force that includes Obi-Wan and Anakin, but Palpatine suggests that Anakin be given "special command" of Obi-Wan's fighters. Yoda and Obi-Wan initially speak against it, but reluctantly concede to the Chancellor. In another chapter, Darth Sidious appears to Count Dooku as a holographic image shortly after Dooku trains Asajj Ventress, a Force-sensitive female alien adept in the dark side. Sidious orders her to track down and kill Anakin Skywalker. He remarks to Count Dooku that her failure is certain, but the point of her mission is to test Anakin. Chapter 22 features the training of General Grievous by Count Dooku. Darth Sidious appears as a hologram and orders Grievous to begin the special mission: an assault on the galactic capital. The Separatist invasion of Coruscant begins in the next episode, and Palpatine watches from the window in his private residence. He is protected by Jedi Shaak Ti, Roron Corobb, and Foul Moudama. Grievous breaks through the Chancellor's window and kidnaps him. Grievous kills Roron and Foul and captures Shaak Ti as Palpatine is taken to the Invisible Hand, Grievous' flagship. Episode 3: In “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” set three years later, Palpatine is captured by Separatist leader General Grievous (Matthew Wood). Palpatine is rescued by Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, but not before the Jedi confront Count Dooku; Skywalker decapitates the Sith apprentice in cold blood during the lightsaber duel, at Palpatine's urging. By this point, Palpatine has used the crisis to stay in power long after his term expired, and has acquired virtually dictatorial authority in the Senate. The Jedi Council, as well as a number of Senators, are troubled by Palpatine's power and fears he will not relinquish it when the Clone Wars end. Palpatine raises the Jedi's suspicions further when he has the Senate grant him direct control over the Jedi Council, and appoints Anakin as his personal representative, effectively granting him a vote in Jedi affairs. He begins to tempt Anakin towards the dark side, and tries to turn him against the Jedi by suggesting that he deserves the rank of Jedi Master, which the Council refuses him. The Council orders Anakin to spy on Palpatine, but he instead reveals the Jedi's plan to him. Palpatine tells Anakin the story of Darth Plagueis, a powerful Sith Lord who was able to manipulate life and death, but was killed by his apprentice (hinted to be Sidious himself). Palpatine reveals his secret identity to Anakin and tempts him with promises of power over life and death. Palpatine knows that Anakin has been having visions of Padmé, who is now pregnant with Anakin's child, dying in childbirth and offers to teach him the secrets of Darth Plagueis to save her life. Confused, Anakin informs Jedi Master Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) that Palpatine is a Sith Lord. Windu and a group of fellow Jedi Masters go to arrest Palpatine, but the Chancellor surprises them with a lightsaber and quickly dispatches all but Windu. In the ensuing duel, Windu gains the upper hand, deforming Palpatine's face by deflecting his own Force lightning back at him, and is poised to execute the Sith lord, when Anakin appears and intercedes in Palpatine's behalf, cutting off Windu's hand. Palpatine then kills Windu with another blast of lightning, and accepts Anakin as his new apprentice, Darth Vader. Palpatine then sets the destruction of the Jedi in motion: he sends Vader to destroy the Jedi Temple and instructs all of the clone troopers to kill their Jedi generals. He then sends Vader to Mustafar to wipe out the Separatist leaders. He announces to the Senate that the Jedi were planning to overthrow the Republic, and that the Republic will be reorganized into the Galactic Empire, with himself as Emperor for life. Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz) returns to Coruscant and confronts Palpatine in his Senate office. A lightsaber duel erupts between them which ends in stalemate, forcing Yoda to retreat into exile. Sensing his apprentice is in trouble, Palpatine travels to Mustafar, where he finds Vader maimed and burned almost to the point of death following a duel with Kenobi. Palpatine returns to Coruscant with Vader and provides him with a black armor suit and artificial limbs. When Vader regains consciousness, Palpatine tells him that he (Vader) killed his own wife in anger, breaking what remains of his spirit. Palpatine is last seen watching the first Death Star under construction with Vader at his side. Star Wars literature: Star Wars Expanded Universe literature elaborates on Palpatine's role in Star Wars fiction outside of the films. The first appearance of Palpatine in Star Wars literature was in of Alan Dean Foster's (writing as George Lucas) novelization of the script of A New Hope, published as Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker (1976). Foster characterizes Palpatine as a cunning Senator who "caused himself" to be elected president, and then declared himself Emperor before becoming controlled by his advisors. Palpatine made his first major appearance in the Expanded Universe in 1991 and 1992 with the Dark Empire series of comic books written by Tom Veitch and illustrated by Cam Kennedy. In the series, set six years after Return of the Jedi, Palpatine is resurrected as the Emperor Reborn or Palpatine the Undying. His spirit returns from the netherworld of the Force with the aid of Sith ghosts on Korriban and possesses the body of Jeng Droga, one of Palpatine's elite spies and assassins known as the Emperor's Hands. Droga flees to a secret Imperial base on the planet Byss, where the Emperor's advisor Sate Pestage exorcises Palpatine's spirit and channels it into one of many clones created by Palpatine before his death. Palpatine attempts to resume control of the galaxy, but his plans are sabotaged by Luke Skywalker, who is now a Jedi Master. He destroys most of Palpatine's cloning tanks, but is only able to defeat the Emperor with Princess Leia's help. Palpatine's ultimate fate is further chronicled in the Dark Empire II and Empire's End series of comics. The Dark Empire II series, published from 1994 to 1995, details how the Emperor is once again reborn on Byss into a clone body. Palpatine tries to rebuild the Empire as the Rebel Alliance grows weak. In Empire's End (1995), a traitorous Imperial guard bribes Palpatine's cloning supervisor to tamper with the Emperor's stored DNA samples. This causes the clones to deteriorate at a rapid rate. Palpatine attempts to possess the body of Anakin Solo, the infant son of Princess Leia and Han Solo, before the clone body dies, but is thwarted once again by Luke Skywalker. Palpatine is killed by a blaster shot fired by Han, and his spirit is captured by a wounded Jedi named Empatojayos Brand, who uses his remaining strength to prevent Palpatine's spirit from escaping. When Brand dies, he takes Palpatine's spirit to the netherworld with him, destroying the Sith Lord once and for all. Novels and comics published before 1999 focus on Palpatine's role as Galactic Emperor. Shadows of the Empire (1996) by Steve Perry and The Mandalorian Armor (1998) by K. W. Jeter, all set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, show how Palpatine uses crime lords such as Prince Xizor and bounty hunters like Boba Fett to fight his enemies. Barbara Hambly's novel Children of the Jedi (1995), set eight years after Return of the Jedi, features a woman named Roganda Ismaren who claims that Palpatine fathered her son Irek. The Jedi Prince series of novels introduces an insane, three-eyed mutant named Triclops as Palpatine's true son. Beginning in 1999 with Terry Brooks' novelization of The Phantom Menace, Star Wars writers chronicled the role of Palpatine prior to A New Hope as a politician and Sith Lord. The comic "Marked" by Rob Williams, printed in Star Wars Tales 24 (2005), and Michael Reaves's novel Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter (2001) explain Darth Sidious' relationship with his apprentice Darth Maul. Cloak of Deception (2001) by James Luceno follows Reaves' novel and details how Darth Sidious encourages the Trade Federation to build an army of battle droids in preparation for the invasion of Naboo. Cloak of Deception also focuses on Palpatine's early political career. It is revealed how he becomes a confidante of Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum and acquainted with Padmé Amidala, newly elected queen of Naboo. Palpatine's role during the Clone Wars as Supreme Chancellor and Darth Sidious is explained in novels such as Matthew Stover's Shatterpoint (2003), Steven Barnes' The Cestus Deception (2004), Sean Stewart's Yoda: Dark Rendezvous (2004), and Luceno's Labyrinth of Evil (2005). Following the theatrical release of Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars literature focused on Palpatine's role after the creation of the Empire. John Ostrander's comic Star Wars Republic 78: Loyalties (2005) chronicles how Emperor Palpatine sends Darth Vader to assassinate Sagoro Autem, an Imperial captain who wants nothing to do with the new government and plans to defect. In Luceno's novel Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (2005), set shortly after Revenge of the Sith, the Emperor sends Darth Vader to the planet Murkhana to discover why clone troopers there refused to carry out Order 66 against their Jedi generals. Palpatine hopes these early missions will teach Vader what it means to be a Sith and crush any remnants of Anakin Skywalker. The Original Trilogy: As the Emperor, Palpatine made his first appearance in “The Empire Strikes Back” as the leader of the Galactic Empire, and Sith master of Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones). The Emperor contacts Vader by holographic communication to tell him of a "great disturbance in the Force," and warn him that Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is becoming a threat (he is identified only as the "offspring of Anakin Skywalker" in the modified scene in the Special Edition). Vader convinces the Emperor that Skywalker would be an asset if he could be turned to the dark side. In “Return of the Jedi,” the final episode of the original trilogy (and chronologically the entire Star Wars film saga), the Emperor arrives on the second Death Star to oversee the last stages of its construction. When a Rebel strike team that includes Skywalker lands on nearby Endor, Vader senses Skywalker's presence. Skywalker believes he can save Vader, his father, from the dark side, and the Emperor believes that this hope will lead to his downfall. Luke surrenders to Imperial forces on Endor and is delivered to the Emperor. The Emperor, who plans to replace Vader with Luke as his apprentice, tempts the young Jedi to the dark side by appealing to his fear for his friends. This leads to a lightsaber duel in which Skywalker defeats Vader. Skywalker, however, refuses to turn to the dark side, and the Emperor attacks him with Force lightning. At the last moment, Vader turns on his master and throws him into the Death Star's reactor shaft, killing him. There is one characteristic that many villains on this list seem to share: manipulation. A lot of them manipulate people into doing things that they normally wouldn’t do. However, there is one master manipulator who stands out: Palpatine. I mean, this evil mastermind manipulated an entire galaxy into making him its ruler. His reign of evil began when he killed his master Darth Plagueis, who could keep people from dying, and usurped his power. After that moment, Palpatine began his life of evil. He recruited new apprentices and allies: Darth Maul, Count Dooku, the Separatist Faction, General Grievous, and Darth Vader. Then, he began his plan to become emperor: he manipulated the Republic and the Separatists in dual role (Palpatine to the Republic and Sidious to the Separatists) and set off a chain of events that started the Clone Wars and made him Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. Basically, he was the ruler of the two armies that fought each other. Then, he manipulated Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one who will bring balance to the Force, into becoming Darth Vader. Then, he got rid of the Jedi, easily took out the Separatists, and set up the Galactic Empire, with himself as Emperor. It’s pretty amazing how he was able to make himself the most powerful man in that galaxy far, far away. Plus, he had a great look for a villain. He looked old and decrepit, but that hid the fact that he was a skilled fighter with the light saber and has that powerful Force lightning. Also, those cool robes help with the evil look, and that voice is down right chilling. However, Palpatine was quite arrogant and that led to his downfall. He thought that he could easily manipulate Luke like he did his father and nearly got the boy to kill his own father, but Luke was not sway. So, Palpatine tried to electrocute him. And, in that moment, all those years of manipulating Vader all disappeared as Vader picked up Palpatine and through him down the Death Star’s reactor shaft. But, for years, Palpatine was the all powerful fist that held an entire galaxy by its neck, squeezing the air out of it; and he nearly succeeded.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 22, 2008 13:49:51 GMT -5
9. Professor James Moriarty Who is he: A criminal mastermind What is he from: Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. What has he done: Was sort of like a Mafia Godfather in Victoria England who pretty much controls the organized crime structure of that time, kills Holmes during a fight atop Reichenbach Falls. Intelligence: Holmes calls him the “Napoleon of Crime.” Power: Usually perceived as a powerful figure in the organized crime scene of Victoria London. Vileness: Will kill if it suits his purposes. Sway: Usually portrayed as a master manipulator. Purity: Man was willing to kill himself in order to kill Holmes. Physical Prowess: Usually portrayed as a skinny man who prefers brains over brawns, but he will physically fight someone if he has to. Name Coolness: “Professor Moriarty” just sounds devilish and cool. Created by: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Portrayed by: Many actors have played Moriarty, including: George Zucco (“The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”), Vincent D'Onofrio (Sherlock (2002 film)), Lionel Atwill (“Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon”), Henry Daniell (“The Woman in Green”), Paul Freeman (the 1988 comedy Without a Clue, revolving around the premise that Holmes is a fictional creation of Watson's, and Watson is the real crime solving genius), Anthony Higgins (“Young Sherlock Holmes,” though he really plays Holmes' schoolmaster, Rathe, who turns out to be an evil mastermind; after the end credits, there's a brief scene in which Rathe enters an inn and signs the ledger as Moriarty), Richard Roxburgh (portrayed a villain named the Fantom, whose true identity was that of Professor James Moriarty, in the 2003 film “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”), Laurence Olivier (“The Seven-Per-Cent Solution), Viktor Yevgrafov (Igor Maslennikov's Sherlock Holmes Russian TV series), and Daniel Davis (two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Elementary, Dear Data" and "Ship in a Bottle"). “The Final Problem”: This story, set in 1891, introduces Holmes' greatest opponent, the criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty. Holmes arrives at Dr. Watson's one evening in a somewhat agitated state and with abraded knuckles. He has apparently escaped three murder attempts that day after a visit from Professor Moriarty, who warned him to withdraw from his pursuit of justice against him to avoid any regrettable outcome. Holmes has been tracking Moriarty and his agents for months and is on the brink of snaring them all and delivering them to the dock. Moriarty is the nexus of a highly organized and amazingly secret criminal force and Holmes will consider it the crowning achievement of his career if only he can defeat Moriarty. Moriarty of course is out to thwart Holmes' plans and is well capable of doing so, for he is, as Holmes admits, the great detective's intellectual equal. Holmes asks Watson to come to the continent with him, giving him unusual instructions designed to hide his tracks to Victoria Station. Holmes is not quite sure where they will go; this seems rather odd to Watson. Holmes then leaves Watson's by climbing over the back wall in the garden, certain that he has been followed to his friend's. The next day Watson follows Holmes' instructions to the letter and finds himself waiting in the reserved first class coach for his friend, but only an elderly Italian priest is there. The cleric soon makes it apparent that he is Holmes in disguise. As the train pulls out of Victoria, Holmes spots Moriarty on the platform, apparently trying to get someone to stop the train. Holmes is forced to take action as Moriarty has obviously tracked Watson, despite extraordinary precautions. He and Watson alight at Canterbury, changing their route plan. As they are waiting for another train to Newhaven a special one coach train roars through Canterbury as Holmes suspected it would. It contains Moriarty who has hired the train in an effort to overtake Holmes. Holmes and Watson are forced to hide behind luggage. Holmes receives a message that most of Moriarty's gang have been arrested in England and Holmes recommends Watson return there now that Holmes will likely be a very dangerous companion. Watson however decides to stay with his friend. Moriarty himself has slipped out of the grasp of the English police and is obviously with them on the continent. Holmes' and Watson's journey take them to Switzerland where they stay at Meiringen. From there they fatefully decide to take a walk which will include a visit to Reichenbach Falls, a local natural wonder. Once there they find it is everything that has been said about it and more. A boy appears and hands Watson a note, saying that there is a sick Englishwoman back at the hotel who wants an English doctor. Holmes realizes at once it is a hoax although he does not say so. Watson goes to see about the patient, leaving Holmes alone. When he reaches the Englischer Hof the innkeeper has no idea about any sick Englishwoman. Realizing at last what has happened, Watson rushes back to Reichenbach Falls but finds no one there, although he does see two sets of footprints going out onto the muddy dead end path with none coming back. There is also a note from Holmes, explaining that he knew the report Watson was given to be a hoax and that he is about to fight Moriarty who has graciously given him enough time to pen this last letter. Watson sees that towards the end of the path there are signs that a violent struggle has taken place. It is all too clear Holmes and Moriarty have both died, falling to their deaths down the gorge whilst locked in mortal combat. Dr Watson returns to England with sorrow in his heart. “The Valley Of Fear”: Moriarty plays a direct role in only one other of Conan Doyle's Holmes stories: The Valley of Fear, which was set before The Final Problem, but published afterwards. In The Valley of Fear, Holmes attempts to prevent Moriarty's agents from committing a murder. Moriarty does not meet Holmes, but sends him a note of commiseration at the end. In an episode where Moriarty is interviewed by a policeman, a painting is described as hanging on the wall; its title, "La Jeune a l'Agneau" translated to "The young one has the lamb" is a witty pun upon the name of Thomas Agnew of the gallery Thomas Agnew and Sons, who had a famous painting stolen by Adam Worth, but was unable to prove the fact. Other Stories: Holmes mentions Moriarty reminiscently in five other stories: The Empty House (the immediate sequel to The Final Problem), The Norwood Builder, The Missing Three-Quarter, The Illustrious Client, and His Last Bow. More obliquely, a 1908 mystery by Doyle, The Lost Special, features a criminal genius who could be Moriarty (and a detective who could be Holmes), although neither is mentioned by name. The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: An introduction states that two canonical Holmes adventures were fabrications. These are The Final Problem, in which Holmes apparently died at the hands of Prof. James Moriarty, and The Empty House, wherein Holmes reappeared after a three-year absence and revealed that he had not been killed after all. The Seven-Per-Cent Solution's Watson explains that they were published to conceal the truth concerning Holmes’ "Great Hiatus." The novel begins in 1891, when Holmes first informs Watson of his belief that Professor James Moriarty is a "Napoleon of Crime". The novel presents this view as nothing more than the fevered imagining of Holmes' cocaine-sodden mind; it further states that Moriarty was the childhood mathematics tutor of Sherlock and his brother Mycroft. Moriarty meets Watson, denies that he is a criminal and reluctantly threatens to sue Holmes for slander unless the latter's accusations cease. The heart of the novel consists of an account of Holmes’ recovery from his addiction. Watson and Holmes’ brother Mycroft induce Holmes to travel to Vienna, where Watson introduces him to Dr. Freud. Using a treatment consisting largely of hypnosis, Freud helps Holmes shake off his addiction and his delusions about Moriarty, but neither he nor Watson can revive Holmes’ dejected spirit. What finally does the job is a whiff of mystery: one of the doctor's patients is kidnapped and Holmes’ curiosity is sufficiently aroused. The case takes the three men on a breakneck train ride across Austria in pursuit of a foe who is about to launch a war involving all of Europe. Holmes remarks during the denouement that they have succeeded only in postponing such a conflict, not preventing it; Holmes would later become involved in a "European War" in 1914. One final hypnosis session reveals a key traumatic event in Holmes' childhood. His father murdered his mother and then committed suicide because she had a lover, the Holmes boys' mathematics tutor--Moriarty--who then became a dark and malignant figure in Sherlock Holmes's subconscious . Freud and Watson conclude that Holmes, consciously unable to face the emotional ramifications of this event, has pushed them deep into his unconscious while finding outlets in fighting evil, pursuing justice, and many of his famous eccentricities, including his cocaine habit. Watson returns to London, but Holmes decides to travel alone for a while, and the famed "Great Hiatus" is thus more or less preserved. It is during these travels that the events of Meyer's sequel The Canary Trainer occur. “The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes”: The film begins with Moriarty (Zucco) and Holmes (Basil Rathbone) verbally sparring on the steps outside the Old Bailey where Moriarty has just been acquitted on a charge of murder due to lack of evidence. Holmes remarks, "You've a magnificent brain, Moriarty. I admire it. I admire it so much I'd like to present it, pickled in alcohol, to the London Medical Society". "It would make an impressive exhibit" sneers Moriarty. Later Holmes and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are visited at 221b Baker Street by Ann Brandon (Ida Lupino). She tells him that her brother Lloyd has received a strange note, a drawing of a man with an albatross hanging around his neck, identical to one received by her father just before his brutal murder ten years before. Holmes deduces that the note is a warning and rushes to find Lloyd Brandon. However he is too late, as Lloyd has been murdered by being strangled and having his skull crushed. Holmes investigates and attends a garden party, disguised as a music-hall entertainer, where he correctly believes an attempt will be made on Ann's life. Hearing her cries from a nearby park he captures her assailant, who turns out to be Gabriel Mateo, out for revenge on the Brandons for the murder of his father, by Ann's father in a dispute over ownership of their South American mine. His murder weapon was a bolas. Mateo also reveals that it was Moriarty who urged him to seek revenge. Holmes realizes that Moriarty is using the case as a distraction from his real crime, a crime that will stir the British Empire - an attempt to steal the Crown Jewels. Holmes rushes to the Tower of London to prevent the crime, and during a struggle Moriarty falls, presumably to his death. “Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon”: Holmes successfully removes Professor Tobel and his new invention, the "Tobel Bombsight" (analogous to the real-life Norden Bombsight), from Switzerland to safety in England under the noses of German agents. However, once in England, Tobel disappears, kidnapped by Holmes' arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty, now in league with the Nazis. However Tobel has left a cryptic message in code behind (taken from the Arthur Conan Doyle story “The Adventure of the Dancing Men”). Holmes cracks the code and tracks Tobel down, in the process utilizing his skill in disguises, appearing as a Swiss inventor, a criminal Lascar, and an elderly German bookseller. In the climax of the film Holmes is captured by Moriarty and given his choice of deaths. Holmes opines that it would be curious to have the blood drawn from his body and slowly fade away. Moriarty has a fully equipped operating theatre, so Holmes's idea is soon implemented. A large IV needle, a long rubber tube, and a five-gallon bottle are set up to siphon Holmes's blood out of his body. Fortunately for Holmes, it takes over an hour to die this way, which gives his friends time to find and rescue him: Dr Watson raises the blood bottle above Holmes and reverses the siphon flow. Colour returns to Holmes's face (barely visible in this black-and-white film), and he wakes up. Moriarty tries to escape, but falls to his death because of a trap door deliberately left open by Holmes. “The Woman In Green”: The plot revolves around a blackmail scheme hatched by Moriarty (Daniell) and Lydia Marlowe (Brooke), a beautiful female hypnotist. Several young women have been murdered, and all of them have had one of their fingers severed. The baffled police call in Holmes, who is eventually able to deduce that it is all part of a scheme to blackmail wealthy older men into believing that they have committed murder and mutilation while suffering mysterious mental blackouts (which the men mistakenly attribute to drunkenness). “Without A Clue”: The film's premise is that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character created by Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley) to enable him to solve crimes incognito. To satisfy public demand to see Holmes in person, he hires alcoholic unemployed actor Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine) to play him. But when "Holmes" begins hogging the spotlight, a jealous Watson fires him, only to have to call him back when the British Government wants Holmes and no one else to solve a mystery involving stolen Bank of England £5 banknote printing plates and a missing printing supervisor, Peter Giles. Inspector Lestrade (Jeffrey Jones) is jealous of Holmes' apparent sleuthing skills, and takes every opportunity to spy on Holmes and Watson and to steal their ideas. Just when Watson and "Holmes" discover that Professor Moriarty (Paul Freeman) is the mastermind behind the scheme, Watson is apparently killed in an attempt to capture Moriarty, forcing "Holmes" to solve the case on his own. “Young Sherlock Holmes”: A group of wealthy, well-established men in London become the target of a mysterious cloaked figure, who uses a blowpipe to shoot thorns into the targets' necks. The thorns, dipped into a solution of various botanical extracts, cause the victims to have violent and frightening hallucinations. These images ultimately result in the victims' deaths, but in such a way that they are written off as suicides or hysteric fits. John Watson (who, as his adult self, also provides the narrative in the film) transfers to a prestigious boarding school, where he encounters Sherlock Holmes, with whom he becomes friends. Holmes notices that his mentor and retired schoolmaster, Professor Waxflatter, is very curious about the mysterious deaths. When Waxflatter himself dies under similar circumstances, Holmes suspects foul play, and he, his girlfriend Elizabeth (Waxflatter's niece), and Watson begin to investigate. Clue by clue, Holmes traces the mysterious cloaked figure to a warehouse known as Froggit and Froggit, in the Wapping area of London. The trio proceeds to the warehouse, to find abandoned Egyptian figurines and a large wooden pyramid. They all enter and view, from a hiding place, an Ancient-Egyptian-themed cult, known as the Rame-Tep (also known as Rametep and Ramatep), performing a ceremony in which a young girl is hypnotized, wrapped in linen and killed with the pouring of boiling wax atop her body. The trio is spotted, and each one is hit by a thorn and experiences their own horrific hallucinations in a graveyard; but they eventually recover. Following more clues, Sherlock Holmes eventually tracks down the killers to be Rathe, his present schoolmaster, and the school nurse, Mrs. Dribb. From the last survivor of Waxflatter's circle of friends, Holmes learns that the two are siblings of Anglo-Egyptian descent who were angry at the uncovering of the graves of five Egyptian princesses at the hands of the aforementioned wealthy men and the deaths of their parents in a resulting uprising, which was brutally subdued by English troops. They vowed to kill off those responsible for the tombs' desecration and their parents' deaths and so performed the ceremony to "replace" the bodies of the princesses. So far, four girls were killed, leaving only one left. By this time, Elizabeth has been captured and the same ceremony the trio witnessed earlier is being performed on her. Holmes and Watson manage to stop the ceremony part way through, and the pyramid and the Rame-Tep are incinerated. Rathe and Holmes participate in a heated swordfight after Elizabeth is shot by the schoolmaster (throwing herself in front of the bullet to save Holmes) and Rathe apparently perishes under the ice cover of the frozen Thames. Holmes goes back to talk to Elizabeth for a little bit before her death. They talk as follows: Sherlock Holmes: Someday we'll be reunited. In another world, a much better world. Elizabeth Hardy: I'll be waiting. And you'll be late... as always. (This occurrence also tries to explain Holmes' bachelor life in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle.) The movie ends when Sherlock Holmes departs the school. After the credits, however, we find out that Rathe survived the swordfight and lived to be Professor James Moriarty, Holmes' future arch nemesis. Star Trek: The Next Generation: A computer simulation of Professor Moriarty, played by actor Daniel Davis, appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes "Elementary, Dear Data" and "Ship in a Bottle". For a bet, Data, posing as Holmes on the holodeck, proposed to solve a Holmes-style mystery, but when Geordi La Forge asked the computer to create a foe, he requested one "capable of defeating Data" (as opposed to Holmes). The computer gave Moriarty self-awareness and the ability to manipulate the holodeck's controls. In doing so, Moriarty seized control of the Enterprise, but was convinced to release control and be stored in the ship's memory when he learned that he could not leave the holodeck. Freed from the ship's memory in the latter episode, he again took over the Enterprise. Trapping Picard, Data and Lieutenant Barclay in a holographic duplicate of the ship, Moriarty blackmailed the crew into figuring out a way of allowing him to leave the ship with his mistress Countess Regina Bartholomew. However, the three trapped crew members programmed the holodeck on the false holographic Enterprise to create a holographic simulation of the outside world, leaving Moriarty and the Countess unwittingly stored in a memory module with enough content to keep the couple amused for some time. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Miss Wilhelmina Murray is recruited by Campion Bond to assemble the League. Bond dispatches Murray to Egypt along with an unnamed sea captain (who is later revealed to be Captain Nemo). In Cairo, Murray finds Allan Quatermain, who has become an opium addict. The duo are forced to flee to the docks after Quatermain defends Murray from a group of Arabs who attempt to rape her, killing two of their number. At the docks, Nemo emerges from the Nautilus and blasts the pursuing "Mohammedan rabble" with a large harpoon gun, rescuing Murray and Quatermain. Their next assignment is to head to Paris in order to rendezvous with C. Auguste Dupin (a detective from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue") and capture a beast-man who transpires to be Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. He has been hiding in Paris after faking his own suicide, and preying on prostitutes. With Jekyll/Hyde successfully captured and handed over to MI5, the remaining trio head to a girl's school in Edmonton, run by the sado-masochistic Miss Rosa Coote (from The Pearl). Rumours abound that many of the female pupils have become impregnated by the Holy Spirit. After a single night's investigation, the trio discovers that the "Holy Spirit" is none other than Hawley Griffin, the Invisible Man, who has been hiding since faking his own death. At the time of his capture, he is raping Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna. The League is then convened at its headquarters in the "secret annexe" of the British Museum, where they are sent to recover a sample of cavorite from the clutches of Fu Manchu (who is not mentioned by name for trademark reasons, but is instead identified by his pseudonym of "The Doctor"). According to Agent Bond, under the supervision of Professor Selwyn Cavor, Britain was secretly planning a moon landing to coincide with the turn-of-the-century celebrations. Cavorite is the key in powering and levitating heavier-than-air machines. However, the Doctor has stolen the cavorite, and may use it in his own efforts to gain revenge on the British Empire. While Nemo decides to remain on board his submarine, the remaining quartet are dispatched to London's Limehouse district in order to discover more about the Chinese "devil-doctor". Murray and Griffin learn from an informant named Quong Lee (a storyteller from books by Thomas Burke) that Fu Manchu is indeed operating within the area and is planning something big; however, Lee only gives them information in the form of a cryptic riddle, stating, "The waters lap beneath the heavenly bridge. The dragon sleeps below it. My advice to you: do not awaken it." Although Griffin is skeptical, Murray concludes that Manchu's activities must be taking place beneath Rotherhithe Bridge. Meanwhile, Quatermain and Jekyll enter Manchu's lair, and Quatermain spots the doctor applying caustic paint to one of his victims. The duo are almost uncovered as spies, but they manage to escape. Back on board the Nautilus, the League convenes once more and Murray organizes the evidence. She believes Manchu has stolen the cavorite for some nefarious purpose, and states that there is an uncompleted tunnel beneath Rotherhithe Bridge, which would be a perfect place for him to craft some form of aerial war machine undiscovered. Four of the group plan to infiltrate his lair and steal back the cavorite, with Nemo remaining on board the Nautilus. It is Quatermain and Murray who first manage to infiltrate the Doctor's lair, and they discover a gigantic flying craft, heavily armed with guns and cannons (the "dragon" of Quong Lee's riddle). Although they are discovered by a guard, an unnoticed Griffin is able to kill the guard and Quatermain takes his uniform, allowing him a disguise so that he might get inside the Dragon and steal back the cavorite. Griffin heads back outside to fetch Jekyll in the hopes of creating a diversion. Once inside one of the entrances, Griffin infuriates Jekyll to such a degree that he becomes Hyde and begins slaughtering Manchu's henchmen. Having stolen the cavorite, Murray and Quatermain are re-united with Hyde and Griffin in an underwater glass tunnel, and although they lock themselves in they realize it will only be a matter of time before Manchu's men burst in and kill them. To escape, Hyde grabs Quatermain and Murray, with Griffin holding onto his neck. Quatermain blasts a hole in the glass roof with his elephant gun and Murray activates the cavorite, propelling the group upwards through the cascading water. Manchu's base is flooded, the Dragon is destroyed, and the Nautilus rescues the group as they fall back down into the Thames. Bond congratulates the group on their success, and leaves the Nautilus with the cavorite, telling them he will take it back to his superior M (another parallel to the James Bond mythos). However, Griffin is oddly absent from the group, having disguised a load of brooms as himself, using his own bandages, spectacles and clothing. He follows Bond back to the Military Intelligence Headquarters, and discovers that M is in fact Professor Moriarty, the arch-nemesis of Sherlock Holmes Moriarty has constructed his own aerial war machine, and with the cavorite he can now put it into action. Griffin returns to the Nautilus and informs the group of what he's discovered. Nemo realizes that M is Moriarty, and that he plans to bomb London's east end, destroying what is left of Manchu's criminal empire. After Murray and Quartermain try futilely to prevent Moriarty from launching his ship, and have a run in with The Artful Dodger from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, the League embark aboard the Victoria, a hot-air balloon on Nemo's ship that was once owned by Jules Verne's "Five Weeks in a Balloon's" Samuel Ferguson, and board Moriarty's ship. Hyde and Nemo launch an attack on the crew (Nemo using a minigun, Hyde using his fists), while Murray and Quatermain ascend to the top deck where Moriarty is waiting (Griffin has cowardly stripped and remains by the balloon, which is still anchored to the ship). Quatermain guns down Moriarty's guards using his own machine gun; however, the Professor disarms him and prepares to kill him. Murray smashes the case containing the cavorite and Moriarty rushes toward the device, grabs onto it, and is propelled into the night sky. The League leave the ship via the balloon, and once again are rescued by the Nautilus, this time manned by Nemo's first mate Ishmael (the narrator from Herman Melville's Moby-Dick). The series ends with Mycroft Holmes congratulating the League for their work, telling them to remain in London should there be additional need for them in the future. The comic ends with the scene of Martian ships falling towards Woking, and sets in motion the second volume. In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, it is suggested that Jack Kerouac's Dean Moriarty (from On the Road) is his great-grandson, and the rivalry between the two criminals is continued by the fact that The Doctor's great-grandson is Kerouac's other creation, Doctor Sachs. Other literature: In Neil Gaiman's Hugo Award winning short story "A Study in Emerald", the Moriarty and Holmes of an alternate history reverse roles. Moriarty (who, though never named as such in the story, is identified as the author of Dynamics of an Asteroid) is hired to investigate a murder. The murder has apparently been carried out by Sherlock Holmes (who signs his name Rache, an allusion to Doyle's first novella starring Holmes and Watson, A Study in Scarlet, in which the word Rache, German for revenge, is found written above the body of a murder victim) and Dr. Watson. The story is narrated by Colonel Sebastian Moran, given the rank of Major (Ret.) by Gaiman. In a 2006 comic book story featuring Lee Falk's The Phantom, the 19th Phantom has to fight Professor Moriarty. The climax of the story features the Phantom and Moriarty falling down a waterfall in the Bangalla jungles. At the end of the story, Moriarty is shown to be alive, as he returns to London to find "a detective named Sherlock Holmes". Michael Kurland has written a series of novels in which Moriarty is the hero: His organization of crime is the method by which he raises the money required for his experimental physics apparatus. In the first book of the series, The Infernal Device, he foils a plot against Queen Victoria, reluctantly allying with Sherlock Holmes. John Gardner has written two novels featuring the arch-villain, The Return of Moriarty, in which the Professor, like Holmes, is shown to have survived the meeting at the Reichenbach, and The Revenge of Moriarty. In these two novels, Moriarty is depicted as a Victorian-era Al Capone or Don Corleone, single-handedly controlling London's organized crime structure. Originally planned as a trilogy, the third book, The Revolt of Moriarty, has never been published, but there have been indications, since Gardner's death on 7 August 2007, that it may appear posthumously. A similar character appeared in the Solar Pons series, which was a pastiche of the Sherlock Holmes stories. The Moriarty figure was Baron Knoll, a German spy and a socialite who appeared in only two stories (much like Moriarty). Moriarty appears in Anne Lear's short story "The Adventure of the Global Traveller" (1978). Surviving the Falls via a net which in turn drops a dummy, he travels back in time, inadvertently creating the paradoxical lines of Third Murderer in Macbeth. The story is told in the form of a note addressed to Holmes, posing the question of where these lines came from. Professor Moriarty has been perceived over the years as a pretty icon of villainy. Amazingly, this has happened despite the fact that Moriarty only appeared in two of the sixty Sherlock Holmes tales by Conan Doyle. However, Sherlock Holmes's attitude to him in those two stories has gained him the popular impression of being Holmes's nemesis, and he has been frequently used in later stories by other authors, parodies, and in other media. In fact, among casual Holmes fans it is commonly assumed that the real overall plot arc of the Holmes stories is the war that the detective wages with Moriarty, who oversees the crimes that Holmes foils. Holmes described Moriarty as follows: "He is a man of good birth and excellent education, endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty. At the age of twenty-one he wrote A Treatise on the Binomial Theorem, which has had a European vogue. On the strength of it he won the mathematical chair at one of our smaller universities, and had, to all appearances, a most brilliant career before him. But the man had hereditary tendencies of the most diabolical kind. A criminal strain ran in his blood, which, instead of being modified, was increased and rendered infinitely more dangerous by his extraordinary mental powers. Dark rumours gathered round him in the University town, and eventually he was compelled to resign his chair and come down to London..." —Holmes, "The Final Problem" Holmes also states that Moriarty has written the book The Dynamics of an Asteroid, describing it as "a book which ascends to such rarefied heights of pure mathematics that it is said that there was no man in the scientific press capable of criticizing it". However, this wasn’t Doyle’s intentions. Doyle's original motive in creating Moriarty was evidently his intention to kill Holmes off. As is well known, "The Final Problem" was intended to be exactly what its name says; Doyle sought to sweeten the pill a little bit by letting Holmes go in a blaze of glory, having rid the world of a criminal so powerful and dangerous that any further task would be trivial in comparison (as Holmes says in the story itself). Moriarty only appeared in one book because, quite simply, having him constantly escape would discredit Holmes, and would be less satisfying. Eventually, public pressure forced Doyle to bring Holmes back, and Moriarty grew into a legend of villainy. Doyle’s Moriarty end up launching the literary sub-genre of the supervillain and influenced countless later writers. I doubt there would many comic, movie, and/or TV supervillains if it hadn’t been for Moriarty. And, he has been built up in other stories and medias as such a great criminal mastermind. It’s amazing how a character who had so few original appearances ended up becoming such a great and influential villain.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 22, 2008 15:35:50 GMT -5
8. Count Dracula Who is he: A vampire. What is he from: Dracula (novel and movies) What has he done: Killed a lot of people. Intelligence: Wily and clever, the Count is a cunning warrior with animal instincts. Power: Is a bit of a loner, but can hold a mystical power over people. Vileness: He kills at will, will kill man, woman, or child, and is driven by passion and hunger. Sway: Incredible influence; can hypnotize and make people hallucinate while seducing women and ravaging them. Purity: He is a bloodthirsty animal and an undead monster, but love still beats in his chest (sort of). Physical Prowess: His strength surpasses any man, and regenerative powers give him a distinct edge, can transform into anything, given the chance and shadows to escape into; however, he does have weaknesses: wooden stakes to the heart, fire, garlic, and sunlight. Name Coolness: “Dracula” is pretty cool and evil. Created by: Bram Stroker. Portrayed by: Many actors have played Dracula: Bela Lugosi (in the 1931 “Dracula” film and usually considered the most famous actor to have played him; also played him in “Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein”), John Carradine (“House Of Frankenstein” and “House of Dracula”), Frank Langella (the 1979 “Dracula” film), Christopher Lee (in the Hammer Dracula films), Gary Oldman (“Bram Stroker’s Dracula”), Richard Roxburgh (“Van Helsing”), Leslie Neilsen (“Dracula: Dead And Loving It”), Gerald Butler (“Dracula 2000”), Max Schreck, Lon Chaney Jr., Denholm Elliott, Jack Palance, Udo Kier, Jonathan Massey, Frank Langella, Louis Jourdan, Klaus Kinski, Duncan Regehr, Patrick Bergin, Dominic Purcell, Marc Warren, and Keith-Lee Castle. Dracula (Bram Stroker’s novel): The novel is mainly composed of journal entries and letters written by several narrators who are also the novel's main protagonists; Stoker supplemented the story with occasional newspaper clippings to relate events not directly witnessed by the story's characters. The tale begins with Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, journeying by train and carriage from England to Count Dracula's crumbling, remote castle (situated in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Transylvania and Moldavia). The purpose of his mission is to provide legal support to Dracula for a real estate transaction overseen by Harker's employer, Peter Hawkins, of Exeter in England. At first seduced by Dracula's gracious manner, Harker soon discovers that he has become a prisoner in the castle. He also begins to see disquieting facets of Dracula's nocturnal life. One night, while searching for a way out of the castle, and against Dracula's strict admonition not to venture outside his room at night, Harker falls under the spell of three wanton female vampires, the Brides of Dracula. He is saved at the last second by the Count, however, who ostensibly wants to keep Harker alive just long enough because his legal advice and teachings about England and London (Dracula's planned travel destination was to be among the "teeming millions") are needed by Dracula. Harker barely escapes from the castle with his life. Not long afterward, a Russian ship, the Demeter, having weighed anchor at Varna, runs aground on the shores of Whitby, England, during a fierce tempest. All of the crew are missing and presumed dead, and only one body is found, that of the captain tied to the ship's helm. The captain's log is recovered and tells of strange events that had taken place during the ship's journey. These events led to the gradual disappearance of the entire crew apparently owing to a malevolent presence on board the ill-fated ship. An animal described as a large dog is seen on the ship leaping ashore. The ship's cargo is described as silver sand and boxes of "mould" or earth from Transylvania. Soon Dracula is menacing Harker's devoted fiancée, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray, and her vivacious friend, Lucy Westenra. Lucy receives three marriage proposals in one day, from an asylum psychiatrist, Dr. John Seward; an American, Quincey Morris; and the Hon. Arthur Holmwood (later Lord Godalming). Lucy accepts Holmwood's proposal while turning down Seward and Morris, but all remain friends. There is a notable encounter between Dracula and Seward's patient Renfield, an insane man who means to consume insects, spiders, birds, and other creatures, in ascending order of size, in order to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a kind of motion sensor, detecting Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly. Lucy begins to waste away suspiciously. All her suitors fret, and Seward calls in his old teacher, Professor Abraham Van Helsing from Amsterdam. Van Helsing immediately determines the cause of Lucy's condition but refuses to disclose it, knowing that Seward's faith in him will be shaken if he starts to speak of vampires. Van Helsing tries multiple blood transfusions, but they are clearly losing ground. On a night when Van Helsing must return to Amsterdam (and his message to Seward asking him to watch the Westenra household is accidentally sent to the wrong address), Lucy and her mother are attacked by a wolf. Mrs Westenra, who has a heart condition, dies of fright, and Lucy apparently dies soon after. Lucy is buried, but soon afterward the newspapers report children being stalked in the night by a "bloofer lady" (as they describe it), i.e. "beautiful lady". Van Helsing, knowing that this means Lucy has become a vampire, confides in Seward, Lord Godalming, and Morris. The suitors and Van Helsing track her down, and after a disturbing confrontation between her vampiric self and Arthur, they stake her heart, behead her, and fill the mouth with garlic. Around the same time, Jonathan Harker arrives home from recuperation in Budapest (where Mina joined and married him after his escape from the castle); he and Mina also join the coalition, who turn their attentions to dealing with Dracula. After Dracula learns of Van Helsing and the others' plot against him, he takes revenge by visiting and biting Mina at least three times. Dracula also feeds Mina his blood, creating a spiritual bond between them to control her. The only way to forestall this is to kill Dracula first. Mina slowly succumbs to the blood of the vampire that flows through her veins, switching back and forth from a state of consciousness to a state of semi-trance during which she is telepathically connected with Dracula. It is this connection that they start to use to deduce Dracula's movements. It is only possible to detect Dracula's surroundings when Mina is put under hypnosis by Van Helsing. This ability gradually gets weaker as the group makes their way to Dracula's castle. Dracula flees back to his castle in Transylvania, followed by Van Helsing's group, who manage to track him down just before sundown and destroy him by shearing "through the throat" and stabbing him in the heart with a Bowie knife. Dracula crumbles to dust, his spell is lifted and Mina is freed from the marks. Quincey Morris is killed in the final battle, stabbed by Gypsies who had been charged with returning Dracula to his castle; the survivors return to England. The book closes with a note about Mina's and Jonathan's married life and the birth of their first-born son, whom they name Quincey in remembrance of their American friend. Other media: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_in_popular_culture Just click that. It’s too damn long to put down. Though, I will do a write-up of the three most popular Dracula movies: “Dracula”: Renfield (Dwight Frye), a British solicitor, travels through the Carpathian Mountains via stagecoach. The people in the stagecoach are in the fear that the coach won’t reach the local inn before sundown. Arriving there safely before sundown, Renfield refuses to stay at the inn and asks the driver to take him at Borgo Pass. The innkeeper and his wife seem to be afraid of Renfield’s destination, Castle Dracula, and warn him about vampires. The innkeeper's wife gives Renfield a cross for protection before leaving for Borgo Pass and then driven to the castle by Dracula's coach, which was awaiting him at Borgo Pass with Dracula disguised as the driver. Renfield enters the castle after his driver and his luggage disappear, and is bid welcomed by charming but weird nobleman Count Dracula (Béla Lugosi), who is a vampire, as seen him crawling from his coffin before Renfield left the inn. Dracula and Renfield discuss the purchase of Carfax Abbey in England, and afterwards Dracula departs. Renfield faints when opens a window and a bat comes in, and Dracula, morphed from bat, forces his wives to get away from Renfield and he bites him. Aboard the Vesta, bound for England, Renfield has now became a raving lunatic slave to Dracula, who is hidden in a coffin and gets out for feeding on the ship's crew. When the ship arrives in England, Renfield is discovered the only living person in it, the captain lashed on the wheel and none of the ship’s crew is discovered. Renfield is sent to Dr. Seward’s sanitarium. Some nights later, Dracula hypnotizes an usherette and tells her to inform Dr. Seward (Herbert Bunston) that is wanted on the telephone. Before leaving, Dracula meets with Dr. Seward who introduces him to his daughter Mina (Helen Chandler), her fiancé John Harker (David Manners) and the family friend Lucy Weston (Frances Dade). Lucy is fascinated by Count Dracula, and that night, after a talk with Mina and falling asleep in bed, Dracula enters her room as a bat and feasts on her blood. She dies in an autopsy theatre next day after a string of transfusions, and two tiny marks on her throat are discovered. Several days later, it is seen that Renfield is obsessed with eating flies and spiders, devouring their lives also. Professor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) analyzes Renfield's blood discovering Renfield’s obsession. He starts talking about vampires, and that afternoon chats with Renfield, who begs Dr. Seward to send him away because his nightly cries may disturb Mina’s dreams. When Dracula awakes and calls Renfield with wolf howling, Renfield is disturbed when Van Helsing shows him a branch of wolfbane, that stops wolfs as Van Helsing says, and also is used for vampire protection. Dracula visits a sleeping Mina in her bedroom and bites her, leaving her the same marks Lucy had. She talks to the others about a dream of hers, when Dracula visited her. Then, Dracula enters for a night's visit at the Sewards. Van Helsing and Harker notice that Dracula does not have a reflection in the mirrored top of the cigarette case. When Van Helsing shows that "most amazing phenomenon" to Dracula, he smashes the mirror and excuses himself leaving. Van Helsing deducts that Dracula is the vampire. Meanwhile, Mina leaves her room and runs into Dracula’s hug in the garden, and is discovered there unconscious. The next day, newspapers write about a “beautiful lady” who lured little children playing in the park with chocolate and then biting them. Mina recognizes the beautiful lady as Lucy, who has risen as a vampire. Harker wants to take Mina at London for safety, but he is finally convinced to leave Mina with them. Van Helsing orders nurse Briggs (Joan Standing) to take care of Mina when she is sleeping, and not to remove the garland of wolfbane around her neck. Renfield again escapes from his cell and listens to the three men discussing vampires. Before Martin (Charles K. Gerrard), his attendant, arrives to take Renfield back to his cell, Renfield narratives to Van Helsing, Harker and Seward how Dracula convinced Renfield to allow him enter the sanitarium by promising him thousands of rats with blood and life in them. Dracula enters the Seward parlour and talks with Van Helsing. Dracula tells him that Mina is now his after fusing his blood with hers, and Van Helsing swears revenge by sterilizing Carfax Abbey and finding the box where he sleeps and stake him. Dracula tries to hypnotize Van Helsing, almost succeeding, but Van Helsing shows a crucifix to the vampire and turns away. Mina is visited in her bedroom by Harker, and they talk about the night. Harker notices Mina’s changes, as she now becomes step by step a vampire, and when a bat (Dracula) enters the room and squeaks to Mina, she answers trying to attack Harker but Van Helsing and Dr. Seward arrive just in time to save Harker. Mina confesses what Dracula has done to her, and tries to tell Harker that their love is finished. Later that night, Dracula hypnotizes Briggs into removing the wolfbane from Mina’s room so he can enter. Van Helsing and Harker see Renfield, having just escaped from his cell, heading for Carfax Abbey. They see Dracula with Mina in the abbey, and when Harker shouts to Mina, Dracula sees them and thinks Renfield had trailed them. He strangles Renfield tossing him from the staircase and is hunted by Van Helsing and Harker. Dracula sleeps in his coffin as sunrise has come, and is trapped. Van Helsing prepares a wooden stake while Harker searches for Mina. He finds her in a strange stasis, and when Dracula moans in pain when Van Helsing stakes him, Mina returns to her old self. Harker leaves with Mina and Van Helsing stays and the sound of church bells is heard. “The Horror Of Dracula”: Jonathan Harker (John Van Eyssen) arrives at the Count's castle posing as a librarian. He is startled inside the castle by a young woman begging his aid and claiming she is a prisoner. The woman looks horrified at the sight of Dracula (Christopher Lee) on the stairs and runs out. Dracula then greets Jonathan and guides him to his room where he locks him in. Jonathan starts to write in his diary and his true intentions are revealed: he is here to kill Dracula. The woman begs Jonathan to help the next evening and clutches at him. She leans against him as if crying but then tries to bite him. Dracula arrives and yanks her off and fights with her. Jonathan tries to protect her but is overpowered by Dracula and bitten. The pair depart and Jonathan is worried he might become a vampire. Jonathan descends to the coffin room where he finds Dracula and the woman in their coffins for sunrise. Armed with a stake he impales the female first. Dracula awakes at her screams. When Jonathan turns to Dracula's coffin it is empty and Dracula is waiting by the door for him. Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing then arrives looking for his friend Jonathan. He is horrified when he discovers Jonathan lying in a coffin as a vampire. Staking his friend, he leaves to deliver the grim news in person to Jonathan's fiancée Lucy (Carol Marsh), her brother Arthur Holmwood (Michael Gough) and his wife Mina Holmwood (Melissa Stribling). Arthur is quick to dismiss Dr. Van Helsing but soon seeks his aid when Lucy falls ill. Van Helsing suggests that Dracula wishes to replace the woman Jonathan took from him with Lucy. Lucy becomes a vampire and tries to lure a young niece to her but the girl is saved by Van Helsing and Arthur. Van Helsing suggests using Lucy as a means to find Dracula but Arthur refuses and so Van Helsing stakes Lucy in her coffin. Dr. Van Helsing and Arthur try to track down the destination of Dracula's coffin (which had left the castle just as Van Helsing was arriving there), resorting to bribes. Meanwhile, Mina is called away from home by a message telling her to meet Arthur at a certain address. The next morning, they find Mina in a strange state. Determined to find the coffin they plan to leave again but not before Arthur begs Mina to take a cross. Mina is very reluctant and when Arthur presses it into her hand she screams, jumps up and faints. A cross-shaped burn mark is found on her hand. Arthur and Van Helsing then leave for the location they found out (the very same address Mina was called to, not by Arthur but Dracula) but when they arrive there the coffin has vanished. During the night, Van Helsing and Arthur guard both of Mina's windows against a return of Dracula, but he visits and bites her nonetheless. A remark by the maid leads Van Helsing to the coffin's location: the basement of the Holmwoods' house. He places a cross inside it, while Dracula locks him in the basement and takes Mina with him. Arthur frees Dr. Van Helsing. A chase then begins as Dracula rushes to return home before sunrise. He attempts to bury Mina in the soil and finds Dr. Van Helsing and Arthur close behind and dashes into his home. Inside Dr. Van Helsing and Dracula battle it out, Dracula almost strangling Dr. Van Helsing. Dr. Van Helsing fakes a faint and escapes from Dracula's clutches. He tears open the curtain to let in the sunlight and, forming a cross of candlesticks, he forces Dracula into it. Dracula crumbles into dust, as Van Helsing watches in horror. Mina regains her humanity, the cross-shaped scar fading from her hand as Dracula turns to ash and leaves only a ring behind. “Bram Stroker’s Dracula”: The film begins in a prologue, where Vlad III the Impaler defeats an overwhelming Turkish invasion in 1462. Upon returning home, he finds his beloved wife Elisabeta (Winona Ryder) dead, having committed suicide upon hearing the false reports of Vlad's death in battle. Enraged at his wife being eternally damned as a suicide, the former devout Christian Dracula desecrates his chapel and renounces God, declaring that he will rise from the grave to avenge Elisabeta with all the powers of darkness. Four centuries later, Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves), an assistant real estate agent, travels to Transylvania to arrange the transfer of Carfax Abbey in London, Count Dracula's (Gary Oldman) newest real estate acquisition. At the castle, full of bizarre, unnatural features and shadows that move by themselves, Harker meets Dracula, a wrinkled, pale old man in brilliant red robes. During the final signing of the real estate papers, the Count caresses a picture of Harker's fiancée Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray (also played by Ryder), the reincarnation of his long dead wife, Elisabeta, then Dracula sets sail on the ship Demeter to England, leaving Harker captive by Dracula's insatiable and bloodthirsty Brides, who systematically drink his blood, leaving him weak and unable to escape. Dracula arrives in London in a box of his native soil, which is transported to the Abbey, where Dracula emerges to ravish and drink the blood of Mina's best friend, Lucy Westenra (Sadie Frost). Dracula, now a young and handsome prince, meets and gradually charms Mina, but refuses to bite her, instead offering her absinthe to aid her recollection of her past life. As the two fall deeper in love, Lucy's deteriorating health and noticeable behavioral changes prompts suitors Quincey Morris (Bill Campbell), Dr. John Seward (Richard E. Grant), and Arthur Holmwood (Cary Elwes) to summon Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins), who during a blood transfusion recognizes Lucy as a vampire victim. In Transylvania, Harker escapes to a convent and writes to Mina, who is now overjoyed to marry him. Dracula, grief-stricken and enraged, kills Lucy. After Lucy's funeral, Van Helsing leads Arthur, Seward and Morris to the family crypt, where Lucy has risen as a vampire. Horrified, the group drives a metal stake through her heart and decapitates her. Newlyweds Harker and Mina return to London and join Van Helsing, Seward, Morris and Arthur in hunting Dracula. They arrive at Carfax Abbey and destroy his boxes of soil. The Count, who watches from the shadows, travels to Mina and confesses that he is dead, a hunted creature and the murderer of Lucy. Despite her rage, Mina still loves him and wants to be with him. As she begins drinking blood from Dracula's chest, the Vampire Hunters burst into the bedroom, with Dracula claiming Mina as his bride before disappearing into the shadows. As Mina begins changing the same way Lucy had, Van Helsing hypnotizes her and learns via her connection with Dracula that he is sailing home. The Hunters depart for the port of Varna via train to intercept him, but discover that Dracula has read Mina's mind and evades them. The Hunters split up, with Van Helsing and Mina traveling to the Borgo Pass and the Castle, while the others try to stop the Gypsies transporting Dracula. At night, encamped at the castle, Mina begins changing as the Brides hover nearby. After attempting to seduce Van Helsing she bares fangs, but is rebuffed with a piece of Holy Wafer. As she returns to her human form, Van Helsing surrounds them both with a ring of fire, warding off the Brides until morning, when he wearily infiltrates the castle and kills the Brides as they sleep. Hours later, as sunset approaches, Dracula's carriage appears on the horizon, driven by Gypsies and pursued by the Hunters. Dracula, sensing Mina's presence, telepathically commands her to summon a spell that casts harsh winds to impede the Hunters. The carriage finally arrives at Castle Dracula and a great fight that pits the Hunters vs the Gypsies. One Gypsy coated a knife with chloroform and stabs Morris but he shoots the Gypsy with his pistol. Another Gypsy almost kills Harker but the hunter stabs the Gypsy. But just as the Hunters kill the last gypsy, Dracula bursts from his box. He fights with supernatural strength, but cannot overpower Harker who slits the Count's throat with a kukri knife while Morris stabs him in the heart with a Bowie Knife. As the Count staggers, Mina rushes to his defense with a rifle. Arthur tries to attack but Van Helsing and Harker allow her to retreat with the Count, turning instead to Morris, who dies surrounded by his friends. In the castle, in the very chapel where he renounced God, Dracula lies dying. His appearance reflecting his ancient age, his face demonic, he rebuffs Mina's attempts to pull the knife from his heart. They share an intimate kiss, as the candles adorning the chapel miraculously light, and the desecrations he committed on the altar repair. God forgives Dracula, whose youthful appearance and humanity returns. As he asks Mina to give him peace, she shoves the knife through his heart and decapitates him. As I said with Professor Moriarty, it is amazing how one little appearance of a character can lead to a whole mythos. Dracula originally appeared in Bram Stroker’s book and has grown into one of the most famous villains of all time. He has been romanticized a little. This is probably due to the fact that Dracula is a seducer. He hypnotizes his victims, promising them a romantic life of immortality and love. However, that hides an ugly fact: he is a bloodthirsty killer, a vampire who must feed off the living in order to exist. Like a rabid wolf, the Count stalks and seduces his prey, including young Lucy, whom he curses with a neckbite. She begins to transform into an undead being as well; that is, until Dr. Abraham Van Helsing arrives to try and counteract the process. He is too late to save Lucy's life, but he restores her soul by driving a stake into her heart and chopping her head off. These practices are not easy for the uneducated Englishman civilians in his midst, but they must believe in order to defeat the advances of Dracula. He is a grotesque being but also a soulful, passionate, romantic individual. He is obsessed with Mina, hoping to turn the girl into a vampire and make her his eternal lover. And, the only thing that can stop him is death. However, one gets the sense that Dracula is so overcome with love for Mina that he cannot bring himself to commit this terrible act: to "condemn" her, as he puts it to a life as a vampire, especially in the 1992 movie “Bram Stroker’s Dracula.” And, this is what leads to his downfall. Though he does so some compassion, in the many works he has been portrayed in, Dracula is usually a ruthless and bloodthirsty monster that will stop at nothing to make a woman his beloved forever. Besides, the best villains are ones that aren’t easy to categorize as evil. I mean, yes, Dracula is an agent of evil; but he does have human qualities that we can relate to. And, in a way, this makes him much more of a villain because most people don’t really want to root for the bad guy. They feel guilty cheering for the character who commits horrible acts, but they can’t help but see a little bit of themselves in these characters. In a way, Count Dracula manages to seduce to audience as well as Mina.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 22, 2008 16:22:58 GMT -5
7. Pazuzu Who is he: An evil demon. What is he from: The Exorcist novel and movies. What has he done: Possesses Regan MacNeil and other people, kills some people, and psychologically tortures his exorcists. Intelligence: Near-omniscience. Power: Was once a Sumerian demigod and can possess anyone at anytime. Vileness: Has no remorse for anything. Sway: Knows just the right things to say to perfectly psychologically torture anyone around him. Purity: Is basically pure evil. Physical Prowess: Depends on whom the demon has possessed, but is often depicted as a combination of animal and human parts, with the body of a man, the head of a lion or dog, eagle-like taloned feet, two pairs of wings, a scorpion's tail, and a serpentine penis. Name Coolness: “Pazuzu” is pretty damn cool. Created by: William Peter Blatty. Portrayed by: Linda Blair played Regan MacNeil, the girl possessed by Pazuzu in “The Exorcist,” but, Blair’s stunt double Eileen Dietz played the demon in scenes in which Pazuzu’s face is shown. Mercedes McCambridge was the voice of the demon in “The Exorcist” as well. Karen Knapp voiced Pazuzu in “Exorcist II: The Heretic.” Colleen Dewhurst voiced the demon in “The Exorcist III.” And, Izabella Scorupco played Sarah, the possessed individual, while Rupert Degas voiced the demon in “Exorcist: The Beginning.” The Exorcist (novel): An elderly Jesuit priest named Lankester Merrin is leading an archaeological dig in northern Iraq and studying ancient relics. Following the discovery of a small statue of the demon Pazuzu (an actual ancient Sumerian demigod) and a modern-day St. Christopher medal curiously juxtaposed together at the site, a series of omens alerts him to a pending confrontation with a powerful evil, which unknown to the reader at this point, he has battled before in an exorcism in Africa. Meanwhile in Georgetown, a young girl named Regan MacNeil living with her famous actress mother, Chris MacNeil, becomes inexplicably ill. After a gradual series of poltergeist-like disturbances, she undergoes disturbing psychological and physical changes, appearing to become "possessed" by a demonic spirit. After several unsuccessful psychiatric and medical treatments, Regan's mother turns to a local Jesuit priest. Father Damien Karras, who is currently going through a personal crisis of faith after the loss of his mother, agrees to see Regan as a psychiatrist, but initially resists the notion that it is an actual demonic possession. After a few meetings with the child, now completely inhabited by a diabolical personality, he turns to the local bishop for permission to perform an exorcism on the child. After consultation with the Jesuit president of Georgetown, the bishop appoints the experienced Father Merrin, recently returned to the States, to perform the exorcism and allows the doubt-ridden Karras to assist him. The demon supposedly possessing Regan calls himself Pazuzu, the same demon whose statue was found earlier. The lengthy exorcism tests the priests, both physically and spiritually. After the death of Father Merrin, the task ultimately restores Father Karras' faith, leading him to give his own life to save Regan's. Legion: The story opens with the discovery of a twelve-year-old boy who has been murdered and crucified on a pair of rowing oars. Kinderman already sees that the boy is mutilated in a way identical to the victims of a serial killer known as the Gemini Killer, who was apparently shot to death by police twelve-years previously while climbing the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. A priest is later murdered in a confessional, once again bearing the mutilations distinctive of the apparently deceased killer. The fingerprints at the two crime scenes differ, however. Further victims soon follow, including one of Kinderman's friends, another priest, who is slain in a hospital, his body drained of blood before being decapitated. Yet again the Gemini Killer's mutilations are present. Investigations lead Kinderman to the psychiatric wing of the hospital where his friend was slain. Here he finds a number of suspects: Dr. Temple, a psychiatrist who has a dismissive and even contemptuous attitude towards his patients; Dr. Amfortas, another doctor at the hospital. He is very mysterious and not very talkative, and is seemingly apathetic towards everything since the recent death of his wife; there are a number of elderly people at the hospital suffering from senile dementia, and the fingerprints of different senile patients are found at murder scenes, but interviews with the patients make it clear they are seemingly incapable of carrying out the elaborate killings and mutilations; Sunlight, a mysterious patient, found wandering aimlessly eleven-years ago dressed as a priest, who brags of being the Gemini Killer reincarnated and who claims to have carried out the recent murders, even though he logically could not have done so, being secured in a locked cell in a straitjacket, at one point he claims the doctors and nurses let him out to kill and also looks identical to Damien Karras, a priest who supposedly died in The Exorcist by falling down a flight of stairs; James Venamun, the actual Gemini Killer himself, and his body was never found, suggesting he may have survived and is resuming his crimes. In the end, Dr. Temple is disabled by a stroke and ends up paralyzed, Dr. Amfortas dies in an accident (although was terminally ill anyway, suffering from a disease he refused to treat so he could join his deceased wife) and Sunlight abruptly dies from heart failure. It turns out Sunlight's death came just after the Gemini Killer's father passed away from natural causes. The implication is that the Gemini Killer possessed the body of Damien Karras and spent many years trying to gain control of the body, during which time Karras was held in a mental hospital. He lacked any identification and was nicknamed Sunlight because he sat in the sun's rays as it passed through the window of his cell. Upon finally gaining control of Karras' body, the Gemini occasionally left it to possess the bodies of the patients suffering from senile dementia, and as they were in an open ward with access to the outside world, he could use them to go forth and commit murders. This is why the fingerprints of several senility patients were found at the crime scenes; their bodies carried out the murders but the Gemini Killer was in control of them. The Gemini's motive originally was to shame his father, a preacher, whom he hated. When his father died of natural causes the Gemini Killer felt his mission was over and he had no reason to remain in possession of Karras' body. Feeling compelled to explain everything to Kinderman, he summoned the detective, explains all of this, successfully demands that Kinderman tells him he believes that he (Sunlight) really is the Gemini Killer, and then effectively wills himself to die from heart failure. The final chapter of the novel, an epilogue, has Kinderman at a burger-bar with his faithful partner, Atkins. Kinderman explains to Atkins his thoughts and musings of the whole case and how it relates to his problem of the concept of evil. Kinderman ends by concluding that he believes the Big Bang was Lucifer falling from heaven, and that the entire Universe, including humanity, are the broken parts of Lucifer, and that evolution is the process of Lucifer putting himself together back into an angel. “The Exorcist”: The movie starts with Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow) on an archaeological dig near Nineveh. He is then brought to a nearby hole where a small stone head is found, resembling some sort of creature. After talking to one of his supervisors, he then travels to a spot where a strange statue stands, specifically Pazuzu, with a head similar to the one he found earlier. He sees an ominous man up a bit away, and two dogs fight loudly nearby, setting the tone for the rest of the film. Meanwhile, Father Damian Karras, a young priest at Georgetown University, begins to doubt his faith while dealing with his mother's terminal sickness. In the central storyline, Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), an actress filming in Georgetown, notices dramatic and dangerous changes in the behavior and physical make-up of her twelve year-old daughter Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair). Regan exhibits strange, unnatural powers, including levitation and great strength. At first, Chris believes that Regan's rapid mental and physical changes are due to trauma from Chris's recent divorce. Regan is forced to endure a series of unpleasant medical tests as doctors try to find an explanation for her bizarre changes. Doctors retire the belief that Regan has brain abnormalities causing her bizarre behaviour when MRI Scans come back negative. Chris is advised by a doctor that Regan should see a psychiatrist and that her behaviour could possibly be a result of a chronic mental illness. Chris rejects their suggestion. During this time, several supernatural occurrences plague the household of the MacNeils, including violently shaking beds, strange noises and unexplained movement. When all medical possibilities of explaining Regan's worsening condition are exhausted, a doctor recommends an exorcism, explaining that if Regan's symptoms are a psychosomatic result of a belief in demonic possession, then an exorcism would likewise have the psychosomatic effect of ending such symptoms. Chris consults Father Karras, since he is both a priest and a psychiatrist. Despite an initial conclusion that Regan's problems are of a psychological nature, Damian is eventually convinced that Regan is possessed, after witnessing otherwise unexplainable events. Father Merrin, who in addition to being an archeologist is also experienced in exorcism, is summoned to Washington. He and Father Karras try to drive the spirit from Regan before she dies. Regan, or rather the spirit, claims she is not possessed by a simple demon, but by the Devil himself. At the climax of the exorcism, Father Merrin dies of heart failure and Father Karras shouts at the demon to enter him. The demon does enter Damian, but the priest immediately throws himself through Regan's bedroom window in order to stop the spirit from murdering her. He falls down the steps outside and is apparently killed. Regan is restored to her normal self, and according to Chris, claims she does not remember any of the experience. The film ends as the MacNeil mother and daughter leave Georgetown to move on from their ordeal. “Exorcist II: The Heretic”: Father Philip Lamont (Richard Burton), who is struggling with his faith, is assigned by the Cardinal (Paul Henreid) to investigate the death of Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow), who had been killed in the course of exorcising the Assyrian demon Pazuzu from Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair). While Lamont, who's had some experience at exorcism, thinks of Merrin as a saint, he is actually up on posthumous heresy charges. Some Church authorities are not sure the exorcism should have been performed (even though it was officially approved by the local Bishop). Merrin’s writings are considered very controversial. Apparently, Church authorities are trying to modernize and do not want to acknowledge that Satan (in terms of an actual evil entity) exists. Although now seemingly normal and staying with guardian Sharon Spencer (Kitty Winn) while her mother is on location, Regan continues to be monitored at a psychiatric institute by Dr. Gene Tuskin (Louise Fletcher). She claims she remembers nothing, but Tuskin believes her memories are only buried or repressed. In an attempt to plumb her memories of the exorcism, specifically the circumstances in which Merrin died, Dr. Tuskin has hypnotized the girl, to whom she is linked by a "synchronizer," apparently a kind of biofeedback device that is used by two people to synchronize their brainwaves. Tuskin finds herself telepathically "witnessing" Regan's memory of the event. She is attacked by Pazuzu and Father Lamont has to use the synchronizer to rescue her. After a guided tour by Sharon of the Georgetown house where the exorcism took place (wherein Sharon confesses to leaving the MacNeils for two years before coming back, claiming she is never at ease unless she remains near Regan), Lamont returns to be coupled with Regan by synchronizer. The priest is spirited to the past by Pazuzu to observe Father Merrin exorcising a young boy, Kokumo (Joey Green), in Africa. Learning that the boy developed special powers to fight Pazuzu, who appears as a swarm of locusts, Lamont journeys to Africa, defying his superior, to seek help from the adult Kokumo (James Earl Jones). Lamont learns that the reason Pazuzu attacks certain people is that those people all have some form of psychic healing ability. The exorcism he performed at the beginning of the film was for a South American lady who said she "healed the sick". Kokumo has since become a scientist, studying how to prevent locust swarms from attacking native crops. Regan, possibly taking a cue from her experience with the synchronizer, is able to reach telepathically inside the minds of others; she uses this to help an autistic girl to speak, for instance. Father Merrin belonged to a group of theologians who believed that psychic powers were a spiritual gift which would one day be shared by all humanity in a kind of global consciousness (akin to the ideas of Teilhard de Chardin, on whom Blatty originally based Merrin's character); he thought people like Kokumo and Regan were foreshadowers of this new type of humanity. In a vision, Merrin asks Lamont to watch over Regan. For some reason, this necessitates Lamont and Regan returning to the old house in Georgetown where she was possessed. The pair are followed by Tuskin and Sharon, concerned about Regan's safety. En route, Pazuzu tempts Lamont (and apparently Sharon) by offering them unlimited power. Lamont resists and continues with his original plan. In the house, a swarm of locusts deluge the pair and the entire house begins to crumble around them. Pazuzu appears as a kind of tarted-up version of Regan herself, and Lamont has to resist this temptation as well -- by beating open its chest and pulling out its heart. Once he's done this, Regan banishes the locusts (and, one assumes, Pazuzu) by enacting the same ritual used by Kokumo to get rid of locusts in Africa. Outside the house, Sharon is apparently possessed by Pazuzu, but kills herself. Tuskin tells Lamont to watch over Regan and the pair leave; Tuskin remains at the house to answer police questions. “The Exorcist III”: Set 15 years after the events of The Exorcist, Lieutenant Kinderman (George C. Scott) is a philosophical police detective who was briefly involved in the case of Regan's possession. He has to investigate a string of grisly murders that appear to have a satanic motive behind them, and furthermore have all the hallmarks of a serial-murderer known as the Gemini Killer. The most baffling thing is that the Gemini Killer was executed years ago. The evidence eventually leads Kinderman to the psychiatric ward of a mental asylum where an already disturbing case takes a shocking twist. “Exorcist: The Beginning”: The plot revolves around the crisis of faith suffered by Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) following the horrific events he witnessed during World War II. Now an archeologist in Cairo, Merrin is approached by a collector of antiquities who asks him to come to a British excavation in the Turkana region of Kenya. This dig is excavating a Christian Byzantine church from the 5th century, long before Christianity had reached that region. Further, the church is in perfect condition, as though it had been buried immediately after the construction was completed. Merrin is asked to participate in the dig and find an ancient relic hidden in the ruins before the British do. Merrin takes the job, but soon discovers that all is not well, something evil lies in the church and is infecting the region. The local tribesman hired to dig refuse to enter the building, and there are stories of an epidemic that wiped out an entire village. However, when Merrin, growing suspicious of these rumors, digs up one of the graves of the supposed victims of this plague, he discovers it is empty. Meanwhile, the evil grows, turning people against each other and resulting in violence, atrocities, and more bloodshed. Beneath the church lies the ruins of an even older temple but not a Christian one. Rather, in the ruins under the church, Merrin and his allies find demonic icons, and other signs of evil and Satanism. This land is where he first encounters the demon that calls itself Pazuzu, which he will encounter again in The Exorcist. This demon is said to "brush" several people, including a child named Joseph, who falls ill because of it, and the former head of the dig who is driven insane by visions. At the end of the movie, the dig's doctor, Sarah (Izabella Scorupco), turns out to be the possessed individual and has the demon exorcised from her in the tunnels below the church but dies. Dr. Merrin and Joseph emerge from the church, (once again buried in sand) and history has repeated itself. 50 (and 1500 years ago) years ago everyone at the site was killed by an evil presence from the church except for one priest. Now, only Father Merrin and the little boy are left as the British soldiers and the local tribes have annihilated each other as well as themselves. “The Exorcist” scared practically everyone moviegoer who saw it when it hit theaters in 1973, and it was all because it captured one of the best and scariest manifestations of a demon on camera: Pazuzu. One of the main reasons for the movies impact was that you had an innocent little girl in danger, as Regan MacNeil is possessed by the demon. It was very scary to see what appeared to be a little girl committing such violent acts, and you had to constantly remind yourself that it was a demon that was doing all these evil deeds. And, Pazuzu did many evil deeds. He killed a partygoer at the MacNeil house by throwing him out a window. He attack and psychologically tortures anyone who comes near it. And, there was that infamous crucifix scene. Also, the demon wouldn’t leave Regan’s body without a fight, even giving Father Merrin a heart attack. And, yes, there were some crappy sequels, but those haven’t hurt the impact of Pazuzu’s first appearance in “The Exorcist.” The movie caused a huge controversy when it was released with people saying that it promoted the worship of Satan and had subliminal messages. Now, that is the mark of a good villain: capturing the imaginations of people who see it in such a way that they will make any kind of claim. And, Pazuzu definitely fits that bill.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 22, 2008 17:40:40 GMT -5
6. Lex Luthor Who is he: Mad scientist turned millionaire industrialist and former U.S. President. What is he from: DC Comics, most notably the Superman comics. What has he done: Tried to kill Superman on many occasions, abused his power as U.S. President, killed many heroes he gave superpowers by deactivating their powers, and too many more to be named here. Intelligence: He is a genius, a mastermind of crime and business. Power: Is very wealthy and founded LexCorp; was also President of the United States once. Vileness: Many lives are at stake whenever this guy puts another plan into action. Sway: Lex loves to talk and hear himself talk, can match wits with anyone, and is able to make Superman mad. Purity: Power has absolutely corrupted Luthor; he won't stop and will gleefully hurt more people in the process. Physical Prowess: Has no superpowers, but he has worn a special suit that allows him to fight superhumans like Superman. Name Coolness: “Lex Luthor” is just badass, with a nice alliteration to it. Created by: Jerry Seigel and Joes Schuster. Portrayed by: Lyle Talbot was the first man to play Luthor on film in the serial 1950 “Atom Man VS Superman.” Gene Hackman played Luthor in the Superman films. Kevin Spacey portrayed Lex in “Superman Returns” and will reprise the role in “The Man of Steel.” Scott James Wells played Lex in the Superboy TV series. John Shea played him in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman. Michael Rosenbaum plays Luthor on Smallville. Stan Jones voiced Luthor in the Superfriends animated series. Michael Bell did the voice in the Ruby Spears Superman animated series. Clancy Brown voiced Lex in the 1990s WB Superman animated series, the Cartoon Network Justice League animated series, and The Batman animated series. James Marsters voiced him in the animated movie “Superman: Doomsday.” Brian Dobson does the voice of him in the Krypto the Superdog animated series. Comic books: In his first appearance in Action Comics #23, Luthor (who is only referred to by his surname) is a self-professed genius who makes his home in a flying city suspended by an airship. He first tries to ignite a war between two fictional European nations as part of a larger plan for world domination. In Superman #4, he is later found hiding out in an underwater city, where he has been terrorizing the planet with man-made earthquakes. When confronted by Superman, Luthor challenges him to a contest of strength versus science. When the DC multiverse began to take hold in the 1960s, this "Golden Age" Luthor was rewritten as Alexei Luthor, Lex Luthor's counterpart from a parallel universe, specifically Earth-Two. In the lead-up to the multi-issue series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Alexei joins forces with his Earth-One counterpart, each attempting to defeat the other's version of Superman. When Alexei challenges Brainiac's partnership with Lex during the Crisis, Brainiac kills Alexei to settle the dispute. In his classic appearances, Lex Luthor is a mad scientist who typically plots to take over the world, or destroy it, through a number of diabolical schemes. In Adventure Comics #271 (1962), Jerry Siegel retroactively wrote an origin story that reveals that Luthor's hate for Superman stems from a past encounter: During his youth, Lex had been an aspiring scientist and a friend of Superboy. Lex begins experiments in creating an artificial new form of life, as well as a cure for Kryptonite poisoning. An accidental fire breaks out in Lex's lab; Superboy uses his super-breath to extinguish the flames, inadvertently spilling chemicals which cause Luthor to go prematurely bald. The botched rescue also destroys Lex's artificial lifeform, along with the Kryptonite cure. Believing that Superboy intentionally caused the accident, Lex attributes his actions to jealousy and vows revenge. He first tries to show Superboy up with grandiose inventions that will improve the lives of Smallville's residents, but each goes dangerously out of control and requires Superboy's intervention. Unwilling to accept responsibility for the catastrophes, Lex rationalizes that Superboy is out to humiliate him. He continues to seek revenge, and in the process devolves into a criminal; over time he becomes Superman's archenemy. Although he is routinely sent back to prison, Lex always manages to escape to threaten the world again (early Luthor stories often begin with him sitting in prison and wearing a gray uniform). This origin makes Luthor's fight with Superman a personal one, and suggests that if events had unfolded differently, Luthor might have been a nobler person; these elements were played up in various stories in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in Elliot S. Maggin's text novel Last Son of Krypton. Luthor's originally-stated goals were to kill Superman and to take over Earth as a stepping stone to dominating the universe. In addition to using his inventions to combat Superman's powers, Luthor also shows an affinity for wigs and disguises. Although none of his attempts to kill Superman work permanently (though a classic non-canonical story from 1961 entitled "The Death of Superman" has Luthor finally killing Superman after lulling him by pretending to go straight), Luthor's persistence makes him Superman's most troublesome foe. Though he is a notorious fugitive on Earth, Luthor is revered on the alien world of Lexor, renamed in honor of him, where he rediscovered the planet's lost technology and rebuilt society for its inhabitants' ruined civilization. As a result, he becomes a hero in the eyes of Lexor's people, whereas Superman is detested as a villain. He eventually marries a local woman named Ardora, with whom he fathers a son. After its debut, Lexor appears sporadically in various Superman comics as Luthor's base of operations, where he wages assaults on Superman. During one such battle, Lex flees Earth and returns to Lexor to draw Superman to his destruction. But when an energy salvo from Luthor's battlesuit accidentally overloads the "Neutrarod" (a spire Luthor had built to counter Lexor's geological instability), the result is the total destruction of the planet, killing all of its inhabitants, including Luthor's wife and son there. Superman initially assumes Luthor has also been killed in the blast, but this is due to his unfamiliarity with the rugged design of Luthor's battlesuit. Luthor eventually returns to Earth, unable to accept his own role in Lexor's destruction and blaming Superman for it. During the 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Luthor allies himself with fellow Superman foe Brainiac to recruit an army of supervillains spanning the DC Multiverse, intending to take advantage of the confusion caused by the Crisis for their own benefit. However, once it becomes clear that it is as much in their interests to save the multiverse as anyone else's, Luthor and Brainiac reluctantly ally their faction with Superman and the other heroes. The Bronze Age Luthor is involved in a battle on Maltus with other super-villains to prevent Krona from beginning the experiment which created the multiverse in the first place; instead, reality is altered so that the different universes fall into their proper places, converging into one. Afterwards, Luthor is returned to prison with all his memories of the alliance forgotten. Luthor remains a foe of Superman until the DC Comics continuity is retconned in the months following the mini-series. Henceforth, the Silver Age Lex Luthor is referred to by readers as the "Pre-Crisis" Luthor. Luthor's trademark battlesuit from this era, a heavily-armored, flight-capable suit with kryptonite fixtures embedded in its gauntlets, has reappeared in the form of several redesigned homages in modern continuity, most notably during Infinite Crisis. After the Crisis On Infinite Earths, like many supervillains, the Lex Luthor envisioned in the six-issue Man of Steel comic series had an abusive childhood which warped his worldview. He was born to cruel parents in the Suicide Slum district of Metropolis, his only friend was a schoolmate named Perry White. In his teens, Lex takes out a large insurance policy on his parents without their knowledge, and then sabotages their car's brakes, killing them. Lex is sent to live with equally-brutal foster parents, Casey and Emily Griggs, where he will wait until he reaches legal age to collect the insurance money. His foster parents conspire to steal his money, forcing their daughter (and Lex's foster sibling), Lena, into seducing Lex so they can learn of its location. Because she has romantic feelings for Lex, Lena refuses to cooperate, and is beaten to death by her father. Lex is absent from the home at the time of the murder, having been talked into going to a football game by Perry. Following this event, Lex blames Perry for keeping him from Lena's side. \\Upon graduating from MIT, Lex builds the LexWing airplane, the basis of his own business, LexCorp, which grows to dominate much of Metropolis. Still harboring bitterness toward Perry White, Lex begins an affair with his wife, fathering a baby with her. The offspring Jerry White later learns of his true parentage during his late teens, shortly before being killed by a local street gang he was associated with. Decades later, on the day Lex's own daughter is born, he finally avenges himself on his foster father by hiring him to assassinate the Mayor of Metropolis. In the wake of the successful hit, Lex meets with Griggs in an alley (under the pretense of payment) and personally slays him with a handgun. Following this incident, he names his newborn daughter Lena. Luthor's presence is hinted at in issue #2 of Byrne's Man of Steel series, but he is not fully seen until issue #4, over a year after Superman's arrival in Metropolis. When Lois Lane and Clark Kent are invited to a society gala aboard Luthor's yacht, terrorists seize the ship without warning. Luthor observes Superman in action, and once the gunmen are dispatched, hands the hero a personal check. But when Luthor admits that he had not only anticipated the attack, but had arranged for it to occur in order to lure Superman out, Mayor Berkowitz deputizes Superman to arrest Luthor for reckless endangerment. Luthor's temporary incarceration leaves him seething, and he promises to make Superman pay for the humiliation. The rivalry escalates in Man of Steel #5, when Luthor attempts to clone Superman with the assistance of Dr. Teng. Upon completion, the clone proves itself to be flawed and dangerous, eventually degenerating into Bizarro. With Luthor's "Silver Age" origin gone, Man of Steel required the villain to hold a new motivation for opposing Superman, being that he had been the most powerful and respected man in Metropolis prior to the hero's arrival and was unseated from this position by the aforementioned humiliating arrest. Ego and jealousy became the primary cause behind his hatred of Superman, coupled with indignation that the Man of Steel was the only man he could not buy off, threaten or otherwise control. When Superman is apparently slain in battle with the alien monstrosity Doomsday, Luthor feels "cheated" that a "lifeless monster" had robbed him of his life's work, and sinks into a chronic depression until Superman debuts again. Luthor acquires his first prized sample of kryptonite from the cyborg Metallo, who is powered by a "heart" of kryptonite rock. Fashioning a ring from the alien ore deadly to Superman, Luthor wears it as a symbol that he was untouchable, even to the man of steel. He eventually suffers from a severe cancer in the 1990s, caused by long-term radiation exposure to his kryptonite ring. Before this, kryptonite was assumed to produce a 'clean' radiation that was harmless to normal humans. Luthor's hand requires amputation to prevent the cancer's spread, but by then it has already metastasized and his condition is terminal. While mulling over his fate, Luthor visits the grave of his deceased illegitimate son, Jerry White. He soon fakes his own death by taking a jet on a proposed trip around the world and crashing it in the Andes; this is merely a cover for the removal of his brain from his cancer-ridden body and the growing of a new cloned body around it, whereupon he passes himself off as his hitherto unknown, illegitimate 21-year-old son and heir, Lex Luthor II; This deception is helped by a vibrant new body with a beard and full head of red hair, as well as assuming an Australian accent as part of his fake backstory. Luthor II inherits control of LexCorp and seduces then-Supergirl the Supergirl (Matrix). However, after some time Luthor's new clone body eventually begins to deteriorate and age at a rapid rate (a side-effect of a disease that affects all clones). Meanwhile, Lois Lane discovers proof of Luthor's clone harvesting and false identity;[29] with help from Superman, she exposes the truth, and finally a despondent Supergirl (Matrix) brings him down violently. In the end, Luthor becomes a permanent prisoner in his cloned body, unable to even blink, and swearing vengeance on Superman. Aid comes in the form of the demon Neron; Luthor promptly sells his soul in exchange for Neron restoring his body to vibrant health, though he once more loses his hair and a return to an older age than his 21-year-old cloned form, albeit one that is apparently still younger than before his cancer, or at any rate in far better shape. Returning to Metropolis, Luthor freely turns himself over to the police and is put on trial. He is acquitted on all counts when Luthor claims to have been kidnapped by renegade scientists from Cadmus Labs, who replaced him with a violent clone that is allegedly responsible for all the crimes Luthor is charged with. Although Luthor holds a grudge toward Lois Lane for exposing his criminal dealings, he also has an unspoken love for her. On several occasions Luthor has commented that had Superman not arrived in Metropolis, he would have used his time and energy to win Lois instead; indeed, Luthor is actively pursuing her as early as Man of Steel #2. Marv Wolfman originally planned for the two to have been romantically involved, with Lois leaving him for Superman, giving Luthor another reason to hate his foe, but John Byrne modified the story when he wrote the actual issue. The post-Crisis Lex Luthor has been married eight times, though the first seven marriages occurred off-panel in Luthor's past. His eighth and final marriage to Contessa Erica Alexandra Del Portenza, (otherwise known simply as "The Contessa") is based on mutual greed. The Contessa buys controlling interest in LexCorp after Luthor is indicted, compelling Lex into marrying her in order to regain control of his company. The Contessa becomes pregnant and starts using the unborn child to dominate Lex into doing her bidding. Luthor's response is to imprison her while she is drugged during childbirth, then lock her up, keeping her in a permanently-unconscious state. The Contessa later escapes to an island mansion, but upon being elected President, Luthor targets her home with a barrage of missiles and destroys it. Deciding to turn to politics, Lex becomes President of the United States, winning the election on a platform of promoting technological progress. His first action as president was to take a proposed moratorium on fossil-based fuels to the U.S. Congress. Luthor is assisted by the extreme unpopularity of the previous administration's mishandling of the Gotham City earthquake crisis. After six months, Gotham is restored and rejoins America. Ironically, Batman ultimately learns that the entire debacle was the fault of Luthor alone, which results in Bruce Wayne severing all commercial ties between the U.S. government and his company, Wayne Enterprises, in protest of Luthor's election as President. Luthor responds in turn by ordering the murder of Wayne's lover Vesper Fairchild and framing Wayne for the murder. An early triumph of Luthor's first term is the Our Worlds At War crisis, in which he coordinates the U.S. Army, Earth's superheroes and a number of untrustworthy alien forces to battle the main villain of the story arc, Imperiex. However, as it is eventually revealed, Lex knew about the alien invasion in advance and did nothing to alert Earth's heroes to it, which led to Topeka, Kansas being destroyed by an Imperiex probe. A cadre of superheroes eventually break ranks from the Justice League to oppose Luthor. Batman, who had previously forbid any attempt to unseat Luthor from office by force, led the storming of the White House. This was predicated by an attempt on Luthor's part to link Superman to a kryptonite asteroid that is hurtling toward Earth. In a desperate gambit, Luthor uses a variant combination of the "super-steroid" Venom (a chemical associated with the Batman villain Bane), liquid synthetic Kryptonite, and an Apokoliptian battlesuit to fight Superman directly. The madness that is a side effect of Venom takes hold, and during the ensuing fight with Superman and Batman, Luthor admits he had traded the creature Doomsday to Darkseid in return for weapons during the Our Worlds at War crisis; this inadvertently provides a confession, which is captured on video by Batman. Returning to the LexCorp building to regroup, Luthor finds that the acting C.E.O., Talia Head, has sold the entirety of the company assets to the Wayne Foundation (owned by Bruce Wayne, the alter-ego of Talia's past love interest). Following Luthor's bankruptcy and total disgrace, Vice President Pete Ross briefly assumes his place as President. Based on the Timeline of the DC Universe, Luthor serves less than three years. The 2004 12-issue limited series Superman: Birthright provides an alternate look at Luthor's history, including his youth in Smallville and his first encounter with Superman, with a few elements lifted from the 2001 television series Smallville. Examples of the show's influence include Lex's problematic relationship with his wealthy father, Lionel Luthor. Birthright also reinvents the Silver Age notion of Lex originally befriending Clark Kent, who shares his interest in astronomy. During a failed experiment to communicate with a lost alien civilization (Krypton), an explosion erupts which singes off Lex's hair and kills his father. By the time Clark meets him again in Metropolis years later, Lex has launched a billion-dollar business and is the foremost astrobiologist in the world but has also become dangerously misanthropic. Alexander Luthor, Jr., the son of Earth-Three's Lex Luthor, returned to the DC Universe along with other survivors from Crisis on Infinite Earths as part of a scheme to create a perfect Earth, under the pretense of restoring Earth-Two. To this end, he assumed Lex Luthor's identity and created a new Secret Society of Super Villains. In response, the real Lex Luthor took on the identity of Mockingbird and formed a super-villain version of the Secret Six in order to counter Alexander's organization. Lex confronts his impostor In Infinite Crisis #3, but is intercepted by Superboy-Prime, who is allied with Alexander. Luthor later visits Conner Kent, who is in recovery at Titans Tower. Lex slips Conner a crystal shard which shows the location of Alexander's Arctic Fortress. At the end of Infinite Crisis #7, Lex oversees the Joker's execution of Alexander. Luthor has shown an unusual (at least by his standards) compassion for Conner Kent; it seems that by watching Superboy throughout the course of his short life, Lex came to see Conner as his son[citation needed]. At one point, Luthor is shown visiting a memorial statue of Superboy in Metropolis and placing flowers there. In the opening weeks of 52, the Gotham City Police Department finds what appears to be Luthor's body in an alley. John Henry Irons examines the body at S.T.A.R. Labs and notes that the corpse was altered postmortem to make it resemble Lex Luthor. During a press conference, the genuine Luthor publicly states that the body is that of an impostor from another Earth, and the man truly responsible for the crimes Luthor is being charged with. Though Alexander's body had a missing finger and a different appearance from Lex at the time of his death, 52 editor Stephen Wacker has confirmed that the body found in Gotham is indeed Alex, and that Luthor had it altered before the police discovered it. Lex strives to rebuild his fallen reputation; he becomes spokesman for a new procedure, created by the Everyman Project, that engineers ordinary citizens to develop superpowers. During the autopsy of Alex Luthor, Lex secretly exposes John to the chemicals involved in his creating his new army of super-heroes, turning John into a literal man of steel. When approached by John's niece Natasha Irons, Lex gladly allows her to be one of his first test subjects. Using Natasha and several other volunteers, Luthor forms his own team of superheroes which are introduced as the new Infinity Inc. In week #21, Infinity Inc. is in the midst of a battle with Blockbuster (which Luthor has created as well), when he demonstrates that he can 'shut off' the powers of each of his agents; this results in the death of his speedster, Trajectory. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, Luthor sets in motion a calculated plot to discredit Supernova, a new hero who has taken over defending Metropolis in Superman's absence: Luthor triggers a mass-shutdown of the powers of everyone who has undertaken the Everyman program, except for the members of Infinity Inc. (this was also done out of anger because Lex found out that he was not compatible for the process). As multiple flight-powered Everymen plummet to their deaths, underground gas mains rupture from the impact, which adds civilians to the death toll. Luthor's plot ultimately fails when Supernova is able to minimize the disaster with a spectacular rescue. While investigating Luthor in order to root out his motive, Natasha Irons discovers that Luthor has been testing himself to see if he is compatible with the artificial meta-gene treatment. John Henry Irons leads an assault on Luthor's building; despite the destruction of his armor during the fight, he confronts Luthor, only to find himself badly outclassed, as Luthor demonstrates nearly all of Superman's powers. However, Natasha uses her uncle's hammer to trigger an electromagnetic pulse which shuts down the synthetic metagene long enough for Steel to knock Lex unconscious. Lex is disgraced as a result, and later faces indictment when the members of the Everymen realize they have been used. One year after the events of Infinite Crisis, Luthor has been cleared of over 120 criminal counts ranging from malfeasance to first-degree murder relating to the New Years Eve massacre from "52." However, his role in the massacre has permanently ruined his public image and thanks to the machinations of Doctor Sivana, he has lost most of his wealth and all of his control over his newly reformed LexCorp, which is now being run by Lana Lang. He blames Clark Kent for writing several articles unraveling his schemes and pledges vengeance on Metropolis after an angry mob jeers him on the courthouse steps. After amassing large quantities of Kryptonite, including kidnapping the supervillains Metallo and the Kryptonite Man, Lex uses it to power a Kryptonian battleship controlled through a "sunstone" crystal. Superman manages to destroy the Kryptonite-powered ship and recover the crystal, but Lex manages to escape custody yet again. Lex later sends Bizarro after the newly arrived "Superboy" only for the creature to be defeated by Superman. Undaunted, Lex gathers together a "Revenge Squad," to fight against the invading Kryptonians led by General Zod. In JLA, Lex Luthor (alongside Joker and Cheetah III) gathers together a new "Injustice League" and, outfitted in a new version of his warsuit (although still green and purple, it no longer has clear design derivations from the pre-Crisis warsuit as the McGuinness design did), sets out to destroy the Justice League with them. On a related note during this section, he was responsible for creating the third Shaggy Man and the third Blockbuster. Lex plays a large role in the Countdown to Final Crisis tie-in event, Salvation Run. Having been sent to the prison planet after his Injustice League was defeated, Lex quickly assumes control of the amassed villains, receiving competition only from Joker and Gorilla Grodd, who convince half of the villains to join them. He does fight the Joker until the battle was interrupted by an attack by Desaad's Parademons. After the attack, Luthor manages to get the villains off the planet with a makeshift teleporter, secretly powered by Neutron, Heatmonger, Plasmus, Warp and Thunder and Lightning. When called a "monster" by Thunder, Lex claims it is the ones who sent them there who are the real monsters, and that he is the hero. He later sets the teleporter to self-destruct after he uses it, killing the attacking Parademons, and his living batteries. In Justice League of America #21 he can seen associating with Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains and placed in it's Inner Circle. Countdown #34 presents a concise origin page for Lex Luthor as a backup (part of a series which began in 52), representing the new continuity for the Superman mythos as primarily outlined in Action Comics #850, elaborating on the details of this new continuity as pertaining to Lex. His origin now seems to consist of aspects from pre-Crisis continuity, Man of Steel and Birthright, as well as the TV show Smallville. He is shown to be the son of business mogul Lionel Luthor and his socialite spouse Leticia. As in Birthright and the pre-Crisis DC, Lex spends part of his adolescence in Smallville, Kansas (under the care of his aunt, Lena), where he meets Clark Kent, Lana Lang, and Pete Ross. Lex is described as having left Smallville "under a cloud of rumor and suspicion." He later resurfaces in Metropolis, creates the company LexCorp, and becomes an enemy of Superman (who, ironically, and unknown to Lex, is his former acquaintance--Clark Kent). Luthor's rise to the Presidency and his removal from office are also recounted in the origin. This Lex is described as both a "shrewd businessman" and scientist, as well as a criminal mastermind. He is not shown losing his hair in Smallville (as in Birthright), instead it is shown as receding over time. The first Superman films: Lex Luthor is the primary villain of the first “Superman” film. He is mainly motivated by money, as well as a desire to swindle as big a fortune as possible to prove how smart he is. Although he is bald, he usually wears a variety of wigs to conceal it. In the first film, Luthor's high-tech hideout harkens back to the secret lairs of his "Golden Age" comic counterpart. It is located in an abandoned railway terminal deep beneath the Metropolis streets. Luthor's schemes are offset by a tendency to surround himself with unsatisfactory help; He is burdened by his bumbling henchman Otis, and his conscience-stricken girlfriend Eve Teschmacher. Luthor scheme in this film is to divert a nuclear missile into hitting the San Andreas fault, causing California to sink into the ocean, thereby turning its neighboring states into beach front property owned by Lex Luthor Incorporated. Although he nearly kills Superman using kryptonite, Superman eventually defeats him and sends him to prison. Luthor's role in “Superman II” is relegated to a supporting villain, beginning with a jailbreak organized with the help of Miss Teschmacher. After journeying to the Fortress of Solitude, Luthor learns of the existence of General Zod and the other Kryptonian criminals. Hoping to rule his own continent once the evil Kryptonians take over Earth, Luthor allies himself with Zod. Luthor reappears in “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace,” escaping from prison once more, this time with the aid of his nephew Lenny. Once again, Lex allies himself with other villains, in this instance a cadre of war profiteers and arms dealers who are worried about what Superman's efforts toward nuclear disarmament will do to their business. Lex uses his own DNA, combined with strand of Superman's hair that is stolen from a museum, to create a hybrid clone which he dubs "Nuclear Man." The radioactive villain possesses abilities similar to Superman, but receives his power from direct sunlight, whereas Superman can still operate in darkness. Superman exploits this weakness in the end, destroying Nuclear Man and returning Lex to prison. “Superman Returns”: In the 2006 film Superman Returns, Luthor is played by Kevin Spacey. In the film, Luthor has been released from prison bent on revenge against Superman. Luthor funds his criminal operations by seducing a wealthy, elderly benefactor. Luthor's machinations once again concern real estate, as they did in the first two films. He plans to use Kryptonian crystals, like the one Superman used to create the Fortress of Solitude, to form a new continent, owned by Luthor, off the East Coast of the United States, destroying all surrounding landmass in the process and killing untold numbers of people. The landmass also has the added effect of sapping Superman's powers when he is in proximity, as Luthor has laced it with Kryptonite. However, after putting several layers of earth between himself and New Krypton, Superman hurls the landmass into space. After his scheme fails, Luthor uses a helicopter to escape capture, but it runs out of fuel, stranding him on a deserted island. Luthor is confirmed to return for the 2009 sequel, with Spacey reprising the role. Superboy: In the syndicated television show Superboy, Luthor first appeared as a rich, scheming college student played by Scott James Wells. In early episodes, Luthor is preoccupied with showing up Superboy, rigging basketball games, and stealing priceless artifacts, among other small-time schemes. At the close of the first season, Superboy accidentally causes Luthor to go bald while saving him from a lab fire in an incident similar to Lex Luthor's classic origin. Convinced that Superboy intentionally caused the accident, Lex becomes deranged. He kills wealthy businessman Warren Eckworth and tries, unsuccessfully, to take his place via plastic surgery. Prematurely aged and bald-headed, Lex is played for the remainder of the series by actor Sherman Howard. In the Season Four two-parter, 'Know Thine Enemy' Luthor's childhood is explored when Superboy relives his life via the "psychodisk". Similar to his post-Crisis origin, Lex is raised by an abusive father and neglectful mother; Lex becomes rich when he takes out an insurance policy on his parents and then kills them both. His sister, Lena Luthor, holds the distinction of being the sole person Lex cares about. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman: In the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997), Lex Luthor is played by actor John Shea. In the eyes of the public, he appears to be a beloved humanitarian, but Superman knows the truth. During the show's first season Clark Kent/Superman spends a good deal of time trying to prove that Luthor is corrupt, while Luthor tests Superman to find his weakness. He also comes up with dangerous plots to turn the public against Superman. At the end of season one, he manages to acquire a rare piece of kryptonite; he then devises a trap for Superman that almost kills him, but Superman narrowly escapes when Luthor leaves him to his fate. Just as Luthor is about to marry Lois Lane, the truth about his evil nature is exposed and he takes his own life rather than face imprisonment. Ironically, due to exposure to Luthor's kryptonite, Superman's powers are too weak and he cannot save him. Following the season one finale, Lex's corpse disappears from the coroner's office. Later on, the body resurfaces in a lab where a devoted scientist (played by Denise Crosby) freezes Luthor's remains and labors to bring him back from the dead. She eventually succeeds, but as a side effect of his resurrection, Lex loses his hair (thus bringing him in line with Luthor's usual look). He is quickly disenchanted with the changes that have happened during his absence, particularly the emergence of Intergang, as well as the loss of his personal fortune. Lex hides underground, again seeking kryptonite. But after kidnapping Lois in an attempt to reclaim her, he is traced to his sewer lair by Superman. This time however, Superman prevents Lex from taking his own life again to "cheat justice" and sends him to prison. Luthor later escapes through an elaborate plot involving clones; first using a clone of the President to grant him a pardon, then kidnapping the real Lois Lane and replacing her with a clone just before her wedding to Clark. Luthor hopes to transfer the minds of himself and the genuine Lois into clone bodies so they may never be found. Although he tricks Lois' clone into divulging Superman's secret identity, he still fails in destroying Superman, and is killed in the destruction of his lab. Unbeknownst to anyone, Luthor has illegitimate sons, two of whom try to kill Superman over the course of the last two seasons. The first one entrapped Lois and Clark in a VIrtual reality before the two trick him into letting them out. The only way he could get back to the real world however would be to separate his mind from his body. The second one, played by Keith Brunsmann, is facially deformed and disowned by his father, reduced to living in a furnished sewer/transit station beneath Metropolis. Lex Luthor Jr. hires a handsome stand-in (played by Patrick Cassidy) to impersonate him; The impostor poses as Lex Jr.'s public persona as he murders the CEOs of his father's old companies and rebuilds LexCorp. While Lex Jr. and his impostor manage to get their hands on a recording of the elder Luthor (John Shea's voice) revealing Superman's secret identity, both men are later killed in an explosion that levels the crypt. Lois is initially skeptical that Lex could have fathered these adult men, but Clark insists that no one can be sure of Luthor's true age since he was "a master of deception". Smallville: The television series Smallville features a younger Lex Luthor, played by Michael Rosenbaum (who also voiced the Flash on the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series.) Although his history echoes previous incarnations, this version of Lex did not begin as a bona fide villain. Lex's full name is Alexander Luthor, named after Alexander the Great. His father, ruthless business mogul Lionel Luthor, idolizes the legendary general, and applies Alexander's tactics to the world of modern business, believing himself to be the business world's Philip of Macedon. At the age of 9, a frail, asthmatic Lex accompanies his father on a business trip to Smallville, unwittingly getting caught in the meteor shower that brings Kal-El to Earth; he survives, but loses his asthma and his red hair as a result (Superman's indirect involvement in Lex's hair loss resembles the Silver Age comic mythos). Lex later believes that the exposure which left him bald also gave him a "super" immune system and was the reason that he had never been sick even once after the event. Lex is the heir to LuthorCorp, and lives in an ornate mansion (a rebuilt Scottish castle transported stone by stone to America) on the edge of Smallville. Lex first meets his future nemesis Clark Kent when he loses control of his Porsche, slamming into Clark and plummeting off a bridge. It is after Clark saves his life that the two bond and become friends. Smallville plays on his relationship with Clark and how that deteriorates into the mutual enmity that they will have in life. Lionel Luthor exhibits many of the same characteristics as Lex's comic-book counterpart, and it is through his dysfunctional relationship with Lex that Smallville attempts to characterize how Lex eventually succumbs to his evil leanings; early seasons focused on Lex's traumatic and love-starved upbringing, a bleak contrast to Clark's idyllic childhood. In the second episode of Season Five, Lex's friendship with Clark finally ends when he arranges for Clark, his parents, and Lana Lang to be taken hostage, in an effort to prove that Clark is hiding some secret abilities. He nearly manages to record evidence of Clark's superpowers, but Clark's powers were taken away by his father, Jor-El, and Lex's efforts come to nothing. As resentment between the former friends grows, Lex further alienates Clark by becoming romantically involved with Lana. At the end of season five, Milton Fine/Brainiac manipulates Lex into being possessed by the consciousness of General Zod. After recovery at the beginning of season six, Lex focuses on a secret project called 33.1 based around capturing and studying people who have been infected by kryptonite in order to recreate their abilities, ostensibly to protect the world against further alien threats. This puts him at odds with Clark and his new ally, billionaire vigilante Oliver Queen, aka the Green Arrow with whom he went to boarding school. The animosity between Luthor and Queen's clique is portrayed in flashbacks, in which the young Lex is portrayed by Lucas Grabeel. At the same time, Lex becomes engaged to Lana after she supposedly becomes pregnant with his child (it turned out that she had been drugged with a synthetic hormone to simulate pregnancy). At the end of season 6, Lex is arrested for the murder of his wife, Lana Lang, who appears to have been caught in an explosion triggered by a car bomb. However, at the beginning of Season 7, Lex is released when somebody paid by Lionel confesses the crime and it's later revealed Lana was alive and left a stand-in clone to forge her death. Lana had also stolen 10 million dollars from Lex, which he later allows her to keep for good as part of a divorce settlement. Since then, Lana's been obsessed with exposing anything bad about him. While searching for the truth about his past, Lex kills Lionel by pushing him out of his office window at LuthorCorp in season 7, saying no one will even remember his name. Lex then drags "Alexander" (a personification of himself as a child who acts as his conscience) to the fireplace and burns him, saying "You make me weak!" Lex later comes into possession of a strange object comprising various metal disks with star graphs on them, which turn to reveal a pair of rectangular slots. This device is somehow a necessity in controlling "The Traveler," Clark Kent. In the season seven finale, Lex learns of the Fortress of Solitude from Brainiac, who is posing as Kara. Lex travels to the Fortress, taking the device with him, under the belief that he is fulfilling his own destiny to save mankind from "The Traveler". After arriving in the Fortress, Lex learns that Clark is "The Traveler". A confrontation between the two ensues and Lex activates the device, causing the Fortress to collapse with Clark and Lex both inside. The New Adventures of Superman: His first non-comics appearance was in some episodes of Filmation's The New Adventures of Superman as: Luthor's Lethal Laser. Super Friends: Luthor was a recurring villain in Hanna-Barbara's Superfriends franchise that ran from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He was voiced by Stan Jones. He makes his Super Friends debut in Challenge of the Superfriends. Luthor, was head of the Legion of Doom, a coalition of villains who plotted the downfall of the titular heroes. Luthor appeared a little slimmer than in his previous animated appearance and sported his pre-Crisis purple jumpsuit. In the episode History Of Doom depicts a portion of Lex Luthor's origin from Adventure Comics #271. In the series The World's Greatest Super Friends season the second episode 'Lex Luthor Strikes Back' features Luthor escaping from jail and challenging the Super Friends. He also appears in the series Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show season, in the opening and the episodes No Honor Among Super Thieves -in which acquires his power suit from the comics of then-, Case of the Shrinking Super Friends and The Mask of Mystery. In the series The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians season, appears in some episodes as The Seeds of Doom. Ruby-Spears animated series: In the short-lived 1988 animated series produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises, Luthor was shown as an evil businessman for the first time in other media. He is voiced by Michael Bell. Superman: The Animated Series: In the 1990s cartoon Superman: The Animated Series and the subsequent Justice League animated series Luthor was voiced by actor Clancy Brown of Highlander and Buckaroo Banzai fame (Brown originally auditioned for the role of Superman/Clark Kent, but that part ultimately went to Tim Daly). The Animated Series' Luthor is a corrupt businessman like his comic book counterpart, and again his jealously and hatred of Superman ultimately brings down his empire. According to the DVD commentaries and interviews by the show's creators, the Animated Series Luthor was inspired by Telly Savalas' portrayal of James Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Justice League: It is revealed early in the series that Luthor is suffering from a rare blood cancer caused by long-term exposure to the Kryptonite Shard he carries. While in prison, he bribes the Ultra-Humanite to free him, and the two band together and ultimately form the Injustice Gang. Ultra-Humanite's technology allows Lex to wear an armored suit that will decrease the speed his cancer, as well as give him a fighting chance against Superman. However, Humanite betrays him when approached with an offer by Batman. After being exposed as a criminal and losing his business empire, Luthor's characterization turns more toward the original conception of a criminal genius obsessed with destroying Superman. He is eventually pardoned from his crimes after assisting the Justice League in defeating their alternate evil counterparts from a parallel universe, the Justice Lords. Afterwards, Luthor is interviewed by the press and implies that he is thinking of going into politics. Justice League Unlimited: In the first season of Justice League Unlimited, Luthor announces he is running for President of the United States; This is later revealed to be a ruse to enrage Superman. In reality, Luthor is financially backing Project Cadmus, a shadow government organization dedicated to eradicating the League if they ever turn on Earth's population. Luthor ultimately betrays them; hijacking the League's space-based laser to take out Cadmus leaving the impression the League had attacked the United States government. While attempting to place his mind in a duplicate of A.M.A.Z.O., he is thwarted by Amanda Waller of Cadmus. At this point, it was revealed that Brainiac had downloaded himself into Luthor long ago in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Ghost in the Machine", secretly manipulating his actions. After the two merge into a more complete being using alien nanotechnology, Luthor/Brainiac attempts to destroy the world, but they are halted by The Flash. Luthor returns later to join the Secret Society. Ironically this new Secret Society is based on the Legion of Doom and Luthor is not as their leader; that position is occupied by Gorilla Grodd. Luthor agreed to join in order to obtain the last remaining piece of Brainiac, which Grodd has in his possession. Luthor is obsessed with rebuilding Brainiac, as what is left of him is inhabiting Luthor's mind, giving him a sort of multiple personality disorder. Later, using the failure of Gorilla Grodd's silly master plan to turn all humans into apes as pretext, Lex shoots and imprisons him, then assumes Grodd's place as leader. After taking over as leader of the Secret Society, Luthor returns to trying to resurrect Brainiac. Using the power of the Secret Society headquarters, Luthor spends tireless hours trying to bring a fragment of Brainiac back online. With the help of Tala, Luthor tracks down Brainiac's base (seen in the Justice League episode "Twilight") and reconfigures the Secret Society headquarters into a starship with which to seek out the remnants Brainiac's base. During the journey, Tala frees Gorilla Grodd, who mounts an insurrection against Luthor with his fellow Secret Society members. Just as Grodd moves to use his telepathic power on Luthor, Luthor uses his belt to take over Grodd's mind. Afterward, Luthor forces Grodd into an airlock and jettisons him into space. The Secret Society, back under Luthor's power, returns to their task of resurrecting Brainiac. Luthor hooks Tala up to a machine, reminiscent of Brainiac's machine used against Superman, to transmutate remnants of Brainiac's base back into a working body of Brainiac. Before Luthor begins the process, Metron stops time and appears to him warning that he may be unleashing something that will affect the past, present and future. Luthor, still obsessed with becoming a god, ignores him, and the process begins. Although the process is seemingly successful, Luthor actually ends up resurrecting Darkseid, who attempts to destroy the super villains in the episode "Alive". Luthor's loses his link to Brainiac, perhaps permanently. The remnants of the Secret Society, under Luthor, go to the Justice League Watchtower to warn the superheroes of the threat and insist on a temporary alliance in the defense of the planet in the episode "Destroyer". With the aid of the New God Metron, Luthor manages to acquire the Anti-Life Equation long sought by Darkseid, and uses it on the lord of Apokolips, (apparently) sacrificing his own life in the process. Batman, however, suspects that either one or both of them survived and will likely return to challenge the League again. Superman: Brainiac Attacks: Lex Luthor was also featured in the direct-to-video animated movie Superman: Brainiac Attacks. Lex's character designs from Superman: The Animated Series, his job as a criminal businessman and his bodyguard Mercy Graves were used for this movie, but this version of Luthor acted similar to Gene Hackman's Luthor from Superman: The Movie. He constantly spouted one-liners and at one point threw a Tiki Torch Luau to celebrate Superman's presumed death. Lex Luthor was voiced by Powers Boothe in this movie. Luthor's role in this movie had him forming an alliance with Brainiac (this is also treated as the first meeting between the two). He placed Brainiac in a new robot body and sent him to destroy Superman. Afterwards Brainiac would pretend to be defeated by Luthor and then leave Earth to conquer a different planet, while Luthor would appear as a hero to a people and then continue his quest to rule Earth. Naturally this plan failed, Luthor was beaten by Brainiac in battle, and the plan ended with a usual "Luthor under investigation" ending. Superman: Doomsday: Lex Luthor is featured in the direct-to-video animated movie Superman: Doomsday. Lex's character design is similar to those seen in Superman: The Animated Series, albeit with a much slimmer profile and a white suit, and is voiced by James Marsters; Marsters also portrayed villain Milton Fine (Brainiac) in the fifth and seventh season of Smallville. Here he's shown as highly intelligent (able to cure such diseases as Muscular Dystrophy), but extremely amoral (has his scientists find ways to draw out such cures to make a higher profit). In the film, Luthor is indirectly responsible for the release of the creature Doomsday. Upon discovering that the latent radiation from the Earth's core can be harnessed for energy purposes, LexCorp has been illegally drilling into the earth. When Luthor's miners stumble upon Doomsday's alien spacecraft while digging, they accidentally damage it and awaken Doomsday from his long slumber. After the creature slaughters the mining team, Luthor orders his personal assistant, Mercy Graves, to cover up his involvement. Following Superman and Doomsday's epic battle, Superman lies dead, and Luthor is free of all culpability. Rather than be pleased, Luthor is incensed that the evidence crediting him to Superman's death has been destroyed; he lashes out by killing Mercy with a handgun, despite the fact she was only following his orders. Luthor then robs Superman's body from his grave with the intention of creating genetic clones of him. The cloned Superman is more violent than the original, killing crooks, threatening civilians, and generally behaving like a public menace. Meanwhile, the real Superman's corpse disappears from LexCorp during an electrical blackout. Luthor is visited in his office by Lois Lane, who says she feels distant from her relationship with Superman (not knowing that he is a clone). Luthor tries to seduce her and they kiss, but Lois uses a tranquilizer on Luthor and knocks him unconscious; Lois believes he is the one behind Superman's strange behavior. Lois and Jimmy Olsen uncover Luthor's cloning project, but Luthor reappears and tries to shoot them. Fortunately, the cloned Superman has freed himself from Luthor's control and steps in to rescue Lois and Jimmy. Luthor escapes to a room with red sun beams, similar to Krypton's Red Sun, which will neutalize Superman's powers; he also dons kryptonite gloves, with the intention of beating the insolent clone to death. Instead, the clone traps Luthor in the vault, rips its foundation out of the building, and throws the vault across Metropolis. At the end of movie, it is revealed that Luthor survived, but with severe injuries. Krypto the Superdog: In the animated series, Krypto the Superdog, a rather cartoonish version of the DCAU Luthor (who is also portrayed as a rich businessman in the series, played by Brian Dobson, though he is only rarely seen) has a pet iguana named Ignatius. Like Luthor, Ignatius is intelligent, vain, and morally ambivalent. Ignatius is voiced by Scott McNeil. The Batman: Luthor appeared in the fifth season of The Batman. Clancy Brown voices Luthor in this series. Clancy also voiced Luthor in the DC animated universe. Luthor hires Metallo and equips him with his only piece of Kryptonite he has to defeat Superman, but is defeated by Batman. Luthor hires Black Mask, Bane, Mr. Freeze, and Clayface (Basil Karlo) to kidnap Lois Lane while he leaves for Gotham with his right-hand assistant Mercy Graves. While Superman, Batman, and Robin fight Black Mask and his henchmen, Luthor captures Poison Ivy and mixes her mind controlling spores with the Kryptonite powder he already had . He uses it in Superman to become his personal slave. It is revealed also that Luthor had previously confiscated technology from the remains of the Joining, (considerably Brainiac's descendents), to create an army of robots to take over the world. However, after Batman frees Superman from his control, both of them subdue Mercy Graves, destroys Luthor's robots, overpower Luthor and defeat him. Justice League: The New Frontier: Lex Luthor appears briefly in the animated film Justice League: The New Frontier. He is shown in LexCorp, (referred to as LexCo, possibly supposed to be an earlier name for LexCorp) during the scene in which John F. Kennedy made his famous speech. Video games: Lex Luthor has appeared in every electronic game featuring Superman since the first Superman game released for the Atari 2600 with the exception of The Death and Return of Superman. He also appears as the main antagonist of the video game Justice League: Injustice for All. Most recently, he has appeared in the Superman Returns video game, but is only seen in cut scenes. Last Son of Krypton: Luthor plays a major role in the Elliot S! Maggin novel Last Son of Krypton. Lex is a childhood classmate of Clark Kent in Smallville, a scientific genius who blames the then-Superboy for ruining his greatest experiment: the creation of artificial life (in fact it is Lex, celebrating his achievement with a smoke, who starts the fire in his lab). It is at this time that his hair is also burned off. Lex is never again able to replicate his results and holds a lifelong grudge against Superman as a result. Lex as an adult spends much of his time in prison, but in this story it is described as largely by choice; Lex has the capacity to escape nearly at his leisure, but finds that solitude gives him time to work on his scientific theories and finds dodging manhunts tedious. He learns of a secret document written by his idol Albert Einstein, and breaks out for the express purpose of stealing it, using a hologram of himself as a distraction; however, when he cannot translate it (it is actually written in Kryptonese), turns to an expert linguist who turns out to be a disguised alien who also wishes to steal the documents. Luthor then forms a reluctant alliance with his archenemy Superman to chase the alien to a distant world, using Lex's one-man faster than light starship which he has kept hidden for years in plain sight as a modern art sculpture. When the mysterious alien's greater plans are revealed, Lex must work with, and even save the life of, Superman in order to protect the entire galaxy from the would-be warlord. Lex in this story combines aspects of the Silver Age, Bronze Age and film versions. During his robbery of the Einstein papers he uses a hologram of himself dressed in his purple bandoliered jumpsuit with jet-boots (the same Silver Age costume is also used on Superfriends), while he uses a disguise and wig to steal the document; he also holds property and front companies under various names and identities. Luthor is also seen in jail wearing the classic grey prison jumpsuit, and uses a museum hideout similar to the "Luthor's Lair" of the Silver Age comics, though he employs several scientists as underlings, as opposed to the solitary mad scientist of the comics. The novel delves into Lex's personality and viewpoint nearly as much as that of the Man of Steel. It's Superman!: Lex Luthor also appears in another novel titled It's Superman!, by Tom DeHaven. In the novel, Lex Luthor is alderman of 1930s New York City, used in place of Metropolis, and has a company called Lexco. Despite this, he still feels like something is missing. When he visits his dead mother's grave, he is attacked by hitmen. After he kills them, he feels excitement for the first time. Later in the story, much death and destruction is caused by his robotic "Lexbots". The fiasco leads to his first confrontation with Superman, and Lex believes the void he felt has been filled. By the end of the story, he becomes a wanted criminal, and even he says that he has never been more excited than he is at that moment. Lex Luthor is without a doubt one of the most iconic comic book supervillains of all time. It’s not that surprising; I mean, he is the archnemesis of Superman, the most famous superhero of all time. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Superman’s archnemesis would become as well know as Superman himself. Lex is the opposite of Superman. Where Superman is superpowered boy-scout, Lex is a ruthless individual who has no superpowers but desperately craves to have some. He has been a constant thorn in Superman’s side ever since he appeared and has gone through a big change since them. Before the Crisis On Infinite Earths, Lex was simply a mad scientist who invented machines to defeat Superman. Back then, he wasn’t as evil as he is today. Superman himself acknowledged that the Pre-Crisis Luthor is a man of his word who honors promises he has made. On occasion, he has come to the aid of innocents, even when doing so will lead to his capture and inevitable return to prison. However, his goals of killing Superman and becoming the most powerful man in the world lived on in his transformation after the Crisis. But, the Post-Crisis Luthor became much more ruthless and power hungry. In 1986, John Byrne's "reboot" of Superman's mythos in the limited series, The Man of Steel, rewrote the character of Lex Luthor from scratch, intending to make him a villain that the 1980s would recognize: a corporate white-collar criminal. Collaborator Marv Wolfman recalled: “I never believed the original Luthor. Every story would begin with him breaking out of prison, finding some giant robot in an old lab he hid somewhere, and then he'd be defeated. My view was if he could afford all those labs and giant robots he wouldn't need to rob banks. I also thought later that Luthor should not have super powers. Every other villain had super powers. Luthor's power was his mind. He needed to be smarter than Superman. Superman's powers had to be useless against him because they couldn't physically fight each other and Superman was simply not as smart as Luthor.” This created a whole new personality to Luthor that made the character much more interesting than his Pre-Crisis incarnation. His intelligence made him a perfect rival to Superman’s brawn. He also became a little insane: this Luthor believes that the dastardly deeds he does are for the greater good. He believes he has humanity’s best interest in mind in his attempts to stop Superman. He even became President in order to achieve his betterment of Earth by getting rid of Superman. And, he is very ruthless: ordering a military strike on his ex-wife, killing a bunch of people he gave superpowers to simply because he believed that he couldn’t obtain superpowers himself, and forming many supervillain teams. In fact, he is basically the de facto leader of the supervillains of the DC Universe, amazingly being able to do this without any superpowers. This is what makes Lex Luthor such a great villain: there may be people in his world that are smarter and physically more powerful than him, but no one is more ruthless, greedy, and power-hungry and can gain a lot of respect and fear as him.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 22, 2008 17:45:52 GMT -5
Tomorrow, the countdown ends with 5-1. I'm not going to have any hints for the last five. Figure them out yourselves.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jun 23, 2008 17:49:32 GMT -5
This is it. The Final 5. Let's start with number 5: 5. Darth Vader Who is he: A former Jedi knight turn formidable Dark Lord of the Sith and the brutal head enforcer of the Galactic Empire's rule across the galaxy. What is he from: The Star Wars Universe. What has he done: Turned to the Dark Side, killed the Younglings and Jedi inside the Jedi Temple, cut off the hand of his own son, and much more. Intelligence: Very smart with excellent command and strategic ability, and usually always a step ahead of the good guys. Power: He is a very high-ranking official in the Empire, but he’s usually taking orders from the Emperor or Gran Moff Tarkin. Vileness: Tortured just about everyone in those movies at least once in a number of tasty ways. Sway: That deep booming voice says it all, literally; not to mention the ability The Force has to cloud minds. Purity: Was good but become thoroughly consumed by evil...until that fateful day when he had enough of his boss, Palpatine. Physical Prowess: He can choke people from ten feet away, toss things at people from across a room with his mind, is very good with a lightsaber, and looks cool with the helmet, black costume, and cape. Name Coolness: “Darth Vader” is very cool; and “Anakin Skywalker” is a little cool as well. Created by: George Lucas. Portrayed by: Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen played Anakin Skywalker, who became Darth Vader, in the Prequel Trilogy (Lloyd in “The Phantom Menace” and Christensen in “Attack Of The Clones” and “Revenge Of The Sith”). Mat Lucas did the voice of Anakin in the Clone Wars animated series. In the Original Trilogy, David Prowse portrayed Vader in the suit, as did a number of stunt men, most notably Bob Anderson (he was the one who did the lightsaber duels). Sebastian Shaw played Vader at the end of “Return Of The Jedi.” And, James Earl Jones did the voice of Vader in original trilogy and at the end of “Revenge Of The Sith.” “Episode I: The Phantom Menace”: It is the year 32 BBY, and a trade dispute between the Trade Federation and the outlying systems of the Galactic Republic has led to a blockade of the small planet of Naboo. Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, leader of the Galactic Senate, has secretly dispatched two Jedi, Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, as ambassadors to the Federation flagship, Saak'ak, in order to meet with Viceroy Nute Gunray and resolve the dispute. Unknown to them, the Trade Federation is in league with the mysterious Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith, who secretly orders Gunray to invade Naboo and kill the two Jedi upon their arrival. Their ship, Radiant VII, is destroyed and the two Jedi escape the assassination attempt by stowing themselves aboard two separate Federation landing craft leaving for the surface of Naboo. On the planet's surface, Qui-Gon Jinn saves local native outcast Jar Jar Binks from being trampled by a MTT. Later, STAPs attack but are destroyed by the two Jedi. Jar Jar Binks shows the two Jedi the way to an underwater Gungan settlement, Otoh Gunga, escaping the Trade Federation army. Meanwhile, the Trade Federation invades Naboo and captures their leader, Queen Padmé Amidala. The Jedi meet the Gungan leader, Boss Rugor Nass, and ask him to help the people of Naboo, but Nass refuses and sends them off in a bongo submarine. They are attacked by an opee sea killer but the fish is eaten by a sando aqua monster. The Jedi, with Binks in tow, reach Theed, the capital city of Naboo, and rescue Queen Amidala from the Trade Defense Force. They depart for Coruscant, the Galactic Republic's capital planet, to ask for help from the Senate. An astromech droid named R2-D2 manages to repair the Queen's starship and they narrowly escape an attack from Federation battleships. Due to the damage the ship's hyperdrive sustained in the attack, the Queen's party is forced to land on the desert planet of Tatooine for repairs. While searching for a new hyperdrive generator, they befriend young Anakin Skywalker, a slave boy, whose master is Watto, a Toydarian junk dealer. Anakin is gifted with piloting and mechanics, and has built an almost-complete droid named C-3PO. Qui-Gon Jinn senses a strong presence of the Force in Anakin, and feels that he may be the Chosen One who will fulfill a prophecy by bringing balance to the Force. By entering Anakin into a podrace, Qui-Gon orchestrates a gamble in which the boy (alone, since Qui-Gon was unable to include the youth's mother in the bargain) will be released from slavery and they will win the parts needed for their ship. Anakin wins the race and joins the team as they head for Coruscant, where Qui-Gon plans to seek permission from the Jedi High Council to train Anakin to be a Jedi. Meanwhile, Darth Sidious sends his apprentice, Darth Maul, to kill the two Jedi and capture the Queen. Maul appears just as the group is leaving the planet, and duels with Qui-Gon. The fight is cut short when Qui-Gon manages to escape his black-robed assailant by jumping onboard the Naboo Royal Starship as it takes off. On Coruscant, Qui-Gon Jinn informs the Jedi Council of the mysterious attacker he encountered on Tatooine. Because of that being's obvious mastery of the Jedi arts, the Council becomes concerned that this development may indicate the reappearance of the Sith, a religious order who were followers of the dark side of the Force and thought to be long gone. Qui-Gon also informs the Council about Anakin, hoping that he can be trained as a Jedi. After testing the boy and deliberating with one another, the Council refuses, deeming him too old for training according to the Jedi Code. They are also concerned due to their sense a seemingly clouded future and a strong presence of fear in the boy. Meanwhile, Senator Palpatine (of Naboo), warning of the corruption in the Senate, advises Queen Amidala to call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum. Seeing no alternative, the Queen takes this advice when she addresses the Senate. Palpatine is among the candidates to replace the Supreme Chancellor, and the Queen later announces to Palpatine that she herself will return to their home planet to repel the invasion of her people. She is frustrated by the Senate's deliberation and lack of action, and feels that even if Palpatine is elected Chancellor, it will be too late. The Jedi Council sends the two Jedi to accompany the Queen back to Naboo, hoping to shed light on any Sith involvement. Queen Amidala, back on Naboo, forms an alliance with the Gungan people, uniting in battle against the Trade Federation. Nute Gunray is ordered by Darth Sidious to wipe out the Gungans and the Naboo as the Trade Federation prepares for battle. Captain Roos Tarpals orders the Gungan Grand Army to start up their shield, to protect them from ranged attack. OOM-9 has his tanks fire first, but seeing them fail to penetrate the powerful shield, orders them to cease fire. Daultay Dofine gives the command to activate the battle droids. These droids march through the shield, and its generator is destroyed. After much fighting against the Federation's droid army, defeat for the alliance seems imminent. However, victory comes when young Anakin Skywalker accidentally takes control of a starfighter and goes on to destroy the Federation's Droid Control Ship, killing Daultay Dofine and rendering the droid army useless. Meanwhile, Queen Amidala and her force fight their way back into the royal palace and capture Nute Gunray. At the same time, in a Theed hangar bay, Darth Maul has been engaging in combat with the two Jedi, using a double-bladed lightsaber. The battle moves from the hangar, across a series of catwalks, to the Theed Generator Room. During the fight, Obi-Wan is separated from his master when he is kicked off of a catwalk and falls. He grabs the edge of another catwalk below and jumps back up to where Qui-Gon and Maul continue to fight. By this time, Qui-Gon and Maul have become separated by a force field in the entrance to the Generator Room. Obi-Wan catches up to them, but is divided from his master by several force fields. When the force fields deactivate, Jinn and the Sith continue their battle while Kenobi remains divided from the battle when the force fields reactivate. Maul suddenly hits Qui-Gon Jinn on the chin with his lightsaber handle, stunning him, then rams his lightsaber straight into Qui-Gon's chest, mortally wounding him. Enraged, Obi-Wan redoubles his assault upon Darth Maul and chops Maul's lightsaber in half, but the Sith almost kills Kenobi when he Force pushes him to the edge of a melting pit. Obi-Wan saves himself from falling when he manages to grab onto a pipe protruding from the wall of the pit. Darth Maul kicks the Jedi's lightsaber into the pit and prepares to finish him off. The Padawan calms himself, using the Force to jump out of the pit and summons his fallen Master's lightsaber to his hand. Within an instant he lands behind the surprised Maul and cuts him in half, the Sith's body falling into the pit. Just before passing away, Qui-Gon instructs Obi-Wan to train Anakin to become a Jedi. Obi-Wan gives his word that he will. The newly-elected Chancellor Palpatine arrives to congratulate Queen Amidala on her victory, as Nute Gunray is sent to stand trial for his crimes. After the battle, the Jedi Council names Obi-Wan a Jedi Knight. Kenobi conveys his Master's wish regarding Anakin Skywalker to Yoda, who reluctantly allows him to become Obi-Wan's apprentice. Qui-Gon's body is cremated, and Mace Windu and Yoda agree that the Sith are definitely to blame for the tragedy. Being that there are only ever two Sith at any given time (a Master and an apprentice), both Masters believe that one must still remain. The Naboo and Gungans organize a great victory celebration on the streets of Theed, in front on the palace. Obi-Wan and Anakin are present, the younger now wearing in his hair a special braid: the mark of a Jedi Padawan. Queen Amidala presents a gift of appreciation and friendship to Boss Nass and the Gungan people. “Episode II: Attack Of The Clones”: The opening crawl reveals that the Galactic Republic is in crisis. A separatist movement, led by former Jedi Master Count Dooku, has threatened the peace. Senator Padmé Amidala, former Queen of Naboo, returns to the Galactic Senate to vote against the creation of an Army of the Republic. Upon her arrival at Coruscant, she narrowly escapes an assassination attempt, a bomb placed on her ship. As a result, Chancellor Palpatine requests that she be put under the protection of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker. That night, Zam Wesell, a bounty hunter, makes another attempt on Padmé's life, but Wesell is herself killed (to silence her) just after Obi-Wan and Anakin capture her. The Jedi Council sends Obi-Wan to investigate the murder, while Anakin is to protect Padmé by escorting her to Naboo. Anakin welcomes the opportunity; he often becomes angry at and frustrated with Obi-Wan's criticism, and is glad to have an opportunity to be alone with Padmé. Representative Jar Jar Binks assumes the Senator's duties in her absence. The investigation leads Obi-Wan to the planet of Kamino, where he discovers that a secret clone army is being developed for the Republic. The Kaminoan Prime Minister tells him that this army was ordered some ten years ago by a Jedi Master named Sifo-Dyas, whom the Jedi Council believes to have been killed around the same time. A bounty hunter named Jango Fett had been hired to be the template for the clone. Obi-Wan meets Jango on Kamino, and believes that he is the killer he has been tracking. After unsuccessfully trying to capture Jango Fett, Obi-Wan places a tracking device on his ship and follows him to the planet of Geonosis. Meanwhile, Anakin and Padmé spend time together on Naboo, and Anakin reveals his love for her. Padmé resists, explaining that it would be impossible for the two of them to be together; she is a respected Senator, and the Jedi Code forbids marriage or any other form of attachment. Anakin is soon troubled by dreams in which his mother, Shmi, is in danger and dying. He asks Padmé to accompany him to Tatooine. Upon arriving, he learns that his mother had been kidnapped one month earlier by local Tusken Raiders. Anakin tracks her to a Tusken camp, where he finds her in poor condition, and within moments she dies in his arms. In a fit of rage, he slaughters the entire Tusken community, (Master Yoda hears the voice of the deceased Qui-Gon Jinn trying vainly to dissuade Anakin from the slaughter). Anakin brings his mother's body back to her home, where her funeral is held. On Geonosis, Obi-Wan learns that Count Dooku and Nute Gunray have built a new droid army and that Gunray has ordered the assassination of Padmé. Just before being captured, Obi-Wan relays this information to Anakin so that he can relay it to the Jedi Council on Coruscant. Once the Jedi learn of Dooku's army, Jedi Master Mace Windu leads a team to Geonosis. Meanwhile, Jar Jar Binks calls for Chancellor Palpatine to be given emergency military powers, with which he can call the recently discovered clone army into battle. Back on Geonosis, Count Dooku tries to persuade Obi-Wan to join him, warning him that the Senate is secretly under the control of a mysterious Sith Lord by the name of Darth Sidious. Obi-Wan refuses to believe him, saying that the Jedi would have known if that was the case. Upon learning that Obi-Wan is in trouble, Anakin and Padmé go to Geonosis, but they are captured during their infiltration of a droid factory, despite Anakin's valiant efforts. Alone and doomed to execution, the pair admit their feelings for each other and share (what they believe to be) one last kiss. They join Obi-Wan in an arena-like complex where three monstrous creatures (a Reek, a Nexu and an Acklay) are unleashed on them for their execution. During their struggle against the beasts, Mace Windu arrives with the Jedi, and they battle the droid army. Within the chaos, Windu and Jango Fett combat each other, resulting in Fett being beheaded. Just as defeat for the Jedi seems imminent, Yoda arrives with the Republic's new clone army. A large battle erupts between the Republic's clone forces and the Separatists' droid army. Count Dooku attempts to escape, but Obi-Wan and Anakin track him to a secret hangar, where they engage him in combat. Dooku quickly injures Obi-Wan and cuts off Anakin's right arm. Yoda arrives and engages Dooku in lightsaber combat. Dooku, realizing he may be outmatched, causes a support pylon to nearly fall on Anakin and Obi-Wan; Yoda uses the Force to stop this, allowing Dooku to escape with the plans for a new weapon, the Death Star. In a desolate industrial district on Coruscant, he meets with his master, Darth Sidious, who is pleased that the war has begun "as planned". Dooku is revealed to be the apprentice Sith Lord, Darth Tyranus. On Coruscant, Obi-Wan informs the Jedi Council of Dooku's warning that Darth Sidious is controlling the Senate. All of them, including Yoda, are hesitant to believe this, stating that the Sith's traits have them creating fear and mistrust. Yoda and Windu also agree that the Dark Side is now clouding everything, and that they should closely monitor the Senate. Meanwhile, Palpatine oversees the launching of a massive clone trooper force. On Naboo, Anakin (with a new mechanical hand) and Padmé hold a secret wedding, to which only the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 are witnesses. “Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith”: The opening crawl reveals that the galaxy is in the midst of the Clone Wars. Chancellor Palpatine has been kidnapped by the Separatists' second-in-command, General Grievous. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi lead a mission to rescue him. After Anakin kills Sith Lord Count Dooku and the two Jedi free the Chancellor, they attempt to escape, but are captured by Grievous. Anakin and Obi-Wan manage to break free with Palpatine, but Grievous escapes and traps them inside the severely damaged cruiser. Anakin is forced to crash-land the ship on one of Coruscant's landing tracks. Upon his return, Anakin is reunited with his wife, Padmé Amidala, who tells him that she is pregnant. Despite Padmé's worries over their secret marriage, Anakin is overjoyed at this news, and the couple makes plans to raise their child on the planet Naboo. However, Anakin is troubled by visions of Padmé dying during childbirth, visions similar to those he had of his mother just before she died. Palpatine then appoints Anakin to be his representative on the Jedi council. The council reluctantly accepts Anakin but refuses to grant him the rank of "Master", which outrages him. He also resents Obi-Wan when he delivers the council's order to spy on the Chancellor. Subsequently, Anakin develops a close relationship with Palpatine, who subtly manipulates him in their conversations, making him distrust the Jedi and raising his interest in the powers of the Sith. While Obi-Wan is on Utapau, where he engages and kills General Grievous, Palpatine reveals himself to Anakin as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious who has been controlling the Separatist movement. He fails to tempt Anakin with the power to save his wife Padmé from death, and Anakin leaves to expose him to the Jedi Council. Jedi Master Mace Windu arrives at the Chancellor's office shortly thereafter to arrest the Palpatine. The two duel and Sidious eventually feigns defeat, just as Anakin arrives. Anakin pleads with Windu to spare Palpatine and allow him to stand trial, but Windu insists on killing the Chancellor, who is too great a threat. Anakin, believing Palpatine alone can save his wife, cuts off Windu's hand, which gives Palpatine the chance to use Force lightning to propel Windu out the window to his death. Emotionally drained, Anakin submits to the dark side of the Force and becomes the Sith apprentice Darth Vader. Palpatine orders Vader to kill all Jedi inside the Jedi Temple, and then eliminate the Separatist leaders in the Mustafar system. Meanwhile, Palpatine informs the Senate of a Jedi plot to overthrow the Republic, and announces that the Republic will be reorganized into the Galactic Empire. He also orders clone troopers across the galaxy to turn against their Jedi Generals by enacting a pre-programmed directive, Order 66. Numerous Jedi across the galaxy are ambushed and killed, although both Yoda and Obi-Wan survive and are rescued by Senator Bail Organa. He brings them to the Jedi Temple before heading to the Senate building. Obi-Wan is horrified to see Anakin killing other Jedi in Temple's security recordings. Obi-Wan meets with Padmé, who refuses to believe his claims about Anakin's fall to the dark side: Obi-Wan deduces her reluctance to help him is a result of Anakin being the father of her child. When she departs to find her husband on Mustafar, Obi-Wan secretly stows away onboard. When the couple is reunited, a tearful Padmé begs Anakin to settle privately with her, but he refuses, believing that he can overthrow Sidious so that he and Padmé can rule the galaxy together. Obi-Wan then emerges from Padmé's ship, and Anakin accuses her of betraying him. Enraged, he chokes her into unconsciousness using the Force. Obi-Wan and Anakin break into a vicious lightsaber duel. The duel brings them out of the facility to unprotected areas of the volcano planet. Back on Coruscant, Yoda confronts Palpatine and they engage in their own lightsaber duel in the Senate building. Yoda is forced to retreat when Palpatine's soldiers arrive. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, eventually gains the advantage of higher ground, and when the enraged Anakin attempts to attack again, Obi-Wan slices off both of his legs and his left arm. Anakin rolls down the bank to the edge of the lava. He is immolated, sustaining near-fatal burns. Obi-Wan leaves Mustafar with Padmé, reluctantly leaving Anakin to die. However, Palpatine arrives and rescues his apprentice. Padmé is given medical assistance, but she dies shortly after delivering twins; a boy and a girl, naming them Luke and Leia respectively. On Coruscant, Anakin's missing limbs and damaged body parts are replaced by cybernetic prostheses and implants. He is put into a full suit of black armor and is sealed in a respirator mask, which will allow him to survive his injuries. When he inquires about Padmé, Palpatine tells him that he killed her in his anger. Vader unleashes a furious scream of mournful rage and destroys droids and equipment throughout the room with the Force while Palpatine looks on with an evil grin. Later, Vader and Palpatine oversee the construction of the first Death Star. Aboard the Tantive IV, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Bail Organa agree to keep the children hidden and separated. Obi-Wan and Yoda will watch and wait until the time is ready for the Skywalker children to do their part in the battle against the Sith. Leia is taken to Alderaan to live with the Queen and Bail Organa, and Luke is brought to Tatooine to live with Owen and Beru, his closest living relatives. “Episode IV: A New Hope”: An opening crawl reveals that the galaxy is in a state of civil war. The Rebel Alliance has stolen plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star: a space station capable of annihilating a planet. Rebel leader Princess Leia Organa has possession of the plans, but her ship is captured by Imperial forces under the command of Darth Vader. Before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in a droid named R2-D2, along with a holographic recording. The small droid escapes to the surface of the desert planet Tatooine with fellow droid C-3PO. The two droids are quickly captured by Jawa traders, who sell the pair to moisture farmer Owen Lars and his nephew, Luke Skywalker. While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, he accidentally triggers part of Leia's holographic message, in which she requests help from General Obi-Wan Kenobi. The only Kenobi Luke knows of is an old hermet named Ben Kenobi who lives in the nearby hills; but Owen dismisses any connection, suggesting that Obi-Wan is dead. During dinner, R2-D2 escapes to seek Obi-Wan. Luke and C-3PO go out after him, and are met by Ben Kenobi. Kenobi reveals himself to be Obi-Wan, and takes Luke and the droids back to his hut. He tells Luke of his days as a Jedi Knight, and explains to Luke about a mysterious energy field called the Force. He also tells Luke about his association with Luke's father, also a Jedi, who he says was betrayed and murdered by Darth Vader, Kenobi's former pupil who turned to evil. Kenobi then views Leia's message, in which she begs him to take R2-D2 and the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan, where her father will be able to retrieve and analyze them. Kenobi asks Luke to accompany him to Alderaan and to learn the ways of the Force. After initially refusing, Luke discovers that his home has been destroyed and his aunt and uncle killed by Imperial stormtroopers in search of the droids. Luke agrees to go with Kenobi to Alderaan, and the two hire smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca to transport them on their ship, the Millennium Falcon. Meanwhile, Leia has been imprisoned on the Death Star and has resisted interrogation. Grand Moff Tarkin, the Death Star's commanding officer, tries to coax information out of her by threatening to destroy Alderaan, and proceeds to do so even after she appears to cooperate, as a means of demonstrating the power of the Empire's new weapon. The planet's destruction is felt by Kenobi aboard the Millennium Falcon while he is instructing Luke about the Force. When the Falcon arrives at the Alderaan's coordinates, they arrive instead in a field of rubble. They follow a TIE Fighter towards the Death Star, which they mistake for a moon, and are captured by the station's tractor beam and brought into its hangar bay. The group takes refuge in one a command room on the station while Kenobi goes off on his own to disable the tractor beam. While they are waiting, R2-D2 discovers in the stations computer that Princess Leia is onboard and is scheduled for termination. Han, Luke and Chewbacca stage a rescue and free the princess. Making their way back to the Millennium Falcon, their path is cleared by the spectacle of a lightsaber duel between Darth Vader and his former master, Kenobi. Kenobi allows himself to be struck down as the others race onto the ship and escape. The Falcon journeys to the rebel base at Yavin IV where the Death Star plans are analyzed by the rebels and a potential weakness is found. The weakness will require the use of one-man fighters to slip past the Death Star's formidable defenses and attack a vulnerable exhaust port. Luke joins the assault team while Han collects his reward for the rescue and leaves, despite Luke's request for him to stay. The attack proceeds when the Death Star arrives in the system, having followed the Falcon to the rebel base. The rebel fighters suffer heavy losses and after several failed attack runs, Luke remains piloting one of the few remaining ships. Darth Vader appears with his own group of fighters and begins attacking the rebel ships. Luke begins his attack run with Vader in pursuit, as the Death Star approaches firing range of Yavin IV. During his run, Luke hears Kenobi's voice telling him to use the Force, and he turns off his targeting computer. As Vader is about to fire at Luke's ship, the Millennium Falcon appears and attacks Vader and his wingmen, sending Vader's ship careening off into space. Luke fires a successful shot which destroys the Death Star seconds before it fires on the rebel base. Later, at a grand ceremony, Princess Leia awards medals to Luke and Han for their heroism in the battle. “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back”: The opening crawl reveals that, despite the Rebel success in destroying the Death Star, the Galactic Empire has pursued the Rebel Alliance across the galaxy, forcing them to establish a secret base on the remote ice planet Hoth. The Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader sends robotic probes in search of Luke Skywalker, who has been promoted to the rank of Commander. While Luke is patrolling near the base, he is knocked unconscious by an indigenous predator, the Wampa. Back at the base, the smuggler-pilot Han Solo announces his intention to leave the Rebels and pay the debt he owes to the gangster Jabba the Hutt, much to the displeasure of Princess Leia Organa. After Han discovers that Luke has not returned from patrol, he delays his departure and leaves the base to search for him. After escaping the creature's lair, Luke is overcome by the cold and has a vision of his late mentor, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who instructs him to receive training from Jedi Master Yoda on the planet Dagobah. Han finds Luke, and provides him shelter until they are rescued the following morning. Meanwhile, an Imperial Probe Droid transmits the location of the base to the Imperial fleet. Darth Vader orders an attack while the Rebels, who have discovered the Imperial Probe Droid, prepare to evacuate. The Rebels set up infantry trenches and an energy shield to protect them from the Empire's orbital bombardment while they can get transports ready. The Imperial forces land their ground assault walkers beyond the energy shield and Luke leads his squadron of flying speeders into battle. However, the Imperial forces eventually overpower the Rebels and destroy the generator powering the energy shield, capturing the Rebel base. Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and their droid C-3PO flee on board the Millennium Falcon. However, the Falcon's hyperdrive is damaged and it cannot escape the Imperial blockade in space. To evade pursuit, Han Solo enters an asteroid field and lands inside an asteroid crater. Furious at the loss of his prey, Darth Vader turns to several notorious bounty hunters to assist the Empire in finding the Millennium Falcon. Meanwhile, Luke and his astro-droid R2-D2 escape Hoth in Luke's X-wing fighter. After a crash landing on Dagobah, Luke meets a wizened, green little creature who reveals himself to be Yoda. Meanwhile, inside the asteroid cave, Han Solo and Princess Leia argue while repairing the ship, eventually leading to a tender kiss. However, they are forced to escape what they thought was a "cave," which is actually the belly of a gigantic space slug. When they are revealed themselves to the imperial armada, Solo makes a mock attack-run and attaches the Millennium Falcon to the superstructure of a Star Destroyer, hiding from detection until they are able to mingle with its space-dumped garbage. Solo sets course for Cloud City, a mining colony in the Bespin system run by Han's former friend, Lando Calrissian, but the Falcon is followed stealthily by bounty-hunter Boba Fett, who has anticipated their escape strategy. On Dagobah, Luke undergoes a crash course on Yoda's rigorous lessons about the metaphysical nature of the Force. Luke has a vision of Han and Leia in danger and agony, and wants to rescue them, but Yoda and the vision of Obi-Wan warn of the dangers of leaving rashly, because Luke is still susceptible to the powerful temptation of the Dark Side. Nevertheless, Luke departs from Dagobah and promises Yoda he will return to complete his training. Upon arrival at Cloud City, Han's party is welcomed by Lando Calrissian. After agreeing to help Han repair his ship, Lando invites him and the others to a meal. When they enter the dining room, they are captured by Darth Vader. Lando insists he was forced to conspire with the Empire to prevent them from invading and occupying the city. In captivity, Luke's friends are used as bait to lure Luke to the city. Vader orders a carbon-freezing chamber prepared to freeze Luke, which will hold him in suspended animation for transport to the Emperor. The process is tested on Han Solo. As Han is lowered into the machine, Leia declares her love for him. He is frozen in carbonite and handed over to bounty hunter Boba Fett, who intends to return his quarry to Jabba the Hutt for a large reward. Meanwhile, Luke lands at Cloud City and is tricked into entering the carbon-freezing chamber. He meets Vader and engages him in combat. While escorting their prisoners, Vader's Imperial troopers are captured by Lando's private security force, who set Leia and the others free. Lando, despite nearly being killed by a furious Chewbacca, insists that there is still a chance to save Han, and along the way they find R2-D2. The group pursues Boba Fett and Han's frozen form through Cloud City, but arrive just as the bounty hunter's ship flies away. After a desperate chase, Leia, Chewbacca, Lando, and the two droids make their escape on the Millennium Falcon. Meanwhile, Vader and Luke's fierce lightsaber duel brings them to a narrow platform above the city's central air shaft. After gaining the advantage, Vader cuts off Luke's dueling hand along with his lightsaber. With Luke cornered and defenseless, Vader informs Luke that he does not yet know the truth about his father. Luke claims that Vader killed him. Vader answers: “No. I am your father.” A horrified Luke screams in denial. Vader tries to persuade Luke to join him, embrace the Dark Side of the Force, and overthrow the Emperor with him. Luke refuses, lets go, and falls off the platform into the abyss, signifying that he would rather die than join him. In freefall, Luke is sucked into an air vent, shoots out of the underbelly of the floating city, and lands on an antenna hanging beneath. In desperation, Luke calls out to Leia, who senses Luke's distress aboard the Millennium Falcon and orders Lando to pilot them back to Cloud City. After saving Luke and leaving the planet, they are pursued by Darth Vader's flagship. R2-D2, who discovered that the hyperdrive was merely de-activated while searching the city's central computer, reactivates it and the Falcon escapes into hyperspace. Aboard a Rebel medical frigate, Luke is fitted with an artificial hand as Lando and Chewbacca set out in the Falcon to locate Han Solo. “Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi”: The opening crawl reveals that the Galactic Empire has been working on the construction of a new armored space station which is to be even larger and more powerful than the first Death Star. Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, Princess Leia Organa, C-3PO, and R2-D2 return to Tatooine in an attempt to rescue Han Solo from the gangster Jabba the Hutt. The slave girl Oola falls to her untimely death in the rancor pit. Leia, disguised as a bounty hunter, attempts to secretly free Solo, who is still encased in carbonite. She succeeds, only to be discovered and captured by Jabba, who makes her his personal slave to replace the deceased Oola. Several days later Luke arrives to make one final plea to Jabba to release Solo. Luke is then captured by Jabba's guards and dropped into a dungeon to battle a rancor. After defeating the rancor he is sent along with Han Solo and Chewbacca to the Great Pit of Carkoon to be slowly consumed by the Sarlacc. With the help of R2-D2, Luke escapes and a large battle erupts; during the chaos, Leia strangles Jabba to death with her slave chains, and Han accidentally knocks Boba Fett, the bounty hunter who brought him to Jabba, into the pit where he is swallowed alive by the Sarlacc. Following this, Luke blasts Jabba's sail barge with its own deck cannon, and all of the heroes manage to escape before it explodes. Luke then returns to Dagobah to complete his Jedi training. However, upon arriving, he finds Yoda is dying. Yoda tells Luke that no other training is required, but that he will not truly be a Jedi until he confronts Darth Vader who, Yoda confirms, is Luke's father. Yoda then dies, but not before telling Luke that "there is another Skywalker". The spirit form of Obi-Wan Kenobi then appears and confirms that Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, a former Jedi who was turned to the dark side of the Force. Though he initially seemed to imply that Vader was merely another Jedi who betrayed and murdered Anakin, Obi-Wan explains that Vader truly did this in the sense of the dark side consuming Anakin's mind, apparently destroying the good man who was Luke's father and replacing him as Vader. Luke asks Obi-Wan about the "other" Skywalker Yoda mentioned: Obi-Wan reveals that this "other" is his twin sister, hidden from Anakin and separated at birth to protect them both from the Emperor. Using his intuition, Luke quickly deduces that, to Obi-Wan's confirmation, his sister is Leia. Meanwhile, the entire Rebel Alliance is meeting to devise an attack strategy. As part of the attack, Han is elected to lead a strike team to deactivate the shield generator on the forest moon of Endor which is projecting a protective shield up to the orbiting and incomplete Death Star. Luke, having returned from Dagobah, joins him and Leia for this mission; however, he soon fears that, after sensing Vader's presence within the nearby Imperial Fleet, his own presence may endanger the mission. On Endor, Luke and his companions encounter a tribe of Ewoks, primitive yet intelligent indigenous forest creatures of Endor. With the help of C-3PO, whom the Ewoks believe is a god, they are able to forge an alliance with the forest creatures. Later, Luke decides that the time has come for him to face Vader. He confesses to Leia the truth about her and Vader, and that he has to try to save the man who was once their father. He surrenders peacefully to Vader and unsuccessfully tries to convince his father to abandon the dark side. They go to the Death Star and meet the Emperor, who reveals that he knew of the attack before, and that the Rebel Alliance is walking into a trap. On the forest moon, the Rebels, led by Solo and Leia, enter the shield generator control facility only to be taken prisoner by waiting Imperial forces. Once they are led out of the bunker, however, the Ewoks spring a surprise counterattack. A desperate ground battle begins with the Rebels and Ewoks fighting the Imperial forces. The Rebels eventually gain the upper hand, due in large part to a stolen Imperial AT-ST Walker. During the strike team's assault, the Rebel fleet, led by Lando, emerges from hyperspace for the battle over Endor, only to discover that the shield of the Death Star is still functioning. An intense space battle takes place as the Rebel fleet battles to give the surface party more time to complete their mission of deactivating the Death Star's shield. During the battle, the Death Star is revealed to be operational; its superlaser is fired at the Rebel fleet and obliterates two Rebel star cruisers. This forces a rethinking of strategy and the fleet closes with the Imperial star destroyers to prevent the superlaser from firing on the Rebel fleet. On the Death Star, the Emperor tempts Luke to give in to his anger. A ferocious lightsaber duel erupts between Luke and his father. In the midst of combat, Vader reads Luke's feelings and learns that Luke has a twin sister. When Vader toys with the notion of turning Leia to the dark side, Luke gives in to his anger and brutally overpowers his father, eventually slicing off Vader's robotic right hand. However, despite the Emperor's goading, Luke refuses to kill his father, realizing that he is traveling down his father's path towards the dark side. He declares himself a Jedi, like his father before him. Upon realizing that Luke cannot be turned, the Emperor tortures and slowly tries to kill him with Force lightning; in unspeakable pain, Luke begs his father for help. Unable to bear the sight of his son's torture, and refusing to lose him as he lost his beloved wife (Padmé), Vader finally repents in return of his former self, Anakin Skywalker, and turns on the Emperor, grabbing him over his shoulder and throwing him down a reactor shaft to his death, thus fulfilling the ancient Jedi prophecy; restoring balance to the Force by destroying the greatest evil the galaxy had ever known. At the same time, however, the life support system in his suit is damaged beyond repair by the Emperor's lightning spreaded randomly. Moments from death, he begs Luke to take off his breath mask to see him with his own eyes. Luke does so, and finally sees his father's true face: that of a pale, withered man ravaged by the dark side. He entreats Luke to leave him and save himself, and to tell Leia that there was some good left in him after all. With those last words, Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker dies, finally at peace. Back on Endor, the strike team finally destroys the shield generator. The Rebel fleet seizes the opportunity to launch a final assault on the Death Star in space. Lando leads Wedge Antilles and his fighter group into the interior of the Death Star and they fire at the main reactor, causing its collapse. Luke escapes the Death Star with his father's body in an Imperial shuttle. Moments later, Wedge in his X-Wing and Lando in the Millennium Falcon emerge from the Death Star as well, just as it explodes. Back on Endor, Leia senses that Luke had escaped the station before it exploded. Han believes that she loves Luke and is prepared to let her go, but Leia reassures Han of her love for him and reveals (to his surprise and relief) that Luke is actually her brother. That evening, Luke cremates the remains of his father in his black armor on a funeral pyre on Endor. The entire galaxy celebrates the fall of the Empire and the Rebellion's victory. On Endor, Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, and the rest of the Rebellion, along with the Ewoks, celebrate the victory as well. During the celebration, Luke catches sight of the spirit figures of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and the redeemed Anakin Skywalker, who watch over them with pride. Expanded Universe: In the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars, Anakin (voiced by Mat Lucas) is made a full Jedi Knight despite the Council's reservations. During the next three years of fighting in the Clone Wars, Anakin becomes a legend throughout the galaxy, renowned as "The Hero With No Fear." The final episodes of both Clone Wars seasons depict Anakin dueling Asajj Ventress (Grey DeLisle) and liberating the Nelvaanians. Anakin's adventures in the Clone Wars are also chronicled in the Star Wars: Republic comic series. In the series, Anakin learns to use the Force to choke someone, fights another duel with Ventress (this one leaving him with a scar on his right temple), and commands his first few missions. In the novelization of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin is described as a master of the Djem So form of lightsaber combat. At his best, Anakin is almost like "a droid with a lightsaber . . . every step a blow and every blow a step." As chronicled in James Luceno's book Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, Vader sheds his identity as Anakin Skywalker shortly after incurring his injuries on Mustafar; in the months afterward, he systematically pursues and kills the survivors of Palpatine's order to kill the Jedi; in the process, he fully embraces his new identity as a Sith lord and disavows any connection to his former Jedi self. The novel also reveals that Vader plans to eventually overthrow Palpatine, and that he betrayed the Jedi because he resented their supposed failure to recognize his power. The redeemed spirit of Anakin Skywalker appears in the novel The Truce at Bakura, set a few days after the ending of Return of the Jedi. He appears to his daughter Leia, imploring her forgiveness. Leia condemns him for his crimes and banishes him from her life. He promises that he will be there for her when she needs him, and disappears. In Tatooine Ghost, Leia learns to forgive her father after learning about his childhood as a slave and the death of her paternal grandmother. In the novel The Unifying Force of the New Jedi Order series, set 30 years after A New Hope, Anakin's voice speaks to his grandson, Jacen Solo, telling him to "stand firm" in his battle with the Supreme Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong. In the Dark Nest Trilogy, Luke and Leia uncover old recordings of their parents in R2-D2's memory drive. For the first time, they see their own birth and their mother's death, as well as their father's corruption to the dark side. In Bloodlines, the second novel in the Legacy of the Force series, Jacen uses the Force to "watch" Anakin slaughter the children at the Jedi Temple. Vader appears numerous times in Marvel Comics' Star Wars series. As chronicled in James Luceno's book Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, Vader sheds his identity as Anakin Skywalker shortly after the events of Episode III. In the months afterward, he systematically pursues and kills the survivors of the Great Jedi Purge (except Obi-Wan and Yoda); in the process, he fully embraces his new identity as a Sith lord and disavows any connection to his former Jedi self. The novel also reveals Vader's plan to eventually overthrow Palpatine and rule the Empire himself, and that his primary motivation for betraying the Jedi Order was that he resented their supposed failure to recognize his power. In the comic book Vader's Quest, he hires bounty hunters to bring him information about the pilot who destroyed the Death Star, ultimately meeting his son Luke for the first time. Later, in the Alan Dean Foster novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye (which takes place shortly after the events in A New Hope), Vader meets Luke for the second time and fights him in a lightsaber duel on Mimban. On Mimban, Vader is nearly defeated by Luke, who severs his right arm. In The Star Wars Holiday Special, Vader searches for the Rebels responsible for the Death Star's destruction, almost thwarting Han and Chewbacca's goal of reaching Kashyyyk in order for Chewie to reach his family for Life Day. Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy explains that Darth Vader is the first representative of the Empire to find the Noghri, a race with exceptional combat skills, whom he manipulated into serving as his personal commandos and revering him as their master. Vader later transferred their services to Grand Admiral Thrawn. Ever since he first appeared on Leia’s ship in the first Star Wars film back in 1977, Darth Vader has inspired awe and fear in fans. It helped that he looked so badass. Thanks to storyboard artist Ralph McQuarrie, Vader has had the most intimidating look in cinema history, with the black cape and emotionless helmet. That voice also played a key role in his evilness. James Earl Jones’s deep was the perfect tone for this ruthless Sith Lord. And, he has a pretty impressive resume of evil: he killed Obi-Wan Kenobi when he was an old man (though it can be said that Obi-Wan sacrificed himself so that Luke could stand up to the challenge, Vader still did the deed); he choked the life out of some subordinates who didn’t please him; he threatened to blow up Cloud City, forcing Lando Calrissian to betray Han Solo; he froze Solo into carbonite; he sliced off Luke’s hand and then told him that he was his son; and he kept trying to get Luke to join the Dark Side. Vader’s presence in the Original Trilogy was so amazing that people flocked to see three less-than-stellar prequels just to see how he became that way. And, as Anakin, he did some pretty bad things himself: slaughtering those Tuskin Raiders who killed his mother, slicing off Mace Windu’s hands, slaughtering the Younglings in the Jedi Temple, and killing his own wife, Padmé, even though it was an accident. And, yes, he did redeem himself at the end of the Original Trilogy; and he may have technically been a henchman, following the orders of people like Gran Moff Tarkin or the Emperor. But, the reason Vader is the best villain in the Star Wars Universe is the fact that he is the most important character in the Star Wars Universe. Hell, he is the heart and soul of the Star Wars movies. Without him, the whole thing isn’t that interesting. So, all those things that were done to have tarnished his mystique don’t matter because Darth Vader is hardcore evil.
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