Animal Man
Animal Man is a male comic superhero who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Bernhard Baker
He intended to propose to his girlfriend Ellen but he was nervous and instead went for a walk. Whilst there, he was attacked by numerous wild animals that suddenly appeared such as a tiger and gorilla. It was there that he discovered that he had somehow gained the powers of these animals when in close approximation to them. He used these abilities to help a number of people that were suffering from animal attacks. Whilst investigating an area, he found the capsule of a crashed alien space ship and reasoned that its radiation was responsible for giving him his strange powers. It was then that he was confronted by an orange-skinned humanoid alien with similar abilities as himself. Buddy struggled to defeat his foe as it simply gained the powers of whatever animal was nearby. This was until he brought some frightened mice and the alien instinctually tapping into their power caused it to experience fear leading to it falling off a cliff edge to its seeming death. Buddy was then hailed a hero where he worked up the courage to speak to his girlfriend Ellen who accepted his proposal to get married. (Strange Adventures v1 #180) In the aftermath, Buddy came to find that his powers had become permanent and decided to use them to become a costumed crime-fighter named A-Man. Informing his friend Roger Denning, Buddy believed it was duty to help mankind with his new fantastic powers. At that time, he learnt of a robbery at Northern Electronics Corporation with this being the second site struck by a group of criminals. Flying to the scene, he ambushed a trio of criminals but in the midst of the fight A-Man came to feel his powers leave him. He quickly determined that his powers were determined by the proximity of nearby animals and he would lose the power if he left the range of the creature. The confusion this caused meant that the gangs boss Grabo escaped though his two henchmen were caught by the authorities. A-Man though came to notice that Grabo had dropped his hat which was a means to track him. Calling Denning, he had his friend bring his pedigree dog to copy its bloodhound tracking abilities. Using this power, he followed a trail to a coastal town to learn that his quarry had fled by boat to a nearby island. Going into the water, Buddy copied the power of the fish to allow him to swim to his destination. Upon arriving there though, he triggered a trap as a lion was sent by Grabo to kill A-Man. Copying the beasts powers, A-Man escaped and came to learn that Grabo had developed electronic equipment which allowed him to telepathically control animals to do his bidding. It was this reason that he began targeting electronic firms to gather the necessary equipment. As such, the island was populated by various animals which Buddy copied where he created a trap that ensnared Grabo and his men. With the criminals caught, Buddy returned home where Denning believed that A-Man was destined to use his powers to help stop crime thus creating a new superhero for the world. (Strange Adventures v1 #190)
Animal Man came to be a number of individuals brought together by the Immortal Man to form a team of heroes. (Action Comics v1 #552) These included Cave Carson, Congorilla, Dolphin, Dane Dorrance, Rick Flag, Jr. and Rip Hunter. Their first mission was to stop Superman was became trapped in a plot orchestrated by the Immortal Man's age old foe Vandal Savage. (Action Comics v1 #553)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
After marrying Ellen, he came to retire from being a superhero and the couple had two children together with these being their eldest son Cliff Baker and a daughter named Maxine Baker. As Buddy was nearing 30 years old, he came to consider using his powers to return to being a superhero again. (Animal Man v1 #1)
Later on, Maxine came to be kidnapped by the Gamesman where she came to use the Red to call out to her father. Buddy then went in search of his daughter where he encountered Aquaman who was revealed to be tied to a similar power called the Clear. (Aquaman v5 #35)
Though presumed dead, Buddy alongside Starfire and Adam Strange were teleported to a paradise alien world where they attempted to find a way back to Earth. (52 v1 #5)
Vixen along with the Justice League sought out Buddy Baker who was with his family in order to find out clues to the chance in Mari's powers of her Tantu Totem. Her abilities had changed leading to her stealing the abilities of other superhumans similar to how Buddy could only adopt the powers of extraterrestrial species. Initially, he dismissed the changes as being mere coincidence but noticed that his behaviour had been affected as he had begun eating meat despite being a strict vegetarian. (Justice League of America v2 #24) Animal Man came to believe that the Yellow Aliens were responsible somehow as they had altered the space-time continuum before but he was not believed by the Justice League. Vixen was then drawn into her totem with the heroes attempting to find a way to bring her back only for Buddy to similarly drawn into the relic. Once inside, he was captured by Kwaku Anasi the West African spider god who claimed that the Yellow Aliens were a disguise of his and that he had been the source of both Animal Man and Vixen's powers. The trickster deity owned all stories and that cosmic changes to the Multiverse offered a wealth of such tales for him when various Justice League members arrived in the world inside the totem to save their friends. (Justice League of America v2 #25)
With the danger over, he joined Vixen back at the Hall of Justice's battle simulator to help her test her restored abilities which were back to normal. Buddy was offered a spot on the Justice League but he declined though stated that in times of emergency he would aid them with Mari thanking him for his aid. (Justice League of America v2 #27)
During the Blackest Night, black Power Rings dispersed across the universe where they reanimated the dead as members of the Black Lantern Corps. During his attack on Earth, Nekron revealed that all those that had died and been revived were touched by death. Thus, this made them unwitting agents of the Lord of the Dead and thus made them vulnerable to possession by the black Power Rings. Animal Man came to be one of a number of heroes affected by this where he was forcibly turned into a Black Lantern. (Blackest Night v1 #5)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Buddy Baker
Unknown to him, the Parliament of Limbs had planned for Buddy Baker to gain powers in order to serve as their champion. This stemmed from their prior Avatar of the Red being killed by Anton Arcane leading to the Totems of the Parliament looking to the example of the Green by appointing an interim replacement. Their most likely candidate had not been conceived at the time with one Totem suggesting the child's father with powers given to him by the Tailors. This person was Buddy Baker who gained the powers of the Red with the intended purpose of protecting the true Avatar of the Red until she was ready to assume the role for herself. For this, the Totems orchestrated an event to make it seem that Buddy Baker gained his abilities from aliens when in reality the Tailors were responsible for the act. However, Buddy Baker came to use these powers to become a superhero and six months later his Ellen became pregnant with the true Avatar of the Red who was the couple's daughter Maxine Baker. (Animal Man v2 #0)
Over the course of 5 years, he spent his time gaining his powers, raising his children, fighting for animal rights and taking part in the occasional acting gig. Among his most significant acts was the lead role in an independent film called Tights that was about a washed up super-hero. (Animal Man v2 #1)
Superman later came to be framed and rendered comatose with Animal Man being among a number of heroes looking to confront the perpetrator on Mars. This led to their encounter against Doctor Manhattan where all the superheroes including Buddy were defeated. (Doomsday Clock v1 #9)
Baker came to be among the heroes that were summoned by Batman to fix the Source Wall in anticipation of a forthcoming war across the Multiverse. Animal Man then assisted them in the cross universe battle to defeat Perpetua and Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom. (Justice League v4 #30)
In desperation, he took the form of a microscopic flatworm in his body in order to use it to communicate with the Divided. The Parliament of the Divided that represented microscopic life gathered where they intended to take no part in the war. However, Baker convinced them that they would be threatened by the other Parliaments if they united against them. Thus, the Divided decided to lend their aid where they encouraged the bacteria in human bodies to fight the Grey's attempted colonisation of them. (Justice League Dark v2 #22)
Overview
Personality and attributes
As a costumed crime-fighter, he came to initially operate under the name of A-Man. (Strange Adventures v1 #190)
After his powers became permanent, he was resolved in becoming a costumed crime-fighter as he felt he had a duty to use his fantastic abilities to help mankind and fight evil. At first, he looked to wear a costume to keep his identity a secret as a crime fighter. (Strange Adventures v1 #190)
Buddy had said that he never got sick of using his powers as no matter how many times he tapped into the Morphogenetic Field he still felt the same rush he did the first time he gained his animal powers. It was for this reason that he never gave up being Animal Man as he found his time as a hero to be too much fun. (Animal v2 #1)
He later came to marry Ellen where she became his wife and went by Ellen Baker. The couple came to have son together they named Cliff Baker and a daughter named Maxine Baker. (Animal Man v1 #1)
By adulthood, he came to be close friends with Roger Denning who had been the only person initially he trusted with his secret life as a superhero. (Strange Adventures v1 #190)
Powers and abilities
Through the presence of morphogenetic grafts, Buddy was able to access the Template allowing him to take the form of the beast avatars within it. (Animal Man v1 #12)
A result of this exposure was that he gained the superpower of characteristics of animals within the general vicinity. This allowed him to gain the spring-like agility of a tiger, the strength of a gorilla and the sheer physical power of an elephant in an area. He could also use these traits to operate in different environments such as learning to swim by using the natural abilities of a sea lion that was nearby. (Strange Adventures v1 #180) He gained the power of flight by tapping into an eagle where he noted that his body felt light as he soared through the air. Alternatively, he had the ability to hop great distances by assuming the power from a nearby rabbit. When in water, he could tap into the power of fish where not only did he assume their swimming ability but also take in oxygen from the water itself thus allowing him to breath underwater. (Strange Adventures v1 #190) In one instance, he was able to absorb the self-replicating abilities of bacteria located in the human body. Buddy said that he just knew to adapt a part of a bacterium's life cycle into a power he could use allowing him to spawn duplicates of himself. Through a thought alone, he could make these copies of himself disappear. (Animal Man v1 #12) He was able to use his supersenses to probe a planet's morphic field network allowing him to sense animal life and possible dangers. (52 v1 #5)
Buddy was able to tap into the senses of animals to help him in the field. In one case, he was in close proximity to a dog to gain its bloodhound tracking ability and track quarry down through their scent. (Strange Adventures v1 #190) As he drew on extraterrestrial species powers, he could make use of abilities such as the sensory apparatus of a alien fungus that lived in the sea form of liquid methane oceans on Europa where he could see through a form of smell. In another case, he drew on the strength of spacefaring cetartiodactyla that hunted on the edges of event horizons. (Justice League of America v2 #25)
At first, his powers could only tap into creatures within a close range of him. If he went too far, then he would lose those powers and could only assume the abilities of nearby animals. (Strange Adventures v1 #190)
After gaining his powers, he crafted a costume for himself as he resolved to become a superhero. (Strange Adventures v1 #190)
Notes
- Animal Man was created by Dave Wood and Carmine Infantino where he made his first appearance in Strange Adventures v1 #180 (September, 1965).
Alternate Versions
- In Flashpoint: Legion of Doom v1 #1 (2011), an alternate version of Animal Man appeared in the reality of the Flashpoint.
In other media
Television
- In DC Nation Shorts, Animal Man appeared in his own animated short episodes where he was voiced by actor "Weird Al" Yankovic.
Video games
- In DC Universe Online, Animal Man appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game.
Other
Appearances
- Strange Adventures v1: (1965)
- Action Comics v1:
- Animal Man v1:
- JLA v1:
- 52 v1:
- Justice League of America v2:
- Animal Man v2:
- Justice League United v1:
- Justice League Dark v2:
External Links
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