Doctor Phosphorus
Doctor Phosphorus is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Dr. Alexander James Sartorius was a male human who came to reside in Gotham City where he became a member of the Tobacconists Club. The groups membership consisted of some of the most powerful men in the city. During this time, he met the powerful city council chairman Rupert Thorne. They looked for Dr. Sartorius to help build a nuclear power plant in Gotham where he sunk his entire savings into the council's scheme. Despite this, the people of Gotham opposed the building of the plant leading to Thorne and the council having to take the matter to the ballot. Despite their electioneering, the people won thus banning the creation of the plant leading to them being forced to make it outside Gotham's city limits where it was situated 3 miles offshore in the Atlantic. The change of location meant that more money had to cover structural changes and the lack of funds meant that they were forced to cut corners. One night in November, Dr. Sartorius went to check on his investment where he came to find that the reactor core had cracked open. He attempted to escape but could not get away in time and desperately hid behind some sandbags as the reactor core exploded sending radioactive sand through his body. (Detective Comics v1 #469)
With his mind unhinged, Sartorius began calling himself Dr. Phosphorus and began a campaign of terror against Gotham City. Dr. Phosphorus soaked himself in the Gotham Reservoir, poisoning the water and causing dozens of people to fall ill in Gotham City. Batman’s butler Alfred collapsed and fell into a coma, and he had to drive him to the hospital in his Batmobile because there were no ambulances available in Gotham. The doctors told Batman 50 other people had fallen ill with the same mysterious sickness in the last hour. Commissioner Gordon was at the hospital, and presented Batman with a note the police station had received from Dr. Phosphorus. Phosphorus stated that the people of Gotham city had earned his wrath, and would pay for their sins against him with their lives. Batman returned to Wayne tower, trying to figure out the source of the illness, and realized it was the drinking water. It was still night-time, and Batman feared that by morning most of Gotham would be sick. He called up Gordon, who told Batman he’d just drank some water and felt sick himself. Before passing out Gordon told Batman not to let him down. Batman travelled to the Gotham Reservoir, where he was confronted by Dr. Phosphorus. Batman and Phosphorus fought, and Batman had a rough go of it because he burned at Phosphorus’ touch. Phosphorus wrapped his hands around Batman’s neck, and they tumbled into the reservoir. Underwater Phosphorus no longer burned, and Batman was able to escape his grasp. Phosphorus told Batman he was a worthy for, and it would be a shame to kill him during their first battle, so he fled. Dr. Phosphorus visited Dr. Bell, who’d introduced him to the Tobacconists' Club, and said that while he’d have his revenge on the city council for having created him he’d spare Bell’s life if he kept Batman from interfering with him. Thorne was more than happy to go after Batman, he’d been trying to crack down on Batman for years, nervous of someone who wasn’t in his back pocket, but commissioner Gordon had always stood in his way. With Gordon in the hospital after drinking tainted water Chief O’Hara and the GCPD were ordered to have no further contact with Batman, and Batman was issued a subpoena to appear before a grand jury. Phosphorus visited the Sprang Memorial Arena during a rock concert, and allowed the toxic fumes from his body to get in the air-conditioning system. He sealed the arena exits, poisoning the hundreds of concert-goers. Doctor Phosphorus hid out in the offshore power plant, with Thorne providing longshoremen as security. Batman saw the entire city council was against him, and as Bruce Wayne he threw a yacht party, inviting Thorne and the rest of the council so they could be distracted. Bruce slipped away from the party, changed into Batman, and confronted Doctor Phosphorus. The fight went badly for Phosphorus, who seemingly died after falling into the power plant’s rebuilt nuclear core. (Detective Comics v1 #470)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
After the twice-rebuilt Gotham Nuclear Reactor went critical for ten minutes, a group of protesters demanded that the plant be shut down as a safety hazard, but a recently returned Phosphorus worked to prevent it. Sartorius prepared an attack on the protesters at the rally with a chemical rain, but his plan was thwarted by the combined efforts of Batman and Batgirl and he was finally stopped and captured. (Batman v1 #311)
Phosphorus was held in Arkham for a long time until the place was destroyed by a new Black Mask. Free once again, Phosphorus kidnapped Francine Langstrom in order to lure her husband, Robert into a trap. Phosphorus managed to capture him, but Robert located Francine and tried to escape. As they were escaping, Phosphorus attacked Francine, which enraged Robert and caused him to transform into Man-Bat without the need of the serum. Man-Bat grabbed Phosphorus and forced him into the waters near the pier, leaving him to his own fate. (Battle for the Cowl: Man-Bat v1 #1)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
Doctor Phosphorous was one of the inmates imprisoned in Stryker's Island Penitentiary when Parasite started a prison riot. He escaped from his cell after Parasite escaped by copying Mammoth and joined forces with fellow inmate Red Volcano in order to break into a room containing Green Arrow and several prison guards to kill them but they were quickly dispatched by the bow-wielding vigilante. (Green Arrow v6 #41)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Doctor Phosphorus was originally a male human of ordinary features until an accident resulted in him attaining a horrific skeletal form. His entire body appeared as if it were stripped of flesh, glowing with eerie, phosphorescent flames that radiate an unearthly green or yellow hue. His 'skin' seemed to flicker and burn like a living torch, making him both terrifying and unmistakable. Sometimes, he wore tattered remnants of clothing, but his most iconic look was that of a blazing skeleton walking the streets of Gotham. After gaining powers he came to take the name Doctor Phosphorus. (Detective Comics v1 #469)
Sartorius’s transformation into Doctor Phosphorus warped his psyche. Once a man of influence, he became bitter, vengeful, and consumed by hatred for Gotham City and its leaders. His pain and physical suffering only deepened his paranoia and cruelty, driving him to lash out with elaborate plans of poisoning and destruction. Unlike many flamboyant Gotham villains, Doctor Phosphorus embodies a quiet, simmering menace, often driven more by his desire for revenge and acknowledgment of his suffering than by chaos for its own sake. (Detective Comics v1 #470)
He believed that the good citizens of Gotham had earned his righteous wrath and that they would burn for it. Doctor Phosphorus had said that he was sworn to destroy the city as it had destroyed him. (Detective Comics v1 #469)
Powers and abilities
Originally, Dr. Sartorius was born a human who came to be a doctor and had significant financial resources initially. This was until he was to radiation from an exploding reactor sending radioactive sand through his body. He gained a body of living phosphorus that burnt when exposed to air and was forever burning. With a touch, he was able to burn others with a touch or if they touched him. The effects of his burning touch were nullified if he was underwater. It was said that he was not a person of flesh and blood. (Detective Comics v1 #469)
Doctor Phosphorus’s mutation turned his body into a living radioactive reactor. His touch can sear flesh, spread burns, and poison victims with radiation, often leading to slow and painful deaths. His body radiates constant heat and flames, making him immune to most physical restraints and highly dangerous in close combat. While he possesses no advanced martial skills, his condition makes him a walking weapon, and his ability to contaminate water and air systems expands his threat from individual enemies to entire cities. His durability and persistence make him a villain who often resurfaces even after seemingly fatal defeats. (Detective Comics v1 #471)
Notes
- Doctor Phosphorus was created by Steve Englehart where he made his first appearance in Detective Comics v1 #469 (May, 1977).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Batman Beyond, Doctor Phosphorus served as the inspiration of the character Blight in the setting of the animated television series set in the DC Animated Universe who was voiced by actor Sherman Howard. This character was originally Derek Powers who was affected by a deadly virus and underwent experimental radiation treatment to save him. This resulted in his body becoming a glowing radioactive skeleton and he emitted high levels of radiation from his body.
- In Creature Commandos, Doctor Phosphorus appeared in the setting of the animated television series set in the DCU where he was voiced by actor Alan Tudyk.
Films
Video games
Appearances
- Detective Comics v1: (1977)
- Batman v1:
External Links
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