Metamorphae (DC)
Metamorphae are a group of beings that feature in DC Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
Metamorphae were beings that were born of mortal clay and gifted with the ability to control the elements of Earth. According to one account, their creation was said in legend to be dated to the ancient Egyptian sun god Ra who brought them into existence to battle the serpent deity Apep as part of a never-ending battle. Around 3,000 years ago, Apep was slain and Death of the Endless informed Ra of this fact. However, Ra simply continued bringing Metamorphae into the world to fight a battle that had ended long ago. All Metamorphae were Humans that had been transformed to serve as warriors and had the ability to shapeshift and change into any element found within the human body or any other combination. (Sandman v2 #20) Another account held ties to the extraterrestrial where the first Metamorpho was actually an alien that created the Eye of Ra and began the Elemental Men on Earth. It was said that the Metamorphs were designed to be transmutated into intergalactic fuel to power a ship in the Antarctic whose launch would have destroyed Earth with this being the goal of a mysterious individual. (Wednesday Comics v1 #10) Another account said that their origins were traced to ancient Egypt when a meteor fell to Earth and was discovered by a priest named Ahk-Ton who fashioned the Orb of Ra from it whilst the rest of the great rock was kept within his pyramid. (Brave and the Bold v1 #57) Around 3,000 years ago, Ahk-Ton was involved in a plot to usurp control over Egypt from the Pharaoh and came to learn that in the future that a Metamorphae named Metamorpho would be displaced back in time to their era. This moment came to pass and Metamorpho quickly fell under the domination of Ahk-Ton who used him as a servant and a weapon in an effort to become Pharaoh but was stopped by the actions of the Outsiders with the displaced heroes being returned to their time after the rebellious priest was defeated. (Batman and the Outsiders v1 #17) The immortal Vandal Savage later stole the Orb from Heliopolis and used its power over the elements to transform Ahk-Ton into the Metamorph in order to aid him in taking over Egypt. They were opposed by a band of super-powered beings led by Prince Khufu that came to be aided by travellers from the future. (JSA v1 #43)
Two thousand years ago, a Roman soldier named Algon became separated from his legion where he wandered the lands until he discovered a mysterious lost pyramid. Upon entering it, he was transformed into a Man of Elements who walked the land for centuries. This was until he encountered Queen Jezeba of the city of Ma-Phoor with the two becoming lovers. According to Algon, he came to spurn her love and in anger she used the Orb of Ra against him thus destroying his powers and trapping him in a volcano where he remained trapped for centuries. (Metamorpho v1 #17) By the modern age, a noted archaeologist named Rex Mason came to be hired by millionaire Simon Stagg to recover the Orb of Ra from the Lost Pyramid of Ahk-Ton. Alongside Java, Mason travelled by plane to the Valley of the Upper Nile where they then travelled on foot into the pyramid. They came to find the Orb of Ra only for Java to betray Mason and leave for him for dead in the structure whilst he absconded with the relic. Rex then inadvertently found the original meteor that Ahk-Ton had found from which he used a piece to create the Orb of Ra where exposure to its radiation led to his transformation into a being capable of changing into various elements. (Brave and the Bold v1 #57)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. It was shown that Algon was one of the Metamorphae who was the Ancient Elemental Man that a millennium ago was imprisoned within the Kingdom of the Elements. Whilst in Element World, he was tasked with overseeing the various city-states made of the building blocks of creation wage an eternal war against one another. For thousands of years, Algon was tasked with preventing their escape into the real world. (The Terrifics v1 #6)
Overview
In appearance, Metamorphae were formerly humans who had mutated to the point that they became creatures composed of elements and could change their shape as well as their composition into any elemental form. (Brave and the Bold v1 #57)
Metamorphae were said to be incapable of committing suicide as they could not physically kill themselves. In addition, they had incredibly long life-spans that spanned thousands of years. Despite this being the case, it was said that even their kind were capable of dying eventually as eventually their morphogenetic field collapsed and their metaplasm dissolved. (Sandman v2 #20)
Members
- Skarath : the original alien Metamorpho who made the Eye of Ra thus starting the line of Elemental Men. (Wednesday Comics v1 #2)
- Na'gzana : an African Metamorpho from 3,000 B.C. (Wednesday Comics v1 #2)
- Ahk-Ton : a male Egyptian priest who 3,000 years ago discovered the meteor that he fashioned into the Orb of Ra and attempted to use the power of a time-displaced Metamorpho to usurp control of the kingdom from the Pharaoh. (Batman and the Outsiders v1 #18) He was later transformed into one of the Metamorphae known as the Metamorph by Vandal Savage where he aided the immortal in an attempt to take over Egypt. (JSA v1 #43)
- Algon : Roman centurion from 2,000 years ago who was transformed into a Man of Elements where he became the paramour of Jezeba, Queen of Ma-Phoor. (Metamorpho v1 #17)
- Rex Mason : a male human who was an archaeologist and adventurer who was sent to recover the Orb of Ra from the Lost Pyramid of Ahk-Ton by Simon Stagg only to end up being mutated by the original radioactive meteor that turned Mason into Metamorpho the Element Man. (Brave and the Bold v1 #57)
- Urania Blackwell : a female special agent for the U.S. government charged with stopping the criminal organization CYCLOPS though lacked the power to do so on her own leading to her going to the Lost Pyramid of Ahk-Ton and gaining elemental powers whereupon she took the name Element Girl. (Metamorpho v1 #10)
- Jillian Conway :
- Shift :
- Emily Sung :
Notes
- The Metamorphae were created by Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon where they made their first appearance in Brave and the Bold v1 #57 (January, 1965).
Appearances
- Brave and the Bold #7: (1965)
- Metamorpho vol. 1 #10:
- Metamorpho #16:
- Metamorpho #17:
- Batman and the Outsiders #17, (January 1985):
- Metamorpho vol. 2 #1, (August 1993):
- Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #3:
- Wednesday Comics v1:
- The Terrifics v1:
External Link
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