Mister Mxyzptlk
Mister Mxyzptlk is a comic character who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Mister Mxyzptlk was born into the fifth dimension and lived there until he became bored with his relatively uneventful life. Seeking exploration and entertainment, Mxyzptlk left and began to explore other realities. Unfamiliar with so-called "lower lifeforms" of other dimensions, Mxyzptlk began experimenting with some of them, testing them in many different ways, some of which were later shown not to have survived Mxyzptlk's tests. Upon one of his trips to the third dimension, Mxyzptlk met his match in Superman. Frustrated that he could not enrage Superman and make him suffer, Mxyzptlk would return many times trying to engage Superman in ever more dangerous and destructive traps. He would continue to do this until the ruling members of his home dimension decided to curb his powers as Mxyzptlk had exceeded even their tolerable levels by engaging in "pranksterism exceeding the bounds of art". (DC Comics Presents v1 #97)
In the 5th Dimension, Master Mxyzptlk and his rival Ququrlz were competing for top grades in practical joking, and were assigned to perform a joke outside of school as their final. Mxyzptlk knew he could play the best jokes on Earth, but that Superboy would try to foil him, so he went to Smallville and used his magic to make sure anyone saying their name backward would send them to the 5th Dimension for 90 days, not just him. Smallville celebrated the anniversary of Superboy’s first appearance in town with a giant birthday cake, and Mxy rearranged the letters to spell Yobrepus, but two naughty children ate the “S” so Superboy didn’t end up saying his name backwards, and he immediately suspected Mxy. Lana Lang questioned Superboy about why Clark Kent wasn’t at the celebration, so Superboy rushed home, changed into Clark, and told Lana he’d been kept busy with chores from the Kents. Lana decided to secretly follow him some more to prove he was Superboy. Mxy gave every machine in Smallville an electric brain and made them rebel against the public, causing belligerent cars and elevators to cause panic. Superboy flew to a mountaintop, and shouted his name backwards, causing Mxy to show up, but the imp was disappointed that his magic didn’t work, because Superboy hadn’t spoken his real name Kal-El backwards. Lana’d lost track of Clark a while back but caught up to Superboy on the mountain, and Mxy tricked her into saying her name backwards, telling Superboy he’d have to go to the 5th Dimension to save her. Krypto returned from a space jaunt, and Superboy feigned worrying that Mxy would give Krypto the power to speak and ruin his plan to save Lana. Mxy fell for the trick, and Superboy told Krypto to keep Smallville safe while Superboy traveled to the 5th Dimension. Before saying his name backwards Superboy told Krypto to do the same if Mxy came up with anything he couldn’t handle. In the 5th Dimension an adult told Superboy and Lana that because they were new to the dimension and minors they’d be assigned foster parents and have to start attending high school. Superboy used his powers to simulate magic, wowing the teachers with his practical jokes, while Lana kept getting sent to younger and younger classes because she possessed neither magic abilities nor superpowers, and Superboy hoped she’d learn a humbling lesson and stop snooping on him. Superboy got top grades in the school, surpassing Mxy and Ququrlz by carving a mountain into a replica of the school, making the teachers think school had been petrified. In Smallville Mxy gave everyone a Superboy costume and the delusion that they were Superboy, so Krypto knew it was time for Superboy to act. After hearing Krypto’s plea, Superboy fashioned a Mxy robot and had a teacher observe it playing hooky. The teacher activated the robotic dimensional truant officer to bring in Mxy, so it traveled to Smallville and brought him back. Superboy announced that trick as his final project, and was awarded top practical joking honors, infuriating Mxy, who happily sent him, Krypto and Lana back to Smallville. Superboy asked Lana if she’d learned her lesson, and she promised to stop hounding him, but kept her fingers crossed. (Adventure Comics v1 #306)
Tiring of his life in the Fifth Dimension and probably from being restrained in the usage of his magic by the amassed other beings of his home dimension, Mxyztplk left in order to find entertainment and indulge in his abilities outside the restraints of his dimension of Zrfff. He wandered for some time and landed on Earth. According to some written texts, Mxyztplk was the inspiration for the Earth legends of genies and imps and other short fairies. His encounters with most humans left him with the feeling that most were below his own superior nature. "This three-dimensional world is so backward that I can easily conquer and rule it. Think of that! A court jester could become a king!". (Superman v1 #30)
Mr. Mxyzptlk's first encounter with Superman happened many years ago while he was Superboy and living in Smallville. Running away from home the young Mxyzptlk would travel to the 3rd Dimension and decide to pass the time by playing pranks on Superboy, ultimately creating an illusion of the Boy of Steel's father Jor-El and tricking Superboy into leaving Earth. Mxyzptlk would be betrayed by his own father, Fuzastl, who would impart Superboy in the knowledge on how to send Mr. Mxyzptlk back to the 5th Dimension, causing a long running feud between Mxyzptlk and his father. (Superboy v1 #78)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis of Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Mister Mxyzptlk
The fraternal white-haired twins Dale and Doris approached various figures around the Earth where they offered him access to the Encyclopedia Universal that contained all the secrets of the galaxies. These included Perry White, President Lex Luthor and other figures around the planet along with people from other worlds such as Thanagar as well as individuals from the future such as the Legion of Super-Heroes. They later approached Clark Kent and Lois Lane where they were forced to demonstrate their powers before returning the pair back to their normal lives. (Adventures of Superman v1 #617)
He was then captured by Superboy-Prime who had gathered enough power from past encounters to allow him to travel into the 5th Dimension and captured Mxyzptlk. The imp was kept captive at a site near the Source Wall where his powers were dampened by the Earth-3 version of Zatanna. Superboy-Prime had intended to force Mister Mxyzptlk to help him destroy the Multiverse so that he could return to his own Earth that he considered the perfect reality. Thus, he tortured the imp constantly in an effort to force his cooperation but Mxyzptlk stated that he was a trickster and by his very nature he would not help the Kryptonian. (Countdown to Final Crisis v1 #23)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Mister Mxyzptlk
Overview
Personality and attributes
According to him, he had answered to a number of names across the centuries that included Loki, Coyote, Anansi and others. (Countdown to Final Crisis v1 #23) On one occasion, he turned himself into a pair of white haired fraternal twins that appeared human with them having the names of Dale and Doris. (Adventures of Superman v1 #617)
Unlike his 5th dimensional kin, he stated that he was a bit of a show-off and had perfected mischief to a form of zen. He compared himself to a trickster god and stated that he could not be honest with someone even if he tried. (Countdown to Final Crisis v1 #23)
Powers and abilities
His power could delete a cosmic equation that kept a world spinning healthily in space allowing him to remove gravity on a planetary scale. (Adventures of Superman v1 #617)
(Mxyzptlk was banished by a backward-played tape recording of his own voice saying his name. (Superman v1 #351)
He once had access to the Encyclopedia Universal that was the most complete reference work in all the known galaxies. It required an intense level of research into each volume in order to fill it with cosmic information. (Adventures of Superman v1 #617)
Notes
- Mister Mxyzptlk was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster where he made his first appearance in Superman v1 #30 (September, 1944).
- In Action Comics v1 #362 (1968), a descendant of Mister Mxyzptlk was shown as a native to the 40th century where he wanted to get revenge on Superman’s legacy for the defeats of his ancestor Mister Mxyzptlk.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
Video games
Appearances
- Action Comics v1: (1944)
- Adventures of Superman v1:
- Countdown to Final Crisis v1:
- Action Comics v1:
External Links
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