Purple Man
The Purple Man is a male supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Zebediah Killgrave
He operated as a spy for a foreign power and engaged in various acts of espionage. Several months ago, he stole into an army ordnance depot where he was searching for stored nerve gas. Killgrave was discovered by a guard and shot at him which only injured the man who returned fire. A stray shot struck a container holding a nerve agent with him being exposed to the compound. The effects were immediate as his skin turned purple when he was surrounded by guards. In desperation, he came upon a lie about him being an innocent and discovered that the guards simply obeyed his commands. After departing, he came to learnt that he had the ability to compel others to follow his commands. (Daredevil v1 #4)
Around 14 years ago, Zebediah Killgrave saw a woman named Melanie and became smitten with her beauty where he used his power to make her fall in love with him. An hour later, the pair were married before a Justice of the Peace where the two lived as husband and wife. Over time, he genuinely came to love her and released his hold over her mind in the hope that Melanie would genuinely love him back. However, she hated him and left back for Toronto with Zebediah allowing her to depart though Melanie never sued for divorce with her in fact being pregnant with his child who was born Kara Killgrave. The child was seemingly born with a normal skin and Melanie raised her daughter by herself without telling her of her fathers true identity. (Alpha Flight v1 #41) Over the years, he had caused a number of women to have sex with him with them becoming pregnant with his children as a result. Through this means, at least five children were born who the Purple Man took into his care and they became the Purple Children. Their birth was so that he could have children that would love him unconditionally and was the reason he had them born. Initially, they were unable to resist his powers but when five of them were gathered they were able to unite their wills to the point that they could give commands to their father. The Purple Children attempted to get him killed by commanding him to walk in the path of an oncoming train. (Daredevil v4 #8) Years ago, he was at an restaurant where he took control of its occupants causing some of the people to fight in order to entertain him. Around this time, a superhero by the name of Jewel arrived to stop him but he took control over her mind. With his power, he caused her to reveal her secret identity and sent her to deal with the police that came to arrest him. He kept his control over her for the next eight months where she was forced to watch his numerous acts of depravity. This only ended when one day he grew angry at his defeats at the hands of Daredevil where he told Jessica to find and attack any hero. (Alias v1 #25)
Daredevil
Coming to New York City, he used his powers to rob a bank and even escape a prison sentence where at court he came to take over the mind of Karen Page. In that time, he faced the vigilante Daredevil where he took control of crowds and sent them after the hero. By this point, the Purple Man had taken control over a large crowd who he commanded to follow him to the Ritz Plaza Hotel. Whilst there, Daredevil arrived at the scene with the Purple Man taking Karen Page hostage to the roof where he threatened to make her jump off. It was then that his power seemingly began to work on the vigilante who wanted to know of the villains past. After revealing his backstory, he was shocked to find that the hero was simply pretending to had fallen under his sway to gather evidence for the police whereupon Daredevil managed to trap the Purple Man in a plastic sheet allowing him to be easily arrested. (Daredevil v1 #4) After being arrested, he was consigned to a specially-designed prison where a chemical mist derived from his powers dampened his ability of total persuasion. Thus, he remained trapped in his cell for the next two years until a turbine in the control room was destroyed one night. With his powers returned, he took control of a guard and forced them to free him allowing Killgrave to escape the prison. He then fled to San Francisco where he established a criminal empire unknown to anyone except those with direct contact with him. (Daredevil v1 #88) He came to use his powers to coerce Maxwell Glenn the head of Glenn Industries into committing various crimes on his behalf as the first major step in the Purple Man's plan to create a financial empire for himself. (Daredevil v1 #89) Glenn came to be put on trial for his crimes resulting in him committing suicide as a result. (Daredevil v1 #150) Daredevil came to learn the truth about Glenn and confronted the Purple Man at Ryker's Island Prison. (Daredevil v1 #147)
Later on, the Purple Man was driving his purple Rolls Royce on a New York City street when it was collided by a vehicle driven by two criminals working for the Kingpin of Crime and were making a major delivery of illegal narcotics. Angered, Killgrave used his power to compel the two criminals to fight each other. The police later arrived and confiscated the heroin where in the aftermath the Kingpin had Killgrave brought to him. The Purple Man then attempted to use his powers on the Kingpin who proved to have the strength of will necessary to resist the Killgrave's ability. The Kingpin forced the Purple Man to aid him in setting a death-trap for various New York-based costumed crime fighters. Due to the increase in the Purple Man's power over time, plus the use of a sound system that amplified his voice, not even Daredevil could resist any longer. However, wearing earplugs so he could not hear the Purple Man's voice, the Moon Knight knocked the Purple Man unconscious allowing for Killgrave to be taken into police custody. (Marvel Team-Up Annual v1 #4)
Killgrave later regained his freedom and was relaxing on an island in French Polynesia when he was captured by Doctor Doom. The Latverian dictator imprisoned Killgrave within a gigantic Psycho-Prism he had constructed on Doom Island. Doom magnified the Purple Man's will-sapping power and manipulated it to make himself the master of Earth, also using the help of Sub-Mariner. Virtually everyone on Earth was compelled by the Purple Man's power to obey Doom, and he succeeded in capturing a number of crime-fighting superheroes with the Sub-Mariner himself being also enslaved. Due to his unusual physiology, the Avenger Wonder Man was unaffected and was able to free Captain America from Doom's mental control, who in turn freed Hawkeye, Iron Man and the Wasp. Together they freed the other captured superheroes. Infuriated at having been enslaved by Doom, the Sub-Mariner smashed the psycho-prism, thereby both killing Kiligrave and freeing the world from Doom's control. (Marvel Graphic Novel: Emperor Doom — Starring the Mighty Avengers v1 #1)
Return of the Purple Man
In Manhattan, he looked to covertly establish a criminal empire and looked to form an enterprise that operated by employing villains for tasks. At the time, Misty Knight established a similar venture called Heroes for Hire. This led to looking to take back control of his venture and he secretly came to form Villains for Hire that formed in opposition to the hero team. (Villains for Hire v1 #0.1)
Purple Children
Killgrave started gathering the numerous children he had with women under his influence over the years, as he wanted to use them to rule nations, as well as to finally know unconditional love; however, his Purple Children turned on him and united their will to force Purple Man into walking in front of a train and kill himself. (Daredevil v4 #8) Purple Man's body was found and taken to a morgue; however, his healing abilities brought him back from the dead. When the SFPD responded to the Purple Children's rampage, Zebediah escaped from the police station. He later found Daredevil in a gutter, who had recently been emotionally overpowered by the Purple Children. (Daredevil v4 #9) Zebediah started beating him up until Daredevil managed to recover and chase him off. The Purple Man later followed the spoor of his children to an arcade, where he stealthily started taking them down, one by one. Daredevil was able to save the children, and help the police officers surrounding the arcade enter by turning up the volume of the music, so Purple Man's commands would not be heard. Daredevil then knocked out Zebediah, so he could be arrested. (Daredevil v4 #10)
Whilst seemingly killed by Carol Danvers, the body she had thrown into the sun was not the real Killgrave as he had been recovered by one of his many children namely Benjamin. He had substituted the body and kept his father in a coma in order to use his blood for his own purposes. (Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter - Marvel Digital Original v1 #3) This adult male Benjamin who lacked his father or siblings ability to control minds directly. Thus, he thought to be smarter and began to weaponise his fathers blood in a variety of ways to control the minds of people remotely. In this way, he began to target Jessica Jones who’s daughter Danielle had her skin change to purple as well. (Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter - Marvel Digital Original v1 #2)
In the aftermath, Benjamin had escaped with the supplies of his fathers blood leaving his father to be arrested by the authorities. (Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter - Marvel Digital Original v1 #3)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Killgrave appeared as a middle-aged man with light purple skin and dark purple hair. He was typically seen wearing purple coloured clothing such as suits. It was this reason that he was referred to as the Purple Man. (Daredevil v1 #4)
He was said to possess an aura of evil and greed. (Daredevil v1 #4)
Killgrave was said to loathe to personally be involved in physical violence. Instead, he preferred controlling the minds of others and forcing them to engage in such acts. (Daredevil v1 #4)
Powers and abilities
Originally, Killgrave was an ordinary human until he was accidently exposed to an experimental nerve gas. The purple-based compound used with his body acids and gave him the power to command the will of other people. (Daredevil v1 #4) As a result, the experimental nerve gas gave him the power of mind control allowing him to give orders that others obeyed. Typically, his powers only worked when people were in close proximity to him and wore off within seconds after they went passed his range. (Daredevil v4 #8) By stating a command, others were forced to obey his orders such as telling people to give him money or causing a crowd to become hostile to a target or even forcing men to be his bodyguards. It was said that this power was not mere hypnotism as it could work on the blind and sapped a person's will. Only those with strong will power had the chance of overcoming the Purple Man's control. (Daredevil v1 #4)
Intelligence from the files of Nick Fury classified the Purple Man as having a power level of 10. (Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury v1 #1)
He once headed a business venture called Villains for Hire that was a system he claimed to had designed himself and was an efficient operation. It was a business that looked to hire supervillains for various tasks where they were deployed on missions in order to make a profit. (Villains for Hire v1 #0.1)
Notes
- The Purple Man was created by Stan Lee and Joe Orlando where he made his first appearance in Daredevil v1 #4 (October, 1964).
Alternate Versions
- In New Thunderbolts v1 #11 (2005), an alternate version of Zebediah Killgrave appeared in the House of M reality designated as Earth-58163 in the Multiverse. This incarnation was a powerless human who works as a lobbyist for the mutant-controlled government, but is secretly an agent of the human resistance.
In other media
Television
- In X-Men, Zebediah Killgrave appeared in the animated series in the episode "No Mutant is an Island" where he was voiced by actor Cedric Smith.
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Purple Man appeared as a villain in the animated series where he was voiced by actor Brent Spiner.
- In Jessica Jones, Kilgrave appeared as the primary antagonist in the live-action Netflix television series first season where he was portrayed by actor David Tennant. Kevin Thompson gained his powers after being experimented on by his scientist parents, Louise and Albert Thompson. Kilgrave manipulated Jessica Jones into killing Reva Connors and became obsessed with the former. Jessica spent months believing that Kilgrave had been run over by a bus, but later learned that he had survived, having used his abilities to force another man to give him both of his kidneys. As part of his obsession with Jessica, Kilgrave tries to prove his love to her by creating chaos for her to solve.
Video games
- In Marvel Avengers Alliance, the Purple Man appeared in the setting of the mobile video game.
- In Marvel Avengers Academy, Killgrave appeared in the setting of the mobile video game.
Appearances
- Daredevil v1: (1964)
- Alpha Flight v1:
- Alias v1:
- Villains for Hire v1:
- Daredevil v4:
- Jessica Jones:
External Links
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