Red Tornado
Red Tornado is a male robotic comic superhero who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Red Tornado was a male android that was created by the scientist T. O. Morrow after he escaped from Earth-1 to Earth-2 in the Multiverse. Once there, he sought to continue to use his fourth-dimensional grapple beam to steal objects from the future and claim them as his creations. However, he came to learn from a future museum that his plans would be thwarted by the Justice Society of America. Desperate for a solution, he was informed by his computers that he could destroy them by using a Humanizatron to make an android that would infiltrate the superhero team's ranks. The machine would be programmed to want to join the heroes but secretly installed with directives that would cause him to bring about their deaths. Red Tornado was then named after the original who was briefly a member of the Justice Society where he had no memory of his origins except the belief that he was the first Red Tornado looking to re-join the team. (Justice League of America v1 #64)
When the Justice League on Rann were seemingly disintegrated by the robot Borg, Adam Strange traveled to the Justice League of America's headquarters satellite to gather Red Tornado and the rest of the League to avenge their comrades and deal with the mastermind behind the attacks, Kanjar Ro. Before the League could form a plan of action they were alerted to a freak electric storm in Long Island, and left their satellite to respond, witgh Adam staying behind because Earth’s surface was poisonous to him. The storm turned out to be a Cloud Creature, another revamped threat from Rann, and it defeated the League. Kanjar confronted Adam Strange and explained his schemes, but Adam responded by stealing the energi-rod he’d used to recreate the Rannian menaces and zeta-beamed back to Rann. Sardath used the brain waves on file from Kanjar Ro’s time as a prisoner on Rann to allow Adam control over the energi-rod. Adam correctly reasoned that Kanjar’s ego demanded that he destroy the entire Justice League of America in one fell swoop, so the seemingly murdered Leaguers must have been in captivity on Rann. In an ice cave he found the five black spheres that Kanjar had turned the League into, and undid the transformation with the energi-rod. He found an additional black sphere, and it turned out to be Alanna. She told Adam that Kanjar kept her alive as insurance to have leverage against Adam if his plan failed. The Justice League of America returned to Earth and defeated the Cloud Creature. Without his energi-rod Kanjar was easy pickings, and Black Canary knocked him out with a karate chop. The League went to Rann with Adam and attended his wedding to Alanna. (Justice League of America v1 #121)
The Anarchist kidnapped several world leaders in the name of bringing chaos to the world’s governments, and challenged the Justice League of America to stop him from kidnapping a group of U.N. delegates. Superman, Green Arrow, Flash and Red Tornado responded, but the Anarchist and his cronies fought them to a standstill and snatched the delegates, leaving the U.N. furious with the Justice League. Clark Kent covered a performance by Simon Elis, faith-healer, and was convinced that he was the Anarchist. The Justice League of America followed Elias, but he foiled them with a burst of energy, and managed to teleport away with League members Batman, Black Canary and Elongated Man. Green Lantern told Superman that someone was mind-controlling him, forcing him to recharge his power ring and siphoning off the energy, and they deduced that the Anarchist was the culprit. The next time the Anarchist tried to make GL recharge, GL convinced Superman to knock him out with a punch. The Justice League of America tracked down the Anarchist, and he revealed that he was using Green Lantern’s powers and creating chaos so that he could restore the world order as Simon Elis and become a dictator. Without GL’s power to draw off, the Anarchist and his cronies were easy pickings for the League. (Justice League of America v1 #127)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Red Tornado
Red Tornado was one of a number of heroes attending the memorial service for Green Lantern Hal Jordan at Coast City. (Green Lantern v3 #81)
He began to 'remember' events concerning of a female android that was like him in the world leading to Red Tornado discovering he had siblings. By this point, he began to receive a repeated signal that was a beacon drawing him out to find his 'sister'. Sifting through data on the internet, he came to learn that she had been a hero called the Red Torpedo whose existence was removed from public record. Drawn to the signal, he went to the Pacific where he went underwater by Pearl Harbour where he found a sunken submarine and by one of the torpedo bays he found the deactivated Red Torpedo android where he brought her back online. (Red Tornado v2 #1)
Tornado was among the superheroes that attended Young Justice’s Justice for All rally in Washington. It was interrupted by Klarion, who magically de-aged most of the heroes into children, and turned Tornado into an android child. Doiby Dickles pulled out an extraterrestrial aging gun to return the heroes to their proper age, but another of Klarion’s spells intercepted his shot. The result was that the younger heroes present were aged to adulthood, but the other heroes remained children. (Young Justice: Sins of Youth v1 #1)
Doiby tried using his new raygun on Tornado, the JLA, JSA and Young Justice but it had no effect. Since the heroes’ ages were skewed by a combination of magic and science, they would need Klarion’s cooperation to undo the transformation. The heroes attacked Agenda’s headquarters in Alaska, where Superboy, Superman, Wonder Girl and Wonder Woman were being held hostage. The hq was defended by the Junior Injustice Society, but the heroes prevailed, forced the Agenda to flee, and freed the prisoners. They then forced Klarion to team with Doiby and return everyone to their proper age. (Young Justice: Sins of Youth v1 #2)
Red Tornado's torso ended up in the Australian Outback, where it was found by a small group of Aborigines. (52 v1 #17) The head ended up in the auto shop of mechanic Johnny Warrawa, who built a new body for it from junkyard scraps. (52 v1 #21) Although malfunctioning, Red Tornado fought against a group of Intergang enforcers trying to evict a tribe of Aborigines from their shanty town. He was destroyed with only his head remaining; someone used the head in a contemporary art sculpture. (52 v1 #28) T.O. Morrow later bought the head in an Internet auction. He wanted to discover its secrets, but Rip Hunter came for it. He combined it with his Time Bubble to navigate safely into the restored universe. (52 v1 #48)
Green Lantern was able to gather all of Red Tornado's parts and the Justice League had him fully repaired by Will Magnus. (Justice League of America v2 #1) His soul, however, was convinced by Felix Faust, posing as Deadman, to enter the body of a recently deceased copy of the villain Multiplex and experience life as a real human. He retained his powers in this new body as John Smith, and returned home to a joyful Kathy and Traya. While learning to be "human", John sensed something was wrong as his hand would not stop shaking. (Justice League of America v2 #2) His android body is stolen from Will Magnus' lab by Doctor Impossible. Magnus notifies Red Tornado, who leaves to find his stolen android body. (Justice League of America v2 #3) Red Arrow, Black Canary and Green Lantern join the search, tracking a beacon planted by Magnus in Red Tornado's android body. They track the signal to a remote mountain base and confront Professor Ivo, who has regained his human appearance and releases a swarm of activated Tornado androids against them. After the androids are defeated and Red Tornado arrives, it is revealed that this was orchestrated by a revived, intelligent Solomon Grundy. (Justice League of America v2 #4) Grundy admits masterminding the plan to place Red Tornado in a human shell meant to cripple him and slowly rob him of his health and aerokinesis, although a mishap let Tornado keep his powers in his weakened form. Grundy has Red Tornado android body infused with super-powered objects and one of Ivo's Amazo chips, creating an invincible shell to house his soul so he can never die again. The heroes and others pursue the Red Tornado-Amazo android, who went to see his family. As they leave, Grundy keeps the now-weak human Red Tornado separate in an attempt to kill him. Tornado, no longer a match for Grundy's superhuman strength, is beaten and mutilated. Despite his injuries, however, he summons winds which snap Grundy like a tree. (Justice League of America v2 #5)
The Amazo form is slowed down by Apokoliptian technology given to Kathy Sutton by Big Barda (after recent tragedies, the JLA had armed their loved ones), and the heroes neutralize him
An army of Earth’s heroes, including Red Tornado and the Justice League appeared to take Superboy down during the Sinestro Corps invasion of Earth. The heroes focused on wrecking his armor, because after a year on Oa, and away from a yellow sun his Kryptonian body still wasn’t at full strength, and his armor collected sunlight. Superboy bragged that once the sun rose on Earth he’d be at full power. Superboy was battered by Wonder Girl and Wonder Woman, who blamed him for Superboy’s death, as well as Supergirl and Power Girl, who blamed him for the death of the Superman of Earth-2. As the fight went against him, Superboy broke down in tears. He tried to wipe them away, saying that it was impossible for boys to cry, and then whining that no one ever thanked him for sacrificing his Earth to save the multiverse. The battle lasted until dawn, and he flew into the sunrise. As he achieved full power he declared himself the one, true Superman. The Guardians arrived with Sodam Yat, the new Ion, and pitted him against Superboy-Prime. (Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime v1 #1) The Sinestro Corps War raged on Earth, and while Red Tornado and an army of superheroes battled the Corps the Anti-Monitor prepared to unleash an anti-matter wave to destroy Earth. With Earth’s destruction, the entire 52 would fall, and he would once again rule all that was. The GLC ruptured the heart of Anti-Monitor’s Warworld, the Sinestro Corps central power battery, and created a shield around Warworld and the Monitor. The ensuing blast nearly destroyed the Anti-Monitor, and he was finished off by Superman-Prime, who betrayed him for having destroyed his home, Earth-Prime. GL Hal Jordan defeated Sinestro in personal combat, and the Sinestro Corps, lacking any leadership, fled Earth. The heroes rejoiced and began rebuilding the damage the Sinestro Corps did. (Green Lantern v4 #25)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Red Tornado
A Red Tornado shell was left behind at the Mount Justice facility to serve as a sentry and to protect it from intruders. Its program was triggered when the new incarnation of Young Justice arrived at the site to make it their next headquarters. This led to a battle between the young heroes and the android who was destroyed by the Teen Lantern. The mechanical body was re-assembled where he served as a guardian to the Young Justice team. (Young Justice v3 #20)
Overview
Personality and abilities
His face plate could be removed which showed a featureless head behind. He came to be known by the title of the Crimson Cyclone. (Justice League of America v1 #64)
He did not understood the allure of spectator sports as he felt viewers could simply dedicate themselves to an exercise regimen to achieve a similar level of fitness as those on television. (Red Tornado v2 #1)
Morrow had created other elemental 'siblings' that included the water manipulating Red Torpedo, a fire controlling Red Inferno and a earth controlling Red Volcano. (Red Tornado v2 #1)
Powers and abilities
Red Tornado was a highly advanced android that was created with superhuman abilities. (Justice League of America v1 #64)
A few hundred million terabytes was noted for being the minimum storage capacity in terms of data in his mind. As a machine, he had perfect memory recall allowing him to remember all his victories, defeats and precious moments in his life. He was able to archive massive amounts of data with this task sometimes taking a lot of resources. In such cases, he could set certain functions such as social interaction to low priority. (Red Tornado v2 #1)
Through his tornadoing arms, he was able to create suction that could drag a person into the clouds. He could whirl his arms like a propeller allowing him to make himself into a human bullet. (Justice League of America v1 #64)
Notes
- Red Tornado was created by Gardner Fox and Dick Dillin where he made his first appearance in Justice League of America v1 #64 (August, 1968).
Alternate Versions
- In Earth 2 v1 #15 (2013), an alternate version of the Red Tornado appeared in the reality of the new Earth-2 set in the reborn Multiverse.
In other media
Television
- In Justice League Unlimited, Red Tornado had a minor role in the animated television series set in the DC Animated Universe where he was voiced by uncredited actor Powers Boothe.
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Red Tornado appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Corey Burton. A villainous alternate universe version of Red Tornado called Silver Cyclone appeared in the episode "Deep Cover for Batman!" as a member of the Injustice Syndicate. He attempted to destroy humanity and betray the Syndicate, but was ultimately destroyed by the heroic Red Hood of his world.
- In Young Justice, Red Tornado appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Jeff Bennett.
- In Supergirl, Red Tornado appeared in the setting of the live-action television series set in the Arrowverse in the episode "Red Faced" where he was portrayed by actor Iddo Goldberg.
- In Justice League Action, Red Tornado appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Jason J. Lewis.
Films
- In Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Red Tornado appeared in the setting of the animated film where he had a non-speaking role.
Video games
- In DC Universe Online, Red Tornado appeared in the setting of the MMORPG.
- In Young Justice: Legacy, Red Tornado appeared in the setting of the video game tied to the animated television series where he was voiced once again by Jeff Bennett.
Appearances
- Justice League of America v1: (1968)
- Young Justice v1:
- Justice League of America v2:
- Red Tornado v2:
- Young Justice v3: (2020)
External Links
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