Unity (DC Animated)
The Unity is a parasitic creature that features in DC Comics Superman: The Animated Series.
History
The origins of the creature were unknown except that it had travelled on various worlds for a non-specified time where it enslaved the planetary population. Somehow, it arrived on Earth where two members of the species had intended to infect the Human population - starting with the town of Smallville. To begin the process, one of the Unity assumed the form of Reverend Howell who entered the town and began making them way for the central parasite. Establishing a home for it in a tent, the Unity began infecting the town population until everyone had fallen under their sway. When a young Kara Kent came back home after her vacation in Metropolis, the Unity attempted to infect her through her guardians Martha Kent and Jonathan Kent. Before she could be infected, she managed to escape which led to the parasites discovery by Supergirl. Initially, she attempted to combat the Unity but learnt that injuring any member hurt the entirety of the infected population. When the infected Martha Kent was wounded by such an attack, she was captured and taken away by Supergirl leaving the Unity entrenched in Smallville.
The Unity at this point decided to begin their plans for global domination. Gathering their infected followers, they were sent in their vehicles to infect the various towns adjacent to Smallville. However, before they could leave Smallville, they were stopped by Supergirl and Superman who had not discovered the parasites weakness to concentrated X-rays. When Superman battled Reverend Howell, the seemingly Human host quickly bloated and revealed the true Unity parasite within which summoned its comrade whereupon the two battled the Kryptonian superheroes. Despite their attempts at defeating the two, the central parasite was killed when Supergirl ignited a gas cylinder embedded in it which blew up due to Supergirls heat vision. The Howell parasite was in the mean time battling Superman but was overpowered when it was weakened by the death of its kin. In the process, Superman ripped the creature in half but it was still alive and attempted to overpower him whereupon the Man of Steel used his heat vision to finally kill it. With the death of the two parasites, the Unity infection died leaving their Human hosts unharmed.
Overview
The Unity were a collective alien lifeform that were capable of controlling large numbers of people through the implantation of tentacle-like extensions of itself through the victim's brain. Once inside, the parasite wrapped itself around the hosts brain stem where it remained in complete control leaving the host as nothing more than an extension of the collective mind. Appearing as zombie-like drones, the hosts worked only to spread the infection to more hosts either through direct means or by trickery. The nature of the hive mind meant that an injury to one was experienced by all members of the Unity. It was known that the parasite gained nourishment through the host and grew stronger by extended contact with it.
Hosts infected by the Unity were capable of shooting a whitish tendril from their mouths to capture their prey and infect them with the parasite. In addition, they were capable of using these tendrils to commune with the central parasite. These tendrils extended to great lengths and were even capable of wrapping around a prey and ensaring them completely. The destruction of a tendril caused pain but tended to grow back to full length. The parasite had a dense molecular structure which meant that microscopes could not entirely penetrate its surface.
Whilst most Unity were tendril masses within a host body, there were powerful and much larger versions of the species that were capable of working independently from a host. The first was the central parasite which appeared as a bluish mass of tentacles with several yellow eyes at its "head". This parasite was quite large and capable of filling the majority of a massive tent. Through this creature, the Unity entered a communion with it by extending their tendrils and connecting to the mass. This mass was capable of independent movement across its environment but typically remained at a single location and guided the infection. The central parasite was an essential part of the parasites development as through communion with it, it can produce further masses of Unity which can be used to infect more hosts.
One weakness of the creature was the fact that it was susceptable to concentrated blasts of X-ray vision which killed the parasite and left it nothing more than decomposing white liquid.
Appearances
- Superman: The Animated Series: "Unity"
