Starro

Revision as of 10:16, 1 June 2022

Starro in Justice League in America v2 #4.

Starros are an alien species that features in DC Comics.

History

Origin

Starro infected host in Booster Gold v2 #13.

Starro was a species of parasitic starfish-shaped life forms that were able to commandeer the mind of other species. According to one account, the Conqueror was a being so old that it predated the very concept of evil. It would com to send numerous probes that were dispatched across the universe. (JLA Secret Files and Origins v1 #1)

An old and dying Queen Motherstar sought to find a spawning ground for a new clutch of her kind that included a new queen. She discovered a safe haven on Hatorei where the Queen Motherstar arrived and followed the typical pattern of conquest with the natives becoming mind controlled by the Starros. However, the native species shared a communal mind link with one another that was maintained even when infected by the parasites. The previously peaceful Hatorei's collective rage at their imprisonment and seeing their kind worked to death led to them empowering one of their own to kill the newborn Starro Queen. This was Andrez who arrived at the nest and ready to kill the new Queen but she latched onto the mind of his brother Cobi who killed his sibling. The rage of the dying Hatorei thus passed from Andrez to Cobi who in anger pulled the Queen from his face. The new Queen once more then attacked Cobi and latched onto his chest but he dominated the parasite. Under his singular control, the entire Starro species fell under control of the Star Conqueror who began to forge an empire under his control. (R.E.B.E.L.S. Annual v2 #1)

For years, Starro Motherstars had preyed upon the civilizations of worlds within the Milky Way galaxy which were probes for their master. (R.E.B.E.L.S. Annual v2 #1)

Starro the Star Conqueror later travelled from the depths of space to Earth after sensing that it was teeming with life. Once there, the creature looked to drain its people of their intelligence and trigger its nuclear weapons in order to bathe in the resultant energy leading it to a conflict with the Justice League. (Brave and the Bold v1 #28)

Star Conqueror

The Star Conqueror in R.E.B.E.L.S. Annual v2 #1.

Starro sent one of his hosts to meet with the Justice League Europe in order to request their aid in helping him repair his ship. He claimed that the damaged vessel had crashed due to a meteor storm and that Earth's pollutants had left him terminally ill. The alien claimed that he simply wanted his vessel to be repaired so that he could return to his homeworld and die in peace. (Justice League Europe v1 #26) Upon being launched, Starro triggered his true plan which was to detonate the vessel in orbit and spread his stars across Europe. This destroyed his old body whilst he moved his central awareness to one piece of himself whilst the rest began to take over thousands of human hosts. (Justice League Europe v1 #27)

Another member of the species came to land by Blue Valley where 'It' took control of the city along with the Flash Wally West by using spores. At first, a temporary Justice League formed with the intention of dealing with the crisis and saving everyone taken over by the parasite. However, the Spectre manifested where he forbade the League from intervening and suggested destroying the region to contain the threat regardless of how many innocent lives were lost in the process. (JLA Secret Files and Origins v1 #1)

General Tuzik had managed to acquire a sample of Starro and re-engineered it into a biological weapon known as the Conqueror Strain. This version infected people as a virus that was tasked with infecting humans but designed to combat the Metahumans on the Justice League. (JLA Classified v1 #19)

On Earth, a Starro pursued Professor Ivo in order to get revenge for the experiments he had made on its host along with its hatchlings. (Justice League of America v2 #7)

The Checkmate came to create a drug called Apocritic that was derived from the DNA of Starro the Star Conqueror. Once ingested, it allowed operatives to maintain telepathic contact with one another. These agents felt pain in unison and had unified thoughts but it was believed the alien infection influenced the host bodies. (Checkmate v2 #25)(Checkmate v2 #25)

Two cycles ago, the Psions captured several Starro spores and studied them. They genetically altered the parasites as part of their experiments which led to some promising results. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #8)

During this time, the planet Maltus fell under the control of the mind controlling Starro who served as heralds for the coming Star Conqueror. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #4)

After recruiting the Omega Men to stop the Star Conquerors invasion, the Psions equipped them with genetically altered Darkstars that were modified versions of the parasites that did not control the mind of the host but led to other Starros not perceiving them as an enemy. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #8)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different series of events. Star-Ø were a species of parasites that formed in the earliest existence of the Multiverse in a pocket of space outside the normal confines of the universe. The world was one of the Ø-Worlds that were the rare few planets where life was already born to maturity and filled with countless species that were in a state of competition with one another. Evolution forced the various life forms to consume the other in order to leave only a single dominant race that was the strongest and most capable of surviving. After consuming the minds of the other competing species, the Star-Ø was unleashed onto the Multiverse where the parasites spread from world to world and consumed the minds of its inhabitants. (Justice League v4 #29)

Many primitive cultures across the universe had encountered Starro and had referred to it as 'god' with its existence being recorded in the Annals of the Green Lantern Corps. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1 #8)

The Chinese Ministry of Self-Reliance had collected genetic material from the alien Starro to be used to manufacture their own mind-control device. These Genetically Modified Starros (G.M.S.) were made as a weapon of mass destruction that could reproduce at an unfathomable rate and grant its human host with psychic control over the offspring's hosts. The Starro was kept at the hidden ministry headquarters named the Crabshell where it was released by the Freedom Fighters of China. (New Super-Man v1 #5)

The planet Xudar was invaded by Starro and its parasites just as the Green Lantern Corps had returned into the universe. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1 #8)

A fragment of Starro was within the care of the Justice League and was named by Batman as Jarro with the diminutive piece being used to explore the half-erased mind of Starman. (Justice League v4 #10)

Overview

A massive Starro in JLA v1 #23.

In appearance, Starro's were starfish shaped creatures that varied in size with some being giant monstrous beings the size of buildings. They were capable of travelling across billions of miles of interstellar space. It was said that Starro contained nuclear energy and in fact they bathed in such power to sustain themselves. A Starro was capable of using this power within its body and project it as energy attacks. A giant Starro was capable firing beams of unimaginable fury from their tentacles. (Brave and the Bold v1 #28)

They were noted for being telepathic and being capable of draining the brainpower of other sentients. A Starro was capable of projecting their mental voice into the minds of other beings and even make them fall under their sway. (Brave and the Bold v1 #28)

Starro's were asexual being and therefore were referred to as an 'it' rather than as 'he' or 'she'. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1 #8) They were described as being a parasitical machine with individual Starros operating as a remote probe designed to locate and prepare suitable hosts environment. These creatures colonized the minds of host bodies before taking control of their bodies and finally the entire planetary eco-system. (JLA v1 #23) Upon latching onto a host, they were able to make the body amphibious and survive in more hostile environments. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #7) Upon latching onto a host, it was said that any attempt to remove one of the stars resulted in the wearer's death. (Justice League Europe v1 #27) Starros were controlled by a unique form of astral-telepathy. (Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1 #9) Every fragment of Starro was a whole being with powerful telepathic abilities. (Justice League v4 #10) They were controlled by a central awareness that was the main Starro who was able to reside in any one of the stars. (Justice League Europe v1 #27) There was some debate on whether Starro was a sentient being that was beyond understanding or a simple beast following a massively complex survival imperative. (JLA Classified v1 #19)

Smaller versions of the creatures that latched onto the face of an organic being were referred to as Control-Stars. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #7) Another type was the Queen who served as leaders of their kind. When dying of old age, a Queen sought shelter and lay a clutch of new Motherstars in order for a new replacement Queen to be born. Upon being hatched, the newborns fought one another until only one survived. The victorious Queen then consumed the natives of a world she resided before departing the planet in search of new prey. (R.E.B.E.L.S. Annual v2 #1) The Psions created genetically altered versions of the parasites known as Darkstars that did not take control of their hosts but did augment their natural abilities. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #8) A variation of Starro appeared as a viral-based microscopic plague called the Conqueror Strain. This version resembled the standard Starro parasite but red in colour. (JLA Classified v1 #19)

Starros were known to seek out worlds that were teeming with intelligent life. (Brave and the Bold v1 #28)

Originally, they were solitary nomadic predators where typically a single Motherstar arrived on a new world in order to enslave the native population. The mind controlled natives then operated as drones that created a nest and gathered food. By the end, the Starro had worked the mind-slaves to death and departed for a new world. (R.E.B.E.L.S. Annual v2 #1) When a Starro attacks a world, the large creature starfish creature planted the smaller spores on victims to control their minds with anyone lacking the parasites being perceived as an enemy. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #8)

It was referred to originally as Star-Ø but came to be known by other races as 'the Flaming Star' and as the 'Black Star' before eventually being called 'Starro'. (Justice League v4 #29)

Hosts

• Cobi : a male Hatorei who was mentally dominated by the Starro along with his people where he was made to kill his brother causing him to experience a rage where he took control of the parasite queen and her entire race whereupon he became the warlord Starro the Star Conqueror. (R.E.B.E.L.S. Annual v2 #1)

Notes

• Starro was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky where he made his first appearance in Brave and the Bold v1 #28 (February–March, 1960).

Alternate Versions

• In JLA/Avengers v1 (2003), an alternate version of the Star Conqueror appeared in the setting of the crossover comic between DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He was shown to had battled the superhero team known as the Avengers.
• In Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century v1 #6 (2007), the Star Conquerors appeared in the alternate reality setting that was a tie-in to the animated series set in the 31st century. They were parasites that were said to conquer worlds and in the 31st century had managed to take over the Green Lantern Corps. Using their Power Rings, they cloaked their presence on their hosts and attacked Earth but were forcibly removed by Superboy along with the Legion of Super-Heroes.
• In Booster Gold v2 #13 (2008), a future version of Starro had mentally taken control of Time Master Rip Hunter where it used his time-travel technology to conquer Earth. It was with the assistance of Lady Chronos that Booster Gold was able to restore the timeline.
• In Crime Syndicate v1 (2021), an alternate version of the Starro's appeared in the alternate reality of Earth-3. They were shown as being a peaceful race until they were attacked by the Overlords of Oa and their Emerald Knights. In desperation, one came to Earth to enlist the aid of its superpowered population but came into conflict with the Crime Syndicate of America.

In other media

Television

• In the DC Animated Universe, Starro made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting:
  • In Superman: The Animated Series, Starro appeared in the setting of the animated television series.
  • In Batman Beyond, Starro appeared in the setting of the animated television series.
• In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Starro appeared as an antagonists in the setting of the animated television series where they were voiced by actor Michael Richardson.
• In Young Justice, Starro appeared in the animated television series starting in the episode "Downtime". Within the continuity of the show, it was revealed that the unnamed alien creature once invaded Earth long ago during the era of Babylon. At the time, they faced opposition in their conquest of the Earth from Vandal Savage who operated as the ruler Marduk who ruled alongside his son Nabu and daughter Ishtar. They fought the Star Creatures that were vanquished but at the cost of Nabu's life with the giant Starro falling into the ocean. By the modern day, a frozen Starro was discovered by the Atlanteans who studied the creature when the Light dispatched Black Manta to acquire the entity. Only a piece of the Star Creature was recovered that was used by the Light to create their Starro-tech that they used in a plot to take control of the Justice League. Years later, Starro was shown to had dominated an entire alien armada that was sent to conquer Earth. At the time, the planets heroes were divided by the Light's machinations leading to Vandal Savage personally stopping it with the might of the Warworld along with aid from Apokolips. He managed to slay the mother organism and took its corpse that was placed in stasis on Warworld.

Films

• In The Suicide Squad, Starro appeared as the main antagonist in the setting of the 2021 live-action film. He was revealed to had been in space when he was discovered by a crew of astronauts who took him on-board their shuttle. It was then that he produced his spawn that took them over but the pilots managed to return back to orbit. This allowed the U.S. government to take the alien organism for study for a period of decades in order to exploit it as a biological weapon. Ultimately, the creature was shipped to the Jotunheim facility on Corto Maltese where the Thinker continued to study the captive alien. During this time, a coup erupted leading to the country falling into a ruling families hands where they would send their enemies to the Jotunheim facility where they were taken over by Starro. Ultimately, they had the Thinker looked to control the creature as part of Project: Starfish but Amanda Waller dispatched Task Force X with covering all American involvement in the matter.

Video games

• In Infinite Crisis, Starro appeared as a playable character that featured in the MOBA game. It was described as being part of a nomadic race of parasites with the sentient motherstars and probes that were extensions of it.
• In DC Universe Online, Starro's appeared as antagonists in a major event in the setting of the MMORPG video game.

Appearances

• Brave and the Bold v1: (1960)
• Justice League of America v1: (1960)
• Justice League Europe v1:
• JLA Secret Files and Origins v1: (1997)
• R.E.B.E.L.S. v1:
• Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps v1:
• Justice League v4:
• Crime Syndicate v1: (2021)

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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