Psions (DC)

Latest revision as of 11:31, 26 May 2024

Psions are an alien reptilian race that features in DC Comics.

History

Origins

The Psions were a race of humanoid reptilians that were native to the planet Maltus. Originally, they were small green skinned reptilians that walked on all fours and possessed a tail. During their study, they found the small lizards holding a mind capable of much greater complexity. They then proceeded with experiments seeking to enhance these animals with these developments being passed on to each new generation. The next stage saw the reptilians being released into the wild in order to test their survival rate. During this time, the immortals of Maltus had engaged in the Great Exodus whereupon they departed their world. Unknown to their makers, the newly formed Psions settled in the structures left behind by their creators and studied them. From ancient documents, they learnt that their makers had departed for a world near the center of the universe. The Psions learnt much from the knowledge left behind and after millennia achieved the means to travel the stars. Thus, they went into space to search for their makers and encountered them but the Guardians of the Universe rejected the Psions. The told the reptilian humanoids that though they had learnt their tools that they gained little understanding of knowledge. Despite being rejected, the Guardians felt responsible for the Psions and sent them to a distant galaxy so that they could be allowed to continue to strive for comprehension. They warned the Psions to stay within their proscribed region of space where they would be left alone with the Guardians hoping that their creations could one day join them as equals. (Omega Men v1 #30)

Sometime afterwards, the Psions were responsible for creating a synthetic planet to serve as their new homeworld. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #22) Over the course of many years, the Psions had re-learnt their own origins for forty seven times only for it to be repressed each time as they could not accept this truth. (Omega Men v1 #30)

They joined the Dominators Alliance where they sat alongside the Khund, Thanagarians, Citadel, Warlords of Okaara, Daxamites, Durlans and Gil'Dishpan where they sought to control the danger posed by Earth's with its population of Metahumans. (Invasion! v1 #1)

One of the Psion experiments involved attempting to synthesize the bio-replication powers of the Czarnians. They maintained a laboratory on an unidentified asteroid in the Vega star system. Years after the experiments had been abandoned, the Omega Men came to the asteroid and inadvertently activated the Psion experiment, duplicating the Omega Man known as Tigorr. (Omega Men v1 #17)

A small contingent of Psions were captured and enslaved by an alien race known as the H'San Natall. It was the H'San Natall's intention to seed the planet Earth with various sleeper agents whose bodies would be genetically modified to harness great power and fight against Earth's Metahuman populace. The H'San Natall enslaved a number of Psions and put them to work bringing their plans to fruition from a laboratory on the moon of Titan. For sixteen years, the Psions monitored the progress of eight genetically altered humans, one of whom, Audrey Spears, was raised in a virtual reality chamber on Titan. Audrey, and three other of her fellow seeds, escaped Titan with the help of the (now teenage) hero known as the Atom. Kidnapping a Psion scientist named Dorek, they returned to the world of their birth and became the second group of young heroes to call themselves the Teen Titans. (Teen Titans v2 #3)

In later years, Green Lanterns Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner planned to breach Vegan space in order to retrieve recruit Soranik Natu. The mission was successful, though the Guardians expected the Psions to react to the incursion into their territory. More recently, the Guardians repealed the ban on the Vega system, allowing the Green Lanterns to operate with the system. The Guardians anticipated that the Psions would react with hostility to this. (Green Lantern v4 #40)

During the Starro invasion of known space, the Psions saved the Omega Men from the parasites in order to enlist their aid against the invaders. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #4) The Omega Men did not trust them, but the Psions showed them that Starro, who'd recently taken control of L.E.G.I.O.N. from Vril Dox, had opened up a subspace rift in the Dominator controlled Xylon expanse, releasing a fleet of warships and the powerful slaves known as the High Vanguard. Their leader, a humanoid named Starro, arrived on the Dominator homeworld, and began a massacre. The Psions said the Omega Men had to assassinate him. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #5)

The Psions presented the Omega Men with Dark Stars, genetically modified Starro spore that would let them approach Maltus unopposed but no control their minds, and having the added benefit of boosting the Omega Men's natural abilities. Tigorr volunteered to have a Dark Star first, threatening to shoot the Psions if it was a trick. and although the process hurt he found he still had free will. The Omega Men flew to Maltus, but had to leave Elu with the Psions because his energy form could not interact with a Dark Star. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #8)

In an unprecedented act, a Green Lantern Power Ring selected a female Psion as its wearer with this being Gorius Karkum. During this time, Vril Dox managed to negotiate a protection treaty which the Psion's had signed. In this time, Green Lantern Karkum along with Starfire went to the Psion homeworld where they attempted to save the captive female Psions. Their activities threatened to uncover the existence of Project-C Splicelab that was a Psion secret initiative involving the cloning of an army of Czarnians. As a result, they detonated the Breeding Nexus killing the female captives forcing the female heroines to leave the planet. As a result of their actions, the L.E.G.I.O.N. treaty was annulled by Dox whilst the Guardian's scolded Karkum as they believed this had put themselves at odds with the Psions. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #22)

Post-Flashpoint

Psions attack Kyle Rayner in Green Lantern: New Guardians v1 #34.

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Psions were shown to had been a simple unintelligent and unaware animals who were experimented on by the Oans. These changes gifted the species with intelligence who evolved into a society similar to their creators. However, they became a confused race who saw themselves as being imperfect. They used the tools left behind by their creators to improve themselves in their search for perfection which led to them leaving their homeworld. Their travels led them to countless planets where they similarly experimented on the native species as the Oans had done to the Psions which they saw as a gift to these worlds. From these experiments, they built their knowledge and took in useless developments whilst discarding the failures. (Green Lantern: New Guardians v1 #33)

A Psion vessel captured the Guardian Quaros and experimented on him where they integrated him within their vessel so that they could come closer to perfection. Not only did they dissect the Oan but also claimed the Mother Box he had acquired. However, the integration led to Quaros's mind inhabiting the Psion vessel where he used it to free his fellow Guardians from captivity where they were aided by Kyle Rayner and Carol Ferris. To stop the Psions, Quaros had Rayner and Ferris along with the other Guardians taken safely away from the ship whilst he initiated the self destruct killing himself, the Psions onboard and their tortured experiments. (Green Lantern: New Guardians v1 #34)

A group of Psions came to Earth in order to check on their experiments on Starfire and used drones that converted people into cyborgs to target as well as capture her. Despite their success, she managed to break free from their control and freed her fellow captured Teen Titans before defeating the Psions. (Teen Titans v6 #16)

Overview

When incapable of accepting a truth, the lower brains of the Psions began the process of repressing memories. They were known to experience the regular race memories that they rejected. (Omega Men v1 #30)

After the Flashpoint, they had managed to merge their organic half with inorganic components on a molecular level turning them into a race of cyborgs. In this form, they were almost obsessively individualistic but shared a common unconscious that meant what one knew all of their kind shared that knowledge. (Green Lantern: New Guardians v1 #34)

They were noted for being a race of pure scientists with a penchant for sadism. (Invasion! v1 #1) These super-scientists were said to be as cruel as they were inquisitive. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #5)

In an effort to emulate their makers, Psions cut off the tails of their offspring as they believed that only beasts possessed a tail that was a practice that continued for millions of cycles. (Omega Men v1 #30)

Female Psions were actually notable different from their male kin as they were able to experience empathy with this being an undesirable trait among their kind as it would put an end to their cruel experiments. As a result, their society held little regard for females with most being killed after being born with the rest being placed in secret containment facilities that housed hundreds of them. Such installations were known as a breeding nexus and was where the surviving female Psions were kept for the males to force themselves on them in order to produce a quota of male offspring. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #22)

Some of their leaders were referred to as the High. (Green Lantern: New Guardians v1 #34)

Their vessels contained an organic archive that held a number of experimental test subjects that were contained for study with defenses being used to keep them in their cells. (Green Lantern: New Guardians v1 #34)

It was said that Psion eugenic experiments were banned in every corner of the galaxy. (Telos v1 #2)

Members

• Gorius Karkum : a female Psion who joined the ranks of the Green Lantern Corps. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #22)
• Raksas : a male Psion Captain who abused Gorius Karkum and was wounded by her when she became a Green Lantern. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #22)
• Fintus : a male Psion General who reported on the damage done to the breeding nexuses after one had to be destroyed when Gorius Karkum attempted to save her fellow sisters. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #22)
• Halor : male Psion Science-Marshal. (R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #22)
• Multhus :

Notes

• The Psions were created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez where they made their first appearance in Tales of the New Teen Titans v1 #4 (September, 1982).
• According to History of the DC Universe v1 #1 (1986), the creation of the Psions was part of an early genetic engineering program by the Oans who were experimenting to create the perfect warrior.
• Justin Jordan helmed the re-imaging of the Psions as part of The New 52 where he stated in an interview: "Well, they're really, really horrifying. This is pretty overtly a horror story, so the Psions are not green, inexplicably-named lizard men any more. H.R. Giger has just died and the design of the Psions owes an awful lot to him, which should tell you where we're going."

In other media

Television

• In Supergirl, the Psions were referenced in dialogue in the setting of the live-action television series set in the Arrowverse. Brainiac 5 commented that Psion interference in Czarnian regenerative abilities was evident after he came to an epiphany when his cognitive functions were released accidentally.

Appearances

• New Teen Titans v1: (1982)
• R.E.B.E.L.S. v2 #22:
• Green Lantern: New Guardians v1:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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