Cicada (DC)
The Cicada is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
David Hersch
During a thunderstorm sometime in the early twentieth century, David Hersch murdered his wife. Regretting what he had done, he sought to end his own life, only he was struck by lightning before he could carry it out and had a vision: He had been chosen to live forever, and he would bring his wife back as well.
Hersch was able to transfer a person’s life force to himself to keep himself alive. Calling himself Cicada, he began accumulating followers, including Magenta, planning for the day when he would be able to resurrect his wife. Yet he and his followers faced a dilemma: to achieve his vision of immortality, he needed to sacrifice the lives of others; yet how could he truly justify that? Certainly his followers would lay down their lives for him, but would it be enough to raise the dead?
Then the answer came: Cicada learned of [[Wally West|the Flash, and saw in him a brother blessed by the lightning. And the Flash had been saving people’s lives. Here were people who, without the Flash’s interference, would have died anyway, and in Cicada’s mind, he could take their lives with a clear conscience.
As the appointed day approached, Cicada sent his followers out through Keystone City, armed with daggers that collected life energy, killing those whom the Flash had saved. The killings overwhelmed the police, and the Flash was kept busy dealing with Magenta, who finally captured him and brought him their sanctum to witness the resurrection. Cicada succeeded, briefly, in bringing his wife back, only to have her reveal the truth of his original crime. The Flash broke free, and in the ensuing fight Cicada drained the life from all his followers.
He came to be sentenced to Iron Heights Penitentiary where he was sentenced to death by lethal injection though the judgement was halted until S.T.A.R. Labs could verify his new status as a mortal. Hersch lived a simple life of contemplation and prayer in his prison cell. Iron Heights later went under a lockdown when the guards were infected by the Frenzy virus that was killing them. The Flash was sent into the prison to investigate and find a cure for it with Wally coming upon Cicada's cell. David claimed that he was undergoing his penance in the hope of the Flash accepting his worship but West simply closed the window into the cell rather than engage further with the captive villain. (The Flash: Iron Heights v1 #1)
Cicada now resides in Iron Heights, living a simple life of contemplation and prayer. Of course, he may have a way out: during the battle, he slashed Detective Morillo with his dagger, granting the detective healing powers and establishing some sort of hold over him.
He later came to become a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains.
Overview
Personality and attributes
Powers and abilities
Cicada has the ability to steal the life-force of other living beings and use it to prolong his own life and regenerate physical damage. He carries a hilted blade capable of absorbing the life force of its victims in order to resurrect the dead. Cicada is an immortal and cannot die.
Notes
- The Cicada was created by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins where he made his first appearance in The Flash v2 #171 (April, 2001).
In other media
Television
- In The Flash, the Cicada appeared in the CW live-action television series of the Arrowverse in its fifth season where he was portrayed by actor Chris Klein.
Appearances
- The Flash v2:
- The Flash: Iron Heights v1:
External Links
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