Fatal Five
The Fatal Five are a supervillain team that features in DC Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
The Fatal Five were five of the most notorious and wanted criminals in the 30th century. They consisted of Tharok, the Emerald Empress, the Persuader, Mano, and Validus who all made a name for themselves when they operated alone. Their crimes drew the attention of the United Planets whereupon the five began to work together as a team. The Fatal Five were sought out by members of the Legion of Super-Heroes and propositioned with the offer of helping to avert the extinguishment of Sol by a Sun-Eater device in exchange for full presidential pardons. As Mano and Validus in particular were about to face the executioner within only moments of the Legionnaires' arrival, the Legion considered the offer to be one the Five were unlikely to turn down. Indeed, the Five consented, but with the secret agenda of conserving their energies while the Legionnaires exhausted themselves neutralizing the threat, at which time they would reveal their true colors and kill the Legion. The Fatal Five went through with their scheme after Ferro Lad's sacrifice disabled the Sun-Eater, but Princess Projectra convinced Validus to turn on his comrades for treating him like their mindless lapdog. Validus's psychic lightning clashed against Persuader's Atomic Axe and caused the Fatal Five to disappear in a flash of light, seemingly annihilating them. (Adventure Comics v1 #353)
Some months after this incident had passed, the Fatal Five were planning their next act of grand larceny from an asteroid lair when the Legionnaire Karate Kid confronted them by himself, feeling suicidally reckless due to the knowledge that the Rakurga toxin in his system would kill him within hours anyway. Devoid of any true super-powers, Karate Kid's mastery of all known forms of armed and unarmed combat, masterful technique and unsurpassed agility, and hot-headed impulse to succeed at any cost won him the day, as the Fatal Five were forced on the run again and their hideout was trashed during the heat of battle. (Adventure Comics v1 #378)
During the next round of elections for the primus inter pares of the Legion, Tharok struck accompanied only by Validus, teleporting Saturn Girl and Mon-El against their will to a barren planet where he planned to kill them both, hoping to repeat the stratagem of knocking off the Legion's leadership candidates as many times as necessary until the Legion was whittled down to nothing or made too demoralized to continue operations. However, Mon-El defeated Tharok by tricking Validus into sizzling the cyborg villain, melting his cybernetic half into useless slag and nearly killing his biological half as well. (Superboy v1 #190)
Post-Zero Hour
Post-Flashpoint
Overview
Members
- Emerald Empress :
- Tharok :
- Mano :
- Persuader :
- Validus :
Notes
- The Fatal Five were created by Jim Shooter where they made their first appearance in Adventure Comics v1 #352 (January, 1967).
- In Justice League 3000 v1 (2014), an alternate version of the year 3000 was shown with a similar group of villains known as the Five. Its members consisted of Terry Magnus, Locus, Coeval, Kali, and the Convert.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Justice League Unlimited, the Fatal Five appeared as antagonists in the animated television series set in the DC Animated Universe where they first appeared in the episode "Far From Home". They were a group composed of five of the most dangerous criminals of the 30th - 31th century. On one occasion, The Fatal Five used psionic mind control technology to force the majority of the Legion of Super-Heroes to launch an assault on the capital world of the United Planets. The assault was thwarted by Legionnaire Brainiac 5, who had managed to elude capture and was aided by 21st Century heroes Supergirl, Green Arrow, and John Stewart.
- In Legion of Super Heroes, the Fatal Five made multiple appearances as antagonists in the setting of the animated television series. This version of the group is co-led by the Emerald Empress and Tharok. In the second season, Imperiex frees the Fatal Five from prison, taking Validus and Persuader under his wing, while Emerald Empress is depowered and abandoned after Matter-Eater Lad destroys the Emerald Eye of Ekron.
Films
- In Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, the Fatal Five appeared as antagonists in the 2019 animated film. After the Emerald Empress and Validus are taken to the 21st century to be imprisoned in Oa, Tharok, Mano, and Persuader travel back in time to force Jessica Cruz to lead them to their missing teammates. While fighting the Justice League and Star Boy, the Fatal Five are buried alive by Cruz.
Appearances
- Adventure Comics v1: (1967)
- Legion of Super-Heroes v1:
External Links
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