History
The well-meaning rulers of the shadowy, sunless world of Tartarus, Evillo’s parents feared their son would lack the strength to firmly govern a society that seemed to respect treachery and cruelty above all things. So they gave their son a name that they hoped would inspire fear in their citizenry and trained him to anticipate and reciprocate the darker aspects of human behavior. During his training, Evillo proved to be quite a prodigy, blackmailing and torturing the palace staff during his childhood, and arranging the deaths of his parents before he was out of his teens.
Evillo also became a master of Tartarus’s strange mixture of technology and sorcery, developing the power to grow horns out of his head that could emit painful rays and banish victims to a hellish “Realm of Darkness”.
Evillo turned his planet into a haven for the United Planets‘ most notorious villains, and eventually assembled his own team of villains, “The Devil’s Dozen“. Before he could finish forming his team, Evillo and the Dozen fought the Legion of Super-Heroes and were soundly defeated.
After his release from prison, Evillo resumed his life as a planetary ruler and eventually joined the United Plants as a respected member.
Evillo’s twin daughters, Stilletta and Styx, became infatuated with the Legion of Super-Heroes and especially Polar Boy. As a result, Evillo abducted Polar Boy, Matter-Eater Lad and Calorie Queen. This turned out be a bad decision as Matter-Eater Lad unraveled the “Realm of Darkness” and freed everyone who had been exiled there, including Evillo’s first eleven wives. The Legionnaires escaped Tartarus, leaving Evillo in turmoil.
Powers and Abilities
Evillo has developed the techno-mystical ability to grow horns out of his head that emit bio-energy blasts. These rays can take the form of painful “blasts of darkness” and previously were capable of banishing victims to the “Realm of Darkness” before it was destroyed by Matter-Eater Lad.
Evillo has also mastered various hypnotic powers and technologies and is capable of temporarily swaying heroic personalities into criminal pursuits.