Doomsday

Origin

Doomsday’s “father” was an emotionless alien named Bertron, a geneticist who arrived on Krypton several hundred thousand years ago when lethal and deadly monsters roamed the world. He was obsessed with creating a creature that could survive any environment and even cheat death itself. Bertron subjected his test tube infant to Krypton’s harsh landscape and its savage, hungry denizens, using the best of the surviving genes to improve his next cloned creation; firstly, the baby was killed in seconds by the poisonous atmosphere. Then Bertron ordered his troops to collect the remaining tissues in order to continue the experiment. Each day, a new infant was cloned from the preceding one. The baby died either because of the planet’s poisonous atmosphere or high temperatures. Tests were performed over and over. After 10 years of scientific experiments, Bertron noted that the baby was evolving, “mastering the life’s need to survive.” At some point of time, the infant “conquered the environment,” spending more than several hours in the atmosphere without dying, but was then set upon by the lethal beasts that inhabited the planet. After another set of experiments, Doomsday managed to survive outside the laboratory for 2 years. He killed every single monster on the planet during that time. Doomsday was intended to be a perfect being, and live forever using induced evolution to defy death. It finally reached the point where Berton wasn’t needed to revive him through cloning. Though it cost him his life, Bertron succeeded in altering The Ultimate Lifeform’s DNA so that the creature could regenerate each time he was killed. Furthermore, Doomsday would then evolve an immunity to whatever caused his demise. Unfortunately, Doomsday was subjected only to death from all things. This led the ultimate being to grow a hatred for all living things.

Once he wiped out the animals, he returned to Bertron’s laboratory and killed everyone there. One of Doomsday’s first encounters was with Darkseid on a world called Bylan 5. Darkseid was seeking resources to better Apokolips. When Doomsday crash landed, he was attacked by Master Mayhem, long time friend and ally to Darkseid. Darkseid had assumed that Mayhem was unkillable, until Doomsday tore him limb from limb. Darkseid then challenged the beast in hand to hand combat. Neither of them made a move and were completely stalemated until Darkseid was forced to flee because Bylan 5 was getting too toxic and was killing all living creatures. As some of Darkseid’s men fled, Doomsday jumped onto the shuttle and killed the crew. He then crashed on the world of Khundia and resumed his path of destruction. The people of Khundia put their faith and technology in a brave warrior named Kobald. He received reinforced armor to battle Doomsday. There was no means to kill Doomsday, so Kobald’s job was to force the monster off the planet by rocket. Kobald died as the battle with Doomsday exploded the rocket. Doomsday was left adrift in space. He likely died and revived to be able to survive the vacuum of space. World after world found that they could not kill him, only exile him, and hope that others would fare better. Doomsday would eventually cross the Green Lantern Zharan Pel, who didn’t last long. This encounter gave Doomsday awareness of the Guardians of Oa. The monster found his way to Oa to slaughter many of the dedicated Green Lanterns. A Guardian gave his life to cast Doomsday into a dimensional rip in space. This hurled Doomsday to the world of Calaton, full of advanced technology, which would all prove useless against the monster. He would spend years bringing horror to this world. One of the royal families decided to give their lives and focus their souls into one Radiant being. Radiant was unleashed to battle Doomsday. This would last a week, since Doomsday had never before encountered such a being. Radiant had to destroy most of Calaton to finally put Doomsday down. For some reason, Doomsday was given a custom burial by the survivors of Calaton, although for his crimes, he would not be buried on Calaton. He was chained in a ship and cast back to the stars from which he came. The ship crashed down on Earth and laid dormant for some unknown amount of years.

Creation

Doomsday was created by the writer and artist Dan Jurgens. It was desired for there to be a villain who could physically challenge Superman, and when it was decided that the next Superman story line would be the death of the last son of Krypton, Jurgens offered this design. It has been noted that Marvel’s the Hulk bears a similarity to Doomsday in bulk as well as attitude, however this has never been verified by anyone at DC. Also, a similarly city ravaging super battle happened in the Justice League family of titles a few years previous, with Despero battling J’onn J’onzz to a standstill.

Doomsday made his first comic book appearance in Superman: The Man Of Steel #17.

Major Story Arcs

Death of Superman

For More Information: Death Of Superman

Doomsday woke beneath the Earth’s crust and, after loosing one arm from its bonds and breaking out of the tomb, made his way to the surface. On the way, he killed a group of Underworlders that mistook Doomsday for one of them. Doomsday, finally among the living again, resumed killing whatever he set eyes upon with his one arm that was freed from his bonds. His path of destruction ravaged the countryside, and the Justice League arrived with Ice, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire, Bloodwynd ( Martian Manhunter controlled by Rott) and Maxima, to investigate. Turning up in time to save a family from a disaster, soon, the newly formed JLA were caught in a fierce battle with the unknown monster. Meanwhile, several hundred miles away from Metropolis, Superman was busy doing public relations work regarding the sudden formation of the new Justice League. Doing his best to assuage the fears of an assembly of media outlets, Superman was interrupted when a televised report described the battle scene at Ohio’s Lexoil Refinery.

The battle, still taking place a state away from Metropolis, continued on. Impulsive as always, Guy Gardner was the first to engage Doomsday in a one on one encounter. No sooner had Guy quipped a one-liner than his head was quickly stomped on. Bloodied, black and blue, and face down in the pavement, the former Green Lantern never even had a chance to fight back. Watching in horror from a safer distance, Fire poured on the pyroplasmic heat, but with little to no effect on the muscle-bound beast. While Beatriz was attacking from the rear, Bloodwynd channeled all the power he could and approached from the front. After witnessing the creature completely ignore one of his best punches, Bloodwynd just stood in shock. With only its left arm free, the heinous creature laid into Bloodwynd with a vicious haymaker, sending the new recruit into a swelling oil fire. While Blue Beetle attempted to rescue the enigmatic hero from the rising flames, Doomsday crept up from behind. As soon as Ted had discovered the true identity of Bloodwynd, Doomsday grabbed Ted by the neck and began smashing him head first into the surrounding structure of the refinery. Observing the plight of his friend, Booster Gold tried to intercept, but barely had time to erect a force field before being punched skyward. As Booster Gold was marveling at how the force of the blow he took was overpowering his flight ring, Superman caught him in mid-air. Right then and there, Booster Gold briefed Superman on the battle thus far, and gave the monster his iconic name, saying it was “like the arrival of Doomsday”.

Maxima, who wanted badly to further engage Doomsday in battle, was convinced by Ice to rush the mortally wounded Blue Beetle to the hospital. With Superman now on the scene, scrambling bystanders watched as the Man of Steel took one of Doomsday`s shots to the chest without even flinching. Alas, the crowd`s new found hope in Superman would soon be cut short. A marathon of brutality unlike any other had only just begun. Doomsday returned in kind by easily kicking Superman through the home of an endangered family. Although no innocents were killed, the stage had been set for further imperilment of people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The fight was progressing from Ohio to the more heavily populated New York State. While Superman had become aware of this and had to save two soldiers from a crashing helicopter, Maxima joined the fray. The former monarch of Almerac reveled in Doomsday’s onslaught, and was able to trade blows with the monster until Superman had finished his rescues. Before long, both Superman and Maxima began double-teaming Doomsday. At one point, Superman attempted to grapple Doomsday from the rear, allowing Maxima an opening to wind up for a frontal attack. Instead of connecting with the creature’s jaw, Maxima’s uppercut sent Superman reeling as Doomsday quickly ducked out of the way. Wondering out loud how the creature could move so fast, Maxima was knocked back and had a cargo van dropped on her. Superman countered by divebombing Doomsday feet first into a fuel dispenser. As the fight had now approached a gas station, their tag-team tactics would soon come to an end. Maxima yanked a light-pole out of the ground to use as a weapon, but unintentionally triggered an explosion that rocked upstate Kirby County. When the thick black smoke began to clear, Doomsday was the first to stir. Now completely unchallenged, the Armageddon creature proceeded once again on its path of destruction.

As Doomsday continued his inexorable journey, a barrage of TV ads promoting a wrestling event triggered a single objective deep within his primitive mind, Metropolis. At last, clearing his head from the impact of the explosion, Superman gave pursuit and realized Doomsday was heading to the city he called home. As he encountered Doomsday in Metropolis, Supergirl arrived to help but was taken out with a single punch. Bloodied and bruised, Superman found his attempts to deal any critical harm on the beast to be fruitless, until be began concentrating his efforts on the exo-skeletal bones about his body. Blow by blow, the shockwaves resulting from the forces of impact in the fight began breaking Metropolis apart. Superman had gained Doomsday’s full attention by this point due to his Kryptonian DNA, though he didn’t realize at the time that the creature had a particular grudge against Kryptonians. Doomsday managed to deal mortal wounds to the Man of Steel that few have ever inflicted or dealt since. Finally, both combatants dealt fatal headshots to the other simultaneously, ending the colossal war. While the world mourned Superman, Doomsday’s body was taken away to be studied. The villainous cyborg, Hank Henshaw, masquerading as Superman flung Doomsday into space. Soon, Doomsday would eventually resurrect and find himself traveling the cosmos once again.

Ultimate Justice League Wars

The Ultimate Justice League formed when the heroes of DC found out that Doomsday and Darkseid teamed up to take down all heroes. The heroes had no choice but to team with all characters from DC, including the dead. Superman used his heat lasers to bring back the dead to fight by his side. This war took years but Doomsday and Darkseid won. Doomsday killed Darkseid again for finding out that he was going to use his demon army to kill and rip him apart.

Hunter/Prey

For More Information: Hunter/Prey

As a result of the Cyborg’s calculated actions, Doomsday traveled aimlessly through space, never to intercept a planet. Luckily for it, a greedy crew on a salvage vessel would find the small asteroid where Doomsday was imprisoned. They took the entire mass aboard in hopes to find something of worth inside. This crew was also heading to Apokolips, where Darkseid now ruled as a god. Doomsday was freed once more, and began to slaughter Darkseid’s followers. Desaad, one of Darkseid’s militant advisers, contacted Superman for help. Superman was given a Mother box to aid in facing the monster once again. Doomsday had been making short work of Darkseid. It was a one sided fight, with Doomsday stronger than ever. Even Darkseid’s legendary Omega Beams, supposedly able to destroy anything, had no effect. Desaad managed to open a portal back to Calaton where Doomsday was reportedly killed for the first time since becoming the Ultimate Being. Superman followed him to Calaton and was briefed about Doomsday’s origin by Waverider. Radiant had battled Doomsday again but was destroyed by the adaptable monster. Superman also failed, despite having powerful weaponry at his disposal. He instead used Waverider’s time device to cast Doomsday far into the future to the End of Time, where nothing was supposed to be able to survive entropy.

Doomsday Wars

For More Information: Doomsday Wars

Taking advantage of the effect of the events of Zero Hour on the time stream, Brainiac went back in time and used his abilities to save Doomsday before reaching the End of Time. He temporarily inhabited Doomsday’s body, but his plan was to create a completely mindless clone of Doomsday and use it as a body for himself. He quickly caused a train wreck, attracting the attention of the Justice League. Orion, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Kyle Rayner, Plastic Man, and Huntress responded to the Georgia police’s distress call, but all were defeated by Brainiac while Superman was attending to Lana. Brainiac Doomsday proceeded to cause more destruction in an attempt to attract Superman. When Brainiac finally found Superman, Superman was easily overpowered while he tried to protect Lana’s baby, who he was attempting to transport to a medical facility. Brainiac stole the child in order to grow a new Doomsday, one that would not resist his control. Superman eventually returned and foiled Brainiac’s plan by using a Psi-blocker to free Doomsday from Brainiac’s control while Pete retrieved the child.

This was not a complete solution, however, as Doomsday was now free to wreck his own havoc. Through a collaborative effort, Superman and the Justice league were able to trap the monster in a constant state of teleportation, with its molecules split equally in 4 transporters.

Doomsday’s Demise

For More Information: Superman

When Imperiex threatened the universe, several villains were dispatched; calling themselves the Suicide Squad, they were sent to retrieve Doomsday. Doomsday was tricked into seeing all Imperiex probes as Superman and let loose. Though he destroyed several Imperiex Probes, he was no match for Imperiex himself, who killed him with a slew of cosmic fire, reducing Doomsday to a bare skeleton.

The Nightmare Returns

After being destroyed by Imperiex, the creature returned again; this time, he lay dormant and subdued in the subterranean levels of the Pentagon until released by the Joker. This step in his evolution saw him gain intelligence. He was self-aware and able to understand, which at first seemed to make him more deadly. For the first time, Doomsday felt doubt when Superman confronted him with the reality of his own mortality.

Eventually, Doomsday sacrificed his new-found intellect to save Superman. He has been used as muscle by several villains since then including Darkseid and Doctor Psycho. During the Battle of Metropolis at the tail end of the Infinite Crisis, Psycho and Warp freed Doomsday from the center of the Earth as the front of their assault on Metropolis. He was promptly defeated by the combined might of Kal-El and Kal-L. In the end, Doomsday once more fell under the control of the U.S. government, specifically Samuel Lane and his anti-Kryptonian operation.

World of New Krypton

For More Information: Superman: World Of New Krypton

Doomsday’s most recent appearance was tied with the arrival of the city of Kandor and its Kryptonian inhabitants on Earth. Kal-El had brought his Uncle and Aunt along with a delegation to meet with the United States President in Metropolis.The meeting was going well, Zor-El and the President managing to even joke about Kara‘s recent experience with Air Force One. Doomsday suddenly arrived from the sky, interrupting the meeting and causing a panic.

Kal immediately leaped into action alongside Kara to deal with Doomsday, who made a beeline for Superman. Doomsday was able to shrug Kara off, throwing her into a nearby building before turning his full attention to Kal-El. Kal was able to block Doomsday”s first punch, though the shockwave damaged buildings for almost a mile radius, much like in their first encounter. Kal was staggered, but before Doomsday could take advantage of the opening Kara attacked him, allowing Zor and other Kryptonians an opening to attack him.

Doomsday began battling Kryptonians indiscriminately, while it was revealed that his presence had been known to the residents of Krypton. He was still able to manhandle his opponents, hurling one Kryptonian through several buildings. He caused Kal to question whether or not he still retained his intelligence when he hurled the memorial statue of Kon-El at him and Kara. To protect the citizens of the City, even though they had already cleared the area, Kal and Zor led the Kryptonians as they dragged Doomsday to the Moon to continue the battle. Doomsday was able to withstand the Heat Vision of multiple Kryptonains, and once more targeted Kara, knocking her away. In a fit of rage, Zor and Alura led the citizens of Kandor in a vicious assault on Doomsday. They were able to beat him to death in mere moments.

Somehow General Lane was able to retrieve Doomsday’s corpse. He gave the remains over to Lex Luthor after showing him the potential that was held in it. Luthor went to work on the corpse, trying to figure out how to guide its rebirth to make Doomsday even stronger than ever. He has come up with a few good ideas, one being coaxing Doomsday to grow some kind of biological weapon. Doomsday’s return will be a major event, having been beaten to death by a Kryptonian mob he would already have returned able to overcome such a death a second time. With Luthor as the driving force behind his resurrection one can only wonder how he will return now.

Reign of Doomsday

For More Information: Reign Of Doomsday

Reign of Doomsday was announced by DC Comics. This is a story that will make the villain Doomsday gathers all the heroes that emerged during the “death” of the original Superman.

John Henry Irons fights against Doomsday, but he realizes that there is no preparation that does not succumb to the power of Doomsday.

John Henry Irons fights bravely, but none of the blows of Steel does harm to Doomsday. John Henry Irons decided to use his nanobots to destroy the cells of the monster. Apparently, he won against Doomsday with his nano-robots-killing cells, but the strength of cellular regeneration of the monster is too strong for him to fall for it. Doomsday defeats Steel easily.

Nat (John’s niece) can only cry, Doomsday takes John unconscious. Doomsday goes after other heroes – the Outsiders (the group has (since its formation) the Eradicator.) Of Course, Doomsday goes hunting the Eradicator. Doomsday find the Eradicator and battle the Outsiders and take them all down before he battle and defeat the Eradicator. Doomsday goes to hunting the Cyborg-Superman.

Doomsday takes Steel, Superboy, Eradicator, the Cyborg Superman and Supergirl aboard a tesserect spaceship built by unknown aliens. Whilst aboard the ship, they are attacked by several clones of Doomsday, including a Cyborg Doomsday, an armored Doomsday, a Doomsday with tactile telekinesis and an energy manipulating Doomsday. Following a fight with Lex Luthor, wherein he had attained godlike powers from the Phantom Zone God, Superman is drawn to the ship, which is invisible. Inside the station, the Super family finds the original Doomsday in a coma. Lex had been able to clone him following his death at the hands of the Kandorians.

The Super family is able to successfully beat back the Doomsdays while rescuing the brain dead Doomsday, who is slowly fixing his wounds through his regenerative proprieties. The Super Family is able to reach the control room of the station, which is now rocketing towards Earth, only to be confronted with a being calling itself the Doomslayer, and saying it is the Death of Doomsday- later revealed to be a Doomsday Clone who was tossed down an infinite tube that gave it time to evolve-, who effortlessly tears Eradicator apart and proclaims that Earth must die for the future.

Doomslayer believes the original Doomsday to be an infection, so it plans to destroy Earth, as it considers Earth to be ground zero for Doomsday’s “infection”. Superman and his friends escape the ship with the original Doomsday and stop the ship from crashing on Earth, pushing it into Metropolis’s bay. Afterward, Doomslayer attacks the city with the Doomsday clones, determined to erase all trace and knowledge of Doomsday from existence. The clones spread across the world, wreaking havoc, while Doomslayer’s second plan is to get the Doomsdays to reach the Earth’s core so that he can expand the universe inside the ship’s tower and destroy the planet from within, thus erasing all knowledge of Doomsday from the universe. In S.T.A.R. Labs, Superman’s allies use the original Doomsday’s body to try to find a way to stop the Doomsday clones. Doomsday awakens, but Eradicator (Who was thought to be killed by Doomslayer) was in control. As Eradicator and the heroes’ attack the Doomsday clones, he warns that Doomsday’s mind is beginning to awaken. In the final battle, Superman makes contact with the ship’s artificial intelligence before it reaches Earth’s core, hoping to have the tower teleport away. Meanwhile, the Doomsday clones were defeated by Earth’s heroes and sent back into the pit the tower is located in. Eradicator then arrives and defends Superman from Doomslayer. He quickly throws Superman out of the tower and allows himself to be trapped with Doomslayer before the tower teleports away.

Clones of Doomsday

Doomsday’s immense power has attracted many to attempt to clone him as a perfect super soldier.

Wonder Woman and Hercules encountered one such clone, based on the son of Doctor Julian Lazarus. Their combined might could not defeat the creature, even using the gauntlet of atlas. Thankfully, the clone’s bones grew at an accelerated rate, eventually encasing and trapping the monster. They were able to shatter the encased creature with ease following this.

Darkseid created an entire army of Doomsday clones, these clones were a pale imitation of the original, but there were still enough of them to cause many deaths when they were unleashed on Paradise Island. Superman, appalled by the death, vaporized the entire army with his heat vision, but not before they accomplished their task.

All-American Boy is a Doomsday clone made to be a perfect Superman killing machine. Not only was he modeled after the creature that famously killed Superman, his normal bone protrusions were modified to be laced with Kryptonite.

Lex Luthor was able to successfully clone Doomsday at least four times following the beast’s death at the hands of the Kandorians. Each pair of clones had the ability of Flight, were much more taciturn with actions and had blue eyes or red eyes, respectively.

Metalmorph Doomsday – Covered in Nanomolecular metallic bone plating, making it thick shelled like Steel and is resilient to nanite attacks.

Conduit Doomsday – Vast energy absorption, projection and manipulation abilities like those of Eradicator and is more similar to the original Doomsday save the glowing gemstone bone protrusions and blue eyes.

Bionic Doomsday – Having assimilated tech from Hank Henshaw another clone had cybernetic components covering the left side of its body including a mini gun for an arm and had cyberpathic systems enabling it to technomorph with the Watchtower or control machines.

Tactile Doomsday – Lastly another lookalike to the source material also sporting blue eyes, has tactile telekinetic abilities; ones stronger than those of even Kon-El.

New-52

Doomsday returns in the New 52 as a being who has existed for decades trapped in the Phantom Zone. He is the main enemy in a story arc event labeled “Doomed” which was written by Scott Lobdell, Charles Soule, Greg Pak, and penciled by Ken Lashley. Someone has let Doomsday out of his prison and its up to Superman, Wonder Woman, and a few other heroes to stop him. In his first few appearances in the New 52 he is shown killing animals and soldiers, seemingly feeding and growing stronger. His appearance changes after a few issues and it is revealed that Doomsday does not want to fight Superman and he cites not being strong enough yet to do so. Doomsday manages to be on Earth for a few seconds in which he attacks soldiers and Wonder Woman shows up to help. After a few minutes Wonder Woman doesn’t go full power and Doomsday and he takes advantage and breaks both of her arms. When it looks like he might have a chance to kill her, he loses his ability to stay on Earth and finds himself again in the Phantom Zone. Later he is seen teleporting all over the planet Earth and he is killing people to get stronger through a process that is not touched on in depth. Through his death field which works as an aura around him that he gives off, people, plants, and animals die. Even buildings start to corrode away with just his presence around. Superman eventually finds him and decides to let lose because he knows that if he doesn’t, the entire Earth could be in jeopardy. So he speed blitzes Doomsday to Venus in seconds and they battle it out there. The battle appears to be even with each character landing blows and the death field eating away at Superman’s body and armor. Then Superman uses his heat vision and blasts him into near nothing-ness and returns to Earth where he thinks he has returned victorious. In that instant Doomsday teleports to Earth and begins attacking Superman again hurting him badly. Superman then decides this needs to end quickly or people will die. In a shocking move Superman rips Doomsday in half with his bare hands and uses his super breath to inhale the death field that is still present in the air from Doomsday’s body. This is only the beginning as Superman then becomes infected with the Doomsday virus and he starts to go through changes . These changes are not only superficial. His personality starts to change and he becomes more violent. These events coincide with Brainiac’s arrival and eventually Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, the Outlaws, and Steel help Superman defeat Brainiac by using a black hole, which coincidentally heals Superman of the Doomsday virus. Doomsday will make cameos in the upcoming Convergence story arc event.

Powers & Abilities

• Immortality– As a result of his unique genetics, Doomsday has the ability to involuntarily return from death unassisted. Because of this, Doomsday could be considered immortal. The amount of time it takes for him to return to life usually depends on the way in which he died. For example, if his death was similar to the one he suffered at the hands of Imperiex when the Hollower of Galaxies reduced him to a skeleton, the resurrection process could very well take thousands of years. Thanks to the makeup of his DNA, Doomsday is able to adapt and become impervious to the cause of his death the next time he is born.
• Reactive Adaptation– All the suffering that Doomsday experienced helped him to become stronger but drove him to hate all life. As a result of surviving prehistoric Krypton and its savage inhabitants, Doomsday seems to have an innate ability to sense Kryptonians. Doomsday’s very being has grown to loathe Kryptonians even more than any other form of life. If he is not injured beyond his ability to recover, Doomsday’s reactive adaptation will make him more invulnerable as he fights. Good examples of this are when he breathed flames against the Martian Manhunter;elongated his knuckle protrusions to attack Superman in the air; or canceled out Radiant, a being of pure energy, by generating an aura of energy and slamming it into Radiant. Also in Superman/Batman #47, Doomsday was recreated with Kryptonite crystals instead of his usual bone extensions.
• Accelerated Healing– Doomsday has an exceptionally fast healing factor that enables him to regenerate from damage almost instantly. It could be speculated that his healing factor is what allows him to return from the dead and evolve resistances.
• Controlled Bone Growth – Doomsday possesses large, thorny, bone protrusions covering his chest, back, knees, elbows, shoulders, knuckles, chin, eyebrows, and eyes. The durable spikes are razor sharp, and have caused injury to opponents generally considered invulnerable such as Superman and Darkseid. It is possible that these protrusions are a resistance that Doomsday has evolved.
• Super Strength – Doomsday possesses vast physical strength. Engaging Doomsday in physical combat will mean almost certain death; almost 100% of those who have challenged him have lost their lives. He even once knocked out Darkseid, the lord of Apokolips. He has also been able to match the strength of Superman in their fights, and in the “Hunter/Prey” mini series, he was able to break Superman’s arm, despite the fact that Superman had experienced an increase in power. During “Our World’s at War,” Doomsday was able to tear apart Imperiex Drones, seemingly doing so with relative ease. He has also been able to shatter the energy constructs of most Green Lanterns with at least moderate ease, and overpowered the likes of Orion and Martian Manhunter . This ultimately means that Doomsday can make lifts greatly in excess of 100 tons effortlessly, making him one of the most physically powerful beings in the universe. Doomsday’s strength allows him to leap miles at a time, as well; he often uses this as a means of travel.
• Invulnerability – Unless tested with blows of astronomical physical force that rival or exceed his own, the Ultimate Lifeform is effectively invulnerable. His nigh-impervious hide has withstood punches from Superman, Maxima, and various blunt force attacks from other powerhouses such as Wonder Woman, Orion and Martian Manhunter. He has proven that he can survive in the most vicious environments indefinitely, including space. He has also been able to withstand Superman’s optic laser beams, Darkseid’s Omega Beams, Orion’s Astroforce blasts and energy blasts from Green Lanterns and Captain Atom. His body is mostly solid, with his few vital organs protected by thick layers of bone.
• Enhanced Stamina – Doomsday has demonstrated seemingly inexhaustible amounts of stamina. He demonstrated the ability to fight Superman for an entire day without tiring. He also does not need to eat, drink, sleep, or even breathe. However, his stamina is far from unlimited, as was shown at the end of Death of Superman arc.
• Super Speed – During his climactic battle with various Justice League members in “the Death of Superman” story arc, Maxima commented on Doomsday’s speed when he ducked out of the way of one of her punches. He has been shown able to incapacitate most of the Justice League in only a matter of seconds and attack opponents who have incredible superhuman speed and reflexes.
• Intellect (Formerly) – In his latest rebirth, Doomsday finally gains intelligence. Though this is later undone, it is possible he may again develop this ability.

Evolved Abilities/Adaptation

Over his many lifetimes, Doomsday has acquired many abilities:

• Telepathic Immunity- Doomsday seemed to have been stopped in his tracks by Martian Manhunter’s telepathy, but overcame it after taking a few punches.
• Kryptonite Immunity- Doomsday had a weakness to Kryptonite due to his Kryptonian origin, but he overcame that weakness after exposure.
• Fire Breathing- Doomsday developed fire breath in order to defeat Martian Manhunter, and later used the same ability against Superman.
• Intangibility Bypass- While being controlled by Brainiac, Doomsday was able to bypass Martian intangibility
• Energy Aura- When faced by the energy being Radiant, who first killed him, Doomsday evolved an energy aura that was capable of canceling out the Radiant’s energy and destroy him.
• Energy Feedback- Waverider attempted to shut down whatever Doomsday uses as a nervous system. Unfortunately for him, Doomsday was able to cause an energy feedback, overwhelming Waverider with his own energies and knocking him out.
• Bone Projectiles- In Hunter/Prey, Superman uses his flight advantage against Doomsday, only to find that Doomsday evolved a bone projectile that penetrated Superman’s shoulder. These projectile were still connected, like a harpoon, and Doomsday used them to reel Superman back in.

Personal Details

• Occupation: Destroyer
• Base: Earth
• Height: 7 feet
• Weight: 615 lbs.
• Eyes: Red
• Hair: White
• First Appearance: Superman: The Man of Steel #17 (Nov. 1992)

Alternate Versions

On Bizarro World, a Bizarro Doomsday was created by Bizarro Lex Luthor to fight the “Bizarro Bizarro”, IE Superman. The creature appeared to be made out of pure bone as opposed to the bones being protrusions. After it was released from the crate it arrived in, it rampaged through Bizarro Metropolis. It was ultimately defeated by Pa Kent after he was temporarily gifted super powers through Super Vision.

In the Reverse Flash altered world of Flashpoint, Doomsday was discovered by the US Military. Through an advanced mental interface US General Nathanial Adam is able to control Doomsday. Booster Gold, who is unchanged from the normal timeline, is attacked by the creature, as the US Military thinks he is an Atlantean invader. The interface is destroyed by an as of yet unknown metahuman Booster saved from Doomsday.

On Earth-9, there is a version of Doomsday that isn’t related to the beast in any way aside from the name. For more information consult her article.

In an alternate reality, Cadmus abandoned their Superboy Project and instead made a clone of Doomsday to replace Superman. This clone was called Doomsboy. After gaining the support of the people, Doomsboy became a corrupt hero, collecting protection money from businesses and not shying away from killing.

In the non-continuity All Star Superman, when Superman is corrupted by Black Kryptonite, which turns Kryptonians evil, Jimmy Olsen injects himself with a serum marked Do Not Use Until Doomsday from P.R.O.J.E.C.T., turning him into a large grey creature with bony protrusions. The serum would have overridden his nervous system, destroying his mind in 40 seconds had he not used his Signal Watch as a post-hypnotic suggest to revert to normal. Ultimately, he is able to stop Superman from causing too much damage during the period in which the Black Kryptonite is active. It is ultimately kept secret that Jimmy the monster, or that Superman was infected.

In Other Media

Movies & Television

DCAU

In Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, Doomsday appears as a mutated clone of Superman with a hatred of Superman programmed into it. In its first appearance, it fights the Justice Lords (Superman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern John Stewart, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl), but is lobotomized by the Superman from the group. Its brain later regenerates, however, and Cadmus keeps the creature. Professor Milo is hired to keep watch over it, but releases it to kill Amanda Waller, only to be killed by the beast himself. A bony plate had grown over its brain, preventing the lobotomy from working again. Ultimately, it is defeated by sentencing it to the Phantom Zone, after a brutal fight with Superman. It’s also revealed that his mind was shielded against telepathy when Martian Manhunter tried to get into his mind, and he has a weakness to kryptonite, since a nuclear missile with a kryptonite warhead was specifically deployed by General Eiling to kill him.

Legion of Super Heroes

He appears in the Legion of Super-Heroes episode “Phantoms” as a prisoner of the Phantom Zone.

Superman: Doomsday

Doomsday appears in the 2007 animated film, Superman: Doomsday. In the film, Doomsday is the product of an alien experiment, which was buried underneath the Earth’s surface for security. Doomsday is eventually unearthed by Lex Luthor’s agents during Project: Applecore. While rampaging through Metropolis, shrugging off the attacks of the military, Doomsday is eventually confronted by Superman. The two exchange blows in an epic battle, with Doomsday slowly beginning to overpower the Man of Steel. Nevertheless, Superman refused to give up. In a final suicidal attack; Superman tackles the psychotic goliath, flying him into the upper atmosphere, and slamming him into the ground. Both Doomsday and Superman perish in the assault.

Death of Superman (movie)

In this animated movie, Doomsday is a monster who came to Earth in a meteor that crashed into the sea. After breaking free, he killed a grop of Atlanteans that found him and a group of Lexcorp scientists. He then went on a massive rampage, overpowering multiple members of the Justice League one by one (Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Aquaman, Batman, Flash, Cyborg, Hawkman and Wonder Woman), before fighting Superman. After a massive battle, Superman and Doomsday mutually kill each other. This Doomsday also had optic laser beams like Superman, although he only uses them twice, against Superman and Lex Luthor.

During the movie Reign of the Supermen, it’s revealed that this Doomsday was a creation of Darkseid intentionally sent to Earth.

During the movie Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Darkseid creates an army of monsters known as Paradooms, a mix between Parademons and Doomsday, and while they aren’t as strong as the original, they are much stronger than Parademons and a danger to even the most powerful superheroes in large numbers. He deployed them against the Justice League (Superman, Shazam, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg, Batman, John Constantine, Wonder Woman, Zatanna and Mera) when they attacked Apokolips, and at multiple other points during the movie, like against the Suicide Squad (Bane, Black Manta, King Shark, Captain Boomerang and Harley Quinn) and a team that included Shazam, Superboy and Steel. The Paradooms were also shown to be weak to kryptonite.

Smallville

In the long running show, Smallville, the character of Doomsday is portrayed by actors Sam Witwer and Dario Delacio. Sam Witwer plays mild mannered paramedic, Davis Bloome, with a dark and reclusive past. It is revealed in the episodes of season eight, that Davis Bloome is the bio-genetic creation of Kryptonians Zod and Faora. It is also revealed that ‘Doomsday’ is made up of two different personalities, just like Clark. As a result of fearing for his sanity, Davis, the human side, of Doomsday asks Chloe Sullivan to kill him with Kryptonite. However, it only makes him more powerful than he originally was.

It is quoted in the show by Davis Bloome, that he is in love with Chloe Sullivan, turning his character arc into a modern day ‘Beauty and the Beast’ with a kick of modern day Hades and Persephone. Davis and Chloe run off together, with Chloe keeping watch over him while Clark tries to put black Kryptonite on Davis, so the beast and the human can separate. In the season finale, they are separated, but it is later revealed that the human side of Doomsday, is in fact, insane. He murders Jimmy Olsen in cold blood, sharing the iconic death scene with a crying Chloe holding a dead Jimmy in her arms, instead of Lois holding Clark. Before Jimmy dies in Chloe’s arms, Jimmy shoves Davis into a steel pipe, killing him process. The beast Doomsday is then shown wreaking havoc in Metropolis, but is then silenced by Clark after he buries him alive.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Doomsday is set to appear in the 2016 feature film, supposedly as a genetically modified clone of the deceased General Zod. Images available before release of the film reveal a version fairly visually consistent with the classic villain: gray, hulking humanoid with bony projections covering his body. He seems extremely powerful and appears to also have an enhanced version of a Kryptonian’s heat vision, with powerful blasts emitting from both eyes and mouth. It is unclear as of this writing what other abilities he may have (e.g. healing factor, adaptation, etc).

Video Games

Doomsday is in the video game Death and Return of Superman.The game is for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and also Sega Genesis.

Doomsday also appears in Justice League Heroes as a bunch of Doomsday clones controlled by Brainiac. The game is for Xbox Playstasion 2, PSP, and Nintendo DS

Doomsday will also be appearing in DC Universe Online (MMORPG, 2010).

Injustice Gods Among Us – Doomsday is one of the playable fighters in the game voiced by Khary Payton. Doomsday is seen early on on “Prime Earth” battling Superman and the Justice League while Lex infiltrates the Watchtower. Doomsday is defeated and taken to deep space by Superman. In the alternate Earth Doomsday is seen as a prisoner of Superman sporting a slave collar for control. When the “Prime Earth” heroes interfere with his plans Superman unleashes his Doomsday, the Atleanteans, and Amazons in order to level Gotham and Metropolis. Doomsday headbutts a few buildings down but is eventually defeated and thrown into the Phantom Zone by the good Superman. His arcade ending depicts Doomsday killing all superheroes on Earth and using the Fortress of Solitude’s technology to terraform Earth into a copy of Prehistoric Krypton. Doomsday spends a few years destroying Humanity, but then seeks a challenge and goes looking for Lobo. During Doomsday’s Super Move, he repeatedly punches his enemy into the ground until they nearly reach Earth’s core, before pulling back his enemy and repeatedly punching them all the way back to the surface.