Origin
Silver Age
Eclipso was the alter-ego of scientist Dr. Bruce Gordon. While attempting to view a solar eclipse out in a remote jungle, a tribal sorcerer by the name of Mophir attacked Gordon. The fight caused Gordon to fall to his death off a cliff, and during the battle, Mophir had wounded Bruce with a black diamond. The Black Diamond would allow Gordon to survive, but to be transformed into the villainous Eclipso whenever an eclipse occurred.
Modern Age
Eclipso originated as the embodiment of the Wrath of God and the Spirit of Vengeance. During his tenure as the Spirit of Vengeance he was responsible for the Great Flood. Eventually he turned towards evil, and was cast out of Heaven. Having been cast out, he was sealed into a black diamond, called the Heart of Darkness, that could, through contact with a victim who was experiencing great anger, take possession of the victim’s body.
New 52
Eclipso was radically altered in the Post-Flashpoint DC Universe and tied closely to the Gemworld series as a man once named Lord Kaala. He was the offspring of a Lord from House Onyx and a Lady from House Diamond. Born during an eclipse, his evil powers manifest themselves in unprecedented ways.
As an adult, he killed his parents and enslaved all of Gemworld. He was eventually defeated by Lady Chandra of House Amethyst, sealed within the Black Diamond on Earth. Eclipso was contacted by Constantine through a magical spy mirror. Constantine chooses the meeting point of Death Valley. Constantine has added a dead man’s switch to the crystal, that Constantine kept when Amethyst went back to Nilaa, will explode. Constantine wants Eclipso off Earth and Eclipso wants to face those that had exiled him from Nilaa. Eclipso takes the form of the possessed Alex Montez. Amethyst came through the portal that Constantine created and introduces her to Alex Montez. He tells her this is the last favor he will ask of her. Eclipso, in the form of Montez, travels with Amethyst to Nilaa as a representative of the U.S. government. Constantine destroys the the crystal after both have passed through the portal and Amethyst’s father is freed from the crystal and goes through the portal before it closes. Eclipso reverts back to himself and knocks everyone out. Eclipso finds and kills Lady Citrine, whose blood-power goes to Lady Senshe. Eclipso reveals he was called Lord Kaala, Lord of The Black Diamond. Lady Chandra, of House of Amethyst drove his essence into the black diamond and imprisoned him there until she took him to Earth, believing Eclipso destroyed. Lady Chandra believed to have failed because she never returned. Eclipso took control of House of Onyx and House of Diamond. He begins his assault on House of Amethyst and attacking Lady Mordiel She allies herself with Princess Amethyst and the remaining free Houses. Princess Amethyst has a plan to stop Eclipso. Lord Preet pickpockets Eclipso and steals his black diamond. Graciel and Mordiel send their blood power through the giant amethyst orb to Princess Amethyst. The power is so strong Eclipso loses his control over his eclipsed citizens. Graciel and Mordiel under the rubble of the giant orb give up their blood power to Princess Amethyst. The Blood power coursing and flowing through Princess Amethyst makes her into a catalyst and she pulls Eclipso back through the diamond. The black diamond disappears after Eclipso is pulled through. Princess Amethyst swears to scour all of Nilaa for the black diamond and will find a portal back to Earth and will track the black diamond there. Eclipso did find a way back to Earth. He had reflected on his life from the first time he was cast from Gemworld. He remembers seeing the Deomon Knights, Team 7, and Catwoman within the diamond wondering if he would ever meet the right person that he could control. Eclipso would take over Gordon Jacobs, a scientist whose specialty was the suns energy, and kill his would be father in law. Eclipso would be the first shadow cast when The Voice decided that dawn was needed at the beginning of time.
Creation
Eclipso was created by Bob Haney and Lee Elias. He first appeared in House of Secrets #61 (August 1963).
Character Evolution
Silver Age
In his original appearances, Eclipso was an aspect of Bruce Gordon, introduced into Gordon’s system when Gordon was wounded with a piece of black diamond. This version of the character lacked the divine origins of the modern version of the character, and was portrayed as a more generic character possessing more generic traits and powers. He was only able to emerge during some form of eclipse.
Modern Age
Eclipso’s backstory and nature were re-imagined in the early 1990s. This version of the character introduced his origin as spirit of vengeance. The eclipse limitation was removed, and explained to be a pretense on the part of the entity, who wished to hide the extent of its powers. During this period Eclipso was hosted in the bodies of Bruce Gordon, Alex Montez, and Jean Loring.
Post-Flashpoint
Eclipso was reinvented and tied into the Gemworld mythology. He was revealed to be Lord Kalaa, the offspring of both House Onyx and House Diamond born into an Eclipse granting him vast powers. He became a tyrant and enslaved the world before House Amethyst was able to seal him into a Black Diamond also known as The Heart of Darkness. The Diamond was placed in the original Earth world, where it was passed between people’s for centuries. He was able to host several people, most notable Alex Montez, posing as Bruce Gordon. The sorcerer John Constantine was able to force Eclipso back into Gemworld by tricking young Princess Amethyst into bringing Alex Montez into Gemworld as a liaison.
Major Story Arcs
The Darkness Within
Eclipso’s origin is revealed, specifically the fact that he is tied to the diamond fragments in which his soul is stored. He begins to set in motion a plan to collect and destroy all the fragments, as doing so will grant him his full power. He orchestrates this plot from his base on the moon, where he is discovered by Lar Gand. When Gand wanders into his base, Eclipso formulates a plan to possess the Earth’s superheroes and use them to take over the Earth and revenge himself upon God. He succeeds in absorbing a number of heroes into himself, gaining their powers in the process. He is defeated by the combined efforts of several heroes wielding solar weapons and Starman, who destroys Eclipso’s base with his sun powers. His diamond fragments remain scattered across the Earth.
Eclipso
Eclipso begins formulating a plan to take over a small South American nation, slowly but surely assimilating the populace one person at a time. He is soon ruling the country with an iron fist, subjecting his subjects to horrific cruelties. He is opposed by a group of heroes known as the Shadow Fighters, but conclusively defeats them, managing to kill several team members in the process. The Shadow Fighters eventually regroup and stage a series of assaults on Eclipso. He resists killing two of the leaders of the group, Bruce Gordon and Mona Bennett, because, as is later revealed, they will eventually have a child whose time-travelling adventures will result in Eclipso’s being released in the first place. Eclipso is eventually defeated by the Phantom Stranger, who collects all of the diamond fragments and fuses them back into the Heart of Darkness, trapping Eclipso.
The Spectre
The Spectre removes the Heart of Darkness from Earth, setting it and the remains of Eclipso’s moon base ablaze with his divine powers and scattering the ash in space.
Princes of Darkness
Despite having been apparently destroyed, Eclipso returns when all of the fragments of the Heart of Darkness save one are liquified by Alex Montez, who then injects the liquified fragments into his blood, obtaining Eclipso’s power by trapping Eclipso within himself. He keeps Eclipso from taking possession of his mind using a series of tattoos. For some time Eclipso is forced to operate as a hero, working with Black Adam’s team for some time. Eclipso is freed from his bonds when one of Montez’s tattoos is destroyed in battle, allowing Eclipso to take possession of him and kill his love interest. Montez kills himself before Eclipso can force him to do anything further.
Lightning Strikes Twice
Eclipso begins to antagonize Superman in order to take possession of the hero’s body. He succeeds in sufficiently riling the hero by taking possession of Lois Lane. Having taken control of Superman’s body, he is confronted by Captain Marvel, who is able to defeat him due to Superman’s weakness to magic. Eclipso is ultimately expelled from Superman by the intervention of the Spectre, who is summoned to help by the wizard Shazam. Eclipso is then imprisoned in a single diamond fragment.
Day of Vengeance
This single diamond fragment soon makes its way to the cell of Jean Loring, recently imprisoned for her role in the murder of Sue Dibny. Eclipso takes possession of Loring, and begins manipulating the Spectre, causing him to attack magic users as revenge against Shazam. Eclipso is teleported into orbit around the sun by Nightshade.
Infinite Crisis
The fragment that possessed Loring is revealed to have been placed in her cell by Psycho-Pirate at the behest of Alex Luthor. Luthor then used Eclipso’s revenge against Shazam and the other magic users to break down the magic in the universe, transforming it into raw energy that Luthor could tap into.
52
Eclipso, still in orbit, is confronted by Ralph Dibny, who has been briefly granted the Spectre’s powers and tasked with punishing Eclipso for her earlier manipulations of him. Dibny attempts to punish Eclipso and Loring by trapping them in an infinite loop right at the moment Loring killed Dibny’s wife, but he finds himself unable to go through his plan once Eclipso is purged and Loring is repentant. Eclipso is returned to orbit around the sun.
Countdown to Final Crisis
Seeking a new host, Eclipso attempts to corrupt a baby with huge magical potential, but is prevented from doing so by Blue Beetle and Traci Thirteen. Later, she dedicates herself to the corruption of Mary Marvel. She attempts to twist Mary into a disciple of herself by stirring up resentment and paranoia in the girl. She succeeds in severely warping Mary’s personality, but Mary ultimately rebels when Eclipso brings her to Darkseid as a concubine. The pair fight, but Mary is able to remove the diamond from Loring’s body and forces Eclipso to separate from his host. Eclipso seeks a new host, while Loring plunges into the ocean and apparently dies.
Music of the Spheres
Eclipso is told by Darkseid that he was originally created by Darkseid, and begins to plot to recover all diamond fragments and merge them back into the Heart of Darkness in order to enhance his own power and possibly become strong enough to possesses Darkseid himself. He is drawn back to Bruce Gordon, who he possesses. He also begins possessing and corrupting various heroes. Gordon begins to fight back against Eclipso, and is able to reverse some of the villain’s plans, including releasing the corrupted heroes, before being taken over again. He merges with the Heart of Darkness and becomes incredibly powerful, but has control of their shared body wrested away by Gordon, who maintains his hold on Eclipso, effectively defeating him.
Brightest Day
Eclipso does not remain dormant for long, and soon seizes control of Bruce. He destroys Diablo Island and begins kidnapping heroes and villains with shadow-based powers. He possesses these captives and uses their powers to enter another dimension, where he secures the allegiance of the entity Sythunu. He and his small force then travels to the moon, where he seizes control of Jade and the entirety of the Justice League’s reserve roster. He reveals his plan, to kill God by destroying the source of adulation upon which God relies in order to continue existing, Earth. He draws the Spectre to himself by torturing the angel Zauriel, and when the Spectre arrives he kills him and absorbs his power. He then destroys the moon and kills Donna Troy to put an end to Justice League resistance. However, it is soon revealed that Donna’s death was part of an illusion created by Saint Walker. Eclipso’s brainwashed minions are freed, and Eclipso himself is defeated.
New 52
Eclipso is working on being a force in the New 52. Eclipso and his black diamonds have infected people throughout the universe. Jonah Hex and Team 7 have faced and been infected by the full power of the Eclipso. The Black Diamond was given to Exoristos of the Demon Knights, while she and the group were in hell. Lady Graciel was asked about knowing about the black diamond, while living on First Home, or Earth.
Powers and Abilities
A once-divine being, Eclipso possesses vast magical capabilities that can be wielded to a variety of effects, including flight, size manipulation, and weather manipulation. He can produce energy blasts from his hands and his left eye. He is superhumanly strong and fast. He is immortal. He is capable of taking possession of any person who comes into contact with the Heart of Darkness, the black diamond which contains his soul.
Other Media
Animation
DCAU
Eclipso appears in the two-part Justice League episode entitled “Eclipsed”, though he is never identified by name. This episode alters Eclipso’s origin, as he is described as the collective souls of a race of snake-like beings which have been stored in the Heart of Darkness and seek to destroy the human race.
Video Games
Justice League: Chronicles
Eclipso appears as an antagonist in this game, which is based on the animated series. He is portrayed more similarly to his comics appearance in this game.
DC Universe Online
Eclipso makes an appearance as an antagonist in this game. He is voiced by Jason Liebrecht.