Origin
Dressed in a costume that evokes the Aztek kings of long ago, El Dorodo uses his superpowers to aid the Superfriends in their worldwide quest for justice. Some speculate he is a descendant of Aztek sorcerers, empowered by their ancient magic and his people’s warrior spirit. El Dorado has never revealed the source of his power, but his knowledge of ancient ruins in Mexico suggests a connection to the Aztek civilization.
Creation
El Dorado was created by Hanna-Barbera and featured on their DC superhero show, Super Friends. The character has made a few sporadic appearances in the comics over the years.
Character Evolution
Rebirth
El Dorado made his Rebirth debut in the mini series titled Suicide Squad Most Wanted: El Diablo #5. In this series he is revealed to be one of the major heroes of Mexico and leads the Mexican Justice League known as Justicia! Fellow members include Iman, Acrata and El Muerto. They are after the mysterious Mexican meta human known as Xolotl and will stop at nothing to bring him back home. Justicia, led by El Dorado fight off Task Force Y and are at odds with El Diablo and Azucar before they are all ambushed by Jake Dalesko.
Television:
While El Dorado never appeared in a DC comic book, he plays an important role in Hanna-Barbera’s Super Friends children’s cartoon that aired on ABC in the 1980’s. He first appears in Season 7’s second short of it’s second episode titled “The Alien Mummy” on October 3, 1981. The narrator says that El Dorado is accompanying Professor Naska and students through Aztec ruins in Mexico. El Dorado tells the group that those were the mysterious ruins of his people. During the field trip, El Dorado repels attacking alien invaders, but the group then falls under the mind-control of an alien mummy. After Wonder Woman and Superman catch word of the U.F.O. attack at the Hall Of Justice, the heroic duo travel to Mexico to investigate. Immobilized after the mummy turns the two of them into golden statues, Wonder Woman helps El Dorado telepathically break free of the mind control. El Dorado then teleports to the golden statues, brings them to the mummy, and distracts it with a holographic beast. El Dorado’s diversion gives Superman enough time to break the mummy’s power scource with his x-ray vision, which releases everyone affected by the alien technology. El Dorado leads the mummy back to its ship, then Superman sends them off on their way. El Dorado continues to appear in shorts, assisting Wonder Woman in defeating an art thief in Metropolis, and then thwarting Brainiac with Aquaman‘s help after the villain cloned them. El Dorado then joins the Super Friends roster in 1984. One of El Dorado’s most notable appearances is when and helps the team in “Darkseid’s Golden Trap” and thwart Darkseid in his efforts to get golden kryptonite. He was voiced by Fernando Escandon.
Young Justice
A reinvented version of El Dorado appeared in the Young Justice: Invasion series as Eduardo Dorado Jr. Here he is portrayed as a teenage Argentine boy who hoped to live with his dad (Eduardo Dorado Sr., a STAR Labs scientist working with Zeta Beam technology) again, but is however captured by the Reach. After the Team frees the abductees, he and Virgil, Asami, Tye and Nathaniel are sent to STAR Labs to get tested on to understand the Metagene. However, Virgil, Asami, Tye and Ed ran away, but helped Blue Beetle fight against Red Volcano. He is seen again helping the Team and the League disrupt the Beetle-tech drones alongside Captain Atom. He was voiced by Freddy Rodriguez.
Powers:
No true origin was given for El Dorado’s generous number of powers, which include:
- Telepathy
- Casting illusions (courtesy of holographic vision)
- Teleportation (by wrapping himself and others up in his cape)
- Invisiblity
- Flight
- Heat Vision
- Super Strength
- Unarmed Combat (diaplayed when he defeats Kalibak)
In the Young Justice show, Eduardo was able to teleport himself to locations in his sightline.
Toys:
In 2011, El Dorado was made into a toy in Wave 18 of the 6-inch DC Universe Classics, along with fellow Superfriends Black Vulcan, Samurai, and Apache Chief.