Kalibak

Origin

Kalibak is the first-born son of Darkseid and Suli. They had married without the consent of Kalibak’s grandmother Queen Heggra, the ruler of the planet Apokolips at this time. Heggra hired the lackey Desaad to murder Suli. Desaad however, waiting for the right moment, assassinated Suli shortly after she had already delivered her son, Kalibak.

Creation

Kalibak was created by Jack Kirby and first appeared in New Gods #1.

Character Evolution

Ever since Kalibak was young, the only thing he wanted to do was please his father. With Suli dead and Darkseid being forced to marry Tigra, this was hard to accomplish. During his marrige with Tigra, however, Darkseid fathered another son, Orion. From this time on, it became apparent that Orion was always going to be Darkseid’s favorite. Darkseid wouldn’t even give Kalibak the privilege to call him “father”. It wasn’t until he was an adult that Kalibak learned Orion was his half brother. Kalibak and Orion have undergone tremendous and often horrific battles for supremacy, their reasons to do so often differing a lot. Orion’s is for a good cause (most of the time) and Kalibak’s is to gain Darkseid’s approval.

Major Story Arcs

Special Powers Force

When Kalibak was young, his father had him placed in his Special Powers Force. He was one of the best warriors in the Force. It soon became apparent that Kalibak’s savagery couldn’t be matched by anyone on any planet.

Tormented

Being Darkseid’s son, Kalibak is Darkseid’s second in command and heir to the Apokoliptian throne. Because of this, a very jealous Desaad constantly tries to antagonize and decieve Kalibak into doing things that will make Darkseid see even less in him. In one attempt to gain his father’s respect, Kalibak tried to murder his brother Orion, but failed. In order to cover it up, Kalibak was forced to murder Desaad, who threatened to tell Darkseid of his secret faliure. Darkseid of course found out and killed his son. Eventually he resurrected both. Kalibak once was tricked by Desaad to go and fight The Man of Steel, Superman, to gain honor and also his fathers approval. Kalibak underestimated Superman’s powers in that he didn’t beat him as he thought he would. Darkseid doesn’t tolerate mistakes and he sends his son away with his Omega Beam.

Kalibak was seemingly killed by Tawky Tawny during Final Crisis.

Powers and Abilities

Physically, Kalibak is one of the strongest gods on Apokolips, and the most loyal to Darkseid. This is what makes Kalibak an indispensable member of Darkseid’s Elite. Kalibak possesses incredible levels of superhuman strength almost on par with Superman, Orion, and even Darkseid himself.

Kalibak is a legendary warrior, and is greatly respected and feared for his savagery in combat as well as his brutal personality. On at least one occasion Uxas had augmented his sons powers to make him more formidable in battle, giving him greater strength and toughness surpassing even that of Orion and giving him psionic emission powers akin to Omega beams called Psi-Beams which set an enemies mind and body ablaze with tremendous pain

One of Kalibak’s favorite weapons is the Beta-Club, a deadly weapon that can fire nerve beams at its enemies, causing them excruciating pain beyond comprehension. Despite his massive physique, Kalibak is extremely fast and agile, and can move and react at speeds beyond the natural limits of the finest human athletes.

Characteristics

Height- 7’9″

Weight- 810lbs.

Eyes- Red

Hair- Black

Base- Apokolips

Alternate Versions

Superman: The Dark Side

In the Elseworlds tale, Superman: The Dark Side, which details what would have happened had Kal-El landed on Apokolips to be raised secretly by Darkseid, Kalibak is still the biological son of Darkseid and Suli. He is killed by Superman in gladiatorial combat in the “killoseum” at Darkseid’s behest, as Darkseid’s way of revealing Kal-El’s existence to the denizens of Apokolips.

Other Media

Kalibak appears in the popular show Superman Animated Series.

Kalibak fight against Superman several times, but is defeated in all matches.

Kalibak appears in Justice League (animated series).

In the episode The Ties That Bind (Justice League Unlimited) appears as a hostage, requiring the help of Flash, Big Barda and Mr. Miracle to release Kalibak.

Superman Animated Series:

Father’s Day

Apokolips…Now Part 2

Legacy Part 1

Legacy Part 2

Justice League Animated Series:

Twilight Part 1

Twilight Part 2

Hereafter Part 1

Hereafter Part 2

Justice League Unlimited:

The Ties That Bind