History
Silver Age: The Controller
Nothing is known of the Time Trapper’s history. A being of great power, he first encountered the Legion and aroused their suspicions when he constructed his “Iron Curtain of Time,” which prevented the Super-Heroes from traveling more than 30 days into the future. Then, disguised as Chief Wilson of the Science Police, the Trapper nearly tricked the Legion into handing over the Concentrator, the deadliest weapon in the galaxy. When he was unmasked, he retreated to his citadel at the end of time, where his foes could not follow. In subsequent encounters, the Trapper always managed to escape the Legion’s grasp. After one adventure, the Super-Heroes thought they had captured him, unmasking him as a renegade controller and imprisoning him on Takron-Galtos, only to find out later that their captive was merely a stand-in for the true Trapper and commanded only a fraction of his power. This second failed Trapper was subsequently executed by his master. The true Trapper then set out to break the Legion deeming Lightning Lad to be the weakest link set out to destroy his sanity. He captured the young Graym as bait for his parents and godfather, allowing them past the veil of time as he captured them.
He then separated Lightning Lad from Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy and attempted to break his sanity through multiple visions but failed before the hour glass was empty after which he sent the Legionnaires back to their era.
Post Crisis: Living Entropy
The Time Trapper’s master stroke against the Legion came when a trip by Cosmic Boy and Night Girl into the past revealed evidence that the fabric of time had been tampered with upon investigation, the Legion discovered that the entire 20th -century reality that birthed Superboy, their greatest ally and inspiration, was in fact created by the Trapper. His final gambit involved trapping the Legionnaires in 20th century Smallville and destroying them along with the town. Superboy prevented the Trapper from succeeding, though at the cost of his own life.
Several Legionnaires, intent on avenging Superboy, finally found a way to break the Iron curtain of time and followed the Trapper to his era. They were nearly slain by their opponent who destroyed one of Duo Damsel‘s bodies before being defeated himself by the Infinite Man in a battle arranged by Brainiac 5 and Rond Vidar.
Five Years Later: Rokk Krinn
The Time Trapper returned as a vital element for the FYL version of the Legion. It was explained that the Trapper manipulated the background of the Legion to lead to their formation, because they were the only ones capable of stopping Mordru to become a powerful force in the universe, capable of menacing the Trapper himself. When because of time’s own paradoxes, Valor discovered this and killed the Time Trapper, the 30th century was rewritten in the Mordruverse, a future where Mordru was the absolute Master. With the help of Glorith, a team of neverwhere legionnaires rebels who where capable of erasing that timeline, by replacing Superboy with Valor as inspiration.
However the presence of the Trapper still was present as a force behind the scenes, including the presence of the Batch SW6, younger versions of the legionnaires in a ruined future. The cause of this was revealed in Zero Hour, when this version of the Trapper revealed before Rokk Krinn as a future version of himself, who was fighting to preserve that timeline.
This Time Trapper didn’t limit his manipulations to the Legion or to the 30th century. When he discovered than Extant was creating several futures parallels to breed a Team Titans army, he used his abilities to introduce moles among the armies. These moles, Mirage, the second Terra and Deathwing survived when the timelines that spawned the Team Titans were erased.
Depiste his efforts and tricks, the Rokk Krinn version Trapper was killed by Parallax in Zero Hour, not before he refused both Legions. Following Parallax’s defeat the Time Trapper was reborn along with the universe and the 30th century.
Post Zero Hour: Lori Morning/Glorith
The new version of the Trapper appeared in Zero Hour. This version, despite still tormenting the Legion, was far more considered, guiding several legionnaires as XS and Cosmic Boy thought their tribulations, and helping them to overcame the odds. He also showed an special interest in Lori Morning, a time lost girl who was possibly a past version of Glorith or the past self from the Time Trapper himself (herself, in this case).
However her destiny when this Legion cut their time outside of the universe was erased. Her replacement was something highly more dangerous.
Legion of Three Worlds: Superboy Prime
During the storyline Legion of Three worlds and the return of the earth one legion, it was stablished that the Time Trapper was behind several troubles recently in the 31st century, including the growing xenophobia and the return of Superboy Prime leading the Legion of Supervillians. When Superman and the three founders were abducted to the end of time, they discovered that the Time Trapper was this time an older Superboy Prime.
They also discovered that the malleable nature of time in the Trapper dominion could give them an advantage. By pulling Superboy Prime to the End of Time, he met his own older self. Enraged, Prime killed his older self but the effect was similar to a retcon punch, erasing him from history. Prime was sent to earth prime, totally de-powered.
After that, the Time Trapper was considered defeated, but the prudent legionnaires understood that considering the changing nature of time, is possible there will always be a Time Trapper. Who is under the hood however is open to debate.
Convergence
A unknown version of the Time Trapper appeared in Convergence trapped along with other time travelers from previous continuities. All of them were used by the machine of Deimos as source of power to take control of Tellos. Knowing the nature and level power of the Trapper is plausible that than this was an earlier version and that another still exists at the end of time.
Powers & Abilities
The Time Trapper has no need for physical prowess, as his corporeal embodiment of entropy, his ability to draw upon the power of time itself makes him a foe in Darkseid’s class.
With his vast temporal power Time Trapper can travel through time, freeze it, alter it, send beings across timeline, age/de-age them to death or turn them into protoplasmic slime. His Time Manipulation powers are so great to the point that he can slice the fraction of time out of the time stream to make his own, separated Pocket Universe (which is equal to the real cosmos in size). He is also capable of warping the entire time stream to connect this pocket universe with the 30th century. But perhaps his most famous creation is “The Iron Curtain of Time”, a temporal barrier that prevents time travel.
Time trapper also possesses various other powers like levitation, size manipulation, telekinesis, telepathy and teleportation.
With those powers The Time Trapper is unquestionably one of the most powerful villains in DC Universe.
Stats
- Height: 6′ 10″
- Weight: 240 lbs.
- Eyes: Unknown
- Hair: Unknown
Other Media
Animated
The Time Trapper made his first appearance outside mainstream comic books as the main antagonist in the animated fillm JLA Adventures:Trapped in Time, voiced by Corey Burton.