Darkseid

Darkseid (Uxas) is a fictional supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Kirby, the character debuted in a cameo in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 (November 1970), before being fully introduced in Forever People #1 (February 1971).[1] He is the tyrannical ruler of the planet Apokolips whose ultimate goal is to conquer the universe by eliminating all hope and free will in sentient beings.[2] A New God and one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe, Darkseid was initially conceived as the main antagonist in Kirby's Fourth World saga before becoming one of Superman's greatest villains and the archenemy of the Justice League.

Darkseid
Darkseid in Infinite Crisis Secret Files #1 (March 2006). Art by Dan Jurgens (layouts), Art Thibert, Cam Smith, Jerry Ordway, and Nelson DeCastro (finishes).
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceCameo: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 (November 1970)
Full appearance: Forever People #1 (February 1971)
Created byJack Kirby
In-story information
Alter egoUxas
SpeciesNew God
Place of originApokolips
Team affiliationsDarkseid's Elite
Female Furies
Intergang
Secret Society of Super Villains
Legion of Doom
Notable aliasesLord of Apokolips
God of Evil
Dark God
U-X
Abilities

The character was ranked as the 6th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time by IGN and as the 23rd Greatest Villain of All Time by Wizard magazine.[3] Darkseid has been adapted into various forms of media, most notably being voiced by Michael Ironside within the DC animated universe, Andre Braugher in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, and Tony Todd in the DC Animated Movie Universe. After being referenced multiple times in the DC Extended Universe, the character will make his feature film debut in Zack Snyder's Justice League, portrayed by Ray Porter.

Publication history

Jack Kirby returned to DC Comics with Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133 and immediately began establishing characters that would lay the foundation for his newly conceived Fourth World epic. The chief antagonist would be the villain Darkseid who had a cameo in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #134 (November 1970) with a full first appearance in Forever People #1 (February 1971) . The character was originally designed to be the chief antagonist of the titles Forever People, Mister Miracle and New Gods, but after the cancellation of these titles, he continued to appear as a major villain in many DC Universe comic books, fighting both Superman and Batman. According to writer Mark Evanier, Kirby modelled Darkseid's face on actor Jack Palance, while the villain's personality was inspired by Adolf Hitler and Richard Nixon.[4][5]

Fictional character biography

Prince Uxas, the son of King Yuga Khan and Queen Heggra and the second in line to the throne of Apokolips, plotted to seize control over the planet from his older brother, Drax.[6] When Drax attempted to claim the fabled Omega Force, Uxas murdered him and claimed its power for himself. His skin turned to stone, Uxas rechristened himself as Darkseid.[7][8][9][10] At some point, he fell in love with an Apokoliptian scientist and sorceress named Suli, with whom he had a son, Kalibak. However, Heggra ordered Desaad to poison Suli out of the belief that she was corrupting her son.

Following Suli's death, Darkseid's heart grew even colder and his disdain for his mother intensified when she forced him to marry a woman named Tigra, with whom he had another son, Orion. Seeking vengeance against Heggra for killing the one he loved, Darkseid ordered Desaad to poison her so he could finally became the supreme monarch of Apokolips. Darkseid then tried to force Tigra to eliminate Orion, but the latter was ultimately traded with Highfather's son, Scott Free, as part of a peace treaty between the warring planets of Apokolips and New Genesis.[11] This trade eventually became a setback for Darkseid, with Orion growing up to value and defend the ideals of New Genesis as a powerful champion in opposition to his father. The prophecy foretold that Darkseid would meet his final defeat at the hands of Orion in a cataclysmic battle in the fiery Armaghetto of Apokolips. Likewise, Darkseid and his training minion, Granny Goodness, were unable to break Scott Free's spirit after a long, torturous upbringing and Free ultimately managed to escape Apokolips, taking with him the mightiest of the Female Furies, Big Barda, as his wife. Free, now known as the superhero Mister Miracle, and Barda began living on Earth, and Darkseid used this "betrayal" as a pretext to declare the treaty with New Genesis abrogated so the planets could resume their conflict.

Seeing other deities as a threat, Darkseid invaded the island of Themyscira in order to discover the secret location of the Olympian deities, planning to overthrow the Olympians and steal their power. Refusing to aid Darkseid in his mad quest, the Amazons battled his Parademon troops, causing half of the Amazon population's death.[12][13][14] Wonder Woman was able to gain her revenge against Darkseid for killing so many of her sisters by placing a portion of her own soul into Darkseid. This supposedly weakened the god's power as he lost a portion of his dark edge.[15][16]

Darkseid's goal was to eliminate all free will from the universe and reshape it into his own image. To this end, he sought to unravel the mysterious Anti-Life Equation, which gives its user complete control over the thoughts and emotions of all living beings in the universe. Darkseid had tried on several other occasions to achieve dominance of the universe through other methods, most notably through his minion Glorious Godfrey, who could control people's minds with his voice. He had a special interest in Earth, as he believed humans possess collectively within their minds most, if not all, fragments of the Anti-Life Equation.

Darkseid intended to probe the minds of every human in order to piece together the Equation. This has caused him to clash with many superheroes of the DC Universe, most notably the Kryptonian Superman. Darkseid worked behind the scenes, using superpowered minions in his schemes to overthrow Earth, including working through Intergang, a crime syndicate which employs Apokoliptian technology and later morphed into a religious cult that worships Darkseid as the god of evil.

The Great Darkness Saga
Main article: The Great Darkness Saga

One thousand years in the future, Darkseid has been absent for centuries and is almost completely forgotten. He returns and comes into conflict with that era's champions, the Legion of Super-Heroes. After using both scientific and magical methods to enhance his power, Darkseid transposes the planets Apokolips and Daxam—which places Daxam under a yellow sun and gives each of its inhabitants Kryptonian-like superpowers equal to those of Superman. Placing the Daxamites under his mental thrall, he uses them in a massive attempt to conquer the known universe. However, he is eventually defeated by the Legion and many of its allies.[17][18][19][20][21][22]

The Seven Soldiers and "Boss Dark Side"

In Grant Morrison's 2005 Mister Miracle limited series, it was revealed that Darkseid had finally discovered the Anti-Life Equation, which he then used to destroy the Fourth World altogether. The New Gods fled to Earth, where they hid. Highfather and his followers were now a group of homeless people. Metron used a wheelchair, the Black Racer was an old white man in a wheelchair, DeSaad was an evil psychiatrist, Granny Goodness was a pimp (or "madam") for the Female Furies and Darkseid himself was now an evil gang leader who is referred to only as "Boss Dark Side". It is revealed that Darkseid actually gave the Sheeda North America in return for Aurakles, Earth's first superhero.[23] This was, in turn, purely in order for Darkseid to get Shilo Norman, whom he considers the "Avatar of Freedom", in his clutches so that he could eventually destroy the New Gods.

Final Crisis
Main article: Final Crisis

As prophesied, Orion returns to Earth via boom tube for his final battle with Darkseid. During the massive fight, Orion ultimately kills him by ripping his heart out, which created a firepit of Apokolips from Darkseid's chest cavity (in reference to the prophecy of their final battle). As Darkseid dies, a battered, wounded Orion walks away from the battlefield having "won" the battle against his father once and for all. However, Darkseid's life essence endured even the death of his body and fell back in time, where he was reborn as "Boss Dark Side", aided by his resurrected minions and the supervillain Libra.

Once again bound to the form of a human, "Boss Dark Side" began to appear in a number of titles in the run up to Final Crisis. In Flash (vol. 2) #240, he led an army of fanatics, their will broken by the "spoken form" of the Anti-Life Equation, to kidnap the Tornado Twins. In Birds of Prey #118, he runs his Dark Side Club where superhumans fight to the death, brainwashed by drugs produced by Bernadeth. In Teen Titans #59, it was revealed that he had employed the Terror Titans to capture the Teen Titans and use them in his club fights.

In Final Crisis, Darkseid has begun to take over Earth and corrupt the Multiverse with the aid of his herald Libra, a reborn supervillain and antichrist-like figure who soon converts much of the Secret Society of Super Villains to his cause with the aid of the Crime Bible and the Holy Lance. Darkseid is also joined by the souls of his fellow evil New Gods, who, like Darkseid, now possess either modified human bodies or the bodies of other superpowered beings, such as Mary Marvel.

Darkseid also arranges for detective Dan Turpin to be lured into the Dark Side Club, where Turpin is turned into Darkseid's "final host", as his Boss Dark Side body has begun to mummify due to Darkseid's foul astral presence. With his legion of followers and allies aiding him as he undergoes his latest "rebirth", Darkseid successfully conquers the Earth with the unleashing of the Anti-Life Equation onto mankind. However, the rebirthing process is still far from complete as Dan Turpin's mind and soul, while corrupted by Darkseid's essence, still remains in firm control over his body. However, at the same moment Shilo Norman, the "Embodiment of Freedom" is shot by S.H.A.D.E. operatives, thus signalling the "Victory of Evil". Darkseid wins control over Turpin's body, now twisted in a close copy of his Apokoliptan former appearance, and wearing an updated version of his battle armor. Darkseid then gains the fullest of his power, his "fall" having the effect of compressing and crumpling space-time around Earth.

After escaping from captivity, Batman shoots Darkseid with the same radion bullet that killed Orion, while Darkseid simultaneously hits Batman with the Omega Beam, sending back in time and then "infecting" Batman with Omega energy that will cause him to jump forward in time, with disastrous results when he reaches the present. Darkseid is mortally wounded, but not before his Omega Sanction teleports Batman into prehistoric times. Remains believed to be Batman's (later revealed to be the last of the many Batman clones that Darkseid created) are found by Superman, who confronts Darkseid. As Darkseid mocks his old enemy for failing to defend Earth, it emerges that in Darkseid's fall through the multiverse, he created a doomsday singularity that now threatens all of existence. When Superman attempts to physically assault him, Darkseid reveals that he now exists inside the bodies of all those who fell to the power of the Anti-Life Equation and that killing Darkseid will kill humanity. Darkseid then reloads the gun that was used to shoot him, to kill Orion by way of firing the bullet backwards in time (a move Superman deems to be suicide due to the paradoxical nature of his actions: the bullet used to kill Orion is ultimately fired at him by Batman and is now poisoning him to death).

Before Darkseid can use the Omega Effect to kill Superman, Barry Allen and Wally West lead the Black Racer to Darkseid and making contact with him frees Turpin from Darkseid's control. Wonder Woman (having been freed from possession by one of Darkseid's minions) then uses her lasso of truth to bind Darkseid's spirit form, effectively freeing humanity from the Anti-Life Equation and being controlled by Darkseid. In his final effort, Darkseid's disembodied essence appears and tries to seize the Miracle Machine Superman has created; however, Superman uses counter-vibrations to destroy him. Furthermore, the last piece of Darkseid's plan fails when Batman, thanks to the actions of the new Batman (Dick Grayson), Red Robin (Tim Drake), Robin (Damian Wayne), and the Justice League, is able to return safely to the present, consuming the Omega Energy in his body without damaging the time-stream further, thus becoming the second individual, along with Mister Miracle, to escape the Omega Sanction.

Doctor Impossible later manipulates the Crime Syndicate of America into helping him resurrect Darkseid via a machine that draws energy from the Multiverse itself. The resurrection backfires, and instead creates a new being known as the Omega Man.[24]

The New 52
Darkseid on the cover of Justice League vol 2 #23.1 (November 2013). Art by Ivan Reis, and Joe Prado.

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Darkseid's name is first invoked by a Parademon in Justice League #1.[25] He is later mentioned again in Justice League #2,[26] and in Justice League #3 Darkseid makes his first appearance in the series, seen in a vision by Victor Stone after he is injured by an exploding Mother Box.[27] In the final pages of Justice League #4, Darkseid himself appears.[28] In Justice League #5, the League confronts him but they are overpowered by him, when he severely hurts Superman with his Omega Beams and breaks Green Lantern's arm.[29] Finally, in Justice League #6, Darkseid is driven out when Cyborg activates the invaders' Mother Boxes and Superman forces him through a boom tube. The incidents that occur in these issues make Darkseid the very first foe the newly formed League faces as a team. The issue also reveals DeSaad and Steppenwolf, referring to Darkseid's daughter and their ceaseless search for her across countless worlds.[30] Darkseid's daughter escapes containment in Justice League of America's Vibe #7 after the dampeners on her cage are temporarily disabled.[31]

In the New 52 continuity, there is only one set of New Gods across the 52 Multiverse. So as Darkseid invades Prime Earth in Justice League, he sends his lieutenant Steppenwolf to do the same, with greater success, on Earth 2, resulting in the deaths of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, and stranding Helena Wayne and Kara Zor-L on Prime Earth. Five years later, Darkseid once again invades Earth 2, which never fully recovered from his armies' earlier assault, and it is revealed that he and Highfather of New Genesis struck a deal allowing him the unchallenged right to invade Earth 2.

In Darkseid #1, his background story was revealed. Formerly a farmer named Uxas, he hated the deities of his world. So he traveled up to their mountain while they slept and tricked them all into fighting each other. As they were all weakened from the war, he killed them one by one with his scythe (similar to Kronos of Greek mythology) and stole their power, before destroying his world and creating Apokolips.

In Justice League: The Darkseid War (after the retirement of the "New 52" imprint), Darkseid comes into conflict with the Anti-Monitor. Darkseid's daughter Grail leads the Anti-Monitor, who is revealed to be a scientist named Mobius, to Darkseid for the former to kill the latter. Mobius believes that with the death of Darkseid, he will be free from being the Anti-Monitor. After an intense battle, the Anti-Monitor fuses the Black Racer with Flash and sends it after Darkseid. Using the fused Flash and his own powers, he kills Darkseid. With Darkseid dead, the universe is unbalanced as it has lost its God of Evil. Later, Lex Luthor would be merged with the Omega Sanction, becoming the new ruler of Apokolips.

After killing the Anti-Monitor using an Anti-Life Equation-powered Steve Trevor, Grail would later resurrect Darkseid through the newborn child of Superwoman. The child has the same powers as his father Mazahs, with the ability to steal the powers of others. Stealing the new "God" abilities of the Justice League, Grail fuses them with the child and brings Darkseid back to life. However, he is under her complete control. Grail later attempts to redeem herself by seemingly killing Darkseid with the Anti-Life Equation. However, it is later revealed that she reincarnated him back as a baby with the intention of teaching him differently.

DC Rebirth

Darkseid (as a baby) appears in DC Universe: Rebirth #1 where Grail tells him of Wonder Woman's long lost brother, Jason.

Baby Darkseid reappears in Dark Nights: Metal where it is shown that Batman stole him from Grail and intends to use the Omega Beams to send himself back in time. This never comes to fruition and Darkseid is either returned to or retrieved by Grail.[32]

Sometime afterwards, Darkseid matured into a toddler, and using telepathy, demanded that he needed to feast on Old Gods to return to his former self. After killing A.R.G.U.S. agents that were hunting them down, Darkseid and Grail began hunting down and taking the life force of Zeus' demi-god children, killing several including Perseus and Hercules, and growing into the size of a child. After recruiting Jason and luring Wonder Woman to him, Darkseid ages once again into a young man. He fights Wonder Woman himself and as he starts to drain her life force, he is betrayed by Jason. When Zeus appears and transforms into his true form, Darkseid fights the Olympian God, destroying their surroundings in their brawl. When they take a Boom Tube to Manila, Philippines, Zeus grabs onto Darkseid and unleashes bolts of lightning on him. However, Darkseid reveals that he planned for this and that his true target was Zeus himself, and he begins to drain and kill him, restoring Darkseid back to his original self. When the rest of the Justice League arrive, Darkseid decides it is best not to fight them as he does not want to risk revealing his greater plans, and promptly leaves through a Boom Tube with Grail.[33][34][35][36][37][38][39]

Powers and abilities
Darkseid disintegrates Desaad with his Omega Beams in New Gods (vol. 1) #11 (November 1972). Art by Jack Kirby.

As a New God, Darkseid is among the most powerful beings in the DC Universe. His most well-known and utilised ability derives from the Omega Effect, which allows him to blast Omega Beams from his eyes. Omega Beams are an intense form of heated energy that can either act as a concussive force to subdue an opponent or as a disintegrating agent capable of eradicating organisms or objects from existence. Some super-powered beings, such as Superman and Doomsday, have proven resistant to the Beams, although in the case of Superman, with a great deal of pain. Also, Orion and Diana were able to deflect them, Firestorm once used his powers to redirect them and in a crossover story, Galactus was unaffected by them. These beams stem from a cosmic energy source called the "Omega Effect". The Omega Beams can also resurrect fallen beings previously killed by them. He will sometimes use this as punishment upon those who fail him but are too valuable to kill outright. Darkseid has pinpoint control of this energy, and his unerring aim allows the beam to travel in straight lines, bend, or curve around corners and even pass through matter or other forms of energy. He can also teleport himself or others through time and space.[40] His Omega Sanction traps organisms in a series of alternate realities, each one worse than the previous. During the Final Crisis, Darkseid used his Omega Beams to grant power to Mary Marvel, and her powers afterwards were based on Anti-Life rather than magic.

Darkseid's strength is depicted as immensely high, effortlessly breaking a Green Lantern Ring with his bare hands. He has easily overpowered two Kryptonians at once, and the entire Justice League. He can also move with great speed, as he has been able to catch Superman off guard,[41] and he is known to be able to react in nanoseconds.[42] Even without Darkseid's full power and strength, he is still able to hold out his own against an Olympian God such as Zeus. He can also increase his physical size.[43] Darkseid also has additional powers of telepathy and telekinesis, and he can create psionic avatars. While Darkseid is a deity and immortal, having lived for several hundred thousand years, he is not invincible and has been killed on several occasions.[44]

In "The Great Darkness Saga", Darkseid displayed a range of deity-like powers, such as transposing the positions of two planets in different solar systems, taking mental control of the entire population of a planet, instantly absorbing all the information from another being's mind, manifesting the worst fears of other beings as realities, easily defeating incredibly powerful beings such as Mon-El, Mordru, and the Time Trapper, and pronouncing a curse.

Despite Darkseid's extraordinary physical powers, he rarely engages himself personally in confrontations, as he prefers to use his superhuman intellect to manipulate or control others to his ends.[44] Darkseid has displayed his godly abilities by sensing the death of his son Orion[45] and fluctuations of the energy of the "Godwave".[42] As the ruler of Apokolips, Darkseid has access to all of its military and technological resources.

Darkseid is able to drain the life force of other godly beings in order to rejuvenate himself and/or return to his full power. Demi-gods are capable of slowly rejuvenating Darkseid but a god (such as Zeus) can return Darkseid back to his original form by draining them.[39]

Other versions

Darkseid makes his first official appearance in Chapter 22 of the Injustice: Gods Among Us comic on Apokolips. He is seen overseeing the torture of an unseen figure as his son Kalibak approaches him. Kalibak informs his father of Superman's worldwide ceasefire on Earth. Darkseid muses if Superman has begun to soften before Kalibak asks to take a war party to personally investigate. When Kalibak sees just who it is Darkseid is torturing, the lord of Apokolips confirms the man's identity before saying, "He made a mistake." When Kalibak asks if he can be killed, Darkseid chides his son, "Of course not. Who would come for him?" He then allows Kalibak to go, bidding him to kill the Kryptonian and take the Earth. Darkseid grins to himself as he asks to be left alone with his prisoner: Black Racer, death himself, as Darkseid resumes his torture. In the Injustice Annual, Darkseid hires the bounty hunter Lobo to go to Earth and kill Superman in retaliation for the death of Kalibak at the Man of Steel's hands. However, Lobo returns some time later after a 'therapy' session with Harley Quinn, and brazenly challenges the Dread Lord to a battle. Later, under Darkseid's command, Ares manipulates the Justice League into battle with the Greek Gods. The attempt, while initially successful, is defused by Batman and Highfather's intervention. The Greek Gods depart with no further conflict and Superman brings Ares to Darkseid to torture in exchange for Darkseid, Ares and their underlings to "never step foot on Earth."

In other media

Live-action
  • Darkseid appears in the tenth and final season of Smallville.[46] The producers commented that the character would serve as a driving force throughout the season and eventually materialize as the episodes progressed. This incarnation primarily appears as a non-corporeal being.[47] According to Carter Hall in the episode "Icarus", Darkseid has been to Earth several times and been present during, at least, some of humanity's darkest hours like the Spanish Inquisition and the Third Reich. But each time it looked like the world was about to be consumed by hatred and darkness, another force arose to send the darkness back. His disciple Granny Goodness once claimed that Kali, Hades and Lucifer are all names that Darkseid's been known as on Earth. However, as Hades is an existing and separate entity, the accuracy of these claims is unknown. What is known is that Darkseid had a son, named Orion. However, the boy was raised by another being, who was as devoted to the light, as Darkseid was to the darkness. This made Orion into a powerful enemy against his father. At least once, Orion banished Darkseid from Earth. In the episode "Supergirl", Darkseid awakened from a rift in the universe, taking over radio jockey Gordon Godfrey, Darkseid made himself the center of the rising anti-vigilante movement including possessing General Slade Wilson (branding them with the invisible Omega symbol). For months, Darkseid corrupted countless humans, until it was enough to pull Apokolips through space and towards Earth. Knowing that Clark Kent was the only one who could stop him, Darkseid possessed Oliver Queen after a fight with another disciple Desaad who had kidnaped Chloe Sullivan. A possessed Oliver managed to find Gold Kryptonite planned to strip Clark of his powers at his wedding to Lois but was defeated. In the finale, Oliver as Green Arrow fired arrows at the disciples, turning them into black smoke and leaving their fates unknown. Also in the two-part series finale, Darkseid is seemingly destroyed by Clark while possessing the Earth-2's Lionel Luthor, having made a deal to resurrect Lex Luthor in exchange for Lionel's body. [48] In the Season Eleven comic book continuation, however, it is revealed that Darkseid had managed to survive and restore his physical body. [49] In this series Darkseid even at his limited form, had superhuman strength, telekinesis and can transform into smoke.

Animation
  • Darkseid appears in Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984) and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985), voiced by Frank Welker.
  • Darkseid appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley.[50][51] In the episode "Darkseid Descending!", he leads his Apokoliptian forces in an attempt to invade Earth. He also makes a cameo in "Powerless!".
  • Darkseid appears in Young Justice, voiced again by Michael-Leon Wooley. In the episode "Disordered", he is mentioned as Desaad's "unspeakable" master. During the season two finale "Endgame", Vandal Savage, Desaad and G. Gordon Godfrey meet with Darkseid on Apokolips. In season three, it is revealed that Darkseid invaded Earth in the 13th century and made a deal with the immortal Savage; the two would help each other in their respective conquests across the galaxy and when Earth and Apokolips are the only two worlds remaining, they would have a final battle to determine who controls the universe. In the present-day narrative, Granny Goodness informs Darkseid that the Anti-Life Equation is inside of Halo.
  • Darkseid was referenced multiple times in Teen Titans Go!, before finally making his debut in the two-part episode "Two-Parter", where he was voiced by "Weird Al" Yankovic.[52] After he captures the Justice League, the Teen Titans travel to Apokolips to rescue them and confront Darkseid. At first, the Titans are intimidated by his voice, until Starfire offers him a lozenge that clears his throat and gives him a friendlier tone. Following this, the Titans can no longer take him seriously, and note the similarity between his new voice and that of Yankovic. When Darkseid claims that Yankovic is far more evil than he could ever be, the Titans become enraged and attack him. Darkseid effortlessly defeats them, but is eventually disintegrated by Cyborg's laser cannon.[53] Following this, Darkseid continues to make cameo appearances in several episodes.
  • Darkseid appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Jonathan Adams.[54]
  • Darkseid is featured in DC Super Hero Girls, voiced by John DiMaggio. He first masquerades as the math teacher "Dr. Seid". In "My So Called Anti-Life", he tricks the Super Hero Girls into solving the Anti-Life Equation for him by putting it on a test. He uses the Equation to transform Earth's population into duplicates of himself, but the surviving heroes manage to reverse this. After a brief fight, he retreats, vowing revenge.
  • Darkseid appears in the DC Universe web series Harley Quinn, with Michael Ironside reprising his role from the DC animated universe. In the episode "Inner (Para) Demons," Harley Quinn and her crew travel to Apokolips to seek an audience with Darkseid, hoping to gain an army of Parademons to destroy the GCPD. In "A Fight Worth Fighting For," Doctor Psycho, who has taken command of the Parademons left to roam Gotham City after Harley relinquished them, contacts Darkseid to make a deal to kill Harley in exchange for an army large enough to conquer the Earth. In "Lovers' Quarrel", Darkseid travels to Gotham to find that Psycho has been defeated by Harley and Poison Ivy. Impressed, he offers Harley the army promised to Psycho, but she declines, leaving Darkseid to return to Apokolips after he vows to destroy the Earth someday.
DC Animated Universe
Darkseid, as depicted in Superman: The Animated Series.

Darkseid is prominently featured in various animated series set within the DC animated universe, voiced by Michael Ironside.

  • The character is introduced in Superman: The Animated Series. He first appears as the shadowy figure manipulating the Metropolis crime syndicate Intergang, supplying them with alien weaponry to prepare for his invasion of Earth. Superman learns that the planets Apokolips and New Genesis have been at war for aeons until a peace treaty was formed by trading their ruler's sons; Darkseid's son Orion with Highfather's son Mister Miracle. Despite this truce, Darkseid searches for the elusive Anti-Life Equation to remake the universe in his image. Following the repeated failures of his underlings, Darkseid personally defeats Superman, kills Dan Turpin and nearly succeeds in conquering Earth until New Genesis' forces declare the planet under their protection. In the series finale, Darkseid bypasses this deal by brainwashing Superman into thinking he is his adopted son and manipulating the Man of Steel into invading Earth for him. Superman ultimately breaks free of Darkseid's influence and confronts him on Apokolips. Darkseid pummels and prepares to kill Superman with his Omega Beams but the latter covers the tyrant's eyes and causes a massive explosion which results in Darkseid's defeat. To Superman's shock, Darkseid's slaves willingly come to their master's aid and carry him away to recover with the Lord of Apokolips explaining, "I am many things, Kal-El, but here, I am God."
  • Darkseid returns in Justice League. In the two-part episode "Twilight", he seeks the Justice League's help in preventing Brainiac from assimilating Apokolips' information before destroying it. It is later revealed that Darkseid and Brainiac are working together; in exchange for luring Superman to Brainiac, Darkseid's planet would be spared. However, Darkseid betrays Brainiac by overriding his circuitry to find the Anti-Life Equation. As Brainiac's base begins to self-destruct due to the League and Orion's interference, an enraged Superman defeats Darkseid but is prevented from killing him when Batman boom tubes them to safety. Buried under the rubble, Darkseid nonchalantly mutters "Loser" before the base explodes.
  • Darkseid makes his final appearances in Justice League Unlimited. In the penultimate episode "Alive!", Lex Luthor travels to the ruins of Brainiac's asteroid base attempting to reconstitute him but resurrects Darkseid instead, who promptly returns to Apokolips to reunite his forces to seek revenge against Superman. In the series finale "Destroyer", the Justice League and Luthor's Secret Society work together to stop Darkseid's army from conquering Earth. Darkseid defeats Superman and prepares to kill him but Luthor, having visited the Source Wall and found the Anti-Life Equation, intervenes and offers Darkseid his greatest obsession. The two revel in its beauty before disappearing in a flash of light.

Live-action
  • In 2014, Bryan Singer revealed that during early development of the scrapped Superman Returns sequel, Darkseid was considered to be the main antagonist.[55]
DC Extended Universe

Darkseid will be featured in the DC Extended Universe.

Animation
Darkseid on the cover of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010). Art by Clayton Crain.

Video games

Mortal Kombat

Lego

Injustice
  • Darkseid appears in Injustice: Gods Among Us. He is seen sitting in his throne room until any hero or villain is teleported to Apokolips from the Hall of Justice via a Boom Tube. He then attacks the character with his Omega Beams, sending them flying back into the Boom Tube. The character is also available as a playable character in the iOS version of the game.
  • Darkseid is featured as a DLC character in the 2017 fighting game Injustice 2, voiced again by Michael-Leon Wooley.

See also

References
  1. Sacks, Jason; Dallas, Keith (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s. TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 39–40. ISBN 978-1605490564.
  2. Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 71–73. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  3. "Darkseid is number 6". IGN. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  4. Evanier, Mark (November 10, 2006). "The Palance-Darkseid Connection". News From Me.
  5. "Real Life Inspirations Behind Some of the Best Comic Book Villains". ScreenRant. Mar 30, 2014. Retrieved Oct 12, 2020.
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