- "Last time I saw you, you were denying metahumans were a threat. And now it seems they're taking over the world."
- ―Lex Luthor to Rick Flag, Sr.[src]
Metahumans are a category of individuals that possess paranormal abilities, attributes and conditions beyond the ordinary limits of average humans. These qualities can develop through accidents, mutation, experimentation, foreign exposure, or unique genetic composition at birth, making many of them considerably more powerful than regular humans to varying degrees depending on the extent of their exact capabilities. While some of them appear perfectly human by outward appearances, some appear drastically different, resembling what many would consider monsters.
History[]
Discovery[]
- "3 CENTURIES AGO, the first superpowered beings, known as METAHUMANS, appeared on Earth, ushering in a new era of GODS AND MONSTERS."
- ―Superman
Humanity first became aware of the existence of Metahumans sometime in the 18th century. With the rise of metahumans on Earth, most became renowned superheroes who fought against injustice, earning recognition among humanity and being venerated as veteran heroes.[1]
Hawkgirl's Reincarnation Cycle[]
Kendra Saunders was born into a cycle of reincarnation that included a Thanagarian warrior, which turned her into a metahuman with retractable wings. After suffering a dark childhood, Saunders retained memories of her past lives. As an adult, Saunders used her powers to fight crime, becoming a superhero and adopting the alias "Hawkgirl."[2]
Experimentations[]
Clayface's Transformation[]
In an effort to heal his recent disfigurement, B-movie actor Matt Hagen turned to a fringe scientist who injected him with an experimental substance.[3] The procedure was initially a success, but it possessed disturbing long-term side effects, transforming Hagen's body and turning him into a shapeshifting metahuman known as Clayface.[4]
Nina Mazursky's Procedure[]
Nina Mazursky is transformed into an amphibious metahuman
- "Nina, from birth, had issues with her lungs. She wasn't able to breathe properly. So I tried to infuse her biology with elements of aquatic animals thinking that would... well, she's no longer in pain. But she can only breathe underwater."
- ―Edward Mazursky to Gale[src]
In an attempt to allow his daughter Nina Mazursky to breathe properly due to her lung condition, Doctor Edward Mazursky set out to conduct an experiment to help her. However, Nina began to transform through the experiment and became an amphibious metahuman, forcing Edward to create a respirator for her, allowing her to breathe above ground. Years later, he enrolled her at Emberton Prep, but after receiving constant abuse, she left home and lived in the ocean before being captured and transferred to Belle Reve Correctional Center.[5]
Doctor Phosphorus' Mutation[]
Alex Sartorius is transformed into a radioactive skeleton
- "It's the age-old story of the nuclear scientist who goes crazy, murders his family and then commits suicide by atomizing himself with nuclear energy."
- ―Rupert Thorne[src]
As punishment for breaking his deal to provide information on the nuclear fusion cancer cure, Doctor Alex Sartorius was locked in a nuclear chamber at Sartorius Labs by Rupert Thorne and his gang as a means of assassinating him after they murdered his family and framed him for the gruesome crime. However, Sartorius became a metahuman with a radioactive skeletal physiology and began his revenge, massacring Thorne and his gang, as well as taking his position as Gotham City's top gangster; however, his reign of terror would ultimately be stopped by Batman, who imprisoned him in Belle Reve.[6]
Engineer's Transformation[]
- "The Engineer. A former special operative whose blood I infused with microscopic machines, called nanites, which she can form into anything she can imagine."
- ―Lex Luthor[src]
Determined to stop the superhero Superman, who was considered the most powerful metahuman of all, Officer Angela Spica formed an alliance with LuthorCorp CEO Lex Luthor to conduct an experiment that added various nanites to her skin that allowed her to become a metahuman with the ability to create various objects through her imagination, eventually becoming a founding member of PlanetWatch.[1]
Sasha Bordeaux's Improvements[]
- "She was in a plane crash, all crushed-up, and A.R.G.U.S. replaced half her body with machinery."
- ―John Economos to Emilia Harcourt[src]
After suffering a plane crash, the body of A.R.G.U.S. agent Sasha Bordeaux was destroyed after the fall and in an attempt to save her life, the agency's scientists conducted an experiment to exchange her organic parts for cybernetic pieces that turned her into a skilled cyborg under the orders of A.R.G.U.S.[7]
Employed by A.R.G.U.S.[]
Project Starfish[]
- "This is the Belle Reve Non-Human Interment Division. For over fifty years, only those at the uppermost levels of security clearance are aware of its existance."
- ―Amanda Waller to Rick Flag, Sr.[src]
In 2022, A.R.G.U.S. Director Amanda Waller recruited several metahumans from Belle Reve Correctional Center to be part of Task Force X, a specialized black-ops team set to depart for Corto Maltese and carry out an operation named Project Starfish, under the leadership of Colonel Rick Flag, Jr.. Among the team members was Weasel, an animalistic metahuman[8] accused of the alleged murder of twenty-seven children, who managed to survive the mission and was re-incarcerated at Belle Reve, which housed many metahuman inmates, such as Orca, Egg Fu, Hyena. Fisherman, among others.[9]
Foundation of the Creature Commandos[]
The Creature Commandos are gathered by Amanda Waller
- "Congress said we can't use human prisoners. These assholes aren't human."
- ―Amanda Waller to Rick Flag, Sr.[src]
In 2024, following Task Force X's sanction by the United States Congress, Waller founded the Creature Commandos, a team of Belle Reve non-human inmates including metahumans such as Weasel, Doctor Phosphorus, and Nina Mazursky to protect Princess Ilana Rostovic from the Invasion of Pokolistan of the Amazon sorceress Circe and the Sons of Themyscira, under the leadership of General Rick Flag, Sr..[8] In an attempt to conceal her plans, Rostovic hired Clayface to assassinate and take the form of Professor Aisla MacPherson.[5]
Paddy Craic attacks the Bride of Frankenstein with his electrokinesis
While the Bride of Frankenstein and Mazursky were hiding in Can-Can, metahuman twins Brian and Paddy Craic visited the brothel seeking sexual relations with the employees, but when Paddy abused the prostitutes, the Bride took it upon herself to murder the twins in defense of the establishment.[6] After the mission that culminated in Mazursky's death and the assassination of Rostovic, Waller formed a new lineup of the Commandos, a team that included Weasel, Doctor Phosphorus, and the anthropomorphic shark metahuman King Shark, under the leadership of the Bride.[5]
Boravian-Jarhanpurian War[]
Exploitation of Metamorpho[]
- "I'm glad you're not concerned about the metahumans, Rick. Because now, they're the ones making the rules."
- ―Stephen Mori to Rick Flag, Sr.[src]
Rex Mason transmutates the elements
To weaken Superman when he was captured by his PlanetWatch subordinates, Lex Luthor kidnapped the former archaeologist, Metamorpho, a metahuman with the ability to transform into any element, whom he imprisoned in the Pocket Universe along with his son in order to force him to generate Kryptonite and keep his archenemy weakened. However, Superman was able to convince Mason to join him in order to escape, managing to save his son and Krypto. Inspired by Superman, Mason decided to intervene in the Boravian Armed Forces' invasion of Jarhanpur, which allowed him to become a superhero and a member of the Justice Gang, suggested to join by the metahuman warrior and team member Hawkgirl.[1]
Prison Escapes[]
- "There has to be a solution. This is the third metahuman escape from Belle Reve or Arkham in the past two months."
- ―Cleavis Thornwaite[src]
Over a period of about two months, several metahuman inmates escaped from Belle Reve Correctional Center and Arkham Asylum, causing civilians to develop a fear of these beings.[10] During his incarceration at Belle Reve, Lex Luthor constantly overheard a scaly-looking metahuman and another with cartoon-like eyes having sex near his cell.[11]
Establishment of Salvation[]
To be added
Notable Metahumans[]
Will Everett
Sven Larson
.png "Clayface in (CC).png (377 KB)")
Matt Hagen
Alex Sartorius
Angela Spica
Barry Allen
Wally West
Hugo Danner
Andrew Van Horn
Kendra Saunders
Summer Day
Nanaue
Max Crandall
Rex Mason
Grace Balin
.png "Eagly (PM2).png (1.05 MB)")
Alec Holland
Cisco Ramon
Metahuman Abilities[]
| Image | Power | Description | Known users |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Aquatic Respiration | The ability to breathe underwater. | Nina Mazursky Orca Fisherman King Shark |
|
Electrokinesis | The ability to generate and manipulate electricity. | Paddy Craic Brian Craic |
 |
Flight | The ability to defy gravity and move through space without external assistance. | Hawkgirl Metamorpho Engineer |
 |
Pyrokinesis | The ability to generate and/or manipulate fire. | Doctor Phosphorus |
 |
Mechanokinesis |
The ability to generate and/or manipulate technology. | Engineer |
 |
Shapeshifting | The ability to assume the form of any being or object. | Clayface Metamorpho Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man Swamp Thing Engineer |
|
Elemental Transmutation |
The ability to transmute matter. | Metamorpho |
|
Superhuman Durability | The ability to withstand unnaturally high levels of physical harm. It differs from invulnerability. | Doctor Phosphorus Weasel Clayface Hawkgirl Metamorpho Swamp Thing King Shark Engineer |
|
Superhuman Leap | The ability to leap great distances from a standing position. | Doctor Phosphorus Weasel |
 |
Superhuman Senses | The ability to possess greater smell, sight, hearing, taste, and/or vision, greater than any human being. | Weasel King Shark Sasha Bordeaux |
 |
Superhuman Speed | The ability to travel and react at incredibly fast speeds. | Doctor Phosphorus Weasel Hawkgirl Flash Engineer |
|
Superhuman Strength | The ability to exert more force and lift more weight than would normally be considered possible. | Doctor Phosphorus Weasel Clayface Hawkgirl Metamorpho Swamp Thing Shaggy Man Orca King Shark Engineer Sasha Bordeaux |
|
Translucent Skin | The ability to have skin and organs translucent, showing the individual skeleton. | Doctor Phosphorus |
Metahumans Groups[]
| Group | Characters |
|---|---|
| Transmuted | Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, Clayface, Doctor Phosphorus, Metamorpho, Nina Mazursky, Shaggy Man, Orca |
| Hybrids/Monstrous | Hyena, King Shark, Weasel, Fisherman |
| Technologics | Engineer, Sasha Bordeaux, Egg Fu |
| Natural/Supernatural | Flash, Hawkgirl, Joey Mason, Swamp Thing |
| Unknown | Brian Craic, Paddy Craic |
Appearances[]
| Appearances for Metahumans |
|---|
In chronological order:
|
Trivia[]
- In the comics, the term "metahuman" is often used interchangeably with both humans with paranormal qualities as well as other non-human species such as aliens, serving as a general means of classifying these individuals regardless of their exact origins or similarities with each other.
- Originally, the term "metahuman" referred to specifically people endowed with the metagene that grants super-abilities, before expanding to generally classifying superhumans.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Superman
- ↑ DC Studios Showcase Official Podcast | Episode 13: Isabela Merced & Nathan Fillion | Max
- ↑ Naomi Ackie in Early Talks to Join Tom Rhys Harries to Star in ‘Clayface’ (Exclusive)
- ↑ DC’s ‘Clayface’ Lands ‘Speak No Evil’ Director James Watkins - The Hollywood Reporter
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Creature Commandos: 1.07: A Very Funny Monster
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Creature Commandos: 1.06: Priyatel Skelet
- ↑ Peacemaker: 2.05: Back to the Suture
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Creature Commandos: 1.01: The Collywobbles
- ↑ Creature Commandos: 1.04: Chasing Squirrels
- ↑ Peacemaker: 2.01: The Ties That Grind
- ↑ Peacemaker: 2.06: Ignorance is Chris
