Doomsday (DC Comics)

Doomsday is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, the character first made a cameo appearance in Superman: The Man of Steel #17 (November 1992) before being fully introduced in Superman: The Man of Steel #18 (December 1992). He has become one of the most enduring enemies belonging to Superman's rogues gallery. Doomsday ranked as #46 on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time. The character is best known as Superman's killer in the 1992 storyline, "The Death of Superman".

Doomsday appears in the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where he was portrayed by Robin Atkin Downes through voice acting and motion capture.

Publication history

Doomsday was conceived in 1991 during an annual brainstorming session with the editors and writers of Superman comics, in response to a concern by some writers that most of Superman's foes either relied on technology or their intellect to outmaneuver Superman or had some natural advantage against him, wanting to create a new foe with great physical power to match him. Several writers proposed having Superman die at the hands of a "bestial foe", and editor Mike Carlin scribbled this idea on the wall chart as "doomsday for Superman". Inspired, they chose "Doomsday" as the name for this villain.

Doomsday had a cameo appearance in Superman: The Man of Steel #17 (November 1992) and made his first full appearance in Superman: The Man of Steel #18 (December 1992).

Fictional character biography

Doomsday is depicted as a monstrous genetically engineered being from the depths of prehistoric Krypton. His creator imbued him with few feelings, mostly hate and desire for destruction, which led to his destroying worlds and eventually finding Earth, where he met Superman. The character is best known as Superman's killer in the 1992 storyline, "The Death of Superman".

The Ultimate Killing Machine

Originally known as "The Ultimate", Doomsday was born in prehistoric times on Krypton, long before the humanoid Kryptonian race gained dominance over the planet about 250,000 years ago. It was at that time a violent, hellish world, where only the absolute strongest of creatures could survive. In a cruel experiment involving evolution, intended to create the perfect living being, the alien scientist Bertron released a humanoid infant (born in vitro in a lab) onto the surface of the planet, where he was promptly killed by the harsh environment. The baby's remains were collected and used to clone a stronger version. This process was repeated over and over for decades as a form of accelerated natural evolution. The agony of these repeated deaths was recorded in his genes, driving the being insane and instilling hatred of all life.

As it evolved, the child eventually became able to survive the high temperatures and searing atmosphere, only to be quickly slain by the vicious predators that inhabited the planet. Over time, and without the assistance of Bertron's technology, he gained the ability to thrive on solar energy without the need for food or air, to return to life and adapt to overcome whatever had previously killed him. The Ultimate hunted and exterminated the dangerous predators of Krypton. He then killed Bertron, whom he had come to identify as an enemy.

The Ultimate escaped Krypton via a ship that regularly arrived to deliver supplies to Bertron (who had wanted little contact with the planet's natives) and went on a killing spree across several planets. It began 245,000 years earlier on planet Bylan 5, where Apokoliptian prince Uxas (the future Darkseid) was about to wed a princess (to obtain that planet's chemical deposits for Apokolips's weapons factories). The Ultimate killed Uxas' ally Master Mayhem almost instantly and instilled great fear in Uxas, having watched their fight. Just as the Ultimate and Uxas were about to meet in combat, Uxas was forced to flee; the Ultimate's rampage had caused the planet's atmosphere to become toxic, thereby rendering the chemicals worthless to Apokolips. The Ultimate hitched a ride on an escaping shuttle, which crashed on Khundia. The warring Khundian clans united to build protective armor for a warrior named Kobald, who they hoped would survive long enough to force the Ultimate onto a rocket. Once the rocket was in space, the Ultimate killed Kobald and the resulting explosion sent him hurtling through space.

He next crossed paths with a Green Lantern named Zharan Pel, beating him to death. The Ultimate took the Lantern's power ring and, sensing the power of the Guardians of the Universe, headed towards them. Thousands of Green Lanterns were slain attempting to stop him. Upon reaching Oa, a lone Guardian lured him away from the planet and engaged the creature in battle. Wary of the others joining the fight, fearing the Ultimate would absorb their powers as he believed was happening to his powers, the Guardian turned his powers on himself as a sacrifice. The release of energies by the Guardian's actions tore a void in the fabric of space through which the Ultimate fell.

Eventually arriving on the planet Calaton, he ravaged that world for three years. With only the capital city left, the royal family underwent a ritual to merge their life forces into a being called the "Radiant", a being of living energy. The Radiant killed the Ultimate with a huge blast of energy, laying waste to over a fifth of his planet in the process. In common Calatonian burial procedures, the Ultimate's seemingly dead body was suited and shackled to prevent his spirit from escaping into the afterlife, and he was shot into space because the murders he committed made him unworthy of burial on Calaton. Eventually, his metallic casket crashed on Earth, the force of the impact driving it deep underground.

The Death of Superman

After freeing one arm and breaking out of his buried vault, The Ultimate went on a rampage in Midwestern America, where he encountered the Justice League. He defeated the Justice League in a matter of minutes, which attracted the attention of Superman. The Ultimate fought with one hand tied behind his back by his ancient burial cables. Since the Ultimate could not introduce himself, when League member Booster Gold called him "Doomsday" in an off-panel scene, the name stuck. Five Leaguers, including Superman, combined their energy powers to create an assault capable of killing Doomsday, but he shielded himself with the last of his burial cables, which were destroyed by the attack, allowing him to use both hands.

Doomsday's interest was captured by billboards and television spots directing people to wrestling competitions held in Metropolis, which led the otherwise mindless creature to head towards the city. Superman found that Doomsday's power was more than a match for his own and getting stronger. Though in the original story Doomsday shows no interest in Superman, ignoring him whenever possible, it was retconned in the Hunter/Prey miniseries that Doomsday developed a strong desire to murder Superman: "from the agony of continually dying during his creation process, Doomsday developed in his genes the ability to sense anyone Kryptonian, as well as an overriding instinct to treat any such being as an automatic threat". In Superman (vol. 2) #75, Doomsday and Superman beat each other to death in front of the Daily Planet building in Metropolis.

Following the battle, four super-beings appeared and took up Superman's mantle, two of them declaring themselves to be the real Superman. One, Cyborg Superman, had cybernetic implants where Superman had sustained the greatest amount of damage from Doomsday's blows. This "Superman" strapped Doomsday's body to an asteroid with an electronic device attached, and flung Doomsday into deep space on a trajectory supposedly certain to never intersect any other planet. Doomsday reawakened, still chained to the asteroid but otherwise alive.

Rematch: Hunter/Prey

After passing through a wormhole, Doomsday's asteroid was found by a deep-space scavenger ship en route to Apokolips. Doomsday was fully rested and, after killing the crew of the salvage ship, found himself landing on Apokolips. This was to be the setup for a final showdown between Doomsday and Superman, who had been uneasy about the possibility of Doomsday's resurrection. With the help of his Justice League contacts, Superman procured a Mother Box after Darkseid's servant DeSaad contacted Earth about a problem on Apokolips.