Validus
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| Validus | |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | (Pre-Zero Hour) Adventure Comics #352 (January, 1967) (Post-Zero Hour) Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 4) #78 |
| Created by | Jim Shooter Mort Weisinger |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | (Pre-Zero Hour) Garridan Ranzz (Post-Zero Hour) None |
| Team affiliations | Fatal Five |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength and durability, Energy projection, Telepathy immunity |
Validus is a fictional DC Comics supervillain, an enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes and a member of the Fatal Five.
[edit] Fictional character biography
In the latter half of the 30th century, an entity known as the Sun-Eater threatened to consume Earth's sun, thus destroying the galaxy. Desperate to stop the Sun-Eater's efforts, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes recruited the aid of the Fatal Five. They discovered that Validus was among their ranks, but had no idea of his true parental heritage. The Fatal Five reluctantly agreed to help the Legion, and the Sun-Eater's efforts were averted. Validus remained a loyal member of the Fatal Five, always ready to do Tharok's bidding. During one memorable altercation with the Legion, Validus killed Lyle Norg, the original Invisible Kid.
Validus' true origin stemmed from a diabolical plot by a powerful Legion foe. As revenge for his defeat in "The Great Darkness Saga", Darkseid kidnapped one of the identical twin children of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl at birth. He then sent the newborn back in time, cursed with a monstrous body and with near-mindlessness (that made him easily controlled by the likes of the Emerald Empress) with the idea that either the parent or the child would kill the other.
Years later, Validus fell under Darkseid's influence yet again. He manipulated Validus against Lightning Lad, placing him in a situation where the Legionnaire would be forced to kill him to save the life of his other son, Graym. Thanks to the efforts of Saturn Girl however, the plot was averted and both parents discovered that Validus was their child. Soon after, Validus reverted to his normal, human condition. His parents soon renamed him Garridan.
During the "Five Years Later" era chronicled in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4), it was revealed that Darkseid's tampering with Garridan's body chemistry had spawned a new virus which Brainiac 5 dubbed "The Validus Plague". Only natives of Winath and Titan (the homeworlds of Garridan's parents) were susceptible to the disease, but for them it was fatal. As a result, Garridan was forced to wear a containment suit, allowing him mobility yet keeping him in perpetual medical quarantine.
After the events of the Zero Hour miniseries, Legion continuity was rebooted entirely, and Validus' origin was changed considerably. He was no longer the child of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, Darkseid had nothing to do with his creation, and he was also significantly weaker. In the current "Threeboot" continuity, Validus is the name of a nature spirit in the folklore of the planet of Winath, known as the Lord of Lightning. Mekt Ranzz was a member of a cult that worshipped him. Since the Ranzzes gained their powers and left the planet the cult has grown considerably, seemingly granting everyone on Winath lightning powers. This was later revealed as the product of nanomachines in their blood.
On the cover of Justice League of America (vol. 2) #13, it shows Validus as a member of the latest incarnation of the Injustice League.
Validus (alongside the other Fatal Five members) were among the villains in Superman-Prime's Legion of Super-Villains.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Validus possesses incalculable superhuman strength, enabling him to easily overpower even the Silver Age Superboy; in fact, it took the combined strengths of Kryptonian-level heroes Superboy, Mon-El, and Ultra Boy to overpower him. In addition, he was extremely resistant to all forms of harm, and could fire energy bolts from his brain which were powerful enough to incapacitate a Kryptonian or Daxamite with a single hit. He was also immune to telepathy.
[edit] Other media
- Validus has appeared in an episode of Justice League Unlimited with the other Fatal Five against the Legion. He had a robotic body in this series.
- Validus is a member of the Fatal Five in the Legion of Super Heroes TV series with the other Fatal Five. In Season Two, Validus was eventually recuited by Imperiex when he released him. Imperiex appears to perfectly understand Validus' seemingly incoherent grunting; in "Message in a Bottle" he answers the brute's question as if he had spoken clearly. In the two-part Season Finale, Validus was turned into computer data by Brainiac (in Brainiac 5's body) when trying to help Imperiex.
