Justice Society of America/Characters: Difference between revisions

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== The Golden Age (1940-1951) ==

'''Abilities:''' Super-strength, "atomic punch" }}

 

* [[Super Strength]]

 

'''Abilities:''' Martial arts master, detective skills, high-tech equipment }}

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Martial arts master }}

 

* [[Ms. Fanservice]]

 

'''Abilities:''' Sorcery }}

 

Introduced in ''More Fun Comics'' in 1940, Kent Nelson had discovered the tomb of an ancient wizard named Nabu. He used the helmet and amulet of Nabu to fight crime and magical enemies. The character's popularity waned faster than his JSA contemporaries, and he was gone by the mid-40s. Revived with the rest of the JSA during the 60s, and was briefly a member of the Justice League in the mid-80s. See [[Doctor Fate|his own page]] for more.

 

'''Abilities:''' Night vision, expert surgeon }}

 

* [[Disability Superpower]]: Possibly the first example in comics.

* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: With Hourman I.

 

'''Abilities:''' Super-speed }}

 

The original speedster, still going after all these years. The Flash was one of the JSA's founders and has remained a member through every incarnation of the team. He was even briefly the team's chairman back in the '40s. Jay acts as a friendly uncle to the rest of the JSA and is the team's public face. He has a life-long friendship with Alan Scott, the Green Lantern. See [[The Flash/Characters|the Flash character sheet]] for more.

 

'''Abilities:''' Green Lantern power ring }}

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Flight, mastery of various weapons }}

 

 

* [[Adventurer Archaeologist]]: he was an Eqyptologist, in some continuities.

* [[Continuity Snarl]]: Kept him out of comics for ''years'', as even the DC Editors refused to let other writers use such a "poisoned" character. It took Johns condensing all of his past to make him viable again.

* [[Jerkass]]: He spends the entirety of the JSA run growling and yelling at the younger members, then finally grabs the leadership reins during "Black Reign", which ended badly.

 

'''Abilities:''' Super-strength, speed, and stamina for one hour at a time }}

 

Rex Tyler was a biochemist who discovered a vitamin he dubbed "Miraclo", which gave him super-strength for exactly one hour. Armed with Miraclo tablets, he fought crime as the Man of the Hour, Hourman. Rex was a founding member of the JSA and briefly served with Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters (and was present with them for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor). Hourman was eventually killed by Extant in ''[[Zero Hour]]'', but thanks to the machinations of his time-traveling legacy, the third Hourman, he was pulled out of the time stream a split-second before his death and is now alive and well, living in retirement and occasionally acting as an adviser to the new JSA. See [[Hourman|his own page]] for more.

 

 

The original owner of the Thunderbolt genie, Johnny was basically the JSA's collective sidekick. He was kind of a loser; he even lost his own series to supporting character Black Canary, who would become much more popular than him. His body died as a result of Alzheimer's disease, but his soul was merged with the genie to become Johnny Thunderbolt.

* [[The Rival]]: To [[Green Arrow]] in [[The Silver Age of Comic Books]], due to their mutual attraction to Black Canary. Of course, Johnny never stood a chance.

 

'''Abilities:''' Super-intelligence, martial arts master }}

 

* [[Killed Off for Real]]: In [[The Bronze Age of Comic Books]], Sloane was murdered by his old enemy, the Spirit King.

 

'''Abilities:''' Mean right hook, wields a frying pan with deadly skill }}

 

An overweight housewife from New York, "Ma" Hunkel dressed up as a male superhero (her costume consisting of red pajamas, a yellow sweater, and a cooking pot over her head) to clean up her neighborhood and entertain her kids. She showed up at the JSA's first meeting to petition for membership, but quickly left when she realized she'd torn her pants when she climbed in the window. Years later, an elderly, widowed Mrs. Hunkel happily accepted the JSA's offer to become the curator of their museum. Despite lacking any superpowers and being of advanced age, Ma is still as spry as ever. See [[Red Tornado|her own page]] for more.

 

'''Abilities:''' Sleeping-gas gun, detective skills, prophetic dreams }}

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Near-omnipotence }}

 

When New York police detective Jim Corrigan was murdered in the late 1930s, he found himself raised from the dead and merged with the Spectre, the literal spirit of God's wrath, and charged with enacting (often gruesome) vengeance against evildoers. One of the JSA's founding members, Corrigan served as the spirit of vengeance for many years, tempering the Spectre's rage with his own humanity. Corrigan was finally granted eternal rest and the Spectre went on to bond with other hosts. See [[The Spectre|his own page]] for more.

 

'''Abilities:''' Gravity Rod grants flight, energy manipulation }}

 

'''Abilities:''' Super-strength, speed, senses, flight, and invulnerability }}

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Boxing champ, can return from death nine times }}

 

Pro boxer turned superhero. Oddly one of the few heroes left alive from the Golden Age, despite never being a hot seller in his day.

 

** Actually, he taught Bats how to fight, and has beaten him multiple times.

* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]

* [[Kavorka Man]]: Covered in welts and cauliflower ear, he's still managed to sleep with ''Catwoman, Queen Hippolyta'' and dozens of other background women.

 

'''Abilities:''' Super-strength, flight, heightened reflexes, magic weaponry }}

 

 

== Reformed Era (1961-1986) ==

'''Abilities:''' Ultrasonic scream, martial arts master }}

 

* [[Ms. Fanservice]]: Did we mention the fishnets? Well, what about the time she appeared fully nude in front of the entire JSA? Or the fact that she's the only DC heroine ever to have exposed her nipples on-panel (although the circumstances of that were more [[Fan Disservice]]).

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Super-strength, speed, senses, flight, and invulnerability }}

 

* [[Captain Ersatz]]: The Earth-2 version of [[Supergirl]]. Also "Galatea" from the [[Justice League]] cartoon series, an aged clone of Supergirl who had the same "boob window" costume, but a whole new origin and personality.

* [[Character Development]]: Kind of a boring character in the '80s, she became a one-note bitch "Girl Power!" archetype by the mid-'90s, and was generally unlikeable. [[Geoff Johns]] took to her, and fashioned a personality that had portions of her prior bitchiness, but added some sadness about her lack of past and good friendships.

* [[Flying Brick]]: Her power-set, being Kryptonian and all.

* [[Legacy Character]]: She's the cousin of the original Superman from Earth-2.

* [[The Worf Effect]]: Since she's one of the most physically powerful members of the team, she sometimes gets beaten to show how serious the situation is. For example, it looks like she and Wild Cat won't have any trouble with the [[Knight Templar|Crimson Avenger]], but then we see that the Avenger's bullets can even break her skin. Again, when the team goes to Kahndaq the first time around, Black Adam takes her out with one hit in the climactic fight.

 

'''Abilities:''' Flight, wind generation and manipulation }}

 

This scarlet android was created by [[Mad Scientist]] T.O. Morrow to infiltrate the JSA and cause their destruction, but as soon as he learned of his creator's evil schemes he quickly switched sides and became a true hero. Reddy only spent a short time on the JSA before switching over to the [[Justice League of America|Justice League]]. See [[Red Tornado|his own page]] for more.

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Expert acrobat; Cosmic Converter Belt grants super-strength, flight, energy manipulation }}

 

* [[Killed Off for Real]]

* [[Sidekick]]: Stripesy.

 

 

== Post-Crisis (1986-1999) ==

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Transmutation }}

* [[Expy]]: For the Golden Age [[Wonder Woman]], at least until John Byrne took over writing her series.

 

 

 

== "JSA" (1999-2006) ==

'''Abilities:''' Giant growth }}

 

 

* [[The Atoner]]: After betraying the team to join Black Adam's crusade, he asked to be let back on, and does a lot of this, offering his life to The Spectre so the people of Kahndaq may live, and fighting against Adam when necessary. The team has differing points of view on him.

* [[Dogged Nice Guy]]: His original persona most of the time, especially in Infinity, Inc., where he pines over [[Hot Amazon]] Fury, while admitting she loves his friend Hector Hall. The poor guy even ''proposes'' to her out of pity (and his own feelings) because she's alone and pregnant after Hector's death, and she politely turns him down by stating that they're friends. ''Ouch''. It isn't until his mother is killed by Kobra in modern times that he freaks out and shows a more brutal, savage nature, and even then it's tempered by his good nature.

* [[Eighties Hair]]: His original identity as "Nuklon" had a ''mohawk''. Now a pretty famous embarrassing example to look back on, in continuity and out (new JSA writers joked that he could only be on their roster if he brought it back).

* [[Will They or Won't They?]]: A ''very'' long subplot in the JSA series was between he and Stargirl. They were [[Like Brother and Sister]] at first, but they're shown as married in a [[Flash Forward]], and she clearly crushes on him several times. When he quits the team, she's the most heartbroken member, and promises to "wait for him" when he goes to jail. In the end, they both admit to themselves that they're in love with the other, but he rejects her on prompting by the Original Three, since she's too young and he's already on loose footing with the team.

 

'''Abilities:''' Stamina of Shu, speed of Heru, strength of Amon, wisdom of Zehuti, power of Aton, courage of Mehen }}

 

The nemesis of Captain Marvel. The villain Johnny Sorrow "killed" the personality of Theo Adam, the original Black Adam's modern-day descendant and inheritor of his powers, allowing the real Black Adam's personality to take control. Adam turned on Sorrow and became a member of the JSA, trying to be a real hero, but his Bronze Age brand of justice proved incompatible with the team; he left the JSA, killed the dictator of his homeland Kahndaq with the help of Atom-Smasher, and took control of the country as its god-king. He has since proved a dangerous wild card and constant threat to the JSA and the balance of world power. See the [[Shazam/Characters|Shazam character sheet]] for more.

 

'''Abilities:''' Wisdom of Solomon, strength of Hercules, stamina of Atlas, power of Zeus, courage of Achilles, speed of Mercury }}

 

The World's Mightiest Mortal and champion of the wizard Shazam. Cap joined the team to keep an eye on old enemy Black Adam, eventually falling for fellow teenager Stargirl, but they were forced apart when Jay Garrick took notice, and Billy, who's [[Younger Than They Look|Younger Than He Looks]], was told to back off. See the [[Shazam|Shazam character sheet]] for more.

 

'''Abilities:''' Night vision, X-ray vision, expert surgeon }}

 

* [[This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman]]: Since they're the only super-team with a medic on-staff, it makes sense that they suffer by ''far'' the most injuries & combat casualties in all of comics, thus requiring his exact skill-set constantly. The part where they consistently tackle JLA-level opposition without having as high a percentage of invulnerable members as the JLA doesn't help much either.

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Commands all-powerful genie }}

 

 

* [[A Man Is Not a Virgin]]: Although never directly stated, [[Fridge Logic]] tells us that Jakeem has had sex at some point (Stargirl is immune to the ghosts called up by the Gentleman Ghost because she's a virgin; those same ghosts can easily affect Jakeem).

* [[Kid Hero]]: Jakeem is by far the youngest member of the JSA.

* [[Legacy Character]]: To Johnny Thunder (see above).

* [[Plucky Comic Relief]]

* [[Reality Warper]]: With the T-Bolt.

 

'''Abilities:''' Super-intelligence, martial arts master, high-tech equipment }}

 

* [[Affirmative Action Legacy]]

* [[Badass Normal]]

* [[Genius Bruiser]]: More genius, as he's generally considered one of the top 3-5 smartest humans.

* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: With Mid-Nite.

* [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist]]

 

'''Abilities:''' Earth manipulation, sleeping gas gun, prophetic dreams }}

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Cosmic Converter Belt grants super-strength; Cosmic Rod grants flight and energy manipulation }}

 

 

* [[Bratty Teenage Daughter]]: ''So much this''. She stole the costume solely to divorce her mom from her hated stepdad (who was never shown doing anything wrong to her). Thankfully, there was...

* [[Little Miss Badass]]

* [[Legacy Character]]: Actually has ''two'' legacies now: The Star-Spangled Kid and Starman.

* [[Only the Pure of Heart]]: Why she had to be the one to kill the King of Tears

* [[Will They or Won't They?]]: See Atom Smasher & Captain Marvel's entries.

 

'''Abilities:''' Cosmic Rod grants flight and energy manipulation }}

 

 

 

== Current (2006-Present) ==

'''Abilities:''' Duplicates the properties of matter and energy }}

 

* [[Captain Ethnic]]: A dashiki-wearing black Muslim who preaches peace and brotherhood.

* [[Legacy Character]]: The original Amazing Man was Will Everett, his grandfather.

 

 

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Flight, wind generation and manipulation }}

 

* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]: After Damage and Judomaster II (Sonia Sato) began dating, she starts crushing on the cold and aloof King Chimera. He's softened up a bit since they first met, and they're actually good friends now, but he's got a lot of issues he needs to work out.

* [[Blow You Away]]: Her nickname isn't "The Witch of The Winds" for nothing.

** [[Fan Service|And apparently wearing panties with the costume is optional.]]

* [[Genki Girl]]: One of the only examples in western comics. Hyperactive and frequently seen jumping around or talking on-end. Witness her priceless physical comedy shouting "Surprise!" at Stargirl's birthday party.

* [[Hearing Voices]]: An aspect of her aerokinetic abilities is that she can draw far-off sounds to her ears on the winds. Its pretty useful, but sadly, it also lets her hear all the negative things people say about her, both in and out of costume.

* [[Les Yay]]: Her obsession with best friend and teammate Stargirl frequently leads fans to this trope, but it's never mentioned in-series.

* [[Motor Mouth]]: ''Defines'' this trope, going on huge rants ad nauseum, saying about a paragraph in the time in takes most characters to say one or two lines. Various characters have covered her mouth for her, or she's simply wandered off, embarrassed over what she just said. She's acknowledged this aspect of herself personally, but realizes this is just part of who she is.

 

 

 

 

* [[Morality Chain]]: {{spoiler|Damage}}'s death sent her back to trying to kill her father's killer, but he had left her a message that managed to bring her back.

 

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Flight, electrical generation and direction }}

 

Black Lightning's teenage daughter with uncontrollable powers.

 

* [[Legacy Character]]: To Black Lightning. Though this thirty-year-old (as a concept) character has never been described as having a second daughter before her debut.

* [[Satellite Character]]: Thanks to the massive team roster, Jennifer just kind of ends up hanging around with Stargirl and Cyclone in group shots, and rarely with anyone else. Being so hard to draw, she was stuck in background shots at-best, and rarely says or does much of anything.

** This is mostly true until the most recent issues of the series, where Lightning is responsible for stopping Scythe. Writer Marc Guggenheim has stated his intention to do more with the character.

 

'''Abilities:''' Super-strength and invulnerability; staff fires plasma blasts }}

 

 

* [[The Atoner]]: After his first big storyline in ''Thy Kingdom Come''. It's subsequently dropped and never mentioned again.

* [[Darker and Edgier]]: Part of his original persona in Kingdom Come, and a bit of it here. He has no problems with killing people he judges as evil.

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: {{spoiler|He beheads Gog in the climax of the ''Thy Kingdom Come'' storyline.}}

* [[Jerkass]]: Has taken completely to acting like this. ''Way'' over the top at points, openly disrespecting his teammates, insulting Wildcat in front of everybody, and being miserable and grouchy constantly.

* [[Knight in Sour Armor]]

* [[Marked Change]]: The Eye of Providence was etched into his upper forearm when he gained his powers.

* [[Thou Shalt Not Kill]]: Does not follow this rule at all, to the elders' consternation.

* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]]: He dresses as a Golden Calf, and looks like Cable, and represents a brand-new idol counter to the way heroes should be.

* [[When All You Have Is a Hammer]]: Let's face it, subtle he ain't.

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Detective skills, whip }}

 

* [[Take Up My Sword]]: Replace sword with whip and you've got Jeffrey Graves, after Trey dies.

 

'''Abilities:''' Generate absolute darkness }}

 

 

* [[Abusive Parents]]: His adoptive father Jim Rice.

* [[Hearing Voices]]: It didn't help that one of the voices Todd heard was actually a [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] supervillain with a grudge against the JSA.

* [[Luke, You Are My Father]]: He found out he was adopted right before he graduated high school, and met his sister Jenni. They speculated that Alan Scott/Green Lantern might be their biological father, and set out to meet him.

* [[No Medication for Me]]: averted. He's taking medication for his schizophrenia, and it works for him. When he starts acting strangely, Liberty Belle worries aloud that he's quit his meds.

* [[There Are No Therapists]]: averted. Todd spent several months in a DEO mental hospital. Alan and Jenn-Lynn were shown visiting him.

* [[The Unfavorite]]: Alan was in contact with Jenny-Lynn and lost track of Todd for several months and only found him again when Todd covered Milwaukee in darkness during the "Darkness Rising" arc.

 

 

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Gravity manipulation, Legion flight ring }}

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Super-strength, speed, senses, flight, and invulnerability }}

 

* [[Tragic Hero]]

 

'''Abilities:''' Transforms into werepanther }}

 

 

== Villains ==

 

The JSA's ultimate archnemesis during [[World War Two]], Adolf Hitler's incarnation in [[The DCU]] mirrors that of our world, with a few differences. By obtaining the Spear of Destiny--the lance that pierced Christ on the cross--Hitler was able to control any metahuman who set foot in the Nazi sphere of influence, which is why the JSA was unable to take the fight directly to Germany. He also formed his own team of Nazi super-villains meant to infiltrate the Allies--Axis Amerika. As in our world, Hitler committed suicide in 1945, ending the war and freeing the JSA to enter Europe.

* [[Translation Convention]]: Usually shown speaking English when he'd really be speaking German.

 

'''Abilities:''' Super-intelligence, telepathy, telekinesis, image projection, psi-blasts }}

* [[Heel Face Turn]]

* [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]]

 

 

* [[Big Bad]]: Of ''Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.''.

* [[Yellow Peril]]

 

 

* [[Eldtitch Abomination]]

 

'''Abilities:''' Cold control }}

 

 

* [[Legion of Doom]]

 

 

* [[Arch Enemy]]: To Sand Hawkins, originally. Over time, he shifted his hatred to the JSA as a whole.

* [[Mask Power]]

* [[Our Ghosts Are Different]]

** [[Man of Wealth and Taste]]

* [[Was Once a Man]]

 

 

* [[Enfante Terrible]]

* [[Sixth Column]]

 

 

'''Abilities:''' Sorcery }}

 

Abilities: [[Mad Scientist]]; specializes in transporting his brain to other bodies, with his most well-known one being that of an Albino ape. }}

 

Humanite is a [[Mad Scientist]] who first got villain career started 1939, in the Golden Age of comics. Originally, he was an Arch-Enemy of Golden Age (Earth 2) Superman, but when Earth 2 was wiped out Post-Crisis, his enemies extended to the entire JSA. (Though he did face the [[Allstar Squadron]] once.) Aside from being incredibly intelligent, he also specializes in transporting his brain from one body to another. Over time, he's acquired a variety of different forms, be it his original form, that of an old bald crippled scientist, young beautiful actress Dolores Winters, or even a giant scientist, but by now, his most recognized form is that of a large Albino Ape, with a rather large noggin to match. In the Present-Day DCU, he's still quite the threat, having enacted a number of daring schemes, be it Controlling the entire JSA and having them turn on their offspring&goldchildren, taking an entire space-station hostage, or what-have-you, but his most notorious scheme of all came when he controlled Johny Thunder's body, thus gaining possession of the Thunderbolt, and using it to completely conquer the Earth for ''6 whole months'', and in the process, mind-controlling nearly every Superhero on the planet, including most of the JSA. However, thanks to Johhny's successor, Jakeem Thunder, as well as the help of the reaming JSA'ers, (and one villain, Icicle II,) they were able to save the day and reverse the effects, though all of the heroes still remembered what had happened those 6 months. Since then however, the Humanite is still around, showing his face on occasion.