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Gorilla Grodd
Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash (Barry Allen). The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in The Flash #106 (May 1959).[1] He is an evil, super-intelligent gorilla who gained mental powers after being exposed to a strange meteorite's radiation. Grodd has appeared in several forms of DC-related media, including television series and films. He has been voiced by Stanley Ralph Ross, Powers Boothe, John DiMaggio, and David Sobolov, among others. Fictional character biographyGorilla Grodd is a hyper-intelligent telepathic gorilla able to control the minds of others. He and other gorillas gained sapience and psychic powers after an alien spaceship crashed in their area.[2][3] The gorillas lived in peace until their home was discovered by explorers. Grodd forced one of the explorers to kill the alien and took over Gorilla City, planning to conquer the world next. Solovar telepathically contacts Barry Allen to warn of the evil gorilla's plans, and Grodd was defeated. The villain manages to return again and again to plague the Flash and the hero's allies.[4] In his first pre-Crisis appearance, Grodd meets the Flash while searching for Solovar (who had been imprisoned) during a trip to the human world. Grodd probed Solovar's mind to find the secret of mind control so he could control Gorilla City, using its inhabitants to take over the world. Solovar breaks out of the cage and tells the Flash. The Flash defeats Grodd and temporarily removes his telepathy. When his power returns, he escapes and builds a machine to strip his fellow gorillas of their intelligence. The Flash finds out from Solovar where Grodd has escaped to and destroys the machine. Grodd is again imprisoned, but uses a burrowing machine to escape. Assuming human form, he creates a drug to strengthen his abilities. After easily stopping the Flash, Grodd experiences a side effect that removes his new powers. The Flash arrests Grodd and takes him back to Gorilla City. Grodd fakes his death by transferring his mind into a man in Central City, but is caught and arrested. Later, he instigates the Flash's Rogues Gallery, breaking them out of jail to distract the Flash after transferring his mind to that of Freddy, a gorilla in a zoo. Thanks to Solovar, the Flash learns of Grodd's escape. Ironically, Grodd, despite using radiation to negate the Flash's speed, is defeated by the gorilla's mate when she hears him mention another gorilla. He and Freddy are restored to their normal bodies. Grodd is recruited along with several other villains as one of the original members of the Secret Society of Super Villains. In this series, Grodd defeats Kalibak in hand-to-hand combat, but is later defeated by Captain Comet who is able to repel Grodd's mental energy.[5] During the hunt for a sorcerer's treasures, Grodd is able to fend off Wally West and escape him using the mentally-commanded Quadro-Mobile,[6] then later knocks Captain Comet unconscious,[7] and is shown to be able to hypnotize Star Sapphire,[8] as well as protect others from mental probing. In a confrontation with Wally West, Grodd increases the brainpower of most of the animals in Central City. He hopes to endanger all the humans' lives, but this plan backfires because some of the pets are too loyal to their humans. Grodd's plans are defeated by the Flash, assisted by the Pied Piper, Vixen, and Rex the Wonder Dog. Immortal villain Vandal Savage kidnaps Titans member Omen to form the perfect team of adversaries for the Teen Titans. Savage approaches Grodd, offering him membership in this new anti-Titans group known as Tartarus and promises of power and immortality. Grodd joins Tartarus on their mission to synthesize the immortal blood of the H.I.V.E. Mistress Addie Kane as Savage seeks to create a serum that will grant immortality. Their schemes are thwarted when the Titans intervene. Tempest later leads a rescue mission to save Omen from Savage. During the rescue attempt, Tartarus collapses upon itself due to each member having a different agenda, because Omen had purposely chosen members who would not work well together. When Siren switches alliances during the battle and aids Tempest in escaping, the Tartarus members go their separate ways. Grodd has made no fewer than eighteen attempts to eliminate all traces of humanity from the face of the Earth. In Son of Ambush Bug #5 (November 1986), he travels to the Late Cretaceous "to wipe out all traces of human evolution from the time stream" (despite the fact that the ancestors of humanity would be his own ancestors as well). His plans are shattered by the sudden appearance of Titano and Ambush Bug waking from a nightmare. Whether or not Grodd's plan is a failure is disputable.[9] In the final issue of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, Grodd travels to Earth-C-Minus in an attempt to conquer, but is defeated by the efforts of the Zoo Crew (plus Changeling of the Teen Titans).[10] Grodd later does another attempt to conquer Gorilla City by controlling the minds of Congo Bill, Congorilla, Djuba, Gorilla Boss, Monsieur Mallah, and Sam Simeon. In an attempt to expand his mind-control, Grodd suffers brain damage, freeing everyone from his mind-control.[11] In the 1991 Angel and the Ape limited series, Grodd is revealed as the grandfather of Sam Simeon (Angel's partner). This is in conflict with Martian Manhunter (vol. 2) Annual #2 (1999), which states that Simeon is Grodd's brother. During the Final Night, Grodd attempted to use a mystical talisman called the Heart of Darkness (normally effective only in eclipses) that brought out the 'inner beast' of humans, turning the population of the town of Leesburg into feral monsters, including Supergirl. However, Supergirl was eventually able to fight off Grodd's influence, allowing her to oppose Grodd until the sun was restored. Grodd is assumed killed when an icicle fell into him. One of Grodd's widest-ranging schemes was to arrange Solovar's assassination and manipulate Gorilla City into war against humanity, with the aid of a "shadow cabinet" of prominent gorillas called Simian Scarlet. In the course of this, Grodd absorbs too much neural energy from his fellow apes, leaving him with the intelligence of a normal gorilla.[12] He has since recovered, and a failed attempt to set up a base in Florida leads to his capture and incarceration in Iron Heights. Grodd had been trapped inside the human body of an overweight street bum. He was attacked by a gang known as the Vultures. One of them commented on how their member Iggo had the strength of a gorilla, which reminded Grodd of his true form. Suddenly changing back to his original shape and size, he quickly defeated the gang, making them believe that they are burning in molten lava by using his telepathic abilities. Reading the minds of the crooks, he saw that one of the former members of their gang was a friend of the Flash, and a plan began to form in his mind. Grodd found another space rock, identical to the one that had given him his powers, and contacted Hector Hammond, a human who had also gained similar powers. Grodd was able to take control of Gorilla City after increasing his evolutionary abilities but was defeated once more. Grodd is also seen in the Superman/Batman arc "Public Enemies" controlling numerous villains and heroes to take down Superman and Batman for the prize of one billion dollars offered by then U.S. President Lex Luthor. Despite his use of foes such as Mongul, Solomon Grundy, Lady Shiva, and Nightshade, Batman is able to deduce the mind behind the attacks and they quickly dispose of Grodd.[13] Grodd is responsible for Hunter Zolomon's crippling, resulting in the man's transformation into the villainous Zoom after trying to change the event to never have happened. Zolomon would often think about how Grodd used him as a plaything in that fight while talking this over with the Flash.[14] In Birds of Prey, Grodd makes a deal with Grimm to get Blockbuster an ape heart.[15] In the JLA Classified story arc, Grodd and his forces attack the Ultramarine Corps. Grodd has most of the citizens they are protecting killed. He personally eats some of the humans. During the course of this incident, Beryl informs the team that Grodd ranks number three on the latest "Global Most Wanted".[16] In the Justice League of America Wedding Special, Gorilla Grodd is among the villains seen as members of the Injustice League Unlimited. In Salvation Run, Grodd teams up with the Joker to gather their own faction of exiled supervillains.[17] He kills Monsieur Mallah and Brain and was knocked off a cliff by the Joker.[18] Grodd is seen alive and attempting to deliver payback to the Joker.[19] In Justice League of America, Grodd is shown among the members of Libra's new Secret Society and placed in the Inner Circle.[20] In the Final Crisis storyline, Gorilla Grodd was among the high ranked superheroes and supervillains that were turned into Justifiers.[21] He is sent to apprehend Snapper Carr and Cheetah, but fails.[22] The New 52In The New 52 continuity reboot, Grodd is the prince of Gorilla City. His abilities are derived from the Speed Force, which the gorillas refer to as the "Light".[23][24][25] DC RebirthIn the DC Rebirth relaunch, Grodd is the founder of the terrorist organization Black Hole.[26][27] Furthermore, he is an ally of Lex Luthor, who promises to give him access to the Still Force.[28][29] Powers and abilitiesGrodd possessing psionic abilities that enable him to manipulate the minds of others and telekinetically manipulate objects.[4][30] In The New 52 continuity, he can assimilate the knowledge and powers of others by eating their brains.[24][25][26][27][28][29][31] Other versions
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Reception
Gorilla Grodd was ranked 35th in IGN's list of 100 Greatest Comic Book Villains. See alsoReferences
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