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DC Comics character From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Parasite is the name of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Each iteration of the character has the ability to temporarily absorb the life force, attributes, memories, and superpowers of anyone through physical touch.[2] The most well-known and recurring incarnation is Rudy Jones, who has become one of Superman's most enduring enemies and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery. In 2009, Parasite was ranked as IGN's 61st Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.[3]
| Parasite | |
|---|---|
The Rudy Jones version of Parasite as seen on the cover of Superman #684. Art by Alex Ross. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance |
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| Created by |
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| In-story information | |
| Alter ego |
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| Species | Metahuman |
| Team affiliations | |
| Abilities | (All):
(Jones):
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The Rudy Jones incarnation of the Parasite has been substantially adapted from the comics into multiple forms of media, most notably in the DC Animated Universe's Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League as well as the live-action TV series Smallville and Supergirl, portrayed by Brendan Fletcher and William Mapother respectively. Additionally, Raymond Jensen and Alexandra Allston, Ally Allston, appear in Supergirl and Superman & Lois, portrayed by Anthony Konechny and Rya Kihlstedt respectively.
The Raymond Maxwell Jenson version of the Parasite first appeared in Action Comics #340 (August 1966) and was created by Jim Shooter.[4]
Shooter, who began working for DC at age 13, says that his inspiration for the villain was learning about parasites in his ninth-grade biology class.[5]
The Rudy Jones version of the Parasite first appeared in Firestorm (vol. 2) #58 and was created by John Ostrander and Joe Brozowski.
The Alex and Andrea Allston versions of the Parasite first appeared in The Adventures of Superman #633 and were created by Greg Rucka, Matthew Clark, and Andrew Lanning.
The Joshua Allen version of the New 52 Parasite first appeared in Superman (vol. 3) #23.4 and was created by Aaron Kuder.
In the Pre-Crisis, Raymond Maxwell Jensen was a lowlife who got a job as a plant worker for a research center.[6] Wrongly believing that the company payrolls were hidden in storage containers, Jensen opened one and was bombarded with energies from biohazard materials (which was actually waste collected by Superman when he traveled into outer space), which transformed him into a purple-skinned, parasitic entity, and thus he became the Parasite.[7] Any time he touched someone, he could absorb their physical and mental properties. Touching Superman would instantly absorb a sizable fraction of his superhuman powers (it was established early on that he is not capable of acquiring the whole of Superman's powers).[8] On one occasion, while attempting to absorb a greater portion of his adversary's powers than previously, his body disintegrated for a period of time due to the pressure in his cells. Despite these abilities, the Parasite became depressed because he could no longer embrace his wife and children.[9] The Parasite made a number of reappearances before the Crisis, yet he never successfully found a means to permanently defeat Superman.[10] Despite this, he knew Superman's alter ego and often used this to attack Clark Kent. Gaining sizable intellect from his multiple encounters with Superman, the Parasite devised the means to reanimate dormant plant remains left behind from the Earth-Two supervillain Solomon Grundy, creating a newer and stronger version of the creature to plague his adversary. On another occasion, the Parasite devised the means to transfer the powers of the hero Air Wave to the young hero's adversary Casey Jones temporarily.[11]
In Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, Parasite and Terra-Man are revealed to have killed each other sometime prior.
The second Parasite, Rudolph "Rudy" Jones, is a janitor at a Pittsburgh S.T.A.R. Labs facility who is transformed after being exposed to radioactive waste. Forced to absorb energy to survive, Parasite attacks Firestorm and kills Multiplex before the former stops him.
Throughout his appearances, Parasite's abilities evolve, giving him the ability to absorb fire, electricity, and consciousnesses, and mimic the genetic makeup and appearance of others, before he is killed after accidentally absorbing Kryptonite radiation.[12] Parasite is later resurrected and joins Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains.[13][14]
The 2009-10 miniseries Superman: Secret Origin redefines the Parasite's origin. In this version, Rudy Jones is a janitor at the Daily Planet who is selected to join LexCorp. There, he eats a donut imbued with Kryptonite radiation that transforms him into the Parasite.
In the DC Rebirth relaunch, Parasite is a member of the Suicide Squad.[15] In Dawn of DC, Parasite reforms, gets a job at Supercorp, and is given a special wristband that supplies him with energy. He also develops the ability to create small duplicates of himself and adopts one of them as a pet.[16] In Superman (volume 6), Parasite is killed by Doomsday.[17]
Alex and Alexandra Allston are teenagers who are experimented on by the villain Ruin and transformed into Parasites.[18]
Alex is later killed by an OMAC while attempting to escape prison. Alexandra successfully escapes and joins the Secret Society of Super Villains under Alexander Luthor Jr.[19][20]
Joshua Allen is the fourth incarnation of Parasite, introduced in The New 52 continuity reboot. He is a misanthropic delivery boy who is wounded while attacking a creature that Superman was fighting. Allen is taken to S.T.A.R. Labs to recover, where the treatment transforms him into Parasite.[21][22]
In later appearances, Allen joins the Secret Society of Super Villains and the Suicide Squad.[23][24][25]
All incarnations of the Parasite have the ability to temporarily absorb the life energy, superpowers, and knowledge of their victims through physical contact, and are also able to drain virtually any other form of energy and use it as a power source.
In particular, Rudy Jones is granted enhanced strength, intelligence, agility, durability, and reflexes by absorbing the energy of other beings. When Jones drains other superpowered individuals, he gains their abilities for a limited period of time until he "runs out of life-energy" and must seek a new victim to "feed on". He is shown to have a heightened sense of perception that allows him to detect the life force and power within other beings.[26] While drawing the energy of ordinary humans is almost instantaneous, it takes a notably longer time in the case of immensely powerful beings, which gives the victim more time to react and free themselves from the Parasite's grip. Following an encounter with the Strange Visitor, however, the Parasite's powers were enhanced and enable him to retain the energy he takes for longer as well as granting Jones the ability to shapeshift; he can now physically morph into his victims right down to their DNA, being able to access their memories, gain their natural abilities, and mimic their voices. The Parasite's biggest weakness is that he also absorbs the weaknesses of his victims and cannot counter such susceptibilities even when he has other abilities that should do so; when he absorbed both Superman and Livewire's powers, he retained the latter's vulnerability to water despite possessing the former's near-invulnerability. The Parasite also maintains Superman's weaknesses, like kryptonite, even when the Parasite in addition already absorbed the powers of non-Kryptonians.
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Two incarnations of Parasite appear in series set in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU):
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