Purple Man

Superherobox


caption=Purple Man.
Art by Tom Grummett.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Purple Man
real_name=Zebediah Killgrave
species=Human Mutant or Human Mutate
publisher=Marvel Comics
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Daredevil" vol. 1 #4 (October 1964)
creators=Stan Lee
Joe Orlando
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
alliances=
aliases=
powers=Mind control
Highly intelligent
Skilled manipulator|

The Purple Man (Zebediah Killgrave) is a Marvel Comics supervillain. Most closely associated with Daredevil, he was introduced in "Daredevil" vol. 1 #4 (October 1964).

Fictional character biography

Zebediah Killgrave was born in Rijeka, in what was at the time Yugoslavia and is now in Croatia. As an international spy, he was sent to infiltrate a chemical refinery. During the mission, he was accidentally doused with a chemical that turned his hair and skin purple.

Caught outright and questioned, Killgrave offered a weak, inadequate alibi to his captors. Much to his surprise, he was believed and released. Several more incidents of this nature demonstrated that the nerve gas had given Killgrave the superhuman ability to command the wills of other people. Calling himself the Purple Man, Killgrave embarked on a criminal career. The Purple Man has vacillated between an actively criminal life and easeful retirement. Morally, however, he has never reformed. He can most commonly be seen in expensive purple street clothes. He used his mind control powers early in his criminal career to force a woman to become his wife; before she recovered and left him, she was made pregnant with his daughter, Kara Killgrave. Kara would inherit his discoloration and powers and would become the Alpha Flight-affiliated superhero called the Purple Girl, and later Persuasion.

The character largely disappeared from Daredevil's adventures in the 1980s. He did make a few more appearances in the Marvel Universe, most notably in the graphic novel "Emperor Doom" (1987). Doom was controlling the world with an augmentation machine called 'psycho-prism' he had placed Killgrave into. However, Wonder Man escaped the mind-control effect, and he managed to break Doom's hold over several selected Avenger colleagues. An enraged Sub-Mariner smashed the device, which resulted in Killgrave's apparent death, although he somehow survived.

He later reappeared in the pages of X-Man, where it was revealed that he was the mastermind behind Nate Grey's dramatically sudden rise to super-celebrity status as a miracle worker in New York City. He had been subtly manipulating both the population of Manhattan and Nate himself into accepting and embracing the young exile from the AOA as a modern messianic figure, who would then become so psychologically empowered by hero-worship that he could and would literally change the reality of the world using the full potential of his mutant power. The plan ultimately failed when Nate learned the truth and lost his confidence, thus reducing his power, and Killgrave went once more into hiding.

Jessica Jones

As detailed in the series "Alias", the Purple Man has since been revealed to be linked to the history of Jessica Jones. When she was the superhero Jewel, he used his mind control powers to subdue her, forcing her to live with him while mentally torturing her for several months. He ultimately sent her off to kill Daredevil. Mistaking the Scarlet Witch for Daredevil, Jones attacked her instead. Jones was beaten into a coma by the Avengers before they discovered that she had been brainwashed. Before helping her out of her coma, the mutant telepath Jean Grey was able to give Jones a psychic switch that would prevent the Purple Man from controlling her again. When Jones recovered, the incident with Purple Man left her so traumatized that she left her life as a superhero behind and became an unsocial private investigator. Later, the Purple Man escaped again and tried controlling Jessica to kill the Avengers, but she was able to resist and knocked him out. Daredevil later had the Purple Man imprisoned in the Raft, a jail designed for superpowered criminals.

However he escaped briefly, when Electro created a riot at the Raft. Purple Man then attempted to use the opportunity to mind control Luke Cage into killing the then soon-to-be-Avengers, and threatened Jones and the unborn child she was carrying for Cage. Unknown to the Purple Man, drugs had been put into his food to negate his powers during his imprisonment, so he was unable to control Cage, who subsequently beat him to a pulp in response to his demands - however, Zemo saved him from this beating using the moonstones, so Cage only believed himself to be beating him.

Thunderbolts

Later, the Purple Man returned shortly before (and during) the House of M crisis and manipulated the Thunderbolts, while being manipulated himself by Baron Zemo, who used the moonstones he had recently acquired to leave an image of Purple Man behind in prison so that the authorities would not be aware of his escape. When Zemo, who was only using the Purple Man to "test" the Thunderbolts, learned of his torture (implied to have included rape) ["New Thunderbolts #17"] of the Swordsman, however, he temporarily sent him back to prison as punishment.

His power enhanced by Zemo's use of the moonstones to allow him to be heard all over New York City simultaneously, he then enslaved the whole city, using the superhumans as his personal army - except the Thunderbolts, whom he had worked to turn against each other. Eventually, he was defeated by the Thunderbolts member Genis-Vell. Zemo teleported the Purple Man back to him and tortured him for his failure before sending him back to prison once more.

Civil War and Beyond

During the Civil War, Purple Man was able to use the confusion to hijack a S.H.I.E.L.D. squad and flying platform to escape to Canada. He was chased by U.S. Agent, but managed to push him off the platform, severely injuring him.

The Purple Man's status afterwards was briefly touched upon in "Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK'S 11", in which he was revealed to have taken over a casino in Las Vegas; in a flashback in "New Avengers" #35, he was among the villains recruited to join The Hood's crime syndicate, offered 'seeding money' to use as funds to expand the empire. [New Avengers #35]

Powers and abilities

The Purple Man’s body has been altered to produce chemical pheromones which, when breathed by others, allow Killgrave to control their actions by verbal suggestions. Killgrave can influence hundreds of people at one time, and his victims can be controlled to perform actions they may not necessarily do.

Mutant status

The Purple Man's origin of his powers is similar to that of the X-Man Mimic in that both of them acquired their abilities through post-natal exposure to experimental gases. Since Mimic was claimed to be a natural, though latent, genetic mutant (like Cloak and Dagger) by writer Scott Lobdell, it is then possible that the Purple Man is a latent genetic mutant as well. He introduced himself to X-Man as a genetic mutant, a particular point which he had no real reason to lie about and which was not disputed by Nate Grey when he read Zebediah Killgrave's mind. In addition, his daughter, who inherited the same exact powers from him, is a confirmed genetic mutant. Furthermore, their portrayal as a father-and-daughter team of pheromone manipulators is virtually identical similar to that of the New Mutant Wallflower and her own father, both of whom are natural genetic mutants.

Other versions

* In an alternate future, Killgrave (or a man similar to him) becomes President for Life of the United States, using his powers to remain in office for decades. Captain America, Daredevil, and Spider-Man fight against the government and are defeated. While Daredevil and Spider-Man are executed, Captain America is shot in the head and sent back in time. He ends up in 1587, though his presence in that time causes an alteration of reality that creates the Marvel 1602 timeline.
* In the "House of M" universe created by the Scarlet Witch, Zebediah Killgrave is a powerless human who works as a lobbyist for the mutant-controlled government, but is secretely an agent of the Human Resistance.

In other media

* The Purple Man appeared in the fourth episode of season five, "No Mutant Is an Island", of the "X-Men" animated series as a telepathic mutant terrorist who plans on taking over the government using a group of young mutants under his mental control. In the end, Cyclops gets in his way and eventually defeats him.

Trivia

Purple Man believes he lives within a comic book, and breaks the fourth wall, particularly during his run in with Jessica Jones. ["Alias" #27] ["Alias" #28]

References

External links

* [http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/p/purpleman.htm Purple Man's entry at MarvelDirectory.com]