Vandal Savage

Superherobox|

caption=Vandal Savage from "Justice Society of America" #3,
Art by Dale Eaglesham
character_name=Vandal Savage
publisher=DC Comics
debut="Green Lantern" vol. 1 #10
(Winter 1943)
creators=Alfred Bester (writer)
Martin Nodell (artist)
alter_ego = Vandar Adg
species =
homeworld =
alliances=Illuminati Secret Society of Super Villains Injustice Society Tartarus
partners =
aliases=Khafre, Julius Caesar, Blackbeard, Genghis Khan, Jack the Ripper, Dr. Curtis Knox.
supports =
powers=Immortality,
Superhuman physical attributes,
Genius level-intellect,
Excellent combat skills,
Schooled in millennia of history, warfare and science.

Vandal Savage is a fictional character, a supervillain published by DC Comics. He first appeared in "Green Lantern" vol. 1 #10 (Winter 1943), and was created by Alfred Bester and Martin Nodell.

Savage is immortal, [Cite comic | Writer = Baron, Mike | Penciller = Guice, Jackson | Inker = Mahlstedt, Larry | Story = Heart... of Stone! | Title = The Flash | Volume = 2 | Issue = 2 | Date = July, 1987 | Publisher = DC Comics | Page = 1 | Panel = 4 | ID = ] and has plagued the earth with crime and violence since before the beginning of recorded time. He is a brilliant tactician with immense technological prowess. He is one of DC's most persistent villains and has fought many different heroes throughout history.

Fictional character biography

In the days of prehistory, 50,000 BC, Savage was a caveman named Vandar Adg, leader of the Blood Tribe. He was bathed in the radiation of a mysterious meteorite, which gave him incredible intellect and immortality. An observer from the Bear Tribe would later approach that same meteorite and become Savage's eternal nemesis, the Immortal Man, possessing the power to resurrect as a new persona every time he is killed. According to Lex Luthor, there may be evidence to suggest that Savage was the first cannibal on record. Though the Calculator mistook this to be a joke, Luthor was apparently serious, and Savage has not shown much regard for human life.

In the pre-Crisis universe, Savage was native to Earth-2, but as seen in Action Comics#516, thousands of years in the past a sorcerer revealed to him both the future existence of the Justice Society (even showing him a battle he would have with them, with Hourman in their ranks), and the existence of Earth-1.

Savage's first mark in the "history" of the DC Universe came when he and a select group of people successfully undermined and destroyed the lost city of Atlantis. That group of people became known as the Illuminati, with Savage serving as its leader, then and ever since.

He claims to have ruled hundreds of civilizations under hundreds of names: Khafre, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar (though he has also claimed to have participated in the murder of Julius Caesar), Genghis Khan, Blackbeard, and Vlad the Impaler, to name a few. He has also worked as close friends and advisers to the likes of Erik the Red, Napoleon Bonaparte, Ra's al Ghul, Otto von Bismarck, and Adolf Hitler.

During the Golden Age, Savage battled the Justice Society of America. He attempted to capture the members of the Justice Society out of revenge, but was thwarted by the Golden and Silver Age Flashes (Jay Garrick and Barry Allen). ["Flash" # 137 (1962, Savage's first Silver Age appearance)] Savage would continue to make various attacks on the Justice Society in later stories. He was also one of the founding members of The Injustice Society, and briefly formed a group of villains called Tartarus.He is one of the main villains in the "JLA: Year One" storyline, working against the recently-formed JLA, and harboring a deep hatred towards superheroes and the invading alien Appelaxians. During one confrontation with the aliens, Savage claims to have designed Stonehenge itself, which the aliens have just partially demolished. Savage also mentions that he shut down the Justice Society with "a few well-placed senators."

Immortal Man

Ultimately, Savage's enemy the Immortal Man erased himself from existence to save the world during the "Crisis on Infinite Earths," and Mitch Shelley, the Resurrection Man, an amnesiac with similar powers, took over as Savage's nemesis. However, Savage's list of foes is not limited to those two characters. Having lived so long, Savage has butted heads with possibly every single hero featured in the DC Universe, past, present, and future, most notably the Justice Society of America and the Justice League of America. At present, in DC universe, Savage is about 52,000 years old.

DC One Million

In this series, it is learned Savage has a base deep inside the Egyptian Sphinx. A confrontation with Martian Manhunter leaves him with a burnt out eye, which seemingly afflicts him far into the future.

Savage will possibly meet his end in the year 85,271 A.D. (as seen in the "DC One Million" storyline), when he is unwillingly sent back in time to 20th century Montevideo, Uruguay, seconds before it is obliterated by a nuclear weapon, an action that was, ironically, ordered by Savage himself. At this point, the time jumping hero Chronos is seen in the background. This is, however, only one possible future for Savage.These events may change due to the tampering with the forces of the universe by Alexander Luthor, Jr. and Superboy-Prime during the "Infinite Crisis".

Villains United

Vandal Savage was seen in the final two issues of "Villains United". Originally Savage was a member of Lex Luthor's Society, but he quit the Society and told Lex not to contact him for any reason after Luthor blew him off to welcome some less than competent new recruits. It is also plausible that Vandal quit because his daughter Scandal Savage was working against the Society as part of the Secret Six. ["Villains United" #5] When the Society lodged a final ambush against the Six, Savage threatened to kill Luthor if he didn't call off the attack, saying that he couldn't allow anyone to harm his daughter. This was shown to be due more to ulterior motives than fatherly love, as in issue three of the Secret Six miniseries it was revealed Savage wants his daughter to produce an heir with Catman, and he's been putting bounties on the Secret Six's heads as a warning of what will happen to her lover, Knockout, if she refuses him. ["Villains United" #6]

Flash and JSA

Savage was seen as leader of a doomsday cult. He attempted to use a device to pull an asteroid into the Earth, but was thrown into space with the asteroid itself when the Flash reversed the polarity of the device. ["Flash" (2nd series)] Eventually the asteroid fell back on Earth with Savage, who found his power greatly diminished and having lived through what he called the worst year of his life. His immortality completely drained, he's still able to survive otherwise fatal wounds, but a brain tumor and a strong decay of his biological function are leading him to a fast death, with an estimated life span of eleven days. Savage tried to capture Alan Scott by baiting him with a grotesque (and disguised) Wesley Dodds clone, who, in fact, was his own clone. After a failed attempt to steal Scott's DNA, Savage was left alone in the rubble of his former secret base. Realizing that his clone could be considered his own offspring, and that the blood of his descendants has always renewed his strength, Savage cooked and ate his clone, renewing his energies at least for another year. ["JSA: Classified"]

Savage returns in the first story arc of the new "Justice Society of America", the mastermind behind a group of Neonazi superpowered villains targeting the heirs of several Golden Age superhero bloodlines. In issue #4, after a battle with Wildcat & his son, Savage is defeated when hit by a fire truck. He later reappears in Atlantis where he's revealed to have been behind the atrocities in Sub Diego and Black Manta's occupation of the city. ["" #54 ]

alvation Run

Vandal Savage was one of the villains imprisoned on the "Hell Planet" of "Salvation Run". He claims to have puzzled out the mechanical workings of the planet and used this knowledge to locate a 'safe zone', without any of the predators that roam the rest of the world. ["Salvation Run #4"] He intends to mate with the female supervillains in his group, and produce an immortal progeny. He has placated some of the more willful of the females, like Phobia and Cheetah, by promising each of them that they will be his queen when he rules the planet. Ultimately Savage escapes back to Earth along with the rest of the imprisoned villains.

Final Crisis

After returning to Earth, in "Final Crisis" Vandal Savage is placed on the new Society's inner circle by Libra. When the "Order of the Stone", the followers of Cain comes in possession of the Spear of Destiny, a group of followers led by Sister Wrack plunges it in Vandal's body. Thus Cain is reborn in him, and agrees to lead the Followers into punishing the Spectre for branding him because of his ancient crime.

Elseworlds

Vandal Savage was the villain in the 1997 "Elseworld" limited series "Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty". In this story, Savage is obsessed with recovering the meteor that gave him his immortality, believing that it will reveal why he has become what he became. Over the centuries, he finds himself opposing the members of the Wayne family throughout history, starting with medieval knight Sir Joshua of Wainwright, to contemporary Bruce Wayne (Vandal saved Bruce's parents, but killed them when Bruce was an adult. He did this in order to ensure they did not stop him from reacquiring the meteor. He and Bruce died after a battle in space), to futuristic Vice President Brenda Wayne. At the conclusion of this last battle, Vandal was left drifting through space on the meteor, determined to learn the purpose of his life.

Another "Elseworld" story, "Flashpoint", had Savage running a space-exploration corporation with the help of the crippled Barry Allen. He tried to use technology stolen from J'onn J'onzz to kill humanity (he wanted to commit suicide in the grandest manner possible), but was killed by Barry Allen, who sacrificed his life to stop the alien device.

In the limited series "Kingdom Come", Vandal Savage is a member of Lex Luthor's Mankind Liberation Front, but is captured by Batman and his allies when he gets mauled by that timeline's version of Wildcat.

Powers and abilities

Vandal Savage has a genius-level intellect, excellent combat skills, and has been schooled in millennia of history, warfare and science. He has had and lost superhuman abilities over the years. Savage renews these powers through the consumption of his enemies' blood. Although he is immortal and does not age, he may be killed through injury. Savage also harvests the organs and blood of his descendants to maintain his health.

Vandal Savage has enhanced strength and endurance. He can create inter-dimensional warps and often uses advanced technology to further his efforts to obtain power. He sometimes manipulates magic to further his schemes.

In other media

"Justice League"

Savage is seen in several episodes of the animated series "Justice League", where he is voiced by Phil Morris. This version of Savage, in addition to being an immortal, has enhanced healing properties in the style of Wolverine. His origin is the same as that of his comic book counterpart, except it is revealed in the episode "Maid of Honor" his age is half of that in the comics - 25,000 years.

The League first encounters Savage in the three-part episode "The Savage Time", when he manages to alter history and cause Nazi Germany to win World War II. The League (minus Batman, who was in the Watchtower at the time) is unaffected by the temporal change, as they are protected by Green Lantern's energy while he guides their space ship in for docking (this would still be considered a plot hole, since if Savage had won before the Justice League was formed, then the Watchtower would not have existed in the first place. But it is seen that the watchtower disappears instantly after the time-altering energy wave, which would mean that all aspects of the timeline are affected except those protected by Green Lantern's ring). They arrive back on Earth to find it ruled by Savage's fascist dictatorship. With the aid of this timeline's version of Batman, the League travels back in time to learn that Savage sent to his younger self a laptop containing schematics for advanced weapons technology, as well as information on the future plans of the Allies. This allowed Savage to catapult himself to the top of the Axis authority, deposing Adolf Hitler and assuming the title of Führer. When Savage mounts a jet-powered aerial invasion of America, the League manages to stop his invasion force with the aid of the American Navy and the Blackhawks, and causes Savage's plane to crash into the Atlantic Ocean. Hitler is restored to power in time for D-Day to succeed. Savage is not explicitly stated to be immortal in these episodes, but it is implied on two occasions. When Martian Manhunter sees a recording of the future Savage, he comments to the identical younger version that he ages gracefully; Savage replies that he has "no idea." Later, when Green Lantern has Savage cornered on his flagship, Savage dares the hero to try to kill him without any traces of fear.

Savage's second appearance was in "Maid of Honor", masquerading as his own grandson, Vandall Savage III, and acting as administrator of Kasnia's space program. He became affianced to Princess Audrey, the heir to the throne. After marrying Audrey, he used Kasnia's involvement with an international space station to set up a rail gun that shoots meteors with pinpoint accuracy. With this, he hoped to threaten the world into bowing to his authority. The League (in particular, Wonder Woman, who had become a good friend of Audrey's) dismantles Savage's plot yet again. It is in this episode that Savage explains his origins, and the secret of his immortality. At his plot's thwarting, Princess Audrey arrests him and when he brags how executing him will be impossible, she quietly hints that he will be effectively tortured instead in the ensuing attempts to kill him.

His final appearance was in the episode "Hereafter". Superman, having been thrown forward to a time, about 30,000 years according to Savage, when the Earth's sun is red (leaving him powerless) by a weapon built by Toyman, meets Savage, the sole surviving human. Savage was responsible for the destruction of the human race, having stolen some dwarf star matter from the scientist Ray Palmer (who would later join the Justice League as Atom), and using it to build a machine that would allow him to control the force of gravity. In Superman's absence he slaughtered the Justice League, but the side effects of his gravity manipulation shifted the balance of the entire solar system, killing all human life. The centuries of loneliness and isolation have caused him to regret his mad pursuit of power. He has built a time machine similar to the one he used in "The Savage Time", but explains to Superman that he cannot go back to any time where he already exists. When Superman points out that he, Superman, can return because of his involuntary time-shift, he and Savage work together to retrieve a zero-point energy generator from a nearby hive of giant insects to power the machine. The radiation from the power source also has the effect of restoring Superman to his full abilities (like a miniature yellow sun). Savage sends Superman back, giving him information to stop his earlier self's plan. Superman returns to the present and reunites with the Justice League.

In the episode's last scene in the future, Savage is sitting among the ruins of Metropolis. Much to his surprise, a futuristic city and people begin to materialize as the timeline is rewritten. As he sees himself slowly fade from existence, in which may be possible he died in the past, his last words are "Thank you, my friend...", then fades away....

"Smallville"

During the season 7 episode of "Smallville" called "Cure", the character of Dr. Curtis Knox (Dean Cain) is immortal who has lived for centuries under various names, including actually being historical figures such as Napoleon Bonapart and Jack the Ripper. An "IGN" review stated Knox is "obviously based on Vandal Savage." [cite news|author=Chris Carabott|title=Smallville: "Cure" Review |work=IGN|date=2008-10-19|url=http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/828/828674p1.html|accessdate=2008-07-08]

References