Professor Hamilton

Emil Hamilton
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	As Professor Hamilton: Adventures of Superman #424 (January, 1987) As Ruin: Adventures of Superman #630 (September, 2004)
In-story information
Alter ego	Emil Hamilton
Team affiliations	S.T.A.R. Labs Enginehead Society
Notable aliases	Ruin
Abilities	Genius-level Intelligence

Professor Emil Hamilton is a fictional character in DC Comics' Superman titles. He is generally portrayed as a stereotypical absent-minded professor, with a gray beard and thick glasses and, at times, a "Mr. Wizard" type character. However, recent versions of the character have been more villainous as he begins to see Superman as a potential threat to the world.

Fictional character biography

He first appeared in Adventures of Superman #424, as an apparent villain, using his gadgets to attack Superman in an attempt to gain funding by proving that they worked. A former employee of S.T.A.R. Labs and the US Government, it transpired he had been driven insane when all his research was bought up by Lex Luthor, who took credit for the inventions. He was placed in a mental health facility and responded well to treatment. On his release, he set up a laboratory in Suicide Slum and quickly became Superman's "scientific advisor", eking out a general living as a technical consultant. He was responsible for creating many devices that aided Superman, including the Phantom Zone Projector and early Superman Robots, as well as helping Superman during such problems as the 'Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite', when Red Kryptonite created by Mister Mxyzptlk shut down Superman's powers; until Superman's powers were restored, Hamilton provided him with various machinery such as a force field belt and an armoured suit to allow him to continue as a hero.

Hamilton also creates a device that should allow him to perform CPR on Superman. When needed, this device fails. He also provided Superboy with the visor that duplicated Superman's vision powers (x-ray and heat vision).

He has also theorized about how Superman's Kryptonian biology works, and deduced the best way to defeat villains based on analysis of their powers. He lost an arm during the Fall of Metropolis storyline, but replaced it with a self-designed cybernetic prosthesis.

Many years later, when John Henry Irons returned to Metropolis, just prior to the B13 Event, Hamilton felt he was being sidelined, as Superman now had access to a scientific genius who was also a fellow superhero. He disappeared during the B13 Event.

He eventually resurfaced as the Overmind, the leader of a cyberpunk gang plotting the return of Brainiac 13. He claimed, however, that the B13-technology in his prosthetic arm was controlling his actions. Presumably this claim held some truth, as he later returned to his role as Superman's advisor using his innate understanding of the futuristic technology now available to him.

Hamilton, together with several other scientific geniuses and robotic beings (Automan, Brainstorm, Doctor Cyber, Ford, and Rosie the Riveter), was for a brief period part of the composite cybernetic being called Enginehead. However (if this story is still canon), the being seems to have been divided into the individual personalities again shortly after the events of the series Enginehead 1–6 (2004).

Recently it was revealed that Hamilton was, in fact, the villain named Ruin, who had been targeting Clark Kent's loved ones. Ruin claimed to have discovered that Superman was sucking the sun dry of its solar energy, and that, in 4.5 billion years, it would mean the end of life on Earth. The identity of Ruin had been kept a mystery, until it seemed that Clark's friend, and former President of the United States, Pete Ross was Ruin. Pete Ross claimed innocence, but he became even more suspect when he escaped from custody. It turned out that it had been Hamilton who had framed Ross, and kidnapped him again from prison. Hamilton then confronted and revealed himself to Superman, seemingly killing the 5th dimension imp Mister Mxyzptlk in the process when he tried to save Superman. Superman defeated the insane Hamilton, and saved Pete, Lana, and their child. Superman later cleared Ross' name and reputation, and Hamilton was apparently imprisoned.

During the recent events chronicled in Infinite Crisis, Ruin was one of many superhuman criminals who joined the villainous Society organized by Alexander Luthor, Jr.

Powers and abilities

Emil Hamilton is a normal human being and thus, has no inherent super powers, though he is a brilliant scientist and inventor, having designed and built devices such as a force-field generator. However, as Ruin he dons a "power suit." The suit allows Ruin to take advantage of his knowledge of Superman's weaknesses. Powerful blasts of Kryptonian red sunlight can be fired from the suit, which essentially sap Superman of all his powers. Also, Ruin is able to transport himself to the Phantom Zone (though at a detriment to his health), and reemerge anywhere, effectively allowing him to teleport. If the suit is forcibly removed from Hamilton's body, it self-destructs with a massive force, apparently enough to destroy a small city, although enough time elapsed between the removal and the explosion for Superman to get it to a safe distance using his superspeed.

Emil has designed various prosthetic arms with unusual abilities, including one that acted as a sunscreen dispenser.

In other media

Television

• Dr. Emil Hamilton appeared in two episodes of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (both in the second season), as a S.T.A.R. Labs scientist. He was played by John Pleshette. The third season introduced Dr. Klein as the recurring S.T.A.R. scientist.

• Professor Hamilton was a regular in Superman: The Animated Series voiced by Victor Brandt. The director of S.T.A.R. Labs. He constructed things such as Kryptonite-resistant suits from lead and inter-dimensional warps, as well as working a Phantom Zone projector in the episode Blasts from the Past. After Darkseid's brainwashing of Superman in the third season's finale Legacy, Hamilton began to feel a growing distrust of metahumans. In that episode, Kara In-Ze (Supergirl) was critically wounded, and Superman, now a fugitive, takes her to S.T.A.R. Labs only to find Hamilton reluctant to operate on her for fear of being accused of treason. Superman forces the man to proceed. Shaken, Hamilton complied, but also secretly took the opportunity to obtain samples of her genetic material despite the fact that Superman immediately apologized for his rash act.

• Returning in the later DC Animated Universe show Justice League Unlimited, Professor Hamilton (now voiced by veteran '70s actor Robert Foxworth) has secretly become a confederate of Amanda Waller, the leader of Project Cadmus. Hamilton uses cloning and other such methods to create metahumans loyal and subservient to Cadmus. Hamilton was their expert on genetics, along with the mental manipulatist Dr. Hugo Strange and splicing scientist Dr. Achilles Milo (later killed by Doomsday, after causing general mayhem through animal/human hybridization in prior DCAU series). It was discovered in the season one episode Fearful Symmetry that he had produced a clone of Supergirl through the genetic samples taken in Legacy. This sociopathic clone, code-named Galatea, would be of primary importance in the Cadmus Project's endeavors against the Justice League. Superman finally discovers Hamilton's betrayal of trust in Season 2 of JLU. Hamilton is unrepentant of his actions, and makes it clear that he believes Superman can never be fully trusted again comparing Superman to Lucifer. In one surprising moment Galatea hugs Hamilton referring to him as "Daddy". This version of Hamilton has not been seen since the end of the 'Cadmus' story arc, when his chief contribution Galatea was defeated in battle. Hamilton's transformation into an adversary mirrors his comic book counterpart's current status as a villain. It is believed that he went to jail for his actions.

• There were two Professor Hamiltons in Smallville:

In the first season of Smallville, the character of Dr. Steven Hamilton (portrayed by actor Joe Morton) was introduced. He was hired by Lex Luthor to examine the effects of Kryptonite. In the process of discovering the substance's effects, he discovered the Nicodemus flower which caused humans to go insane, slip into a coma, and subsequently die. Clark Kent's adoptive father Jonathan Kent, love interest Lana Lang, and friend Pete Ross were all brought into contact with this deadly flower. Lex Luthor ordered Dr. Hamilton find a cure, bringing an end to the crisis. Hamilton made an additional appearance in the series' second season, wherein he perished due to overexposure to Kryptonite while trying to force Clark to tell him about the ship that brought him to Earth. The series has given no indication of any relationship between Steven and Emil Hamilton other than a shared surname.

Emil Hamilton on Smallville

In the season eight episode "Identity," Emil's name was seen in a Daily Planet article about the mysterious "Red-Blue Blur", Clark Kent (Tom Welling)'s earliest superhero identity, which had been sighted around the city of Metropolis. The article was written by Ron Troupe, another character from the DC universe. His first on-screen appearance was in the episode 'Bulletproof' played by Alessandro Juliani. He appears as a doctor who was able to save the Martian Manhunter (Phil Morris)'s life when he had been shot by a corrupt cop, Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley) having hired him as a private doctor for his team because of his last brush with death when he had been poisoned. A few episodes later Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) met with Emil Hamilton to ask him about Davis Bloome (Samuel Witwer), but all he could tell her was that he was dangerous and the more attempts one would use to try to destroy him, the more he will adapt to them. Oliver called for him to ask him to help Jimmy (Aaron Ashmore) after Davis attacked. Hamilton alerted Clark about Doomsday striking again, finding the slaughtered metahuman Neutron and his friend Livewire. When Clark lost the use of his powers to Parasite, Hamilton equipped Clark with a fast, high-tech car. Hamilton appears in season nine, in "Savior". "Metallo", "Rabid," "Pandora," and in the TV movie, "Absolute Justice". In season ten, he even more regularly assists the Justice League. In season ten's storylines, he is subject to interrogation by proponents of the Vigilante Registration Act, attends Clark bachelor party, and begins a romance with Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman).

Film

Man of Steel

Richard Schiff was cast as Dr.Hamilton in the Zack Snyder film, Man of Steel.

Video games

• In the Superman Returns video game, Professor Hamilton gives instructions on the meteor shower to Superman in the beginning of the game.
• In Superman 64, Professor Hamilton appears as a supporting character.

External links

• Emil Hamilton at the Smallville wiki
• Emil Hamilton at the DC Animated wiki
• Emil Hamilton at the DC Database