Vandal Savage

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Vandal Savage
Vandal Savage from Justice Society of America #3, Art by Dale Eaglesham
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Green Lantern vol. 1 #10 (Winter 1943)
Created by	Alfred Bester (writer) Martin Nodell (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Vandar Adg
Team affiliations	Illuminati Secret Society of Super Villains Injustice Society Tartarus
Notable aliases	Khafre, Julius Caesar, Blackbeard, Genghis Khan, Jack the Ripper, Dr. Curtis Knox, Kr'ull.
Abilities	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,^[1] 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. In 2009, Vandal Savage was ranked as IGN's 36th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.^[2]

[edit] 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).^[3] 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."

[edit] 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. Original Green Lantern Alan Scott has been portrayed as one of Savage's main enemies, as well as the original Flash, Jay Garrick. It has been revealed that Savage refers to Hawkman as "the cockroach". At present, in DC universe, Savage is about 52,000 years old.

[edit] 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 after he has lived to 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 Rocket Red armorsuit carrying a huge nuclear payload, an action that was, ironically, ordered by Savage himself. At this point, the timetravelling hero Chronos is heard in the background, gloating about having conned Savage in retaliation for a previous adventure when Savage had him stranded in time. This is, however, only one possible future for Savage.

[edit] 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

[edit] 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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8]

[edit] Salvation 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.^[9] 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 following an attack by Parademons sent by Desaad (who used the planet as a training ground).

[edit] Final Crisis

After returning to Earth, in Final Crisis Vandal Savage is placed on the new Society's inner circle by Libra. As he says to Lex Luthor, Vandal is willing to follow Libra in exchange for his heart's desire, an end to his boredom.

In Final Crisis: Revelations, the Order of the Stone (the followers of Cain) comes in possession of the Spear of Destiny. Later, a group of followers led by Sister Wrack enter Vandal Savage's tent. They plunge the Spear of Destiny into 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.^[10] Using the Spear, Cain is able to separate the Spectre from his human host, and make him his slave.^[11] Cain's plans are undone by Renee Montoya, who manages to steal the Spear and reunite the Spectre with his host. The Spectre, forbidden by God to kill Cain, instead sentences him to walk the Earth, unable to disguise himself, being forever reviled and persecuted by the rest of the human race.^[12]

[edit] 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 became what he has. 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.

[edit] 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 descendant's 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. In some versions, Savage possesses the ability to heal from even fatal injuries, suggesting he might also possess some degree of immortality towards trauma as well.

As his anatomy is still that of a Neanderthal, Vandal Savage has enhanced strength and endurance. Through special equipment he can create inter-dimensional warps and often uses advanced technology to further his efforts to obtain power. He sometimes uses magic to further his schemes.

[edit] Other media

[edit] Television

• Vandal Savage is seen in several episodes of the animated series Justice League 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 time alteration doesn't affect most members of the League (due to being shielded by Green Lantern's energy at the time) and they eventually find a portal to the past and undo Vandal's treachery. Next, in "Maid of Honor", Savage, claiming to be the "grandson" of himself, was engaged to Princess Audrey of Kaznia, but was secretly working with a secret faction of the Kaznian military to install a railgun onto the International Space Station, thereby allowing Kaznia, through Savage, to dictate control over the world. The League once again foiled him and Savage was incarcerated to see if he could be killed. Savage's last appearance was in "Hereafter", when, a few days after the supposed death of Superman, he used a gravity controlling device to kill the League, but accidentally unbalanced Earth's orbit and killed the rest of the human race. Savage spent 30,000 years alone, feeling ashamed of his constant desire for control. He helped Superman, who just arrived in the future, to return to the past and stop his past self.

• During the season 7 episode of Smallville called "Cure", the character of Dr. Curtis Knox (portrayed by Dean Cain) is an immortal who has lived for centuries under various names, including actually being historical figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Jack the Ripper. An IGN review stated Knox is "obviously based on Vandal Savage."^[13] The comic book character has taken on subsequent characteristics, such as taking organs from his offspring to survive, but nothing has been made concrete in the show.

• In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, there is a character named Kru'll the Eternal voiced by Michael Dorn. Kru'll shares the same origins as Vandal Savage, both being prehistoric cavemen transformed by a meteorite. However, the meteorite that affected Kru'll, in addition to intellect and immortality, granted him tremendous strength. His appearance and personality deviate from Vandal Savage's as well. Whereas Vandal Savage dresses appropriate to the times and fights in an intelligent manner, Kru'll maintains his look as a caveman and resorts to brutish tactics such as swinging around the club he carries or smashing his opponents with a large rock, though he is intelligent despite his demeanor. Scenes set in the 25th century show him dressed in period-appropriate clothing. In the episode "Menace of the Conqueror Caveman!", Kru'll captures Booster Gold's companion, Skeets. He attempts to use him alongside the same meteorite that gave him his powers to do the same to a group of his associates. As a tip of the hat to his comic book counterpart, two of Kru'll's associates are dressed as Genghis Khan and Julius Caesar. The visual appearance of Kru'll and some of his personality traits and methods are inspired by the Captain Marvel villain King Kull.

[edit] References