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Nekron

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Nekron
File:Blackestnight4.jpg
Nekron, as he appears in Blackest Night #4. Art by Ivan Reis.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceTales of the Green Lantern Corps #2, (June 1981)
Created byMike W. Barr (writer)
Len Wein (writer)
Joe Staton (artist)
In-story information
Team affiliationsBlack Lantern Corps
PartnershipsKrona
Scar
Black Hand
Notable aliasesLord of the Unliving
AbilitiesDraws power and commands the souls and spirits of all who have ever died

Nekron is a fictional demon and an embodiment of Death, a comic book character published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Tales of the Green Lantern Corps vol. 1 #2 (June 1981), and was created by Mike W. Barr, Len Wein and Joe Staton. He's currently a primary antagonist in the storyline, Blackest Night.

Fictional character biography

Origins

Nekron, as he first appeared in Tales of the Green Lantern Corps #2. Art by Joe Staton.

Nekron is a fictional embodiment of Death and ruler of a region adjoining Hell that also seems to border on Limbo and Purgatory within the DC Universe. It is where the souls of the dead await passage to their final residence in either the Silver City or Hell. Nekron draws his power from the souls and spirits of all those who have ever died.[1]

During the three issue miniseries Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, Krona's banished energy form somehow reaches Nekron's realm; a rift opens between the dimensions due to the paradox of an immortal now being in the Realm of the Dead. Desiring the living world he is now able to see, but being too large to pass through the rift, Nekron recreates Krona as an undead being of enormous power instead. Given an army of similarly-restored spirits, Nekron sends Krona to kill the Guardians of the Universe in order to increase the size of the rift. Krona cooperates because part of Nekron's plan involves collapsing the universe so as to recreate it according to his own desires (which would give Krona the chance to see a universe being born). Krona and his minions kill several Guardians and Green Lanterns while destroying the Central Power Battery to prevent the Lanterns from recharging their power rings. Although his attack is powerful enough to shatter the morale of the Green Lantern Corps, Hal Jordan manages to inspire and rally his fellow Lanterns into attacking Krona with the charge still left in their rings. Nekron is defeated when Jordan enters the realm of the dead and incites the spirits of the recently-killed Lanterns to rebel against him. This gives the Guardians enough time to banish Krona into the dead realm and close the rift with Jordan still trapped inside. The spirit of Jordan's predecessor, Abin Sur, helps him escape the realm.[2]

Later appearances

Captain Atom has a run-in with Nekron in the pages of Captain Atom #42 and #43 (June-July 1990), in which he is described as "Death as the Ultimate Opponent." Black Racer, also making an appearance, is coined "Death as an Inevitability," while Death (prominently known from her appearances in Vertigo titles) represents "Death as the Release, as Mercy, as Compassion." Drawing into the Quantum field, Captain Atom is able to get the better of Nekron and is able to visit his deceased wife.[3]

Nekron later appears in Fate #12 where he battles the demon Nebiros, following the destruction of Doctor Fate's Tower Of Fate. Also appearing in this issue is Jared Stevens (Fate).[4]

In Green Lantern Annual vol. 3 #7, Kyle Rayner encounters Nekron. During the issue, Nekron nearly reenters the living universe when the level of supernatural activity mysteriously increased. This increase gave Nekron the opportunity to briefly control every deceased member of the Green Lantern Corps, which act as both his army and his anchor to the living universe. Kyle was able to push Nekron back into his dimension by freeing the undead Lanterns from Nekron's control. The rift is eventually sealed following Nekron's defeat.[5]

Nekron also encounters Wonder Woman and Rebecca Carstairs (Witchfire) in Power Company: Witchfire #1.[6]

Blackest Night

In the Blackest Night event, Nekron is revealed to be responsible for the creation of the black power rings, which reanimate the dead, and in collaboration with Scar and Black Hand. When the Black Lanterns' power levels reach one hundred percent, he rises from the Earth, just outside of Coast City.[7][8] Nekron is also revealed, in a partial retcon of a previous Teen Titans storyline, to be the true mastermind behind the miraculous resurrections of several superheroes in the past (a deed previously thought to be a consequence of Brother Blood tampering with the forces of life and death[9]). By "allowing" the dead heroes to be reborn he grants himself a small cadre of "inside agents", so, by briefly resurrecting Batman as an emotional tether, he is able to make black rings that latch on to Superman, Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, Kid Flash, Animal Man, Ice, Green Arrow and Superboy, transforming them all into Black Lanterns. Hal Jordan and Barry Allen are similarly targeted [10]

According to Black Lantern Jean Loring, Nekron was formed out of the nothingness that existed prior to the creation of the universe as its defense mechanism when the Guardians first harnessed the Emotional spectrum[11]

Powers and abilities

The limitations of Nekron's powers are unknown. Geoff Johns has described him as perhaps the most powerful dark force in the DC Universe. He has displayed the ability to raise the dead, kill with a touch, fire bolts of black lightning and grow without limit.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ Tales of the Green Lantern Corps vol. 1 #2 (June 1981)
  2. ^ Tales Of The Green Lantern Corps vol. 1 #3 (July 1981)
  3. ^ Captain Atom (vol. 1) #42-43 (June-July 1990)
  4. ^ Fate #12 (November 1995)
  5. ^ Green Lantern Annual vol. 3 #7 (1998)
  6. ^ Power Company: Witchfire #1 (March 2002)
  7. ^ George, Richard (2009-08-13). "Blackest Night's Mastermind Revealed". IGN. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
  8. ^ Blackest Night #4(December 2009)
  9. ^ Teen Titans #31 (2006)
  10. ^ Blackest Night #5 (2010)
  11. ^ Green Lantern (vol. 4) #49 (2010)
  12. ^ Tales of the Green Lantern Corps vol. 1 #3 (July 1981)
  13. ^ Green Lantern Annual vol. 3 #7 (1998)
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