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Gorilla Grodd

Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash (Barry Allen). The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in The Flash #106 (May 1959).[1] He is an evil, super-intelligent gorilla who gained mental powers after being exposed to a strange meteorite's radiation.

Gorilla Grodd
Gorilla Grodd as he appeared on the cover of The Flash #172 (August 1967).
Art by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceThe Flash #106 (May 1959)
Created byJohn Broome (writer)
Carmine Infantino (artist)
In-story information
SpeciesMeta-Gorilla
Team affiliations
PartnershipsMonsieur Mallah
Notable aliasesDrew Drowden
William Dawson (when in human forms)
Abilities

Grodd has appeared in several forms of DC-related media, such as the Super Friends franchise (voiced by Stanley Ralph Ross), the DC Animated Universe (voiced by Powers Boothe), and the Arrowverse television series The Flash (voiced by David Sobolov).

Fictional character biography

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Gorilla Grodd is a hyper-intelligent telepathic gorilla able to control the minds of others. He and other gorillas gained sapience and psychic powers after an alien spaceship crashed in their area.[2][3] The gorillas lived in peace until their home was discovered by explorers. Grodd forced one of the explorers to kill the alien and took over Gorilla City, planning to conquer the world next. Solovar telepathically contacts Barry Allen to warn of the evil gorilla's plans, and Grodd was defeated. The villain manages to return again and again to plague the Flash and the hero's allies.[4]

In his first pre-Crisis appearance, Grodd meets the Flash while searching for Solovar (who had been imprisoned) during a trip to the human world. Grodd probed Solovar's mind to find the secret of mind control so he could control Gorilla City, using its inhabitants to take over the world. Solovar breaks out of the cage and tells the Flash. The Flash defeats Grodd and temporarily removes his telepathy. When his power returns, he escapes and builds a machine to strip his fellow gorillas of their intelligence. The Flash finds out from Solovar where Grodd has escaped to and destroys the machine. Grodd is again imprisoned, but uses a burrowing machine to escape. Assuming human form, he creates a drug to strengthen his abilities. After easily stopping the Flash, Grodd experiences a side effect that removes his new powers. The Flash arrests Grodd and takes him back to Gorilla City. Grodd fakes his death by transferring his mind into a man in Central City, but is caught and arrested. Later, he instigates the Flash's Rogues Gallery, breaking them out of jail to distract the Flash after transferring his mind to that of Freddy, a gorilla in a zoo. Thanks to Solovar, the Flash learns of Grodd's escape. Ironically, Grodd, despite using radiation to negate the Flash's speed, is defeated by the gorilla's mate when she hears him mention another gorilla. He and Freddy are restored to their normal bodies.

Grodd is recruited along with several other villains as one of the original members of the Secret Society of Super Villains. In this series, Grodd defeats Kalibak in hand-to-hand combat, but is later defeated by Captain Comet who is able to repel Grodd's mental energy.[5] During the hunt for a sorcerer's treasures, Grodd is able to fend off Wally West and escape him using the mentally-commanded Quadro-Mobile,[6] then later knocks Captain Comet unconscious,[7] and is shown to be able to hypnotize Star Sapphire,[8] as well as protect others from mental probing.

In a confrontation with Wally West, Grodd increases the brainpower of most of the animals in Central City. He hopes to endanger all the humans' lives, but this plan backfires because some of the pets are too loyal to their humans. Grodd's plans are defeated by the Flash, assisted by the Pied Piper, Vixen, and Rex the Wonder Dog.

Immortal villain Vandal Savage kidnaps Titans member Omen to form the perfect team of adversaries for the Teen Titans. Savage approaches Grodd, offering him membership in this new anti-Titans group known as Tartarus and promises of power and immortality. Grodd joins Tartarus on their mission to synthesize the immortal blood of the H.I.V.E. Mistress Addie Kane as Savage seeks to create a serum that will grant immortality. Their schemes are thwarted when the Titans intervene. Tempest later leads a rescue mission to save Omen from Savage. During the rescue attempt, Tartarus collapses upon itself due to each member having a different agenda, because Omen had purposely chosen members who would not work well together. When Siren switches alliances during the battle and aids Tempest in escaping, the Tartarus members go their separate ways.

Grodd has made no fewer than eighteen attempts to eliminate all traces of humanity from the face of the Earth. In Son of Ambush Bug #5 (November 1986), he travels to the Late Cretaceous "to wipe out all traces of human evolution from the time stream" (despite the fact that the ancestors of humanity would be his own ancestors as well). His plans are shattered by the sudden appearance of Titano and Ambush Bug waking from a nightmare. Whether or not Grodd's plan is a failure is disputable.[9]

In the final issue of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, Grodd travels to Earth-C-Minus in an attempt to conquer, but is defeated by the efforts of the Zoo Crew (plus Changeling of the Teen Titans).[10]

Grodd later does another attempt to conquer Gorilla City by controlling the minds of Congo Bill, Congorilla, Djuba, Gorilla Boss, Monsieur Mallah, and Sam Simeon. In an attempt to expand his mind-control, Grodd suffers brain damage, freeing everyone from his mind-control.[11]

In the 1991 Angel and the Ape limited series, Grodd is revealed as the grandfather of Sam Simeon (Angel's partner). This is in conflict with Martian Manhunter (vol. 2) Annual #2 (1999), which states that Simeon is Grodd's brother.

During the Final Night, Grodd attempted to use a mystical talisman called the Heart of Darkness (normally effective only in eclipses) that brought out the 'inner beast' of humans, turning the population of the town of Leesburg into feral monsters, including Supergirl. However, Supergirl was eventually able to fight off Grodd's influence, allowing her to oppose Grodd until the sun was restored. Grodd is assumed killed when an icicle fell into him.

One of Grodd's widest-ranging schemes was to arrange Solovar's assassination and manipulate Gorilla City into war against humanity, with the aid of a "shadow cabinet" of prominent gorillas called Simian Scarlet. In the course of this, Grodd absorbs too much neural energy from his fellow apes, leaving him with the intelligence of a normal gorilla.[12] He has since recovered, and a failed attempt to set up a base in Florida leads to his capture and incarceration in Iron Heights.

Grodd had been trapped inside the human body of an overweight street bum. He was attacked by a gang known as the Vultures. One of them commented on how their member Iggo had the strength of a gorilla, which reminded Grodd of his true form. Suddenly changing back to his original shape and size, he quickly defeated the gang, making them believe that they are burning in molten lava by using his telepathic abilities. Reading the minds of the crooks, he saw that one of the former members of their gang was a friend of the Flash, and a plan began to form in his mind.

Grodd found another space rock, identical to the one that had given him his powers, and contacted Hector Hammond, a human who had also gained similar powers. Grodd was able to take control of Gorilla City after increasing his evolutionary abilities but was defeated once more.

Grodd is also seen in the Superman/Batman arc "Public Enemies" controlling numerous villains and heroes to take down Superman and Batman for the prize of one billion dollars offered by then U.S. President Lex Luthor. Despite his use of foes such as Mongul, Solomon Grundy, Lady Shiva, and Nightshade, Batman is able to deduce the mind behind the attacks and they quickly dispose of Grodd.[13]

Grodd is responsible for Hunter Zolomon's crippling, resulting in the man's transformation into the villainous Zoom after trying to change the event to never have happened. Zolomon would often think about how Grodd used him as a plaything in that fight while talking this over with the Flash.[14]

In Birds of Prey, Grodd makes a deal with Grimm to get Blockbuster an ape heart.[15]

In the JLA Classified story arc, Grodd and his forces attack the Ultramarine Corps. Grodd has most of the citizens they are protecting killed. He personally eats some of the humans. During the course of this incident, Beryl informs the team that Grodd ranks number three on the latest "Global Most Wanted".[16]

In the Justice League of America Wedding Special, Gorilla Grodd is among the villains seen as members of the Injustice League Unlimited.

In Salvation Run, Grodd teams up with the Joker to gather their own faction of exiled supervillains.[17] He kills Monsieur Mallah and Brain and was knocked off a cliff by the Joker.[18] Grodd is seen alive and attempting to deliver payback to the Joker.[19]

In Justice League of America, Grodd is shown among the members of Libra's new Secret Society and placed in the Inner Circle.[20] In the Final Crisis storyline, Gorilla Grodd was among the high ranked superheroes and supervillains that were turned into Justifiers.[21] He is sent to apprehend Snapper Carr and Cheetah, but fails.[22]

The New 52

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In The New 52 continuity reboot, Grodd is the prince of Gorilla City. His abilities are derived from the Speed Force, which the gorillas refer to as the "Light".[23][24][25]

DC Rebirth

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In the DC Rebirth relaunch, Grodd is the founder of the terrorist organization Black Hole.[26][27] Furthermore, he is an ally of Lex Luthor, who promises to give him access to the Still Force.[28][29]

Powers and abilities

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Grodd possessing psionic abilities that enable him to manipulate the minds of others and telekinetically manipulate objects.[4][30] In The New 52 continuity, he can assimilate the knowledge and powers of others by eating their brains.[31][24][25][26][27][28][29]

Other versions

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  • An alternate universe variant of Gorilla Grodd from the antimatter universe who became a member of the Justice Underground appears in JLA Secret Files.[32]
  • An alternate universe variant of Gorilla Grodd appears in Flashpoint. This version successfully conquered Africa, but became bored with the lack of challenge he faced afterwards.[33][34]

In other media

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Television

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Live-action

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See also: Gorilla Grodd (Arrowverse)
 
Grodd as he appears in The Flash
  • Gorilla Grodd appears in series set in the Arrowverse, voiced by David Sobolov. This version gained his psychic powers from Wade Eiling's experiments under S.T.A.R. Labs' supervision and speaks in an illeism.
    • Primarily appearing in and throughout The Flash, he mounts several failed attempts at subjugating humanity through various means, such as Gorilla City's army and a telepathy crown, only to be defeated by the eponymous character several times and King Shark on one occasion. Following the Crisis, Grodd reforms and leaves for Gorilla City, only to learn that its inhabitants were reverted to regular gorillas due to the Crisis and join the Red Death's Rogues until the Flash agrees to help him restore Gorilla City.
    • A time-displaced version of Grodd appears in the third season of Legends of Tomorrow, motion-captured by an uncredited Daniel Cudmore.[35]
  • Gorilla Grodd makes a cameo appearance in the Legacies episode "Hope Is Not the Goal".

Animation

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Gorilla Grodd as he appears in Justice League
  • Gorilla Grodd appears in the Super Friends franchise, voiced by Stanley Ralph Ross. This version is a member of Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom who developed a means of time travel for their use.
  • Gorilla Grodd appears in series set in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), voiced by Powers Boothe.[36]
    • First appearing in Justice League, this version is Giganta's creator and a fugitive from Gorilla City, which he initially attempts to take revenge on before focusing his efforts on defeating the Justice League. In pursuit of this, he and Giganta recruit Killer Frost, Sinestro, Parasite, Shade, and Clayface to form the Secret Society, only to be defeated by the League and incarcerated. Additionally, Grodd initially derives his psychic powers from a helmet, but becomes able to use them without it after the Flash rewires the helmet to electrocute him.
    • Grodd appears in the final season of Justice League Unlimited. After breaking out of prison, he formed an expanded version of the Secret Society and reworked it to function as a supervillain cooperative against the similarly expanded Justice League and manipulate the Society members into facilitating his plan to turn all humans into apes. After the League foil his plans, Lex Luthor usurps Grodd as the Society's leader and holds him prisoner in hopes that Grodd will help resurrect Brainiac. While the Society travels into space to recover Brainiac's remains, Tala frees Grodd to start a mutiny. As the Society members enter a civil war between those loyal to Luthor and those with Grodd, Luthor and Grodd fight until the former turns the latter's powers on him and forces him out of the airlock into space.
  • Gorilla Grodd appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by John DiMaggio.[36] In his most notable appearance in the episode "Gorillas in our Midst!", he joins forces with Monsieur Mallah and Gorilla Boss to form G.A.S.P. (Gorillas and Apes Seizing Power) and replace Gotham City's human inhabitants with gorillas, only to be foiled by Batman, Detective Chimp, B'wana Beast, and Vixen.
    • Additionally, an unnamed, heroic, alternate reality, albino version of Grodd appears in the episode "Deep Cover for Batman!".
  • Gorilla Grodd appears in Robot Chicken DC Comics Special 2: Villains in Paradise, voiced by Clancy Brown. This version is a member of the Legion of Doom and friends with Lena Luthor.
  • Gorilla Grodd appears in Justice League Action, voiced again by David Sobolov.[36]
  • Gorilla Grodd appears in Harley Quinn, voiced by Diedrich Bader. This version is a member of the Legion of Doom.

Film

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Video games

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Lego

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Miscellaneous

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  • Gorilla Grodd appears in issues #18 and #19 of the Young Justice tie-in comic book.[44][45] This version was experimented on by the Brain and Ultra-Humanite, who enhanced his strength and intelligence using Kobra venom.
  • The Injustice incarnation of Gorilla Grodd makes a cameo appearance in the Injustice: Gods Among Us prequel comic.[46]
  • Gorilla Grodd appears in DC Super Hero Girls and its tie-in films, voiced again by John DiMaggio.[36] This version is the vice-principal of Super Hero High.

Reception

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Gorilla Grodd was ranked 35th in IGN's list of 100 Greatest Comic Book Villains.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  2. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. p. 111. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  3. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 146. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  4. ^ a b Beatty, Scott (2008), "Gorilla Grodd", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 141, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1, OCLC 213309017
  5. ^ The Secret Society of Super Villains #4 (1977). DC Comics.
  6. ^ The Secret Society of Super Villains #9 (1977). DC Comics.
  7. ^ The Secret Society of Super Villains #10 (1977). DC Comics.
  8. ^ The Secret Society of Super Villains #11 (1977). DC Comics.
  9. ^ Son of Ambush Bug #5. DC Comics.
  10. ^ Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #20 (November 1983). DC Comics.
  11. ^ Swamp Thing Annual Vol. 2 #3 (1987). DC Comics.
  12. ^ Martian Manhunter Annual (vol. 2) #2 (1999). DC Comics.
  13. ^ Superman/Batman #1-7. DC Comics.
  14. ^ The Flash (vol. 2) #193 (February 2003). DC Comics.
  15. ^ Birds of Prey #23. DC Comics.
  16. ^ JLA Classified #1-3 (2004). DC Comics.
  17. ^ Salvation Run #3 (March 2008). DC Comics.
  18. ^ Salvation Run #4 (April 2008). DC Comics.
  19. ^ Salvation Run #7 (July 2008). DC Comics.
  20. ^ Justice League of America (vol. 2) #21. DC Comics.
  21. ^ Final Crisis #4. DC Comics.
  22. ^ Final Crisis: Resist one-shot. DC Comics.
  23. ^
    • The Flash (vol. 4) #7 (March 2012). DC Comics.
    • The Flash (vol. 4) #8 (April 2012). DC Comics.
    • The Flash (vol. 4) #9 (May 2012). DC Comics.
    • The Flash (vol. 4) Annual #1. DC Comics.
    • The Flash (vol. 4) #13 (December 2012). DC Comics.
    • The Flash (vol. 4) #16 (March 2013). DC Comics.
  24. ^ a b The Flash (vol. 4) #17 (April 2013). DC Comics.
  25. ^ a b The Flash (vol. 4) #23.1. DC Comics.
  26. ^ a b The Flash (vol. 5) #40. DC Comics.
  27. ^ a b The Flash (vol. 5) #42-43. DC Comics.
  28. ^ a b Justice League (vol. 4) #2. DC Comics.
  29. ^ a b Justice League (vol. 4) #4. DC Comics.
  30. ^ "DCU | Heroes and Villains". Dccomics.com. 2010-04-21. Archived from the original on 2011-06-09. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
  31. ^
    • The Flash (vol. 4) #14 (January 2013)
    • Aquaman (vol. 7) #37 (January 2015). DC Comics.
  32. ^ JLA Secret Files 2004. DC Comics.
  33. ^ Flashpoint: Grodd of War one-shot (June 2011). DC Comics.
  34. ^ Flashpoint #5 (August 2011). DC Comics.
  35. ^ Stauffer, Derek (August 3, 2017). "Legends of Tomorrow Season 3 Spoilers: Damien Darhk's Resurrection, Gorilla Grodd and More". BuddyTV. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  36. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Gorilla Grodd Voices (Flash)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved December 4, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  37. ^ "ニンジャバットマン BATMAN NINJA公式サイト【2018年6月15日(金) 劇場公開】". warnerbros.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  38. ^ Ressler, Karen (February 13, 2018). "Batman Ninja Anime's English Trailer Reveals Dub Cast, Home Video Release". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  39. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  40. ^ @Butchy231 (May 15, 2017). "May seem like a stupid question but who do you voice in the game?" (Tweet). Retrieved May 15, 2017 – via Twitter.
    @Charlie_Halford (May 15, 2017). "Gorilla" (Tweet). Retrieved May 15, 2017 – via Twitter.
  41. ^ "Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Announces Injustice 2" (Press release). 8 June 2016.
  42. ^ "Characters". Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  43. ^ "Lego DC Super-Villains Screens Reveal New Details". 31 May 2018.
  44. ^ "Young Justice #18 - Monkey Business (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  45. ^ "Young Justice #19 - Gorilla Warfare (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  46. ^ Injustice: Gods Among Us Chapter 8 (Digital Release March 5, 2013)
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