![]() He eventually sold the good Emerson’s soul to Neron for enhanced abilities, finally removing his good side. His ferro-kinetic abilities made him one of the most powerful supervillains, able to manipulate metal of all forms to his will. Over the years, Doctor Polaris would face off many more times against Green Lantern, as well as many other heroes of the DC Universe. The Human Bomb destroys Doctor Polaris – Infinite Crisis #1, DC Comics He robbed the event and fought Green Lantern with his newly acquired magnetic powers, transforming Doctor Polaris from merely an on-stage persona into a full supervillain. Despite the evil half festering inside him, Emerson’s good side remained dominant for most of his life, but at the moment that Emerson was to ask Green Lantern for help, the evil side took control. ![]() This split personality developed as a result of the abuse he suffered as a child. But beneath the surface, something ate away at Emerson’s soul a split psyche in which one half was good and the other was evil. Though slightly maligned for his views of magnetic healing, his own confidence in his idea became a successful lecture tour. Thus far, nothing sounds particularly villain-shaping in Emerson’s life. Unable to think of a way to fix the solution, he resolved to publicly ask for the help of the Green Lantern at a charity event, in the belief that the power ring’s energy could reverse his situation. As time went on, Emerson believed that his overexposure to magnets meant that he had absorbed too much magnetic energy. ![]() As part of his speaking tour, he created the costume and name of Doctor Polaris. He was ridiculed by his peers, but he believed so strongly in “health via magnetism” that he wrote a book (of the same title) and started touring as a lecturer. Neal Emerson as Doctor Polaris – DC ComicsĪ medical doctor, Neal Emerson developed a theory that the mind could harness and control magnetic energy. The supervillain in question is the master of magnetism, Doctor Polaris. It is a journey that, at several junctures, could easily have swayed to the heroic, but through negligence and punishment, broke the positive potential of a broken man. And though I’m sure there are examples that either fully or partially contradict this theory, there is one character in particular whose journey to supervillainy is a unique subversion of the inherency found elsewhere in the mythology. While the exercise of classifying these origins may not be perfectly accurate, it does make it shockingly clear that, at least within the context of DC’s mythos, the paths of good and evil are shockingly similar, all of which lends further credence to the inherency of good and evil in the characters. It would be terribly reductive to suggest that these are the only “causes” of supervillainy. In either case, the argument of inherency of character in the DC Universe seems to hold up pretty well. The New 52 continuity, by contrast, has all but forgotten her villainy as a part of her character. Saint Walker of the Blue Lanterns is a great example of an inherently good hero, whereas Ma’alefa’ak, Darkseid, and Doomsday are evil to the core. Even Catwoman, DC’s notoriously ambiguous anti-hero/villain, had her dual nature called into question following Identity Crisis when it was revealed that Zatanna had magically altered her personality to make her more heroic. Yet another theory – one that has been wholly embraced by the paradigmatic mythology of DC – is that good and evil are inherent to one’s character, and that those childhood tragedies or random accidents merely provide the window of opportunity to fully explore those innate tendencies. ![]() Heroes such as the Flash, Plastic Man, and Swamp Thing fall into this camp, while the likes of Mister Freeze, the Cyborg Superman, and of course Two-Face are prime examples of the villainous path. In other cases, a terrible accident (or an intentional attack) fuels either the ability to do good or a desire for revenge. ![]() Likewise, several supervillains – including Black Manta and Prometheus – derive their raison d’ être from witnessing similar tragedies. Perhaps most iconically, the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne forms the foundation upon which Batman is built, but the death of one or more parent or family member is woven into the origin of nearly all of the Justice League’s founding members. In some cases, the cause is the death of a loved one. The New 52 origin of Plastic Man – Justice League #25, DC Comics ![]()
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