Martian Manhunter

From Smallville Wiki

"I'm in your mind as well... trying to help." - Martian Manhunter, to Clark Kent, Labyrinth

The Martian Manhunter is the last surviving alien from the planet Mars who now acts as an Intergalactic Law Enforcer trapping and imprisoning criminals from the 28 known galaxies.

Contents 1 Physical Appearance 2 Powers and Abilities 3 Vulnerabilities 4 Early Life 5 Season Six 6 Justice and Doom 7 Season Seven 8 Appearances 9 In the Comics 10 Trivia 11 Quotes 12 External Links

[edit] Physical Appearance

Martian Manhunter usually appears when Clark is in need of help defeating a super powered foe. When he does appear, he is mostly seen wearing a shirt underneath a long leather jacket as well as trousers. He mostly appears wearing either a black or blue leather jacket, yellow or red shirt and dark trousers. While on earth, he doesn't use his native Martian form to appear human as possible and mostly shifts into a averaged sized African-American man but his native Martian red eyes still appear in this form.

In the online comic Smallville Legends: Justice and Doom, Martian Manhunter is seen wearing his leather jacket and shirt before shifting into his native green Martian form as well as changing his clothes to something that closely resembles what he currently wears in the Comic Book world.

[edit] Powers and Abilities

See Also: Martian

The Martian Manhunter has shown so far to posses most of the native Martian abilities. He may possess all abilities but hasn't yet displayed them all.

• Super Strength - Martian Manhunter has displayed strength near enough to the level of Kryptonians. (Phantom)
• Flight - Martian Manhunter is well practiced in using his abilities and has flown on the show various times. (Static, Labyrinth, Phantom, Bizarro)
• Super Speed - Martian Manhunter has rarely used this ability to super speed, he insteads uses his ability to fly as his primary source of traveling. (Labyrinth)
• Shapeshifting - Martian Manhunter used this ability in the Smallville Legends: Justice and Doom where he shifts from his John persona into his native Martian form. (Justice and Doom)
• Heat Blasts - Martian Manhunter used this when he first made himself known to Clark by saving him from Aldar. (Static)
• Invulnerability - Martian Manhunter has shown to possess invulnerability on some level but does not possess it as strong as native Kryptonians as he is vulnerable to some physical attacks but he is still highly durable. (Phantom)
• Healing Factor - Martian Manhunter has the ability to heal himself from any wound but has to leave earth's atmosphere to do so otherwise it won't work. (Phantom, Bizarro)
• Telepathy - Allows Martian Manhunter to communicate with other living beings and used this ability to save Clark from a phantom that took over his mind. (Labyrinth)

Martian Manhunter also has other abilities that have yet to appear on the show but have been featured on the show. They include Martian Vision, Intangibility and Invisibility.

[edit] Vulnerabilities

The Martian Manhunter is vulnerable to physical attacks despite having invulnerability showing the Martians invulnerability to be lesser than Kryptonian's, such as when Bizarro's phantom possessed a human and ripped a hole in his abdomen. He also cannot heal while in Earth's atmosphere.

In Clark's hallucination, the Martian Manhunter's persona "John" was frightened by flame, the same fear he has in the comics. It isn't known if he shares this fear in the flesh.

[edit] Early Life

Born on the planet Mars, his real name is J'onn J'onzz ^{[citation needed]} using the alias Martian Manhunter for his job as an Intergalactic Law Enforcer.

When the Martian civilization was destroyed, he fled Mars and came to Earth which was the neighboring planet and lived there in secret shape shifting into human form using the name "John Jones" as an alias and merging into society.

He was a friend of Jor-El, and was there whenever Jor-El needed him. As a bounty hunter he helped hunt down and imprison many Zoners including Bizarro. He was responsible for forcing Zor-El's family into exile from the House of El after Zor-El attempted to assassinate Jor-El because he was in-love with Lara and wanted her to himself.

Before Krypton's destruction, Jor-El asked the Martian Manhunter to watch over his son, Kal-El, but from a distance knowing the Martian now lives and resides on earth; this means that the Martian Manhunter was there all along, ever since Kal-El first landed on Earth.

[edit] Season Six

After watching Clark from a distance for the past several years, the Martian Manhunter finally made his presence known when he saved Clark from the Zoner Aldar and made a quick escape, leaving behind an Oreo cookie at the scene and later at Clark's loft, indicating that he knew where Clark lived. He later explained that he wasn't to interfere with Clark's tests given to him by Jor-El unless it was absolutely necessary.

Later, when Clark was attacked by Dr. Hudson, a Zoner who caused him to hallucinate that he was a patient in a mental asylum, the Martian Manhunter telepathically entered Clark's mind to help him fight back against the Phantom slowly taking over his body. There, in Clark's dream world, he was a fellow patient known as "John". John informed Clark that he was like him, but that he was from Mars. He later told a downtrodden Clark that Dr. Hudson was really a Phantom and not to give into Dr. Hudson's claim that his powers were his imagination; he then told Clark that the only way to return to reality was to kill Dr. Hudson. When Clark attacked Dr. Hudson and broke free from his control, the Martian Manhunter, back in reality, used a device, similar to the Crystal of El, to remove the Phantom and return it to the Phantom Zone. Shortly afterward, he departed.

Sometime later, the Martian Manhunter arrived in Quebec with the intention of trapping the Zoner later known as Bizarro, who was inhabiting the body of an old man. He prepared to do battle with him, but Bizarro reached inside him and ripped out some insides, severely wounding him. After the Martian attempted to punch the Phantom, and dealt almost no damage, he was backhanded through the roof of the house and into the sky. Badly injured and weakened, he was forced to retreat. The Martian Manhunter flew off to LuthorCorp to meet Lionel Luthor to brief him of the failure. When he arrived, the Martian Manhunter stopped Clark from killing Lionel and explained everything, including the significance of defeating Bizarro. The Martian Manhunter then departed in order to heal from the injuries inflicted upon him by Bizarro.

[edit] Justice and Doom

The multimedia Smallville parallel story, Justice and Doom suggests that Dr. Virgil Swann may have also communicated with the Martian Manhunter, as the Manhunter used a large orbital Swann Communications satellite as a base. He was also seen wearing a costume similar to the one he currently wears in the comic as well as turn into his Martian form at the end of the web story arc.

[edit] Season Seven

The Martian Manhunter managed to heal himself while in space and spoke to Clark about Bizarro. He told Clark that he could beat his twin by harnessing the energy of the yellow sun. At the end of the battle, Clark uppercut Bizarro towards the sun, where the Martian Manhunter caught him and flew Bizarro to the sunny side of Mars and imprisoned him there. After Bizarro's defeat, the Martian Manhunter came to congratulate Clark and told him that he is every bit as human as he could be on Earth.

He came back a while later to the Kent Farm, this time instantly grabbing Kara by the neck and warning her to stay away from Kal-El. They struggle until Clark steps between them. He told Clark that Kara couldn't be trusted, because her father Zor-El tried to kill Jor-El and was a traitor. The Martian Manhunter was told to deal with Knox by Clark, and put him in a unknown location, telling him that there was a "don't ask and don't tell" partnership with Jor-El regarding the disposition of prisoners.

The Manhunter's current whereabouts are unknown.

[edit] Appearances

• Season Six - Static, Labyrinth, Phantom.
• Season Seven - Bizarro, Cure.

[edit] In the Comics

Due to the relatively limited appearances of the Martian Manhunter on Smallville, little can be said about the show's interpretation of the character as opposed to the source material.

So far on the show, the Martian Manhunter has shown capabilities of most of his comic powers on Smallville. His origin, however, has yet to be explored in detail. In the comics, the Martian Manhunter is the last surviving citizen of the planet Mars (which creates a special kinship with Superman) due to a war that broke out between two Martian races that laid waste to most of his world, killing the entire civilization.

In the show, the Martian Manhunter has had contact with Jor-El prior to Krypton's destruction. While some DC stories established that the Martian civilization had communicated with Krypton, the Martian Manhunter had never actually met a Kryptonian before Superman in the source material.

In his debut story, the Martian Manhunter is accidentally teleported to Earth by scientist Dr. Saul Erdel, who immediately has a heart attack and dies, leaving the Martian stranded. He is able to use his powers to disguise his appearance, adopting the name of deceased Denver police detective John Jones. He joins the Middleton police force, secretly using his powers to help the inhabitants of Earth.

The Martian Manhunter's history is closely linked with that of the Justice League of America. He is a founding member of the team, and served as a member during each of its various incarnations, with the exception of the League's most recent formation one year after the events of Infinite Crisis. Instead of joining the JLA this time, he was recruited by Batman to join the JLA splinter group: The Outsiders. Differences with Batman caused him to leave the group. He was last shown in Salvation Run , giving a status report to an unknown location regarding the villains trapped there. He has secretly taken the identity of Blockbuster, though Lex suspects that Blockbuster is not who he seems. J'onn is outed by Catwoman and is subsequently defeated by the mass of villains. He was murdered by a villian named Libra, his murder was aired on the internet.

[edit] Trivia

• Although John does not appear, he is first called the "Martian Manhunter" in Crimson by Chloe Sullivan, in reference to the events of the previous episode, Labyrinth.
• In the comics, the Martian Manhunter's real name is J'onn J'onzz, and uses the name "John Jones" as an alias. He calls himself J'onn J'onzz on the show in a deleted scene from Labyrinth on the Season 6 DVD box set.
• In the comics, the Martian Manhunter has the powers of flight, shapeshifting, super-speed, super-stamina, telepathy, super-strength, Martian vision (not heat vision, but a vision that releases pressure instead of heat), superhuman senses (nine of them as opposed to the human five), invulnerability, invisibility, intangibility, and possibly the ability to create heat through his palm.
• He has an obsession for Oreo cookies and is a vegetarian.
• The Martian Manhunter is purportedly the last Martian, just as Clark believed himself to be the last Kryptonian.
• So far, the Martian Manhunter is the only superhero who hasn't at least briefly turned on or attacked Clark when meeting him. He is also the superhero with the most knowledge of Clark's secret, even knowing his Kryptonian birth name, Kal-El.
• The Martian Manhunter appears to also be the oldest superhero that will one day join the Justice League. ^{[citation needed]}
• In the comics, he is both genetically and psychologically vulnerable to fire, as much as Clark is to kryptonite.
• The Martian Manhunter helped Jor-El to imprison Bizarro in the Phantom Zone.
• The Martian Manhunter banished Zor-El and his family from the House of El for an attempt to kill Jor-El.

[edit] Quotes

Clark: Someone else killed him, someone who can do things I could only dream of.

Season Six, Static

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Martian Manhunter: We're not that different, Kal-El. Like you, I lost my family, came to Earth when my civilization was destroyed. But I've been on this planet a lot longer than you, and have a better understanding of this race. The humans are terrified of what they don't know, and sadly, you and I happen to fall into that category.

Season Six, Labyrinth, deleted scene

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Martian Manhunter: I had a run-in with the last Phantom... I have to leave Earth's atmosphere to heal.

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Clark: When you left here, you were hurt pretty badly... How'd you heal so fast?

Martian Manhunter: I just had to leave the Earth's atmosphere.

Season Seven, Bizarro

[edit] External Links

• Martian Manhunter - Wikipedia
• Smallville Justice and Doom - Watchtower Reveal
• Deleted scene from Season 6's Labyrinth