Legion of Doom


The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains that originated in Challenge of the Super Friends, an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League.
The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Universe, appearing in comics, as well as further animated and live-action adaptations.

History

In each episode of Challenge of the Super Friends that they appeared, the Legion of Doom would enact a plot against the Super Friends and a plot to take over the world only to be met with defeat by the end of the story. In some episodes, they would escape capture through a last-minute escape plan often contrived by Luthor. Other times, the Legion of Doom would end up apprehended.
The episode "History of Doom" showed that Lex Luthor assembled 12 supervillains in order to form the most powerful and sinister group the world has ever seen.

Development

When the Challenge of the Super Friends season was originally conceived, it was named Battle of the Superheroes and featured the introduction of Captain Marvel to the Super Friends. The group that challenged the heroes was to be called the "League of Evil", led by Captain Marvel's nemesis Doctor Sivana. However, Filmation was producing Shazam! and The New Adventures of Batman which prevented the use of characters such as Mister Atom, King Kull, Beautia Sivana, Joker, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and Catwoman. Early conceptual art drawn by Alex Toth also included Heat Wave, Poison Ivy, and Abra Kadabra.

The Hall of Doom

The Legion of Doom's headquarters was the Hall of Doom that was located in Slaughter Swamp. The facility, which has a close resemblance to Darth Vader's helmet, could be lowered or raised above the swamp water's surface. It could fly or enter space using rockets. The Hall of Doom's mobility could be controlled through remote control helping the Legion to escape on several occasions. Its defenses included laser weapons and the ability to time travel.
In "Doomsday" after Sinestro, Black Manta and Cheetah are abandoned by the rest of the Legion after they take control of a mental device, they use it to create another Hall of Doom, which attacks the original one and enables the Legion to be captured.
In "History of Doom", the Hall is shown being constructed in a barn just after the Legion formed. Black Manta proposed that they have it in the ocean, Captain Cold proposes to have underneath the polar ice caps, and Gorilla Grodd proposes that they have it in the jungle. As a compromise, Lex Luthor decides to have it within the waters of Slaughter Swamp as it is then flown to that location.

Members

There were thirteen members of the Legion of Doom:
While Challenge of the Super Friends was the series spotlighting the Legion of Doom, they appear in a few Super Friends shorts.
Members of the team have solo appearances in later episodes.
Lex Luthor appears in:
Brainiac appears in:
Bizarro appears in:
Riddler appears in:
Scarecrow makes an appearance in episode "The Fear" which also introducing his real name of Jonathan Crane.

Appearances in comics

Members of the Legion of Doom made some appearances in the Super Friends spin-off comic title based on the TV series.
, Poison Ivy, Solomon Grundy, Parasite, Toyman, Sinestro, Black Manta, Scarecrow, Brainiac, Lex Luthor, Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, Cheetah, Riddler, Bizarro, Giganta, Black Adam and Metallo. Art by Alex Ross and Doug Braithwaite.

Television

''Legends of the Superheroes''

The two NBC televised specials of Legends of the Superheroes was based largely on Challenge of the Super Friends while featuring Adam West, Burt Ward, and Frank Gorshin of the 1966 Batman television series fame. The Legion of Doom featured Mordru leading Doctor Sivana, Riddler, Giganta, Sinestro, Weather Wizard, and Solomon Grundy.

''The Aquaman & Friends Action Hour''

In 2003, Cartoon Network Latin America aired the spoof series The Aquaman & Friends Action Hour that starred Aquaman as a children's television show host and the Legion of Doom as his bankrupt villains.

''Justice League Unlimited''

An expanded version of the Secret Society is the primary focus of Season 3 of the 2000s animated series Justice League Unlimited. Although their swamp based headquarters is clearly based on the original Hall of Doom, the group is never called the Legion of Doom in the series, and is treated simply as an expanded version of the Secret Society previously formed by Gorilla Grodd in an earlier season and on camera referred to as such. Grodd is the leader of this "Legion", who refers to the group as a co-operative, a loose organization of super-villains that primarily work on their own, but back each other up when a member is challenged by the Justice League for a 25% portion of the requesting member's take of the crime commissioned at that time.
After the revelation that Grodd's ultimate plan in the creation of the new Secret Society was the ludicrous transformation of humanity into apes, Lex Luthor ousted him and assumed the position as leader with no objections from the membership. Solicitations for future episodes indicated that the team had a secret backer, but have turned out to be incorrect. Timm had also said he wanted to include Riddler and Scarecrow as villains in the group as a nod to the original Legion, but was prevented from doing this by the Bat-Embargo.
Confirmed members of this "Secret Society" are as follows:
During the two-part series finale, Lex Luthor tried to resurrect Brainiac by ordering the crew to transform the base into a spaceship, so that they could travel to the site of Brainiac's ruined asteroid base. With Tala's help, Grodd attempted a coup to retake control of the Secret Society, leading to a battle between members loyal to either Grodd or Luthor.
After a pitched battle, Luthor defeated Grodd by turning his mental powers back on him and shunting the ape out an airlock as he swears for revenge. The 10 of Gorilla Grodd's comrades were frozen solid by a defected Killer Frost to spare herself from any retribution from Luthor after he questioned them to be allowed to live once they arrived before him.
When the Secret Society reaches the site of Brainiac's defeat, Luthor used Tala's magic to restore Brainiac, apparently killing her, despite a sudden warning from the New God Metron. Luthor accidentally resurrected Darkseid merged with Brainiac instead, who rewards Luthor for his help by destroying the Secret Society's base in a fiery explosion. Darkseid's resurrection was possibly a last act of revenge from Tala. However, force fields produced by Star Sapphire and Sinestro saved Luthor's crew. Lightray, another of the Gods of New Genesis, spotted the explosion, and was subsequently robbed of his Mother Box after Evil Star knocked him out from behind, which allowed the remnants of the Secret Society to make it back to Earth to warn the Justice League of Darkseid's return.
At the conclusion of "Alive!", the first part of the finale, the only remaining members of the team are: Atomic Skull, Bizarro, Cheetah, Evil Star, Giganta, Heat Wave, Killer Frost, Lex Luthor, Toyman, Volcana, Star Sapphire and Sinestro. They team up with the League to face Darkseid's invasion of Earth by Parademons. Matt Wayne stated that he consciously tried to round up the original 13 Legion of Doom members in Luthor's team, and for that he cited this English Wikipedia page as one source. In "Destroyer", Luthor acquires the Anti-Life Equation after Metron takes him to the Source Wall, which Darkseid was searching for, and shares it with him – or possibly uses it on him. Both villains disappear in a flash of light, and Darkseid's forces leave Earth. The remaining members of the Legion survive the battle, and as a reward are given a five-minute head start by the Justice League.
It is assumed that all other villains that weren't with Luthor were killed.

''Batman: The Brave and the Bold''

The Legion of Doom appear in the series. In the teaser of "Triumvirate of Terror", they play a game of baseball against the Justice League International. Members of the Legion of Doom are Lex Luthor, Joker, Cheetah, Weather Wizard, Felix Faust, Chronos, Clock King, and Amazo. Later, Lex Luthor, Joker, and Cheetah are shown at the Legion of Doom's headquarters which is visually based on the Hall of Doom and in a swamp. Luthor and Cheetah are the only original members in the series.

''Young Justice''

In the Young Justice episode "Revelation", the team battles the Light's Injustice League in the Louisiana bayou. The group's headquarters and location is a homage to the Hall of Doom.

''Robot Chicken DC Comics Special''

The Legion of Doom fitted prominently in the ongoing story arc of the Robot Chicken DC Comics Special. In the meeting room of the Hall of Doom, the Joker and Penguin were provided seats alongside the thirteen traditional members of the group. The Legion of Doom also has a mailroom worker named Glen who has a glandular problem and later dies during the commercial. Aquaman joins the group giving them access to the Justice League Watchtower in the final act after he was pushed too far by the other members of the Justice League. For the finale, this Legion of Doom was joined by Bane, Catwoman, Two-Face, Icicle, Mirror Master, Harley Quinn, Deathstroke, Mr. Freeze, Mister Banjo, Chillblaine, Darkseid, and original Robot Chicken character Humping Robot. It is soon discovered during Aquaman's "Trojan Cake" plan that the Justice League prepared a surprise party for Aquaman who ends up cutting into the cake which resulted in Toyman getting stabbed enough for the villains to come out and fight the Justice League. The fight ensues until only Superman, Aquaman, and Lex Luthor remain standing. When Superman and Lex Luthor try to get Aquaman to hand each one the Kryptonite, Aquaman throws the Kryptonite and punches Lex Luthor as it is shown that the Kryptonite hit Superman by accident. Both sides attend the funeral of Glen.
In the second Robot Chicken DC Comics Special, titled "", the Legion of Doom is featured prominently. Lex Luthor is still the leader, but its core membership now features Bizarro, Poison Ivy, Black Manta, Joker, Penguin, Brainiac, Captain Cold, Scarecrow, Gorilla Grodd, Sinestro, Catwoman, Riddler, Toyman, and Two-Face while Weather Wizard, Black Adam, Darkseid, Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze, Professor Zoom, Starro, Killer Croc, and Clayface make cameo appearances among the core members. The Legion of Doom's members are shown as being overworked by the stress of their jobs along with Lex Luthor's daughter Lena Luthor having to work at the Hall of Doom's coffee shop called "Hall of Doom Coffee" on spring break when she wants to go to a beach resort with her boyfriend. During the meeting, the members of the Legion of Doom demand a vacation where Luthor states they have plenty of time off when they are in prison. Starro agreed with Lex Luthor where he stated how he is back to work after his defeat. Captain Cold then flushes Starro much to Brainiac's warning since the same flushing resulted in sewer alligators. After Lena leaves to go to the beach anyway where she enlisted Scarecrow's nephew Calvin to cover for her, Lex Luthor gets a hold of her location when Gorilla Grodd sees her Instagram profile being active. In retaliation, Luthor allows the rest of the Legion of Doom to go to Lena's location with him provided that they help him find Lena and bring her back. When at the beach, the Legion of Doom members end up taking part in some spring break activities. After an incident where Penguin, Scarecrow, Brainiac, Riddler, and Black Manta mistook the Justice League's private beach for a nude beach, Lex Luthor discovers that Lena's boyfriend is actually Superboy. The Legion of Doom and the Justice League briefly do battle over this before teaming up to fight a giant-sized Starro. After Starro was slain by Batman riding in Green Lantern's boat construct, both sides are present at Gorilla Grodd and Bizarro's wedding.

''Legends of Tomorrow''

The Legion of Doom serves as the main antagonists for season two of Legends of Tomorrow. Drawing from Arrow and The Flash, this version is led by Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash and consists of Damien Darhk, Malcolm Merlyn, and a time-displaced Leonard Snart/Captain Cold. For brief periods of time, the Legion is assisted by a brainwashed Rip Hunter and a reluctant Mick Rory/Heat Wave. They are termed "The Legion of Doom" by Legends member Nate Heywood, after a cartoon he states he enjoyed as a kid, a reference to Challenge of the Super Friends.
Thawne and Darhk are the first two members of the team, after the former cheats death as a result of Flashpoint and recruits Darhk from 1987, with the goal of changing their destined deaths in conflict with Barry Allen and Oliver Queen, respectively. Thawne and Darhk recruit Malcolm Merlyn from 2016, convincing him to help them change history to prevent the death of his family. Their ultimate goal is to obtain the Spear of Destiny to fulfill their wishes. Merlyn questions why Thawne needed to assemble a team given his own power, and Darhk eventually agrees that Thawne had been extremely secretive to them regarding his habit of randomly vanishing. As the duo retrieves a mimetic device containing Rip Hunter's memories in 2025 to locate the Spear, Thawne arrives, and they lock themselves inside the vault containing Hunter's device to corner him and re-negotiate their partnership. Thawne finally reveals that he has been running from the Black Flash, who has been sent after him by the Speed Force for cheating death. After finally agreeing to treat them as equals, Merlyn and Darhk help to incapacitate Black Flash using Thawne as bait. They seal Black Flash inside the vault and retreat to the Vanishing Point, which they utilize as their lair as it exists outside of the timeline. They eventually capture Rip Hunter and use his memories to alter his personality, forcing him to serve the Legion. After the Legends rescue Hunter and retrieve the Spear, the Legion recruits a past version of the deceased Leonard Snart from a point before he joins the Legends and was at his most cold-hearted. Like Thawne and Darhk, Snart is motivated to prevent his future death. He also convinces Mick Rory to betray the Legends and join the Legion, bringing the Spear of Destiny with him and delivering it to the Legion.
The Legion of Doom then successfully rewrites reality: Thawne becomes the director of S.T.A.R. Labs, Darhk becomes mayor of Star City, Merlyn reunites with his family and damns Nyssa Raatko to a depressing, closeted life in revenge for her disbanding the League of Assassins, and Rory and Snart control Central City. In this new reality, nearly all the heroic vigilantes are deceased and the former Legends are reduced to various demeaning positions, with Amaya Jiwe and Sara Lance acting as Darhk's personal assassins, Nate Heywood being a discredited conspiracy theorist, and Ray Palmer, Jefferson Jackson, Martin Stein, and Rip Hunter employed by Thawne in S.T.A.R. Labs. However, Rory comes to regret his decision and reunites the Legends, using a creation of Ray's to restore their memories of the original timeline. Although the process does not restore their powers, the Legends eventually retrieve the Spear of Destiny, thanks to the Legion of Doom turning on Thawne upon learning of his plans to destroy the Spear. In the ensuing battle, the Legends lose Stein when he refuses to have his memories restored and Jiwe is killed by Snart. Thawne manages to destroy the Spear, apparently stabilizing the altered reality. In the season finale, the Legends time travel back to paradoxically join forces with their past versions to combat the Legion of Doom before they can obtain the Spear. In the ensuing battle, the Legends are subdued, with their future selves being killed during the fight, but the future Sara obtains the Spear of Destiny. The Spear is used against itself by Lance to cancel its own power and summon the Black Flash, who kills Thawne. With the future Sara erased from history by their victory, the rest of the Legion is taken back to their original places in the timeline.

''Teen Titans Go!''

The Legion of Doom is referenced in the Teen Titans Go! episode "Snuggle Time". The Teen Titans decide to become supervillains and steal the name of the Legion of Doom. Each of the Teen Titans take on a new persona where Starfire becomes Starfire the Terrible, Cyborg becomes The Cyborg, Raven becomes the Demon of Azarath, Robin becomes Dick Gravestone, and Beast Boy becomes Beast Monster. They hire an army of henchmen and construct their own Hall of Doom. After taking out Earth's heroes, the Legion of Doooom draw in H.I.V.E. Five to combat them as they finalize plans to conquer the Earth. H.I.V.E. believes the Titans are trying to teach them a lesson, but instead the Legion wrap the planet in a blanket and detonate stink bombs in order to pull off a world-sized Dutch Oven.

''Harley Quinn''

The Harley Quinn web series follows the titular character's adventures after she breaks up with the Joker, with her initial goal being to join the Legion of Doom. This iteration of the Legion is described as a supportive community of elite supervillains dedicated to making the world a horrible place and have been behind some of the most evil plots in the 21st century. The Legion is led by Lex Luthor and also includes the Joker, Scarecrow, Cheetah, Bane, Gorilla Grodd, Black Manta, Sinestro, Black Adam, Reverse-Flash, Toyman, Solomon Grundy, Metallo, Captain Cold, Parasite, Riddler, Penguin, Two-Face, Man-Bat, Calendar Man, Killer Croc, Killer Frost, Felix Faust, and Livewire. Doctor Psycho was originally a member as well, but was kicked out of the group, their Legion of Doom Europe branch, and their Junior Doomers of America branch for calling Wonder Woman and Giganta the "C word" on live television, which led to him siding with Harley Quinn's crew. In the episode "L.O.D.R.S.V.P.", Harley and her crew are offered a position in the Legion of Doom after stealing jewels from Atlantis. Psycho was allowed to be re-instated under Lex's condition that he doesn't fight female superheroes, while Harley had to wait to be voted in, competing against KGBeast for the spot. However, Lex revealed to Poison Ivy that he had no intention to allow Harley to join unless she joined as well. Despite this, when Aquaman attacked the Hall of Doom to retrieve the jewels stolen by Harley, she proved herself and defeated Aquaman on her own upon distracting him by destroying an aquarium, which led to her being voted into the Legion. It was also in this episode that Lex mentioned the Legion of Doom is in a legal battle with a sex shop called the Legion of Dildos for using the same abbreviation. In the episode "Devil's Snare," the Hall of Doom was destroyed by a giant tower operated by the Joker in his plot to take over Gotham City. Following the Joker's defeat at Harley's hands in the season one finale, Gotham was left in ruins, leaving Legion members the Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, and Bane, as well as Mr. Freeze, to join forces and form the Injustice League in order to rule Gotham in the Legion's absence. Most other members of the Legion were revealed to have also survived the Hall of Doom's destruction, as Lex appears in "Bachelorette", while numerous other members appear in the season two finale "The Runaway Bridesmaid" attending Poison Ivy and Kite Man's wedding.

Film

''Justice League: Doom''

The Legion of Doom appear as the central antagonists in the animated film led by Vandal Savage. The members here are Cheetah, Star Sapphire, Bane, Metallo, Mirror Master, and Ma'alefa'ak. Cheetah is the only original member in this film.

''JLA Adventures: Trapped In Time''

In the animated film , the Legion of Doom travel back in time to eliminate Superman with the help of Time Trapper. The members here are Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Toyman, Cheetah, Solomon Grundy, Captain Cold, Black Manta, and Gorilla Grodd. After Lex Luthor was apprehended and Time Trapper was defeated, Gorilla Grodd becomes the acting leader of the Legion of Doom.

''Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom''

features the Legion of Doom as the main antagonists. This version includes Lex Luthor, Cheetah, Captain Cold, Sinestro, Black Manta, and Gorilla Grodd. Other villains who auditioned to join the Legion of Doom and were rejected for various reasons included Joker, Penguin, Man-Bat, Giganta, and Deathstroke. While Luthor is the one that formed them, it is in fact Darkseid that ordered him to do so. The Legion of Doom first appears where they attack Area 52 in order to free a capsule containing a specific alien and get away after a fight with the Justice League. Upon releasing the alien, he introduces himself as J'onn J'onzz where he shows off his abilities. Lex Luthor persuades J'onn J'onzz to assist the Legion of Doom against the "dastardly" Justice League. With J'onn J'onzz's help, the Legion of Doom fools the Justice League into thinking that the prototype nuketron reactor core is going to explode as part of a plan to discredit them. Cyborg's readings of the core not exploding was repeatedly unheeded. After the Justice League are banished from Earth, the Legion of Doom rejoices as Sinestro is sent to use the Father Box to send the Justice League to the other side of the universe. Upon getting the info needed upon posing as Black Manta, J'onn Jonzz saves Cyborg by mind-controlling Sinestro into rescuing the Justice League from the black hole. Lex Luthor pilots the Hall of Doom as Darkseid sends some gifts to the Legion of Doom to help take over Earth. While Cyborg keeps an eye on J'onn J'onzz and Sinestro, the Justice League heads out to fight the Legion of Doom. Using the Hall of Justice's flight mode, Cyborg uses it to fight the Hall of Doom and shoot it down. J'onn J'onzz then helps to defeat the Legion of Doom. Afterwards, the Justice League are cleared of all charges and the Legion of Doom are arrested by the police.

''Justice League vs. Teen Titans''

The Legion of Doom appears in Justice League vs. Teen Titans. The members include Lex Luthor, Toyman, Cheetah, Weather Wizard, and Solomon Grundy. The Legion of Doom fights the Justice League until they are defeated by them.

''Justice League''

The post-credit scene of Justice League features Lex Luthor and Deathstroke discussing the formation of their own league of super villains.

Video games