Solomon Grundy

"Solomon Grundy. Born on a Monday. Christened on a Tuesday. Married on a Wednesday. Took ill on a Thursday. Got worse on a Friday. Died on a Saturday. Buried on a Sunday. This is the end of Solomon Grundy."

- The nursery rhyme Solomon Grundy is based on.

Solomon Grundy is a villain in DC Comics. He is an enemy of the Justice League, though he mainly fights Superman, Batman and Green Lantern.

History
Cyrus Gold lived on the outskirts of Gotham during the middle of the nineteenth century. There, he was robbed and mortally injured, then his body was tossed in Slaughter Swamp (accounts vary on whether Gold had committed crimes himself and been killed by his cohorts or an angry mob). Before he died, he swore vengeance. For over 50 years his body remained in the swamp.

Years later, Gold rose again as a zombie. With little memory of who he was or how he died, Gold wandered throughout the swamp.

He eventually encountered two escaped criminals, murdered them, and took their clothes. Shortly thereafter, he met a group of men in a hobo camp. When he was asked his name, he simply muttered that he had been born on Monday. This reminded him of the English nursery rhyme about a man who was born on Monday, so he decided to call himself "Solomon Grundy", and became a criminal of Gotham City. His main enemy for many decades was the first Earth hero to call himself Green Lantern, Alan Scott. By extension, Grundy also became a regular foe of Earth's first team of superheroes, The Justice Society Of America, to which Scott belonged. His ability to endlessly regenerate has meant a long and varied career, facing many foes in the DC Universe, including Superman, the later Oan-powered Green Lanterns of Earth, and Swamp Thing, an Earth elemental of the type Grundy could have been, but his origin lacked a few of the needed conditions to achieve this. Needless to say, having his origin in Gotham City, it was all but inevitable that he would one day clash with Gotham's Dark Knight Avenger, The Batman. Some accounts of Batman's career have him facing Grundy almost from the beginning.

The Batman
On Halloween night where there is a full moon, Solomon Grundy revives from his grave and attacks Gotham City. Batman encounters Grundy and tried to stop him. Batman eventually finds out Solomon Grundy was just a disguise and was really Clayface in disguise. He took this form because it was Halloween and he used the old folktale to steal some money from some rich folks. Clayface was eventually defeated and was put into Arkham. At the end, the real Solomon Grundy appears out of the swamp.

Batman Arkham City
Solomon Grundy makes an appearance as an antagonist in Batman Arkham City. He's a giant monster that the Penguin uses to kill disloyal henchmen rival gangsters. Penguin has Grundy attached with electrified chains beneath the the Iceberg Lounge. Penguin lured Batman to the Iceberg lounge by using the kidnapped special forces as hostages. After Batman disables the freezing gun that Penguin stole from Mr. Freeze, Penguin blew up the floor of The Iceberg Lounge, causing Batman to drop in the basement, where Solomon Grundy is being held. Grundy fights using electrified chains attached to his wrists. His health depletes by itself, but it's constantly regenerated by the electricity. Batman destroys the source where the electricity is flowing, crippling Grundy. Batman then proceeds to leap on the wounded monster and breaks away his decaying rib cage before ripping out his heart finally killing Grundy.

Lego Batman 3
Solomon Grundy appears as a supporting antagonist in the videogame Lego Batman 3. Solomon Grundy first appears in the sewer where he, Joker, Firefly, and Cheetah are approached by Killer Croc with the sewer maps. As Cheetah begins to complain something stinks, Grundy tells her he doesn't stink, which Firefly tells Grundy that Cheetah is referring to the sewers.

Later, as the villains arrive at the Hall of Justice, Solomon Grundy is seen stuck inside the manhole. Once the villains pull him out, Cheetah complains how she now stinks, which Grundy points out that Cheetah was talking about him. As the villains then come face to face with the portal leading to the Justice League watchtower, Firefly asks Grundy if he has been to outer space. Solomon Grundy tells him of course, but then asks him what outer space is.

Once Grundy and the villains reach the watchtower, they easily subdue Martian Manhunter and takes over the space station. As Joker is fighting Batman in his spaceship, he tells Grundy to say hello, which Grundy says "Hello, Grundy!" to Batman. As the villains get ready to face the heroes, Solomon Grundy flees with Killer Croc as they lead Cyborg and Robin. He is then seen with Killer Croc on a moving platform. As Cyborg and Robin catches up to them, Killer Croc tells Grundy to hide and get the drop on them, which Grundy exclaims how good he is at hiding. While hiding, Cyborg uses his laser to cut a hole in the box Grundy is seen hiding in. As Grundy discovers him, he places a cracked wall in front of him to hide himself again. This time, Cyborg uses his extra large mode to destroy the box and beats Grundy with. After Cyborg defeats Killer Croc, Grundy appears before Cyborg with Robin in his hand, only to be electrocuted by him.

After the heroes encountered Brainiac, the Justice League had no choice but to free villains so they can work by their side. As Solomon Grundy arrive on Brainiac's ship, alongside with the Justice League and the villains, they face Brainiac who grabs everyone with his robotic tentacles, except for Grundy, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Robin. Brainiac then try to hypnotize them, except for Robin as he was wearing a helmet that protects his mind and allows him to free Grundy and the others. After that, Brainiac's ship begins to malfunction, forcing him to flee into a smaller ship. Just then, the Lanterns Brainiac captured starts to shoot beams everywhere. Grundy is hit with a Blue Lantern Beam that now makes him represent hope.

Grundy later teams up with the heroes after they disguise themselves as villains and helps them acquire the red, yellow, and orange lantern power batteries to lure Sinestro, Larfleeze, and Atrocitus to the Fortress of Solitude. Grundy appears before Atrocitus, from his disguise as a snowman, and makes him fire his ring's energy where the other lanterns are firing as well. This reverts the world back to normal size, and frees Grundy from the influence of hope. Grundy and the villains then take over the white house, but then are subdued by the Justice League and sent to Arkham Asylum.

Gotham
The season 3 finale of the FOX television show Gotham reveals the birth name of Butch Gilzean as Cyrus Gold, making him the show's incarnation of the character. Butch appeared as a seemingly original character since the first episode of the show until that point. During the fourth season he becomes Solomon Grundy.

Quotes
"Grundy will kill you dead."

- Solomon Grundy clash in Injustice.

"Grundy must hurt the Bat."

- Solomon Grundy game over in Batman Arkham City.

"Grundy told stupid soldiers to stay away but soldiers still come. Now Grundy crush."

- Solomon Grundy in Justice League