NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Darkseid's Elite from the DC Extended Universe. The mainstream version can be found here: Darkseid's Elite.
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| “ | For Darkseid. | „ |
| ~ The Apokoliptian war cry. |
Darkseid's Elite are the main antagonistis of the 2021 DC Extended Universe film Zack Snyder's Justice League, the director's cut of the theatrical 2017 film.
It is a group whose members are made up of the New Gods and some of the most loyal servants of Darkseid on the extra-dimensional planet of Apokolips. It consists of high priest and torturer DeSaad, who serves as the leader of the Apokoliptian Priests and second-in-command of the Elite; Steppenwolf, Darkseid's exiled uncle who served as his herald and a general of the Apokoliptian Armada; and Granny Goodness, who serves as the commander of the Female Furies.
History[]
Past[]
Darkseid's Elite was founded in an unknown point in time by their titular founder. They had lived on the hell-like and dystopian planet of Apokolips for millennia, and they loyally serve their ruler, Darkseid. In the ancient times, Darkseid, back when he was a prince named Uxas, developed an obsession for the Anti-Life Equation, an immensely powerful mathematical formula that is capable of eradicating any free will. After he took the throne, he proceeded to wage war on the planet. During his invasion of Earth with a great army and armada, he discovered the location of the Anti-Life Equation, however, his arrival was met by the planet's native inhabitants, who had formed their own army in an act of resistance; the defenders of Earth included Humans, the Amazons, the Atlanteans, the Olympian Gods (also referred to as the Old Gods), and a lone Green Lantern.
During his invasion, Darkseid has Apokoliptian mystics bring forth three indestructible devices known as the Mother Boxes and they began to synchronize them to achieve the Unity, which will result in Earth being terraformed into a copy of Apokolips. Darkseid planned to use Earth as a test-run for the Equation, but before the Mother Boxes could fully synchronize, Earth's protectors immediately launched an attack on Darkseid and his armada. During a great battle, though the forces of Apokolips inflicted heavy casualties on the planet's forces, they were ultimately forced to retreat after Darkseid was heavily wounded by the Olympians (most notably by Ares, the God of War). During their retreat, Darkseid's forces were forced to leave behind the Mother Boxes, and each were taken by the Humans, Amazons and Atalanteans. While the latter two kept them under heavy guard in their own respective vaults, the former buried their Mother Box in an unknown location to ensure it will never be found.
Darkseid's failed invasion and his failure to obtain the Anti-Life Equation was a blow to the latter, as he not only lost millions of his Parademon forces but also because he had lost the Mother Boxes in one big swoop. Despite this setback, he remained undeterred and vowed to stop at nothing to claim the Anti-Life Equation. Back on Apokolips, he managed to recover from his injuries, however, likely because of his failed conquest, Darkseid ended up losing much of his influence, and this led to a war that would last for thousands of years. A rebellion is implied to have occurred at some point. Darkseid's general and uncle Steppenwolf betrayed his nephew by seeking to usurp the throne. However, Steppenwolf would have a change of heart and aids his nephew in defeating those who also seek to claim the throne.
Unforutnely, despite Steppenwolf resuming his allegiance to Darkseid, the latter and his elite were nevertheless angry at him for his treachery and Darkseid sends his uncle into exile with the order of conquering 150,000 planets in Darkseid's name so his sins will be forgiven, which Steppenwolf accepts.
As years had followed, the location of the Anti-Life Equation, the planet that hides it and the whereabouts of the three Mother Boxes have all been forgotten entirely. This is due to the fact that those who joined Darkseid in his failed invasion of Earth are all dead. Because of this, Darkseid would engage in a search for the Anti-Life Equation, which would span for thousands of years. At the same time, he would be forced to conquer planet after planet all so he could find the Equation but for naught.
Present[]
Millenia later, in 2017, Steppenwolf had already conquered 100,000 worlds and would need to need to conquer 50,000 more so he could finally return to Apokolips. Meanwhile on Earth, one of the Mother Boxes had awakened after years of dormancy when it sensed Superman's death, after the Kryptonian sacrificed himself to defeat Doomsday. The Mother Boxes' awakening, caused Steppenwolf to heed the call of the one Themyscira, leading him to invade Earth. on the island home of the Amazons, he successfully reclaims the Mother Box, despite encountering from the Amazons and their queen, Hippolyta. After departing the island, he settled down in an abandoned nuclear silo in Pozharnov, Russia, where he converts the silo into his base of operations. There, he uses the Mother Box to contact DeSaad, a member of Darkseid's Elite. Steppenwolf reports to him that Earth is too divided to protect itself and would soon be claimed for Darkseid (whom he refers to as the Great One). He then updates him on his progress and notes that while the other two Mother Boxes continued to slumber, his Parademons can sense their presence.
DeSaad was pleased by Steppenwolf's progress. When the latter makes a plea to return home after conquering Earth but was rebuked and DeSaad angrilyreminds him of his betrayal. Steppenwolf protests that he saw through his mistake and had dealt with those sought his nephew's throne only to be reminded that he still has 50,000 worlds left to conquer and that Darkseid will only hear Steppenwolf's plea once he has payed off his debt. Defeated, Steppenwolf promises that the Mother Boxes will be found and united and that Earth will fall like all the others he had conquered.
In his search for the second Mother Box, Steppenwolf captures several Atlanteans and through his mind probe, he learns of its location in Atlantis's stronghold. With this newly-acquired information, he immediately travels to Atlantis via a Boom Tube and slaughters the guards guarding the Mother Box. After defeating Princess Mira and Aquaman, Steppenwolf retrieves the second Mother Box before returning to Pozharnov. Back in the silo, he receives a vision where he discovers that the Anti-Life Equation is located on Earth. Now knowing that it is the lost planet, he immediately contacts DeSaad and relays to him his discovery. Shocked by this, DeSaad asks if he is certain and Steppenwolf confirms it. DeSaad proceeded to call Darkseid, who learns from his exiled uncle that Earth is the lost world and the one where the Equation is hidden. Darkseid tells Steppenwolf that he'll finally have his redemption if he could find the last Mother Box and synchronize the Unity. Once the conquest has been successful, Darkseid will arrive on Earth to claim his "great prize."
As he seeks out the third Mother Box, Steppenwolf has his Parademons kidnap anyone who has its scent. Amongst the captured is Dr. Silas Stone. Underneath Gotham Harbor, Steppenwolf interrogates them on the Mother Box's location but before he could begin to interrogate Silas, the latter's son, Victor (also known as Cyborg), immediately intervenes, preventing Steppenwolf from garnering any valuable information. The New God and his Parademons are then met by the Justice League, who began combating the Parademons while Steppenwolf battled Wonder Woman, who had learned of Steppenwolf's arrival from her mother Hippolyta. The battle ended in a stalemate, when Steppenwolf floods the area in an attempt to drown the Justice League before escaping. However, the heroes were saved by Aquaman.
Later, after the Justice League used the third Mother Box to resurrect Superman, this caused Steppenwolf to arrive and he followed Silas Stone, who had taken the Mother Box to S.T.A.R Labs.. After Silas super-heats it with a laser device, which ended up killing him, Steppenwolf takes the last Mother Box and returns to his base to begin the Unity. However, he was unaware that because of Silas's actions, this allowed the Justice League to track Steppenwolf down to Pozharnov. Though the latter had set up a protective barrier around the silo, it was disabled by Batman, allowing the other Justice Leaguers to enter the silo, where they engage Steppenwolf in a final battle while Cyborg (with aid from the Flash) tries to pry the Mother Boxes apart to prevent the Unity. When Steppenwolf attempts to stop him, Superman intervenes and the Kryptonian single-handedly bests him with ease.
But before Superman could defeat Steppenwolf, a Boom Tube to Apokolips suddenly opens before the Justice League, revealing Darkseid, DeSaad and Granny Goodness. Because the Flash had been injured by a Parademon, this stopped him from giving more power to Cyborg, who fails to stop the Mother Boxes from fully synchronizing, causing Earth to be terraformed. However, the Flash taps into the Speed Force and began running faster than the speed of light, causing time to reverse, thus undoing the Unity. Working together, Superman and Cyborg succesfully pried the Mother Boxes apart. Upon seeing that all of his efforts had been undone, Steppenwolf lets our a roar of fury before being impaled by Aquaman, who then throws him into the Boom Tube while Wonder Woman decapitates Steppenwolf, causing both his body and his disembodied head to be sent back to Apokolips. Darkseid then stomps on Steppenwolf's head before having a brief stare-down with the Justice League as the Boom Tube closes. As he expressed his anger over his uncle's failure, DeSaad warns him that Steppenwolf would not succeed, to which Darkseid agrees.
When DeSaad asks Darkseid on how he can claim his "great prize" as the Mother Boxes are now destroyed, Darkseid answers that the Anti-Life Equation has just been found and that they'll not stop until they claim it. He then orders DeSaad to ready his armada, declaring that they will claim the Equation through the Old Ways. Darkseid then leaves with DeSaad and Granny Goodness to prepare for his second invasion.
Knightmare timeline[]
In a possible future, Darkseid invades Earth and successfully claims the Anti-Life Equation for himself. As both Wonder Woman and Aquaman were killed in this future, their respective homes of Atlantis and Themyscira were left unprotected and they fell to the forces of Apokolips. Meanwhile, Batman fails to protect Superman's lover, Lois Lane, who was presumably killed by Darkseid. As he was wracked with grief over Lois' death, Superman fell to the Anti-Life Equation, becoming the tyrannical ruler of Earth and Darkseid's champion, replacing the fallen Steppenwolf.
The Regime was then formed to help Superman consolidate his rule, leading Batman to form a rebel group called the Insurgency to oppose and combat Superman's regime, leading to a prolonged conflict between the two factions. The Regime would ultimately prevail against the Insurgency and most of the rebels were either killed or turned to Parademons while Batman himself was captured and then executed by Superman for failing to protect Lois.
With Batman's death, alongside Aquaman and Wonder Woman, Cyborg and the Flash are the only members of the Justice League left alive. With the Anti-Life Equation in his hands, Darkseid and his elite can now conquer the Multiverse, with Darkseid becoming a supreme overlord.
Gallery of Members[]
.jpg "Darkseid (DCEU).jpg (1.87 MB)")
Trivia[]
- While Darkseid, Steppenwolf, and DeSaad are all portrayed through motion capture, Granny Goodness is as of now the only New God from Apokolips to be created entirely from CGI while her face was modeled after the aunt of Wētā FX artist Jojo Aguilar.
- Aside from Granny Goodness, other New Gods of Darkseid's elite such as Big Barda and the Female Furies, were originally set to appear in the film New Gods, which would center around the New Gods, both from Apokolips and New Genesis. This ultimately never came to pass, as the film was cancelled in 2021, though Warner Bros. stated that it could be revived in the future.
