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Apologies in advance for the graphic nature of what you're about to see. Some of us had it rough in the origins department.
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This isn't about love , people aren't looking for babysitters in spandex to spank them when they're bad, they are looking for surgeons to remove the cancers that fester in us and make sure they never come back - Doctor Black, at your service.
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~ Manchester Black
Manchester Black is a supervillain (originally an anti-hero) from DC Comics and a minor antagonist in the Superman franchise, introduced as the main antagonist of the storyline What's so Funny About Truth, Justice and the American Way?.
He is the leader of the Elite, a superhero team with questionable morals and methods. In his various appearances, he acted as a enemy to Superman or sometimes as an ally of the Justice League.
Manchester Black is from the United Kingdom and was the leader of a group known as the Elite, who acted as self-styled "crime fighters" that made it their mission to kill every "wrong doer" they came across. The Elite make their first appearance by murdering and destroying a terrorist faction that had used genetically enhanced beast to destroy de city of Tripoli, Manchester and his team made a bloody and rutheless job by murdering both the terrorist and their beast but also causing an immense collateral damage to the city and to the army of Tripoli wich ended with the lives of 2,000 soldiers. This first action got a high attention by thw world and The Elite became more and more popular. Manchester's murderous form of "justice" soon put him at odds with Superman. Very little is known about the Englishman include insinuations that he was abused both physically and sexually by his parents while growing up.
The Elite started to became more and more popular in the world as a contrast to the "less practical ways" of dealing with criminals that Superman and other heroes used. This caused confrontations with Superman and Manchester after the kriptonians witnesses how the Elite murders a group of japanese terrorist, after wich Superman confronts Manchester Black for their actions and Black's justifications for it.
These leed to more tension between them and ultimately Manchester challenges Superman to a fight to end the confrontation and determinate who's right. The Elite fights with Superman in one of Jupiter's moons, here the Elite brutally beats Superman, and believeing he's dead, Manchester reveals his true colours, showing that he actually wants to be at the top of the world and do whatever he wants with the wrong-doers. Then Superman used his superspeed to seemingly kill all the team members, then disabled the Englishman by using his x-ray vision to locate an unusual growth on Black's brain.
Black actually wept, hypocritically appalled that Superman had seemingly adopted the lethal tactics he and the Elite had spent so much time advocating. Superman then revealed that the rest of the Elite were only unconscious, he had not removed anything from Black's brain but only causing the equivalent of a concussion, and that murdering opponents makes a hero no better than his enemies. Furious, Black declared that by not killing him, Superman had guaranteed that as long as Black was alive, he would come after Superman again and again, but Superman calmly replied that he wouldn't want it any other way, and that dreams like the ones he gave to Earth were what made life worth living.
A temporarily beaten Black was taken into custody over the next few months. Black was hired by the American government and President Lex Luthor to lead a new Suicide Squad featuring Chemo, Plasmus, Shrapnel and Steel. The Squad's mission was to release the monster Doomsday against the threat of the galactic conqueror Imperiex. However, Doomsday apparently killed the Squad upon his release, with the exception of Black, who escaped after 'reprogramming' Doomsday's mind so that Doomsday's hatred for Superman was redirected towards the Imperiex probes for a time.
After the war, Black mentally controlling dozens of super-villains by revealing Superman's secret identity and sending them en masse after the Man of Steel. Superman manages to find Black in his apartment. Despite fantasizing about killing Black, Superman resists temptation and tells Black that he will devote the rest of his life to keeping the villain behind bars, not in the morgue.
Black was stunned as his spirit wavers. Distraught at the revelation that he had become a villain himself, Black made the supervillains forget that Superman is really Clark Kent, and then used his telekinetic powers to take his own life.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
Telekinesis: Manchester Black was an incredibly gifted telekinetic, and was capable of amazingly precise use of his telekinesis. He was able to give Superman the equivalent of a stroke, for example, by telekinetically pinching blood vessels in Superman's brain. He was also capable of doing this to his former comarade, Menagerie, giving her a stroke from miles away and leaving her in a vegetable state.
Telepathy: He can read and manipulate the minds of others and even higher order animals. He has demonstrated the following specialized uses:
Telepathic Defense: He can manifest his telepathy in a number of defensive ways.
Telepathic Cloak: He can mask his presence and the use of his abilities from being detected by other psions and psychic entities. He can extend these defenses to others around him as well. Cloaking via telepathy is not perfect and powerful telepaths may notice and 'see' through this ability.
Psionic Shield: Ability to erect a psychic shield for protection of himself and of others minds.
Telepathic Illusions: He can create realistic and very detailed illusions and cause people to experience events which are not actually occurring.
Telepathic Camouflage: He can alter the apparent physical appearance of himself and other people by altering the perceptions of those around him. This can go so far as to make other people believe that the camouflaged people are not there e.g. invisible.
Telepathic Manipulation: He can manipulate other people's minds easily, achieving a variety of effects.
Mind Control: He can control the thoughts and actions of others. Black could control thousands of minds at the same time. While controlling Bizarro and Silver Banshee, he was able to temporarily grant them enough sanity to enable them to communicate and form plans. He was able to switch Superman's and Bizarro's minds, putting both of their minds into each other's bodies.
Mental Paralysis: He can induce temporary mental or physical paralysis.
'Mental Amnesia: He can erase any awareness of particular memories or cause total amnesia.
Mental Sedating: Can telepathically "sedate" his victims so that, if already rendered unconscious, they remain so for as long as he continues to "sedate" them.
Psionic Blast: He can project psionic force bolts which have no physical effects but which can affect a victim's mind so as to cause the victim pain or unconsciousness and turning someone brain-dead.
Mental Detection: He can sense the presence of another superhuman within a small but as yet undefined radius of himself by perceiving the distinctive mental radiations emitted by such a being.
Other Media[]
Manchester Black appeared as the main antagonist in Superman vs. The Elite, voiced by Robin Atkin Downes as an adult and Grey Delisle as a young boy.
Manchester Black appeared in Lego Batman.
Manchester Black appeared as a major antagonist in Season 4 of Supergirl, portrayed by David Ajala.