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Red King (comics)
Encyclopedia
The Red King is a fictional supervillain
published by DC Comics
. He first appeared in JLA Secret Files 2004
# 1 (November 2004), and was created by Dan Slott
and Dan Jurgens
.
during a battle between the Justice League
and Doctor Destiny
. After the defeat of Doctor Destiny on the dreamplane, the Materioptikon gem on his chest sucks him inside and falls at the feet of Darrin Profitt's dreamself. Doctor Destiny's physical body is rendered catatonic and the Justice League wake up, the Martian Manhunter
turns Destiny's body over to the custody of Arkham Asylum
. Darrin Profitt discovers that the gem is in his possession, and is accidentally sucked inside the artifact where he meets Doctor Destiny's trapped consciousness
.
According to Doctor Destiny, the Materioptikon has the ability to reshape reality, but it is flawed, anyone who enters the gem automatically generates multiple physical copies from multiple possible universes
, splitting that person up among these universes. Also according to Doctor Destiny space and time was never meant to do this, using the gem in this fashion threatens the spacetime continuum
. Destiny created special tools that re-integrate his own multiples and those of anyone else who enters the gem. In order to return to the real world without damaging reality, and generating any more dangerous alternate universe
s, Destiny stated that he had to repair all six billion flaws in the gem. Every time he repaired a flaw, he destroyed one of many possible universes and in all of them his body remained catatonic and dreaming in Arkham Asylum. Profitt overpowers Destiny and traps him in a facet of the gem, he then creates a few duplicates of himself using Doctor Destiny's tools and sends them out to place a bet at the race track
and then invest that money in stocks, both the winners and losers return to the gem and report their results, he then uses the favorable results in his own reality. According to Doctor Destiny he endangered all of reality, all of Space and Time so that he could win a bet at the track.
Darrin uses the parallel
s to create favorable outcomes one by sending his duplicates into a Parallel to test for a specific outcome, if they failed he deletes that Parallel, if they succeed he uses their solution. Darrin used the billions he'd made from manipulating the stock market
via the Parallels to become a billionaire philanthropist and playboy.
in case the Justice League Watchtower
is compromised, telepathic shields, satellites for tracking metahumans
, cutting edge weapons and armor to take down H.I.V.E.
cells, strategies for defeating alien invaders, renegade Green Lantern
s, rampaging Bizarro
s, and rogue speedsters
, countermeasure
s against Themyscira
n magic in the event of an Amazon Attack, plans to construct and defuse theoretical Doomsday
devices, and ways to isolate reproduce and implant the metagene
in ordinary humans. The parallel Red Kings share their knowledge and in the end the Darrin Profitts of the three final realities of the Materioptikon don their liquid metal Red King armor and set out to conquer their realities. According to Profitt his three-to-one chances for success are very good odds. Profitt secretly kept a fourth Parallel hidden from Doctor Destiny in the event that the three Red Kings failed, this fourth Parallel's Profitt wore a different costume and called himself Fallback. This Profitt had a world in which he never changed anything from his life, and lived in the same state as he was before Doctor Destiny's battle, serving as a "reset switch" that would allow Profitt to go back to his beginnings if something failed. He was executed by another Red King, who had no interest in becoming a loser again.
s towards Earth. The unexpected kinetic bombardment
wipes Keystone City
and Central City
off the map, killing the entire population of both cities along with Batman and Plastic Man. The Red King (3) injects Superman with a newly created Bizarro virus
that rapidly mutates him taking away his intellect. He then taps into the JLA Satellite's teleporter
and scatters the League around the planet. He hits Wally West with a beam that takes away his protective aura, so that the very act of running damages him faster than his Healing Factor
can keep up with. He then beheads Wonder Woman, crushes the Flash's chest, and smashes John Stewart. He then defeats an assembly of responding heroes including the Justice Society of America
, Booster Gold
and Doctor Fate
, all of whom he refers to as "a collection of second stringers, benchwarmers and amateurs". He heads to Metropolis and calls out Superman, who can no longer think clearly due to the Bizarro virus. He is then blindsided by Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman in an attack co-ordinated by the Martian Manhunter who had faked their deaths, and assisted by Superman. Impatient and angry the Red King (3) releases a massive blast wave which vaporizes all the remaining League members leaving only the Batman who was apparently the Martian Manhunter masquerading as the dead hero. The Red King (3) incinerates the Martian Manhunter, and then sits in the ruins of Metropolis until nightfall. According to his assistant his blast wave
destroyed every city on the planet and no one will ever trust him. The Red King (3) abandons that reality and then erases it from the Materioptikon.
In the Second Parallel, the Red King (2) projects a hologram above the city of Metropolis
demanding the unconditional surrender
of all Earth's governments or else he will trigger a Doomsday device and destroy the planet. During the middle of his speech the device prematurely activates apparently killing him, and the hologram disappears. Superman and the League discover that they have ninety-eight hours to evacuate the Earth. Superman
, Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter
and Wonder Woman
use their powers and advanced Kryptonian technology to terraform Mars. The Martian Manhunter links Wonder Woman's mind to that of everyone on Earth so she can tell them of the coming evacuation
. Superman puts every criminal on Earth into the Phantom Zone
. The Flash (Wally West
) and Plastic Man
collect samples of every plant on Earth. Aquaman
and John Stewart move most of Earth's ocean
s and sea life to the newly terraformed Mars. Wonder Woman talks earth's animals into peacefully co-existing on an alien "Interstellar Ark
" until they get to Mars. Superman and Ray Palmer use White Dwarf Star Matter to shrink fifty-eight of Earth's most important cities and place them in bottles like Kandor
, including Metropolis but not Central City
or Keystone City
. A fleet of alien ships summoned by the Green Lantern Corps
help evacuate the planet but not everyone makes it off, Batman apparently dies as the planet explodes while confronting the Red King (2) near the center of the Earth, just before he dies Profitt apologizes for his mistake. Back on Mars, Batman returns alive with Profitt and his main accomplice; he then informs the League of what they need to do in order to stop the other Red Kings and do it before one of the other Red Kings erase their reality.
on two separate occasions, after the second battle he is invited to become a member by Superman. Red King (1) begins to have a light romantic relationship with Wonder Woman that blooms once she learns he is Profitt (which in this Parallel was solving world hunger and had already known her for sometime). When Superman expressed some concern that Red King (1) possessed too much power for any one person, Green Lantern (John Stewart
), stated that Red King (1)
“probably wouldn’t even bother”
working with the League if it wasn’t for Wonder Woman. The Martian Manhunter stated that he couldn’t read his mind, but Red King (1) genuinely seemed to care for Wonder Woman and she trusted him, so they decided they should trust him as well. This Parallel's League soon learned of the truth behind the Red King (1) when Batman learned the comatose Doctor Destiny had been repeating his name over and over; Dee then awakened and told him the truth about the Parallels, and ultimately the JLA attacked Profitt. Red King (1) defended himself but made an effort to solve the situation without violence, (asking them to surrender) but just then the third Parallel’s Red King (3) arrived and demanded to merge Red King (1). Red King (1) refused saying that he had changed his mind, but the other Red King (3) forced the merge regardless.
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
published by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. He first appeared in JLA Secret Files 2004
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
# 1 (November 2004), and was created by Dan Slott
Dan Slott
Dan Slott is an American comic book writer best known for The Amazing Spider-Man, Arkham Asylum: Living Hell and She-Hulk. He is the current writer of the twice monthly The Amazing Spider-Man.-Early writing:...
and Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens is an American comic book writer and artist. He is best known for creating the superhero Booster Gold, and for his lengthy runs on the Superman titles Adventures of Superman and Superman , particularly during The Death of Superman storyline...
.
Publication history
The Red King's first historical appearance was in JLA Secret Files 2004 #1 (November 2004), setup to tie into an arc in the main JLA book. But the 4th Parallel arc in which he is introduced was shelved for three years until JLA Classified #32-36 which were published bi-weekly in January, February and March 2007.Fictional character biography
Darrin Profitt just happened to be one of six billion innocent bystanders in the dreamscapeLucid dreaming
A lucid dream is a dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming. The term was coined by the Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik van Eeden . In a lucid dream, the dreamer can actively participate in and manipulate imaginary experiences in the dream environment. Lucid dreams can seem real and...
during a battle between the Justice League
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
and Doctor Destiny
Doctor Destiny
Doctor Destiny is a fictional supervillain published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Justice League of America Vol. 1 #5 , and was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky.- Fictional character biography :...
. After the defeat of Doctor Destiny on the dreamplane, the Materioptikon gem on his chest sucks him inside and falls at the feet of Darrin Profitt's dreamself. Doctor Destiny's physical body is rendered catatonic and the Justice League wake up, the Martian Manhunter
Martian Manhunter
The Martian Manhunter is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in publications published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in Detective Comics #225...
turns Destiny's body over to the custody of Arkham Asylum
Arkham Asylum
The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, commonly referred to simply as Arkham Asylum, is a fictional psychiatric hospital in the DC Comics Universe, usually appearing in stories featuring Batman...
. Darrin Profitt discovers that the gem is in his possession, and is accidentally sucked inside the artifact where he meets Doctor Destiny's trapped consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
.
According to Doctor Destiny, the Materioptikon has the ability to reshape reality, but it is flawed, anyone who enters the gem automatically generates multiple physical copies from multiple possible universes
Multiverse (DC Comics)
The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and...
, splitting that person up among these universes. Also according to Doctor Destiny space and time was never meant to do this, using the gem in this fashion threatens the spacetime continuum
Spacetime Continuum
Jonah Sharp alias Spacetime Continuum is a producer of electronic music. After starting his musical career as a jazz drummer in London, UK, he moved to San Francisco, USA. During the 1990s Sharp released a series of albums on the Astralwerks record label...
. Destiny created special tools that re-integrate his own multiples and those of anyone else who enters the gem. In order to return to the real world without damaging reality, and generating any more dangerous alternate universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
s, Destiny stated that he had to repair all six billion flaws in the gem. Every time he repaired a flaw, he destroyed one of many possible universes and in all of them his body remained catatonic and dreaming in Arkham Asylum. Profitt overpowers Destiny and traps him in a facet of the gem, he then creates a few duplicates of himself using Doctor Destiny's tools and sends them out to place a bet at the race track
Race track
A race track is a purpose-built facility for racing of animals , automobiles, motorcycles or athletes. A race track may also feature grandstands or concourses. Some motorsport tracks are called speedways.A racetrack is a permanent facility or building...
and then invest that money in stocks, both the winners and losers return to the gem and report their results, he then uses the favorable results in his own reality. According to Doctor Destiny he endangered all of reality, all of Space and Time so that he could win a bet at the track.
Darrin uses the parallel
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
s to create favorable outcomes one by sending his duplicates into a Parallel to test for a specific outcome, if they failed he deletes that Parallel, if they succeed he uses their solution. Darrin used the billions he'd made from manipulating the stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
via the Parallels to become a billionaire philanthropist and playboy.
Becoming the King
Due to boredom and in answer to a challenge posed by Doctor Destiny, he used the Parallels to acquire technology capable of defeating the Justice League and conquering the world. Under the guise of altruism his alternates prompt the scientists of their worlds to develop protocols for jamming JLA teleportersJustice League Satellite
The Justice League Satellite is the name of two fictional locations, both of which were used as bases of operations for the DC Comics superhero team the Justice League of America.-First satellite:...
in case the Justice League Watchtower
Justice League Watchtower
The Watchtower is the name of various bases used by the Justice League of America in DC Comics and various other media. It has been portrayed in DC comics as a building on Earth's moon, and as a space-station in orbit in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon.The Watchtower debuted in JLA #4 during...
is compromised, telepathic shields, satellites for tracking metahumans
The OMAC Project
The OMAC Project is a six issue American comic book limited series written by Greg Rucka with art by Jesus Saiz and published by DC Comics in 2005.-Overview:...
, cutting edge weapons and armor to take down H.I.V.E.
H.I.V.E.
The H.I.V.E., which stands for the Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination, is a DC Comics supervillain organization.-1st Incarnation:...
cells, strategies for defeating alien invaders, renegade Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
s, rampaging Bizarro
Bizarro
Bizarro is a fictional character that appears in publications published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman and first appeared in Superboy #68...
s, and rogue speedsters
Speedster (comics)
A speedster is a fictional character in superhero fiction, particularly comic books, whose primary power is the superhuman ability to perform physical and/or mental acts at impossibly high speeds. The most recognizable such superhero is the Flash...
, countermeasure
Countermeasure
A countermeasure is a measure or action taken to counter or offset another one. As a general concept it implies precision, and is any technological or tactical solution or system designed to prevent an undesirable outcome in the process...
s against Themyscira
Themyscira
Themyscira is a fictional island nation in the DC Comics universe that is the place of origin of Wonder Woman and her sister Amazons. Known as Paradise Island since Wonder Woman and the island's first appearance in All Star Comics #8 , it was renamed "Themyscira" with the character's February...
n magic in the event of an Amazon Attack, plans to construct and defuse theoretical Doomsday
Eschatology
Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...
devices, and ways to isolate reproduce and implant the metagene
Metahuman
Metahuman is a term to describe superhumans in DC Comics' shared universe, the DC Universe. It is roughly synonymous with both mutant and mutate and posthuman in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. Use of the term in reference to superheroes was coined in 1986 by author George R. R...
in ordinary humans. The parallel Red Kings share their knowledge and in the end the Darrin Profitts of the three final realities of the Materioptikon don their liquid metal Red King armor and set out to conquer their realities. According to Profitt his three-to-one chances for success are very good odds. Profitt secretly kept a fourth Parallel hidden from Doctor Destiny in the event that the three Red Kings failed, this fourth Parallel's Profitt wore a different costume and called himself Fallback. This Profitt had a world in which he never changed anything from his life, and lived in the same state as he was before Doctor Destiny's battle, serving as a "reset switch" that would allow Profitt to go back to his beginnings if something failed. He was executed by another Red King, who had no interest in becoming a loser again.
Third Parallel
In the Third Parallel the Red King (3) uses one of his uncounted metahuman abilities to direct a swarm of meteorMETEOR
METEOR is a metric for the evaluation of machine translation output. The metric is based on the harmonic mean of unigram precision and recall, with recall weighted higher than precision...
s towards Earth. The unexpected kinetic bombardment
Kinetic bombardment
A kinetic bombardment is the act of attacking a planetary surface with an inert projectile, where the destructive force comes from the kinetic energy of the projectile impacting at very high velocities...
wipes Keystone City
Keystone City
Keystone City is a fictional city in the . Specifically, it is the home of both the original Flash, Jay Garrick, and the third Flash, Wally West...
and Central City
Central City (DC Comics)
Central City is a fictional city that appears in stories published by DC Comics, and is the home of the Silver Age version of the Flash, Barry Allen. It first appeared in Showcase #4 in September-October 1956.-Location:...
off the map, killing the entire population of both cities along with Batman and Plastic Man. The Red King (3) injects Superman with a newly created Bizarro virus
Bizarro
Bizarro is a fictional character that appears in publications published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman and first appeared in Superboy #68...
that rapidly mutates him taking away his intellect. He then taps into the JLA Satellite's teleporter
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
and scatters the League around the planet. He hits Wally West with a beam that takes away his protective aura, so that the very act of running damages him faster than his Healing Factor
Healing factor
A healing factor is a term used to describe the ability of some characters in fiction to recover from bodily injuries or disease at a superhuman rate...
can keep up with. He then beheads Wonder Woman, crushes the Flash's chest, and smashes John Stewart. He then defeats an assembly of responding heroes including the Justice Society of America
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
, Booster Gold
Booster Gold
Booster Gold is a fictional DC Comics superhero. Created by Dan Jurgens, he first appeared in Booster Gold #1 and has been a member of the Justice League, DC Comics' all-star team of heroes. The character is initially depicted as a glory-seeking showboat from the future, using knowledge of...
and Doctor Fate
Doctor Fate
Doctor Fate is the name of a succession of fictional sorcerers who appear in books published by DC Comics. The original version was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, and first appeared in More Fun Comics #55...
, all of whom he refers to as "a collection of second stringers, benchwarmers and amateurs". He heads to Metropolis and calls out Superman, who can no longer think clearly due to the Bizarro virus. He is then blindsided by Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman in an attack co-ordinated by the Martian Manhunter who had faked their deaths, and assisted by Superman. Impatient and angry the Red King (3) releases a massive blast wave which vaporizes all the remaining League members leaving only the Batman who was apparently the Martian Manhunter masquerading as the dead hero. The Red King (3) incinerates the Martian Manhunter, and then sits in the ruins of Metropolis until nightfall. According to his assistant his blast wave
Blast wave
A blast wave in fluid dynamics is the pressure and flow resulting from the deposition of a large amount of energy in a small very localised volume. The flow field can be approximated as a lead shock wave, followed by a 'self-similar' subsonic flow field. In simpler terms, a blast wave is an area of...
destroyed every city on the planet and no one will ever trust him. The Red King (3) abandons that reality and then erases it from the Materioptikon.
Second Parallel
Metropolis (comics)
Metropolis is a fictional city that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is the home of Superman. Metropolis first appeared by name in Action Comics #16 ....
demanding the unconditional surrender
Unconditional surrender
Unconditional surrender is a surrender without conditions, in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party. In modern times unconditional surrenders most often include guarantees provided by international law. Announcing that only unconditional surrender is acceptable puts psychological...
of all Earth's governments or else he will trigger a Doomsday device and destroy the planet. During the middle of his speech the device prematurely activates apparently killing him, and the hologram disappears. Superman and the League discover that they have ninety-eight hours to evacuate the Earth. Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter
Martian Manhunter
The Martian Manhunter is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in publications published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in Detective Comics #225...
and Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
use their powers and advanced Kryptonian technology to terraform Mars. The Martian Manhunter links Wonder Woman's mind to that of everyone on Earth so she can tell them of the coming evacuation
Emergency evacuation
Emergency evacuation is the immediate and rapid movement of people away from the threat or actual occurrence of a hazard. Examples range from the small scale evacuation of a building due to a bomb threat or fire to the large scale evacuation of a district because of a flood, bombardment or...
. Superman puts every criminal on Earth into the Phantom Zone
Phantom Zone
The Phantom Zone is a fictional prison dimension featured in the Superman comic books and related media published by DC Comics. It first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 , and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp...
. The Flash (Wally West
Wally West
The Flash is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first Kid Flash and the third Flash....
) and Plastic Man
Plastic Man
Plastic Man is a fictional comic-book superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Cole, he first appeared in Police Comics #1 ....
collect samples of every plant on Earth. Aquaman
Aquaman
Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...
and John Stewart move most of Earth's ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
s and sea life to the newly terraformed Mars. Wonder Woman talks earth's animals into peacefully co-existing on an alien "Interstellar Ark
Interstellar ark
An interstellar ark is a conceptual space vehicle that some have speculated could be used for interstellar travel. The concept was first developed by Dr...
" until they get to Mars. Superman and Ray Palmer use White Dwarf Star Matter to shrink fifty-eight of Earth's most important cities and place them in bottles like Kandor
Kandor
Kandor is the name of the former capital city of the fictional planet Krypton in the DC Universe. It is best known for being stolen and miniaturized by the supervillain Brainiac...
, including Metropolis but not Central City
Central City (DC Comics)
Central City is a fictional city that appears in stories published by DC Comics, and is the home of the Silver Age version of the Flash, Barry Allen. It first appeared in Showcase #4 in September-October 1956.-Location:...
or Keystone City
Keystone City
Keystone City is a fictional city in the . Specifically, it is the home of both the original Flash, Jay Garrick, and the third Flash, Wally West...
. A fleet of alien ships summoned by the Green Lantern Corps
Green Lantern Corps
The Green Lantern Corps is the name of a fictional intergalactic military/police force appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They patrol the farthest reaches of the DC Universe at the behest of the Guardians, a race of immortals residing on the planet Oa...
help evacuate the planet but not everyone makes it off, Batman apparently dies as the planet explodes while confronting the Red King (2) near the center of the Earth, just before he dies Profitt apologizes for his mistake. Back on Mars, Batman returns alive with Profitt and his main accomplice; he then informs the League of what they need to do in order to stop the other Red Kings and do it before one of the other Red Kings erase their reality.
First Parallel
This attempt to take over a Parallel by the Red King (1) begins well, the plan being to be asked and allowed to rule the world rather than to take it by force. This version helps the JLA defeat a newly empowered version of the Royal Flush GangRoyal Flush Gang
The Royal Flush Gang or RFG are fictional characters in DC Comics. They first appeared in Justice League of America #43 in March 1966 under the leadership of Professor Amos Fortune.-History:...
on two separate occasions, after the second battle he is invited to become a member by Superman. Red King (1) begins to have a light romantic relationship with Wonder Woman that blooms once she learns he is Profitt (which in this Parallel was solving world hunger and had already known her for sometime). When Superman expressed some concern that Red King (1) possessed too much power for any one person, Green Lantern (John Stewart
John Stewart (comics)
John Stewart is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 2, #87 , and was created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams.-Publication history:...
), stated that Red King (1)
“probably wouldn’t even bother”
working with the League if it wasn’t for Wonder Woman. The Martian Manhunter stated that he couldn’t read his mind, but Red King (1) genuinely seemed to care for Wonder Woman and she trusted him, so they decided they should trust him as well. This Parallel's League soon learned of the truth behind the Red King (1) when Batman learned the comatose Doctor Destiny had been repeating his name over and over; Dee then awakened and told him the truth about the Parallels, and ultimately the JLA attacked Profitt. Red King (1) defended himself but made an effort to solve the situation without violence, (asking them to surrender) but just then the third Parallel’s Red King (3) arrived and demanded to merge Red King (1). Red King (1) refused saying that he had changed his mind, but the other Red King (3) forced the merge regardless.
Downfall
Though he had stayed clear of the core reality, the Justice League indigenous to the Second Parallel realize its existence, the truth about their own being nothing but a facet in the Materioptikon, and the fact that the Second Parallel had to be destroyed to protect the core reality. However, to counter this, the Second Parallel Justice League retrieved their own Materioptikon from their reality's defeated Red King; using the power of the stone, they sent their reality's Plastic Man over to other reality to communicate with their selves in there to do battle with that reality's Red King. This Plastic Man ended in the First Parallel after releasing Doctor Destiny in the hub world of the Materioptikon, where he posed as a bomb similar to the one which destroyed the Earth in the Second Parallel. The Red King (3) was cornered into the JLA's base in the moon, where he was duped into believing the bomb would kill him if he could not defeat the entire Justice League in under a minute, with time to get away clear of the blast. With the Martian Manhunter manipulating his emotions, he had no escape, and was tricked by the First Parallel's League into a vortex to the core reality generated by the First Parallel's Materioptikon. That reality's Wonder Woman crushed the stone, destroying the link between the final Parallel and the Materioptikon and sealing Profitt within the core reality's Materioptikon, where Destiny's dreamself, free to roam to his leisure, prepares to torture the Red King with his now omnipotent powers, having sealed all of the gem's flaws and completing it as the true Materioptikon.Powers and abilities
- According to JLA Classified #35 he has over 63 different metahumanMetahumanMetahuman is a term to describe superhumans in DC Comics' shared universe, the DC Universe. It is roughly synonymous with both mutant and mutate and posthuman in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. Use of the term in reference to superheroes was coined in 1986 by author George R. R...
abilities including electrokinesis and cryokinesis. - Using Doctor Destiny's Materioptikon Darrin is able to create mathematically modeled parallel earths. He is able to generate a finite number of Parallels, parallel universes generated by the Materioptikon but based on his home reality. Profitt uses the parallels as elaborate mathematical modelMathematical modelA mathematical model is a description of a system using mathematical concepts and language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed mathematical modeling. Mathematical models are used not only in the natural sciences and engineering disciplines A mathematical model is a...
s, testbeds to determine favorable outcomes for his plans. Since the Materioptikon's power comes from the absorbed dream energy of six billion humans, every use of this power diminishes the number of available Parallels that can be generated and maintained; Profitt was unaware of this until he had destroyed all but four of the Parallels. - As the Red King he also wears a suit of high tech armor which incorporates technology solutions gathered from dozens of parallels designed to defeat individual members of the Justice League; as noted by Superman, he had the necessary strength to defeat all of them in the long term.
- As Fallback he might have had powers, but was unable to use them as another Red King killed him before he could demonstrate them.