Metahuman

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Metahumans
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Metahuman
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceInvasion! #1 (December 1988)
Created byShana
Characteristics
Place of originEarth
Inherent abilitiesVaries by individual

In

Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. In DC Comics, the term is used loosely in most instances to refer to any human or human-like being with extranormal powers and abilities, either cosmic, mutant, scientific, mystical, skill or technological in nature. A significant portion of these are normal human beings born with a genetic variant called the "metagene",[1]
which causes them to gain powers and abilities during freak accidents or times of intense psychological distress.

The term was first used as a reference to superheroes in 1986 by author George R. R. Martin, first in the Superworld role playing system, and then later in his Wild Cards series of novels.[citation needed]

DC Comics

The term was first used by a fictitious race of extraterrestrials known as the Dominators when they appeared in DC Comics' Invasion! mini-series in 1988.[2] The Dominators use this term to refer to any human native of the planet Earth with "fictional superhuman abilities". The prefix "meta-" simply means "beyond", denoting powers and abilities beyond human limits.[3] Metahuman may also relate to an individual who has exceeded what is known as "The Current Potential", meaning one's ability to move matter with mind (see Telekinesis).

Xenobrood

Before the White Martians arrived on Earth, Lord Vimana, the Vimanian overlord from the Xenobrood mini-series, claimed credit for the creation of the human race both normal and metahuman, due to their introduction of superpowered alien genetic matter into human germline DNA.[4] The Vimanians in the series forced their super powered worker drones to mate with humanity's ancestors Australopithecus afarensis (3 million years ago), and later Homo erectus (1.5 million years ago) in order to create a race of superpowered slaves.[5]

The metagene

The Invasion! miniseries provided a concept for why humans in the DC Universe would survive catastrophic events and develop superpowers. One of the Dominators discovered that select members of the human race had a "biological variant," which he called the metagene (also spelled "meta-gene"). This gene often lay dormant until an instant of extraordinary physical and emotional stress activates it. A "spontaneous chromosomal combustion" then takes place, as the metagene takes the source of the biostress – be it chemical, radioactive or whatever – and turns the potential catastrophe into a catalyst for "genetic change," resulting in metahuman abilities. DC does not use the "metagene concept" as a solid editorial rule, and few writers explicitly reference the metagene when explaining a character's origin.

DC also has characters born with superhuman abilities, suggesting the metagene can activate spontaneously and without any prior appearance in the ancestry. One well-known example involves Dinah Laurel Lance, the second Black Canary. Although her mother (Dinah Drake Lance, the original Black Canary) was a superhero, neither she nor her husband Larry Lance were born with any known metagenes. However, Dinah Laurel was born with a metagene, the infamous ultrasonic scream known as the Canary Cry.

The prefix

metamorphosis
, which is the state of going beyond a single shape. In the DC comic miniseries Invasion!, the Dominators point out that the metagene is contained inside every cell of the human body.

In the DC Comics universe, metahuman criminals are incarcerated in special metahuman prisons, like the prison built on Alcatraz Island, which is outfitted not only with provisions to hold criminals whose powers are

bloodstream that allow them to be located wherever they are.[6]

It is possible for individuals skilled in science and biology to manipulate, dampen or modify the activities of the metagene. During the Final Crisis, while the Dominators devised a Gene Bomb able to accelerate the metagene activity to the point of cellular and physical instabilities, an anti-metagene virus was spread as a last-ditch weapon in the invaded Checkmate quarters. This metavirus has the opposite effects of the Gene Bomb, curbing and shutting down the metagene and stripping the metahumans of their powers for an unspecified amount of time.[7]

White Martians

The genetic potential for a future metagene was discovered in ancient Homo sapiens' DNA (500,000 - 250,000 years ago) by the White Martian race. The White Martians performed experiments on these primitive humans, changing how the metahuman phenotype was expressed by the metagene.[8][9][10]

Due to their experiments, they altered the destiny of the human race. Whereas before, evolution would have eventually made mankind into a race of superhumans similar to the

Hyperclan was exiled to the Still Zone, a version of the Phantom Zone.[citation needed
]

Metavirus

The White Martians also created a metavirus, a metagene that could be passed from host to host via touch. This metavirus was responsible for the empowerment of the very first Son of Vulcan. From that time onwards, the Sons of Vulcan passed the metavirus down in an unbroken line, sworn to hunt and kill the White Martians.[10]

Population

The terms "meta" and "metahuman" do not refer only to humans born with biological variants.

OMACs consider alpha-, beta- and gamma-level threats. For example, Superman and Wonder Woman are categorized as alpha-level, while Metamorpho is considered a beta-level and the Ratcatcher
is considered a gamma-level. However, since the destruction of the Source Wall, the number of Alpha and Beta level metahumans, as well as the general metahuman population, were sharply increased by the new cosmic radiations affecting the universe.

Exo-gene

The

Everyman Project
, which creates metahuman abilities in compatible non-metahumans. It first appeared in 52 #4, with the first announcement of the Everyman Project in 52 #8. The project was controversial, creating unstable heroes that gave Luthor an "off switch" for their powers, creating countless mid-flight deaths.

Dark Nights: Metal

In Road to Dark Nights: Metal, the Joker revealed to Duke Thomas that the term "meta" originated from a rudimentary hospital program used to automatically flag Nth metal toxicity found in a person's bloodstream, similar to iron or zinc, the “meta” being short for the "metal" it detected. This natural toxicity is the "variant" that changes the individual's DNA results in the metagene and its various heightened abilities and powers.

The lineage of metahumans and their origins can be traced by this Nth Metal connection, dating all the way back to three tribes from the earliest known era of humanity; the Bird Tribe, the Wolf Tribe and the Bear Tribe.

When the Totality crashed to Earth and introduced the various forms of Heavy Metal and other mysterious forces into the world, The Bear tribe and Vandar Adg of the Wolf Tribe were the first ones to encounter the Totality. They were all mutated by the radiation of the Totality, granting them immortality and making them the world's earliest iteration of metahumans.

Marvel Comics

The word "metahuman" is often attributed to the DC Universe, while superhuman beings in the Marvel Universe are referred to as either mutants or mutates. However, both DC and Marvel Comics have made use of the term "metahuman" and "mutant" in their universes. The first use of the term 'metahuman' in the Marvel Universe occurred in New Mutants Annual #3, written by Chris Claremont, published in 1987, in which a Russian security officer describes the protagonists as "metahuman terrorists".[11]

Amalgam Comics

In the limited DC/Marvel Comics "Amalgam Comics" crossover event, in JLX #1 (April 1996) (combining DC's Justice League and Marvel's X-Men), metahumans are replaced with metamutants (a portmanteau of DC's metahumans and Marvel's mutants) who are said to carry a 'metamutant gene'.

In other media

Television

DC animated universe

In the

animated version of the DC universe, the term metahuman is used in the animated TV series Static Shock
.

Birds of Prey

On the television series Birds of Prey, metahumans included heroines the Huntress and Dinah Lance. New Gotham has a thriving metahuman underground, mostly made of metahumans who are trying to live their own lives, although a self-hating metahuman, Claude Morton (Joe Flanigan), tries to convince the police that all metahumans are evil. In Birds of Prey, metahumans are treated seemingly as a race or species; the Huntress is described as being "half-metahuman" on her mother's side.

Smallville

On the television series

kryptonite, which in the Smallville universe can turn people into superpowered "meteor freaks", often with psychotic side effects. For many seasons of Smallville, all superpowered people other than Kryptonians were so-called meteor freaks, but as the show went on, it began to explore further corners of the DC Universe. Non-kryptonite metahumans include the Smallville versions of Aquaman, the Flash, the Black Canary, and Zatanna
.

Young Justice

On the animated series

meteor which bestowed him a healing factor and super-intelligence on Mongolia during the Pleistocene
. Earth's metahumans, many Atlanteans, and all homo magi in Young Justice all trace their lineage to Savage.

Arrowverse

In the Arrowverse family of live-action shows, "metahuman" is used more narrowly than in the comics, typically referring to a human being who becomes transhuman and has uncanny abilities, often acquired following some kind of strange accident.

Gotham

In the television series Gotham, Professor Hugo Strange experiments with dead (and alive) bodies of criminals, Arkham Asylum patients, and civilians under the orders of the Court of Owls. There, Strange gives his victims superhuman abilities such as shapeshifting (Clayface), mind control (Fish Mooney) and super strength (Azrael). By the end of Season 2, Strange's victims escape and wreak havoc in the city. Throughout the series, the metahumans are commonly referred to as Strange's Monsters, simply Monsters (an allusion to the miniseries Dark Moon Rising: Batman & the Monster Men), or the Freaks from Indian Hill.

Film

DC Extended Universe

  • In
    Cyborg
    , all of whom he classifies as metahumans.
  • Metahumans also appear in the movie
    T.D.K (The Detachable Kid) and Polka-Dot Man
    .

See also

References

  1. ^ Burlingame, Russ (4 October 2014). "The Flash: What are Metahumans?". Comicbook.com. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  2. ^ "The Flash: What are Metahumans?". Comicbook.com. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  3. ^ "the definition of meta-". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  4. ^ Xenobrood, no. 6 (April 1995).
  5. ^ Xenobrood, no. 3-4 (January–February 1995).
  6. ^ Outsiders #12 (July 2004)
  7. ^ Final Crisis: Resist one-shot (2008)
  8. ^ JLA #4 (April 1997)
  9. ^ Martian Manhunter (vol. 2) #25-27 (December 2000-February 2001)
  10. ^ a b Son of Vulcan (vol. 2) #5 (December 2005)
  11. ^ New Mutants Annual, no. 3 (September 1987).

External links