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Wildebeest (character)

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Wildebeest is the name of different characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics .

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39-520: The first Wildebeest is a poacher, mercenary, and enemy of Chris King and Vicki Grant . The second Wildebeest is a supervillain and founder of the Wildebeest Society cartel. Although the Society has many members, only one operates publicly, creating the illusion that all of their crimes are committed by a single individual. After being possessed by the souls of Azarath, Jericho becomes the leader of

78-416: A metahuman child with the ability to transform into a wildebeest hybrid. Chris King and Vicki Grant Chris King and Vicki Grant are depicted as two featured duo characters from DC Comics within the series Dial H for Hero . They are portrayed as normal kids who can transform themselves as superheroes replacing Robby Reed during the 1980s. The second Dial H for Hero series debuted in

117-575: A "couple of years". The Wizard soon escaped and visited the Black Canary, exacting revenge on her for interfering with his second Injustice Society by granting the powers of a sonic scream to their baby daughter also named Dinah Lance. This girl eventually grew up to become the second Black Canary . The Wizard proceeded to form a new villainous organization known as the Crime Champions, which teamed up with their counterparts on Earth-1 to battle

156-508: A 'patriotic crime', steal a historical item, and the leader would be voted for by the American people. The Harlequin, as it turned out, was actually not a criminal at heart; she merely kept up the pretense to attract the attention of Green Lantern . The JSA were captured after being knocked out by the Sportsmaster's bomb and having their memories removed. Along with aspiring Justice Society member

195-664: A chamber in which they would soon be killed. However, their memories were restored again, by the Black Canary, and they captured their foes. In the late 1940s, the Wizard was contacted by Colonel Future to help get revenge on Earth-Two's Superman by removing him from existence and given the Glastonbury Wand, which had once belonged to Merlin and had been stolen by Future's henchmen. The Wizard accidentally eliminated only his memory of being Superman, but his Clark Kent identity remained. In 1950, Clark married Lois Lane ; Lois realized he

234-772: A new Injustice Society that includes the Icicle , the Tigress , Solomon Grundy , the Gentleman Ghost , the Rag Doll , and Johnny Sorrow and gained possession of the key to the Ghost Zone. In Infinite Crisis , the Wizard was again seen in the Secret Society of Super Villains . He showed up again fighting under the command of Johnny Sorrow as part of the Injustice Society . In

273-595: A proficient lama in the mystic arts of illusion and deception. Upon completion of his training, he proceeded to slay his master. Returning to the United States, he embarked on a career as a criminal magician . Believing that the Justice Society of America was merely a cover for a criminal organization, he first offered a reward of $ 1,000,000 to them in the paper under the alias W. I. Zard, later asking to join them. To prove to himself that they were not really criminals,

312-622: Is a magic-user who is a known enemy of the Justice Society of America , Superman of Earth-Two , and the Justice League of America . The Wizard was played by Joe Knezevich in the first season of the television series Stargirl for DC Universe and The CW network. The Wizard first appeared in All Star Comics #34 (April–May 1947) in the story titled "The Wiles of The Wizard" written by Gardner Fox with art by Irwin Hasen . In October 1947,

351-453: Is obsessed with the H-dials for reasons unknown for most of the series) who creates them from the cell samples of unknown people. While anyone could use Chris and Vicki's H-dials, they always turned the user into a hero, regardless of his or her personality; even The Master was temporarily made good by one. This fact has been ignored in later stories. On one occasion, a hero's persona overwhelmed

390-626: The Black Canary , the Harlequin soon freed the heroes and restored their memories with her hypnotic glasses. However, a subliminal message had been left to restore the members to their mindless state when they heard fingers snapping, allowing the Injustice Society to recapture them when they attempted to stop the crimes. The Wizard, during the crimes, stole the Freedom Train . The JSA were placed in

429-502: The DC Comics villain of the same name ), whom the Master thought he'd killed years before. In truth, The Wizard faked his death while he looked for the original Hero Dial. With it, he merges with The Master — and transforms into Robby Reed , who explains that years before, he had used the dial to split in two (dialing "S P L I T") so that he could disarm a dead man's switch, while his other self,

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468-452: The New England town of Fairfax in a "haunted house". These dials — disguised as a watch and a necklace — only have the letters H-E-R-O on them, and work only for an hour, after which they will not work for another hour. King and Grant begin protecting Fairfax from a number of menaces. Unknown to them, most of these villains are created by a mysterious villain known only as The Master (who

507-514: The Teen Titans , Chris rescued her in the following issue. Chris now finds that he changes into a new superhero every hour, without the dial, and remains that way until he expends an unspecified amount of energy. He decides to continue his superhero career, using a suit provided by S.T.A.R. Labs to monitor his changes. In Superboy and the Ravers #5 (January 1997), Hero Cruz finds Vicki's H-dial in

546-575: The Tigress ), the Harlequin III, and Hazard , to form the group Injustice Unlimited , the second incarnation of the Injustice Society, where they fought Infinity, Inc. and the Global Guardians . The Wizard was presumably killed by the second generation Hourman, Zard still had the trick of faking his death. Of course, this too was an illusion, and he had transported himself to the land of Faeries where he could recoup his power base. Once more, he

585-567: The 1970s, Zard and the other Injustice Society members invaded the Justice Society headquarters, severely injured Hourman and staged a crime spree that spanned the globe. They were later apprehended. Soon, he and the Injustice Society members went to Earth-1 to recruit younger villains to fight the Justice Society. The Wizard went there with the Fiddler, but once on Earth-1 he unexpectedly found that his sorcerer's powers began to weaken. Apparently,

624-693: The 1980s, in a special insert in Legion of Super-Heroes #272 (February 1981), then ran in Adventure Comics #479–490 and continued in New Adventures of Superboy #28–49; the duo also appeared alongside Superman in DC Comics Presents #44. The original writer and artist in the series were Marv Wolfman and Carmine Infantino . In this series, two other dials are discovered years later by teenagers Christopher "Chris" King and Victoria "Vicki" Grant of

663-589: The Crime Champions with the help of Johnny Thunder of Earth-1, but was once more defeated by the combined might of the JSA and JLA. He later appeared briefly during the JSA's trial before congress for allegations of misconduct during World War II, but was quickly defeated by Doctor Fate . Sometime later, he moved to Canada and joined with the Fiddler and the Shade as well as new villains the Icicle II, Artemis Crock (later called

702-512: The DC Universe following the end of the " DC Rebirth " brand, Wizard was seen as a member of the Injustice Society in the 1940s. The Wizard originally only knew the secrets of illusion , hypnosis and astral projection. In later times, he is a skilled magic user capable of performing various effects. Maybe his highest power degree was when he possessed the Wand of Glastonbury. He came into possession of

741-477: The J.L.A. in their headquarters with magic. On Earth-1 he battled Hawkman and Black Canary and was beaten again, before being finally defeated by Aquaman , Wonder Woman , and the Earth-2 Flash. Years later, he again reformed the Injustice Society which were temporarily victorious, enlisting the aid of extra-dimensional writer Cary Bates in killing several members of the J.S.A prior to their being revived. By

780-583: The Society and Justice League of America . The villains used a vibration device accidentally discovered by the Fiddler to escape to the other Earth after committing robberies. The Wizard escaped Green Lantern and Black Canary during a million-dollar robbery. He disguised himself as Doctor Alchemy using his magic and the rest of the Earth-2 criminals disguised themselves as the Earth-1 Crime Champions. He battled Superman and Green Arrow , and helped trap

819-602: The Titans. The members of the Wildebeest Society are master tacticians and wear strength-boosting exoskeletons, resembling a monstrous, humanoid version of their namesakes. The New Wildebeests are wildebeest hybrids who possess enhanced strength, while the Cybernetic Wildebeest is cybernetically enhanced. The Teen Titans animated series incarnation of Wildebeest appears in Teen Titans Go! (2004), which reveals him to be

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858-409: The U.S. government while leading an army of prison escapees, taking control of a portion of the American midwest, and collectively they captured their heroic counterparts, with the Wizard capturing Wonder Woman and Johnny Thunder . However, Green Lantern was able to outwit Brainwave who believed him to be dead after he fell into a ravine, though his power ring saved him at the last moment, and free

897-711: The Wildebeest Society and creates host bodies for the souls to inhabit. Among his creations are Pantha and Baby Wildebeest, who join the Titans. While the Titans are affected by Klarion the Witch Boy 's aging spell, the demonic supervillain Goth creates upgraded versions of the Wildebeests who resemble human-wildebeest hybrids. An unnamed old man later tames some of the Wildebeests to protect his town. A separate Wildebeest created by Project M and enhanced with Cyborg 's technology kidnaps Starfire and Tim Drake before being defeated by

936-658: The Wizard appeared as part of a reformed Secret Society of Super Villains looking to avenge themselves against the forced erasure of their memories. Aided by Felix Faust , they attacked the Daily Planet , and were stopped once again by the Justice League. After defeating Despero at Wayne Manor, the League was disbanded and Zatanna re-wiped the memories of all six Society members. He has since appeared in JSA: Classified as part of

975-489: The Wizard attempted several criminal acts which were thwarted one by one by members of the Society. Realizing his misconception, he tried to destroy them with his illusions, but was stopped by Doctor Mid-Nite 's blackout bomb. The Wizard helped to form the Injustice Society with Per Degaton , Vandal Savage , Thinker , Gambler , and Brain Wave , which engineered five jailbreaks. Each member proceeded to steal some key item from

1014-676: The Wizard reformed the Secret Society and tricked them into obtaining four magical relics: the Cloak of Invisibility, the Power Glove, the Power Stone, and the Dragon Box. Unable to control the Dragon Box, the members of the Society were captured, but the Wizard incorporated the remaining three items into his new costume. The Wizard led the Secret Society back to Earth-2 in a plot to capture the JSA, which

1053-416: The Wizard was driven to create the new H-dials, unconsciously designing limitations into them to prevent what happened to Robby from recurring (only heroic identities, a time limit, and the exclusion of letters other than H-E-R-O; the latter, however, did not prevent Chris from experimenting on one occasion and dialing H-O-R-R-O-R, with disastrous results ). With Nick developing the ability to actively influence

1092-468: The Wizard was one of the six original members of the Injustice Society, who began battling the Justice Society of America in All Star Comics #37 (October 1947). Born in approximately 1913, William Asmodeus Zard grew up living a life of crime. As a gun man for various crime bosses, he ultimately ended up in jail. With the passage of time, he formulated a strategy to become a specialized kingpin. To accomplish this task, he moved to Tibet and trained under

1131-528: The Wizard, defeated the villain who set it. However, the Wizard carried all of Robby's inherent goodness, while the Robby that remained possessed only evil impulses; the original Hero Dial was lost when this Robby, renaming himself The Master, dialed "hide yourself", causing the dial to vanish along with The Master's and The Wizard's memories of their former life as Robby Reed. While The Master learned genetic techniques that allowed him to create his army of super-villains,

1170-508: The dial that while Vicki changed into useful heroes with applicable powers, Chris's powers tended to be obscure and not particularly useful to defeat his opponent, such as when he changed into a super hero that could duplicate things and he outright began complaining about his useless ability. Indeed, it was that issue where Vicki showed Chris to think "outside the box" and use his temporary gifts creatively so they could be useful, at which point he helped defeat that issue's bad guy. Once this lesson

1209-573: The dials' results (rather than subconsciously as before), Robby passes his dial to Nick, and retires as a hero. In New Teen Titans #45 (June 1988), Victoria and Chris' history after the end of their series is revealed. After the two teens graduated from high school Vicki was recruited to join a cult called the Children of the Sun, where she was physically and mentally abused, deranging her. She sought out her former partner Chris in order to kill him. With help from

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1248-492: The heroic Chris' own personality; as "Ragnarok, the Cosmic Viking", he possessed no awareness of Chris King's memories and acted with disregard for others' property and safety, going so far as to threaten police officers and swat away Vicki (as the miniature heroine "Pixie") when she attempted to talk him down, failing to recognize her as an ally. On a side note, it was a matter of contention with Chris when he first started using

1287-498: The lair of Scavenger , and uses it to gain superpowers. A still deranged Vicki returns in issue #13 (September 1997) to get her dial back from Hero, but she regains her sanity once she uses the device. She is last seen in the care of the Forces, a family of metahumans. Wizard (DC Comics) The Wizard is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . He

1326-462: The rest by impersonating the Thinker who he had captured, who was acting as a judge in the 'trial' of the JSA, where the Wizard was acting as prosecutor. The Wizard's escape was circumvented by some junior fans of the JSA. The Wizard proceeded to escape prison once more and reformed his gang with new members Icicle , Fiddler , Sportsmaster , Huntress , and Harlequin . Each member would try and commit

1365-480: The travel from Earth-2 to Earth-1 caused the effect; the reverse happened with the Phantom Lady , who gained intangibility power when she traveled from Earth-X to Earth-1. On Earth-1, the Wizard joins Darkseid 's Secret Society of Super Villains , which he later took over with other villains who revolted. The Wizard was later apprehended and sent to jail, where his powers largely faded. After escaping from prison,

1404-422: Was Superman after seeing evidence of his invulnerability. Lois found the Wizard, who was now homeless and unable to perform acts of magic due to his shattered confidence at not being believed that he was responsible for Superman's disappearance. She convinced him to restore Superman's memory, after which the Wizard was happy to be sent to jail because he was now publicly known to have successfully removed Superman for

1443-576: Was a success when they captured the Atom , Doctor Mid-Nite , and Mr. Terrific . The JSA were alerted and defeated them. In Justice League of America #166–168 (1979), Wizard, Professor Zoom , Floronic Man , Blockbuster , and Star Sapphire switch bodies with members of the JLA and learn their secret identities. Identity Crisis reveals that Zatanna erased the villains' knowledge after their defeat. The Wizard later returned to Earth-2, once again reassembling

1482-611: Was defeated by an assemblage of heroes and by his own ego. The Wizard appeared in the JSA All-Stars miniseries in which he disguised himself as the villain Legacy and captured the elder members of the Justice Society. He was then "killed" by the Spectre. Shortly after Identity Crisis , Despero gave the surviving Secret Society members their memories back. In the JLA story, "Crisis of Conscience",

1521-419: Was learned, Chris's super-hero changes became more relevant to the situation, but no explanation was given as to why this was. Eventually Chris and Vicki discover that a fellow student named Nick Stevens has been drawing up superheroes as a hobby — and somehow, the dials turn them into those heroes. With Nick's help, they find out that their dials were created by a being called The Wizard (not to be confused with

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