Unimaginable (DC)
The Unimaginable is a comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
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Biography
Pre-Crisis
The Unimaginable was an extraterrestrial being whose existence began long ago on a far off distant world. A being of energy, he grew and matured to absolute perfection where he grew weary of life on his homeworld as he journeyed for new experiences to other planets. With the power of thought, he was able to travel through the stars where he was noted to had seen many strange and wonderful sights. His travels eventually led to him discovering the Justice League battle the creations of Kraad the Conqueror on the planet Aralax. In all his eons, the Unimaginable had never encountered beings as these heroes returned to Earth with the entity following them in secret. He continued to marvel at their adventures with him becoming exciting when the League was opening their membership to new individuals as they decided to offer Metamorpho a position among them. However, the Unimaginable decided to strike and force Metamorpho away from the role as he wanted to join the Justice League himself. He decided he wanted to belong to their team, and would prove himself by attacking Metamorpho, who they were considering offering membership to. The Justice League witnessed Metamorpho being thrashed and quickly came to his aid. Unimaginable then announced his presence and demanded membership. They turned him down flat, and in his anger he unleashed a group of his captive alien beings against them. The JLA prevailed and followed the Unimaginable back to his home planet. Green Lantern turned the other members of the League into energy form to combat Unimaginable within his own body. Unimaginable was caught off guard, and the League believed him destroyed. In reality, the Unimaginable transferred his mind into Dr. Bendorian, one of his captive aliens. He then simply bided his time, knowing that those members of the Justice League who had entered his body had contracted a lethal anti-body. When the League discovered they were affected by a space plague they returned to Unimaginable’s planet to try and find a cure. They met Dr. Bendorian who claimed he could cure them. Once inside Justice League headquarters, he began creating a machine that could wipe out human life on Earth, and created diversions in Seacoast City and Gotham City so the Justice League could not watch him too closely. When they returned he threatened to activate his deadly machine unless given membership in the team. He also gloated that the cure to the team’s ailment was simply complete rest. Fortunately Batman II had already guessed the truth about Bendorian and Flash used his super-speed to disconnect the machine. Superman knocked him out, and he awoke in an escape-proof container, trapped in the body of Bendorian and without any means of recharging his powers. (Justice League of America v1 #42)
This entity revealed itself as a powerful, formless being that could not exist without inhabiting a physical host. When it manifested, it approached the Justice League satellite, demanding membership in the League. The heroes, recognizing that the Unimaginable’s power was alien in scope and its motives unclear, denied its request. In response, the entity became enraged and demonstrated its abilities by unleashing vast destructive energy across space near the satellite, forcing the League into battle with it. The battle escalated when the Unimaginable attempted to prove its worth by overpowering individual members of the League. It restrained Superman by warping energy around him, immobilized Green Lantern by disrupting his ring’s constructs, and used raw force to send Flash and Black Canary hurling into the satellite walls. The Unimaginable then shifted its focus to the League’s headquarters itself, threatening to tear the satellite apart in order to compel their acceptance. However, Batman and Aquaman were able to coordinate a counterattack, distracting the entity long enough for Superman to break free and force the Unimaginable back into open space. Despite its immense power, the Unimaginable lacked control over its unstable form, and the League exploited this weakness. Green Lantern John Stewart, using his willpower and ring, generated a construct to contain the entity, while Wonder Woman lassoed its manifested body to hold it steady. The combination of magical restraint and Lantern energy caused the Unimaginable to lose cohesion, forcing it to disperse into the void. In its final words before dissipating, the being vowed to return, leaving the League with the realization that they had faced something beyond mortal comprehension. (Justice League of America v1 #153)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. The Unimaginable
Following Valor's arrival and imprisonment at Starlag II, a maximum-security prison under a red sun, the Blasters, a team of heroes, launched a rescue mission. During the escape attempt, the Blasters' intervention unintentionally led to the release of the immensely powerful cosmic entity, the Unimaginable, from its prison. The newly freed energy being immediately began to wreak havoc, its immense power threatening to completely destroy the prison and everyone on it. Valor, lacking his powers under the red sun, found himself caught between the prison's authority, led by Warden Kanjar Ru, and the unleashed power of the Unimaginable as the prison descended into chaos. (Valor v1 #6) The Unimaginable, having escaped its prison, attacks the Starlag II facility. It was revealed that Doctor Bendorion, who initially trapped the Unimaginable, was the entity itself in disguise. The Unimaginable revealed its control over inorganic matter and caused the red sun to go nova, threatening the system. Valor, with intermittent powers, escaped the collapsing prison and plots to confront the Unimaginable. (Valor v1 #7)
At some point, the Unimaginable was revealed to have been captured and held in containment by LexCorp. The entity came to find itself contained within a facility called Lockdown-6, where its presence was felt as a major threat that both Darkseid and the Okaarans were trying to exploit or destroy. (Supermen of America v2 #5)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. The Unimaginable
At some point, the Unimaginable came to find itself captured and contained in a laboratory that was hidden away on Earth in Canada's Yukon territory. Around this time, a Justice League team came to investigate the site due to mysterious disappearances in the area. This saw them uncovering the laboratory where the Unimaginable was being held. Upon its release, it possessed a sentient form that attacked the heroes. As the cosmic entity battled the Justice League, its near-infinite power was on full display where it began altering reality and threatening to overwhelm the heroes with its incomprehensible nature. The team ultimately managed to subdue the Unimaginable and contained it thus preventing it from causing any further chaos. (Justice League United v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, the Unimaginable was a shapeless form of light whose true form could not be conceived by normal beings as their eyes were unable to register the shape on their brains. (Justice League of America v1 #42) As a massive, shifting figure of alien energy, its form fluctuating between humanoid outlines and grotesque, monstrous shapes. It was usually depicted as a glowing mass of orange, yellow, and red energy, with jagged, flame-like protrusions radiating from its body. Its head-like feature often appeared with glaring eyes, though its form was never stable, constantly expanding and contracting as if it could not fully exist within physical reality. (Justice League of America #153)
In terms of personality, the Unimaginable was prideful, temperamental, and entitled. It believed that its raw power alone was sufficient justification for membership in the Justice League, showing little interest in ideals of justice or teamwork. When rejected, it reacted with fury and petulance, lashing out violently to prove its superiority. It demonstrated no empathy or understanding of the heroes’ values, caring only about recognition and validation of its strength. (Justice League of America v1 #153)
The Unimaginable's personality was defined by an insatiable boredom and a childish need for acceptance that curdles into petulant, cosmic-scale rage when denied. The entity, whose true form is beyond human comprehension, confesses to having lived for 'untold eons' and having grown 'bored' with existence. It was this ennui that led it to travel the cosmos, collecting bizarre alien life forms and eventually setting its sights on Earth and the Justice League. Instead of a malevolent or conquering force, the Unimaginable behaves more like an entitled child, demanding membership in the Justice League after observing their heroic feats. When Metamorpho refused membership and the League hesitated to admit the unknown entity, the Unimaginable's initial, albeit naive, desire for belonging warps into violent lashing out, seeing rejection as a personal insult. Its attacks on the heroes using its collected creatures and later by possessing a humanoid form are not motivated by true malice but by a tantrum-fueled need to prove its worth and power after being rebuffed. (Justice League of America v1 #42)
For much of his life, the Unimaginable had lived a lonely existence and had long desired new experiences to stave off his boredom. (Justice League of America v1 #42)
Bored with existence, the Unimaginable left its native planet and travelled through space, exploring several other worlds and gathering various life-forms along the way. (Justice League of America v1 #42)
Powers and abilities
In terms of abilities, the Unimaginable possessed tremendous energy-based powers. It could project blasts capable of staggering Superman, disrupt Green Lantern’s constructs, and manipulate its body into various destructive forms. Its unstable physiology gave it great offensive power but also created its greatest weakness, as maintaining cohesion required effort, and coordinated restraint could destabilize it. The entity’s capacity for destruction was vast, making it a threat to both individual heroes and the Justice League’s satellite headquarters. (Justice League of America v1 #153)
The strange energy life-form known only as the Unimaginable cannot be seen by human eyes, its real shape unknown. (Justice League of America v1 #42)
He was capable of speaking through telepathy with his voice talking directly into the brains of others. (Justice League of America v1 #42)
Such was his power and will that he was able to gain control of the energy of a Green Lantern Power Ring. (Justice League of America v1 #42)
Notes
- The Unimaginable was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky where it made its first appearance in Justice League of America v1 #42 (February, 1966).
Appearances
- Justice League of America v1: (1966)
External Links
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