Tharok
| Tharok | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Adventure Comics #352 (January 1967) |
| Created by | Jim Shooter |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Sheldon Calden |
| Team affiliations |
Fatal Five Legion of Super-Villains |
| Abilities | Left side of Tharok's body is mechanical, providing him with enhanced strength and intelligence |
Tharok is a DC Comics supervillain and an enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes. He is the leader of the Fatal Five. Tharok and the Fatal Five were introduced in Adventure Comics #352 (January 1967), and were created by Jim Shooter.
Tharok is a small-time crook, who tries to impress his bosses by stealing a small nuclear device. It detonates unexpectedly when the local police fire on him, vaporizing one-half of his body. The people of his world, holding life sacred, rebuilt him using robotic parts. This boosted his intelligence dramatically, but left his evil tendencies unchecked. In his early appearances he wore clothing that only covered the organic half of his body. Tharok's cyborg brain also allowed him to control Validus, the mindless monster member of the Fatal Five.
One of the Fatal Five's main attempts to defeat the Legion was masterminded by the Dark Man, the being who organized several teenage refugees from the planet Dryad into the League of Super-Assassins. During this time period, it was revealed that the Dark Man was actually a clone of Tharok, grown from tissue removed from Tharok's body during his cyborg reconstruction.When the scheme to destroy the Legion failed, both Tharok and the Dark Man were seemingly destroyed, and the Fatal Five eventually disbanded.
Following the Zero Hour Legion reboot, Tharok was introduced in Legionnaires #34 (February 1996). In this version he stole a powerful solvent rather than a nuclear device, and when the police shoot at him the container was punctured. The solvent severed every molecular bond on the left hand side of his body. A brilliant surgeon rebuilt him as a cyborg and an ungrateful Tharok then killed him. Tharok later upgraded his robot half, giving it more built in weaponry.
In the aftermath of the Infinite Crisis miniseries, most of the Legion's original continuity has been restored. Tharok (alongside the other Fatal Five members) was among the supervillains in participating in a massive assault on the Legion by Superboy-Prime and the Legion of Super-Villains. Thus, it is unclear if Tharok has encountered the Dark Man in current DC continuity, or if the Dark Man exists at all.
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