Mordru

Original Mordru (pre- and post-Crisis)

Origins: Wrynn of Gemworld

Mordru debuted in 1968 as a 30th century Legion character, but he was ages old. The first look at Mordru's origins came in 1987, in the post-Crisis era on the world of Amethyst, a princess of Gemworld.

In a magical dimension known as Gemworld lived the human princess called Amethyst, who was appointed to be Gemworld's Lord of Order. This was one of many dimensions that were battlegrounds for the never-ending war between the Lords of Order and the Lords of Chaos. To oppose Amethyst, Chaos chose a human host with high magical potential, the boy named Wrynn.

Wrynn was a prince, the son of Lord Topaz and Lady Turquoise of Gemworld. While his twin, Donal, was a child of light, his mother worried about Wrynn's penchant for darkness. Wrynn appealed to dark magical forces for power and his spells summoned Flaw, an agent of Chaos who recognized the benefit of having agent on Gemworld. Flaw granted Wrynn's 'deal with the devil' and the young man was overtaken by a powerful agent of Chaos, Mordru the Merciless. (Amethyst vol. 3 #1)

Mordru's first encounter with Amethyst was humbling, but he killed his own twin brother, Donal, on the rebound. (#2–3) For his crimes, Mordru was sentenced to exile in the outer realms of Gemworld but Amethyst decided unilaterally that he deserved a harsher fate. She visited him and, though Wrynn still exhibited come control over Mordru's consciousness, Amethyst showed no mercy. She entombed Mordru alive, incorporating his body into the ground of Gemworld. It was said that he would not breathe air again for a thousand years, over which time Amethyst became the very heart of Gemworld.

Gemworld prospered and at some point between the 20th and 30th centuries, circumstances led its sorcerers to relocate the realm into Earth's dimension. It became known as the planet Zerox, aka "the Sorcerer's World." (#2–4)

Notes

Mordru's origin story in the 20th century is technically a post-Crisis tale, but it is treated as pre-Crisis canon because at the time of its publication, the continuity of the Original Legion was still (relatively) still in effect.

Zerox first appeared years before Mordru, in Action Comics #301 (June 1963). In this story (which does not fit in post-Crisis continuity), Superman asked Comet the Super-Horse to visit Zerox, where he met the sorcerer Prince Endor. He cast a spell that enabled Comet to become human as long as he was in sight of a passing comet. Zerox orbited a red sun.

The Lords of Order and Chaos were introduced as a part of the Doctor Fate mythos, first appearing in 1st Issue Special #9 (Dec. 1975) and DC Special Series #10 (Feb. 1978), respectively.

Amethyst debuted in a preview story in Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #298 (April 1983), which was unrelated to the Legion.

30th Century: The Original Mordru

In the 30th century, the planet Zerox (commonly called "the Sorcerers' World") had become the seat of magic in the universe. Here, the great and terrible sorcerer named Mordru the Dark Lord had been imprisoned for centuries. As Zerox's magical influence began to depart and spread, the bonds that held Mordru were loosened and he re-emerged. This was a new age; the Dark Lord was unknown to them and he played things cautiously, pretending to be a student of the mystic arts.

While plotting to take over Zerox, he met a powerful young mystic, Mysa Nal, known as the White Witch. He transformed Mysa into a crone called Xola Aq and convinced the Council of Teachers that she was evil. She was banished from the Sorcerers' World, and joined Prince Evillo's group, the Devil's Dozen, as "the Hag." With Mysa out of the way, Mordru overthrew the Council and assumed dictatorial control of Zerox. (Legion vol. 2 #315-316, Who's Who #9)

By 2973, Mordru had amassed a mystically-powered army and his wars of conquest earned him a reputation as the single greatest threat to the United Planets. The Legion of Super-Heroes knew they would eventually have to stop Mordru, monitoring his army's advance. In 2976, he attacked Earth and the Legion was powerful enough to stop him. Mon-El and Superboy managed to imprison him in an airless underground vault, where he was psychologically paralyzed from the trauma of his past burial.

Mordru was freed in 2978, when the new Legionnaire Shadow Lass unwittingly tampered with that vault. This led to a chase through time in which she, Superboy, Mon-El and Duo Damsel hid in 20th century Smallville — even going so far as to erase their own memories so that they could not reveal their whereabouts to him. (Adventure Comics #369)

Mordru transported his armies from the 30th century, enveloped Smallville in a forcefield and uprooted the town into orbit. This flushed out Clark Kent's friends, Lana Lang and Pete Ross (both unofficial Legionnaires), who helped restore the Legionnaires' memories. Mordru still overpowered them and subjected them to a trial whose jury was made of notorious criminals. One of them, Wraithor, was actually a good wizard from Zerox who had been subjugated by Mordru. He freed the Legionnaires and was killed by Mordru for this betrayal. Mordru was poised to kill the Legionnaires as well, but the force of his own power caused the walls of a cave to collapse and he was buried once again.

Back in the future, they learned that the rest of the Legion had worked with White Witch (who was also the sister of the Legionnaire called Dream Girl), to trick Mordru into thinking they had been destroyed. (#370)

Even while imprisoned, he attacked by trying to place a magical double of Cosmic Boy in the Legion (Superboy #173), and again in Superboy's time by creating "blood crystals" to incite hatred toward the Boy of Steel. (#188)

Mordru's ultimate goal was to regain his powers and return to power on Zerox. He sent an astral form to secure a trio of powerful mystical artifacts — a bell, jar and wheel — that belonged to the "demons three," Abnegazar, Rath and Ghast. He failed twice; first he blackmailed a group of Legionnaires into fetching these from the past and second, he tried to snatch them himself from their last known location: the satellite headquarters of the Justice League of America. What he snared instead were members of the JLA and the Justice Society. Mordru's final attempt only unleashed the power of the demons upon himself. (Justice League of America #147) During the heroes' battle with the demons, Mordru's spirit self was reunited/reimprisoned with his physical body. (#148)

Mordru was freed later that same year by the Dark Circle, who had hoped to control him. He turned the tables and took over the Circle, commanding its generals and staging an invasion of Earth. Mordru disguised himself as the United Planets Ambassador Relnic and observed events as they played out. His Dark Circle used the proxy armies of the Resource Raiders and the Khunds to wage a bloody Earthwar which resulted in the capture of all but a handful of Legionnaires. These few confronted Mordru directly and freed the others in outer space. There, Element Lad managed to turn free-floating hydrogen atoms into a mass of soil, enough for the Legion to surround Mordru, effectively burying him. (Superboy & the Legion #241–245)

Somehow, Mordru found his way to an underdeveloped world called Avalon. Using the anagram "Romdur" he took over the populace before once again being brought down by the Legion. (Legion vol. 2 #276) His body was drained of magical energy by Darkseid the following year. (#290–291)

In 2985, a group of devotees on the Sorcerer's World stole Mordru's body from Avalon and brought it back to Zerox. They attempted to use the shadow powers of Shadow Lass and Shadow Kid to revive their Lord. Legionnaires converged on Zerox and deterred the completion of their spell; Mordru remained imprisoned there. (Legion vol. 2 Annual #3)

In 2986, the leading Teachers chose to show mercy on Mordru, allowing him to return to life but stripping him of his magical powers and his memories. (Legion vol. 3 #27)

The Sorcerer's World became the epicenter of a galaxywide crisis where science failed in unexpected ways. The Teachers knew something was amiss and sent a fledgling wizard named Sarvisa to deliver a warning to the Legion's leader, Sensor Girl. (#60) The threat was called the Archmage who, like Mordru, was an embodiment of evil, long imprisoned inside of Zerox. The Archmage's bonds were loosened by the gradual departure of the planet's magical powers. None of the Legionnaires could affect this entity and the White Witch confirmed that there was no path to success. The sorcerer's (with Mordru) decided to abandon Zerox. They allowed the Archmage destroy the planet — because in doing so, they knew he would lose all tethers to power and thus be destroyed himself. (#61-63)

"The Magic Wars" was the final story arc before the Legion title was shaken up. The chaos left in the wake of these events set the stage for Mordru's return to power.

Adult Legion

Mordru also appeared in a story of the "Adult Legion," of Superman's time. These stories were eventually deemed noncanonical. When Superman was trapped by Mordru, Supergirl and the adult Brainiac 5 tricked Lex Luthor into freeing him. (Superman #213)

Glorith Reality

In Legion of Super-Heroes, volume 4, the villainess Glorith altered reality by taking the place/role of the Time Trapper. Mordru and the Legion's previous history remained much the same, except that Superboy and Supergirl were replaced in its continuity by the Legionnaires Valor (Mon-El), Ultra Boy and the new Laurel Gand.

In the 20th century of the Glorith Reality, Ultra Boy had correctly deduced that the Legion's formation had been manipulated by Glorith of Baaldur, specifically to handicap Mordru's amibitions. Glorith had hoped fighting the Legion would cause Mordru to expend his power and allow her to conquer the universe unchallenged. Ultra Boy secretly prevented the Legion from attacking Mordru, and then (in disguise) convinced Mordru that Glorith was the actual threat to him. Mordru attacked Glorith and the two battled to a draw, weakening them both considerably. (Legion vol. 4 Annual #1)

In the 30th century after the Magic Wars, Mordru and the inhabitants of the Sorcerers' World had moved to the planet Tharn. When the Khunds threatened Tharn, the United Planets was powerless to help and the leading sorcerers restored Mordru's full powers and appointed him Supreme Teacher. He repelled the Khunds and assumed the throne. The White Witch grew fond of this new Mordru and believed she could keep him on the right path. She resigned from the Legion and accepted his offer to marry him. The people hoped he would rule benevolently but once again, Mordru became a tyrant emperor and forbade all others from using magic. He tortured Mysa and her would-be rescuer, the Legion's ally, Rond Vidar. Mysa and Rond were finally rescued by Laurel Gand and a loose-knit group of Legionnaires led by the former Cosmic Boy, Rokk Krinn. Mordru remained the ruler of Tharn and bided his time. (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 4 #6–7)

Mordru still coveted Mysa, and lured her to the remains of the Sorcerer's World with dreams of the ancient Amethyst. Mysa took the bait and became filled with rage, which made her vulnerable to his power. Her anger enabled himself to merge with Mysa and create a form that was more powerful than ever. The Legion called together Mysa's friends to channel their love and they disrupted his control. Mordru retaliated by reanimating the dead across the galaxy (including Legionnaires). (#43–47)

A blast reflected from the Legionnaire Devlin O'Ryan crippled Mordru and allowed the Legionnaires to pry Mysa apart from him. Amethyst had returned and she added her power to Mysa's to create a force equal to Mordru's. Mysa overpowered Mordru and made peace with her love for him. She chose not to kill him because past attempts had only multiplied his rage. Mysa stripped Mordru of his powers and his unconscious body was remanded to the teachers of Tharn. (#48)

End of an Era

In early 2996, Mordru agree to an alliance with Glorith; together, she hoped they could stop the Time Trapper from returning to power. Mordru was restored to his youth, but even their combined might did not prevent the calamity to come. (Legion vol. 4 #58) Their plan commenced with the kidnapping of Rokk Krinn (Legionnaires #17) and an attack on the Legion's headquarters on Talus.

They gained access to a time beacon to summon the Infinite Man and split his power between them. Together they wove a spell to change the past so that they had ruled the universe for the last several decades, but Mysa Nal separated them with a mystical bolt. Valor took out Glorith and fought Mordru to a stalemate. Brainiac 5 had the idea to give Mordru excess power, which overwhelmed him. The Legion succeeded in compelling Mordru to teleport himself into the core of a planet, but by then greater forces were taking effect. The Zero Hour, caused by the Parallax entity in the 20th century, caused the entire 30th century to be erased. (Legion vol. 4 #60, Legionnaires #18, Valor #23)

Retroboot

After the "Zero Hour" (1996), the Legion's era was rebooted and a new version of Mordru fought this Legion (see below). But in the lead-up to Infinite Crisis (2007), the Original Legion was more-or-less restored. This is referred to as the "Retroboot," again with various anomalies in continuity.

Mordru had regained control of the Sorcerer's World (either restored in this timeline or Tharn, renamed) and captured the White Witch. A team of Legionnaires came to rescue her and Mordru invoked the power of three magicians whom he had killed: Glorith, Dragonmage and Evillo. Mysa mustered enough power for her and her friends to return to Earth. Meanwhile, Mordru was approached by Superboy-Prime and his massive new Legion of Super-Villains who killed the Legion's ally, Rond Vidar. (Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #2)

Mordru reluctantly joined the L.S.V. and after Superboy-Prime killed the Legionnaire Kinetix, the Dark Lord also absorbed her power. (Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #4) But the White Witch was paying attention. She used his own spell against him, uttering "aufero magus infusco," and absorbed him completely (along with others he'd absorbed, including Kinetix). This transformed Mysa into the Black Witch. (#5)

The Black Witch momentarily struggled to contain him when a malevolent force intervened, but she summoned power from other mages and beat Mordru back into submission. (Adventure Comics #525)

Appearances + References

DC's New 52 initiative rebooted its entire universe in 2010. After five years of that initiative, the publisher decided to (sort of) revert back to what had come before; this was "Rebirth," and the resulting continuity of the DC Universe incorporated events from multiple realities.

Mordru's first Rebirth appearance was in 2019, as his traditionally evil self. Then in 2022, the Justice Society reformed and a time-traveling teenage version of Mordru appeared.

Rebirth: Adult Mordru

Mordru's first mention in the rebooted DCU was during the time when the Lords of Order, led by Nabu, were plotting to take over the Earth and eliminate all of its existing magical power. Just before Nabu captured the Phantom Stranger and John Constantine, Constantine sent a missive to Zatanna: "find Mordru." (Justice League Dark vol. 2 #6)

She and Wonder Woman began the search for Mordru, whom they hoped would have sufficient power to challenge the Lords of Order. (#8–10) Their journey concluded at Justice League headquarters, inside the Hall of Justice, where Mordru was patiently waiting at a concealed magical tavern. The Dark Lord told them the origins of magic on Earth. He and his brethren had once made the goddess Hecate renounce her power, which they took for themselves. Mordru's kin decided that magic should be administrated jointly with agents of Order. They bound the power of magic into books, formulas, wands and other artifacts.

Mordru knew that he would live regardless of the outcome of the Justice League's fight. He flatly refused to help them, but left them with the Ruby of Life (Sargon's former talisman) which was imbued with a portion of Chaos magic. (Justice League Dark vol. 2 #11) By allowing this Chaos into themselves, Zatanna, Wonder Woman and their friends were transformed into a force capable of standing against the Lords of Order. Nabu was imprisoned inside his own helmet. (#12)