J'onn J'onzz (New Earth)

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Martian Manhunter

Real Name: J'onn J'onzz
Nicknames: Big Green Buddy; J.J.; Jolly Green Giant; Light to the Light; Manhunter from Mars; Son of Mars
Former Aliases: Bronze Wraith, Bloodwynd, many others (See Other Aliases)
Other Current Aliases: J'Onn J'Onzz (alternate spelling); John Jones, many others (See Other Aliases)

Status

Occupation: Adventurer, Detective
Legal Status: Being a shapeshifter, J'onn has legal status in several different countries, using various false identities.
Identity: Secret, though the general populace of Earth is aware that he is from the planet Mars. They are unaware however, of the true extent of his Martian capabilities, as well as his numerous identities.
Marital Status: Widowed
Group Affiliation: Former member of the Justice Experience; former member of the Justice League of America
Base of Operations: The Astral Plane; formerly Mars; formerly Middleton, Colorado; formerly Denver, Colorado; formerly Detroit, Michigan; formerly Z'Onn Z'Orr; formerly JLA Watchtower

Origin

Centuries ago on the planet Ma'aleca'andra, the Green Martians known as M'yrnn and Sha'sheen gave birth to twin sons. The bearing of twins was uncommon among the Martian culture, and as such, the first of the twins was named J'onn J'onzz, whose name means "Light to the Light". J'onn's brother however, was born a mutant, bereft of a Martian's innate ability to communicate telepathically. He was named Ma'alefa'ak, whose named means "Darkness in the Heart".

As an adult, J'onn became a Manhunter (police officer) and married a Martian woman named M'yri'ah. The two established a modest home for themselves beneath the windswept Martian plains and gave birth to a daughter named K'hym.

Years passed, and J'onn's brother Ma'alefa'ak grew to despise everything about Martian culture. In an ambitious endeavor to commit full-scale genocide against his own people, he engineered a contagious virus known as H'ronmeer's Curse. The virus reacted to telepathic energy, and carried from one Martian to the next whenever they elected to use their psionic powers. The plague responded to a Martian's innate fear of fire, causing them psychosomatic stress so intense, that their bodies and minds would literally burst into flame. J'onn desperately tried to keep his wife and daughter from using their mental gifts, but they were unable and so, contracted the plague. K'hym was the first to experience the symptoms, and M'yri'ah followed soon after. J'onn was anguished as he watched his family burning to death before his very eyes. The trauma of the event shattered his psyche, and nearly drove him mad.

Meanwhile on the planet Earth, a would-be scientist named Dr. Saul Erdel developed a transmitter machine based upon ancient Martian technology. Seeking to make contact with extraterrestrial life, he aimed his device towards the vicinity of Mars and activated it. The transmitter beam streaked across both space and time, striking the Martian Manhunter at a point in time several centuries before Erdel would even be born. The beam brought J'onn back to Erdel's natural time era, where he collapsed on the ground outside of the Doctor's Colorado laboratory.

Erdel brought the distraught Martian inside and attempted to nurse him back to health. The anguish of J'onn's mental state created a psychic bond between the two, and Erdel became aware of the events that took place on Mars. In an effort to heal J'onn's mind, Erdel used the mental link to fabricate a new history for the Martian. He created a back-story inspired by the writings of famous science fiction novelists such as Ray Bradbury and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Eventually, J'onn's sanity was restored, and he was prepared to function in this strange new world. Erdel put the idea into his head, that he should become a great champion, and thus J'onn adopted the heroic guise of the Martian Manhunter.

Place of Birth: Mars
Known Relatives: M'yrnn J'onzz (father, deceased); Sha'sheen J'onzz (mother, deceased); M'yri'ah (wife, deceased); K'hym (daughter, deceased); Ma'alefa'ak (twin brother); D'all (father-in-law, deceased); J'ahrl J'onzz (ancestor, deceased)

First Appearance: Detective Comics #225

History

Welcome to Earth

J'onn J'onzz is accidentally teleported to Earth by a human scientist, Dr. Erdel, who immediately has a heart attack and dies, leaving the Martian stranded and unable to return. He is able to use his powers to fit in, adopting a human-like appearance and calling himself "John Jones". He joins the police force, secretly using his alien powers to help the inhabitants of his new planet. After he had given up his John Jones persona he became Marco Xavier in order to infiltrate the international crime cartel known as VULTURE. Early on, the Manhunter from Mars adopted a more characteristically superheroic modus operandi, openly fighting crime in a green-skinned form.

Early Years

Later it was revealed that Mars was dead when J'onn was taken, killed by a mental plague deliberately started by his brother Ma'alefa'ak. He took the identity of the Bronze Wraith, and fought crime with the Justice Experience.

The Martian Manhunter's history is intimitely linked with that of the Justice League of America: He is a founding member of the team.

JLI

During the Justice League International years, J'onn is shown to be obsessed with Chocos, partially due to Captain Marvel's influence.

J'onzz reveals that his familiar appearance is not his true Martian form but a "compromise" between his true form and a human appearance - explaing that his real form is private and that, even on Mars, his "public" appearance was the familiar version.

In addition to serving in the League under his own identity, he also joins (under duress) as "Bloodwynd".

JLA

The Martian Manhunter is the most recognized hero in the Southern Hemisphere, and that he maintains a number of different secret identities, many of them outside the United States; however, following two incidents (in which John Jones separates from the Martian Manhunter), he decides to focus on his original human identity and retire the others.

Later, the Martian Manhunter attempts to conquer his fear of fire and makes a deal with a flame-wielding villainess named Scorch, who wants J'onzz' telepathic help in dealing with her own mental issues. 20,000 years before, an extremely dangerous race of beings called "the Burning", caused large fires to help themselves to reproduce asexually. In order to prevent the Burning from destroying much of the universe, the Guardians of the Universe split the species into the Green Martians and the White Martians, changed their reproductive behavior, and instilled in them a fear of fire. When the Martian Manhunter confronts his fear of fire, he reverts into one of the ancient creatures and changes his name to Fernus. His genetic memory identifies threats such as Vandal Savage, who killed one of the Burning on ancient Earth. This same genetic memory also makes Fernus hate the Green Lantern, due to his association with the Oans.

Fernus increases the strength of the powers he inherits from J'onn: For example, he can phase other beings rather than just himself, and he has access to pyrokinesis. He can breathe fire of such intensity it harms Scorch, who had previously been thought immune to damage from fire. Fernus' tremendous strength also allows him to dominate the Justice League in combat even without his Martian telepathic powers. He can also heal himself from almost total destruction within seconds.

The Justice League eventually defeats Fernus by re-enlisting Plastic Man, who is immune to Fernus' psychic powers and has superior shape-changing abilities. It is implied that Batman recruited Plastic Man to the Justice League as a balance in case the Martian Manhunter ever goes out of control.

After destroying Fernus, J'onn grieves for Scorch, who had fallen into coma, and with whom he had fallen in love. J'onn later tells Superman that his aversion to fire has changed: he is now invulnerable to flames unless they are "flames of passion" or of some other "psychic significance".

Infinite Crisis and "One Year Later"

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The Martian Manhunter in his current form

Although J'onzz is initially thought killed in the explosion of the Justice League Watchtower, Justice League member Manitou Dawn receives a telepathic vision of J'onzz assuring her that he "will reveal himself, in time" but needs her help to keep an eye on a mysterious, newly-powerful telepath - the mind-controlling villain Key - whose abilities he had always managed to dampen before.

J'onzz resurfaces during Infinite Crisis, unconscious and connected to Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s vibrational tower, along with Lady Quark, the Ray, Black Adam, Power Girl, Nightshade, and Breach. Wonder Girl, Superboy, and Nightwing free J'onzz and the others from Alexander's tower.

Oracle asks J'onzz to telepathically coordinate the heroes' response to the Society's global jailbreak. He joins the assembled heroes in the defense of Metropolis from the combined might of the world's supervillains and in the battle against Superboy-Prime.

In the following months, J'Onn masqueraded as U.S. Secretary of State Kakalios in an attempt to bring down Checkmate. He was successful in eliminating it as a U.S. government-controlled agency. However, it soon reorganized under the United Nations.

One of the most dramatic changes in J'onn's life occurred a short time later. While operating under the guise of William Dyer, he discovered that several Green Martians had crash-landed on Earth, and were being held by high-ranking members of the Defense Department. One of the Martians, Roh'kar, broke free of his confinement and made contact with the Martian Manhunter. The union was bittersweet however, as brainwashed assassin ended Roh'kar's life with a weapon designed to target Martians. J'onn found five of Roh'kar's colleagues and rescued them from the bowels of a government think tank. He established a safe house for them and pledged to do everything in his power to keep them safe from government scrutiny.

Characteristics

Height: Variable, normally 6'7"
Weight: Variable, normally 300 Ibs
Eyes: Red
Hair: Bald
Skin: Green
Unusual Features: Although obviously alien in appearance, the form that most Earthlings associate with the Martian Manhunter is not actually his true form. In his natural state of being, J'onn has a slender body, with sharp, angular features and a tapered cranium. The more muscular "beetle-brow" appearance was inspired by Saul Erdel, who convinced J'onn to assume a form derived from the literary works of science fiction authors such as Edgar Rice Burroughs and Ray Bradbury.

Powers

Known Powers: Martian Manhunter has been described as "the Swiss Army knife of superheroes." He possesses many of the powers of Superman. Note: Many, if not all of the Martian Manhunter's powers and abilities are common to members of his race, even if demonstration of such abilities has not been explicitly shown in a canonical resource.

• Malleable Form: J'onn possesses total psionic control over his physical form, even down to the molecular level. As a form of shape-shifting, this power enables the Martian Manhunter to contort his physical structure allowing him to adopt human form, elongate his limbs, grow to immense size, and so on. J'onn can maintain a selected form for an indeterminate amount of time without undue risk or strain.
  

• Intangibility: Due to his malleable-form ability, J'onn is also able to become intangible. Using this power, he can pass through all kind of solid and liquid objects.

• Invisibility A byproduct of shape-shifting, J'onn's body can bend waves of light around him, rendering him invisible to most forms of human detection. Through this, he can also alter his body's temperature, enabling him to become invisible to electronic scanning/tracking technology as well.

• Size Increase: A byproduct of shape-shifting, J'onn can increase his size and mass by absorbing external material.

• Alter Density: J'onn can increase his molecular density to become tougher and stronger, as well as decrease it to become incorporeal and thus able to pass through solid objects.

• Invulnerability With the exception of fire, the Martian Manhunter is invulnerable to nearly all physical attacks. This is due primarily to J'onn's shape-shifting talents and his ability to increase the density of his molecular structure.

• Flight: J'onn can defy gravity and fly through sheer force of will. By using a form of tactile telkinesis, J'onn can manipulate gravitational particles and natural magnetic fields for speed and guidance. This ability is psionic in nature. J'onn's maximum velocity while flying has never been measured, though by his own admission, he is not as fast as Superman.

• Superhuman Strength While the exact magnitude of the Martian Manhunter's strength is unknown, it is generally accepted that his strength level easily surpasses the capacity to lift 100 tons. J'onn's strength is comparable to that of Superman.

• Superhuman Speed Either through flight or natural movement, the Martian Manhunter can maintain speed and reflexes far in excess to that of a standard Earth human. Like the power of flight, this is accomplished by manipulating the magnetic fields of energy surrounding his body, as well as ambient gravitational particles. Traditionally, J'onn only uses his superhuman speed while flying. His super-speed, while impressive, is not comparable to that of the Flash.

• Superhuman Endurance J'onn's endurance is just as formidable as his strength or invulnerability. When not in the presence of fire, he can operate under extreme conditions for an indeterminate period of time without showing signs of fatigue. The exact range of this power is unknown. When in the presence of fire, J'onn's endurance diminishes greatly.

• Telepathy: The Martian Manhunter possesses the ability to read the minds of others and project his thoughts to varying extents. J'onn's skill with this ability is so acute, that he can sift through the mind of a selected target, extracting even the most hidden, repressed memories. It is an ability that J'onn has never been comfortable with, and only uses it in the most extreme of circumstances. J'onn can also project his mental essence into a gestalt community known as the "Great Mind". Through this, he can use his telepathy to enhance the telepathic strength of other Martians.

• Mayavana: One of the most prized abilities of the Martians is Mayavana. It is the ability to reach into another mind and create a mental reality as real as any normal reality. The strain of Mayavana is such that it can only be used once in a life time, and so is normally used on the one that a Martian loves the most. J'onn used it on the rampaging Despero so that he thought that he had destroyed the JLH (subsequently he reverted to an embryonic state) and therefore saved his friends.

• Extrasensory Input: J'onn possesses nine different senses. One of these senses could account for instances of the Manhunter's perceived precognitive abilities (see Trivia).

• Martian Vision: J'onn possesses super-powered eyesight, commonly referred to as "Martian Vision". Martian Vision is similar to Kryptonian heat vision in that it can cause combustible objects to explode. It also grants J'onn the ability to see into other spectrums of light, including infrared. J'onn can use his Martian vision to see the invisible. For example, upon their first meeting, J'onn's power allowed him to see past Gypsy's Metahuman camouflage ability (although this may also be due to the fact that Gypsy is part Martian); other effects unknown.

• Self-Sustenance: J'onn does not seem to need to eat or drink water, although he has developed a taste for Chocos.

Weakness: Like all Martians, J'onn is weak against fire. The only thing that can harm him is an intense fear of fire (inborn in all Martians, it is the basis of the god H'ronmeer who as well as being the object of fear as a fire god is the God of Death via association). The effect of the fear is to strip any Martian of their super abilities via the psychosomatic effect of their own body control working involuntary against them.

It has also been suggested that something within J'onn's physiology makes him addicted to the chemicals used in the Earth snack, Chocos. Withdrawal symptoms include violent bursts of rage, and loss of intellect. However, these claims have never been accurately substantiated, and may even be false.

Known Abilities: Excellent detective.

Strength Level: By Earth standards, superhuman. By Martian standards, J'onn possesses the strength level of an average adult male Martian in peak physical condition.

Miscellaneous

Equipment: The Martian Manhunter owns one of two Kuru pendants. The pendant acts as a repository of ancient Martian lore and knowledge. The second pendant belonged to the late Martian, Roh'kar. J'onn is also known to carry a bag of Chocos with him for snacking.
Transportation: Self-powered flight
Weapons: No known weapons.

Notes

• The Martian Manhunter was created by writers Joseph Samachson, Jack Miller, and artist Joe Certa.

• As revealed in the pilot episode of the Justice League animated series, the Martian Manhunter's true name is pronounced Zhahn Zhownz. Phonetically, this name is very similar to John Jones, the human alias that he operated under while working for the Middleton police department.

• In Earth-One continuity, the Martian Manhunter quit his tenure with the Justice League of America in Justice League of America (Volume 1) #71 and did not officially return to active status until the reformation of the League in Justice League of America (Volume 1) Annual #2. However, Post-Crisis continuity has retroactively re-inserted J'onn as an active League member for the entire span of the first iteration of the JLA. In canon continuity, every issue of Justice League of America (Volume 1) between #71 and #232 should be considered a de facto appearance of the Martian Manhunter

• Martian Manhunter began as an ongoing series in 2000, written by John Ostrander, and illustrated by Tom Mandrake (with fill-in art provided by Bryan Hitch among others). The series lasted 36 issues before being canceled due to low sales. Outside of this, the Manhunter appears predominantly in Justice League comic books; he is the only character to be involved with every incarnation of the League. (From the late 1960s until the late 1970s, J'onn was absent from the JLA, having left Earth to find New Mars. This storyline is later retconned during the Crisis, and it is now assumed he was with the team at this time.)

• J'onzz has two minor appearances in the Sandman series, in the issue #5 story "Passengers", in which the Dreamlord Morpheus inquires about the whereabouts of his Dreamstone. At this time, J'onn identifies him as an old God, and he sees Morpheus as a floating face, rather than the humanoid form others see him in. He also appears in issue #71 of Sandman during "The Wake" story arc, conversing with Batman and Clark Kent about dreams.

Other Aliases

This section contains a list of alternate identities that the Martian Manhunter has used during his time on Earth (incomplete).

• Bloodwynd
• Bronze Wraith
• Charley Dimes
• Jade Warrior
• Joan J'onnz
• John Jones
• Marco Xavier
• Secretary of State Kakalios
• William Dyer
• Yuchiro Takata

Trivia

• In his earliest appearances, the Martian Manhunter resembled a normal human, albeit with green skin. He was drawn with standard human eyes and eyebrows. In later years however, creators decided to give J'onn a more alien appearance and provided him with the more modernized beetle-brow look.

• In some of his earliest adventures, the Martian Manhunter possessed the ability to see into the near future. However, there have been scant examples of this, and it is no longer a power that he possesses in modern continuity. By his own account, the Martian Manhunter cannot perceive the future.

Recommended Readings

• Martian Manhunter (Volume 1)
• Martian Manhunter (Volume 2)
• Martian Manhunter (Volume 3)
• Martian Manhunter: American Secrets

Related Articles

• Martian Manhunter image gallery
• Martian Manhunter cover art gallery
• Martian Manhunter appearances list
• Green Martians
• Mars
• Justice League of America

External Links

• Martian Manhunter article at Wikipedia
• Martian Manhunter article at Toonopedia
• Martian Manhunter profile at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe
• Martian Manhunter profile at Monitor Duty
• Martian Manhunter profile at Cosmic Teams
• Martian Manhunter profile at the Oracle Files

References

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This is an in-universe article with out-of-universe material.

This article covers information about something that exists within the DC Universe, and should not contain out-of-universe material. Please remove all out-of-universe material, or include it in a separate section at the bottom of the article. And take off that silly costume.