 | |
| The Purple Man | |
| Aliases: | Purple Man |
| Continuity: | Marvel Universe |
| Notability: | Antagonist |
| Type: | Supervillain |
| Gender: | Male |
| Race: | Altered human |
| Relatives: | Kara Killgrave (daughter) Purple Children (offspring) |
| Status: | Alive |
| First: | Daredevil, Vol. 1 #4 |
Zebediah Killgrave, better known as the Purple Man, is a fictional supervillain featured in comic book titles published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in Daredevil, Volume 1 #4 in October, 1964 and has made sporadic appearances throughout the years. He has also squared off against such notable teams as the Avengers, Heroes for Hire and the Thunderbolts. His daughter, Kara Killgrave - who possesses the same mind control abilities as her father - was once a member of Alpha Flight.
Biography[]
Origin[]
Zebediah Killgrave was once a spy who was exposed to a purple toxic nerve gas. An operation saved his life, but it turned his skin purple and gave him superhuman abilities. In addition to an accelerated healing factor, Killgrave could "persuade" others to do his bidding via eye contact. He quickly realized that such a power could easily amass him a great deal of wealth so he decided to pursue a career as a costumed criminal calling himself the Purple Man. [1]
At some point during this time, the Purple Man was living in and around Ottawa, Canada. He used his powers to seduce a woman named Melanie and tricked her into marrying him. The two had a daughter named Kara. Kara would genetically inherit her father's purple skin and mental powers and one day become an adventurer called the Purple Girl. [2]
Early crimes[]
The Purple Man's first recorded exploits took place in New York City. After allowing himself to be captured following a failed bank heist, he was placed on trial with Matt Murdock assigned to defend him. Killgrave dismissed Murdock, citing that he had no intention of going to prison. He then used his pheromone control to seduce Matt's secretary Karen Page.
Though Matt knew what the Purple Man was capable of, he had no legal cause to prosecute him. After all, it is not illegal to persuade others to do your bidding. He also realized that his blindness made him immune to the Purple Man's powers. Murdock tried to fight the Purple Man as Daredevil, but Killgrave controlled a crowd of people to attack him. Daredevil planted a micro-cassette recorder inside of his billy club and tricked Purple Man into confessing to being a criminal. The Purple Man tried to hypnotize Karen Page into leaping to her doom from atop the roof of the Ritz Plaza Hotel, but DD managed to save her. He stopped the Purple Man by draping him with a chemically treated cloth that negated his powers. [3]
Following his initial defeat, the Purple Man decided to lay low for a few years. He relocated to San Francisco where he began engaging in various small crimes with a gang of henchmen. As it turned out, Daredevil had relocated to San Francisco as well, along with his partner, The Black Widow. Daredevil ran across the Purple Man during a robbery in progress, but the Purple Man managed to subdue him. The Widow's mentor, Ivan Petrovich came to Murdock's aid. [4] Frustrated at his inability to permanently defeat Daredevil, the Purple Man teamed up with Spider-Man foe Electro and together they took on Daredevil and the Black Widow. Daredevil fought against the Purple Man in his hover ship, forcing it to crash. It appeared as if the Purple Man had perished in the destruction. [5]
Powers[]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Zebediah Killgrave was created by writer Stan Lee and artists Joe Orlando and Vince Colletta.
Alternate versions[]
- A version of the Purple Man appeared in the 1992 X-Men animated series where he was voiced by actor Cedric Smith. He appeared in the episode, "No Mutant Is an Island".
- Another version of the Purple Man appeared on the animated series Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes in the episode, "Emperor Stark". He was voiced by noted Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Brent Spiner.
Appearances[]
See also[]
- Zebediah Killgrave appearances
- Zebediah Killgrave reprint appearances
- Zebediah Killgrave flashback appearances
External Links[]
- Zebediah Killgrave at IMDB
- Zebediah Killgrave at MDP
- Zebediah Killgrave at Wikipedia
- Zebediah Killgrave at Comic Vine
- Zebediah Killgrave at the Marvel Universe
References[]
- ↑ Daredevil, Volume 1 #4
- ↑ Alpha Flight, Volume 1 #41
- ↑ Daredevil, Volume 1 #4
- ↑ Daredevil, Volume 1 #8
- ↑ Daredevil, Volume 1 #89