J'onn J'onzz (New Earth)

{{DC Database:Character Template
 * Image                  = Martian man.jpg
 * RealName               = J'onn J'onzz
 * CurrentAlias           = John Jones; J'Onn J'Onzz (alternate spelling)
 * Aliases                = Big Green Buddy; J.J.; Jolly Green Giant; Light to the Light; Manhunter from Mars; Son of Mars; Bronze Wraith,  Bloodwynd, many others (See Other Aliases)
 * Identity               = Secret
 * Affiliation            = Former member of the Justice Experience; former member of the Justice League of America; former member of the Darkstars
 * 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)
 * Universe               = New Earth
 * BaseOfOperations       = The Astral Plane; formerly Mars; formerly Middleton, Colorado; formerly Denver, Colorado; formerly Detroit, Michigan; formerly Z'Onn Z'Orr; formerly JLA Watchtower
 * CustomLabel            = Legal Status
 * Custom                 = Being a shapeshifter, J'onn has legal status in several different countries, using various false identities. 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.


 * Gender                 = Male
 * Height                 = Variable, normally 6'7"
 * Weight                 = Variable, normally 300 Ibs
 * Eyes                   = Red
 * Hair                   = Bald
 * UnusualFeatures        = Green Skin; 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.


 * Citizenship            = Martian
 * MaritalStatus          = Widowed
 * Occupation             = Adventurer, Detective
 * Education              = Unknown


 * Origin                 = Martian survivor living on Earth as a superhero.
 * PlaceOfBirth           = Ma'aleca'andra
 * Creators               = Joseph Samachson and Joe Certa
 * First                  = Detective Comics #225


 * HistoryText            =

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.

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"


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.

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. ''
 * Powers                 =

Geneticly Modified Martian Physiology: The Martian Manhunter's powers come from his entirely alien physiology. Born of a Mars over a millenia ago, from a super advanced civilization, boasting advanced technology and genetic modifications over its people, the Martian Manhunter would appear to be a genetically, modified being with incredible powers stemming from the changes made in his body. Whether this is their natural state or an advanced state given to only a few individuals is unknown. The Martian's physiology would seem to be composed of a complex molecular chain that resembles polymer bonds but with the ability to be altered at will. The mass cannot be affected but the color, relative shape, (as long as its relatively humanoid) and size, (nothing smaller than 4 feet, or taller than 9 feet), imitating even clothing if desired. The bio-polymer is extremely flexible, durable, incredibly strong for a biological material and apparently self-sustaining. No one has ever seen the Martian Manhunter eat, except for reasons of politeness.


 * Limited Shape-Shifting Abilities: The most incredible of the powers of the Manhunter is the ability to shapeshift. He is able to literally control the molecular structure of his body's bio-polymer and make it resemble anything he wants. He can form clothing, weapons with nonmoving or nonfunctioning parts (so he could form a sword from his body's mass and it would work, but a gun would not, unless he was carrying some ammunition with him.) There does not seem to be any limit to the number of people the Manhunter can imitate and has stood in as a double for many famous people. His ability to imitate people and their mannerisms has stood him in good stead for his disguises (not to mention that his telepathy helps him get a disguise to be as authentic as possible, since he can pull the information directly from the mind of whomever is viewing him). It is rumored that he could change his shape in more fantastic ways but has yet to be substantiated.


 * Invisibility: The Manhunter can cause the bio-polymers in his body to lose their abililty to reflect light, rendering the Manhunter invisible to normal light and human sight. With more increased concentration, he can render himself more invisible along the electromagnetic spectrum, including the infrared and the ultraviolet ranges of the spectrum. Such increase range, however, reduces the amount of time he can maintain his invisibility. This invisibility does not affect other senses and he could still be detected by sound, smell or touch.


 * Intangibility: No physical explanation of this power make sense except that it is an aspect of his psionic powers shifting his mass into another dimension or out of vibrational phase with other objects in this dimension. Whichever it is, it has been seen rarely and believed to be difficult to maintain for extended periods.


 * Limited Invulnerability The Manhunter's invulnerability is no where near what Superman's is, as proven by the battle against Doomsday. Doomsday, defeated the entire Justice League with a single blow for each member. Overall, the bio-morphic structure of the Manhunter's body allows him to absorb most kinetic energies such as bullets, shrapnel or flying debris. Attacks of a nature greater than that, he can harden his bio-polymers by rebinding them and become nearly 10 times as resistant to damage as steel. Hazardous environments effect the Manhunter less than normal humans and he seems to recover from them much more quickly. He has proven to be immune to most human diseases, but no experimentation has been done to see what more advance viruses such as ebola or anthrax might have. Despite his invulnerability, fire cause the Manhunter to recoil and is claimed to reduce his invulnerability considerably..


 * Longevity


 * Superhuman Strength: The Martian's superhuman strength comes from his plasmorphic structure formed from immensely long and complex molecular chains, augmented with his psionic and telekinetic abilities allowing him to lift incredible weights without these weights crumbling under the stress. The Martian has been seen lifting small tankers out of the ocean for short distances. By modifying the density of these bio-polymers, the Manhunter can make himself stronger by forcing the polymers into tighter bundles. At a rest state, the Manhunter can lift approximately 20 tons. Given a few minutes to reconfigure, he could match Superman pound for pound for about a minute. Then the bio-polymer would begin to suffer under the strain and begin to unravel. While the Manhunter's strength can be on par with Superman and he lacks the long term endurance and stamina of the Kryptonian. This probably has to do with the Kryptonian's storage and creation of Meta ATP which the Martian biology would not have developed being so far from the Earth's sun.


 * 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

Flight: The Martian Manhunter flies by manipulation of gravitons (a subatomic particle associated with the force of gravity) manipulation of magnetic fields and control of his absolute molecular movement (a telekinetic effect). These combine to give him the ability to fly great distances with little fatigue and at great speed. He has been seen to fly at speeds up to 10 times the speed of sound in the Earth's atmosphere. Speeds faster than this cause great environmental damage and are avoided unless absolutely necessary. Not needing to breathe, his bio-polymorphic skin and overall toughness make these speeds bearable and cause him no lasting injury. The Manhunter has also been seen to fly in space with no difficulty. Noting his methods of flight, he should be able to be detected with any technology that can detect graviton emissions..

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.

Telepathy: The Manhunter is considered a Class 3 telepath. He is able to read the mind of any normal human with no difficulties, assuming that human is not insane, of normal willpower and has received no special telepathic block training. Given a few seconds to concentrate, he can even read their subconscious mind as well. He can read a normal mind over distances of even a mile, if he knows where the target is located. He can use his telepathy with minds that he is familiar with anyplace in the world, as long as he was attuned to that person in the first place. This telepathy extends to distances as far away as the moon, since it is known that the Martian Manhunter can communicate with Earth with his telepathy. It is not known whether there is a limit to the number of people he can be attuned to or whether there are any special requirements to being attuned to him. In addition to reading minds, the Martian Manhunter can literally reprogram the mind of a subject into believing whatever he wants them to. He can use this ability to help subjects forget things that he does not want them to remember as well as set up post-hypnotic suggestions. How long such mental conditioning lasts is unknown.


 * Thought Sensing: The Manhunter can use the mental signature of a being to track it and can detect lifeforms by their empathic as well as telepathic signatures. He can detect whether a being is intelligent and can communicate with it empathically if it does not have a communication driven frame of reference for normal telepathy to function with. He can also detect various states of mind from anywhere in the world of the general populace in that area.


 * Telepathic Relay: As a Class 3 telepath, the Manhunter is able to use his telepathic prowess as a relay station for a group of minds, who can then "speak" to each other through him. This relaying ability seems to be limited to the same range as the Manhunters normal telepathic range.


 * Telepathic Assault: The Martian Manhunter can also use his telepathic abilities in an offensive manner. He has the ability to cause mental shutdown in a target using his mental powers. This effect has a duration of about an hour and unless the target possesses mental powers of their own, do not seem to be able to resist the attack. The Manhunter does not use this power often due to the invasive nature and harshness of such a telepathic attack. Using this power also drains him considerably and reduces his telepathic effectives for a time.


 * 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: The actual nature of this power seems to vary depending on the reports. It has been seen to be a bolt of force, directed by the Manhunter's eyes causing considerable damage, equivalent to 50-100 lbs of TNT. It has also been seen to cause flammable objects to catch fire. The range of this power is also unknown but has been seen to be effective at ranges of 500 feet or more. Judging from the infrequency of use, it must have a high energy cost or reduce the Martian's effectiveness in some way. 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.

Expert Mediator: The Martian Manhunter's sound reasoning capabilities and long term association Earth's global population, gives him an edge in dealing with humans of diverse governments, cultures and religions. In the northern hemisphere, the Martian Manhunter is one of many costumed adventurers battling against entropy. In the southern hemisphere of Earth, the Martian Manhunter is more well known than Superman. Considered the scourge of the underworld because of his dedication to truth and improving the lot of humanity everywhere, he is feared by underworld criminals worldwide. His noted skills include:
 * Abilities              =


 * Talented Detective: Highly developed detective skills
 * Logical Mind: Advanced reasoning and logic capabilities
 * Personable Attitude: Excellent human relations skills
 * Multi-lingual: Fluent in many Earth languages
 * Emotional Attunement: Highly developed empathic abilities

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

Psychic Pyrophobia: The Martian Manhunter has a psychosomatic fear of fire. It is unknown what the source of this fear is, whether it is a personal fear or a cultural fear, but whichever it is, it is a paralytic fear with the Manhunter. Exposure to fire, causes him to lose his powers, and in the case of extreme fire, to lose his control over his biomorphic form. The Manhunter is more vulnerable in this form and can take damage in this vulnerable state.
 * Weaknesses             =

He is now invulnerable to flames unless they are "flames of passion" or of some other "psychic significance".

Choco Addiction: 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.

Vulnerability to Nervous System Agents: because his body depends on his intact nervous system to maintain is bio-morphic shape, if his nervous system is interrupted, disrupted or damaged in some way, he loses control over his body and reverts to a gelatinous state.


 * 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                =


 * Notes                  =
 * 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
 * Hino Rei

Footnotes


 * 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.


 * One of J'onn's alternate identities was that of a female Japanese journalist Hino Rei. The name is an in-joke, sharing a similarity to that of a character from the Sailor Moon anime series, also known as Sailor Mars. Surprisingly, Batman recognised the name, telling J'onn that it was "a giveaway".


 * CustomSection1         = Recommended Reading
 * CustomText1            =
 * Martian Manhunter (Volume 1)
 * Martian Manhunter (Volume 2)
 * Martian Manhunter (Volume 3)
 * Martian Manhunter: American Secrets


 * CustomSection2         = Related Articles
 * CustomText2            =
 * Green Martians
 * Mars
 * Justice League of America


 * 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

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