Sorry it's so... flamboyant.
- — Polka Dot Man src
The Polka Dot Man (real name Abner Krill) was a depressed and soft-spoken metahuman criminal able to expel colorful incendiary discs at his enemies, as well as part of the Suicide Squad team sent to Corto Maltese. Traumatized by his mother's experiments on him, he learned to accept himself and his ridiculous, deadly powers by becoming vital to saving the country from Starro.
History
Origins

Price of the polka dots
Abner Krill was born to a S.T.A.R. Labs scientist obsessed with superheroes. She experimented on Abner and his siblings, resulting in some dying and others receiving metahuman powers. In Abner's case, his mother infected him with an interdimensional virus, causing multi-colored, glowing lumps to break out over his skin, filling up his body. When expelled from his body, these lumps became small, powerful incendiary discs, but their buildup in him could be fatal if left unchecked, necessitating Abner to expel the discs, which he came to call "dots", twice a day via regurgitation. The experiments and the effects of the virus traumatized him, specifically giving him crippling feelings of inadequacy and making him quiet, anxious, and introverted. He likely killed his mother sometime after, as he later would bring himself to murder by picturing her as his victims, and began hallucinating her as everyone he saw.
Later, Abner developed gauntlets that allowed him to expel the dots from his body without needing to vomit them up, instead propelling them from his wrists as weapons. Armed with these gauntlets and donning a white polka-dot covered suit, he became the metahuman criminal known as the "Polka Dot Man". He was eventually detained in the Belle Reve Correctional Center, where he was mercilessly mocked for his absurd name and abilities by his fellow inmates, such as Calendar Man and Double Down. This taunting, combined with his earlier trauma, sent Krill spiraling into a suicidal depression.[1]
The Jotunheim Mission

On a mission with morons
In 2021, the Polka Dot Man was offered a shortened prison sentence if he joined the penal black-ops group Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad, on their mission to Corto Maltese to destroy the laboratory Jotunheim and the dangerous Project Starfish within. He accepted, and was returned his gear and suit, being placed on a team lead by the exasperated assassin Bloodsport, and including the curt and self-righteous extremist vigilante Peacemaker, the sweet rat-controlling thief Ratcatcher II, and the idiotic but incredibly strong King Shark.

Abner cuts loose
Once on the island, the other Squad members began forming friendships and rivalries almost immediately, but Abner mostly kept to himself. Eventually, he started to open up, and began to feel more welcome in the group of outcasts, especially after helping the team retrieve American soldier Colonel Rick Flag from a rebel military camp and adopting him as their leader, and opening up to the group about his unique condition. The Squad made their way to the Maltese capitol, where they took a break at a nightclub for a drink and a chance to relax. The experience helped Abner come out of his shell and bond with the other Squad members, even dancing freely.

Blowing the explosives
Afterwards, the team located and kidnapped the Thinker, Jotunheim's chief scientist, and, after a retrieving another American operative, Harley Quinn, broke into the facility with Thinker's help. Once inside, they began placing plastic explosives around the building's interior, but after placing several halfway up the tall building, Abner spilled the bag holding them. They were then ambushed by the Maltese forces, causing Abner to try and attack them with his dots, which set off the explosives and caused the building to crumble, with the Squad barely making it out alive.
After making it back to the ground floor of the crumbling facility, Abner and the others learned that Project Starfish had been funded by the United States the whole time, and that the mission was really to cover up their part in it. Flag had tried been killed by Peacemaker, who had known all along, and Bloodsport shot Peacemaker and he was presumed deceased. Just then, the source of Project Starfish, a giant starfish-like alien nicknamed "Starro" with mind-control abilities that had been tormented by the Thinker for years, burst out of Jotunheim's remains as the surviving Squad members ran to safety. The furious creature enslaved the minds of all the Maltese citizens it could, and with its massive army behind it, went on a rampage across the city, destroying everything in sight and killing hundreds.

Abner destroys Starro's leg
The team pursued Starro and fought it, disobeying Waller's orders to leave it be. During the fight, Bloodsport's encouragement gave Polka Dot Man the strength to expel enough polka dots to destroy one of the beast's legs, badly wounding it. He finally accepted himself for the hero he was, and cheered his accomplishment, but he was quickly crushed by one of Starro's other legs, killing him instantly.[1]
Legacy
The Polka Dot Man's bravery allowed the Suicide Squad to kill Starro, saving countless lives, and allowed them to escape Waller by blackmailing her with the evidence of the States' involvement in Starro. Abner was mourned by his teammates, and Ratcatcher even took and kept a piece of his now destroyed costume with her after the mission was done.[1]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
A lethal burst of color
Abilities
- Mechanical Engineering: Krill was an experienced engineer, being able to construct his uniform and a pair of advanced technological gauntlets that help him project his polka-dots.
Weaknesses
- Mental Disorder: Abner suffered from severe psychological trauma stemming from his mother's experimentation on him and his siblings, as well as watching several of his siblings die as a result of said experimentation. This trauma resulted in his quiet, soft-spoken and awkward demeanor.
- Power Limitation: Due to the nature of Abner's condition, if he did not expel the dots twice a day, they would build up in his body to the point that they would devour him internally, killing him.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Uniform: Krill wore a white polka-dotted wax denim uniform with bright red goggles that protected his identity and cements his supervillain status.
- Gauntlets: On each wrist, Krill wore gauntlets that glowed and assisted him in the projection of his weaponized polka-dots.
Notes
- This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the DC Extended Universe and is an adaptation of Polka Dot Man. The original character was created by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff and first appeared in Detective Comics #300.
- The Polka Dot Man was portrayed by David Dastmalchian.
- James Gunn picked Polka Dot Man for The Suicide Squad so he could add depth to "the dumbest DC character of all time".[2]
Related
- 2 Appearances of Abner Krill (DC Extended Universe)
- 15 Images featuring Abner Krill (DC Extended Universe)
- 1 Quotations by or about Abner Krill (DC Extended Universe)
- Character Gallery: Abner Krill (DC Extended Universe)
External Links
Footnotes
Suicide Squad member |