- Control of the universe will be ours...and only ours.
- —Controllerssrc
The Controllers are an offshoot of the Maltusians intent on controlling the Universe.
History
Pre-Crisis
In their initial appearance, the Controllers came from "another space-time continuum". Their universe had almost been destroyed by war, and they determined to prevent the Earth-One universe going the same way. They used their mind-control abilities to prevent intergalactic war, but also had powerful weapons, including the Sun-Eater.[1]
It was eventually revealed that the Controllers were not native to that other universe but were in fact from Oa where they had evolved[2] after immigrating from Maltus. When Krona created evil in the form of the Antimatter Universe the Oans disagreed on how to handle the situation. One group of Oans wanted to dedicate their immortal existences to contain evil. This group eventually became the Guardians of the Universe. Another group decided that evil should be destroyed. Traveling to another universe this group became the Controllers.[2][3]
Just as the Guardians slowly changed their physical appearances over billions of years of existence, so did the Controllers. Originally, all Oans were blue-skinned humanoids; currently, the Controllers are pink-skinned and hairless. To destroy evil the Controllers created weapons such as the Sun-Eaters, gaseous beings that can devour whole planets and stars, and the Miracle Machine, a device that can turn any thought into reality.
Post-Crisis
Initially, following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the origins, motives and methods of the Controllers and Guardians remained effectively the same. The story that Krona has created evil was now a lie to hide the fact that he had in reality connected the end of the universe to the beginning robbing it of billions of years of existence.[4] However, after one of the many reality shifts in New-Earth's history, the reason for the divide became the Guardians decision to stop using their robot minions, the Manhunters.
In recent times, the Controllers established their own corps of interstellar peacekeepers, called the Darkstars, to compete with the Guardians' Green Lantern Corps. Many former members of the Corps joined the Darkstars after the Corps were destroyed. The Darkstars are now considered defunct. In their continuing effort to create an alternative to the Green Lantern Corps, the Controllers experimented on Martyn Van Wyck, transforming him into the pyrokinetic Effigy.
An unnamed Controller was a prisoner of Doctor Polaris. The Power Company finally succeeded in freeing him and he told them that his original reason for visiting the earth was an attempt to re-secure a cosmic artifact called the Mephistopheles Matrix.
Recently the Controllers lament on their failures and decide that the need a central power source; namely the Orange Light of Avarice. Their search indicates that the Vega star system is where they will find the Orange Light.[5] Upon sending a group of Controllers into locating the orange light at the planet Okaara, they were instead slaughtered by Larfleeze, the current owner of the orange light, and assimilated as constructs in his Orange Lantern Corps.[6]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Immortality
- Cosmic-Level Energy Manipulation
Abilities
Miscellaneous
Type of Government:
- Oligarchy
Level of Technology:
- Highly Advanced; Darkstar Exo-Mantle (Formerly)
Cultural Traits:
- Greediness for Control, Order through Destruction
See Also
Links and References
- Controllers article at Memory Beta, the licensed Star Trek publication Wikia.