This is an in-universe article with out-of-universe material.
No. Superboy, Steel, the three of us once tried to take on the mantle of Superman. We continue to attempt to be worthy of him. If there ever was a time to make him proud-- --that day is today! 
- — Eradicator src
The Eradicator is an ancient Kryptonian weapon, merged with a human body to form the Last Son of Krypton, an extreme vigilante who surfaced after the Death of Superman.
History
Origin
In the distant past, Cleric was an alien missionary. His faith led him to Krypton, where his peaceful message and denunciation of cloning quickly gained him a following. The Kryptonian Science Council was threatened by the preacher, and asked Kem-L to develop a device to kill him and to "prevent any similar act of heresy". Kem-L ultimately developed the Eradicator. With his isolationist views, although, Kem-L built the Eradicator so no more Kryptonians would leave the planet, and no outsiders would come, preserving his ideal of Kryptonian culture. When it was used, the Eradicator merely incapacitated the Cleric, but it instigated a riot that left many dead.
The surviving Cleric took the Eradicator and left Krypton with a group of Kryptonian followers, but they died soon thereafter,[2] because the proximity to their planet was required for them to live. The Cleric kept the Eradicator for 200,000 years, until he encountered Superman on Warworld. With the device, the two exchanged memories, and the Cleric had a vision of Superman's death at the hands of Mongul. The Cleric wished to prevent this from happening, and the Eradicator transported them to his asteroid. He noticed that the device changed to protect Krypton's sole survivor, and they used it to heal their wounds, both physical and spiritual. Upon giving the Eradicator to Superman, Cleric rapidly aged and died as the link to the Eradicator extending his life was severed.[3]
The Eradicator's fortress
Back on Earth, the Eradicator caused a number of bizarre events, including altering Jimmy Olsen into a malleable form,[4] causing him extreme pain in the process. Superman threw the device into Antarctica, where it altered the ice to create the Fortress of Solitude, and possessed two scientists to create a portal to the Phantom Zone, where it drew Kryptonian artifacts to the Fortress. When Superman recovered the Eradicator, he learned that one of his ancestors, Kem-L, created it to prevent aliens from influencing Kryptonian culture. The Eradicator tried to transform Earth into a new Krypton and erased Superman's memory of the device when he tried to interfere.
Professor Emil Hamilton, who had previously examined the Eradicator, restored Superman's memory, and Superman then went into the Phantom Zone to stop the device. He encountered a projection of Kem-L and learned that only the House of El can control the Eradicator, but he first had to undergo a rite of passage. When Superman completed it, he commanded the Eradicator to shut down, and it complied.[5]
The Krypton Man
Superman: The Day of the Krypton Man
Later, the Eradicator altered Superman's psyche, turning him into the ideal Kryptonian and alienating his closest friends. Superman nearly killed Draaga, and when he tried to kill Jonathan and Martha Kent, he broke the programming, fought the Eradicator, and threw it into the Sun.
The Eradicator returned as an energy being. It tried to turn the Sun into a red dwarf (the type of star that Krypton once orbited), but Superman stopped it with help from Professor Hamilton.
The Last Son of Krypton
Eradicator as seen in the Reign of the Supermen!
During the period that Superman had been killed in battle with Doomsday, the Eradicator had returned, his energy body having been spread across the Fortress and just recovered. Upon learning of Superman's death, the Eradicator raced to his tomb to take over Superman's body and preserve Krypton's heritage.[6] However, the Eradicator couldn't possess Superman's body and instead was forced to create a facsimile body to use and took his body back to the Fortress, where he would be put into a Healing Matrix to revive him and take energy from his body.[7]
The creation of the new body was imperfect and he was forced to don a special set of shades to protect his eyes. Donning his own version of Superman's shield and cape, the Eradicator returned to Metropolis, deluding himself as a messianic figure due to various cults forming. He first encountered Lois Lane, telling her that Clark Kent was dead but not elaborating. When he encountered Guy Gardner, he worried briefly that his methods were too cruel.
Things would change for the Eradicator when he encountered Steel, who, along with Lois, chewed out the Eradicator for his actions. However, when a process server, trying to stop the two from using the S-Shield (as Superboy had trademarked it), was nearly killed by him, Steel pulled him out, sending the two to Coast City. Despite the power advantage, Steel was able to defeat the Eradicator and chewed him out for his actions. The Eradicator agreed and allowed Steel to return to Metropolis while he stayed in Coast City.[8]
Soon, a mysterious spaceship had arrived over Coast City and the Eradicator went to investigate, joined by the Cyborg Superman. Unknown to the Eradicator, the Cyborg was actually working with those in the ship and grievously wounded the energy being, as the captain of the ship, Mongul, vaporized Coast City. The Eradicator returned to the Fortress only to find the Matrix open, Superman having been revived. The Fortress robots placed the Eradicator into a healing bath, where they broke his delusion. Learning that Superman was confronting both murderers in his weakened state, the Eradicator destroyed the Fortress to repower himself and raced to the newly created Engine City.[9][10]
Despite the heavy mistrust, Superman and the Eradicator joined forces to battle the Cyborg Superman, the two overwhelming the omnicidal machine. In desperation, the Cyborg intended on using the Kryptonite core of Engine City to kill Superman, but the Eradicator leaped in front of the stream, his body transforming it to repower Superman and allowing him to end the Cyborg's threat.[11]
David Connor
Following Superman's return, the Eradicator's apparently dead body was examined at S.T.A.R. Labs and merged with Dr. David Connor. The merged Eradicator joined the Outsiders, and occasionally teamed up with Superman. The Eradicator dealt with Dr. Connor's personal life, and more of the device's history was revealed.
The original Eradicator program was revealed to still exist in the Fortress of Solitude's computers, and following the destruction of the Fortress in Superman's battle with Dominus, the Eradicator took the form of Kem-L and again attempted to brainwash Superman. The David Connor-Eradicator realized that the program was still active and merged with the remains of the Fortress to control it.
The Fortress-Eradicator took the form of a gigantic Kryptonian battlesuit and gained a form of multiple personality disorder based on conflicting programming. When it learned of the origin of Krypto, Superman's pet dog-like creature, a creature with amazing powers, the shock to the original directive of Kryptonian purity was enough to correct its programming. It then decided that this dog shouldn't exist and tried to destroy it, and Superman held him in suspended animation in his new Fortress, eventually telling him Krypto's full origin once he had learned it himself.
Most recently, the Eradicator returned to his [last?] humanoid form. He wears a new outfit which, like the "Krypton Man" costume, is a combination of elements from Superman's costume and Kryptonian robes. He has gained the ability to sense beings that should not be in the DC Universe, such as Mr. Majestic, which may be related to his original programming against alien influences. Later, the Eradicator was seriously injured by an OMAC. He was said, during the Infinite Crisis, to be in a coma at Steel's headquarters, Steelworks.
One Year Later
The Eradicator's fate during the One Year Later storyline (which is set one full year after Infinite Crisis) is unknown. A recent Superman story arc suggests he has turned into a villain in a possible future. A flashback shows Jor-El muttering about "damned Eradicators" while sending Kal-El into space, hinting at their attempts to destroy Krypton. Eradicator is seriously injured by an OMAC, and is left in a coma.
New Krypton
A new Eradicator has now surfaced in Markovia claiming to be an ambassador from New Krypton. Although he is not the original Eradicator, he has all the original's memories.
Doomsday
While Eradicator helped Geo-force in Markovia, Doomsday appeared and attacked him. Eradicator was quickly defeated and abducted. Later, after realizing Steel, Superboy, and Supergirl had also been abducted, they all worked together to try to escape. Superman showed up to help, but in the end Eradicator was killed by a new, more evolved Doomsday.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Kryptonian Clone Body: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, he possesses the same potential powers as an average Kryptonian. These include:
- Solar Energy Absorption: Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of his super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. His biological make-up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and his bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure.
- Superhuman Strength: His strength is augmented by yellow solar radiation interacting with the greater-than-human density, resilience and biological efficiency of his musculature. His strength is more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is this act of conscious will that enables him to perform physical feats that are beyond the mere application of force, such as moving a mountain top without said rock crumbling under its own mass.
- Invulnerability: This ability's levels have changed over time, at times allowing him to fly into a sun and emerge unharmed, as evident most recently through Krypton's red sun[12] and survive and directly entering directly into the Sun.
- Superhuman Stamina: He is able to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an indefinite period of time. This based on his body converting yellow solar radiation directly to energy but is limited by physiological and psychological needs to eat, drink, and sleep.
- Flight: He is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering to moving in any posture, in any direction.
- Superhuman Speed He is not as fast as the Flash, but he can achieve faster than light speed under his own power in space [13].
- Super-Breath: He is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from his lungs. He can chill the air as it leaves his lungs to freeze targets. He can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into his lungs.
- Super Hearing: His hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, he can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency.
- Enhanced Vision: He possesses a superior sensory arrangement of microscopic, telescopic, infrared and ultraviolet visual capabilities. He is able to see the entire spectrum. Microscopic, chemical, x-ray, auditory, ultrasonic, magnetic, photonic, etc.
- Heat Vision: He can, as a conscious act, fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. He can vary the heat and area affected.
- Solar Energy Absorption: Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of his super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. His biological make-up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and his bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure.
- Energy Projection: What distinguishes the Eradicator from other Kryptonians is his ability to manipulate energy. Eradicator is actually a being of pure energy, therefore he possesses vast energy manipulation abilities, ranging from being able to absorb, convert and release various forms of energy as powerful blasts from his hands or eyes.
- Cybernetic Awareness: After an altercation, namely the Eradicator having fought Mr. Majestic, the Eradicator's programming had been enhanced in a way to make him more aware of his surroundings. The full extent of this new hardware alteration is unclear, although it has been shown that he can sense beings and gateways from alternate realities such as the Bleed.
- Mechanokinesis: As a sentient supercomputer, the Eradicator has limitless cybernetic interactive capability, being able to control and operate the vastly more advanced crystal based nanotech computers of the Fortress of Solitude along with lower level technologies of earth.
- Enhanced Intellect: Being a program from Krypton, the Eradicator possesses extensive knowledge of Krypton as well as the ability to compute and process information at incredible speed.
- Telepathy: The Eradicator has vast mental abilities of its own design, able to influence if not outright manipulate the thoughts of beings like Superman and Matrix.
Abilities
Weaknesses
- Power Limitation: The Eradicator cannot see through lead with his vision powers.
- Vulnerability to Kryptonite
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Kryptonian Battle-Armor: Ancient battle tech armor from Krypton's old ages, Eradicator Incorporated it into its system parameters able to conjure it as a crystal-tech construct around himself. It vastly increases his strength and other attributed abilities several fold, enough to barrel through the armies of Apokolips and even cause damage to the likes of Mr. Majestic.
Notes
- Prime Earth has seen two characters use the name Eradicator: one that was formed out of Supergirl's Sanctuary and another that was created by General Zod to seek out and arrest Kryptonian law breakers. The second Prime Earth Eradicator appeared looking very similar to this one as seen in Reign of the Supermen but he had a totally different origin.
Trivia
- Because of Eradicator's enhanced sight, he was forced to wear goggles to block out visible light. He no longer needs his goggles to see.
Related
- 143 Appearances of Eradicator (New Earth)
- 21 Images featuring Eradicator (New Earth)
- 12 Quotations by or about Eradicator (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Eradicator (New Earth)
Footnotes
- ↑ Generations Shattered #1
- ↑ Action Comics Annual #2
- ↑ Superman (Volume 2) #33
- ↑ Adventures of Superman #458
- ↑ Adventures of Superman #461
- ↑ Action Comics #687
- ↑ Action Comics #692
- ↑ Superman: The Man of Steel #24
- ↑ Action Comics #690
- ↑ Action Comics #691
- ↑ Superman (Volume 2) #82
- ↑ Infinite Crisis #7
- ↑ Countdown #48
 Superman Family member |
 This character is or was a member of one or more of the teams known as the Outsiders. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Outsiders members" category. |