- Love him. Serve great Darkseid. Wear your pointed helmets proudly where he leads. Die for him -- and reward Granny.
- — Granny Goodness src
Granny Goodness is a sadistic and cruel lieutenant to Darkseid, despot of Apokolips. She oversees training in her Orphanage and commands the Female Furies.
History
Granny Goodness did not begin as one of the higher-level residents of Apokolips, but was instead one of the "Lowlies" - the brutally-oppressed peasant class. She was removed from her parents and trained to be one of Darkseid's "Hounds" (his elite soldiers). One part of their training was to train their dog; Goodness named hers Mercy. Through combat and training, the two bonded. As the final step of her initiation into life as a Hound, she was told to kill her beloved pet. Instead, she killed her trainer for ordering this. When Darkseid asked why, she answered that "to have done otherwise would have robbed my lord of a most valuable asset," telling him that Mercy would obey her first, but him foremost. Testing this, Darkseid ordered Mercy to kill Goodness. Mercy attacked Goodness, forcing Goodness to kill her pet. Darkseid was impressed, telling Goodness that she had graduated with honors. "You have trained Mercy so well in my name that perhaps you'll do as well training others whose blind obedience I will one day require."
Darkseid had Granny run the training facility for his elite soldiers, where she uses brainwashing and torture, in a brutal parody of child care, to turn the innocent into fanatical warriors willing to kill or die for Darkseid's glory. Since the war between Apokolips and New Genesis first moved to Earth, Granny Goodness has often run Earthly orphanages, looking for potential warriors for Darkseid.
Granny runs the "orphanage" on Apokolips and is the chief of the Female Furies. She also raised Scott Free, the son of Highfather of New Genesis who had been traded for Darkseid's son as part of a peace treaty. Scott Free (a.k.a. Mister Miracle) became the first child to successfully escape one of her Orphanages.
In the aftermath of the Infinite Crisis, Granny Goodness posed as the Olympian goddess Athena and manipulated the Amazons into waging war on the United States. Granny continued to pose as Athena and using Amazon centers to recruit new female fighters, while also holding the Gods of Olympus prisoner on Apokolips. Eventually her manipulations and disguise was uncovered in front of her Amazon trainees by Hippolyta, Mary Marvel, Holly Robinson and Harley Quinn, which forced her to flee back to Apokolips.[1] After the Olympian Gods were freed by Mary Marvel, Holly Robinson, and Harley Quinn; Granny was attacked and killed by the Infinity-Man.[2]
However, Granny Goodness reincarnated on Earth, along with the other Apokoliptian Gods, as a member of Boss Dark Side's gang. Subsequently, her body was destroyed by Black Alice.[3] This does not spell the end of her, as during the Final Crisis her essence possessed Alpha Lantern Kraken, granting her the powers of the Green Lantern ring and the authority as the Corps's "internal affairs" officer. As such, Granny successfully arranged for Hal Jordan to be framed for the murder of the New God Orion. However, Granny's scheme was briefly exposed when Kraken regained control over her body long enough to plead for help from Batman, who was promptly overpowered by Granny and taken away for imprisonment inside of Darkseid's compound in Bludhaven where he is sealed inside a torture device.[4] Granny then later poised to conquer Oa from within while she accused Hal Jordan of being corrupted by the souls of Apokolips, citing that his history with the Parallax entity made him an ideal and vulnerable target. Ultimately though, Granny's duplicitous scheme was exposed by Honor Lanterns Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner. In a last ditch effort to fulfill her mission objectives, Granny attempted to siphon the green energy reservoir from the Central Power Battery but was stopped by Jordan and apprehended to be inspected.[5]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- New God Physiology: These New Gods have evolved due to their close proximity to the Source, a primeval energy, believed to be one of the ultimate foundations of the Universal Expression of Energy, along with their superior technology, into beings of genetic stability and evolutionary perfection. The denizens of New Genesis are stronger, faster, and smarter than homo sapiens, despite their resemblance to the same.
- Immortality: The New Gods, are functionally immortal, having ceased aging physically near the age of 30. Unless they fall in battle, they are immune to the ravages of time, and could easily live for thousands upon thousands of years.
- Invulnerability
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Stamina
- Superhuman Reflexes
- Toxic Immunity
Abilities
- Interrogation
- Pedagogy[6][7]
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Granny Goodness is surprisingly robust and considering her age, quite good at hand-to-hand combat.[8][9][10]
- Deflection: She can deflect multiple shots from an automatic weapon with a shield.[11]
Notes
- Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
- The name of her pet Mercy, when combined with that of Granny Goodness, is a sort of ironic play on Psalm 23:6 which reads, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."
Trivia
- Granny was forced to kill her dog by order of Darkseid and commented, "There is no room on Apokolips for Mercy".[12]
Related
- 149 Appearances of Granny Goodness (New Earth)
- 37 Images featuring Granny Goodness (New Earth)
- 5 Quotations by or about Granny Goodness (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Granny Goodness (New Earth)
External Links
Footnotes
- ↑ Countdown to Final Crisis #12
- ↑ Countdown to Final Crisis #10
- ↑ Birds of Prey #118
- ↑ Final Crisis #2
- ↑ Final Crisis #5
- ↑ Action Comics #586
- ↑ Countdown to Final Crisis #21
- ↑ Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #9
- ↑ Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80-Page Giant #1
- ↑ Countdown to Final Crisis #21
- ↑ Suicide Squad #35
- ↑ Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80-Page Giant #1
Jack Kirby's Fourth World This character or group of characters are related to Jack Kirby's Fourth World, either the original concept and group of titles by Jack Kirby, or any of their subsequent adaptations by other creators. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Fourth World Characters category. |
Female Furies member This character is or was a member of the Female Furies, an elite team of evil female warriors from the planet Apokolips who serve Darkseid. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Female Furies members." |