Negative Man (real name Lawrence "Larry" Trainor) was a member of the Doom Patrol.
History
Member of the Doom Patrol
Larry joins the Doom Patrol
As a test pilot, Larry Trainor suffered an accident that distorted his appearance and gained the power to become a negative spirit until he was rescued by the kind doctor Niles Caulder, better known as the Chief, who gave him bandages to cover the radiation from your body. Larry joined the Doom Patrol, a strange team of superheroes, befriending his teammates, Elasti-Girl, real name Rita Farr, a former Hollywood actress who gained elastic powers, and Robotman, real name Cliff Steele, a former racecar driver who became a robot, forming a rivalry with him. During his duty as a superhero, Larry took on the alter-ego Negative Man and fought against different supervillains with the team like the Brotherhood of Evil, a team of supervillains, but despite the fact that society rejected them and the other half supported them, the Doom Patrol continued fighting crime.[1]
Eventually, the Doom Patrol was kidnapped and locked up, with Larry being in his negative spirit due to his missing bandages, until the nightly vigilante, Batman, and the team's young member, Beast Boy, real name Gar Logan, a boy who can transforming into animals, they saved him, giving him new bandages to resist. Larry and the team attempted to escape, being forced to confront Mad Mod, a reality-altering psychopath, who took on Cliff's body as armor, before Gar defeated Mod. The Doom Patrol returned to their headquarters, where Larry recovered his real bandages, considering wearing a trenchcoat, before being alerted by Niles about the attack of the amalgam supervillain, Animal Vegetable Mineral Man, so the team and Batman teamed up to defeat him.[2]
The Doom Patrol is challenged by General Zahl
Shortly after, the Doom Patrol headed to Paris, France, to stop the attack of the psychotic terrorist, General Zahl, and his military army, which they were able to defeat, but when Zahl threatened a civilian if the team did not surrender, the Doom Patrol tried to stop him, succeeding, but the hostage ended up being killed. After saving Paris, Larry and the Doom Patrol argued over not being able to save a civilian, forcing them to finally split up, going their separate ways, with Larry becoming a cheap sideshow at a local circus, being booed numerous times with tomatoes and abused by the ringmaster.[1]
The Last Adventure
Negative Man returns to action
After his circus performances were a total failure and he received more tomatoes, Larry decided to quit his job to move on with his life, but was stopped by a familiar voice that turned out to be the Animal Vegetable Mineral Man, who transformed into a giant, forcing Larry to transform into a negative spirit to attack him, sparking a fight in which Larry almost lost due to his enemy's massive power until Niles, Rita and Batman appeared to save him. After the villain's defeat, Batman advised Larry to return to action and leave the negativity behind to discover who was sending his old enemies, frustrating Larry, who agreed to rejoin the Doom Patrol.
As a missing member, Larry and the Doom Patrol defended Cliff from his old robotic enemy, Arsenal, whom they quickly attacked and despite his rivalry with Cliff, Larry protected his friend, fighting the robot, eventually receiving Cliff's support to successfully defeat him, convincing him to return to the team, before they ended up being captured by General Zahl on his ship.
The Doom Patrol agrees to Zahl's threat
On Zahl's ship, Larry, the Doom Patrol and Batman were stripped of their powers by Zahl's traps, discovering his true plan to reunite them to make them choose again, sending them to an island and threatening to destroy the small Codsville island if they refused to die, but would leave Codsville alone if the team surrendered. In his moment of reflection, Niles gave the team the opportunity to choose, with Larry remembering how they learned that all of humanity was his brothers, agreeing to die instead of Codsville, so Zahl tried to exploit them, although Batman tried to prevent it, However, Zahl blew up the island, killing Larry and the Doom Patrol.[1]
Legacy
After his death, the Doom Patrol was respected and had inspired several people, frustrating Zahl for having been defeated by the defunct team, causing his defeat along with the other villains. Codsville was renamed Four Heroes by the civilians to honor the team's honorable sacrifice and Batman remembered Cliff alongside the Doom Patrol, stating that they would finally rest in peace.[1]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Abilities
Notes
- This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the television series Batman: The Brave and the Bold and is an adaptation of Negative Man (Larry Trainor). The original character was created by Arnold Drake, Bob Haney, and Bruno Premiani and first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80.
- Negative Man was voiced by David K. Hill.
Related
- 2 Appearances of Lawrence Trainor (The Brave and the Bold)
- 8 Images featuring Lawrence Trainor (The Brave and the Bold)
- 1 Quotations by or about Lawrence Trainor (The Brave and the Bold)
- Character Gallery: Lawrence Trainor (The Brave and the Bold)
Footnotes
  Doom Patrol member |