Mister Mxyztplk (Earth-Two)

Unpronounceable
Mainstream Universe‎, 1930s-1950s
Gallery
Real Name	Unpronounceable
Other Aliases	Mxy
Affiliation	Court of King Brpxz in home dimension of Zrfff · None known in Earth-Two dimension
Base Of Operations	Zrfff, 5th Dimension
Status
Alignment	Neutral
Identity	Secret Identity
Race	Imp
Marital Status	Single
Occupation	Officially Court Jester, Unofficial ruler of Fifth dimension due to his extensive powers over all other magic users of the land of Zrfff
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	2' 11"
Weight	36 lbs (16 kg)
Eyes	Blue
Hair	White · Balding
Origin
Universe	Earth-Two
Creators	Jerry Siegel · Ira Yarbrough
First Appearance	Superman #30 (October, 1944)

     

History

The being who would later become known as "Mister Mxyztplk" was born into the Fifth dimensional realm of Zrfff where magic rather than technology and science flourished. Spending most of his life in mastery of magic forms used throughout his native dimension of Zrfff, Mxyztplk grew in power and scope as did his arrogance of his abilities. Expecting his mastery of magics to be acknowledged and rewarded, Mxyztplk presented himself to the ruling court of King Brpxz. Upon demonstration of his great skills in magic, he was awarded with the position of Royal Court Jester which the King appreciated most highly over the stuffy advisers and scholarly members of his court. While he could have overcome King Brpxz and replaced him as ruler, Mxyztplk settled into his role continuing his advancements and scholarly magical pursuits, eventually becoming the power behind the throne effectively ruling his home dimension. It was during this time that he learned the magical words that would allow him to teleport from his home dimension (mxyztplk) and return back to it (klptzyxm). Mxyztplk would adapt the transport incantation as his spoken name (possibly as a means to ensure he remained outside his home dimension).

Tiring of his life in the Fifth Dimension and probably from being restrained in the usage of his magic by the amassed other beings of his home dimension, Mxyztplk left in order to find entertainment and indulge in his abilities outside the restraints of his dimension of Zrfff. He wandered for some time and landed on Earth. According to some written texts, Mxyztplk was the inspiration for the Earth legends of genies and imps and other short fairies. His encounters with most humans left him with the feeling that most were below his own superior nature. "This three-dimensional world is so backward that I can easily conquer and rule it. Think of that! A court jester could become a king!"

It was during one of his trips to Earth, he encountered Superman who was not only able to defeat him but stopped almost all of his tricks and dangers which seemingly were unintended to cause any lasting harm to the general public as when he released wild animals into the streets probably assuming that Superman would restrain the animals before any real harm could result.

Mxyztplk continued to return to annoy Superman on many occasions, forever testing and trying to prove his superiority over the Man of Steel. But try as he might, Mxyztplk never could. Some surmise that he never really wanted to defeat Superman in later times but only wanted him to not take life so seriously and not look on life as a series of challenges to overcome, as he did not appear as much in the Earth dimension after Clark Kent married Lois Lane. Though he did pop in now and again and with less anger and more mischief such as not dropping a plane full of passenger from midair but just startling them with an invisible plane.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Magic: Unlike his Earth-One and later counterparts, Mxyztplk's powers were based on true magicks whereby specific incantations and potions were required for Mxyztplk to produce an effect. Other spells of sufficient power and scope could also effect him and his abilities but very few outside of his home dimension have shown that level of ability and scope. Mxyztplk specifically had to use incantations in order to produce effects and was limited to them where his Earth-One and later counterparts would only agree to be limited to a set of conditions and could break such agreements if they so chose to do.
  
  The range of his magic ability was near limitless and able to be used for almost any effect such as turning solid matter invisible, converting matter from one source into another (i.e., lead into gold) mobilizing inanimate objects with seemingly lifelike mobility, mass hypnotism to compel others to invoke incantations for effect, and many other effects and abilities.
  
  His most used ability was interdimensional teleportation but seemingly it was limited to operate between only the Earth-Two dimension and his home dimension of Zrfff. He may have used other incantations to go to other dimensions, but such adventures were not listed. He could teleport from Zrfff to the Earth-Two dimension by the invocation of his adopted name and return using its reverse. In order to transport other people to Zrfff, he needed for others to speak another incantation as invoking his adopted name only seemed to be effective for him and other people native to Zrfff.

Weaknesses

Vulnerability to Magic

Notes

• This version of Mister Mxyztplk, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
• The term Mxyztplk is actually the incantation that allows him to cross into the Earth-Two dimension from his home dimension of Zrfff.
  

Trivia

• Mister Mxyztplk originally appeared in the Superman comic strip in February 1944 before appearing in Superman #30 circa July 1944. However, the comic book story was written and drawn first, and Mr. Mxyztplk was created by Jerry Siegel and Ira Yarbrough (not Whitney Ellsworth and Wayne Boring, the comic strip creative team).
• According to Julius Schwartz, his name is pronounced mux-izt-pulk. However Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe Vol 1 16 stated the pronunciation is "Mix-yex-TIP-el-ick". Not to be confused with his Earth-One counterpart Mr. Mxyzptlk, pronounced "Mix-yex-PIT-el-ick".
• Mister Mxyzptlk states that he is the only one who can pop from world to world and depending on the reality his name is pronounced and even spelled differently. He hints that Mxyztplk is another one of his identities.

Related

• 22 Appearances of Mister Mxyztplk (Earth-Two)
• 2 Images featuring Mister Mxyztplk (Earth-Two)
• 1 Quotations by or about Mister Mxyztplk (Earth-Two)
• Character Gallery: Mister Mxyztplk (Earth-Two)

Footnotes

Superman Villain(s) This character has been primarily an enemy of Superman in any of his various incarnations, or members of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Villains category."