Mongul (Earth-One)

I fashioned a prison that you could not leave without giving up your heart's desire. Escaping it must have been like tearing off your own arm… and now I'm going to kill you anyway. Happy birthday, Kryptonian. I give you oblivion.

— Mongul ^src

Mongul was the lord of the gladiatorial satellite Warworld and an enemy of Superman.

History

Origins

Mongul ruled over a distant planet with a tyrannical iron fist until one day a man called the Arkymandryte began to stir up dissent among the oppressed masses. Mongul was incapable of putting the rebellion down and was ultimately ousted and exiled into outer space by his own people. Subsequently, the Arkymandryte, admittedly according to Mongul's own biased account, became an even crueler and more inhumane despot to his people that he himself had ever been.

Mongul drifted throughout the galaxy, and it's presumed he obtained immense power in an unrevealed incident.^[1]

Warworld

Main article: Superman: Warworld

Eventually, Mongul arrived on the fifth planet of the Cygnus system, where the Martian race guarded the crystal key which provided access to the weaponized artificial planet Warworld. Mongul was driven out by Martian Manhunter, but he didn't give up on his desire to seize Warworld.

Mongul resorted to hold Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane and Steve Lombard hostage in order to blackmail Superman into fighting Martian Manhunter. Although Superman defeated the Martian hero, Martian Manhunter managed to free Superman's friends. However, both heroes were too exhausted to stop Mongul from taking the key and teleporting away.^[2]

Mongul travelled to the place where Warworld lay in hiding, activated the star-sized weapon and set a course for the Raydor galaxy. Nonetheless, despite Warworld's overwhelming power, he was defeated by the combined efforts of Superman and Supergirl. Warworld was destroyed, but Mongul managed to escape.^[3]

Whatever Happened to Starman?

Mongul next appeared on the Throneworld ruled by Prince Gavyn, one of the heroes to take the moniker of Starman, with plans of taking control of an ancient Kranaltinian doomsday weapon, which was used by the Crown Imperial in a past era to blackmail neighboring worlds and alien races into submission. In order to obtain access to this weapon, Mongul murdered Gavyn's sister and forced his love, Lady Merria, to marry him. Meanwhile, Starman was kept imprisoned helplessly by Mongul in his Dimensional Inversion Cube. Fortunately, Superman arrived just in time to free Starman and stop Mongul. While the former king disabled the doomsday weapon, which was hidden in a native sun and drew power from it through its crystalline make, Superman tried to keep Mongul at bay. While Mongul's crushing brawn once again made him more than a match for the Last son of Krypton, the end result of the fight was a standstill, and Mongul was forced to flee once again.^[4]

In Final Battle

After two consecutive failures brought about by Superman, Mongul elected to direct his next plot against the hero himself and his treasured planet Earth. Beating a Controller to death, Mongul stole the Sun-Eater in his possession and turned it loose on the Sun at the center of Earth's solar system. Superman would be forced the watch the extinguishing of the Sun entrapped within one of Mongul's Dimensional Inversion Cubes, helpless to save the human race from certain annihilation. However, the combined efforts of Supergirl, the Justice League of America, and the Legion of Super-Heroes destroyed the Sun-Eater, and Superman was let free and managed to barely vanquish Mongul in a one-on-one physical encounter for the very first time.^[5] Mongul was then presumably incarcerated in an unknown intergalactic prison.

For the Man Who Has Everything

Whatever was done to confine Mongul after this defeat did not suffice to hold him for long, and the otherworldly dictator would hatch one final scheme to defeat Superman. Mongul would unleash the Black Mercy, a symbiotic part-plant/part-fungus hybrid creature, on Superman on his birthday. The Black Mercy attached to Superman and induced him a hallucination simulating his deepest desire.

Mongul perhaps did not count on the appearance of Superman's comrades Batman, Wonder Woman, and Robin at the Fortress of Solitude, but their unexpected discovery of Superman's entranced body did not faze him. Instead, the psychotic brute saw the opportunity to avail himself of the pleasure of eliminating Superman's comrades personally. In the end, Superman's growing realization of the fact that his fantasy world, in which Krypton had never exploded and he had always lived there, was not as idyllic as it seemed helped him break free of the Black Mercy's hold.

Incensed at Mongul, Superman engaged him in a prolonged and savage fight. However, Mongul managed to get the upper hand and prepared a killing blow for Superman when Robin caused Mongul to collapse into his very own "dream-coma" by throwing the Black Mercy at him. Mongul would enter an illusory scenario in which he restores Warworld, kills Superman and his friends, and forces the known universe to submit before him, all the while unaware of the falsehood of his victory. What Superman actually decided to do with Mongul is unknown, though he commented on the possibility of dropping him into a black hole.^[6]

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Mongul's existence and history were completely altered, transforming him into a different person on a different reality.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Alien Physiology
- Superhuman Strength: Mongul's strength was so vast that he could pummel Superman senseless using his bare fists with ease and even bludgeon the Man of Steel to the brink of death if he failed to show caution in confronting Mongul. It can be said in all honesty that Mongul was one of the mightiest and most merciless foes that Superman has ever faced.
- Invulnerability: Mongul was truly nearly invulnerable, more so than Superman himself. Not only was he able to withstand a sudden assault from the Kryptonian involving the fullest exertion of all his superpowers and swiftly recover to deliver a blow that smashed Superman into the ground, but he could also survive a direct blast of his heat vision at its greatest intensity. He could withstand a Wonder Woman's punch without pain. In his last known appearance, he was thrown into a black hole by Superman. Obviously Superman calculated that Mongul could survive it (Superman has a personal code against killing).
- Superhuman Stamina: Mongul could continue to operate at peak physical efficiency, even after taking and brushing off some of Superman's most powerful attacks. Superman has only defeated Mongul once, and even then, he collapsed from exhaustion immediately afterwards. Every other time they clashed in melee combat, Mongul either won decisively or would have had some outside factor not interfered.
- Superhuman Speed: Despite his size, Mongul was remarkably quick, being able to grapple with the superhumanly fast Superman himself.
- Superhuman Agility: Mongul's elephantine musculature is misleadingly in regards of his agility.
- Energy Projection: Mongul could release potent rays of concussive force from his hands and eyes. It is assumed that Mongul gained these powers after being ousted from his world by the Arkymandryte. With the press of a button, Mongul could also release a disintegration beam from the gem fixed to his chest.
- Teleportation: Mongul possesses the power to teleport large distances. It is unknown if this is an internalized power or facilitated by technology laced within his battle armor. However, it is presumed that Mongul gained this ability after being exiled from his homeworld by the Arkymandryte.
- Telepathy: Mongul has extremely limited telepathic abilities. It is assumed that Mongul gained these powers after being ousted from his world by the Arkymandryte.
- Telekinesis: Mongul has extremely limited telekinetic abilities. It is assumed that Mongul gained these powers after being ousted from his world by the Arkymandryte.

Abilities

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Mongul is an expert in hand-to-hand combat. His proficiency is such that he can fight toe-to-toe with Superman, who is a master of Kryptonian martial arts and combat strategy.
Leadership: More than just a simple brute, Mongul is also a crafty warlord dictator. Such experience has given him impressive leadership and manipulation skills, though it still comes more naturally to Mongul to use his fists in any given situation.
Weaponry: Mongul possesses a stash of sophisticated alien weaponry.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Mongul's Battle Armor: Mongul is rarely seen outside of his suit of hi-tech extraterrestrial battle armor. Its purpose, aside from perhaps enhancing some of Mongul's abilities, is unknown, as it has been proven on multiple occasions that the battle armor is actually less durable than he is. An attack from Superman that reduces it to ashes or shreds still barely makes Mongul flinch. What appears to be a gemstone embedded in the armor's chest can fire a disintegration beam.
Imperial Crown of Throneworld: For a short while Mongul contracted the crown of Kranaltine through forced marriage to its current queen. With it he had the means to control a thought powered crystal based doomsday device that previous despots of the imperium used to expand their empire.(Formerly)
Dimensional Inversion Cube: The Dimensional Inversion Cube was a bizarre tesseract prison Mongul fashioned for individuals that he needed to confine or entrap for whatever reason. The Inversion Cube was both near-indestructible and had the appearance of reducing its prisoner in size from an outside perspective.

Transportation

Warworld: During the brief time period when Warworld was his to pilot and command, Mongul used it both as a means of high-speed intergalactic transportation and as a massive, mobile, planet-decimating weapons platform.

When in control of Warworld, Mongul was subject to physiological strain as his mind struggled to cope with directing all of its weapons systems simultaneously. Because of Warworld's very nature, Mongul overexerted himself into unconsciousness in attempting to mentally cope with and react to Superman and Supergirl's threat.(Formerly)

Weapons

Throneworld Solar Cannon: With his acquisition of the Kranaltine Onyx Throne, Mongul could utilize an ancient conquest weapon with enough destructive force to shatter planets. The armament was crystal based design utilizing the same properties of Starman's bracelets to power it, sitting in the heart of Throneworld's star while all but impossible to reach otherwise.(Formerly)
Black Mercy: A symbiotic part-plant/part-fungus lifeform capable of inducing realistic hallucinations simulating the most deeply held desires of its host, as well as the instrument of Mongul's final revenge scheme on Superman.
Sun-Eaters: Mongul found a means of controlling and guiding a pre-adolescent Sun-Eater, after killing its designated Controller, in a bid for vengeance against Superman and his adopted homeworld. Through clever use of his own powers, he could command the galaxy killing organism to discharge lethal energy blasts at whatever/whomever he chose as well as order it to devour life-giving stars at his command.(Formerly)