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    Starro

    Character » Starro appears in 349 issues.

    A planet conquering warlord who has enslaved numerous galaxies via his link with the Star Conquerors. He has recently invaded a portion of the DC cosmos.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Starro last edited by MaliekDaOne on 01/27/24 02:14PM View full history

    Origin

    Starro comes from an alien race known as the Star Conquerors. He uses his mind control powers and his power to make psychic-parasitic clones to help him conquer planets. He puts the small starfish-clone over a person's face to control them. In his earliest appearance, he mutated ordinary Earth starfish into giant monsters and controlled them through their rampage. He has battled the Justice League and other heroes, such the Teen Titans. He has also shown interest in joining the Sinestro Corps.

    Creation

    Starro was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky and first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #28.

    Character Evolution

    Silver Age

    Starro (Silver Age)
    Starro (Silver Age)

    Starro is an alien super-villain who intends to take over the universe. Its physical appearance is that of a gigantic starfish, containing millions of similar drones that latch onto a host and control its mind. This ability to dominate an entire populace with ease makes him an incredibly dangerous threat, and one of the earliest and greatest enemies of the Justice League of America.

    Modern Age

    Starro the Conqueror (Modern Age)
    Starro the Conqueror (Modern Age)

    The being known as Starro the Conqueror was once a little boy named Cobi who lived peacefully along with his people (specifically his brother Andrez) on the "unremarkable" planet Hatorei. The Hatorei people lived simple lives and they had few semblances of a developed world but in one respect they were unsurpassed. Once a day the planets inhabitants would congregate in a species-wide telepathic link and open up to each other which made their society the pinnacle of ethics and cultural stability. However, on a particularly harrowing day, a Motherstar descended on their planet enslaving their civilization including Cobi and Andrez. At that point in time the Star Conquerors were only nomadic predators who wandered conquering planets until the Motherstar landed and birthed a new queen. So the Hatorei slaves served the queen and built a nest for a new queen to be born. On the planet Hatorei, things were different; the link between the people was still existent and it was impossible for the Star Conquerors to completely control the people.

    The link between the Hatorei was filled with outrage due to their enslavement and the deaths of their people; this outrage loosened the hold of the Star Conquerors on Andrez. So while Cobi worked in the nest, his brother driven by his peoples' outrage entered the nest determined to destroy the Starro hatchlings before a new queen could be born. Unfortunately, one of the eggs hatched and the hatchling desperate to protect itself used Cobi to defend against his brother's attack and in doing so led Cobi to kill Andrez. Afterward, the force that drove Andrez (the collective outrage of his people) seemed to enter Cobi who then, having been driven mad by that force, ripped the Starro off his face regaining his independence. The hatchling attacked Cobi, but to no avail as it leapt it became attached to Cobi's chest and Cobi subsequently destroyed the remaining hatchlings declaring that every Star Conqueror would be his.

    Major Story Arcs

    Justice League Europe

    Starro is able to convince the Justice League Europe that he is dieing and needs help fixing his ship and returning to his home planet to die peacefully. The JLE agrees to help but as the ship leaves the atmosphere it explodes, raining Starros on to London, England. Starro then takes over all of England and forces whats left of the JLE to retreat to New York for help.

    When the League returns they find Starro's central intelligence hiding underground in the sewer. Martian Manhunter tries to fight the central intelligence Starro but Starro is able to attach itself to J'onn, taking control of his body. Now in control of one of the most powerful beings Starro plans on using the teleport tubes in the JLE Embassy to take over Earth. When he demands the JLA use the teleport tubes so he may take them over, to his surprise they send Ice who freezes him.

    Captain Atom then trades a frozen and beaten Starro to Lord Manga in exchange for a favor later.

    Blackest Night

    Vril-Dox (the son of Brainiac), his son Lyrl, and his team are told about the Black Lanterns attacking the universe by Adam Strange while they plan their attack on Starro and his army. They are then attacked by Stealth, a former teammate and wife of Vril turned Black Lantern. The team enters hyperspace to escape her. His son, meanwhile realizes he has the mind and ambition of his grandfather, Brainiac and that his father had been suppressing it from him. Lyrl then joins Starro, offering him political advice and helping his plans. Vril and his team leave hyperspace, then land in the middle of a battle between numerous Sinestro Corps recruits and Harbinger, a Black Lantern telepath. As Stealth catches up to them, Wildstar explains to Dox that as she fought off Starro soldiers, Stealth appeared and murdered each soldier, powering her ring.

    Meanwhile, the soldiers that were killed by Stealth attack Starro and Lyrl Dox. Lyrl realizes that they cannot defeat the Black Lanterns, and opens a portal to a distant planet, much to the disappointment of Starro who is enjoying the fight, as neither Starro or the Black Lanterns can kill each other. Lyrl, Starro and the soldiers arrive on the planet, where Vril (now a Sinestro Corps member) and Adam Strange are attempting to combine their powers to destroy the Black Lanterns. As this fails, Vril realizes his son is no longer suppressed, and has joined forces with Starro. Disgusted, he opens a portal and sends all of the Black Lanterns, Starro and Lyrl back to Starro's base, not wanting to help his traitorous son and enemy.

    Powers and Abilities

    Starro's main power is mind control. He's been able to conquer nine galaxies using it, and he's one of the most powerful mind controllers in the universe. Starro when not mind controlling someone has a few powers of his own. For one he can fly and is an extremely powerful in his own right, being able to decapitate Despero in one swing with his axe. He can generate parasitic clones and is invulnerable to most forms of attack, including gunfire and can turn the starfish of earth into loyal agents. A few unique abilities belonging to the Star Conquerors massive drones and their smaller offspring are as thus, they can absorb powerful blasts of energy and fire them back through its tentacles. The giant Starro's are capable mentalists who can lull the androgynous species of designated worlds into a deep slumber from which he can influence they're minds from the dreaming plane.

    Equipment

    Sinestro Corps Ring

    Sinestro Corps Ring
    Sinestro Corps Ring

    Qwardian (Yellow) Power Ring: Sinestro Corps members use yellow power rings, which were built on the planet Qward. The yellow power rings give the wielder the ability to create constructs in the form of whatever objects its bearer can imagine. The power rings also provide flight, force fields and communication. Fuelled by fear, the yellow power rings are charged by Manhunter androids. They have in-bulit yellow power batteries, which are connected to the large power battery based on Qward. The only weakness of a yellow power ring is that its transition and power can be greatly disrupted by the presence of a Blue Lantern. The yellow rings have the same recharging limitations as the other Lanterns.

    Other Versions

    JLA /The 99

    Starro has teamed up with a man named Rughal, to create chaos for both the Justice League and the 99.

    Other Media

    Film

    The Suicide Squad

    No Caption Provided

    Starro is the main antagonist of the James Gunn DCEU film. He is portrayed by CGI. Starro lived a happy life floating in outer space, staring at the stars, planets and constellations. It eventually floated near the Earth, being discovered by NASA astronauts from in 1991. Starro was imprisoned in Jotunheim in Corto Maltese and the primary subject of Project Starfish. During its imprisoned years, Starro was tortured by the Thinker.

    Television

    Superman: The Animated Series

    Starro makes a brief cameo as one of the creatures being held in the Galactic Preserver's private zoo. At the end of the episode, Superman takes Starro back to the Fortress of Solitude, unaware of the creature's malevolent nature.

    Batman Beyond

    Building off the earlier cameo, Starro reappears decades later in the two-part Batman Beyond episode "The Call." It is revealed that Starro had taken over Superman's body at some point after being taken back to the Fortress, with the intention of using Superman to destroy the Justice League. With help from the new Batman, Starro is defeated and sent back to his home planet by Aquagirl and Big Barda.

    Batman: The Brave and the Bold

    Starro appears as the main antagonist of the show's second season. Starro makes his first appearance when his clones take control over the Challengers of the Unknown at the beginning of the episode "Revenge of the Reach!" The clones later appear in several other episodes, attacking and taking control of various heroes with assistance from the Faceless Hunter. The real Starro finally appears in the two-part "The Siege of Starro!" story, where it has successfully captured and taken control of most of Earth's superheroes. A small resistance cell is formed by the few heroes not controlled by Starro, consisting of Batman, Booster Gold, Firestorm, B'wana Beast and Captain Marvel. B'wana Beast ultimately sacrifices his life to destroy Starro once and for all.

    Young Justice

    Starro (though it is never explicitly named as such) appears in the episode "Downtime," where it is discovered frozen in ice by a group of Atlantean scientists. Black Manta leads his crew of mercenaries on a mission to steal Starro from Doctor Vulko's lab, but the plan is thwarted by the intervention of Aqualad and Garth. As a last resort, Black Manta destroys Starro before it can be unfrozen, but a small sample of the creature is later recovered and sent to S.T.A.R. Labs to be studied. It is mentioned that the sample is regenerating itself, implying that the creature is somehow still alive despite having been frozen for thousands of years. In the episode "Misplaced," Sportsmaster and the Riddler steal the sample from S.T.A.R. Labs. In "Insecurity," Professor Ivo, the Brain and Klarion the Witch Boy set to work creating a series of spores from the sample of Starro, infused with both technology and magic. In "Usual Suspects," Red Arrow (who is revealed to be a traitor) uses the Starro spores to infect the Justice League, bringing them under the control of Vandal Savage.

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