Pariah (character)

Pariah is a fictional character in stories published by DC Comics. A scientist, he first appeared in the limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 (April 1985) and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.

Fictional biography

Crisis on Infinite Earths
In the 1985 12-issue comic book limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Kell Mossa was one of the greatest scientists from his version of Earth (retconned as an alternate dimension rather than a parallel Earth). Pariah's unorthodox experiments to view the creation of the Universe result in the Anti-Monitor learning of his Earth's existence and destruction with waves of anti-matter. He survived through the intervention of the Monitor, and acquired the ability to travel from one alternate Earth to another, forced to witness untold millions perish. 

During the Crisis, Lady Quark is saved by Pariah before the anti-matter destroys Lady Quark's universe, making the woman into the lone survivor of Earth-Six. Pariah blames himself for his own world's destruction, the Anti-Monitor's release, and the subsequent destruction of universe after universe, until he finally learns he was essentially blameless. 

Pariah is told by the Anti-Monitor that his scientific investigation did not unleash forces great enough to destroy a universe. Pariah merely opened the antimatter portal to the dawn of time. Taking advantage of Pariah's experiment, the Anti-Monitor converted antimatter into energy, then focused it onto Pariah's universe. Those worlds' destruction allowed the gathering of more energy, which then made the Anti-Monitor strong enough to break free of the prison. 

After the Anti-Monitor's destruction, the reformed Earth is safe. Pariah and Lady Quark ask the Harbinger to join in exploring the new Earth. The Harbinger agrees to accompany the two on their journey. As the three disembark, the Harbinger tells the two of being hopeful of the future and what it might bring.

Infinite Crisis
Many years later, Pariah attempts to warn Lex Luthor that a dangerous predator is coming; "Lex" is in actuality Alexander Luthor of Earth-Three in disguise to create a new Secret Society of Super Villains. Pariah is subsequently murdered by Alexander in Villains United mini-series. He is later resurrected by the Dark Angel.

Blackest Night
As part of the Blackest Night event, Pariah's corpse is reanimated by a black power ring and recruited to the Black Lantern Corps. He interrupts a cadre of mystical heroes gathered to investigate the strange occurrences of the event. Pariah is seen again as the black rings restore the planet Xanshi.

New 52
In The New 52, Pariah can be seen inside a cell within "the Circus" prison of A.R.G.U.S.

Infinite Frontier
During the Infinite Frontier epilogue, Pariah reappears within the ruins of The Multiverse-2, where he traps the Flash within a pocket dimension dubbed "Earth-Flash.1". It is revealed that he has been brought back to life due to the Flash creating Flashpoint during which Pariah fell through a crack left in the new Multiverse. He was held prisoner by the Empty Hand and The Gentry who forced him to watch as they devoured the infinite Earths one by one. His captors eventually left to invade the new fifty-two Earths.

Dark Crisis
Due to the cycle of destruction and rebirth, Pariah decided that he would create perfect worlds for everyone. He made a deal with the Great Darkness and became its "voice", gaining immense cosmic power and also began building an army for the Darkness. 

When Barry Allen's teammates in Justice League Incarnate came to rescue, he refused to leave as he did not recognize them or remember his previous life. Pariah confronted them. The rattled Doctor Multiverse teleports the team away back to Multiverse-1 after using her multivision to see what the latter was. They soon headed to Earth 0 to gather reinforcements, just as Pariah had planned. He met with the Great Darkness, which had bent a cadre of cosmic villains to its will.

Powers and abilities
Pariah is seemingly indestructible and immortal. Granted by the Monitor, he displays few additional superhuman physical capabilities otherwise, except flight. He considers the powers as his burden, dooming him to witness horrors he cannot stop. During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Pariah is able to survive the Antimonitor's antimatter erasure and teleports to other multiverses as its focal point of destruction. Pariah has the ability to fly allowing him to travel to outer space and other dimensions. During the Dark Crisis event, Pariah can develop superhuman strengths par with Superman and resists multiple punches from Black Adam because of his physical invulnerability. He is also capable of creating pocket dimensions to an alternate reality and eradicating the Justice League from existence after he negotiates with the Great Darkness.

In other media
An original incarnation of Pariah named Nash Wells appears in "Crisis on Infinite Earths", portrayed by Tom Cavanagh. He is a multiversal traveler who tried to prove Mar Novu / The Monitor was a false god, but accidentally freed the Anti-Monitor and forced to witness the multiverse's destruction before sending the Paragons to the Vanishing Point.

References

External links
 Pariah at DC Comics Wiki

Characters created by George Pérez
Characters created by Marv Wolfman
Comics characters introduced in 1985
DC Comics characters with immortality
DC Comics male characters
DC Comics scientists
Fictional characters from parallel universes
Fictional characters with dimensional travel abilities
Fictional physicists