Metallo

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**John Corben** was once a Human being, but after being injured in battle has since turned into a radioactive cyborg fueled by the radioactive material originating from space known as kryptonite, using it as his source of energy. This same mineral can be used to kill Kryptonians, most notably Superman through an extended period of exposure alone. Although with his robotic enhancements, he has been made strong enough to match the Kryptonian in strength and power. He was chosen to be part of a secret military program called Project Metallo, experimenting on wounded veterans with little chance of survival. It was from this program that John would adopt the name **Metallo**, and begin a career as a dangerous foe of Superman.

## Biography

### Military Service

**John Corben** was a Sergeant in the United States Military, serving under General Sam Lane who viewed John as "the son he never had". After multiple meetings with the General's daughter Lois, John began to harbor a crush for her. Her father tried often to hook John up with Lois, but she always spurned him, seeing him as a merciless killer. Some examples of this behavior would be how ruthless and violent John became when he took part in the rooting out of the insurgents in the Middle East without any regard for civilian lives. During his tour of duty in the Middle East, a V-22 Osprey that John would be transported in was shot down by a band of terrorists, who used rocket launchers to knock the aircraft out of the sky.

### "Death" of John Corben

Even though John survived the crash, his entire body including bones, organs, and all others were gravely injured to the point of near death. Among the damaged organs was his heart, which proved to be failing if not already succumbing to failure. Wanting to save John, General Lane enlisted John into a secret military program that would use the findings from a recent "advancement" in the field of cybernetics to create a cyborg for military purposes, even though he knew that there may be risks with the program such as flaws with a power source. After John was cleared for the long series of surgeries and procedures for the program, the process began that would turn Corben from a broken man into a new man.

The program itself called Project Metallo, would be headed by Professor Emmett Vale, one of Lexcorp's top scientists specializing in cybernetics. Vale desired to mold Corben into a cyborg, because he was anxious to experiment on Human possibilty beyond what the natural laws of mortality would allow, and so took advantage of John's terrible accident. In the next few weeks, Vale began replacing Corben's failing limbs with a super-strong metallic alloy. Vale replaced John's heart with a power system initially fueled by Uranium. To cover the endoskeleton, Vale produced a foam-latex sheathe which resembled Human skin. The operations proved successful, but soon after the remaking of John Corben, Professor Vale suffered from a mild stroke.

### Rise of Metallo

A year after John's transformation began, he emerged from his long period of slumber and awoke feeling different than he had before. Upon waking up, John was told of how he was saved from the injuries he sustained, by transferring his vital organs into a cybernetic body fueled by Uranium. After being approved for field tests, John returned to military service under General Lane despite protests from others in the military establishment that he was determined to be mentally unstable. With his new abilities, Corben resumed his duties in the Middle East, working to bring down the scum who were responsible for his pain. In his crusade, John proved to have become more violent and ruthless in his actions in rooting out insurgents.

Corben's actions on the battlefield made Sam Lane start to question John's future. An unfortunate cost for John's survival was his heart, fueled by Uranium which would only for short durations of time before needing to be replaced with a fresh supply. Without his Uranium to power his body, his entire system would shut down, causing John to become weak and dizzy. In time, Lexcorp found a better source of energy than Uranium, in the form of the mineral known as Kryptonite. In Vale's research he surmised through experimenting with the small quantities they were able to discover, that with a piece of Kryptonite even the size of a rock could power Corben's body for not just days but years if not decades.

Then so it was, with the reserves of Kryptonite compiled into Corben's heart, he held not only the key to eternal life, but the only mineral capable of killing the last Kryptonian. General Lane, who finally came to realize the problems Corben had caused and the threat he represented, had him remotely destroyed in a bombing raid while he was still on a mission. However, Corben survived the bombings, albeit with his synthetic skin being burned off. Having been betrayed by the man he had viewed as a father, John sought revenge against Lane and the military for not only turning him into a monster, but for rendering him unable to smell, eat or fell. With all that he had endured, Corben went insane, ripping away what little artificial skin was left and officially adopting the identity of "**Metallo**".

## Powers and Abilities

* **Cybernetic Enhancement:** John Corben was an ordinary man before becoming a cyborg. As Metallo, his metallic body offers him a high degree of protection from physical and energy attacks. He has enhanced superhuman strength and speed matching Superman while no longer needing to eat, sleep, or breathe. Moreover, because of his Kryptonite battery, he was virtually immortal. His kryptonite battery allowed him to project focused Kryptonite radiation and energy blasts from his chest. His brain is hermetically sealed inside a shielded alloy skull that has its own power supply. Additionally, because of his kryptonite heart in addition to incredible strength and speed, Metallo poses a challenge and even a threat to opponents such as strong as Superman (where in that case, he takes advantage of the power of kryptonite to weaken Superman).