Gorilla Grodd

**Gorilla Grodd** is a fictional character and villain in comic books published by the American company DC Comics. He first appeared in *The Flash* #106 (May 1959), but his first appearance in *Swamp Thing* comics was in *Swamp Thing Annual* Vol. 2, #3 (1987). He was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino.

## History

Gorilla Grodd was the Flash's enemy from Gorilla City, a city in the jungles of Africa populated by intelligent gorillas. He possessed amazing intelligence and force of mind capabilities, powers allegedly granted him when he was exposed to a space-rock that landed in the African jungles (though another account states that Gorilla City originated on the planet of Calor and was brought to Earth as a result of Grodd's machinations when he already had his powers).

Grodd's mind took over the body of criminal William Dawson, who was in prison. When released, he traveled back to Gorilla City. Upon reaching his destination, Dawson's body devolved back into Grodd's original gorilla form. There, he saw and fell in love with Solovar's bride-to-be, Boka. Determined to have her, he designed a machine that caused his body to emanate neo-magnetic radiation. As a result, everyone who saw him instantly liked him. He arrived at the wedding procession, and Boka immediately became infatuated with him. They were married, and Grodd was declared king of Gorilla City. Not satisfied, he had the gorillas build him a plane, which he flew to Central City, where the humans quickly began adoring him, including the Flash. He began running for governor as the Statewide Party candidate, planning on continuing on to president after that. However, the Flash foiled Grodd's plan when he discovered that the neo-magnetic radiation could be counteracted by solar flare radiation, which he duplicated by vibrating his body at super speed to match the frequency. Afterwards, Grodd was easily apprehended.

Grodd had been trapped inside the human body of an overweight street bum. He was attacked by a gang known as the Vultures. One of them commented on how their member Iggo had the strength of a gorilla, which reminded Grodd of his true form. Suddenly changing back to his original shape and size, he quickly defeated the gang, making them believe that they are burning in molten lava by using his force of mind power. Reading the minds of the crooks, he saw that one of the former members of their gang was a friend of the Flash, and a plan began to form in his mind.

Grodd found another space-rock, identical to the one that had given him his powers, and contacted Hector Hammond, a human who had also gained similar powers through another space-rock, hoping to use this meteorite as a super-weapon to rule the world. However, while Hammond and Grodd tried to wrestle this meteorite away from the Green Lantern, who had joined the Flash in Africa, it exploded, accelerating Grodd's evolution even more so. With these heightened powers, Grodd was able to gain control of Gorilla City's entire population. With the help of Rex the Wonder Dog, the two were able to defeat Grodd. The battle left Grodd's mind like a child's, and he and Hammond, who the meteorite had turned into a Cro-Magnon, were left in Gorilla City to be educated into useful citizens.

After being nearly killed, Grodd was healed by the Nzame, a holy child to the gorillas of Gorilla City. He was prepared to kill the infant, but was suddenly summoned to Keystone City by Spin in an effort to defeat the Flash. Angered, Grodd proceeded to destroy Spin's lair. Their battle spilled out into the streets of Keystone, where they were met by the Flash.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Gorilla Physiology**
	+ **Fangs**
	+ **Superhuman Durability**
	+ **Superhuman Strength**
* **Telepathy**
	+ **Animal Control**
	+ **Mind Control**
	+ **Mind Transference**
	+ **Psychic Wave Bolts**
	+ **Thought Sensing**
* **Telekinesis**
	+ **Molecular Reconstruction**
	+ **Energy Projection**
	+ **Force Field**

### Abilities

* **Genius Level Intellect:** Grodd is extremely intelligent with knowledge of technology beyond the development of human civilization.

### Weaknesses

* **Mental Illness:** Despite his acumen, Grodd was a degenerate savage who killed and ate the brains, often the whole, of his victims like a vicious beast.

## Paraphernalia

### Equipment

* **Quadromobile:** In Grodd's early days as a villain, he used a ship based on Gorilla City technology to move around. The ship could move at the same speed as the Flash, except could change direction without losing velocity instantly. The ship also had a bore on the front to drill through the Earth and was named after its ability to travel through air, on the ground, under Earth, and through water.

## Trivia

* A robotic version of Grodd was a member of Brainwave's Legion of Doom.

## In other media

*Main article: Gorilla Grodd in other media*