Cicada

## Biography

### Becoming a Meta-Human

**David Hersch** was a married man and an architect before he started having visions of himself as a Meta-Human. Shortly after the dreams began, David started to hear a voice of an unknown entity that would lead him to an abandoned subway station. At the station David found a group of what appeared to be cultists, one among them having the voice that drew him to their lair. The one with the voice told David that he could give him the powers he had in the dreams. Desiring that power for himself, David willingly allowed the one called Alchemy to use the Philosopher's Stone to encase him in a cocoon. Once he emerged from the cocoon, David became a Meta-Human with the power of accelerated healing and prolonged life.

### High Price of Immortality

After gaining his powers, David found out that his ability to live forever was fueled from the life force of other Human beings. He discovered this after he had unintentionally absorbed the life force of his wife, killing her in the process. David became sick with regret, and with no where else to turn went to Alchemy for counsel. Alchemy then told David that through Savitar, David would receive guidance on how to move forward. After waiting, Alchemy returned and told David that it was possible for his wife to be restored to life. This could be done with gathering the right form and quantity of life force to restore Elizabeth's corspe and allow her to live again.

### Forming the Cult of Cicada

After receiving the knowledge of his wives potential return from Savitar, David set out to gather enough life force from various people to give him the power needed to revive Elizabeth. He spent weeks absorbing the life force of his victims, using their energy to revive his wife, but even with the energy of over half a dozen people it had little success.

After murdering his wife, David Hersch, sick with regret, sought to end his own life, when he was struck by a bolt of lightning. He discovered that he had gained the ability to absorb the life-force of others, extending his life-span almost a century. He believed the accident was the same as the Flash's and that they should be linked.

The lightning bolt gave him a vision of his own immortality and foretold the resurrection of his wife. Over the subsequent years he operated as the cult leader Cicada, accumulating many followers planning for the day he would resurrect his wife.[1]

The Cicada cult and it's followers were dedicated to the murder of every one that the Flash has ever saved using lightning bolt shaped daggers. He teams up with the Flash's ex, Magenta and managed to kidnap him. Cicada reveals to Wally that his wife was murdered and he was struck by lightning. Cicada saw a vision that he was destined to live on, together with his wife. By taking the energy left over from all the people the Flash has saved and from the Flash himself, Cicada succeeded in bringing his wife back from the dead.[2]

However, his wife revealed that Cicada murdered her. Cicada denied this and killed his wife yet again by absorbing her energy through a kiss. He was eventually stopped by the Flash and Detectives Jared Morillo and Officer Fred Chyre and though not before he managed to slash Morillo with his knife. This gave Morillo a the ability to heal rapidly from any injury, similar to Cicada's own.[3]

Cicada was put on death row in Iron Heights pending confirmation by S.T.A.R. Labs that he could even be killed in the first place, but escaped during Gorilla Grodd's jailbreak.[4]Cicada later appeared at Captain Boomerang's funeral and accepted an invitation to join Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s Secret Society of Super-Villains during Infinite Crisis.[5]

He is one of the various super criminal sent to to the penal colony on the planet Cygnus 4019, which has been nicknamed Salvation.[6]