Manhunters (DC Comics)
The Manhunters are a fictional race of extraterrestrial robots that appear in titles published by DC Comics. Publication history. The broader history behind the alien robot species covered in this article was introduced in "Justice League of America" #140 (March 1977), in a story by Steve Englehart and Dick Dillin. Fictional character biography. Interstellar police. The Manhunters were the first attempt of the Guardians of the Universe to create an interstellar police force that would combat evil all over the cosmos. Their name and much of their code of behavior was modeled by the Guardians of the  Universe on the Manhunters of Ma'aleca'andra (Mars) millions of years ago (This creates an apparent chronology problem, since the Manhunters were created many millions of years ago, while the Green Martian race were retconned as having come into existence from the Burning Martians only about 20,000 years ago.) For thousands of years, they served the Guardians well. However, the Manhunters became obsessed with the act of "hunting" criminals. Their code, ""No man escapes the Manhunters"" (corrupted from the original ""No evil...""), became more important to them than seeing justice done. Exile. Eventually, the robots conspired to rebel against their masters , but the Guardians defeated and destroyed most of them. Those that survived hid away on many planets, slowly rebuilding their forces and spreading their beliefs to others. Since then, the over-riding goal of the Manhunters has been to take revenge on the Guardians, as well as on their replacements, the Green Lantern Corps. The Manhunters infiltrated and liberated many planets disguised as living beings and created a "Cult of the Manhunters" that trained others to be their minions. On Mars, the people of that world started a group of Martian Manhunters based on the lessons of preserving justice taught  unto them by the Manhunters and even erected a temple based on the appearance of their inspiration. On Earth, most of the Manhunters' agents were unaware that their masters were robots, or that their real purposes were not noble. Some of these agents became superheroes also known as Manhunters. They wore red-and-blue costumes patterned after the Manhunters themselves. The most famous of these was a big game hunter called Paul Kirk. He was active in the 1940s, and starred in his own series. The character was brought back in a modern version in the 70s, in which he  was supposedly killed years before but was in truth placed in suspended animation by a secret conspiracy. He was cloned, and when he finally reawoke, he dedicated himself to battling those who had used him, eventually dying in the process, but some of his clones survived. The Manhunters were discovered by the Justice League who seemingly defeated the Manhunter's leader, the Grandmaster. One of their human pawns, Mark Shaw, adopted a new identity as the costumed hero, the Privateer but was later discovered to be a criminal posing as a hero. Millennium. Years later, it was revealed that the  Manhunters not only still existed, but had infiltrated the lives of most superheroes with their agents. They even managed to infiltrate the Olympian Gods, one of their number posing as the goat god Pan, as shown during the "Challenge of the Gods" storyline. They revealed themselves when a Guardian and a member of the Zamarons tried to evolve some humans into becoming the next Guardians of the Universe, during what became known as the Millennium crisis. On this occasion, there was a massive counterstrike operation by the heroes against the Manhunters, and it seemed that the Grandmaster had finally been  destroyed, along with their hidden home planet. Former Privateer Mark Shaw readopted his identity as Manhunter in the wake of the battle, seeking to redeem both the name and himself. Post-Emerald Twilight. Kyle Rayner encountered the Manhunters not long after Hal Jordan's destruction of the Guardians and the Central Power Battery on Oa. The first of the androids encountered a still inexperienced Kyle Rayner and was almost able to defeat him using brute force until Kyle used his wits to outsmart and destroy it (Green Lantern (vol. 3) #117). The next time, multiple Manhunters appeared. They were all  sentient individuals, upgraded by a passing alien ship with technology onboard that gave them a hive consciousness. They would capture Kyle in an attempt to use his last remaining Green Lantern ring for their purposes. They failed and Kyle managed to escape (Green Lantern (vol. 3) #129-131). Sector 3601. When the Manhunters were replaced by the Green Lantern Corps, they retreated to Biot, their homeworld in Sector 3601, an uncharted area of space incapable of sustaining organic life. Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg Superman, came to Biot and became the Manhunters' new Grandmaster. He used his mastery over machinery and  Kryptonian technology to upgrade the Manhunters with organic enhancements, resulting behavioral developments such as emotions. They seem to have rebuilt the first Central Power Battery originally destroyed by Hal Jordan (under the influence of Parallax). Henshaw decided not to interfere in the reformation of the Green Lantern Corps after an encounter between a Manhunter and Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner. Sinestro Corps. The Manhunters have recently resurfaced as part of the Sinestro Corps. Some of them carry miniature yellow Power Batteries inside them which are used by the Sinestro Corps members to charge their yellow power rings while  others still carry the green ones for taking powers from the Green Lanterns' rings. Secret Origin. In the "" storylines (which revises Hal Jordan's beginnings), it is revealed that the Manhunters suffered a programming glitch that caused them to wipe out all life in space sector 666, believing it to be evil. It was this event that gave rise to the Five Inversions, the only survivors of the massacre, who vowed to make the Guardians pay for what their creations had done. Blackest Night. During the events of "Blackest Night", it is revealed that Amanda Waller and King Faraday have  a deactivated Manhunter in their possession, having recovered it from the Belle Reve swamp after the "Millennium" event (which the Suicide Squad had a hand in stopping). Waller sends the Manhunter to Belle Reve in order to assist the Secret Six and the Suicide Squad in their battle with members of the Black Lantern Corps. Waller ultimately uses a self-destruct mechanism to destroy the Manhunter, unleashing an explosion of Green Lantern energy that eradicates the Black Lanterns. Brightest Day. It was eventually revealed that the programming glitch the Manhunters suffered was caused by Krona to prove to the other  Guardians of the Universe that there are flaws in an emotionless police force. The New 52. While running from the Alpha Lanterns, John Stewart and Guy Gardner find dozens of deactivated Manhunters in the Guardian's Ring Foundry. They re-energize the robots using the Foundry essence in order to fend off the Alphas. However, during the fight, the Manhunters are accidentally fused in a massive bio-mechanic monster. It has since been revealed that the Manhunters were created to apprehend the First Lantern during a time the Maltusians were still trying to harness the Emerald Light of Willpower in  the Emotional Spectrum which they eventually would use as a source of energy to fuel their efforts to police the cosmos. Chant. The Manhunters have had a mixture of oaths over the years: ""No evil escapes the Manhunters!"", ""Death to the Green Lantern Corps!"", and ""No man escapes the Manhunters!"" Highmaster. The Highmaster is the supreme Manhunter which appeared on Orinda in "Justice League International" #10. He resembles a gigantic yellow manhunter and was destroyed by Hal Jordan and Superman. Other versions. Injustice: Gods Among Us. A Manhunter makes a cameo appearance in ""'s prequel comic. In a flashback in  chapter seven of Year Two, Sinestro is attacked by a Manhunter, though he easily dispatches it before bringing its body before the Guardians of the Universe. Star Trek/Green Lantern. In the sequel to "Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War", a year after the Green Lanterns and their various allies arrived in the new "Star Trek" timeline, Saint Walker discovers a Manhunter crashed on a distant moon, with the age of the impact damage suggesting that this Manhunter is native to the "Trek" universe rather than coming from the Lanterns' reality. Earth One. Hundreds of years prior to the  events depicted in "", the Manhunters wiped out the majority of the Green Lantern Corps and captured the Central Power Battery, which was assumed destroyed. In a reverse of most versions of their origin story, the Manhunters were created by the Guardians of Oa to replace the Corps, who they felt had become too independent. The Manhunters however turned on the Guardians, killing all but a single survivor who fled to an alternate dimension. The Manhunters carved out an empire in the space previously patrolled by the Green Lanterns, centred on Oa. Hal Jordan, an asteroid miner who had stumbled onto  a Power Ring was captured and taken to Oa, which the Manhunters had converted into a mine. Jordan was able to find the Central Battery and summon the remaining Ring bearers to Oa. By creating a controlled feedback loop between the Central Battery and their Rings, the Lanterns were able to destroy the majority of the Manhunters, although the surviving Manhunters still pose a significant threat. In other media. Miscellaneous. Manhunters are featured in the "Smallville Season 11" digital comic based on the TV series.