“ | Do you know what it's like? Being able to see the darkness inside people's souls? All that jealousy and horror, bombarding you day after day after day -- It hardens you. It wears you down until there's nothing left. | „ |
~ Obsidian. |
“ | Dark things cannot stand the light, and I've always been a creature of the dark. It took a lot to let go, to accept that I would never be a beacon of light like my father or sister. I would be something else. It took even more to accept who I was, and how much of my true self I had tied to the darkness I was trying to suppress. | „ |
~ Prime Earth Obsidian. |
Todd James Rice, also known as Obsidian, is a fictional superhero published by DC Comics.
Obsidian is the son of the Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott and the reformed villainous Rose Cotton, and was given by his mother out of fear that she would harm them with her split personality. He's also a shadow-controlling former villain, the fraternal twin brother of the Green Lantern Jade, and one of the few openly gay superheroes of the DC Universe.
He first appeared in All-Star Squadron #25, and was created by Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway.
Overview[]
Todd Rice is the son of Alan Scott and Rose Canton, the villain known as Thorn. One of a pair of twins, both were put up for adoption as infants and separated. Todd grew up in an abusive home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - the same town as his sister, Jade. Jade was the lucky one as Todd was regularly abused. In his late teens, Todd found he had a twin sister and he set out and eventually found Jade.
Afterward, they set off and joined a team called Infinity Inc. which was largely filled with the proteges and offspring of the JSA. When Infinity Inc. ended Obsidian and his friend Nuklon were put into the JLA comic book of the early nineties. It was here that the first appearance of Todd’s homosexuality appeared when he said he loved Nuklon.
Todd inherited a chance of mental illness from his mother, Thorn. Then being corrupted by scientist Ian Karkull, Obsidian turns evil, using his shadow-like powers to aid him in stealing all the shadows from an entire city, to help him spread darkness all over the world.
Todd has recently joined the Justice Society of America as a security guard for the New York Headquarters. He did this until the latest attack on it which caused him to transform into an egg of darkness. This egg was nearly stolen by the All American Kid.
Biography[]
Background[]
Todd is the son of the first human Green Lantern Alan Scott and the reformed villainous Rose Cotton, and is the twin-brother to Jennifer. Like his sister, he was born with superpowers, but unlike Jennifer (whose powers come from the Starheart), Todd's comes from the shadowlands due to Alan's exposure to shadow energy. Fearing that her split personality would harm her children, Rose gave them up for adoption and faked her death. The twins were adopted but separated, with Todd being taken in by the Rice family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While growing up, he suffered from physical abuse by his adoptive father, who's actions resulted in Shirley leaving him with their son.
Becoming Obsidian[]
In his late teenage years, Todd reunited with Jennifer and decided to follow in their father's footsteps by using their powers for good. The twins, going by their aliases Obsidian and Jade, joined Infinity Inc., a superhero team consisting of children of Justice Society members.
Powers and abilities[]
Obsidian has a variety of shadow-like powers from his father's exposure to shadow energy in a fight with Ian Karkull. He gains his powers by funneling them from a dimension known as the Shadow-Lands - a place where nightmare becomes reality. He has the power to possess someone's shadow and combine it with his own. When Obsidian turns into his shadow form, he is much stronger than when in human form. He is able to control his powers so that he can expand his size or create objects out of shadows. When in shadow form he can also pass through objects, fly, and he can also reform from any attack - even Captain Marvel's thunder. He can also transport matter through shadow portals.
He also has miniscule telepathic abilities which allows him to force a person to the evil side of their soul, driving them crazy. He can also possess others by trapping them in their own nightmares, turning them into his slaves, and this power even works on heavy-hitters like Dr. Fate or Jay Garrick. He has also shown to be able to turn people blind. During the crisis in which Neron was attempting to gain the souls of heroes it was shown that Todd's powers were greatly increased. He seemed able to move through the shadows to almost anywhere in the universe, and draw on the evil around him for power. Though it hasn't been shown since it is reasonable to assume that Obsidian is vastly more powerful when evil or the darker forces are present in the mortal world.
Portrayals[]
Television[]
- In Legends of Tomorrow, he was portrayed by Lance Henriksen and Dan Payne young.
- In Stargirl, he was portrayed by Tim Gabriel.
Trivia[]
- The writers for the character initially considered the aliases "Ebon" and "Umbra" before choosing Obsidian.
- According to an Infinity, Inc. letter page, Obsidian was named "Todd" after a friend of Thomas.
- Obsidian now lives in Chicago because of times within the state of Wisconsin.
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