List of DC Comics characters: B

Core characters

Supporting characters

Supervillains / antagonists

Other characters

Bad Samaritan

The Bad Samaritan (alias Zviad Baazovi) is a supervillain and an enemy of the Outsiders who first appeared in Outsiders #3. (January, 1986)

The Bad Samaritan in other media

Zviad Baazovi appears in the Young Justice: Outsiders animated television series, voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. This version is a Markovian ambassador, a metahuman with psychic abilities, and a member of the Light.

Batman Jones

Batman Jones is a Batman expert in the DC Universe.[3]

The character, created by Jack Schiff and Bill Finger, first appeared in Batman #108 (June 1957).

Within the context of the stories, his parents were rescued by Batman shortly before Jones was born and they named him "Batman" as thanks. The boy grew up idolizing Batman and tried to become a crimefighter before he began collecting stamps.[4] As an adult, he is an expert on Batman.[5]

Bekka
Main article: Bekka

Beppo
Main article: Beppo (comics)

Billy Numerous

Billy Numerous (voiced by Jason Marsden) was specifically created for the Teen Titans animated series and did not have a previous appearance in the mainstream comics. However, he has since made the jump to these with his first appearance in the DC Universe in Catwoman #78 (April 2008), now known as Repro.

Billy Numerous (real name William "Billy" Strayer) is a former student of the H.I.V.E. Academy and an enemy of the Teen Titans. Numerous first appeared as a student of the H.I.V.E Academy, where his power of self-duplication was subtly hinted at. After the H.I.V.E. was destroyed during Cyborg's confrontation with Brother Blood, Numerous and most of the other students went freelance. Later, Numerous engaged in a robbing spree all across Jump City and he stole anything he and his innumerable clones could get his (their) collective hands on. His power thoroughly confounded the Titans, especially Cyborg, who became all the more obsessed in catching him. Finally, however, Cyborg realized that there was another way of catching Numerous. He and the other Titans confronted Numerous in the old stadium where he had stashed his loot, seemingly with numerous copies of themselves. In order to bring them down, Numerous created even more clones of himself, but finally pushed his powers too far. The resulting reabsorption of each of his clones caused a massive physical and mental shock, stunning him and enabling his capture. To add insult to injury, the Titans' copies were not actual clones, but merely holographic projections created and controlled by Cyborg.

At some point, Numerous entered Jinx's H.I.V.E. Five and was also recruited into the Brotherhood of Evil. As one of the Five, he participated in the attempted capture of Kid Flash, but even his numerous clones were unable to stop the super-speedster. Later, when the Brotherhood executed its worldwide strike against young superheroes, he and Gizmo were sent to capture Kole and Gnarrk in their subterranean retreat, but both heroes escaped them. When the remnants of the Titans under Beast Boy later attacked the Brotherhood's headquarters, Numerous and most of his H.I.V.E. Five teammates tried to run, but were intercepted by Kid Flash—and aghast to see that Jinx had switched sides and joined up with him. Moments later, they were all swept away by one of Jinx's hexes and carted off by Kid Flash for flash-freeze treatment.

In Catwoman #78 (April 2008), a character based on Billy Numerous named Repro appears. The small-time crook known as Repro was operating in Gotham City during the time when many of the city's criminals disappeared for a short time. He was one of the only two criminals left in the city, with the other being the Thief. Repro was a young and inexperienced criminal who only did small-time criminal activities, just enough to stay off the radar of big-time crime fighters. After a confrontation with Catwoman where he thought he had shot her in the chest, he hastily departed and ran to the Thief to tell him about it. He was, in turn, shot in the chest and killed by the Thief, who then dumped his body in an alley to cover up the murder.

Billy Numerous in other media
  • Billy Numerous appears in the Teen Titans Go! tie-in comics. He appears as a background villain and member of the H.I.V.E. Five in this comic adaptation of the animated television series. He engages in various petty crimes and attempts at one point to join a new iteration of the team being organised by Psimon and Dr. Light. He fails the test, along with dozens of other villains.
  • Billy Numerous appears in Teen Titans Go! as a minor supporting villain in several episodes throughout the series, typically in association with other H.I.V.E. Five members. He makes his first appearance in the episode "Super Robin". He is voiced by Scott Menville and also appears in the series' tie-in comics.

Bison-Black-as-Midnight-Sky

Bison-Black-as-Midnight-Sky is a Native American shaman in the DC Universe.

The character, created by Gerry Conway and Pat Broderick, first appeared in The Fury of Firestorm #1 (June 1982).[6]

Within the context of the stories, Bison-Black-as-Midnight-Sky is the great-grandfather of Black Bison and the last great shaman of the Bison Cult. He resents his great-grandson's disrespect for the cult's traditions. When he is killed by muggers in Central Park, he binds his spirit to a magical amulet.[Firestorm 1] The amulet allows his spirit to influence or control his great-grandson when worn.

Black Alice
Main article: Black Alice (comics)

Black Bison

Black Bison is the name of two supervillains in the DC Universe.

The character, created by Gerry Conway and Pat Broderick, first appeared in The Fury of Firestorm #1 (June 1982).[6]

John Ravenhair

Within the context of the stories, John Ravenhair is a Native American-born Black-Cloud-in-Morning and raised in Queens, New York. When his great-grandfather, Bison-Black-as-Midnight-Sky, is killed in a mugging, he becomes influenced and possessed by his ancestor's spirit.[7] This leads him to set about avenging the wrongs committed against the Native American people.[Firestorm 1] When removed from the angry spirit, he occasionally acts for good, but is frequently a threat to Firestorm.[8]

Black Bison is armed with a coup-stick that allows him to bring any inanimate objects to life and command them to aid him as well as manipulate weather, but it requires a special amulet that he wears to maintain its power. He is also trained in the martial arts.

Black-Cloud-in-Morning

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline this version of Black Bison, along with the Hyena, Multiplex, Plastique and Typhoon, are sent by the Crime Syndicate to finish Gorilla Grodd's work. The villains end up defeated by the Rogues, since one of their targets is at the hospital where Captain Cold's sister is recovering.[9]

In the Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock, Black Bison is among the villains that attend the underground meeting held by the Riddler to talk about the Superman Theory. When Moonbow and Typhoon are stated to be creations of the government and Black Bison is near them, Black Bison states that he was not mentioned as having been created by the government.[10]

Alternate versions of Black Bison

Black Bison appears in Injustice: Gods Among Us's prequel comic series.

Black Bison in other media

A female version of Black Bison named Mina Chaytan appears in The Flash live-action television series, portrayed by Chelsea Kurtz. Introduced in the episode, "When Harry Met Harry...", she acquired her powers after being exposed to dark matter following the Flash's escape from the Speed Force as part of the Thinker's plans. Using her ability to bring effigies to life, she targets collectors of Native American artifacts before she was defeated by Team Flash and remanded to Iron Heights Penitentiary. In the episode "True Colors", she and her fellow metahuman inmates attempt to escape after learning the warden planned to sell them to the crime boss Amunet Black, but the Thinker intercepted them and stole their powers.

Black Flash
Main article: Black Flash

Black Vulcan
Main article: Black Vulcan

Vera Black

Vera Black is a British psionic cyborg in the DC Universe.

The character, created by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke, first appeared in JLA #100 (August 2004).[11] The storyline set up the limited series Justice League Elite which consisted of 12 issues published between 2004 and 2005.

Within the context of the stories, Vera Black is the sister of Manchester Black. As children their parents would often fight and Manchester would take her out to play to avoid them. As his idea of "play" became killing sprees, Vera's perspective became twisted. When her brother dies after attempting to destroy Superman, she has her ruined arms, lost in an untold childhood incident, replaced with cybernetic prostheses which can configure into any weapon she desires, initially contemplating revenge on Superman before she decides to be better than her brother.

Her new abilities result in her leading the remnants of the Elite and tacitly working with the Justice League. This leads to the League, encouraged by the Flash, asking her to lead a new team with the intention that she will handle black ops missions that the League cannot due to what they represent to the public, primarily involving hunting down and eliminating metahuman threats before they go public. Starting with Coldcast and Menagerie, she adds Flash, Manitou Raven, Major Disaster, Green Arrow and Kasumi to the team. She also enlists Naif al-Sheikh to keep the team in check and serve as a liaison to the governments of the world.

Equipment of Vera Black

Vera's cybernetic arms have the capacity to transform into an almost unlimited variety of melee, projectile and beam weapons. They also incorporate camouflage technology relying on optics, as well as altering sense perception in others.

Vera Black in other media

Vera Black appears in the direct-to-DVD animated feature Superman vs. The Elite, voiced by Marcella Lentz-Pope as an adult and by Tara Strong as a girl in a flashback sequence.

Blackout

Blackout (Farooq) is a metahuman who can harness electricity. He makes his first appearance in Flashpoint (vol. 2) #1 (July 2011). In the alternate timeline created by the events of Flashpoint, Blackout is recruited by Cyborg into a team of superheroes whose mission was to end the Amazon-Atlantean war, which had devastated Europe and caused millions of human casualties. To that end, the team was assigned to take down both Emperor Aquaman and Wonder Woman.

Another new recruit, the Outsider, revealed during a meeting with Batman that he had been hunting Blackout so he could use his abilities to power India. This manhunt resulted in the loss of Blackout's girlfriend and his departure from school. Blackout has since voiced his reluctance to be part of the same team with his worst enemy.

Blackout in other media

Farooq Gibran / Blackout appears in The Flash live-action television series episode "Power Outage", portrayed by Michael Reventar. Prior to the series, he was with friends when the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator exploded and electrocuted him. While he survived, he accidentally killed his friends when they tried to resuscitate him. Following this, he discovers he can siphon electrical energy and seeks revenge against the head of S.T.A.R. Labs, Harrison Wells. In pursuit of this goal, Farooq was confronted by the Flash, but drained the hero's speed. He later storms S.T.A.R. Labs, kills Girder, and attacks Wells. However, the Flash is able to get his speed back and overcharge him, killing Farooq in the process.

Blackrock

Blackrock is a fictional supervillain in the DC Comics universe. Blackrock is a recurring enemy of Superman first appearing in Action Comics #458 (April 1976).[12]

Blackrock was the creation of Dr. Peter Silverstone in an attempt to increase ratings for the United Broadcasting television network.[13] Silverstone hypnotized UB President Sam Tanner and later Tanner's nephew, Les Vegas, to fill the role. A third Blackrock (an energy construct) was created by Tanner's command not much later.

However, it is known that eventually Silverstone assumed the mantle of Blackrock himself, using a powerful stone that could metabolize electromagnetic energy into energy to achieve flight, energy blasts and superhuman strength, and fought Superman several times. This rock, while a technological artifact, has the appearance of a polished gem that is as black as coal. It was appropriately dubbed the Blackrock.

The Post-Crisis version was stated (in Batman/Superman adventures) to be a symbiotic alien life form, rather than a creation of Dr. Silverstone. Its appearance and abilities are approximately the same.

Silverstone is the only Pre-Crisis user of the stone that has been mentioned in Post-Crisis continuity. Overuse of the Blackrock's powers blinded Silverstone and left him insane. He was found sitting muttering to himself and watching constant television shows in an apartment owned by an ex-convict named Samuel Benjamin, who beat Silverstone to death with the Blackrock and took it for himself. Despite its power, his inexperience with the Blackrock led to his defeat and Superman took the stone and threw it towards the Sun.[14]

A short time later, Alexander Luthor Jr., disguised as Lex Luthor, dispatched Bizarro to retrieve the Blackrock from the Sun[15] before passing it on to a South American woman named Lucia,[16] a drug smuggler and revolutionary who had been jailed by Superman before. Her intense feelings of hatred towards the Man of Steel matched those of the Blackrock and she proved particularly adept in using it. However, her skills were not enough to defeat Superman and the Blackrock withdrew into itself.[17]

It was eventually shown that the Blackrock had been kept by Superman, who eventually locked it away in his Fortress of Solitude. The Blackrock eventually escaped and bonded with Plastic Man. Shortly after, the Blackrock was removed from Plastic Man and found its way into the hands of Batman, who shortly afterwards decided he needed its powers to help him stop a currently-rampaging Superman (Superman had fallen under the influence of Despero as he attempted to turn Earth's alien superheroes against humans). Although it remained on Batman after Superman threw off Despero's influence, Superman was able to force it to leave Batman by threatening to kill him, informing the Blackrock that he knew Batman would rather die than live like this.

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Blackrock is Bradley Glenn, an ex-con who was hired to star in a reality television show called Badass Nation about the life of a supervillain.[18] The TV company provided him with powered armor and a fictional backstory about finding it in a crashed spacecraft. They intended to film him tearing up a bridge that was scheduled for demolition, but the crew neglected to ensure that the bridge had been closed to traffic and the Pre-Flashpoint Superman had to intervene.[19]

The Post-Crisis wielders of the Blackrock seem to have developed differing powers based on their personalities. All seem to have possessed superhuman strength and endurance, flight and energy projection abilities. The Blackrock also has the ability to absorb ambient energy to empower its wielder. Dr. Silverstone seemed most adept at using its ability to process information from TV and radio signals. Samuel Benjamin was particularly skilled at using it to boost his own physical strength and toughness. Lucia's abilities seemed to be an amalgamation of her predecessors', but she seemed to prefer using its energy projection abilities and discovered a way to use it to drain Superman's power.

While the stone had bonded to Plastic Man, he was not shown using its abilities much.

Batman used it in much the same way that Lucia did; however, Batman showed more of a preference for physical combat than Lucia did.

Jimmy Olsen and several other humans were bonded to the Blackrocks when a shower of them rained down on Earth. These people showed some level of superhuman abilities similar to those demonstrated by Lucia, etc. but it was not shown if they were as strong as he was.

Bradley Glenn's armor enabled him to leap great distances and an energy field around one gauntlet gave him a powerful punch.

Blackwing

Blackwing (Charles "Charlie" Bullock) is a fictional superhero from DC Comics. He was created by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton and Joey Cavalieri.

The character was chronologically introduced in Adventure Comics #464 (April 1979), but was unnamed in that comic. He was, however, named in his next appearance in Wonder Woman #281 (April 1981) and later, became Blackwing in Wonder Woman #297 (August 1982). Also, worth to note, the original story in Adventure Comics was intended for All Star Comics #75. Charlie was drawn as a teen in that story, but his next appearance (only three years later) depicts him as a young adult who graduated from law school.

In his mid-teens, Charles Bullock was searching for a direction in life. The teenager found it after he helped fight off street punks alongside Wildcat (Ted Grant) and was invited to join him at his gym. Charlie attended law school and later became a junior partner and top-notch researcher to the law firm called Cranston, Grayson and Wayne. When a criminal named Karnage broke into the office looking for his boss, Arthur Cranston, this, and another event, led him to become the costumed hero Blackwing. Although his first outing as a crime fighter proved unsuccessful when he was captured by the costumed villain Boa's gang, Blackwing managed to contribute in freeing the Huntress (Helena Wayne) from Boa's giant snake and recorded some evidence that was used to put the mastermind and his men away.

Since then, Blackwing has never appeared again in any other published story.

Blaze
Main article: Blaze and Satanus

Block

Block is a young Maori woman living in Melbourne, Australia, the woman dubbed the Human Block was once inexplicably struck by lightning and survived the incident. Unknown to her, this similar event had happened to many other individuals throughout time and was in fact the Speed Force imbuing her with speed-related abilities. In her then-present time—1957—Block acted as a side show attraction in a carnival, the prize of $1,000 going to whoever could move her, which was failed by many, as she had manipulated her body density. One drunken man staggered onto the stage to accept her challenge, making her move by insulting her Maori heritage rather than physically moving her. Angered, she immediately struck out at him and instigated a small brawl, tearing through the crowd before someone hastily drew their firearm on her and shot, only to find that not even bullets affected her. Before the now-turned mob could attack her, Zoom, accompanied by his newly recruited acolytes the Folded Man and Magali, appeared and teleported her outside of the carnival grounds. Being offered the chance to embrace her abilities and live as a godlike being after mastering them, she did not hesitate to join Zoom and his quest to kill the "evil" Flash. Along with the other Acolytes, she would train for what would be an unknown amount of time to kill the Flash, facing off with Zoom in his place. It is unknown how long this training took place, as they stated that, over the course of centuries, this team trained to take on the Flash and when they reached older age, Magali would revert them back to their original ages when joining. Unknown to Block, Zoom is actually the one to have orchestrated her joining him to begin with, appearing to the drunk man who challenged her, while convincing him that the way to make her move was to attack her heritage, as he had been keeping close watch on her for some time.

Powers and abilities of Block

Being imbued with the Speed Force, Block has the unique ability to slow down her atoms. In doing this, they become denser than steel and grant her invulnerability, super-strength and immobility. She can possibly slow down other speedsters, if not other people as well, through physical touch, as she stopped the Top's ability to spin and was able to hold Zoom in place in a headlock. After training centuries with Zoom, she is a deadly fighter. Recently, she was able to stop the molecules around herself to make the air unbreakable.

Block in other media

Block appears in The Flash live-action television seriesepisode "Blocked", portrayed by Erin Cummings. Vanessa Jansen, nicknamed "Block" by Cisco Black, was a weapons dealer who worked for the East Street Skulls gang until she was betrayed and sent to Iron Heights Penitentiary for four years. After becoming a metahuman with the ability to create boxes of dense air and getting out of Iron Heights, both by unknown means, she sought revenge on her former gang she was stopped by the Flash and XS. Before the heroes could re-incarcerate Jansen, she was attacked by Cicada. XS ran her to the hospital, but Jansen died of her injuries on the way there.

Blockbuster
Main article: Blockbuster (DC Comics)

Blok
Main article: Blok (comics)

Bloodsport
Main article: Bloodsport (comics)

Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett)
Main article: Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett)

Bolphunga

Bolphunga is an extraterrestrial bounty hunter in the DC Universe.

The character, created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, first appeared in Green Lantern (vol. 2) #188 (May 1985).[20]

Within the context of the stories, Bolphunga the Unrelenting has a love of destruction and plots to make a name for himself by challenging the most feared and mysterious beings in creation, fixating on Green Lanterns. This has led to his defeat by Mogo,[GL 1] Kilowog[GL 2] and Guy Gardner.[GL 3]

Bolphunga in other media

The character was adapted for a segment of the animated film Green Lantern: Emerald Knights with his voice provided by Roddy Piper. He is in Mogo's story, on which he is described as an undefeated and merciless warrior who is determined to prove himself the most powerful being by defeating and destroying the most powerful warriors in the universe. He then seeks to challenge Mogo, whom he initially believed to be just another Green Lantern, in a mysterious green planet, but eventually sees his mistake and, apparently, meets his demise when Mogo is revealed to be the planet itself and captures him.

Bozo the Iron Man
Main article: Bozo the Iron Man

Brick
Main article: Brick (comics)

Bug-Eyed Bandit
Main article: Bug-Eyed Bandit

Bulleteer
Main article: Bulleteer

Brainiac 2
Main article: Vril Dox

Brutale
Main article: Brutale (DC Comics)

Byth Rok

Byth Rok is a DC Comics supervillain who is a recurring enemy of the Silver Age Hawkman. He was created by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert, and first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #34 (February/March 1961), titled "Creature of a Thousand Shapes".

On the alien planet Thanagar, a scientist named Krotan developed a pill that would empower the mind to control the molecular formation of the body. Just as he was about to swallow it, a thief named Byth assaulted him and swallowed the pill. Byth first transformed into a bird and left (via spaceship) to commit crimes on other planets. Katar Hol and his wife, Shayera, tracked his rocket to Earth.

For many years, Byth would escape on several occasions only to be captured again by Hawkman and Hawkwoman.[21]

In the Hawkworld mini-series, Byth is a corrupt Wingman commander and Katar Hol's superior. He manipulated a drug-induced Katar into killing his father, aiding his rise to power.[22] Now Administrator of Protection, he gains his shape-shifting powers from a new drug called Krotan. Katar Hol, with the help of Shayera Thal, uncovers his schemes but Byth escapes arrest.[23] He flees to Earth and runs criminal operations in Chicago. He supplies Carl Sands with a shadow generator.[24] He is later captured,[25] and returned to Thanagar.[26]

Byth was apparently defeated for good by the then recently resurrected Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders.

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Lord Byth is shown to be responsible for the creation of Ultra the Multi-Alien where he had combined the DNA of the alien prisoners in order to make Ultra the Multi-Alien the Slayer of Worlds.[27]

After consuming the Changeling Pill (or Krotan), Byth has the ability to shape-change into any other person or animal at will, whether they were indigenous to Thanagar or originated on an alien world (including Earth). There appears to be no physical restriction in terms of mass or volume when it comes to Byth's shape-shifting talents.

Byth Rok in other media

References
  1. Snider, Brandon T. DC Comics: The Ultimate Character Guide. Dk Pub. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-7566-8261-3.
  2. Scott, Melanie. DC Comics Ultimate Character Guide New Edition. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-4654-8639-4. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  3. Greenberger, Robert (2008). The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 42. ISBN 9780345501066.
  4. Batman #108 (June 1957)
  5. Batman: Battle for the Cowl #3
  6. "The Fury of Firestorm #1". The Grand Comics Database. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  7. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. pp. 25–26. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  8. Wallace, Dan (2008). "Black Bison". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC 213309017.
  9. Buccellato, Brian (w), Zircher, Patrick, Scott Hepburn (a), Filardi, Nick (col), Sienty, Dezi (let). "Homecoming" Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion #1 (December 2013), DC Comics
  10. Doomsday Clock #6 (July 2018). DC Comics
  11. "JLA #100". The Grand Comics Database. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  12. Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  13. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. pp. 29–30. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  14. Superman #218 (August 2005)
  15. Superman #222 (December 2005)
  16. Superman #223 (January 2006)
  17. Superman #224 (February 2006)
  18. Superman: Lois and Clark #5 (April 2016)
  19. Superman: Lois and Clark #6 (May 2016)
  20. "Green Lantern #188". The Grand Comics Database. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
  21. Action Comics #588-589
  22. Hawkworld #2 (1989) "Freefall"
  23. Hawkworld #3 (1989) "Phoenix Flight"
  24. Hawkworld vol. 2 #5 (October 1990) "War of the Shadows"
  25. Hawkworld vol. 2 #9 (March 1991) "Hawkwoman Caged!"
  26. Hawkworld vol. 2 #10 (April 1990) "Images"
  27. Justice League United #1
Firestorm titles
  1. Gerry Conway (w), Pat Broderick (p). "Day of the Bison" The Fury of Firestorm #1 (June 1982), DC Comics
Green Lantern titles
  1. Alan Moore (w), Dave Gibbons (a). "Mogo Doesn't Socialize" Green Lantern v2, #188 (May 1985), DC Comics
  2. Dave Gibbons, Geoff Johns (w), Patrick Gleason (p), Christian Alamy, Prentis Rollins (i). "Hunted" Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #4 (February 2006), DC Comics
  3. Dave Gibbons (w), Dave Gibbons (p), Michael Bair, Keith Champagne (i). "The Hunt" Green Lantern Corps v2, #5 (December 2006), DC Comics
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