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The New 52 revised Michaels' backstory. Exposed to experimental radiation during the sinking of a nuclear submarine, he was stranded on a deserted island. Both his gradual mutation and isolation drove him insane.
* BadPowersGoodPeople: Even before his HeelFaceTurn, he would constantly rein in his powers to avoid giving people radiation poisoning.
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* {{Retcon}}: Post-Crisis, his powers were the result of seeking immortality and mutated himself. It is not known if his Bronze Age encounters with Superman are still canon as his first Post-Crisis appearance was in ''Captain Atom'', yet his history with S.T.A.R. Labs and SKULL remained as established in ''The DC Comics Encyclopedia''.
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* HeelFaceTurn: He eventually joined the MSCU and proved exemplary at it.
* {{Retcon}}: Post-Crisis, his powers were the result of seeking immortality and mutated himself. It is not known if his Bronze Age encounters with Superman are still canon as his first Post-Crisis appearance was in ''Captain Atom'', yet his history with S.T.A.R. Labs and SKULL remained as established in ''The DC ComicsEncyclopedia''.
Encyclopedia''. The New 52 retconned him again into the victim of a FreakLabAccident.
* {{Retcon}}: Post-Crisis, his powers were the result of seeking immortality and mutated himself. It is not known if his Bronze Age encounters with Superman are still canon as his first Post-Crisis appearance was in ''Captain Atom'', yet his history with S.T.A.R. Labs and SKULL remained as established in ''The DC Comics
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* IdentityAmnesia: Martin was initially a normal, friendly man, but after gaining his powers he was struck in the head by a street gang. It caused brain damage that caused him to believe he was a character from one of his favorite serials, the Atomic Skull.
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* MotiveDecay: After being cured of his brain damage, he went from a TragicVillain into just a generic villain for Superman to punch.
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* TragicVillain: He wasn't really evil, just delusional from brain damage.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: He started off as a kindly WideEyedIdealist before a combination of a gene-bomb and brain damage drove him dangerously insane.
* WideEyedIdealist: He started off as a bright-eyed, idealistic college students who idolized superheroes. A combination of gaining powers and brain damage turned him into a dangerous supervillain.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: He started off as a kindly WideEyedIdealist before a combination of a gene-bomb and brain damage drove him dangerously insane.
* WideEyedIdealist: He started off as a bright-eyed, idealistic college students who idolized superheroes. A combination of gaining powers and brain damage turned him into a dangerous supervillain.
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* AntiVillain: He's developed into one in recent years. He's violent and unhinged, but he can actually be reasoned with and frequently shows he can be just as heroic as Superman.
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* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Most of Rudy's history depicted him as a straightforward, monstrous villain. Recently, he's evolved into more of a tragic figure driven mad by his HorrorHunger.
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* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Most of Rudy's history depicted him as a straightforward, monstrous villain. Recently, he's evolved into more of a tragic figure sympathetic AntiVillain driven mad by his HorrorHunger.HorrorHunger, and one of Superman's more reasonable enemies.
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* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Most of Rudy's history depicted him as a straightforward, monstrous villain. Recently, he's evolved into more of a tragic figure driven mad by his HorrorHunger.
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* TragicVillain: He's very frequently depicted as this nowadays. He didn't ''want'' to become a monster, and was cursed with a perpetual HorrorHunger that he can never satisfy and has driven him insane.
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* AffablyEvil: DependingOnTheWriter, Rudy falls into this. This is especially true under Creator/JoshuaWilliamson's pen, where he's a pretty cheerful, jocular fellow who doesn't seem to hold any ill will towards Superman, and is something of a FriendlyEnemy.
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* FreudianExcuse: He grew up with an abusive father who murdered his uncle in front of him and forced him to cover it up. John later shot his father himself to protect his sister Tracy. Understandably, John was traumatized by this and grew up to become a dysfunctional SociopathicSoldier, and ''then'' [[FromBadToWorse Braniac took over his body]], forcing him to be transformed into a cyborg, which drove him insane.
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* TragicVillain: His most recent iteration is one. He grew up with an abusive father who he was forced to kill to protect his sister, and then was forcibly transformed into a cyborg to save his life, which drove him insane. John himself acknowledges he was a terrible person even before his transformation, but that given his background there wasn't really a chance of him ending up as anything else.
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* HeelFaceTurn: In Joshua Williamson's run, Rudy was put on a rehab program and given a collar that takes away his HorrorHunger. He's currently working as a janitor at Supercorp and is content with his new position, even adopting a botched clone of himself - who he named Spot - as a pet.
