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The Red Tornado is a Creator/DCComics character, best known as "the robot member of the Franchise/{{Justice League|of America}}". His personal history, however, is a little more convoluted than that.
!!Abigail "Ma" Hunkel version
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/RedTornadoMa.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:How can you confuse THIS...]]
UsefulNotes/{{The Golden Age|of Comic Books}} Red Tornado, from the [[TheForties 1940s]], was actually a ''woman'' disguised as a male hero (she was pretty burly). She had no superpowers and was associated with (but not a member of) the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica. Abigail "Ma" Hunkel was a hefty housewife who started out as a supporting character in ''Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist'', but quickly overshadowed the title character when she donned her characteristic soup pot and longjohns to keep her neighborhood safe for her kids. She was both one of the first female superheroes and one of the first superhero parodies.
Hunkel first appeared in ''All-American Comics'' #3 (June, 1939), created by Sheldon Mayer. She assumed the Red Tornado identity in issue #20 (November, 1940). Her series ended in #59 (July, 1944). She had a minor crossover with the Justice Society in ''ComicBook/AllStarComics'' #3 (Winter, 1940). After the end of her series, Hunkel remained a fond memory. She was given minor cameos in retro stories and crossovers, but was not seriously considered for revival until ''ComicBook/{{JSA}}'' #55 (February, 2004), where she was revealed to be still alive. Her long absence was explained with her having joined the Witness Protection Program back in 1950. Though now in her 80s and long past retired, she serves as the JSA's resident museum curator while looking after her granddaughter Maxine, the wind-powered superhero Cyclone.
!!Android version
[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red-tornado.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:240:...With THIS??]]
During UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}, like many other DC characters, the Tornado was reinvented. This time, he was an [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots android]] with wind-creating powers. This version first appeared in ''Justice League of America'' #64-65 (August-September, 1968). The two parter was written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Dick Dillin.
The android was created by MadScientist T.O. Morrow to infiltrate the Justice Society and destroy it from within, pretending to be the original Red Tornado suffering from amnesia. Despite realizing that could not be true (because they knew the facts about the original Tornado- obviously Morrow didn't) the Society allowed him to join them. Eventually The Tornado discovers the truth and turns on his own creator, saving the Society and becoming a true hero.
Later, the Tornado joined the Justice League and gained his own secret identity ("John Smith"--he didn't have much imagination), a human girlfriend, and even adopted a little girl orphaned in a Middle Eastern war. Although often given a robotic personality in other mediums, the Tornado in the comics had human emotions and spoke normally, though he did angst about "not being human enough."
Tornado's origin [[ExpansionPackPast got more complicated]] in the [[TheEighties 1980s]] when a Justice League writer decided to reveal that Tornado was actually Ulthoon, the Tornado Tyrant of [[ComicBook/AdamStrange Raan]], an [[ElementalEmbodiment Air Elemental]] enemy of the League from the 60s who had taken refuge in the android's body while it was being made, only to gain [[EasyAmnesia amnesia]] in the process. For a while, Tornado abandoned his robot body and became DarkerAndEdgier as a living storm, but has recently returned to his humanoid body and role as a hero.
He also spent some time as the "adult mentor" of ComicBook/YoungJustice. The series spotlighted his relationship with his daughter, and really fleshed him out. One of his defining moments came when YJ's first foe, an omnipotent wish-granting being, returned and was about to destroy all life. Red Tornado pleaded with the being to make -him- human, too, so that he could die along with his friends and loved ones. The being granted Tornado his wish, and observed how the now human embraced his wife and daughter before facing the end. This touched emotions in the omnipotent being that it had never felt before, and it wondered the eternal question "oh, what it must mean to be human"... and inadvertently turned itself into a depowered, harmless newborn human. The lack of Ontological Inertia reverted Tornado into a robot. He eventually had to defend his right to retain his guardianship of his adopted his daughter due to his legal status as a machine (which was all part of ThePlan to destabilize the entire super-hero population of the DCU). While it's true that he lost the case and ended up in a jail cell, some readers had never found themselves rooting so hard for a tertiary character before or since.
A new version of Red Tornado has since appeared in the ComicBook/{{New 52}} continuity as part of the ''ComicBook/{{Earth 2}}'' series. In keeping with the series' emphasis on diversity, the new Red Tornado is a {{Gynoid}} [[GenderFlip rather than a masculine Android]]. In issue 17 of ''Earth 2'', she has the late Lois Lane's consciousness [[BrainUploading uploaded into her body]], bringing Lois back to life in a manner of speaking.
Reddy has starred in two limited series. The first, in 1985, was written by Creator/KurtBusiek and revealed the aforementioned twist that the Red Tornado was actually an elemental in a robotic body. The second, in 2009, was by Kevin [=VanHook=] and introduced his three robotic "siblings"--Red Torpedo, Red Volcano, and Red Inferno. Reddy has not, to date, starred in an ongoing series.
The Red Tornado appeared in [[AnimatedSeries animated form]] as a member of the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', in some episodes of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' and as a recurring character in ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'' - the cartoon, that is, in addition to the [[ComicBook/YoungJustice comic]]. He also appears in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'' thus far, "Captain Bamboozle". An apparently nonsentient version of the character, being used by a villain, appears in a first season episode of ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'', while an alternate version appeared during the ''Series/CrisisOnEarthX'' crossover event.
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!!Related Tropes:
* ColorCharacter
* LegacyCharacter: Actually an aversion. Red Tornados I and II only share the name and the fact that are both super-heroes. In ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' there is a Red Tornado III, that in the current main continuity is called Cyclone and is the granddaughter of the first Red Tornado.
* TornadoMove: Red Tornado could ride on tornadoes and generate them with his hands. One memorable episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'' had him getting into a BeamOWar with three [[BlowYouAway Wind Dragon]] clones.
!!Red Tornado I:
%%* ActionMom
* ApronMatron: Ma is pretty much the doting aunt of the JSA. She has a particularly close bond to Power Girl, who she helped through her identity problems during ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''.
* BadassNormal: We're talking about an overweight woman in her 80s with no exceptional skills or abilities who once helped fight off a group of supervillains armed with nothing but a frying pan.
* BreakoutCharacter: Ma originally appeared as a neighbor in "Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist". After she adopted the Red Tornado persona, she quickly became more popular than Scribbly and the strip's name was changed to "Scribbly and the Red Tornado". Today, Scribbly is all but forgotten while Ma is a member of one of the foremost super-teams in Franchise/TheDCU.
%%* BucketHelmet
%%* ComedicHero
* FryingPanOfDoom: One of Ma's main weapons was a large frying pan.
%%* LargeAndInCharge
* TheLoad: She was part this, with a heaping dollop of comic relief. She was tough enough to at least hold her own in a fight against non-super-powered thugs, though.
%%* MamaBear
* RealPersonFic: Like everyone in the Scribbly comic, Ma Hunkel was based on a real person Sheldon Mayer knew. Obviously, she wasn't really a costumed hero, but according to Mayer "by golly, if she'd thought of it, she would have."[[invoked]]
* {{Sidekick}}: Her daughter and Scribbly's younger brother eventually became "the Cyclone Kids", the Red Tornado's sidekicks.
* SuperZeroes: The Red Tornado was an early parody of the "mystery man" concept. Unlike most later examples, she wasn't actually bad at it, but she was goof with deliberately ridiculous appearance.
* SweetPollyOliver: In her original appearances, everyone assumes the Red Tornado is a man.
%%* TeamMom
!!Red Tornado II:
* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Arguably of Creator/MarvelComics' ComicBook/TheVision.
* ArchnemesisDad: Tornado and his creator T.O. Morrow have this dynamic.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: With his "father", T.O. Morrow, and his three robot "siblings".
* BlowYouAway: The clue is in the name.
* TheChewToy: It's probably impossible to count the number of times Reddy has been blown up, shut down, shorted out, or otherwise put out of commission to show [[TheWorfEffect how the bad guy means business]]. And because he's a robot, and can always be rebuilt or repaired, there's never any dramatic tension.
* DeadpanSnarker: ComicBook/YoungJustice really bring out his sarcastic side. But then, Peter David works [[WorldOfSnark are like that]].
* ElementalPowers: Wind-based.
* ElementalEmbodiment: The Tornado Tyrant/Champion, Reddy's "soul", is an air elemental.
%%* {{Flight}}
* GenderFlip: Red Tornado is a {{Fembot}} in the ComicBook/{{New 52}} version of Earth-2.
** [[spoiler: CompositeCharacter: ...and also a robot clone of ComicBook/LoisLane.]]
%%* HappilyMarried
* HeelFaceTurn: Ulthoon began as a one-off villain of ComicBook/AdamStrange, but after being defeated, re-examined his life and came to the conclusion that being good was superior to being evil. He found a planet and set himself up as its resident hero. After a battle against a manifestation of his former evil ways, he traveled to Earth-Two and was accidentally integrated into the Red Tornado android, which had a brief villainous lifestyle before resuming its heroic role.
* HeroicSacrifice: During one JLA / JSA crossover, he sacrificed himself to defeat the Nebula Man while everyone else was fighting over who was going to do it, figuring as he wasn't human he was more expendable. He got better, obvs.
* MesACrowd: In the 1960s, Ulthoon was shown living on an alien planet and enjoying life as a hero by imitating the ''entire'' Justice League simultaneously.
%%* TheMole: Originally.
* PrimaryColorChampion: Red body, yellow / gold accents, blue cape.
%%* RidiculouslyHumanRobots
* RoboFamily: There's his siblings Red Torpedo (water powers), Red Inferno (fire) and Red Volcano (earth ''and'' fire).
* RoboticSpouse: Reddy is married to a human woman.
* RunningGag: Reddy's physical body has been destroyed so many times, they've lost count.
* TechnicolorWind: They can fittingly generate red-colored gusts of wind.
%%* TinMan: Sometimes.
* WeCanRebuildHim: In the early days, it required T.O. Morrow's cooperation, but in the years since there have been other, less evil people around to do it.
%%* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman
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