Characters / DC Comics - Mongul

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Title Character
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Supporting Cast
Lois Lane | Jimmy Olsen | Ambush Bug | Steel
Villains
Central Rogues Gallery (Alexander "Lex" Luthor, Bizarro, Vril Dox/Brainiac, Cyborg-Superman, Darkseid, Doomsday, Lobo, Mister Mxyzptlk, Mongul, Phantom Zone Criminals [General Zod]) | A-L | M-Z (Superboy-Prime)
Spin-Offs
Supergirl (Kara Zor-El/Linda Danvers/Supergirl, Supporting Cast, Rogues Gallery) | Power Girl | Superboy (Conner Kent/Kon-El, Jonathan "Jon" Samuel Kent, Supporting Cast, Rogues Gallery) | Legion Of Superheroes (The Founders, Silver Age, Bronze Age, Five Years Later, Postboot, Threeboot, Retroboot, Rebirth, Other Heroes, The Fatal Five, The Legion of Supervillains, Other Villains, Supporting Cast)

Green Lantern Main Character Index
Green Lantern Corps (Earth Lanterns, Hal Jordan) | The Sinestro Corps (Thaal Sinestro) | The Red Lantern Corps (Atrocitus) | The Blue Lantern Corps | The Star Sapphire Corps | The Orange Lantern Corps | The Indigo Tribe | The Black, White, Ultraviolet and Gold Lantern Corps | Other Villains (Cyborg-Superman, General Zod, Mongul, Superboy-Prime) | Supporting Characters | Golden Age

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Mongul I the Elder

^{Click here to see the New 52 version}

First Appearance: DC Comics Presents #27 (November 1980)

"Happy Birthday, Kryptonian. I give you oblivion."

A Galactic Conqueror who is more than a physical match for the Man of Steel, Mongul I was a major foe of Superman's during the Bronze Age, serving as the main antagonist of For the Man Who Has Everything, widely regarded as one of the greatest Superman stories ever written. Post-Crisis, he allied with Cyborg-Superman to destroy Coast City and was eventually slain by the demon lord Neron. The New 52 has recently returned him to life as the villain of a Superman/Batman crossover; where he will go from here remains to be seen. In all three continuities, he is characterized as a brutal despot who enjoys watching others fight and die for his amusement, feels that the universe owes him its fealty, and runs every planet he rules into the ground with his limitless ambition and cruelty.

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Tropes related to Mongul

• 0% Approval Rating: Run off of his own home planet and faced with revolution on Throneworld and Warworld, Mongul has never been a popular guy. This is best emphasised in a Post-Crisis story where he conquers a world and the inhabitants promptly commit suicide.
• Abusive Parents: No wonder Lil' Mongul turned out so nice with a dad like this. Mongul generally treated his son no better than he did anyone else.
• Aliens Are Bastards: He's one of DC's premier examples of a long, growing list of evil aliens and one that has maintained a level of relevance as a recurring for for both Superman and the Green Lanterns. Mongul is a wretched, sadistic, and sociopathic warlord who satisfies his desires by mentally torturing others into his sumbission and enables gladiatorial games where fighters kill each other because he likes to get a kick out of it. And like any antagonistic extraterrestrial would do, he's also plotted invasions on Earth.
• Ambition Is Evil: Mongul I is defined by his pride and his drive for dominance.
• And You Thought It Was a Game: One of Mongul's plots involved suckering video gamers into doing real-life violence.
• Asshole Victim: His final appearance in the Post-Crisis timeline was in Underworld Unleashed where he defies and fights against the demon, Neron, only to lose and get killed. Considering what kind of individual he was and then some, there's absolutely no reason for him to be mourned and he's hardly ever bought up again, at least until the New 52 where he's finally bought back in a different timeline.
• Ax-Crazy: Mongul is a deranged and ruthless alien who gets sick kicks out of forcing others to fight to the death as well as taking his time in tormenting and torturing others because he simply enjoys it. He also enjoys getting his hands dirty and beating others, further emphasizing his obscenely insane nature.
• Bald of Evil: Bald and extremely evil.
• Big Bad: Of For The Man Who Has Everything, and several other Bronze Age arcs.
• Black Eyes of Evil: Mongul's eyes are black with red pupils, which mainly highlight just how much of a despicable scumbag he is.
• Blackmail: In War World, Mongul decides to sadistically challenge Superman by kidnapping Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Steve Lombard and then telling the Man of Steel that he has to fight against the Martian Manhunter to retrieve a Crystal Key that he would have to give to Mongul so that he could take control of Warworld in exchange for Lois, Jimmy, and Steve being freed. While naturally, Superman wants to save his friends, he's conflicted when the Martian Manhunter tells him that he's be putting the universe in great risk if he gives Mongul the Crystal Key. This, on top of the fact that Lois, Jimmy, and Perry are imprisoned in a crystal cube makes things worse.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: During the events of The Arena, he took Superman out with a kryptonite spear from behind. Instead of finishing Superman off, he keeps Superman as a prisoner and has him fight as a gladiator on War World. This enables Superman to forment a rebellion by the time of Warworld Revolution, give hope to those enslaved by Mongul, and eventually defeat Mongul.
• Cain and Abel: Killed his younger brother in order to make sure his parents' attention always stayed on him.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Mongul makes no bones about being anything but a sadistic, irredeemable monster whose only goal is to cause as much destruction and suffering as possible.
• Cheshire Cat Grin: He's usually seen with an elongated, yet smug smile, especially when something is going down in his favor. Best shown when he's forcing Superman to fight against the Martian Manhunter, despite the two of them facing heavy personal risks and stakes.
• Classic Villain: Personifies pride, is a brutal alien conqueror to Superman's benevolent guardian, and is made instantly recognisable by his purple costume, sheer size, and yellow skin.
• Cool Chair: The throne of skulls in the picture.
• Cool Ship: Well, it can't be any grander than having one about the size of a small city, providing Mongul with massive manpower in addition to a sizable mobile territory.
• Crystal Prison: His Pre-Crisis iteration has him imprison three of Superman's friends in one in a ploy to force the Man of Steel into a lose-lose battle with another benevolent alien so that he could weasel a victory in some way, be it either Superman wins or loses.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Pre-Crisis Mongul I inflicted a brutal one on Wonder Woman.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: Pre-Crisis, any battle between he and Superman was played this way, as Mongul was actually the stronger of the two. The one time that Superman managed to overpower Mongul, he passed out moments afterwards.
• Demoted to Dragon: Post-Crisis Mongul was relegated to Cyborg-Superman's Dragon during The Death and Return of Superman.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: Mongul I cares only about gaining and keeping power, and is prepared to use any means, however reprehensible to achieve that end. Might cross into Dystopia Justifies the Means, given how his rule usually turns out for those he conquers.
• Diminishing Villain Threat: Like Killer Croc once was to Batman, Mongul used to be a monstrous foe who could pummel Superman into unconsciousness back during a time when that Superman could sneeze away solar systems and pull endless chains of planets and even when Superman was enraged, Mongul could take all his punishment and give it back just as good. Over time, however, Mongul has turned into just another big bruiser alien villain who, at best, can give a length brawl to Superman before being knocked out or, at worst, gets taken out easily in the span of one page. The only times he can even temporarily knock out Superman these days are those moments where Superman is distracted somehow. And that's not even getting into all the times Mongul and/or his son Mongul Jr have been beaten up by Neron, Green Lantern, Flash, Cyborg Superman, or Sinestro.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In the Rebirth era, it was revealed that the very first Mongul, then known as Guldejo, was a primitive Warzoon who stumbled upon a more advanced gray alien and began worshipping him as a god. However, the alien only turned towards Guldejo and looked at him with contempt, like he was nothing more than a primitive animal. After the alien turned his back on him, Guldejo killed him with a rock from behind for merely looking at him wrong and empowered himself with the alien's stone. From that moment forth, Guldejo took on the name of Mongul and started a long line of Warzoon conquerors with that very name.
• Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: He was killed by the demon Neron for rejecting his offer and insulting him.
• Driven to Suicide: Not Mongul himself, mind you, but it has been noted that his reign in Warworld and the treatment of his planet's populace is so abysmal and abusive that many wound up taking their own lives just to avoid living under Mongul's tyranny. Not that the alien warlord cares one bit about, anyways.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Post-Crisis he was killed off in the space of about two panels, solely to show what a badass Neron was.
• Enfant Terrible: When Mongul I was a child, he murdered his infant brother in order to better monopolize his parents' affections. Taken to patricidal extremes in the new universe where he reveals that after having offed his sibling, he eventually went on to gank his parents as he came of age to ascend the throne only to end up razing said dominion the ground in the ensuing civil war.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Regarding the Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions, it's implied at the end that Mongul is perfectly content with the fantasy of bloody conquest the Black Mercy is giving him. Whereas Superman is able to break free because, being a hero, he was able to comprehend something wrong with the fantasy he was given. In the animated version, Mongul even goes as far as to speculate that Superman is living out a fantasy of conquest.
  • Zig-zagged in the comic, where Mongul guesses that Superman's fantasy is him going back to "whatever aboriginal backwater" he was raised in. He's wrong in this case, but it's a perfectly valid assumption considering Superman's love for the Kents and Smallville.
• Evil Gloating: The guy sure loves to make announcements about he's on top of the game against his enemies and underscore that by gloating about as much as possible. For example...
  Mongul: If you don't already know my name, then you're not worthy of an introduction. I'm the new manager around here. Naturally, I shall need time to settle in and adjust to your many interesting customs... I know, for example, that your society makes distinctions on a basis of gender and age. Perhaps, then, you could advise me... Which of you would it be polite to kill first?
• Evil Is Bigger: Mongul I is always enormous and towers over Superman. And in For The Man Who Has Everything, we see that even Mongul kneeling down in front of Batman far surpasses Bruce in both height and mass.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: In War World, Mongul appropriated a star-sized weapon-satellite built by a race of warmongers who passed away right after building it. It never occurred to Mongul that both events could be linked and Warworld might bring death to its owner.
• Evil Is Petty: His defining trait as a villain, compared to DC's other Galactic Conquerors. He doesn't have a vision, and he doesn't usually even have much of a plan. He's just a monstrously powerful asshole who wants to hurt people in entertaining ways, and holds a grudge like nobody's business.
• Evil Overlord: Of any planet he overruns. These have included his own homeworld and Throneworld pre-Crisis, Warworld and an unnamed planet post-Crisis and finally Warworld along with countless thousands of other worlds (if he's to be believed) in New 52.
• Evil Plan: His Pre-Crisis self seizes a star-sized mobile weapon with which he looks to conquer the galaxy. He also makes in a new plan in-between to torment and demoralize Superman by kidnapping his friends, forcing him to fight a trusted ally, and throwing him into a Sadistic Choice whether to save his three closest friends or to threaten the universe by giving Mongul the necessary item needed to control an interstellar superweapon.
• The Exile: Exiled from his homeworld Pre-Crisis, and with good reason. Subverted in the New 52 since he inadvertently destroyed it, but played straight when he tried to take over and was kicked out of the Sinestro Corps and again when Sinestro jettisoned him into deep space via yellow energy rocketeer.
• Expy: Of Thanos, another Galactic Conqueror created by Jim Starlin, and as such, is often treated the same way as Thanos. Ironically, Thanos himself is an Expy of Darkseid.
• Expy Coexistence: As noted above Mongul is an expy of Thanos and lives in the same universe as Darkseid — except Thanos himself is a Darkseid expy. Curiously, while the two of them have appeared in some of the same stories and frequently fight the same hero, Superman, both Mongul and Darkseid have never had much, if any meaningful personal interactions with each other even up to now.
• Faux Affably Evil: If he's ever shown expressing any kind of civility, it's nothing but a facade and a way of sadistically mocking his opponents.
• Fighting Your Friend: Mongul blackmails the Man of Steel into stealing a key protected by his buddy Justice Leaguer Martian Manhunter. Kal-El manages to defeat J'onn, but feels awful about it.
• Flat Character: Over the decades, many of DC's other supervillains have been given more depth and sympathetic qualities but Mongul has been given practically none in all these years, remaining as a cruel, alien villain who simply wants to make others suffer, conquer, and do things For the Evulz. This was directly lampshaded by Superman himself during the Bendis run where Clark stated to himself in the narrative that being a ruthless conqueror who can't be reasoned with IS what Mongul is all about and that there's really nothing else to him so the only way you can talk to him in his language is with your fists.
• Foil:
  • The similarities between Mongul and Darkseid are pretty notable and obvious, which makes sense as Mongul himself is an Expy of Thanos, who himself is based on Darkseid. Both are Galactic Conquerors who desire power and oppressive authority above all else, have large, stocky statures that make them appear intimidating, and have a very harsh enmity against Superman that, in some ways, beats Lex Luthor's own antagonism towards the Man of Steel. That said, Mongul is simply an alien despot (albeit a very powerful one) who is mostly content on tormenting others in his vicinity whereas Darkseid is a God of Evil (to be more specific, Tyranny) and tends to be more grand and ambitious in his goals.
  • Mongul also strongly parallels with Brainiac; they are alien despots who have a feared reputation throughout the universe and are two of Superman's most hated enemies. However, Mongul is a sadistic and over-the-top hedonist who wants to force others to kill and to personally torture others for his own amusement. Brainiac, on the other hand, is cold and reserved and is driven by a compulsion to collect knowledge and make at exclusive as possible by destroying their original source, including entire planets and civilizations.
• For the Evulz: Mongul really has no other grand ambitions with what he wants to do his status as a feared Galactic Conquerer. The only thing he really seems to put his focus on is to just spread his misery towards others as much as he can and he wants to enjoy their suffering because to simply put, he's a crazed psychopath whose main joy is his Sadism.
• Four-Fingered Hands: He has them — which is appropriate for a deliberately Kirbyesque character, as Kirby often drew monsters this way. Somewhat amusingly, in "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?," when he takes off his protective gauntlets, his hands look almost dainty compared to the rest of his bulk.
• Galactic Conqueror: Galactic domination has always been his end game.
• Genius Bruiser: While Post-Crisis Mongul is arrogant and not particularly brilliant, the Pre-Crisis version was usually portrayed as an intelligent, if vain conqueror, who was more than capable of out-thinking his adversaries. See For The Man Who Has Everything for a good case study. The New 52 has him revert to type coming up with complex stratagems involving taking the natural bloodlust in humanity and turning it against the world's finest via video game as well as using Sinestro's vindictive nature against him.
• Gladiator Games: A huge fan of this in all continuities.
• Godzilla Threshold: It's really saying a lot when you've managed to infuriate Superman so much that his intent switches from wanting to stop Mongul from torturing others to wanting to kill him for his endless depravity for what he put the Man of Steel under. Honestly, Mongul being alive after this incident is a damn lucky break for him.
• Gotta Get Your Head Together: Mongul clutches his head when Warworld's control helmet nearly fries his brain.
• Hate Sink: Even among Superman villains, Mongul stands out as a truly reprehensible piece of work with absolutely no redeeming or sympathetic features whatsoever.
• He-Man Woman Hater: He makes a lot of comments to this effect during his battle with Wonder Woman—though he may just be doing it to screw with her.
• The Hedonist: Hedonistic sadism is pretty much his entire raison d'être. The guy spends his whole life cruising around the galaxy in a gigantic, heavily-armed pleasure-palace looking for people to inflict suffering on in entertaining ways, with elaborate Gladiator Games being his personal favourite.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Pre-Crisis Mongul meets his end at the hands of his own Black Mercy plant, remaining trapped in a coma forever.
• Hostage for MacGuffin: Mongul kidnaps three of Superman's friends and threatens to kill them if the Kryptonian hero doesn't retrieve a device called the Crystal Key -which allows activating a planet-buster super-weapon- and hands over it to him.
• Humiliation Conga: His last few Post-Crisis appearances. As noted above, his control of Warworld was usurped, and he was turned into Cyborg-Superman's abused lackey. Then he was defeated by Hal Jordan (despite his yellow skin giving him the edge), and not long after, by the rookie Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner (To be fair, Kyle didn't have the yellow weakness). Soon after that, he was curb-stomped by a newly-upgraded Wally West. Finally, he was effortlessly beaten to death by the demon Neron.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: Tried on Prince Gavyn of Throneworld's sister Pre-Crisis.
• It's All About Me: Mongul is about Mongul, full stop. From his perspective, everything in his conquest only exists to serve him and he couldn't give a shit about the well-being of anybody unless there is something to be gained out of it. And no, not even his children are exempt from his lack of care.
• It's Personal: How Superman takes the incident with the Black Mercy. It's pretty notable in that Mongul is one of the very few villains to have accomplished the feat of pissing off Superman, considering he trapped him in an illusionary world and tormented him through that.
• Jerkass: Honestly the nicest thing that can be said about him.
• The Juggernaut: Pre-Crisis Mongul is all but unstoppable and only running into Superman will slow him down, as evidenced by the beating he gave to Wonder Woman in For the Man Who Has Everything. Post-Crisis Mongul, while tough, was not nearly as impervious. New-52 Mongul comes close to Pre-Crisis strength as it takes the combined might of Sinestro, his entire Fear Corps and the aid of Bekka from New Genesis to finally beat him.
• Karma Houdini/Karmic Death: Batman thinks that Pre-Crisis Mongul I got off too easy, being trapped in his own ideal fantasy. On the other hand, there are few more karmic ends for a being who used the Black Mercy on somebody else than being trapped by it (and Superman does mention off-hand that he intends to drop Mongul in a black hole afterwards). Averted Post-Crisis, where he is killed by Neron in a non-ironic or karmic fashion.
• Kick the Dog: His fight with Wonder Woman becomes this, as he tries to beat her to death as slowly as he can. It's been suggested that all the sexist commentary he makes throughout the fight is just another way of hurting her.
• Kill All Humans: Pre-Crisis Mongul tried to use the Sun-Eater to end all life on Earth.
• Killed Off for Real: Post-Crisis, Pre-Flashpoint Mongul never returned after being killed by Neron in Underworld Unleashed.
• Large and in Charge: A ten-foot tall dictator.
• Let's You and Him Fight: Mongul manipulates Superman into fighting Martian Manhunter in his first notable appearance in War World.
• Logical Weakness: As powerful as he is, Mongul lacks one ability that Superman and other Flying Brick characters have, namely the ability to fly under his own power. Because of this, he can be taken out of the equation if you have the means to send him packing to any place resembling an empty void with no gravitational pull. In Action Comics #984, Zod punched Mongul into orbit, after which Mongul began cursing Zod while not being able to get back down to Earth to exact any revenge. And in Justice League: Last Ride, Wonder Woman destroyed Mongul's jetpack and kicked him backwards, sending Mongul helplessly drifting into the coldness of space, with him yet again being unable to get back under his own power to retaliate.
• Lotus-Eater Machine: His "Black Mercy" plant, which traps the victim inside of their own mental prison, based on their heart's desires. In New 52, he has modified them to both induce beautiful dreams one moment, then traps the victim in a horror show the next.
• Macross Missile Massacre: In War World, he tries this tactic to destroy both Kryptonian cousins after they've been foiling his plans one too many times.
  The merest thought crosses Mongul's jaundiced brow, and a savage swarm of missiles streaks skyward at his command — even as floating macro-laser cannons cross the star-swept heavens with devastating beams of fire...
• Manipulative Bastard: While Mongul is usually seen as a hulking, sadistic brute, albeit with an experienced knowledge about how to torture others, he can be quite crafty and thoughtful whenever he wants to play the long game. One of the best examples of Mongul's mind is in his first main role in War World where he manipulates Superman into playing on his own terms and forcing him into a dilemma where he can only choose between saving his three friends or the entire universe from his wrath.
• Narcissist: Guy's got a huge opinion about himself and he's going to make sure you know it. However, this ends up biting him back really hard when during Underworld Unleashed, he straight-up goes against a deal with Neron because he felt that the demon's gesture was insulting his worth and reputation. This ends up getting him killed.
• Near-Villain Victory: Came closer to killing Superman than any other Silver Age or Bronze Age foe ever did, and was seconds away from delivering a killing blow when the Black Mercy interrupted him.
• Neck Snap: This is how his Post-Crisis version met his definitive end in Underworld Unleashed at the hands of the demon Neron.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Regularly gave one to Pre-Crisis Superman. Casually delivers one to Wonder Woman in For the Man Who Has Everything. Post-Crisis Mongul received one from Neron, which eventually killed him.
• No One Could Survive That!: In his first appearance, Mongul apparently dies when War World blows up, but he shows up some time after in Prince Gavyn's Throneworld (as narrated in DC Comics Presents #36), with no explanation as to how he survived.
• Not in This for Your Revolution: In Green Lantern: A New Dawn, Mongul created a massive jail breakout when he left, but not because he thought that Evil Is One Big, Happy Family. It was just to get away more easily in the confusion. A Khund warrior hailed him, in gratitude for his liberation, and Mongul killed him: he does not like the Khund.
• Off with His Head!!/Creepy Souvenir: Keeps the decapitated heads of his foes in his "Hall of the Insufferably Arrogant."
• One-Man Army: Pre-Crisis, wherein he conquers entire worlds using only his own power. New-52 Mongul and his progeny can battle a small planetoids worth of adversaries and win.
• Offing the Offspring: In the New 52 era, he killed his own son Jochi to assume complete control over Warworld in New 52.
• Phlebotinum-Handling Equipment: Mongul's gauntlets allow one to manipulate the Black Mercy safely, without it immediately taking over the handler. Robin uses them to pry off the alien plant from Batman, and then stuffs the Black Mercy inside a gauntlet to carry it, before dropping it on Mongul.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Espouses a lot of sexist rhetoric. Whether he believes it, or is just saying it to screw with Diana is never clarified.
  • In "For The Man Who Has Everything", though, it's implied he's trying to avert it.
  Mongul: I'm unfamiliar with this planet's customs. Which of you two is it polite to kill first?
• Predecessor Villain: To his son and daughter Post-Crisis.
• Pride: As IGN notes, Mongul's "brute strength is only rivaled by his brooding ego".
• Punctuated Pounding: Does it to Superman after the latter wounds him with his heat vision in For the Man Who Has Everything.
  Mongul: You... insufferable... little... speck... You HURT me. YOU! [pound] HURT! [pound] ME!
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: While Bronze Age Mongul was a definitive Superman villain, both Monguls I & II have become more associated with Green Lantern Post-Crisis. As of the New 52 he's clashed with the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight in the pages of Superman/Batman, and his Villains Month title has him facing the GL Corps.
• Rubber-Forehead Aliens: Mongul's race is yellow-skinned and has a bald, bony head and a huge forehead. In Mongul's case, it's to basically scream out that he's a bad guy.
• Sadist: Mongul was a psychological and physical sadist who enjoyed the suffering of his opponents.
• Sadistic Choice: In War World, Mongul forces Superman to choose between giving Mongul the Warworld’s key and seeing his friends dying.
  J'onn: You don't mean the key—?
  Superman: What else? The lives of my friends depend on my getting it!
  J'onn: And the lives of worlds beyond numbering depend on it remaining here!
• Saving the World: Clark and Linda fight a planet-buster, star-sized killing satellite to save the whole universe.
  Superman: It seems the only thing capable of destroying Warworld... was Warworld itself! The universe has been saved — at least from this menace!
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Mongul and Non finally escape the Phantom Zone and arrive in the Fortress of Solitude, only to see Brainiac preparing to take Earth. They both decide that being stuck in the Phantom Zone is better than being bottled up by the Collector and quickly run back into the Zone. Later, Wonder Woman travels into the Phantom Zone and tries to convince Mongul to get involved in the battle.
• Secondary Color Nemesis: His trademark purple costume contrasts strongly with Superman's reds and blues.
• Self-Made Orphan: In his "Forever Evil (2013)" tie-in Mongul murdered his own family as he came of age and eventually razed his homeworld to the ground during a civil war.
• Shadow Archetype: To Superman, like is many of his adversaries, as a dark reflection of an aspect of his character. Both Superman and Mongul are mighty, possessing power to shake worlds, but Superman is humble and uses that strength to help and inspire those weaker than himself, while Mongul is proud and uses it to dominate and degrade those weaker than himself. Mongul is essentially a dark reflection of Superman in the same manner as Brainiac and Ultraman, the alien conqueror who destroys worlds to the alien guardian who protects them.
• Smug Snake: Mongul is smart but very full of himself, and his tendency towards toying with his victims causes him problems.
• Smug Super: Mongul is arrogant and full of himself, but his boasts can be backed up by being a very powerful combatant and an expert in physical and psychological torment as his clashes against Superman demonstrate.
• The Sociopath: Mongul is one of the clearest extraterrestrial examples of sociopaths in the DC Universe. To really take things into account, he takes great pleasure in watching the suffering of others, playing mind games, and using manipulations to solely further his own objectives and is absolutely devoid of any sort of care and affection towards anybody, let alone his family. On another note, he's also very full of himself, constantly boasting about how he's gotten his enemies into his mercy and indulging himself in hedonistic activities whenever he's hosting Warworld's gladiatorial games. That said, his sadism and hedonism also shows that he has impulsive side to him, a notably common trait for sociopaths.
• The Starscream: Post-Crisis Mongul I was this to the Cyborg-Superman, kept in line only by the latter's threats, and planning to turn on him at the first opportunity.
• Sufficiently Advanced Alien: Comes with the territory of having an entire planet composed of war technology other doomsday devices for personal use at your disposal.
• Strong as They Need to Be: Whether he's stronger, weaker or about the same as Superman varies from story to story.
• Superpower Lottery: Befitting for someone who is a notable and dangerous physical adversary to Superman, Mongul has a large amount of powers and abilities that signify how much of a threat he is a threat to not just the Man of Steel, but the Justice League as well.
  • Super-Reflexes/Super-Speed: Fast enough to land hits on Wonder Woman and Superman.
    • Lightning Bruiser: Not only huge and strong, but shockingly fast as well, capable of landing numerous blows on Superman and Wonder Woman.
  • Super-Strength: Strong enough to overpower and nearly beat both Superman and Wonder Woman to death barehanded Pre-Crisis, and inflict some serious damage on Superman and Green Lantern Post-Crisis, putting him in the upper tier of DC's characters in terms of strength. In "New Continuum" Superman puts him on a pedestal equal to Darkseid.
  • Nigh-Invulnerability: Perhaps the only Bronze Age villain who could survive blows from an enraged, Pre-Crisis Superman, let alone nearly defeat him in combat. Even after his power was scaled down Post-Crisis, it still took a hit from Neron to kill him.
  • Mind over Matter: In Pre-Crisis continuity, Mongul had minor psionic abilities ranging from telepathy to telekinesis but they were limited in scope.
  • Chest Blaster: Often has an energy cannon on his chest.
  • Hand Blast: In his Pre-Crisis days, Mongul could also discharge force blasts from his hands too.
  • Eye Beams: Shown both in Pre-crisis and New 52, Mongul can shoot devastating energy beams from his eyes, though the effects can vary from incineration to concussive in nature.
• Teleportation: He can teleport interstellar distances.
• Took a Level in Badass/Jerkass: Pre-Crisis Mongul takes one in For the Man Who Has Everything, in which he graduates from a poor man's substitute for Darkseid and into a terrifying villain who can No-Sell attacks from Wonder Woman and Superman alike, and whose use of the Black Mercy gives him a vile twist.
• Undignified Death: For a feared and powerful alien tyrant who was able to go toe-to-toe with and even infuriate Superman on a personal level, getting your neck snapped easily sure is a pathetic way to go out on. Not that he didn't deserve it.
• Unexplained Recovery: Pre-Flashpoint, a flashback in Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) #24 suggested that For the Man Who Has Everything was restored in Post-Infinite Crisis continuity. If so, that would leave the question of how Mongul escaped from his Black Mercy-induced fantasy, let alone escaped from the black hole Superman dropped him in. Happens again during the New 52 where he somehow escapes the Phantom Zone and brings Warworld back with him after the events of Superman: Doomed.
• Worf Had the Flu: In his initial post-Crisis confrontations with Superman, it's worth noting that he never fought Superman at full power; in Exile Superman had exhausted most of his usual solar energy reserves through his travels in space, and during the battle of Coast City Superman's powers hadn't fully returned after his resurrection by the time they confronted each other.
• Villain Team-Up: He struck an alliance with Hank Henshaw during the climax of Reign of the Supermen and worked to destroy Coast City as well as making an attempt to convert Earth into yet another Warwirld while Hank would create an "Engine City" at where Coast City once stood.
• Would Hit a Girl/Would Hurt a Child: Once asked Batman if it would be more polite to kill the woman (Wonder Woman) or the boy (Jason Todd) first. He also killed his younger brother when he was an infant.
• You Are Too Late: In War World, Superman and Supergirl travel across the galaxy to find Warworld before Mongul can appropiate it. Mongul seizes Warworld before they can stop him, though. Kal states that they are too late, and his cousin reasons that they will have to break Mongul's new toy, then.
• You Can't Fight Fate: The Spectre tries to show this to Superman, so he gives him a chance to save Krypton and prevent his foster parents' deaths. Superman fails both times.

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Related Characters

Mongul II

Mongul II (Mongul III/MDCCXCII in DC Rebirth)

^{Click here to see the Rebirth version}

Homeworld: Debstam IV

First Appearance: Showcase '95 #8 (September, 1995)

" I wanted a challenge. I wanted to see some fire in your bellies before I ripped them open. Instead all I taste in the wind is fear and loathing."

The son of Mongul I, the despotic ruler of WarWorld and destroyer of Coast City. Like his father, Mongul II is a cruel and arrogant monster who lives for conquest. After the Sinestro Corps War, a yellow power ring found its way to Mongul, who used it to launch a hostile takeover of the Sinestro Corps; he nearly succeeded until Sinestro himself defeated him in single combat, trapping him within the yellow central power battery on Korugar.

When Mongul dies in DC Rebirth, his son is quick to step up in his footsteps and is more than ready to prove himself a notable adversary, especially towards Superman.

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• 0% Approval Rating: It's pretty clear that the Sinestro Corps only followed him because he'd kill them otherwise, even rooting for Arkillo during their fight. Many that he conquers prefer to die instead of living under him.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Initially a dumb brute in Post-Crisis, his Rebirth version in the Warworld Saga has seen him be depicted as a lot smarter and craftier than his past depictions ever were.
• Aborted Arc: Early ads for his place in the War of Light heavily implied he'd be collecting the rings of each Corps, and fans noted he's one of the few villains who genuinely does have some concepts of Love and Hope (see Depending on the Writer). Given that the Indigo Ring is a Lotus-Eater Machine in disguise, it's entirely possible this was the intended final twist. Instead, Mongul II simply collected Sinestro Corps rings before challenging Arkillo and Sinestro for leadership of the corps.
• Always Someone Better: With Arkillo. Mongul beat him within an inch of his life and tore his tongue out to prove he was a worthy leader.
• Bad Boss: Kills any underling who so much as irritates him.
• Bald of Evil: Bald and very evil.
• The Brute: Mongul isn't much of a strategist unlike his father, preferring to let his strength do the talking.
• Bullying a Dragon: Tried this with Mother Mercy and paid for it big time.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: What the Authority's first fight against Mongul and his minions turns into, with half of the Authority killed.
• Dead Guy on Display: Mongul has seemingly hundreds, if not thousands, of Phaelosians' corpses put on spikes leading to his gladiatorial arena.
  • Following the Authority's defeat, Lia's body is one of the new bodies on display.
• Depending on the Writer: While he's always evil the great divide is that one writer paints him as a sociopathic, hulk-like monster that just loves to kill and talk a big game while doing so while the other paints a picture of a strategist with a very loose code of honor, that's not above helping his enemies when it benefits him too.
• Detachment Combat: His first run-in with the Green Lanterns resulted in him losing an arm. Thanks to his Sinestro ring he was still able to control it until he eventually got it reattached.
• Doomed Hometown: His homeworld is a barren wasteland thanks to his dad.
• The Dreaded: Why the Yellow Ring came looking for him.
• Evil Is Bigger: Like his father, Mongul II also towers over Superman.
• Evil Mentor: Unlike the usual archetype, Superman knows he's evil to begin with. In the face of the Imperiex threat, Mongul Jr is the one who trains Superman in the ways of combat and increases his power. Fittingly, once the Imperiex probe they face is dealt with, Mongul immediately tries to backstab Superman.
• Eviler than Thou: With Mongal, Arkillo, and Sinestro. That last one ends badly for him.
• Flying Brick: Once he got a power ring(s).
• For the Evulz: This is basically what his motivations boil down to. He has no grand scheme or overarching plan, he's just out to be as much of a dick as possible.
• Freudian Excuse: Just try growing up with Mongul as a father, being told that his father is the hero and the dorks in bright colors are the evil villains keeping him from bringing the beauty of monstrous tyranny to the Universe. This doesn't justify dog shit of course, but it's at least an explanation. Also, a flashback to his childhood shows his father was just as much of a dick to him as he was to everyone else and flat out told him he didn't care about him at all.
• Galactic Conqueror: What he wants to be, just like his dear old dad. Yet his petty nature, lead him to be less than successful in his endeavors.
• Hate Sink: Made to be as contemptible as possible so the viewer feels comfortable rooting for Sinestro. He's rude and condescending to everyone, has no motive outside conquest and sheer cruelty, and his own men despise him.
• I Regret Nothing: He's an unrepentant Jerk with a Heart of Jerk to his very core. This trait of his allowed him to shrug off being forced to feel compassion by the Indigo Lantern Corps which is noteworthy since much of the Corps is made up of criminal sociopaths who were brainwashed into feeling compassionate. Mongul's just that much of a monster.
• Jerkass: Not only does he have a Lack of Empathy, but he's an asshole who thinks he's better than everyone else and doesn't bother even with pleasantries.
• The Juggernaut: Much like his father, he's a hulking brute who can take lumps from the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman and keep on swinging.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch:
  • His decimation of xenophobic Daxam was horrific, but also very satisfying to watch. As Sodam Yat notes, "Congratulations mom and dad. You finally got the alien you deserve."
  • He's an awful boss to the Sinestro Corps members he controls and murders a number of them for slightly annoying him, but as the Sinestro Corps are comprised of some of the worst psychos in the universe it'd hard to feel bad for them.
• Kinslaying Is a Special Kind of Evil: Murders his sister shortly after his Rogues' Gallery Transplant to eliminate any weakness, seemingly just to establish how horrible he is.
• Lack of Empathy: Doesn't care for anyone, not even his own sister. He even kills her because he doesn't want any attachment to weaken him.
• Large and in Charge: During his tenure as leader of the Sinestro Corps, where he stood head and shoulders over most of his underlings.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Dished it out to the Daxamites. They spent their entire history killing and victimizing aliens, and his invasion saw Mongul II do the same to them in droves.
• Legacy Character: DC Rebirth reveals that Mongul is a name passed down in generations throughout the same family. In the case of this Mongol, his full name is shown to be '' Mongol MDCCXCII^note 1792
• Lotus-Eater Machine: His father's Black Mercy plants, but only until his first conflict with the Green Lanterns. The Lanterns discovered the plants were spawned by a benevolent "Mother Mercy" and helped her rebel against Mongul.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: It takes hits from Green Lantern Rings or someone as strong as Superman to actually hurt Mongul II.
• Offing the Offspring: While Mongul doesn't directly kill any of his sons, he is unabashedly approving of the death of an heir, when a subordinate of his presents his superior the decapitated head of his male offspring. Mongul rationalizes this as preventing a leadership by usurpation that the Mongul family is quite infamous for and that by killing his sons means a potential threat in the future is eliminated.
• Overlord Jr.: Is less about holding entire worlds at his mercy like his dad and more about just being the absolutely worst thing he can be, which generally includes forcing people to serve him.
• Pragmatic Villainy: In the face of Imperiex, Mongul Jr isn't above training Superman in the art of fighting to increase Superman's powers and to further his own chances of survival.
• Ret-Gone: Doesn't exist in the New 52, with his connection to the Sinestro Corps being adapted into the original Mongul.
• Ring of Power: Two fistfuls of Yellow Power Rings, taken from Sinestro Corps members who refused to join up with him.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: First appeared in Superman's comics but has since become a foe to Green and Yellow Lanterns alike.
• Sibling Rivalry: With his equally vile sister, Mongal. He wins by punching her head off.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: To really emphasize the vileness of Mongul, he has his rule of Warworld be governed by his subjects working in a system of slavery. Mongul isn't just content with keeping it exclusive to his world, proclaiming that he wants to put the entire universe "in chains".
• Smug Snake: Mongul is legitimately skilled and one of the strongest conquerors out there, but he's too needlessly cruel and dismissive of his opponents to be the expert manipulator his father was and that he sees himself as.
• The Sociopath: Despite his own harsh upbringing, he's proven himself to be just as sociopathic as his father is. He is needlessly violent and impulsive, deriding joy and pleasure in making others suffer, lacks any emotional attachment towards others and sees others as tools for him to manipulate and toy around with at best and is an unrepentant hedonist who delves himself into useless pleasantries solely to satisfy himself. He also has a disproportionately high opinion about himself and often claims himself to be better than others.
• Space Romans: Warworld's gladiatorial arenas brings to mind the Ancient Romans. In addition, Mongul being a name that's evolved into a tile with a line of successors is similar to the "Caesar" title Roman Emperors would take on.
• The Starscream: Borderline example, since Mongul II started trying to take over the Sinestro Corps before he actually met Sinestro.
• Stupid Evil: He focuses way too much on trying to be as much of a dick as possible and/or forcing others to serve him without even pausing to consider the practicality of that approach or how it's going to bite him in the ass later on. Especially the latter.
• Super-Strength: To scary levels. Mongul II and his father are among the most physically powerful beings in DC.
• Superior Successor: The Rebirth version of Mongul seems to be shaping up to be this in comparison to his immediate predecessors that Superman's faced.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For Mongul I, initially. Junior is a large hulking alien Galactic Conqueror who looks almost exactly like his father and has the same Hate Sink characteristics, almost as if the writers were having second thoughts about killing off his father and still wanted to tell Mongul stories, hence his creation. But since then, he's evolved into a rather different character, particularly when he became a Yellow Lantern.
• Took a Level in Badass: Never the threat that his father was, Mongul II's acquisition of a yellow power ring allowed him to take on multiple Green Lantern Corpsmen with little difficulty, achieving a status in the GL book similar to that of his dad in the Superman comics.
• Viler New Villain: Serves the role of being worse than Sinestro, lacking any of his redeeming qualities or charisma.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: As a child, he wanted nothing more than for his father to trust him and like him enough to let him tag along on his journeys to enslave the galaxy.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: After being thoroughly swatted by Sinestro, he vanished from continuity.
• What Could Have Been: See the character pic? At one point, he was going to try to collect all the rings, but that storyline got rewritten into a civil war with the Sinestro Corps.

Mongal

Mongal

Homeworld: Debstam IV

First Appearance: Showcase '95 #8 (September, 1995)

The daughter of Mongul the Elder and the twin sister of Mongul Jr., Mongal is a feared alien warlord much like the rest of her family and serves as a tyrantess in the world of Almerac.

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• Action Girl: Not unexpected, given that she comes from a family of invading tyrants who love fighting and fear in some shape or another. That, and Mongal has most of the same power set that her father tends to possess too.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Usually, Mongal is depicted as being Mongul's daughter. In the Post-Flashpoint timeline, which consists of the New 52 and DC Rebirth eras, her connection is instead altered to be Mongul's sister.
• Brawn Hilda: Shares her father and brother's hulk-ish frame.
• Daddy's Little Villain: She aspires to be this by being the next in line to inherit her father's infamous reputation. Unfortunately, on a personal level, this is never applicable as the father in question is Mongul who couldn't care less about anybody other than himself.
• Evil Overlord: Like her family, Mongal is a tyrantess of the world of Almerac and makes it a personal goal to live up to Mongul's legacy, regardless of the infamy that comes with that association.
• Fiery Redhead: She's got deep red hair and has proven herself to be just as headstrong and temperamental as her father can get on a bad day. That, and she's a ruthless fighter and tyrant.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: She's the reigning tyrant of Almerac and a feared conqueror who has family ties with another sociopathic alien conqueror and is eager to carry on the family legacy.
• Green-Skinned Space Babe: He has deep orange skin and scarlet red hair and physically looks impressive enough, or at least compared to her father and twin brother.
• Killed Off for Real: She gets killed in a battle of dominance by her own brother and is promptly forgotten about, never to be bought back for the remainder of the Post-Crisis timeline.
• Off with His Head!: She meets her end this way when during a fight to determine who can carry on Mongul's legacy, Mongul Jr. lands a punch on her head so hard it decapitates her.
• Sibling Rivalry: She and Mongul Jr. often competed on who can be a worthy successor to their father. The brother wins under the virtue of killing his twin sister by punching her head off.

White Mercy

The White Mercy

Species: Non-Corporeal Entity Created from a Dream

First Appearance: Trinity Vol 2 #4 (February, 2017)

A non-corporeal entity created from the dreams of Mongul and metahuman Batman villain, Poison Ivy. She identifies herself as a daughter to Mongul as well as his species.

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• Become a Real Boy: She was initially a being from a dream courtesy of Mongul and Poison Ivy. However, she was able to make it to the real world and develop a physical body whereupon she became a part of a group of people known as The Perfect and moved on from her father's history.
• Green-Skinned Space Babe: Unlike her father and her aunt, Mongal^note The Post-Flashpoint timeline shows Mongal as Mongul's sister instead, she actually has crystal-blue skin.
• Token Good Teammate: From her later appearances, she doesn't really want conflict with the Justice League and is the only member of her family whose standing in the DC Universe is completely separate from her family.
• White Sheep: She is one of the very few people from her family who is actually amicable and wants nothing to do with her father, having proclaimed that she has "shed" her past.

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