Note: In Name Only applies to all of these characters, as the whole point of this continuity was to repurpose the names of established DC characters for new characters who deliberately had little in common with their namesakes.
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The Secret Six
In General
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: Three men (The Atom, Plastic Man, The Spectre) and three women (Manhunter, The Flash, Joker).
The Atom
Adam Thompson
The premier hero of this world
- Big Good: As expected since he's the equivalent of Superman.
- Flying Brick: Due to his Gravity powers.
- Legacy Character: He is the third Atom, with his two predecessors also being his father and grandfather.
- Superman Substitute: Despite his name, he’s meant to be this world's equivalent of Superman, right down to wearing a caped costume and being able to fly.
- You Killed My Father: He confronts the Fatal Five for murdering his father the second Atom.
The Flash
Lia Nelson
- Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: Her costume has an opening for her midriff, and she's quite feminine and it goes well with her celebrity status.
- Breakout Character: Lia is easily the most prominent character to come out of Tangent, with an alternate version of Lia getting a major role in Superman and the Authority and the subsequent Warworld saga.
- Good Is Not Dumb: Just because she's perky and happy doesn't mean she's a ditz, though she does act like one to lull people into a false sense of security. She's also very much aware of her dad's frequent attempts to kidnap her and is constantly five steps ahead of him, to the point she disguises herself as one of his henchmen.
The Joker
Mary Marvel
One of three
- Collective Identity: The Joker is actually three women, named Lori Lemaris, Mary Marvel and Christy Xanadu.
- Gender Flip: The Joker is traditionally a man. This version is a woman. She honestly bears more of a resemblance to the original Joker's Daughter than the Joker himself.
- Mind Rape: Mary Marvel was subjected to this by Superman, leading to her death and the exposure of the other Jokers' identities.
- Primary-Color Champion: Unlike the mainstream Joker, this version wears blue and red.
Manhunter
Lori Lemaris
- Braids of Action: Manhunter is easily identified by her long red braid.
- Break the Cutie: After Mary Marvel was killed by Superman, Lori was captured and imprisoned for ten years. She refuses to wear the Joker costume again as she felt the Joker's anarchic, humorous nature no longer suits her as Mary died wearing it.
- Legacy Character: After the death of the first Manhunter, Lori Lemaris abandoned her Joker identity and became the second Manhunter.
- Robot Dog: Manhunter is always accompanied by her robotic dog Pooch.
Plastic Man
Gunther Ganz
- Alliterative Name: Gunther Ganz.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Something he shares with his main universe counterpart is the ability to fold his body into different shapes.
The Spectre
Other Heroes
Green Lantern
Unknown
- Horror Host: Appropriately enough for a woman who possesses an enchanted lantern that can raise the dead, both of her one-shots consist of her telling three scary stories to the reader. Tangent Comics: Green Lantern has her tell of three people she resurrected so they could complete their Unfinished Business, while Tangent Comics: Tales of the Green Lantern has her discussing three possible origin stories for herself.
- Multiple-Choice Past: The Tales of the Green Lantern one-shot gives three stories as to who she is without saying which one is true or if any of them are. The origin given in the first story "Brightest Light" claims she was an archaeologist and adventurer named Lois Lane who came back from the dead to avenge her own murder after Booster Gold killed her for refusing to aid his scheme of robbing the Sea Devils of their treasure, "Darkest Light" goes with her being the twin sister of an evil sorceress with power over the dead named Darkside who was mistakenly killed by Manhunter and obtained her lantern after her ghost helped Manhunter make up for her blunder by doing away with Darkside for real, and the origin given in the last story "Know Evil" is that she was a necromancer named Zatanna who wished to join an occult organization called the Dark Circle, was challenged to prove her worthiness by taking the lantern and ultimately became the Green Lantern when she agreed to take her predecessor Jason Blood's place as bearer of the lantern. The "History Lesson" back-up story in Superman's Reign later reveals that there are many other speculations on her origins and that the three given in Tales of the Green Lantern are just the three most well-known theories on her backstory.
- Rapid Aging: It is established in Superman's Reign that when Green Lantern is not holding her lantern, she begins to age at an accelerated rate.
- Resurrected for a Job: By placing the lantern atop the grave of the recently deceased, Green Lantern can temporarily resurrect the dead, so that they may carry out any unfinished business before returning to the afterlife.
Batman
Sir William
- Animated Armor: The spirit of Sir William can control the Bat-Man armor from a distance or simply inhabit it.
- Anti-Hero: One notable difference he has from the Batman we know is that he has no problem killing his enemies.
- Black Knight: While his armor is primarily red, he gives that impression.
Superman
Harvey Dent
- Bald of Authority: Unlike both mainstream Superman and Harvey Dent, he's bald and for a time he ruled over the entire planet.
- Big Bad: He is the central antagonist of Tangent: Superman's Reign, the Fully Absorbed Finale to the Tangent continuity where his subjugation of the Tangent universe and efforts in taking over the main DC Universe necessitate the surviving heroes of the Tangent universe and the Justice League joining forces to end his tyranny.
- Decomposite Character: Harvey Dent is traditionally the real name of Batman villain Two-Face, who is mentioned as one of the villains fought by this Superman in his respective one-shot. In this continuity, the villain uses the codename Two-Face because he's a master of disguise rather than being disfigured on one half of his face.
- He Who Fights Monsters: After defeating the Ultra-Humanite in the backstory of Tangent: Superman's Reign, he then decides to take over the world to benefit humanity on his terms and shows no hesitation towards imprisoning or killing everyone who doesn't agree with his methods.
- Oh, Crap!: He has this reaction when he probes John Stewart's mind and sees all of the incredibly powerful superheroes and villains who can match him. This makes him decide he must take over that Earth as well for his own to be safe.
- Psychic Powers: He's got the whole package of psychic powers.
- Purple Is Powerful: His eyes are always glowing purple and he's considered the strongest super-human of his universe.
- Race Lift: Superman is traditionally white, but this version is Black.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He becomes the benevolent dictator of Tangent Earth, outlawing all superheroes and keeping vigilance over the entire planet.
Wonder Woman
Wanda
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: She tends to get lost in thought whenever she's asked questions, rambling on about the ramifications of said question and not stopping until she concludes As such, she's called "Wonder Woman" because she wonders a lot.
- Exposed Extraterrestrials: What little clothing she has consists of armor that doesn't really cover much of her body.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: She's an attractive alien woman who literally has green skin.
- Non-Humans Lack Attributes: Her breasts and pelvic area are plainly exposed, but she is never drawn with visible nipples or pudendum.
- Reality Warper: She has the power to potentially erase anyone from existence if she questions why they exist at all, quite possibly making her the most dangerous being in all of existence.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: She's nowhere to be seen during Superman's Reign, save for a flashback cameo in the "History Lesson" back-up story. Presumably, she was among the heroes who were wiped out when Superman took over the world, as her threat level likely would've made her too dangerous for Superman to let her live.
Power Girl
May
- The Dragon: Becomes Superman's top enforcer and love interest when he takes over the world.
- Hero Killer: She ends up killing the first Manhunter by snapping her neck.
- Other Me Annoys Me: She and Kara Zor-L become enemies as soon as they meet on the main Earth.
- Race Lift: Power Girl is usually white, but this version is Chinese.
Nightwing
Deadman
Marcus Moore
Marcus Moore was the commander of an elite covert ops team, the Metal Men, and current leader of the nefarious American shadow government Nightwing.- Faking the Dead: Moore survived from getting shot and end up becoming the head of Nightwing. The general public (including Schwartz) believed Moore is dead, hence his codename being "Deadman".
- General Ripper: Moore tried to use the Red Tornado warhead to destroy Moscow and quickly end World War III in America's favor rather than using it as a bargaining chip to get the Soviets into brokering peace with the West as originally planned. However, Moore's plan was stopped by Schwartz and ultimately got shot.
- Surrounded by Idiots: He and his colleagues are very tired of Terrence Kelly's very incompetent attempts to capture the Flash.
- We Used to Be Friends: He was best friend with Samuel Schwartz and they quickly turn against each other when Schwartz is strongly opposed to Moore's plans to nuke Moscow with the Red Tornado warhead that would cost millions of lives.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Nightwing was brought down by Superman during Superman's Reign. It can be safely presume that Moore and other named Nightwing agents didn't survive Superman's purge.
Terrence Kelly
- Archnemesis Dad: Subverted. He's the one reoccurring villain in the Flash related issues and constantly trying to kidnap Lia so Nightwing can study her. The trouble is he's inept and Lia's got no idea what he's doing. She's actually known all along and she's always foiling his plans. Terrence doesn't know.
- The Chew Toy: His schemes to capture the Flash always end with him getting physically injured.
- Dodgy Toupee: When sufficiently battered from his failed plans, his hairpiece will either fall off or get destroyed entirely.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Absolutely no one, not even his henchmen, thinks highly of him.
- Expy: Kelly is purposely based on "some of fiction's most infamously weaselly and incompetent characters" such as Dick Dastardly and Inspector Clouseau.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: While it's overshadowed by his current streak of bumbling, he did successfully blow up a Soviet spaceship during his mission to Jupiter to halt their chance at winning the Space Race.
- Smug Snake: He's a cartoony schemer thinking of outlandish and ridiculous ways to capture his daughter, but they always blow up in his face.
Other Villains
Aquaman
Doctor Aquadus
- Making a Splash: Dr. Aquadus' body is composed of living water that allows him to control and manipulate water.
- Take Over the World: He plans on taking over Earth is by destroying the Moon with a planet-gun and thereby severely disrupting the planet's tidal force that would submerge the surface and allowing him to control Earth's oceans.
Riddler
A one-note second-rate costumed criminal armed with Gatling guns.
- Adaptational Dumbass: While the mainstream Riddler is a self-described criminal mastermind, this version is essentially an average armed mook who is not very good in making one-liners.
- Epic Fail: He tries to hold up a party but remain ignorant of the Joker discreetly tying his shoelaces together and causing him to trip down a staircase.
- Gatling Good: His main weapon are a pair of Gatling guns attached to his wrists.
- Punny Name: Instead of meaning in riddles, this Riddler's name means "riddling" people in bullets.
Ultra-Humanite
- The Brute: While capable of speech, he doesn't have other function beyond causing destruction, which is fitting for a living super-weapon.
- Godzilla Threshold: Superman releases him from its prison in order to face the main Earth heroes in Tangent: Superman's Reign.
- Living Weapon: Unlike the mainstream Ultra-Humanite, this one is a Soviet superweapon that was faced by Superman.
Clayface
- Body Horror: In his true form, Clayface has his skin slowly melting off his body with portions of his musculature exposed.
- Human Disguise: He impersonates a geek named Guy Gardner.
- The Mole: He turns out to have been sent by Superman to covertly end any efforts at starting a resistance towards his reign.
- Voluntary Shapeshifter: The one detail he shares with his namesake in the standard DC universe is that he's a shapeshifter.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He appears solely in the "History Lesson" back-up feature of the Superman's Reign series, which chronologically takes place shortly before the comic's main events. The last we hear of him is the installment in the eleventh issue having him given the orders by Superman to hold the fort until Superman returns to the Tangent universe, with nothing said of his final fate in the twelfth and final issue.
Other Characters
Celeste Nelson
- Stage Mom: She's the one who manages Lia's career as both a superhero and a celebrity, and she loves every second of it. Thankfully while Celeste can be overbearing and obnoxious, Lia's not kowtowed by her and has more control over her life than most people do with moms like Celeste.
