Line #15 ComicBook/Metamorpho


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Metamorpho_8116.jpg]]
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3	Metamorpho the Element Man is a Creator/DCComics superhero. Metamorpho was created by writer Bob Haney (''ComicBook/MetalMen'', ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'') and artist Ramona Fradon, and debuted in ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold'' #57 in 1965 before getting his own ongoing series.
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5	Rex Mason, AdventurerArchaeologist, became Metamorpho after being exposed to the Orb of Ra, an artifact made from a radioactive meteorite. He has the ability to shift his shape and to transform parts of his body into any element found in the human body. It came with several downsides, the most obvious of which is that in human form he is bald, lumpy, and his skin is divided into areas colored white, orange, brown, and purple. (Yes, he's one of those superheroes who regards their condition as more of a curse than a blessing.)
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7	His supporting cast includes Simon Stagg, the amoral business tycoon who hired him to find the Orb; Sapphire Stagg, Stagg's daughter and Rex's love interest; and Java, Stagg's unfrozen-Neanderthal manservant. For a while he had a DistaffCounterpart, Element Girl, who is now mostly known for a memorable guest appearance in ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' issue "[[Recap/TheSandman1989DreamCountryArc Facade]]".
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9	''Metamorpho'' was clearly inspired by what was happening down the street at Creator/MarvelComics, with Haney giving the book an oddball hipness and his own version of teenage lingo, as well as engaging Creator/StanLee's famous trash-talking on his own terms. He gave the comic its Marvel-baiting tagline, and even parodied the Galactus Trilogy with the story of '''The Thunderer!''', who was heralded by '''Neutrog the Forerunner!'''.
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11	Metamorpho was one of the few characters to turn down an invitation to join the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, and later became a founder member of ComicBook/{{The Outsiders\|DCComics}}, Batman's superhero team for superheroes who didn't belong in teams. Some time after that he became a member of [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational Justice League Europe]].
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13	In ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint\|DCComics}}'' and the ''ComicBook/{{New 52}}'', Metamorpho doesn't exist, but has a DistaffCounterpart named Element Woman. Real name Emily Sung, she's a bubbly CloudCuckoolander, but an [[BunnyEarsLawyer effective crimefighter]]. She helped the ComicBook/{{Justice League\|OfAmerica}} during the ''ComicBook/ThroneOfAtlantis'' story arc and was recruited into the League in issue 18.
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15	The original male Metamorpho appeared in ''ComicBook/TheTerrifics'', a series in the Creator/DarkMatter2017 line.
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17	In other media, Metamorpho has appeared as a guest character in the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' animated series, with the Outsiders in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', and a recurring character in ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' and ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010''. Simon Stagg appears as an antagonist in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight''.
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19	In 2009, Creator/NeilGaiman wrote a LighterAndFluffier Metamorpho, directly inspired by the tone of the original Haney-penned adventures, for ''ComicBook/WednesdayComics'', with art by Mike Allred.
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21	Creator/AnthonyCarrigan is set to portray him in live-action in 2025's ''Superman Legacy''.
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23	!!Metamorpho's adventures provide examples of:
24	* AdaptationalVillainy: Simon Stagg's lack of scruples get played way up in adaptations, going from "merely" doing everything he can to break up Rex and his daughter to being guilty of horrific war crimes and human experimentation. Fortunately, these adaptations also make him far less likely to pull a KarmaHoudini.
25	* AdventurerArchaeologist: Rex Mason. He was a soldier for hire, contracted to find the artifact called "Orb of Ra", and transformed into Metamorpho by the same artifact in an Egyptian tomb.
26	* AffectionateParody: The main characters as originally conceived are an oblique AlternateCompanyEquivalent of the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', with changes and exaggerations for comic effect.
27	** Rex, the only empowered one of the four, can stretch, clobber, set himself on fire, ''and'' turn invisible by changing into gas, but shares Ben Grimm's angst over being a "freak" despite having a devil-may-care life and a wealthy girlfriend; ironically, it's ''hero work'' that [[TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife makes the selfish, attention-hungry Sapph fall out of love with Rex more than anything]].
28	** Simon, the brilliant scientist, is an exploitative and conniving bastard who uses the threat of destroying Rex (or the promise of curing him) to force his own daughter's boyfriend into servitude.
29	** Sapphire, the beautiful blonde, was much more fickle and overemotional than Sue's "Invisible Girl" 1960's characterization, to the point where it begs the question just what Rex saw in her in the first place.
30	** Java, the musclebound giant, is not only less competent than an average bodyguard with his size and strength would be, but usually completely useless against whatever threat they're facing, ''and'' has a serious attitude problem in the form of his own unrequited crush on Sapphire.
31	** Neutrog the Forerunner and the Thunderer are more explicit satires of the Silver Surfer and Galactus, with the twist being that the intergalactic destroyer is a mutant dwarf barely over a foot tall.
32	* AllCavemenWereNeanderthals: Java is a defrosted Neanderthal.
33	* BlessedWithSuck: Metamorpho's powers come bundled with a freakish appearance (although actually it doesn't seem to have put Sapphire off as much as you might think).
34	* ChickMagnet: Hilariously enough despite his lack of internal organs, inhuman appearance, and BarbieDollAnatomy, Rex has quite a way with women, having won the affections of beauties like Sapphire, Crimson Fox, and similarly empowered Element Girl.
35	* ClonesArePeopleToo: Metamorpho's clone Shift tries to live his own life as a member of the Outsiders, with the original Metamorpho's blessing. But when his android girlfriend gets corrupted by pre-existing evil programming, betrays the team, and dies, Shift says he can't bear to live any more and begs Metamorpho to reabsorb him, which he reluctantly does.
36	%%* ComboPlatterPowers
37	* ContemporaryCaveman: Java, Stagg's unfrozen-Neanderthal manservant.
38	* CurbStompBattle: Once clobbered [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Guy Gardner]] by turning himself into gold [[note]]A Green Lantern's ring can't affect anything yellow[[/note]]. Rex later thinks to himself how much of a risk that was since gold is a very soft metal and Guy could've beaten him easily if Guy would've just stopped to think for a moment.
39	* DeadpanSnarker: Metamorpho is one of DC's better known quip-a-minute heroes.
40	* DeathIsCheap: Metamorpho has died and come back at least twice. On one occasion, Superman was the only person who bothered to attend his funeral, because everyone else just figured he'd be back sooner or later.
41	* DependingOnTheWriter:
42	** Whether a metamorphae is able to access (for simplicity's sake) all the elements of the periodical table, or only those found within the human body.[[note]]Which, considering possible elemental compounds, is still quite an array of powers.[[/note]]
43	** The origin of Metamorpho's powers. Were they mystical, as implied by being bestowed by the Orb of Ra and pretty firmly stated during Element Girl's death? Were they MagicFromTechnology, as the default was throughout the 70s and 90s? Were they genetic, as stated outright during ''[[ComicBook/InvasionDCComics Invasion!]]''? ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'' states he was a deliberate government metahuman experiment.
44	* ElementalShapeshifter: Metamorpho can transform into every chemical element in existence. Initially, he was limited to transforming into elements found within the human body, but this limit no longer applies.
45	* FashionableAsymmetry: Metamorpho's default form.
46	* GreenEyedMonster:
47	** Java -- [[HopelessSuitor ever the heartsick, scheming fool]] -- absolutely despises Rex for "stealing away" Sapphire, the girl of his affection, to the point where he believes Metamorpho to be [[SmallNameBigEgo a lesser romantic rival to himself]] and visibly cringes every time the two lovers kiss, thinking Sapph's trying to make him jealous. [[spoiler:Even when he managed to marry Sapphire during a time when Rex was believed to be dead and became a friendly father figure to Sapphire and Rex's mutant son, Joey, Java still couldn't catch a break and died when he tried to kill a returned Rex for abducting Joey from Stagg Mansion.]]
48	** Element Girl and Metamorpho were an on-again, off-again coupling with smacks of PairingTheSpares due to being the only two living creatures of their nature. Rex finally choosing Sapphire pretty much triggered Element Girl's DespairEventHorizon.
49	* HappilyMarried: [[spoiler:After finally getting fed up with Rex's constant indecision over proposing (his main concern was finding a cure, for her sake, before he popped the question), Sapph chewed him out for his self-pity and asked him herself. He immediately and joyfully said "yes", and the couple have since persevered through thick and thin.]]
50	* ICannotSelfTerminate: Element Girl tried numerous times to commit suicide and found it impossible. She required divine intervention to finally die. Since Metamorpho has the same powers, he would presumably also have the same problem offing himself
51	* LikeADuckTakesToWater: Java, DependingOnTheWriter; in some depictions, he's adapted quite well to the present and adopted an articulate vocabulary.
52	* MagicMeteor: The source of Metamorpho's powers.
53	* MonsterFromBeyondTheVeil: After one of Metamorpho's deaths, his son wishes to have him back (without specifying "alive"), and this is the result.
54	* MonsterModesty: As mentioned below, he wears nothing but underwear.
55	* MurderTheHypotenuse: He rarely attempts to directly kill Rex, but Java has proven himself a remorseless opportunist several times, slinking away quietly when Metamorpho is in trouble rather than helping him out; only when Sapph's in trouble can he manage to [[EnemyMine (briefly) put aside his rivalry]] for her sake.
56	* NighInvulnerable: The nature of Rex's body provides him with natural body armor, and his lack of vital organs makes him difficult to harm. Forming himself into a capsule around other JLE members, going through re-entry from Earth orbit and crash-landing only knocks him unconscious, for example. Element Girl mentions that she cannot drown or asphyxiate, that her body just metabolizes toxins and poisons without her suffering harm from them, and that she's fairly sure that being at ground zero of a thermonuclear explosion would only make her radioactive, so presumably Metamorpho is similarly durable. Death of the Endless mentions one of the previous metamorphae who died in a volcano, however, so this nigh-invulnerability does have limits (though they may vary by individual or with age).
57	* OopsIForgotIWasMarried: He had amnesia, and had forgot everything about his former life, even his name. And then, a precious girl shows up, saying that they were married. And also an over sized gorilla who is currently married with her, and wants to kill Metamorpho for being in the same room than her.
58	* RunningGag: In ''Justice League International'', he loves watching Film/TheThreeStooges as much as John loves Oreos.
59	* TookALevelInBadass: Originally a SpoiledBrat whose self-centered, flighty, [[TheLoad generally useless]] nature was played for laughs, Sapphire Stagg gradually got tougher and more resilient under later writers.
60	* TransformationHorror: It's often described that his appearance being so unnerving is a major factor in how much he's BlessedWithSuck. Later writers add that he's also in constant pain, because he's essentially been transformed into a mass of base elements that shouldn't be alive or capable of feeling but [[AndIMustScream does regardless]]. His initial appearance was an extremely deformed mass, mastering his shapeshifting and self-transmutation allowing him to affect as conventional a human appearance and sensation as he can manage, but he still feels pain from essentially being ''wrong'' on a physiological level.
61	* UnderwearOfPower: In his default human appearance, Metamorpho is naked except for his underwear of power -- which therefore are presumably ''part of his body''. Element Woman also has a bandeau bikini top, with just as much explanation.
62	* VoluntaryShapeshifting: One of Metamorpho's powers. He can shape parts and portions of his body instead of the whole. He can form such complex shapes as a tank and a bicycle and such simple forms as a cloud or a spring.

Context ComicBook / Metamorpho