Riot is the name of two different characters appearing in
American comic books published by
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
.
Publication history
The Frederick von Frankenstein version of Riot first appeared in ''Superman: The Man of Steel'' #61 and was created by
Louise Simonson
Louise Simonson (née Mary Louise Alexander; born September 26, 1946) is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as ''Conan the Barbarian'', '' Power Pack'', ''X-Factor'', ''New Mutants'', ...
.
Fictional character biographies
New Titans Riot
The first Riot appeared in ''The New Titans'' #98.
Frederick Von Frankenstein
Frederick Von Frankenstein is the last of a long line of
scientist
A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences.
In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...
s in his family. His father put tremendous pressure on him to succeed in school and in the lab. The sheer volume of work proved too much for one man, so Freddy used his Uncle Hal's Phase Shifter to create duplicate copies of himself, trying to be the best at everything. During this time, he developed a means to allow himself to stick to virtually any surface, but the duplication process activated a metagene that had surfaced in him. He discovered that he can create clones of himself without a cloning machine. His face then resembled a skeleton. Having all the duplicates deprived him of sleep causing him to have insomnia. He was soon driven insane by it and turned to a life of crime under the alias of Riot.
[''Superman: The Man of Tomorrow'' #14. DC Comics.]
When Riot was committing a series of thefts from bio-tech facilities, he had his first encounter with
Superman. Superman discovered that when he attacks Riot, Riot clones himself. Superman corralled all the Riot clones, but the real Riot got away.
Riot later resurfaces and steals photon fuel samples from
S.T.A.R. Labs
Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories (S.T.A.R. Labs) is a fictional scientific research facility and organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It first appeared in ''Superman'' #246 (December 1 ...
. He manages to evade Superman, but is caught by
Morgan Edge
Morgan Edge is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Originally a supporting character, he is a media mogul who acquires '' The Daily Planet'' and employs Clark Kent as a television journalist for his WGBS ...
as Riot hadn't cloned himself that time. Morgan had
Anomaly beat up Riot until the cage was full. Riot was able to accept Morgan Edge's offer to join the
Superman Revenge Squad
The Superman Revenge Squad is the name of two fictional organizations in the DC Comics universe. As their name suggests, it is a group of Superman villains who banded together to defeat the Man of Steel.
Pre-''Crisis on Infinite Earths''
In Pre- ...
alongside
Maxima, Misa,
Barrage, and Anomaly.
Despite the team's bickering, they managed to beat Superman to a stand-still.
The Superman Revenge Squad quickly fell apart when all the members realized that Morgan Edge could not fulfill all the promises he made to them. Riot used the chaos to send his duplicates back to the Squad's lair. Morgan had further ensured his loyalty by keeping one copy behind, shackled with a device that prevented the others from integrating him. Riot freed his copy and slipped away, while Superman defeated the others.
Riot then plotted to steal a phase/time integrator that will enable him to stay together and get to sleep. When Superman came across him, he caused chaos and created a legion which crashed the tower that
Lex Luthor
Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Lex Luthor originally appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (cover dated: April ...
was holding a party in. Riot's uncle Hal was present and told Lois about Riot's backstory. Superman stopped the S.C.U. from disturbing Riot until after he had reintegrated and fallen asleep. Once asleep, he was taken into custody.
Riot was among the supervillains recruited/brainwashed by
Manchester Black
Manchester Black is a fictional character in American comic books published by DC Comics, in particular those featuring Superman. He was created by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke in ''Action Comics'' #775 (March 2001). Introduced as an antihero, the c ...
to take part in the "Ending Battle". Superman managed to defeat him easily.
Riot appears alongside
Roxy Rocket and
Doctor Phosphorus
Doctor Phosphorus (Dr. Alexander James Sartorius) is a fictional supervillain who has appeared in various comic book series published by DC Comics. Primarily an enemy of Batman, the villain exists in DC's main shared universe, known as the DC Uni ...
as part of an event arranged by
Roulette to see which of them could defeat
Batman. Batman,
Robin, and
Batgirl manage to defeat all of the villains, rendering the bet void.
[''Batgirl'' (vol. 3) #6. DC Comics.]
Powers and abilities
Frederick had the ability to clone himself at will or when attacked. He can also reintegrate the clones into him at any time. Riot II can also stick to walls. One of Riot's most significant advantages in a fight is that the force of a blow delivered to one duplicate is dispersed across all of his currently-active duplicates; as a result, while Superman could theoretically knock Riot out if he struck the original Riot with a powerful enough punch at the start of the fight, with a dozen or more duplicates active at once, Superman's blows will fail to cause sufficient damage to render any of the Riot clones unconscious. However, his ability to duplicate when attacked has also been used against him, such as by confining him in a cage and then hitting him so many times that there are far too many clones in the cage for him to be comfortable.
In other media
* The second incarnation of Riot makes a cameo appearance in ''
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies''.
* The second incarnation of Riot appears in ''
Superman Returns
''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the sixth and fina ...
'', voiced by
Peter Lurie
Peter Lurie is an American voice actor, sports anchor and television personality who has worked in television shows, movies, and dubbed anime, since the mid-1990s. He is most well known for his role as the voice of Vulcan Raven in the ''Metal ...
.
References
External links
Riot IIat DC Wiki
Riot IIat Comic Vine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riot (Dc Comics)
DC Comics scientists
DC Comics metahumans
DC Comics supervillains
Fictional characters who can duplicate themselves
Comics characters introduced in 1996
Fictional mad scientists
Fictional physicians
Characters created by Louise Simonson