fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...
gorilla
Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...
supervillain in the . He is the loyal servant of and, in time, the partner to
Gorilla Grodd
Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash. The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in ''The F ...
, and the
Brain
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a ve ...
while serving as an enemy of the
Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appe ...
and the
Teen Titans
The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...
.
Monsieur Mallah appears in the third season of the
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
series ''
Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appe ...
'', voiced by Jonathan Lipow.
Publication history
Monsieur Mallah first appeared in ''Doom Patrol'' #86 (March 1964) and was created by
Arnold Drake
Arnold Drake (March 1, 1924 – March 12, 2007) was an American comic book writer and screenwriter best known for co-creating the DC Comics characters Deadman and the Doom Patrol, and the Marvel Comics characters the Guardians of the Galaxy, amo ...
and
Bruno Premiani
Giordano Bruno Premiani (January 4, 1907 – August 17, 1984) at the
gorilla
Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...
I.Q.
An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term ''Intelligenzq ...
to the genius-level of 178. He names the gorilla Monsieur Mallah and educates him for almost a decade before making him his personal assistant.
:The Brain, explaining Mallah's origin in ''
Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appe ...
'' #86
The scientist's colleague, Niles Caulder grows jealous of his work and arranges for the scientist to get caught in an explosion, which destroys the scientist's body. Only the brain survives, and Caulder plans on putting his brain in a robot body. Mallah rescues the scientist, taking his brain and transferring it to a computer network that keeps it functioning. Now known simply as the Brain, the scientist and Mallah gather together the criminal organization known as the
Brotherhood of Evil
The Brotherhood of Evil is a group of DC Comics supervillains, archenemies of the original Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans and enemies of the Justice League.
The Brotherhood of Evil appears in the third season of the HBO Max series ''Doom Patrol ...
in hopes of conquering the world and getting revenge on Caulder. They gained members like Madame Rouge,
General Immortus
General Immortus is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He has also been called "The Forever Soldier" or "The Forever General".
Publication history
He first appeared in '' My Greatest Adventure'' #80, the first ...
, and Garguax.
Caulder, now known as the Chief, through a series of other accidents that he manipulated, forms the superhero group known as the
Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appe ...
. Setting out to destroy the Chief's 'pets', the Brain, Mallah, and their Brotherhood become enemies with the Patrol. Their criminal activities also put them into opposition with the
Teen Titans
The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...
.
Doom Patrol
During
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for th ...
's ''Doom Patrol'' run, Mallah has the Brain placed in one of Robotman's bodies. In his new body, the Brain confesses to Mallah that he's in love with him. Mallah reveals that he feels the same way, and the two kiss. However, Robotman's body had developed sentience and vowed never to be enslaved by a brain again; when Mallah placed his lover in the body, he triggered a self-destruct mechanism, which explodes as they kiss.
The two later resurface (the Brain back to floating in a jar), with no explanation of how they survived the explosion. The Brotherhood begins raiding genetic research facilities to unlock the secrets of cloning and create a new body for the Brain, so he and Monsieur Mallah can resume their romance. After a short while the Brain's new clone body begins to break down, so he has Mallah rip off his head and put his brain back into another jar.
In the ''
Salvation Run
''Salvation Run'' is a seven-issue 2007-2008 DC Comics limited series which was designed to tie into the company's major event series ''Final Crisis'' in 2008.
Premise
The premise of the series, which is based on a pitch by George R. R. Martin, ...
'' storyline, the Brain and Monsieur Mallah appear amongst the villains that were sent to the planet Cygnus 4019. The Brain and Mallah arrive at Joker's camp, and Mallah asks
Gorilla Grodd
Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash. The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in ''The F ...
to speak with him away from the others. Mallah proposes to Grodd that as fellow gorillas, the natural kings of the jungle, they should team up and, through their combined might, rule the entire place by themselves. Grodd laughs at Mallah for considering himself, an "absurd science experiment", comparable to "a proud child of Gorilla City". Mallah strikes Grodd and calls him a beast, causing Grodd to fly into a rage and try to kill him. Although Mallah also has a gun and shoots Grodd several times, Grodd still has the upper hand, and is about to kill Mallah when the Brain interjects, pleading for Mallah's life. Thinking better of it, Grodd picks the Brain up and beats Mallah to death with the Brain, smashing the Brain's protective hull in the process and killing him as well. Before breathing his last breath, Monsieur Mallah says he dies happy taking solace in that he and the Brain will finally be able to be together forever.
DC reboot
In September 2011,
The New 52
The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...
rebooted DC's continuity. In this continuity, Mallah was a gorilla who was experimented on by a New England scientist named Ernst to increase his intellect. He treated Mallah like a friend and an assistant. When an explosion occurred in his lab, Ernst was badly burned and Mallah saved his life by preserving his brain. After becoming distrustful of humans, Brain took Mallah into attacking humans that they blamed for their plight. Then they raided LexCorp where they received a cyber optic nerve so that Brain can see. During a standoff with the Special Crimes Unit,
Maggie Sawyer
Margaret Ellen Sawyer is a fictional character that appears in stories published by DC Comics, and has been a supporting character in both Superman and Batman comic books.
The character appeared in the live-action series ''Smallville'', played b ...
tried to talk them down and agreed to help them if they surrendered.
In an altered future, Brain and Monsieur Mallah appear assisting Gorilla Grodd in taking over the remains of Central City at the time when The Black had taken over most of the world. They end up capturing Animal Man and the heroes that are with him. Animal Man's group is saved by
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...
and his Patchwork Army who defeat most of the gorillas as a few of them are allowed to escape in order to tell the tale of their defeat.
DC Rebirth
In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "
DC Rebirth
DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 initiative in May 2016 as its launching point, DC Rebirth restored the DC ...
", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". The Brotherhood of Evil worked together on a narcotic element which is then distributed to the addict population of New York City. The designer drug, Bliss; in actuality was designed to put people in a fugue state so Brain could use their dormant mental capacity as a type of cloud space to expand his own intellect into godlike territories.
In record time, Brain and Monsieur Mallah spearheaded their opiate both from a purer sample that they created. And through faulty counterfeits fabricated by the rival underlife, both having purposely leaked the original formula on the black market, then enlisted the mercenary Cheshire to steal back their original concoction while furthering the goal of expanding Brain's intelligence.
As his acumen began to reach hyper-genius levels of intellectual capacity. The Brain began to physically transcend his mortal coil at varying percentages over time, 10-15% enabling him to solve unsolvable mathematic formulas while masking his and Monsieur Mallah's operation, 23% giving him power over climate change and weather patterns, 47% enabling natural disaster & cosmological force phenomena manipulation and so on and so forth. As his mental abilities increased more and more with time he situated ecological catastrophes as bait to lure his enemies in the Justice League towards various traps while he worked towards achieving transcendent consciousness.
His ascent to godhood also came with the side effect of nullifying his empathy; becoming personally distant from the humanistic coil such as relations and his dearest confidante. To that end, Mallah betrayed Brain to the Titans before he could reshape reality to his own ends, ending the threat he posed for good.''Titans'' (vol. 2) Annual #2. DC Comics.
Year of the Villain
During the "
Year of the Villain
''Year of the Villain'' is a crossover comic book event published by DC Comics. Since May 2019, the event narrates the aftermath of '' Dark Nights: Metal'' and the prelude to '' Batman/Superman vs. The Secret Six'' and '' Dark Nights: Death Metal ...
", Joker imprisoned Brain and Monsieur Mallah in an old fair ground at the time when The Batman Who Laughs was infecting people. Joker tortured them and left their care in
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 ...
's hands in exchange for the knowledge to defeat The Batman Who Laughs..
Powers and abilities
Monsieur Mallah has inhuman strength, durability, speed, agility, reflexes, and intelligence, as well as a keen sense of smell. He usually carries a machine gun or any other firearms with him.
Other versions
Smallville
In
Smallville season 11
''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar/Gough ...
, Monsieur Mallah appears (with the Brain on his back) and robs the
Musée du Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
Impulse
Impulse or Impulsive may refer to:
Science
* Impulse (physics), in mechanics, the change of momentum of an object; the integral of a force with respect to time
* Impulse noise (disambiguation)
* Specific impulse, the change in momentum per uni ...
. Just like the mainstream comics, Brain and Mallah are revealed to be lovers.''Smallville Season 11'' #9. DC Comics.
In other media
Television
* Monsieur Mallah appears in ''
Teen Titans
The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...
'', voiced by
Glenn Shadix
William Glenn Shadix (April 15, 1952 – September 7, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his role as Otho in Tim Burton's horror comedy film ''Beetlejuice'' and as the voice of the Mayor of Halloween Town in ''The Nightmare ...
.https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/characters/Teen-Titans/Monsieur-Mallah/ This version is irritable, overconfident, is stated to have strength that "is only matched by his intelligence" and understands when to abandon a losing battle, but typically prefers direct assaults via his brute strength over tactical prowess. He assists the
Brotherhood of Evil
The Brotherhood of Evil is a group of DC Comics supervillains, archenemies of the original Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans and enemies of the Justice League.
The Brotherhood of Evil appears in the third season of the HBO Max series ''Doom Patrol ...
in their plot to eliminate young heroes around the world, only to be defeated and flash-frozen by the
Teen Titans
The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...
Gorilla Grodd
Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash. The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in ''The F ...
and
Gorilla Boss
G'nort
Galactic Golem
The Galactic Golem is a creature created by Lex Luthor in the DC Universe. Within the context of the stories, the Golem is a solar-powered enemy of Superman. Creator Len Wein said that he created the Golem "because I need ...
in forming G.A.S.P. (Gorillas and Apes Seizing Power) and replacing
Gotham City
Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...
's citizens with apes, only to be thwarted by Batman,
Detective Chimp
Detective Chimp is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A common chimpanzee who wears a deerstalker hat (à la Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes), Detective Chimp has superhuman-leve ...
Vixen
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
. In the episode "The Last Patrol!", Mallah and Brain join forces with General Zahl and other enemies of the
Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appe ...
to seek revenge on them, only to be defeated by Batman once more.
* Monsieur Mallah appears in ''
Young Justice
Young Justice is a fictional DC Comics superhero team consisting of teenaged heroes.
The team was formed in 1998 when DC's usual teen hero group, the Teen Titans, had become adults and changed their name to the Titans. Like the original ''Teen ...
'', voiced by
Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', '' Codename: Kids Next Door'', ...
. This version is a member of the
Light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...
in the first two seasons, during which he is eventually captured by the
Team
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...
, and the
Suicide Squad
The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...
in the third season.
* Monsieur Mallah appears in the "Doom Patrol" segment of ''
DC Nation Shorts
''DC Nation Shorts'' are animated shorts featuring characters from DC Comics that aired in a series on Cartoon Network on Saturdays at 10/9c.
Production
On March 3, 2012, the shorts premiered as part of the ''DC Nation'' block, produced by Warn ...
'', voiced by David Kaye.
* Monsieur Mallah makes non-speaking appearances in ''
Teen Titans Go!
''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013 and is based on the DC Comics fictional superhero team. The series was announce ...
''.
* Monsieur Mallah appears in ''
Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appe ...
'', voiced by Jonathan Lipow. This version is a member of the Brotherhood of Evil. After helping the
Brain
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a ve ...
DC Universe Online
''DC Universe Online'' (''DCUO'') is a free-to-play action combat massively multiplayer online game set in the fictional universe of DC Comics. Developed by Dimensional Ink Games and co-published by Daybreak Game Company and WB Games, the game w ...
'', voiced by Leif Anders.
* Monsieur Mallah appears as a playable character in ''
Lego DC Super-Villains
''Lego DC Super-Villains'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure platform video game developed by Traveller's Tales. The fourth installment in the '' Lego Batman'' series of games, it is a spin-off that focuses entirely on villains of the DC Univers ...
'', voiced by
Peter Jessop
Peter Jessop is an American actor who is known for his video game voice acting. He is known for the voice of Sovereign in Mass Effect, the voice of Miraak, the primary antagonist of '' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dragonborn'' DLC, and the voi ...
.
See also
*
List of fictional primates
This list of fictional primates is a subsidiary to the list of fictional animals. The list is restricted to notable non-human primate characters from the world of fiction including chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, gibbons, monkeys, lemu ...