The Fatal Five is a supervillain team of the 30th century in the DC Comics universe. They were created by Jim Shooter and first appeared in Adventure Comics #352 (1967) as enemies of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Fictional team history
The Fatal Five first appeared in The Death of Ferro Lad story arc, as a band of super-criminals whom the Legion recruited to help destroy the Sun-Eater threatening Earth, consisting of the Emerald Empress, Mano, the Persuader, and Validus, and led by Tharok. Though they were offered pardons for their assistance, the five rejected them and banded together, confident that they are powerful enough to try to conquer the worlds they had saved, and subsequently clashed with the Legion many times.
A later incarnation consisted of the Emerald Empress; the Persuader; Flare, a Rimborian with the power of fire; Caress, who had a deadly acidic touch; and Mentalla, a Legion reject who was secretly working against the Five, trying to secure a spot in the Legion.
The first storyline in Legionnaires (1993) had the SW6 Legion face a Fatal Five comprising Tharok, Mano, the Persuader, a new Emerald Empress and a monstrous being called Mordecai.
Zero Hour
Following the Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! Legion reboot, the original Fatal Five was reintroduced in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #78 (1996), again assembled to help fight the Sun-Eater (although it was later revealed that the Sun-Eater did not exist). Notably, in this incarnation, the analogue of the Emerald Empress is simply called the "Empress" and is more a skilled melee combatant than a magic user, since this continuity's Emerald Eye is a sentient being with a will unto itself and a role in other developing storylines.
In the Teen Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes crossover, the Persuader used his "atomic axe" to bring Fatal Five teams from other dimensions, forming the Fatal Five-Hundred before the two teams are able to use the Cosmic Treadmill to return the alternate Fatal Fives to their original universes.
One Year Later
The Fatal Five has not been seen in the "Threeboot" Legion setting, but in The Brave and the Bold, a version of the team was taken to the present day by the Lord of Time, to assist him in gaining a powerful weapon. When his plans were foiled by Batman and the Blue Beetle he abandoned them in the 21st century. After Batman and Tharok were accidentally merged into one being, the group was returned to the future, where they appear to be already in the Legion's prison.
Final Crisis
All five Fatal Five members were among the supervillains in Superman-Prime's Legion of Super-Villains.
DC Rebirth
In DC Rebirth, the Emerald Empress comes to the 21st century to destroy Saturn Girl, only to also fight Supergirl. To combat Supergirl after failing to take her down on her own, she forms the 21st century version of the Fatal Five consisting of Magog, Brainiac 8, and the sorceress Selena. In addition, Selena strengthens the Fatal Five by creating a mindless clone of Solomon Grundy. The Fatal Five then begin their attack on Supergirl. After breaking Indigo, Supergirl thwarts the Emerald Empress' plot where she fades away to the future, causing the people of National City to think that Supergirl killed her.
Members
Emerald Empress
Mano
Mano is a mutant born with the power to disintegrate anything that he touches with his right hand with his "anti-matter touch". A native of the polluted world Angtu, which he destroyed for his people mistreating him, Mano must wear an environment suit because he can not breathe the atmosphere of most other planets. The suit's helmet obscures his face so that it can only be seen as a silhouette.
Considered one of the worst murderers in the galaxy, Mano was recruited by the Legion themselves to help defeat the Sun-Eater, after which he continued his criminal career, mainly as a member of the Fatal Five.
Persuader (Nyeun Chun Ti)
The Persuader came from a heavy-gravity planet; as a result, all of his physical capabilities such as strength and endurance are greatly enhanced. Before becoming a supervillain, he was a gang enforcer who gained his name from his ability to thoroughly intimidate his victims.
The Persuader wields an "atomic axe" on a long shaft, resembling a halberd. This axe could reportedly cut through anything, occasionally including purely metaphoric or intangible things, such as a person's air supply, the force of gravity, or the separation between dimensions, and followed the Persuader's mental commands.
Tharok
Tharok is the leader of the Fatal Five.