Viza'Aziv (Earth-48)

The Monitors created several such beings, all of whom held the title and responsibilities of a Forerunner. They were heavily involved in mysterious events such as the Thousand Wars and the Planetary Treaty of the Nine Houses, during which time Forerunner suffered great pain and hardship. It was the Monitors who protected them from the Nine Houses and from that moment onward, each of them entered into a lifelong pact with the Monitors.

As years passed, the Forerunner society grew strong, until one day, they returned to the surface in open defiance of the Planetary Council. They waged war against their progenitors across the ruins of War World. At the close of the war, only nine members of the Nine Houses survived, and only one-hundred Forerunners were left standing. The Nine submitted to a peace accord with the Forerunners, officiated by the Monitors. Some forerunners believed that the Monitors may have even known that these hybrid warriors would one day defeat the Nine Houses.

Years later, the Thought-Mother informed a young Forerunner named Viza'Aziv that a Mercurian invasion fleet was coming to War World. Mercurians in particular despised the Forerunners and often sent their elite warriors on hunting parties to capture them. It was their intent to mate with Forerunner females in order to breed the ultimate warrior. Viza'Aziv, one of the more highly decorated Forerunners, viciously fought the Mercurians, easily defeating them. It marked her 400th successful kill against Mercurian aggressors. Moments after the battle, a Monitor descended down from the sky and introduced himself to Viza. He told her of a pact he once made with the Forerunners, which stipulated that in exchange for freeing them from the persecution of the Nine Houses, a chosen one would one day serve as the Monitor's instrument of righteous death.

Countdown

Forerunner 1 — Forerunner confronting Jason Todd.

Shortly after the recreation of the Multiverse, a rebellious Monitor sent his Forerunner to the dimensional reality of New Earth to sanction two alleged "reality-jumpers", Jason Todd and Donna Troy. Forerunner ambushed both of them at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Although she quickly took down Jason Todd, Donna Troy proved to be a match for her. In the midst of battle however, a Monitor appeared and prevented her from finishing the two heroes off. He then teleported Troy and Todd to safety. Having failed to kill her intended targets, Forerunner felt she had brought dishonor to her people, and deserved to be exiled. She tore away the braid of hair that represented her physical link to the Monitors and was completely cut off from them.^[1]

Another being known as Monarch witnessed Forerunner's trials and took her under his wing, offering the chance for redemption.^[2] He told her that the Monitors saw her as a threat to them, and that is why she was abandoned. Monarch brought Forerunner to the Bleed and asked her to train his followers in the Forerunner style of fighting. He gave her the rank of General in his personal army. Since then, she has followed the Monarch from world to world recruiting combatants for Monarch's Arena.

Countdown to Adventure

League of Shamans 001 — Forerunner in battle.

While Viza Aziz was working off-planet, the villain known as Dark Angel and a legion of Shadow Demons invaded the Earth-48 dimension laying waste to War World. Monarch learned of this and told Viza, who swore to kill Dark Angel and avenge her people.^[3] On Earth-33, in an attempt to the Conjurers, Forerunner was captured by the said team, who were forewarn by Dark Angel, who disguised herself as Oracle. Forerunner escaped from her captivity and strike Dark Angel. However, Dark Angel escapes; when Monarch arrives Viza rebukes his attempts to gather new recruits. When they return to the Bleed, Monarch attacks Forerunner for questioning his authority. She attacks him, but realizes that damaging Monarch's suit would unleash a catastrophic explosion, and she relents.

Monarch informs Forerunner that the Arena tournament was about to begin, and that he doesn't need her services any longer. He teleports her to an unknown region of space.^[4] Forerunner is rescued by a passing freight ship, which is attacked by pirates. Forerunner boards the pirate ship, kills the captain, and evicts all non-necessary crew members. The ship was then attacked by a Thanagarian fleet.^[5] The flag ship, seeking the ship's original captain, demands her surrender. In response, Forerunner challenged their leader, Golden Eagle, to single combat. Viza invokes the law of choice, a custom on her home world, empowering the victor to take any prize they desire. After defeating Eagle and his troops, Viza takes him as her prize; he's an initially unwilling sex slave. The ship reaches the Source Wall, which has a gaping hole at its center.^[6]

Countdown to Final Crisis

The crew encounter an Earth space shuttle with a young boy in cryogenic stasis, whom they bring aboard. Forerunner commands the crew to pass through the wall, where they see Monarch's forces battling the Monitors. Forerunner locates the Monitors' base, which she attacks the Monitor named Solomon; Superman-Prime arrives and brutally bests her.^[7] After Prime was tricked into fighting Monarch, Forerunner attacks Solomon, but again to no avail. Before Solomon can finish her, Darkseid appears, and convinces Solomon to join him on Apokolips.^[8]

After returning to the ship, Forerunner was told that passing through the Source Wall depleted the ships energy reserves, and that they only have forty-eight hours of power and oxygen left.^[9] The ship ends up trapped in no-space, and the crew were contacted by a sentient planet, who offers them the fuel they need in return for escorting a young planet across the sector. During the trip, they are attacked, and, at the young planet's request, Forerunner places a drop of her blood onto its land, allowing it to create antibodies from her DNA. When their task is completed, it is revealed that the young planet will soon make a new Forerunner race from Viza's blood. Viza decides to stay with the planet, and become the new race's Thought-Mother.^[10]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Superhuman Speed: Forerunner can move at speeds well in excess to that of a normal human being and appear as a blur to the naked eye. Her rate of acceleration and maximum velocity has yet to be determined but was able to quickly overpower both Donna Troy and Red Hood without giving them time to react.^[11]
- Superhuman Agility
- Superhuman Reflexes
Superhuman Strength: Forerunner's biologically enhanced strength is sufficient enough to cause physical harm to durable characters such as Donna Troy.^[11] The upper limits of Forerunner's strength level are unknown but probably at the same level as Donna Troy.
Telepathy: Like many of her tribe, Viza possesses mild telepathic abilities. These talents are primarily used to communicate with the Forerunner Thought-Mother and are derived from the mixed Martian blood in her genetic line.
Invisibility: Forerunner does not possess invisibility in the truest sense, but she is able to warp light around her body allowing her to blend in with her immediate surroundings. This too is inherited from the Martian genetic characteristics in her bloodline.
Superhuman Durability: She is resistant to many forms of physical injury. When Donna Troy punched Forerunner it damaged her much more than Forerunner, causing her to bleed while Forerunner showed no sign of injury. She also survived an energy attack by Monitor Bob, although it appeared to cause her great pain.^[1]

Abilities

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Forerunner is a master hand-to-hand combatant, proficient in a style of fighting unique to the Forerunner race known as JI-Boon. ^[1]^[12]^[13]
Throwing^[1]

Weaknesses

Power Limitation: The Monitors installed a breeding fail-safe into Forerunner's DNA preventing her from attacking a Monitor from any reality.^[1]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Claws: Viza'aziv wears gloves with clawed fingertips. Her actual hands don't have claws. But she wears the gloves almost all the time.^[1]

Weapons

Throwing Darts: Forerunner employs a supply of small throwing darts for offensive attack.^[1]

Notes

Forerunner's true name was revealed in the back-up feature from Countdown #39.
In Countdown #43, Forerunner's home dimension is referred to as Earth-34. In Countdown to Adventure #1, it is designated as the forty-eighth parallel earth. DC Nation editorial #89 confirms that Forerunner's home dimension is actually Earth-48.

Viza'Aziv (Earth-48)

Contents

History

Origin