Kalibak is the first-born son of Darkseid and Suli.
History
His mother Suli was killed by Desaad, acting under orders from Kalibak's grandmother Queen Heggra. Kalibak became a legendary warrior, and often serves as Darkseid's second-in-command. After Darkseid broke the pact of peace with New Genesis, the rival planet of Kalibak's home Apokolips, he aided his father in the resulting battles.
Kalibak was often pitted against Orion, and after numerous clashes they learned that they were half-brothers. This fueled Kalibak's hatred of Orion to new levels, for Darkseid clearly valued Orion over his first-born.
At one point, Kalibak was desperate enough to confront Orion without Darkseid's consent. Kalibak's scheme fell apart, and he killed his accomplice Desaad, also a servant of Darkseid, to cover his tracks. Darkseid was not pleased when he found out, and he reduced his son to a pile of ash. After enough time had passed Darkseid resurrected Kalibak, hoping the boy had learned a lesson.
Kalibak later spent some time in an Apokolips prison, on Darkseid's orders. Darkseid was on Earth when Orion invaded Apokolips. Justeen, a servant of Desaad, released Kalibak to battle Orion yet again. Kalibak was swiftly subdued, but did not care much as Orion left to battle Darkseid and Kalibak hoped to gain power as a result.[1]
During the universe-wide Genesis incident, Apokoliptian forces, including Kalibak, invaded Earth. However, Kalibak and his small squad of Parademons were defeated by Hard Drive of the Young Heroes.[2]
He was recently killed by Infinity-Man, who had been murdering the residents of Apokolips and New Genesis as an agent of the Source Wall.[3] During the Final Crisis, Kalibak was reborn in a human body along with the rest of the New Gods of Apokolips. Once the Evil Factory resumed its work, Kalibak was given a new tiger-man body, and an army of tiger warriors to serve as his personal force. During the superheroes assault on Bludhaven, Kalibak lead his tiger-men in the defense of Command-D, battling Tawky Tawny of the Marvel Family. He managed to beat Tawny to unconsciousness, but was distracted when Shazam called the lightning down on Mary Marvel, who was possessed by Desaad. The distraction allowed Tawny to regain consciousness and slash Kalibak across the chest, mortally wounding the New God. Kalibak ordered his tiger-soldiers to help him, but they refused, saying only the strong lead.[4]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- New God Physiology: According to Superman, the sons of Darkseid are power incarnate.[5]
- Invulnerability: Kalibak's physical resistance is incredible, with Superman commenting that a fight against him could last up to an hour before being able to beat the New God.[3]
- Superhuman Speed
- Superhuman Strength: Kalibak possesses incredible physical might that allows him to hurt the likes of Superman, with the Man of Steel being amazed by Kalibak's strength.[3]
- Psi-Beams
Abilities
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Kalibak is a powerful brawler and hand-to-hand combatant, trained from birth in the warrior traditions of Apokolips.
Paraphernalia
Weapons
- Beta Club: A weapon that fires force bolts or nerve beams that causes living beings agonizing pain. It is nearly invulnerable, though Orion once damaged it.
Notes
- Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
Trivia
- Kalibak is also known as Kalibak the Cruel and the Scourge of Apokolips.
- Kalibak's name, appearance, and disposition are very similar to Caliban the man-beast from William Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Recommended Reading
- Jack Kirby's Fourth World Recommended Reading:
- Forever People (Volume 1)
- Forever People (Volume 2)
- Mister Miracle (Volume 1)
- Mister Miracle (Volume 2)
- Mister Miracle (Volume 3)
- Mister Miracle (Volume 4)
- Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle (Volume 1)
- New Gods (Volume 1)
- New Gods (Volume 2)
- New Gods (Volume 3)
- New Gods (Volume 4)
- Orion (Volume 1)
- Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen (Volume 1): issues #133-#148
- Jack Kirby's Fourth World (Volume 1)
- Death of the New Gods (Volume 1)
- DC Graphic Novel #4
- Genesis (Volume 1)
Related
- 109 Appearances of Kalibak (New Earth)
- 24 Images featuring Kalibak (New Earth)
- 4 Quotations by or about Kalibak (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Kalibak (New Earth)
Footnotes
Jack Kirby's Fourth World This character or group of characters are related to Jack Kirby's Fourth World, either the original concept and group of titles by Jack Kirby, or any of their subsequent adaptations by other creators. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Fourth World Characters category. |
Superman Villain(s) This character has been primarily an enemy of Superman in any of his various incarnations, or members of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Villains category." |