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Healing
10 Greatest Illusions In DC Comics
30
Jan
Jan
In DC Comics, illusions have been a valuable way to keep secrets. It’s also used to mislead opponents, protect identities, and protect friends. Many times, it’s an aspect of another power, especially telepathy. It’s even duplicated by machinery, with holograms or another advanced form of science.
One of the most well-known heroes to use illusions is Princess Projectra of the Legion of Super-Heroes. There are more examples than hers of generating false images in the DC Universe. Villains like Mindboggler, Psimon, and Doctor Light have preyed on the innocent with their manipulations. Heroes like Beautiful Dreamer, Looker, and Miss Martian have fought evil with their illusions.
10 The Original Brainwave Made Himself Look More Buff
The first Brainwave appeared as a short, bald, spectacled man in a green robe. His appearance became a sore subject for the telepathic criminal. When he resurfaced in the Bronze Age, he appeared as a muscular villain in a colorful costume.
It seemed a little confusing to the Justice Society in All-Star Comics #59, by Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada, and Wally Wood. When he lost consciousness, his illusion dropped, revealing the new appearance to be an illusion. He continued using this masquerade until his son adopted it as an actual costume to fight crime using the name Brainwave, Jr.
9 Sensor Was A Snake Masking Herself With An Illusion To Appear Human
In the post-Zero Hour Legion of Super-Heroes, Projectra took the name Sensor and joined during open tryouts. She appeared in a very similar outfit to her Silver Age counterpart but revealed her true self during a test of tryout finalists.
The dominant species of the planet of Orando is sentient snakes. Projectra was concerned about discrimination because of her appearance. For the rest of her time in the Legion, she operated in her serpentine form until she transformed into a more humanoid one.
8 Singularity Was Made To Believe His World Still Thrived
In Legion Lost #7-8, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Olivier Coipel, and Tom McCraw pit the lost Legionnaires against the planetary champion of Lorcus-Prime. When the population no longer needed protection, they put him on a deserted world where he thought he was still protecting his world. The Legion disabled the machine creating the illusion.
Ultra Boy was first to notice when his invulnerability revealed the reality of the planet. Singularity, and later the Legionnaires, inhaled Microscopic image generators that projected images directly into the brain. Brainiac 5 deduced the cause of the illusion. With Ultra Boy’s help, he wrecked the machine transmitting the false reality. Devastated, Singularity fled into space.
7 Phobia Cast Illusions Of Raven’s Greatest Fear, Trigon
The new Brotherhood of Evil became regular foes for the New Teen Titans. One of their members, Phobia, could project illusions of a victim’s fears. When the Brotherhood captured Raven, Phobia tormented her with her greatest fear, her father, Trigon.
Raven saw horrible scenes of Trigon conquering Earth and killing her friends, the Teen Titans. Later, the Brotherhood nearly killed the Titans, and Raven lashed out with the power she had from Trigon. While not depicted, Phobia must have regretted using her power on Raven.
6 Shade the Changing Man’s M-Vest Distorted His Appearance
Shade the Changing Man was framed for treason in his native dimension of Meta. He recovered a stolen M-Vest that helped protect him, but it also projected a grotesque illusion around him. Any foes that weren’t frightened would sometimes target parts of the warped image where Shade’s body wasn’t.
Creator Steve Ditko’s unique style created the bizarre effect of the M-Vest. Other artists later conveyed the complex, modifying the illusion to be more based on the viewer’s fears. In current continuity, Shade’s M-Vest works much as it did in the Vertigo series, warping reality instead of casting illusions.
5 Dr. Psycho Uses His Mental Powers To Create Illusions
Wonder Woman’s villain, Doctor Psycho, has vast mental abilities. At first, his powers were magic-based and centered on his illusions. As a telepath, these false images backed up the telepathy and mind control Psycho used for misogynistic motives. This made him a natural opponent for Wonder Woman.
He can utilize his powers on many people and once made several members of the Legion of Super-Heroes believe each other was Doctor Psycho. Recently, his illusion-casting ability has returned to the forefront after creators focused on his other mental powers for years.
4 Sensor Girl Camouflaged The Identity of Projectra
The identity of the new masked member of the Legion of Super-Heroes named Sensor Girl was a mystery that lasted over a year. Eventually, it came out in a battle with a new Fatal Five that Sensor Girl was former Legionnaire Princess Projectra.
Even after revealing her identity to the Legion, Projectra kept the Sensor Girl identity. Her illusions were more effective without her reputation preceding her. She would most recently return to the Sensor Girl identity when assisting Superman in defending New Krypton from Brainiac.
3 Highfather And Lightray Once Hid New Genesis From Galactus
Darkseid V. Galactus: The Hunger was a Marvel/DC crossover by John Byrne and Rick Taylor. Set before the Silver Surfer leads Galactus to Earth, the New Gods of New Genesis see him coming. Consulting the Source, the message comes to hide the world.
Highfather turns to Lightray to create the illusion that New Genesis has vanished. The illusion looks to Apokolips that the entire planet had burned in an instant, right before the Silver Surfer arrived. The ploy succeeds, as the New Gods watch safely as Galactus attacks Apokolips.
2 Saturn Girl Made Everyone Believe Apparition Was With Them
It was depressing when the lost members of the Legion of Super-Heroes realized they were not being rescued. Saturn Girl had created the believable illusion of their teammates coming to their rescue. It was even more heartbreaking when Ultra Boy realized that his wife, Apparition, was also false.
Saturn Girl had made them believe she was with them to keep Ultra Boy grounded and calm. The rest of Legion began to confide in the fake Apparition, which made Saturn Girl realize that no one trusted her in the same way. In the end, they understood why she did it but were all still hurt.
1 Themyscira Is Hidden From The World
Wonder Woman’s home of Themyscira is an island paradise inhabited by the legendary Amazons. It remains hidden by a magical spell that keeps it undetectable from the outside. It also allowed it to move wherever needed, but soon it often settled in the Bermuda Triangle.
The spell also keeps any outsider that leaves Themyscira from remembering where it was located. The Amazons have defended their island more since Wonder Woman went into man’s world, despite Wonder Woman acting as an ambassador. The hiding of the place once called Paradise Island remains a constant in the various retellings of Wonder Woman’s story.
