Equus (comics)
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Equus is a fictional comic book supervillain, a cyborg mercenary in the DC Comics universe who serves as an opponent of Superman. Created by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Jim Lee, he first appeared in Superman #206 (August 2004), which was published in June 2004.
[edit] Character History
Equus first appeared in the third issue of the year-long For Tomorrow storyline that ran in Superman in 2004 and early 2005. He came into conflict with Superman when the superhero discovered that "The Vanishing", an event in which one million people completely disappeared from the face of the Earth (including his wife, Lois Lane), was traced to an unspecified country in the Middle East. Investigating, Superman intervened in a civil war by using his speed to snatch all the guns from a group of men fighting one another. The fighting continued however, and in his continued quest to put an end to it, Superman confronted Equus, a large, monstrous, cybernetically enhanced humanoid creature whose claws were actually capable of piercing Superman's skin. General Nox, the leader of the rebels, put an end to the fight between the two beings, telling Superman that his side had won the war, and showing him that the people outside the palace where Superman and Equus had fought were now cheering Nox's name.
Although Superman initially stood down, he later appeared before Nox, who had captured an advanced-looking device from the deposed regime, which his lieutenant informed him was, according to the confession of a minister of that regime, the weapon that was responsible for The Vanishing. Although still operational, it had no accuracy, functioning like a shotgun. Superman then appeared, demanding to know of the weapon's origins, and when Nox informed him that the former king had intended to use it against Nox, and that that King was to be executed, along with more than a dozen other members of the king's regime, Superman intervened, feeling that the condemned men deserved a trial, again coming to blows with Equus, who carried out the execution. During the fight, Superman ripped the claws right out of Equus' right arm, and seemingly defeated him. Superman then returned to Nox's palace, confronting him with the question of what he intended to do with the weapon, but Equus also showed up, and ignored Nox's orders to stand down, saying that he was not being paid by him. Nox reminded him that Equus was there to aid him, but Equus brushed Nox aside, and attacked Superman. Superman was less forgiving in this rematch, using his enhanced X-ray and microscopic vision to learn much about Equus' enhancements, and physically disabling much of their exterior components. Equus escaped by manipulating the weapon, causing not only himself to vanish, but another 300,000 other people from across the planet. Superman subsequently learned that Equus was working for a mysterious mustached man named Mr. Orr, who explained to Superman that Orr's employer's financed Nox's war, and loaned Equus to them. Eventually, Superman tracked all the victims of The Vanishing to Metropia, an artificial paradise within the Phantom Zone. It is here that Superman encountered Equus again. By this time, Equus had teamed with General Zod in his campaign to destroy Metropia. It was revealed in a discussion between Orr his employers that Equus was the product of a program to create super-soldiers, and hinted that Equus, whose chestplate bears the Roman numeral "III", could be the third version of the project. Version 3 was said to be highly unstable due to the reptile transplants (see Descripton below) and hormone therapy they received, with Orr referring to Equus as "a psychotic killer".
Equus III later appeared in the Titans/Outsiders Secret Files, stored alongside the Wildebeest captured in the same story.
[edit] Description
Equus is a human being who has undergone extensive genetic engineering and cybernetic enhancements, hormone therapy, and trans-species implantation. He stands approximately eight feet tall, and possesses massive musculature on his upper torso. He has white skin composed of crocodilian skin cells laced with self-healing hinge molecules. His internal cybernetics are built upon a haptic interface, through which the numerous cables attached along various points of his body, and covering his head, are connected. His circulatory system includes webs of titanium-reinforced biometric arteries, and his endocrine system is filled with rivers of synthetic steroids, adrenaline, and endorphins. The artifiical portions of his anatomy include three grades of soft plastic that Superman had never before seen when first encountering Equus. Equus' mechanical components are powered by a system of ogliotronic solar powered fuel cells controlling seven different senses, and his nervous system is powered by enough electricity to power a city block. He is capable of extending five razor-sharp claws from the knuckles of both of his hands, in a manner similar to the character of Wolverine. The claws corresponding to his fingers are approximately a foot long (with those corresponding to his thumbs considerably smaller), and while their composition is unknown, they are capable, given the physical strength Equus is capable of exerting with them, of piercing Superman's skin. Specimens from the project that produced Equus were also said to have the wingbones of a fallen angel within their forearms. The exact extent of Equus' physical strength remains unclear. Equus has a wide face with two small, yellow eyes, a small, snout-like nose, a row of large, shark-like teeth, and no hair. Where his ears would be are two ports into which several cables from his cybernetics connect. He wears two spectacle-like devices on his eyes, possibly a head-up display system.
