Infinite Man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the LSH character; for information on the (unrelated) New Gods character with a similar name, please see Infinity-Man.
Infinite Man | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
The Infinite Man is a fictional character in DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes 30th-century setting. He first appeared in Superboy & the Legion of Superheroes #233.
When Rond Vidar proposed sending a man forward enough through time to test his theory that the fourth dimension has a circular structure, Professor Jaxon Rugarth volunteered for the maiden voyage. Vidar's new time machine, which incorporated two of his previous inventions, the Time Cube and a 'Hyper Time Drive', proved to be far more powerful than Vidar had expected, sending Rugarth through the timelines of so many dimensions so many times that his mind snapped from the strain. A new, powerful self, with knowledge of the future and the past, drawing energy from the ceaseless flow of time was formed, calling itself the Infinite Man. Breaking out of the timestream at the point Rugarth had entered , the Infinite Man attacked Vidar. The Legionnaires tried to protect him, but the Infinite Man plucked creatures from various eras to combat them. However, during the melee, Vidar managed to secretly sabotage the Hyper Time Drive and send the Infinite Man back on his endless circle through time.
Vidar and Brainiac 5 worked for years trying to find a way to cure Rugarth, but they were unsuccessful until a power surge brought on by the Crisis on Infinite Earths freed the Infinite Man once more. With the help of the White Witch, whose spells caused the Infinite Man's energies to be sent back into the timestream, his threat was averted. Rugarth, totally powerless, and largely mindless, was sent to Medicus One for treatment.
When Brainiac 5 needed a power source strong enough to puncture the Time Trapper's Iron Curtain of Time, he and Vidar re-energized Rugarth in the Time Cube, forcing him to metamorphose back into the Infinite Man, who then, with a timely assist from Brainiac's force-field, dragged the Time Trapper into the Timestream, presumably to the Dawn of Time, where they grapple still.
The Infinite Man was the incarnation of Time as an endless cycle. As such, he possessed nearly unlimited power.