Parademon

Parademon
Parademons as seen in Salvation Run #6 (April 2008). Art by Sean Chen
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	The New Gods #1 (February/March 1971)
Created by	Jack Kirby Gail Simone Dale Eaglesham
In-story information
Team affiliations	New Gods of Apokolips
Abilities	Enhanced strength and endurance Heightened tolerance for pain Armor-based flight Fire Breath Self-detonation Mechanomorphing Parademon conversion

Parademons are a fictional group of extraterrestrials appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They are monstrous shock troops of Apokolips used by Darkseid to maintain order on the planet.

Parademons made their first live-action appearance in the feature films Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League of the DC Extended Universe.

Publication history

The original Parademons were created by Jack Kirby in The New Gods #1 (1971).

Fictional history

An artificially enhanced pseudo-race devoted to Darkseid, Parademons serve as both labor as well as an elite guard for the planet of Apokolips. Created and trained by DeSaad - often by torturing and reconditioning captured victims - Parademons typically act in insect-like swarms.

Their true strength is in their numbers, which reach into the thousands. When acting together, they can overwhelm even the toughest heroes. They are chosen from the most sociopathic and cruel residents before being given gliders and trained in combat. They are often accompanied by gigantic dogs called Hounds.

In the comic Salvation Run, Parademons are dispatched by Desaad to attack the villains that were dumped onto their training camp. They killed Hyena, Brutale, General Immortus, and Solomon Grundy, the last of whom turned up alive in later comic issues. Most of them were killed when Lex Luthor self-destructed the teleportation device.

In The New 52 (a 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), the Parademons are used to attack Earth, first seen encountering both Green Lantern and Batman in Gotham City. It is revealed in new continuum that the Parademon hordes are either remolded lifeforms or processed corpses that Darkseid and Apokolips have harvested from the various worlds and realities they've conquered.

Repurposing them through the usage of nightmarish Apokoliptian technologies, Red Tornado of Earth 2 noted that K'li's, former fury of Darkseid; that special class of Berserker Parademons are the remodeled remains of the dead or kidnapped citizens from their world.

Powers and abilities

Typical abilities of a Parademon include superhuman strength, endurance, and a high tolerance for pain rooted in their reconditioning by DeSaad. Their armor provides additional protection from most weaponry or energies and also comes complete with wings for self-propelled flight.

As opposed to most Parademons, Mike, the Secret Six Parademon, and Pharzoof could speak and seemed to have more than the rudimentary intelligence most Parademons possess. The latter was shown to enjoy being tortured by his opponents.

Within the Prime-Earth reality, many if not all Parademons boast fire breath, self-detonation, and transformation abilities. Certain Parademons can even convert captured victims into new Parademons via direct technological infection.

In other media

Television

• The Parademons appear in the final season of the Super Friends, The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985–1986) with their vocal effects provided by Frank Welker. When Darkseid became a recurring villain, the Parademons followed (although the use of the word "demon" on television was often protested by parents' groups). Thus, Darkseid's minions were sometimes referred to as "para-drones" on that show.
• Parademons have also been seen in several episodes of Superman: The Animated Series, most notably in the "Apokolips...Now!" two-parter. They were last seen in the final episodes of Justice League Unlimited, following a resurrected Darkseid's attempt to take over Earth once more. They are non-speaking creatures and usually appear as invading armies.
• The Parademons appear in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "The Knights of Tomorrow!" A few of them along with Kalibak pursue Question after he uncovered Darkseid's plans to invade Earth. In "Darkseid's Descending", the Parademons take part in the attack on Earth. Additionally, a Parademon appears in part 2 of the two-part episode "The Siege of Starro", as one of the statues that represent the warriors defeated by the Faceless Hunter.
• The Parademons appear in the DC Super Hero Girls TV Special "DC Super Hero Girls: Super Hero High". One notable Parademon is called Perry (voiced by Fred Tatasciore).
• The Parademons appear in Justice League Action.
• The Parademons appear in Young Justice: Outsiders.
• The Parademons appear in the Harley Quinn episode "Inner (Para) Demons". After the titular character kills Granny Goodness, Darkseid puts her in charge of a Parademon army, which she leads into attacking Gotham City, only to relinquish control of them after realizing she had gone overboard. Despite this, numerous Parademons are left to roam Gotham and, in "Dye Hard", Doctor Psycho used his psionic powers to take control of them in an attempt to take over the city and exact revenge on Harley. All the Parademons in Gotham are ultimately killed by the Justice League in "Lover's Quarrel".

Film

DC Extended Universe

• The Parademons made a small appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, showing up in Bruce Wayne's vision/nightmare of a post-apocalyptic Earth resembling Apokolips; one of them knocks Batman out, allowing Superman's soldiers to capture him and deliver him to their leader. Their inclusion hints at Darkseid's future involvement within the DC Extended Universe.
• The Parademons appear in the 2017 film Justice League with their vocal effects provided by Gary A. Hecker. They appear under the command of Darkseid's uncle Steppenwolf, are shown to be attracted to fear, and can transform their victims into other Parademons. In the final confrontation with Steppenwolf, he is betrayed by his own Parademons when the League's success in separating the Mother Boxes he was using to trigger a transformation of Earth inspires fear within him. They attack Steppenwolf as he disappears into the Boom Tube.

Animation

• The Parademons appear in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. They appear driving a tank trying to destroy Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Big Barda when they arrive on Apokolips to save Supergirl.
• Parademons resembling their New 52 looks, are shown coming out of a Boom tube in a post-credit scene in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.
• The Parademons are heavily used in Justice League: War with their vocal effects provided by Dee Bradley Baker. In the film, they are depicted as aliens from conquered worlds, transformed by nanomachines into an army of monstrous soldiers serving as Darkseid's invasion forces. Desaad even attempts to transform Superman into a "Super-Parademon" or using his Kryptonian DNA to create a "Super" type of Parademons by using these nanomachines, but the process is interrupted by Batman. In order to diminish the invasion, Cyborg connects himself to a Mother Box and uses it to reopen the Boom tubes to send them all back to Apokolips.
• The Parademons appear in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League. They assist Darkseid in his invasion on Bizarro World.
• Parademons also appear in Reign of The Supermen.
• The Parademons have a short appearance in the introductionary scene of Wonder Woman: Bloodlines.
• In Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Darkseid combined the DNA of Parademons and Doomsday to create the "Paradooms".

Video games

• In the video game Superman: The Game, the player fights Parademons as the first wave on invasion from Apokolips.
• In the video game Justice League Heroes, the player fights Parademons on the level prior to the final battle with Darkseid.
• The Parademons appear in DC Universe Online.
• The Parademons appear in Injustice 2 as support units for Darkseid. In his ending after killing Brainiac and Superman as well as getting Supergirl on his side, Darkseid used Superman's DNA to clone a new type of Parademon.
• The Parademons appear in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced by Elias Toufexis.

External links

• Parademons at DC Comics Wiki

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