PROTEX
Real Name: Protex
Class: Extraterrestrial (White Martian)
Occupation: Conqueror, former superhero
Group Affiliation: Hyperclan
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Z'Onn Z'Orr, Antarctica, formerly Still Zone
First Appearance: JLA #1 (January, 1997)
Powers: Like all White Martians Protex possessed the powers of flight, shapeshifting, telepathy, superhuman speed, strength and endurance. With his Martian Vision he could fire energy blasts from his eyes.History: (JLA #1-4) - A group of White Martians including Protex found a way to escape the Still Zone where their people were imprisoned and travel to Earth. These Martians took up gaudy "superhero" identities, named themselves the Hyperclan, and announced their presence to the world. Their cover story was that they were alien travelers who had come to Earth to solve all its problems. They used their powers to temporarily make the Sahara into fertile farmland, and cowed supervillains into hiding after the public executions of a number of villains. The public loved the Hyperclan, but were unaware that the "heroes" had formed a plan to enslave humanity and had set up watchtowers in Antarctica, the Gobi desert, and the Pacific Ocean that beamed mind-control rays across the globe. The Hyperclan were also responsible for blowing up the JLA Satellite, because the JLA, had publicly criticized the Hyperclan for their methods of saving the world. The JLA uncovered the true origins and intentions of the Hyperclan, but the Hyperclan defeated them and imprisoned in the Flower of Wrath, a Martian torture device. The only JLAer spared was Martian Manhunter, who the Hyperclan appealed to as a fellow Martian to join up with them. Manhunter seemingly agreed, but soon turned against the Hyperclan and helped his JLA teammates escape. The JLA defeated the Hyperclan, but not before Protex called down an invasion force of the other seventy remaining White Martians down on Earth. The JLA rounded up the invasion force, and left the punishment of the Hyperclan and other White Martians up to Martian Manhunter. Manhunter hypnotized them into taking human form and becoming peaceful members of society.
(JLA #56-58) - When the JLA fought Id Martian Manhunter had a fleeting wish about not wanting to be lonely, so Id woke up Earth’s White Martians, including Protex. They created a power base, and began kidnapping latent telepaths to feast on their brains and absorb their mental powers. They kept the JLA busy with a number of distractions, including activating a nuclear power station in Murmansk while the JLA were there handing out food. Green Lantern contained the explosion, and Batman found the Martian’s lair in Phoenix, Arizona. The Martians captured both Batman and Martian Manhunter. The Martians set up Ion Stations that introduced viral subatomic particles into the atmosphere that attached to oxygen atoms and set them at slow combustion so there’d be no fire on Earth, eliminating the Martians one weakness. Superman located one of the stations, but was attacked by the Martians. Martian Manhunter escaped the Martians and destroyed the Ion Stations, but it would take time for the atmosphere to heal. The JLA took a stand at Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, using the armaments Superman had stored there. They were defeated, and tricked the Martians into exiling the JLA to the Phantom Zone using Superman’s projector. Here they came up with a plan to defeat the Martians without being scrutinized by their telepathy. Atom was hidden at microscopic size in the Fortress, and freed the JLA. The Martians defeated an army of Earth’s heroes and prepared to start exterminating humans so they'd have the planet for themselves. The JLA lured the White Martians to the Moon, and a number of heroes with sorcerous abilities created an oxygenated atmosphere on the Moon so that the JLA could create fire there to use against the Martians. Martian Manhunter sent the defeated Martians into the Phantom Zone.
Comments: Created by Grant Morrison & Howard Porter
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