![]() ![]() He's a humanoid alien who managed to bend an entire race of parasitic starfish to his will.Īccording to this revamped origin story, originally Starro's race consisted of waves of mindless, nomadic parasites who traveled the galaxy in search of civilizations to turn into helpless slaves. As revealed in the 2009 REBELS comic from writer Tony Bedard, the real Starro the Conqueror isn't a starfish at all. While traditionally DC has used the names "Starro" and "Starro the Conqueror" pretty much interchangeably, it was only fairly recently that fans learned the two are actually different characters. ![]() ![]() In a later battle, Starro receives a power boost by drawing in polluted water, only for Aquaman to turn the tables by summoning a flood of clean water. For example, in his original battle with the Justice League, the team's obligatory, useless sidekick Snapper Carr saves the day because his quicklime-covered body proves immune to Starro's powers. Often these weaknesses seem to be completely arbitrary plot devices. But in some cases, he's grown large enough to cover entire oceans and terraform planets.įortunately for Earth's heroes, Starro has a few weaknesses that are easily exploitable. Normally, Starro in his full-grown form is several hundred feet tall - enough to knock over buildings and generally wreak havoc on major cities. Basically, Starro combines all the worst things about kaiju and the Xenomorphs of the Alien franchise. Starro can also spawn millions of smaller duplicates of himself, which can then attach themselves to his prey and control their bodies so long as they remain bonded. Starro is a telepath who can control the minds of others, even powerful heroes like Green Lantern. His greatest strength, however, is his psychic talent. So long as some piece of his body survives, Starro will always eventually grow back to full health. Starro has all the strength and durability you'd expect from a kaiju-sized starfish, along with other powers like flight, energy manipulation, and regeneration. Little by little, DC has revealed more about the villain's unusual background and even pushed the self-styled "Conqueror" in a more heroic direction. The character has served as an infrequently recurring villain over the decades, appearing in various Justice League comics as well as other titles like Adventure Comics, Teen Titans and REBELS. Thanks to his ability to asexually reproduce, Starro has a habit of cheating death, nursing himself back to full size, and returning to threaten Earth all over again. DC fans have pointed out the clear similarities between Starro's design and the starfish monsters from 1956's Warning From Space, so that may have played a part in Starro's creation. Interestingly, the character Tarrano as he's depicted on the book's cover bears more than a passing resemblance to Green Lantern's arch-rival Sinestro.Īs for why the creators opted for a giant starfish, that seems to have been yet another case of DC tapping into the monster movie craze of the time, specifically the growing popularity of Godzilla and other Japanese kaiju characters. Schwartz once indicated the "Starro the Conqueror" name was inspired by Ray Cummings' sci-fi novel Tarrano the Conqueror, which deals with a Machiavellian alien who plots to conquer worlds through strategic assassinations. Starro's creation is credited to writer Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky, though editor Julius Schwartz also contributed to the original Starro conception. Whereas the DCEU and DC's contemporary comics depict Darkseid as the all-encompassing threat that brings together Earth's most powerful heroes for the first time, back in the day a giant, psychic starfish was the only call to action Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter needed (Batman and Superman couldn't be bothered). Starro made his original debut in 1960's The Brave and the Bold #28, the issue that also introduced comic readers to the Justice League of America. “ Starro's Origin and Pop Culture Inspirations ![]()
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