Parasite

This article is Rudy Jones, the original Parasite. You may be looking for an article about a mysterious second Parasite.

The Parasite, real name Rudy Jones, was a former janitor who was transformed into an energy-draining creature and would later lead a life of crime.

History[]

Origin[]

Rudy Jones was a janitor at S.T.A.R. Labs who had run into gambling problems. To clear his debt, Jones made a deal with Martin Lebeau and agreed to steal a few experimental chemicals from this workplace. However, during the robbery, they were intercepted by two security guards and made a run for it. Lebeau jumped into the truck and took off with Rudy still in the rear with the canisters. Lebeau's hasty and reckless driving toppled the canisters, bathing Jones in the chemicals. He begged Lebeau to stop the car but was dumped on the side of the road, unconscious and left for dead.

Hours later, Rudy was sprung back to consciousness by draining the energy of a rat that came into contact with him. Jones took off and wandered aimlessly until a policewoman waylaid him. Jones lunged at her and sapped her energy as well, discovering that he also could take her memories and mimic her voice.

Realizing his new power, he dubbed himself the "Parasite". He went to Hob's Bay where he encountered Martin and tried to kill him, until Superman arrived. Parasite grabbed Superman and drained his powers, weakening him. He then used Superman's powers to commit a series of crimes, but over time the powers wore off. Realizing that his energy reserve was temporary, Parasite decided to get his power back. He broke into Clark Kent's apartment, kidnapped and held him captive in S.T.A.R. Labs' boiler room. He intended to drain Superman's powers every twelve hours, but during one of his outings, Jimmy Olsen rescued Superman from captivity. Once again, Parasite went after Superman. He attempted to drain Superman's powers again but was tricked into touching a piece of Kryptonite, learning the hard way that he had also gained Superman's weaknesses. He absorbed the deleterious energies of the Kryptonite rendering him all but comatose. He was held under custody in S.T.A.R. Labs until they designed his special cell in Stryker's Prison. After touching a roach, however, Parasite found that his powers were still in effect.^[2]

Running amok in Metropolis[]

While Parasite spent his time in jail, Dr. Earl Garver threatened to destroy Metropolis with a bomb if they didn't pay a ransom. When Garver was knocked unconscious before telling anyone where the bomb was, Superman reluctantly turned to Parasite for help. Parasite agreed, but with a condition: if he helped Superman, he would get a large screen color TV with every available channel as a way to kill his prison time faster. His captors, surprised and confused at first, complied and Parasite proceeded to extract information from Garver's mind, but he ended draining Garver's consciousness as well. Earl's consciousness took over and he still made his demand for ransom. Inside Parasite's mind, Rudy and Earl talked about Superman and Parasite's inability to retain his stolen energies. Garver promised to find a way to allow Parasite to keep what energies he stole (thereby granting Rudy the power he always wanted), but Rudy dismissed such a promise as infeasible. However, when Garver mockingly said Rudy preferred cable TV as opposed to his freedom, Rudy agreed to work with Garver.

In Parasite's body, Garver lured Superman into an abandoned train station, where he found Garver's bomb and deactivated it, but Garver attacked him. They fought and Superman told him that the bomb would destroy the city along with them, but Garver didn't care as his own body was in an ambulance far from the blast. Realizing that Earl had no intent of sharing power (essentially leaving him for dead), Jones attacked. The two battled inside Parasite's mind, ending in a victory for Garver, however, Superman managed to drop the bomb into an abyss. Garver attacked the Man of Steel, causing both to fall into the abyss as well. Fortunately, Superman managed to escape relatively unharmed and Garver was thrown out just before the bomb exploded. After Garver's mind returned to his original body and then was delivered to the police, Parasite was returned to prison as well but he was enjoying his new TV screen.^[3]

Some time later, the electrokinetic criminal Livewire helped Parasite break out of prison after realizing that Superman's power was too great for her to overcome. Parasite agreed to help but he was secretly planning to take Livewire's powers for his own. Freed from prison Parasite escaped in a boat and when Superman came, Parasite grabbed and stole the swimming abilities of a shark and battled Superman beneath the ocean. He was unable to take Superman's powers, however, and escaped. Later, Parasite and Livewire met up with each other and Parasite attempted to steal Livewire's powers. Livewire was wise to his plans, however, and shocked him away. She was still in need of his ability and let him live believing that Parasite had learned his lesson. The two entered into a power plant where they allowed their presence to be known in order to lure Superman in. Superman arrived, but the combined abilities of Livewire and Parasite were too much for him and Parasite managed to take his powers. When Livewire was preparing to kill Superman, Parasite took the opportunity to take her powers as well. He nearly used his new powers to defeat Superman, but he was defeated when he was exposed to water. Rendered comatose once more, he and Livewire were later delivered to the authorities.^[4]

Teaming up[]

Years later, Parasite was recruited by Grodd to be a member of the Secret Society, a criminal group with the goal to destroy the Justice League. He assisted the team to free Clayface from Morgan Edge's clutches. In the first battle, Parasite drained Superman's powers. In the second battle, he drained Wonder Woman's powers. In the third battle, he drained Flash's powers but was knocked out. After the Secret Society was defeated, Parasite was delivered to the police. Later after escaping, Parasite was seen battling Elongated Man and Metamorpho, draining their powers. When Parasite confronted Batman, he had been defeated by Captain Marvel and delivered to the authorities.^[5]

He eventually joined Grodd's Legion of Doom. But when Lex Luthor overthrew Grodd from leadership, Parasite disagreed. During the Legion's mutiny, he sided with Grodd's faction against Luthor's. Parasite fought Evil Star and even managed to neutralize and drain Giganta, but was ultimately knocked out by Sinestro. Afterwards, Parasite, along with Grodd's other supporters, were frozen by Killer Frost and then blown up by Darkseid.^[6]

Successor[]

A large and monstrous-looking Parasite appeared over forty years after his predecessor's death.^[7]

Abilities and equipment[]

Due to his exposure to experimental chemicals, Parasite gained the ability to temporarily drain energy from other living things through physical contact. He also absorbed his victims' skills, powers, and memories, allowing him to mimic their voices and do anything that they could do. Over time, these stolen powers would slip away, returning to their original source. Consequently, Parasite took to restraining his victims in a secure location, periodically visiting them to re-drain them and maintain his powers.

Apart from the time limit on his abilities, Parasite's power had a few other flaws. His main weakness was his need for direct contact with his victims; although he seemed to be capable of draining energy through normal clothing, more specialized coverings (such as body armor or plastic sheets) were impenetrable to his powers. Attempting to drain someone with an especially strong mind carried the risk of allowing that person to assert his or her will over Rudy's, as demonstrated during the incident with Earl Garver.^[3] Additionally, Parasite tended to absorb the physical weaknesses of his victims along with their strengths, such as Superman's susceptibility to Kryptonite, or Livewire's vulnerability to water. The effects of these weaknesses can leave him comatose and cause him to suffer a massive memory loss. However, he is able to overcome that eventually.

Appearances[]

Superman: The Animated Series

• "Feeding Time"
• "Two's a Crowd"
• "Action Figures" ^(Cameo)
• "Double Dose"
• "Superman's Pal" ^{(Mentioned Only)}

Justice League

• "Secret Society"

Justice League Unlimited

• "Clash" ^(Cameo)
• "I Am Legion" ^(Cameo)
• "To Another Shore" ^{(Cameo in flashback)}
• "The Great Brain Robbery" ^(Cameo)
• "Alive!" ^(Cameo)

References[]