Purple Man
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The Purple Man (real name Zebediah Killgrave) is a recurring Marvel Comics supervillain. Most closely associated with Daredevil, he was introduced in Daredevil (vol. 1) #4 (October 1964).
Character history
As an international spy (later described as Yugoslavian), Zebediah Killgrave was sent to infiltrate a chemical refinery. During the mission, he was accidentally doused with a chemical that dyed his hair and skin purple. When the guard let him go with a flimsy excuse, Killgrave realized that the discoloration had given him the power to control people's minds.
The Purple Man has vacillated between an actively criminal life and easeful retirement. Morally, however, he has never reformed. He can most commonly be seen in expensive purple street clothes.
He used his mind control powers early in his criminal career to force a woman to become his wife; before she recovered and left him, she was made pregnant with his daughter, Kara Killgrave. Kara would inherit his discoloration and powers and would become the Alpha Flight-affiliated superhero called the Purple Girl, and later Persuasion.
The character largely disappeared from Daredevil's adventures in the 1980s, due to Frank Miller's lack of interest in him. He did make a few more appearances in the Marvel Universe, most notably in the graphic novel Emperor Doom (1987). Doom was controlling the world with an augmentation machine called 'psycho-prism' he had placed Killgrave into. However, Wonder Man escaped the mind-control effect, and he managed to break Doom's hold over several selected Avenger colleagues. An enraged Sub-Mariner smashed the device, which resulted in Killgrave's apparent death, although he somehow survived.
Recent events
The Purple Man has since been revealed to be linked to the history of Jessica Jones. When she was the superhero Jewel, he used his mind control powers to subdue her, forcing her to live with him while sexually dominating her for several months (He never raped her. Instead, he made her watch as he raped others under his mind control). He ultimately sent her off to kill Daredevil. Mistaking the Scarlet Witch for Daredevil, Jones attacked her instead. Jones was beaten into a coma by the Avengers before they discovered that she had been brainwashed.Before helping her out of her coma, the mutant telepath Jean Grey was able to give Jones a psychic switch that would prevent the Purple Man from controlling her again. When Jones recovered, the incident with Purple Man left her so traumatized that she left her life as a superhero behind, and became an unsocial private investigator. Later, the Purple Man escaped again and tried controlling Jessica to kill the Avengers, but she was able to resist him and knocked him out. Daredevil later had the Purple Man imprisoned in the Raft, a jail designed for superpowered criminals.
However he escaped briefly, when Electro created a riot at the Raft. Purple Man then attempted to use the opportunity to mind control Luke Cage into killing the then soon-to-be-Avengers, and threatened Jones and the unborn child she was carrying for Cage. Unknown to the Purple Man, drugs had been put into his food to negate his powers during his imprisonment, so he was unable to control Cage, who subsequently beat him to a pulp in response to his demands - however, Zemo saved him from this beating using the moonstones, so Cage only believed himself to be beating him.
Later, the Purple Man returned shortly before (and during) the House of M crisis and manipulated the Thunderbolts, while being manipulated himself by Baron Zemo, who used the moonstones he had recently aquired to leave an image of Purple Man behind in prison so that the authorities would not be aware of his escape. When Zemo, who was only using the Purple Man to "test" the Thunderbolts, learned of his torture of the Swordsman, however, he temporarily sent him back to prison as punishment.
His power enhanced by Zemo's use of the moonstones to allow him to be heard all over New York City simultaneously, he then enslaved the whole city, using the superhumans as his personal army and sex slaves - except the Thunderbolts, who he had worked to turn against each other. Eventually, he was defeated by the Thunderbolts member Genis-Vell. Zemo teleported the Purple Man back to him and tortured him for his failure before sending him back to prison once more, this time "permanently".
Purple Man believes he lives within a comic book, and breaks the fourth wall, particularly during his run in with Jessica Jones.
Appearance in other Media
The Purple Man appeared in one episode of the X-Men Animated Series as a telepathic mutant terrorist who plans on taking over the government using a group of young mutants under his mental control. In the end, the X-Man Cyclops gets in his way and eventually defeats him.External Links
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