J'onn J'onzz

"I am the last of my kind.""

- J'onn J'onzz

J'onn J'onzz was the last Martian and one of the founding member of the Justice League.

History
Before the invasion of Mars by the Imperium, J'onn lived a normal life with his wife, My'ria'h, and his two children. After the invasion, his wife and children died, J'onn took part in the war, and was a member of the strike team that launched his people's final, desperate offensive. J'onn succeeded in releasing the nerve gas that placed the invaders in suspended animation. As the last surviving member of the strike team, and of the entire Martian race, J'onn then sealed the invaders' underground headquarters to keep them paralyzed, and stood guard over it for 500 years.



While J'onn was in a hibernation cycle, astronauts from Earth, including J. Allen Carter, accidentally revived the invaders. He managed to escape Mars and came to Earth to warn humanity of the Imperium. Once on Earth, he was captured by Imperium forces posing as members of the U.S. military.

After the Imperium began their invasion of Earth, J'onn reached out telepathically to several heroes on Earth: Superman, John Stewart, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, and Flash.

Superman and Batman, having already encountered the Invaders, freed J'onn, and were joined by the other heroes he had contacted. Banding together, the newly-formed team managed to destroy the Imperium. Mindful of future threats, Superman proposed the formation of the Justice League. J'onn was initially hesitant, but Superman assured him that he didn't have to be alone anymore.

Early Missions
When Superman was imprisoned on War World, J'onn worked covertly to sway the masses' favor to him, thus averting his execution by Mongul.

During the League's first encounter with Morgaine Le Faye, J'onn attempted to locate her telepathically. Le Faye seized his mind and tempted him with visions of a fantasy world where his wife and children were still alive. Seduced by her promises to resurrect his family, J'onn stole the Philosopher's Stone from the Watchtower and brought it to her, but managed to resist the temptation and destroyed the Stone. He attempted to resign from the League, but Jason Blood convinced him to remain.

Along with Superman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, and Flash, he traveled back in time to World War II, after time had been altered by Vandal Savage. Though he was captured and tortured, J'onn managed to escape, destroying the cache of Savage's advanced technological data, and taking part in the League's assault on the German invasion force heading for America.

During a search for the fugitive Lex Luthor, Superman proposed that J'onn try a city-wide telepathic search. But when J'onn opened his mind, he was inundated with thousands of people's petty and selfish thoughts, and the experience nearly destroyed his mind. Taking refuge in an isolated forest, he was afraid to use his telepathic abilities again, until he saw a search party looking for a runaway child. Using his telepathy, he located the girl and re-united her with her parents, his faith in humanity restored.

He subsequently came to the aid of the League, left at the mercy of Luthor and the power-copying android AMAZO. He allowed AMAZO to copy his own powers, knowing that the android's new telepathy would enable him to read Luthor's mind and discover his deceitful intentions. Sure enough, AMAZO turned on Luthor, destroying his battlesuit before flying into space in search of new knowledge.

When the rest of the League except for himself and Batman were attacked in their sleep by Dr. Destiny, J'onn used his formidable telepathic abilities to rescue his teammates from their various nightmares, and to bind them together to fight Destiny's mind control.

When the rest of the League was captured in a well-organized attack by Grodd's Secret Society, J'onn managed to evade capture by masquerading as Clayface, and then releasing them just before their execution.

After Superman had apparently fallen in battle, J'onn pronounced the eulogy at his funeral.

He also took part in the League's repulse of the Thanagarian invasion.

Monitor
After the League was expanded, J'onn took the role of the League's official coordinator, keeping watch on a global scale and handing out assignments based on the availability of hero personnel and the best match of abilities to situations. He was presumably picked for this job because of his intelligence and wisdom, but also because, as an alien, he was the one most able to spend an indefinite amount of time in the Watchtower.

The downside of this role was that he spent nearly two years in space, rarely taking active part in a mission and almost never interacting with other humans. Wonder Woman, who felt particularly close to him, encouraged him to get out more. Realizing that she was right, and that he would be forever alone unless he learned to live among humans, he took a leave of absence from the League and spent several months on Earth in a human guise.

By the time of Darkseid's last invasion of Earth, he seems to have succeeded. Taking a middle-aged woman as his wife, he was living peacefully in China. His wife appeared to be aware of his true self, because when re-assumed his "hero" form to join the League against the invaders, she voiced that he be careful. After the invasion, J'onn joined the League in pursuing the remaining members of the Legion of Doom. As they left the Metro Tower, J'onn spoke to his wife on a cell phone, telling her he would be home in time for dinner, and that he loved her.

Alternate Timeline
In an alternate future created by Chronos, Justice League Unlimited member Warhawk mentioned that J'onn's future self had been killed during the destruction of the Watchtower, along with many other members of the Justice League.

Powers and abilities
J'onn possesses an array of superpowers including:


 * Flight.
 * Superhuman strength: Under normal circumstances J'onn is weaker than Superman, but much stronger than the rest of the League. However, his strength can be augmented by his phase-shifting powers.
 * Shapeshifting: He can assume the shape of most organisms, humanoids and objects; he has shown himself able to increase his size significantly, but not to decrease it.
 * Telepathy: He can read minds and project his thoughts.
 * The ability to alter his density at the molecular level, which in practice allows him to become invisible, pass through solid objects (and vice-versa), or become invulnerably solid. An increase in his density results in a blue aura that increases his strength and invulnerability on par with that of Superman. This also allows J'onn to fully recover after sustaining severe physical damage, such as being torn apart.

As the product of an advanced civilization, J'onn also possesses a wealth of scientific knowledge and technological expertise. After his long experience of war, he is a brilliant field medic, and his telepathic abilities make him a great counselor and empath. Finally, his long life gives him great wisdom and an aptitude for strategic thinking.

Background information
In the comics, J'onn was a Manhunter, a Martian law officer and the (presumed) sole survivor of an engineered telepathic plague that wiped out the Green Martians. The plague was created by his brother, a non-telepath. Centuries after the event, he was accidentally teleported from Mars to Earth by a kindly human scientist who died from a heart attack after seeing J'onn's form. Unable to return to Mars, he adopted a human form and the name "John Jones" and worked as a police detective, using his telepathic abilities to solve crimes. While J'onn was believed to be the sole survivor, it was later revealed that five other Green Martians survived.

The Imperium invaders are somewhat similar to the White Martians, a belligerent genetic offshoot of J'onn's species that attempted to conquer Mars, and were banished to the Phantom Zone, but later returned occasionally to combat the Justice League.

In the comics, J'onn's powers also include super-speed and the ability to fire laser-like beams from his eyes, similar to Superman's heat vision. J'onn also has some form of telekinesis, which is the source of his flight and also allows him to emit destructive "Martian vision" eyebeams. Also, he and other Martians are shown to be severely weakened by fire, which is never shown in the animated version. Although it is discreetly referred to in early episodes, in the form of large flames somewhere nearby when J'onn is incapacitated during those battles.

In the comics, J'onn also loves Choco sandwich cookies, a passing reference to which is made in "Comfort and Joy". J'onn originally loved Oreo cookies, but DC changed it to the fictional "Choco" brand cookies for legal reasons.

In the first issue of Final Crisis, J'onn was killed by Libra to show the Secret Society that he could fulfill their hearts desire. A funeral was held on Mars attended by many of Earth's super hero community, where Superman gave the eulogy. A book about Mars was left on his casket by those who received the info (via telepathy) from J'onn in his last moments. As a final goodbye, Batman left a Choco (J'onn's favorite) on his casket.

The character was recently brought to life again in the Blackest Night arc, as a Black Lantern. At the end of the story he was fully revived by the Life entity along with several others, which in turn, led directly into the "Brightest Day" series, in which J'onn was a featured character.