I have been developing this idea for a LONG time. I've found other fans online who create their own continuities or headcanons based off DC Comics, so I decided to do my own. This is only a "prologue" of sorts, explaining some of the backstory and lore of this universe. Future chapters will develop characters, groups, and places more. This is my attempt at world-building, hope you enjoy this glimpse into a canon quite different from the one you may be familiar with...
"What constitutes a legend? Is it powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men - or is it a fighting heart that refuses to acknowledge defeat? For centuries beyond numbering, from the ancient campfire to the towering condominium, man has relied on his legends to hold back the night! Men call me the Phantom Stranger - and there are those who claim that I am a legend as well! If so, I am proud - to be counted in the company such as these!" -The Phantom Stranger
A metahuman is a superhuman, an exceptional being living among us. They were called Wonders during the "Golden Age of Justice" before Lex Luthor published his "metahuman thesis." He coined the term and it is used loosely in most instances to refer to any human-like being with extranormal powers and abilities, be they technological, alien, mutant, or magical in nature, making them considerably more powerful than regular humans. A significant portion of these are normal human beings born with a genetic variant called the "metagene," which causes them to gain powers and abilities during freak accidents or times of intense psychological distress. Some metahumans may be born with incredible and incomprehensible powers and abilities, suggesting that the metagene can activate spontaneously and without any prior appearance in the ancestry. The gene is "opportunistic" in as much as it causes its user to develop powers seemingly based on their personal experiences or surroundings.
The prefix meta, in this context, simply means "beyond." For example, metastable is "beyond regular stability; ready to collapse at the slightest disruption" and metamorphosis is "the state of going beyond a single shape." So, "metahuman" simply describes persons and/or abilities beyond normal human limits.
Examples of powers shared by many individuals include telepathy, telekinesis, flight, the ability to project energy, accelerated healing, and enhanced physical strength, agility, or senses, all to variable limits. Other metahumans may also experience a minor to radical alteration in physical appearance from the human norm, such as wings, gills, a tail, fur, and altered skin-color.
The terms "meta" and "metahuman" do not refer only to humans born with biological variants. It can refer to anyone with extraordinary powers, no matter the origins and including those not born with such power. It is estimated that roughly 1.3 billion metahumans live on Earth, though most are considered "nuisance-level." Beings like the Metropolis Superman and the Amazon Wonder Woman would be considered Alpha-level threats.
The first known metahuman was a caveman from the days of prehistory named Vandar Adg, which gave him incredible intellect, immortality, regenerative healing, and superhuman physical attributes. Vandar Adg adopted many different aliases over the following centuries, but his favorite and the one many would call him was… Vandal Savage.
Thousands of years ago, it was an age of older heroes. The Earth was invaded by an alien threat lead by Prince Uxas of the high-tech industrial wasteland known as Apokolips. But Uxas was fought back, his conquest thwarted by an alliance of man (lead by Vandal Savage), Amazons, Atlanteans, Olympians, and other heroes. But this age of older heroes could not last.
Zeus, ruler of the Olympians, grew bored with man. So Zeus and the rest of the Gods started toying with the humans, playing tricks on them for their own entertainment. Zeus even fathered a few demigod children. Then they forgot about them. And that was when Ares noticed, when all the other Gods lost interest, the humans had a proclivity towards war. It was beautiful. They fought with each other over land and treasure and women. They invented reasons that weren't there and as man's wars became more powerful, so did Ares. He was able to feed off of it, their wars gave him strength, and for a moment he was even more powerful than Zeus… who wouldn't have it. Zeus tried to kill Ares and when that failed he did the only thing he could. He started killing the humans with plagues and famine. Zeus knew that if he ended their fighting Ares would lose his power and Zeus could destroy him. But as their crops fell and their children died, the humans only fought more. There was more death, more destruction, more suffering. And Ares became the most powerful God of all. Zeus rallied the rest of the Gods to destroy Ares, who wasn't even trying to fight Zeus. Ares liked things the way they were, but Zeus was jealous and fearful and obsessed with controlling the throne, so he couldn't help himself. Zeus lead Ares' own brothers and sisters against him. He didn't want to fight them, but he had no choice. Even their fighting gave him more strength. The other Gods of Olympus didn't stand a chance. And as he died Zeus summoned every bit of strength he had left and he cast Ares down to Earth, where he would remain powerless for the next few millennia. A shadow of his former self.
But the older age of heroes wasn't truly over until the fall of Camelot, after the death of King Arthur during the Battle of Camlann. It was the end of one era of legends… but the beginning of another.
The first "superhero team" was a group of Medieval era warriors called the Demon Knights. This group was consisted of Jason Blood/Etrigan the Demon, Madame Xanadu, Sir Ystin/Shining Knight, Vandal Savage (who was once a hero of sorts compared to the villain he would become), the exiled Amazon Exoristos, Sarasim, and Victor Stone/Cyborg (who was stranded in the past). This group was assembled by Merlin, who would play many parts in the years to come.
The immortal Vandal Savage was an anti-hero in those days. At his worse he occasionally conquered places when he got bored since he had a lot of time on his hands. He'd already been pretty much everywhere, seen pretty much everything, and done everything worth doing. So what was there to occupy his endless existence with? He joined the Demon Knights hoping that it would give his immortality a purpose. And then he met Cyborg. Victor Stone wasn't aware of Vandal Savage's future villainy, he wasn't as experienced or knowledgeable as the heroes in the "big leagues." However, Vic compared the Demon Knights with the superhero teams from his time and while bonding with his new teammates did mention a few things. He never said too much, but it was enough to catch Vandal Savage's interest. A future dominated by "superheroes" and populated by advanced alien cultures. That's when Vandal Savage started thinking… and found a new purpose.
Vandal Savage was familiar with natural order and survival of the fittest, having existed since the dawn of mankind. Disaster, crime, and tragedy were all factors that Vandal recognized as necessary for evolution. But the Demon Knights and other "superhero" teams protect humankind from these factors and preserve a status quo, inhibiting the human race. Change is needed and without it everything remains the same, but "superheroes" prevent change. The idea of such a future was distasteful to Vandal. He knew that his fellow Demon Knights and other heroes like them were only trying to do what they thought was right, their intentions good though misguided. But they defied the concepts that Vandal knew were part of existence itself, the ideas of natural order and survival of the fittest. There needed to be a way to counteract "superheroes." A way to eliminate the weak when needed instead of protecting them and accelerate human evolution. If they were not alone in the universe, Earth needed to take its rightful place in the center of the cosmos. Vandal realized that a future full of "superheroes" also needed "supervillains." So he became the first one, eventually betraying the Demon Knights and leaving them. Vandal thought that it was a shame that the others couldn't see the light. But he knew that there would be those who did…
And that's how the Light was born. It has been around for far longer than most realize, existing in the late 19th century and likely even before then. Its membership has changed throughout the centuries, rotating through various influential figures. The two individuals who have been members the longest are Vandal Savage himself and Ra's al Ghul. But it's hard to determine how long the Light has been around, since for all of its existence the council remained a secret as they created or co-opted networks of operatives, placed key individuals in key positions, and explored the boundaries of all new technology.
After the Demon Knights, another early "superhero team" was the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. There were several incarnations of the League, but the most notable served British Intelligence in the late 19th century. The group was lead by Irene Adler, a talented singer and skilled professional thief who once defeated Sherlock Holmes. The other members of the League were medical student Wilhelmina "Mina" Seward (who was once part of a group that defeated the vampire Count Dracula), big game hunter and adventurer Allan Quartermain, scientific genius Prince Dakkar (better known as the infamous Captain Nemo), psychologist Charles Marlowe (and his dual personality Edward Blake), and scientist Hawley Griffin (the third Invisible Man).
But the first recognized superhero didn't show up until near the end of World War I. Her name was Princess Diana of Themyscira. But to the world she was Wonder Woman. That was the beginning of the "Golden Age of Justice." Others followed Wonder Woman's example and became heroes as well. And in the 1940s many of these new heroes, these mystery men and women, founded a team that was the first publicly recognized superhero group. The Justice Society of America. Unfortunately, the JSA was eventually forced into retirement by the government. Except for Wonder Woman, who continued her mission as an ambassador. For years Wonder Woman was the only superhero officially active. But once again, everything changed when a new superhero revealed himself in Metropolis…
After Superman showed up, the world became aware of superheroes again. Many who had been previously keeping a low profile were inspired to come out of the shadows. A new generation of superheroes was now out there. And eventually, these superheroes started working together, facing an entity known as the Centre.
The Centre was a monstrous creature born from the Earth that developed traits far beyond those of lesser beings and had the appearance of a floating island. This organic sentient being observed the evolution of dinosaurs, the meteor shower, and the evolution of humans. It saw humans as a threat to the existence of other species and settled in the Pacific. Over the centuries, it had gained a reputation of an omnipresent spirit with no beginning nor end. Different cultures described the same legend, the coming of an ominous, all-powerful presence and great suffering. The famous children's author Theodore Smiesel was overcome by the Centre's telepathy and wrote "The Last Story" describing the Centre. After the book's completion, Smiesel committed suicide. Feeling threatened by humanity's development of nuclear weapons, the Centre decided to end all life on Earth. After it rose from the Pacific, there was a steady rise in the number of related incidents-mass delusions, people hearing voices in their heads and performing violent acts. The Centre was a living being the size of an island that could fly by means of energy propulsion, transform its substance to extrude tentacles and spawn an army of giant grotesque mutant dinosaur minions, project energy and inhale structures through its ports, and had mental powers like illusion casting, telepathy, and mind control. It was defeated by the combined effort of the U.S. government and a collective of superheroes that consisted of Aquaman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Superman, and Wonder Woman. In the aftermath of the battle, the Justice League was officially founded, with Wonder Woman as their leader.
It was during the early years of the Justice League that the planet Apokolips attempted an invasion of Earth for the second time. By then Uxas was much older, having claimed the Omega Force and changed his name to Darkseid, God of Tyranny. Darkseid's uncle Steppenwolf lead the first wave, but after he was defeated Darkseid oversaw the next stage of the invasion himself. It was one of the biggest challenges faced by the new League, but they managed to fight Darkseid back. Once again, Darkseid had been defeated. He was now determined to conquer Earth and its heroes, but he would have to do things differently this time…
But soon the Justice League wasn't the only superhero group out there. Or even the only Justice League. Superheroes were now more common than ever. Unfortunately, so were supervillains. New threats kept appearing and the stakes kept rising. But this was a world where anyone can be a hero. Even a villain. This was a world of Legends.
But even Legends die, as the older age of heroes proved. As the Doomsday Incident proved.
Nobody knows what it was or where it came from. There were rumors, but nothing could be confirmed. The only thing certain was that the creature showed up out of nowhere and started killing until it was finally stopped… at a great cost. The creature, dubbed Doomsday, left a path of death and destruction behind it. Local law enforcement responded, but were easily slaughtered. The Justice League International then fought the bloodthirsty monster, which literally had one hand tied behind its back at this point in the rampage. The Justice League International were lead by Booster Gold and it was him that gave the creature its infamous name, remarking how the devastation resembled "the arrival of Doomsday." Unfortunately, the JLI were defeated and it became clear that Doomsday's destination was the heavily populated Metropolis. While the army managed to slow the Doomsday creature down momentarily, a mass evacuation of the city began to avoid the loss of innocent life. The original Justice League arrived to try to succeed where the Justice League International had failed. Wonder Woman lead them in battle, but one by one the heroes fell, their only success being freeing Doomsday's other hand. It was not all for nothing, however, since the efforts of the Justice League, the JLI, and the brave men and women of the United States military gave many civilians the opportunity to escape the warzone.
Wonder Woman and Superman were the last Justice League members standing. Wonder Woman fought bravely and managed to hold her own for a while, but eventually succumbed to Doomsday's brutal onslaught. In her last moments before falling unconscious she told Superman that lethal force may be necessary to stop this threat from killing everything and everyone in its way. Supergirl joined the battle and aided Superman, but was nearly beaten to death by Doomsday for her attempts to help. And surprisingly, Lex Luthor arrived to fight Doomsday with Superman in an experimental battle suit, wanting to defend his city and his people. Despite not always seeing eye to eye, the two were now allies and they worked together to protect Metropolis. However, Luthor was removed from the conflict when his armor was torn apart. The Man of Steel had to face the creature alone now. The two combatants exchange fierce blow after fierce blow, until the final punch is finally landed. Superman managed to seemingly kill the Doomsday creature, but was mortally wounded in the process. Superman spent his final moments in the arms of his wife, asking if Doomsday was dead and if he had saved everyone. She told him that he had and he smiled.
"Good. That's all I ever wanted. Except for you. What a lucky man I was."
And on a day that had begun like any other, Superman died. It was a day that nobody would forget. But Doomsday was just the beginning…
And there we are. The first look into this universe of Legends. More will come in the future, I promise you that. Comments and feedback are appreciated. So are questions about this alternate continuity outside of the main DC comics and any suggestions for future topics. I hope that you enjoyed this. There is a TON of stuff I could cover in future chapters, all of which I am excited to finally share. I love DC and I love its characters, so this has been a passion project of mine. And just like Doomsday, this is just the beginning... Thank you for reading.