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| As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
Zeus is the ruler of Mount Olympus and the father of most of the Gods of Olympus, as well as the superheroine Wonder Woman, and is also one of Shazam's benefactors.
Contents
- 1 History
- 1.1 Early Life
- 1.2 New 52
- 1.3 DC Rebirth
- 1.4 Infinite Frontier
- 2 Powers and Abilities
- 2.1 Powers
- 2.2 Abilities
- 2.3 Weaknesses
- 3 Paraphernalia
- 3.1 Weapons
- 4 Notes
- 5 Related
- 5.1 Footnotes
History
Early Life
Zeus was born the sixth son of Cronus and Rhea, and was the younger brother of Hades and Poseidon. All of his siblings were eaten by Cronus due to him worrying one of them might overthrow him. So when Zeus was born, his mother Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to save them and eventually get retribution on Cronus on eating their children. Rhea secretly gave birth to Zeus, and handed Cronus a stone wrapped in cloth thinking that was his son. Rhea took Zeus away and kept him hidden.
When he grew to manhood, Zeus returned to face his father. They battled the Titans of Myth and became the new ruler of Earth by slaying Cronus and forging a pact in the dead remains. Cronus was then locked in Tartarus for the rest of eternity.
New 52
This section of the history takes place during the New 52, between the events of Flashpoint and DC Rebirth. It was later revealed that much of Wonder Woman's history from this time was an elaborate illusion created by the Gods of Olympus to keep her away from Paradise Island. All or part of this section may have been part of that illusion and no longer valid in Rebirth.
In an attempt to prevent his daughter Diana from finding her way back to Themyscira, he ordered the sons of Ares, Phobos and Deimos, to implant false memories in her head.[1]
In Diana's delusion, Zeus hatched an elaborate plan with his daughter, Athena, to ensure multiple goals. They wanted to lure out the First Born, saw the need for War to be replaced, and knew it was Wonder Woman's time to come forward. Zeus was to disappear, and unbeknownst to all, be reborn as a baby to Zola who herself was the incarnation of Athena. The power vacuum and the ensuing bickering and slaughter allowed them to achieve their goals, eventually.[2]
DC Rebirth
Zeus was killed by Darkseid after he came out of hiding to save his daughter Diana. While the young Darkseid who had absorbed the power of his children was outmatched, he nonetheless leeched away all his power while Zeus was busy pummeling him. Diana was later able to free Zeus' spirit from Darkseid's grip through their emotional bond.[3]
Infinite Frontier
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Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Godly Physiology: Zeus belongs to a race of ancient and inconceivably powerful beings known as the Gods of Olympus. Because of this heritage, Zeus possesses immense power.
- Weather Manipulation: As god of the storms, Zeus is able to manipulate weather. During his fight with Darkseid he made rain fall from the skies.[4]
- Electrokinesis: Zeus is able to create and manipulate mystical lightning with lethal efficiency. He can command the lightning for a variety of effects, such as channeling it through his fists to amplify the effectiveness of his blows.[4]
- Electro-Blast: Zeus is able to project his lightning at will into destructive blasts, or shaping it into bolts of lightning. This electricity is strong enough to harm Darkseid in his weakened state.[4]
- Eldritch Blast[5]
- Energy Construct Creation: Zeus was able to construct a cape out of his lightning.[4]
- Electrokinesis: Zeus is able to create and manipulate mystical lightning with lethal efficiency. He can command the lightning for a variety of effects, such as channeling it through his fists to amplify the effectiveness of his blows.[4]
- Animal Control: Zeus can command animals to do whatever he says.[6]
- Cosmic Awareness: Zeus is aware of the multiverse and the realms that lie beyond. This knowledge gives him an understanding of the universe and all life that transcends the capabilities of normal mortals.[7]
- Dimensional Travel: Zeus is able to travel between Mount Olympus and Earth at will.[8]
- Enhanced Senses: Zeus was able to sense that Darkseid had been stealing the life-force of his children, in order to gain power.[9] He can also sense when his name is being invoked by mortals.[5]
- Flight[8]
- Immortality: As an Olympian God, Zeus does not age and cannot die by any ordinary means. Only Zeus' blood can kill Zeus.[10]
- Invulnerability: Zeus can not be harmed in the conventional way. He has taken hits from Darkseid's omega beams without suffering any permanent damage.[4]
- Magic: Zeus possesses vast magical power that he can use for a variety of effects.
- Mechanokinesis: With the snap of his fingers, he caused a vehicle to start driving at uncontrollable speeds.[11]
- Molecular Reconstruction: Zeus can use his magic to rebuild structures, such as a house.[12]
- Power Distribution: Zeus imparts the gift of Power to the various members of the Shazam Family. Zeus's power fuels the mystical thunderbolt and enhances their abilities, allowing them to manipulate both the Living Lightning that transforms them itself and weave spells among other things.[13]
- Telekinesis[8]
- Teleportation[8]
- Metamorphosis: Zeus is able to alter his physical form at will. A lot of the time he manifests himself as a bald eagle. For a short amount of time he pretended to be Blake Hooper- Hercules' lawyer.[9]
- Photokinesis: Zeus can emit blinding amounts of light from himself.[6]
- Superhuman Strength: Zeus is strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Darkseid in his weakened state. His punches created shockwaves that caused minor earthquakes around the area of the fight.[4]
- Superhuman Speed: Zeus is able to move at speeds far greater than any human. He was fast enough to match Darkseid's combat speed. During this fight, Wonder Woman stated she had never seen a battle happen at that speed they were fighting.[4]
- Superhuman Stamina[4]
- Weather Manipulation: As god of the storms, Zeus is able to manipulate weather. During his fight with Darkseid he made rain fall from the skies.[4]
Abilities
- Deception[9]
- Disguise[9]
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)[4]
- Occultism[6]
- Seduction: Zeus is a god with an insatiable sex drive, having had numerous children with different women, both mortal and immortal, that he has seduced over the millennia.
- Weaponry[14]
Weaknesses
- Ancient Rules: Zeus is bound to the Wizard's rules. Whenever his name - "SHAZAM" is spoken, Zeus must hurl down a bolt of lightning.[5]
Paraphernalia
Weapons
Notes
- This character or object is an adaptation of Zeus, a character or object in traditional stories. These include, but may not be limited to religious texts, myth, and/or folk lore. More information on the original can be found at Wikipedia.org.
- Zeus was first adapted by Dave Berg, first appearing in America's Greatest Comics #5. However, in the Prime Earth continuity Zeus first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Wonder Woman (Volume 4) #3 by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang.
Related
- 80 Appearances of Zeus (Prime Earth)
- 24 Images featuring Zeus (Prime Earth)
- 2 Quotations by or about Zeus (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Zeus (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
This character is or was a member of the Marvel Family in any of its various incarnations, and an ally of Captain Marvel and the Wizard Shazam. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Marvel Family members."
This character is or was an ally of Wonder Woman. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Wonder Woman Supporting Cast" category.
This character is or was primarily an enemy of Wonder Woman and the Amazons in any of her various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Wonder Woman Villains category."
