Only A True DC Fan Can Name All These Characters
- by Ursula Nizalowski
- – on
- in Movies and TV
While the DC Extended Universe may be in hot water due to the lackluster sales of its line of films thus far apart from a few exceptions such as Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad, that doesn’t mean DC Studios won’t keep making films and TV shows based on its ongoing comic-book series. Having gotten their start in the 1930s, the Detective Comics (DC) line was actually one of four titles originally published by the National Allied Publications which was founded by an entrepreneur named Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. He was a former army Major who participated in World War I before having a short writing career and then moving onto publishing what would eventually become the standard format for modern comic-books.
This applies to not just the size of the books themselves, but also the types of stories which primarily became superhero-oriented after the introduction of Superman in Action Comics, another title that was made by National Allied Publications, followed by the debut of Batman in Detective Comics. Eventually, National Allied Publications became DC Comics which in turn became a subsidiary of DC Entertainment which DC Studios is a part of. So if you consider yourself to be a true DC fan, then take this quiz and find out how many characters you know!
Which character is this?
Many lightyears from Earth, a planet blew up due to geological ruptures that tore the planet’s core apart. A scientist tried to warn everyone, but no one listened to him. So in a final act of desperation, the scientist sent his son off into space via a rocket before the planet blew up. After landing on Earth the child was found by a childless farming couple who raised it as their own. Years later, the child developed unusual powers due to his alien physique and became a superhero.
Which character is this?
At a traveling circus, a family of trapeze artists performed their death-defying stunts while a mob-boss talked to the circus’ owner about some money he owed him. When the owner refused, the mob-boss arranged for an accident to occur during the show causing two of the trapeze artists to fall to their deaths leaving their son parentless. He was then taken in by a rich billionaire who brought the kid into his secret world as a vigilante to help him exact revenge on his parents' killers.
Which character is this?
Years ago, a petty thief called the Red Hood stalked the streets of Gotham City who couldn’t be identified because he wore a hood that completely covered his face. But while being pursued by Gotham’s resident vigilante, the Red Hood accidentally fell into a vat containing a large quantity of chemicals. Though he survived the encounter, the Red Hood’s face was forever changed and his mental psyche altered to that of a murderous psychopath who delights in causing as much destruction and mayhem as possible.
Which character is this?
In the city of Metropolis, a young woman works as a reporter for The Daily Planet, Metropolis’ main newspaper. With the industry primarily dominated by men, she’s constantly trying to prove herself by tackling the most interesting stories out there. Then when a caped superhero shows up in Metropolis, our plucky reporter takes it upon herself to investigate him which often gets her into trouble and so he’s forced to save her constantly. Eventually, the two fall in love and become a couple.
Which character is this?
Having garnered a solid reputation, an up-and-coming psychiatrist was assigned to work at Gotham’s mental asylum where a number of its notorious criminals are kept. One criminal, though, caught the psychiatrist’s interest as she started to develop feelings for him. She even went so far as to running away with him when he escaped the mental asylum becoming his partner-in-crime before getting arrested and forced to join a group of criminals tasked to go on dangerous missions by the government.
Which character is this?
On a dark night, a young boy and his parents left a theater after having seen a movie together. They passed through an alleyway where a man pulled a gun out and demanded the mother’s jewelry. The father tried to stop him, but the mugger shot the father and the mother afterward. As a result, the boy was made an orphan and left in the care of his family’s butler. So the boy spent the next twenty years training in various combat styles and creating different weapons to take down the criminals that plague his city.
Which character is this?
Following the disappearance of her half-brother, a young girl’s life spiraled downward as she became addicted to drugs. When he returned alive and well, though, she started a relationship with a minor criminal who was also struggling with drug addiction. Eventually she ran a nightclub, which just so happened to be the vigilante’s hideout. After meeting her real father, he tricked her into killing the vigilante’s former girlfriend followed by her death and resurrection at the hands of another villain before becoming a vigilante herself.
Which character is this?
After the death of his father, a college graduate became the CEO of his father’s company. He considers beings called Metahumans to be a potential threat to humanity as a whole, and pools his resources into tracking them as well as keeping an eye on the protector of his home city of Metropolis whom he fears more than any other Metahuman. Then while examining an alien ship, he discovers an even greater threat to Earth and sets a plan into motion to get rid of Metropolis’ hero.
Which character is this?
At The Daily Planet, a teenage boy is employed as the newspaper’s main photographer. Usually, though, he tags along with Lois Lane who’s constantly reporting on Metropolis’ caped protector. He also forms a close friendship with another reporter named Clark Kent, who always seems to vanish whenever something or someone attacks Metropolis. Eventually, though, he finds out Clark and the hero are the same person which doesn’t affect their friendship in the slightest. But he does leave Metropolis and head for National City to keep an eye on a certain super-heroine for his friend.
Which character is this?
In the aftermath of a particle accelerator explosion, a S.T.A.R. labs doctor was heartbroken by the apparent death of her fiancee. But in reality, he actually survived and became the dualistic hero Firestorm. When he dies again, though, she forms a relationship with Hunter Zolomon who turns out to be Zoom, an evil counterpart of a well-known superhero in Central City. But then following a change in the continuity, she develops powers similar to her counterpart from Zoom’s timeline and struggles to control them.
Which character is this?
On an island that is dominated by women, their queen prayed to the Gods of Greek Myth to bring her a child of her own. In turn, she was instructed to sculpt one out of clay which the God Zeus then gave life to. Years later, the child grew into a beautiful young woman who exhibited abilities that were extraordinary compared to even the island’s best warriors. Then a man from the outside world came, bringing with him a fragment of the war that was going on.
Which character is this?
Due to a crippling drug addiction, a mother left her husband and daughter before giving birth to a son she raised separately from them. Twenty years later, she reunited with her family in order to say goodbye to them due to a disease she was now suffering from. After she dies, the son reenters the picture learning about the family he never knew as he decides to live with them. He then becomes inspired by the city’s resident superhero and soon develops unusual powers leading to him becoming a hero in his own right.
Which character is this?
Long ago, the Greek Gods reigned as Earth’s supreme beings with the Amazons acting as their champions to unite the chaotic world of men. Then one God became ambitious and decided he would eliminate all the other Gods to become the most powerful of all. However, he underestimated the reigning God’s power leading to his apparent demise. In reality, though, the ambitious God survived and went on to manipulate those who would instigate the events that led up to World War I.
Which character is this?
Being one of the founding families of Gotham City, the Waynes were incredibly rich. So naturally, they hired a butler to take care of various matters both personally and around the house. This even included taking care of their son, who was orphaned after the death of his parents. So the butler became somewhat of a father figure to the young boy helping him in every possible manner even years later when the Waynes' heir decided to use all his resources to become the vigilante Batman.
Which character is this?
In a juvenile prison, two guys met with one defending the other from the rest of the prisoners. Years later, one would become an arsonist while the other became a bank robber. Then after the robber steals a pair of experimental guns from S.T.A.R. Labs, he takes one for himself while he gives the other to his arsonist colleague. The two then decide to use their guns to take down Central City’s resident superhero, but get foiled instead. Ironically, though, they get recruited for a team of time-traveling heroes later on.
Which character is this?
Following the death of his mother, a young man's father got arrested for her murder despite the lack of evidence for it. So he decided to dedicate his life towards proving his father’s innocence by finding the one who really murdered his mother. While working late in a lab one night, he got struck by a bolt of lightning while several types of chemicals fell on top of him. Fortunately, he survived having gained incredible speed along with a heightened metabolism.
Which character is this?
While attending medical school, a young woman also teaches part-time at the high school which her father is the principal of. But then after she and her younger sister are kidnapped by a gang called the 100, they get rescued by a hero called Black Lightning. Later, she starts to develop unusual abilities which she slowly learns to control while discovering that Black Lighting and her father are the same person. With this revelation, she decides to help him fight crime.
Which character is this?
In the distant future, a scientist replicated the same procedure that created the Flash. As a result, he got the same powers as Flash which he decided to use to erase Flash’s existence by killing him as a child. However, he ended up killing Flash’s mother instead and framed Flash’s father for it. This not only lead to one version of Flash being erased from time, but also the scientist lost his powers. So by assuming a different identity, he was able to orchestrate the event that allowed the Flash to gain his powers to regain his own.
Which character is this?
At a tech company in Starling City (later renamed Star City), an I.T. expert becomes involved in the activity of the city’s vigilante hero without realizing it. But when she does find out his true identity, she agrees to help him as a hacker and tech-savvy genius. Overtime, though, the two fall in love and eventually get married despite going through several rocky situations such as the arrival of a son from a different mother whom the vigilante didn’t know about.
Which character is this?
Using an electronic eye-piece, a wanted hitman is able to take out multiple targets even from long distances. Due to his reputation, he draws the attention of a certain hero who apprehends him at a vulnerable moment. Particularly, when he’s with his daughter whom he supports with the money he earns from his kills. As a result, he’s sent to a high-security prison where all the worst criminals reside before being recruited for a top-secret mission sanctioned by the government in exchange for certain favors.
Which character is this?
Within the world’s oceans, a race of aquatic men and women reside having formed their own kingdom eons ago. Along with the Amazons, they fought against an evil from beyond the stars with Humans Gods and galactic enforcers on their side. Afterwards, they took one of three powerful items called the Mother Boxes in order to keep them separated since their power could be used to summon similar forces. Then sometime later, a queen was forced to abandon her child and send him to be raised on the surface world.
Which character is this?
While taking a break from school, a teenage girl decides to visit her uncle who works for a billionaire. In reality, though, she was kicked out of school for doing underground motorcycle racing which she continues to do even in Gotham City. The reason for this is that she hopes to earn enough money to take care of her uncle who’s actually dying of a rare disease with no known cure yet. On top of that, she learns that her uncle’s employer is not what he seems.
Which character is this?
Stranded on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a former government agent was forced to teach the survivor of a recent boat wreck how to survive as well as fight. The two became close friends until an event and a misunderstanding led to a falling out. Years later, the agent returned after being presumed dead having become a cold-blooded mercenary who wants revenge on his former pupil who’s now a vigilante hero and orchestrates a plan to ruin him.
Which character is this?
Being abandoned by her mother at a young age, the daughter of a detective finds comfort in her foster brother who was brought in after his mother was killed. Years later, she becomes interested in investigative journalism despite working at a coffeehouse. This ramps up when the Flash comes to Central City, whom she later finds out is her foster brother. Then things get further complicated when a real brother enters the picture, and he begins developing powers similar to the Flash.
Which character is this?
In Japan, there lived a young couple who were happily married. Then one day, the husband was murdered while the wife survived having obtained the killer’s sword. However, the sword wasn’t ordinary as it could take the souls of whoever it killed. So as a result, the husband’s soul possessed the sword forever trapped inside it. Sometime later, the wife became a skilled martial artist and master of the sword she carried before being hired to keep an eye on the US Government's 'Suicide Squad' of criminals.
Which character is this?
During a fateful boat-trip, a young playboy’s life is turned upside-down when his father and his girlfriend’s sister (whom he was having an affair with) end up getting separated from him during an intense storm out at sea. Though in actuality, the trip was an assassination attempt by someone who wanted the young man’s father dead. Washed up on a remote island, the young man is forced to survive along with another stranded person. Five years go by, and he returns home a changed man.
Which character is this?
A smalltime criminal who’s also a drug addict steals the purse of a young woman whom he eventually falls in love with and has a relationship with. He also has a change of heart when a vigilante known as Arrow enters the picture, and decides he wants to be just like him. But then after being subjected to an unusual drug that makes him stronger at the cost of his sanity, he’s taken in by Arrow who tries to help him control himself.
Which character is this?
Long ago, an Ancient Egyptian priest fell in love with a fellow priestess but she was more interested in a prince who loved her as well. There was then a strange meteor shower, containing rocks that had an element from a distant planet which gave them all immortality. So even when the priest killed the two lovers, they reincarnated while he merely regenerated. But the priest soon discovered that he grew stronger each time the lovers died by his hand, causing him to seek them out in every lifetime.
Which character is this?
During World War I, there lived a pilot who was actually a spy for the Allied Forces. While carrying out a top-secret mission, his plane was attacked by Germans and they ended up crashing off the coast of a mysterious island. While the Germans were killed, he was spared by the island’s native women who forced him to stay there against his will until one of them took pity and helped him escape under the promise of helping her find Ares.
Which character is this?
Despite her lack of confidence, a young employee works very hard at her job. But when she discovers that her employer is doing some shady work, she becomes the target for assassination and almost dies because of it. Then through some miracle, she survives and decides to become an international thief stealing all kinds of valuable items for different clients. Naturally, this draws the attention of a certain hero whom she plays games with constantly. On top of that, they have an on-and-off relationship.
Which character is this?
While Superman thought he was the only last surviving member of the planet Krypton, there was someone else who actually followed him to Earth who just so happened to be his cousin. However, she was knocked off course into a place called the Phantom Zone which exists outside of time. After being stuck there for many years, Superman’s cousin found her way to Earth and was adopted into a different family. Sometime later, this cousin decides to use her repressed abilities to become her own hero.
Which character is this?
On an alternate version of Earth, the Flash’s evil counterpart Zoom captures the daughter of a scientist forcing him to traverse dimensions to find the Flash. After she’s rescued, the scientist’s daughter gets exposed to dark matter which eventually gives her speed-based powers. So she travels to the other Earth to train under the Flash and forms a brief relationship with his own protege. Unfortunately, they’re forced to break up when she gets occupied by stuff going on in her own dimension.
Which character is this?
In the mysterious League of Assassins, a man betrayed the League’s leader Ra's al Ghul and turned to the dark arts. From his studies, he became immortal and formed a terrorist organization called the HIVE. With it, this man attempted to destroy the world in order to remake it in his image. However, he was foiled by several heroes including Star City’s vigilante hero Green Arrow. Later, his daughter attempts to resurrect him and while the Legends of Tomorrow try to stop her she does succeed.
Which character is this?
With crime being especially high in Gotham City, the police department has their work cut out for them. Then when criminals start being brutalized and spooked by a new vigilante calling himself Batman, the commissioner is forced to decide what to do about him. In the end, though, he decides Batman is a necessary ally to keeping Gotham’s streets clean and even goes so far as to putting a spotlight on the roof of the police-station that’s shaped like a bat in order to signal Batman when they need him.
Which character is this?
While dabbling in the occult, a reckless youth attempted to perform an exorcism on a young girl. Unfortunately, something went wrong and the girl’s soul was taken by the demon that possessed her. In the years since, the man’s prowess in the dark arts improved tremendously as he now uses his newfound abilities more wisely and for the side of good. On his quest for redemption, he’s helped several heroes including Green Arrow and the Legends of Tomorrow combat people like Damien Darhk whom he’s afraid of.