Gorilla Grodd is a villain from the DC universe, and one of the archenemies of the Flash aka Barry Allen. He is a super-intelligent gorilla with telepathic abilities who desires to conquer the world. He is one of the two main antagonists of the Flash series alongside Professor Zoom. He was also the main villain of JLA: Ape and the Angel and the Ape miniseries.
Grodd possessed amazing intelligence and force of mind capabilities, powers that were allegedly granted to him when he was exposed to a space-rock that landed in the African jungles (though another account states that Gorilla City originated on the planet Calor and was brought to Earth as a result of Grodd's machinations when he already had his powers).
Grodd's mind took over the body of criminal William Dawson, who was in prison. When released, he traveled back to Gorilla City. Upon reaching his destination, Dawson's body devolved back into Grodd's original gorilla form. There, he saw and fell in love with Solovar's bride-to-be, Boka. Determined to have her, he designed a machine that caused his body to emanate neo-magnetic radiation. As a result, everyone who saw him instantly liked him. He arrived at the wedding procession, and Boka immediately became infatuated with him. They were married, and Grodd was declared king of Gorilla City. Not satisfied, he had the gorillas build him a plane, which he flew to Central City, where the humans quickly began adoring him, including the Flash. He began running for governor as the Statewide Party candidate, planning on continuing on to president after that. However, the Flash foiled Grodd's plan when he discovered that the neo-magnetic radiation could be counteracted by solar flare radiation, which he duplicated by vibrating his body at super-speed to match the frequency. Afterward, Grodd was easily apprehended.
Grodd had been trapped inside the human body of an overweight street bum. He was attacked by a gang known as the Vultures. One of them commented on how their member Iggo had the strength of a gorilla, which reminded Grodd of his true form. Suddenly changing back to his original shape and size, he quickly defeated the gang, making them believe that they were burning in molten lava by using his force of mind power. Reading the minds of the crooks, he saw that one of the former members of their gang was a friend of the Flash, and a plan began to form in his mind.
Grodd found another space-rock, identical to the one that had given him his powers, and contacted Hector Hammond, a human who had also gained similar powers through another space-rock, hoping to use this meteorite as a super-weapon to rule the world. However, while Hammond and Grodd tried to wrestle this meteorite away from Green Lantern, who had joined the Flash in Africa, it exploded, accelerating Grodd's evolution even more. With these heightened powers, Grodd was able to gain control of Gorilla City's entire population. With the help of Rex the Wonder Dog, the two were able to defeat Grodd. The battle left Grodd's mind like a child's, and he and Hammond, whom the meteorite had turned into a Cro-Magnon, were left in Gorilla City to be educated into useful citizens. A few years later, the demon-lord Neron restored Grodd's intellect, which allowed him to resume his rule of Gorilla City. However, Grodd was captured while stealing an artifact in the "world of man," again losing his throne.
After being nearly killed, Grodd was healed by the Nzame, a holy child to the gorillas of Gorilla City. He was prepared to kill the infant, but was suddenly summoned to Keystone City by Spin in an effort to defeat the Flash. Angered, Grodd proceeded to destroy Spin's lair. Their battle spilled out into the streets of Keystone City, where they were met by the Flash.
At one point, as part of a mass exile of super-villains from Earth, Grodd was sent to an inhospitable world known as Salvation. At one point, he came into conflict with Monsieur Mallah, attempting to kill him. The Brain attempted to stop Grodd, but Grodd used the Brain to kill Mallah, also killing the Brain in the process. This impressed the Joker, but that did not stop the Joker from pushing Grodd off a cliff in a murder attempt. Grodd survived, rejoined the villains and attempted to take out the Joker, but a Parademon attack stopped him. He later left his exile when the villains found a method of escape.
A member of an ancient civilization of apes in Gorilla City, Grodd-Son was raised by the village Elders with the belief that he was the chosen recipient of The Light, a mystical and enigmatic power that super-charged their ancient ancestor's minds while simultaneously destroying the Mayans, and that when The Messenger of The Light arrives, he will be able to usher in a new era for the apes of Gorilla City. When he came of age, Grodd-Son challenged his father, King Grodd, to a fight to the death to determine who would rule over Gorilla City. The two clashed with spears, until the younger Grodd was able to knock his father off balance, headbutting him and impaling the horn of his helmet through his father's forehead, killing him instantly. Declaring himself the new King Grodd, he began to consume the previous King's brain, obtaining all of his knowledge and memories.
Just as the fight ended, The Flash arrived, traveling through the Speed Force. When the Apes see Barry, they immediately believe him to The Messenger of their legends, but the human is unable to remember anything, much less deliver a message, prompting King Grodd to have him chained up and guarded by his warriors. While the Village Elders hold a meeting, coming to the conclusion that Grodd will reveal Gorilla City's existence to the humans in an act of war and that they must help release the Messenger against his orders, Grodd eavesdrops on them, enraged at their betrayal. Barry is soon saved by the Elders who take him down into the Temple, where they intend to show him who he really is- not The Messenger, but The Runner, the only one who bear the burden of The Light, and that the Apes are actually the Messengers, with a simple message- The Light moves the world forward, and with his every step, The Flash keeps time and space safe.
Having heard enough, King Grodd attacks, crushing the Elder's skull against the cave paintings depicting their origins, killing him, shouting that the Elders are lying. Grodd decides to kill Barry and consume his brain to gain the power of The Light, and use it to lead his Gorilla Army out of the shadows of their secret civilization and conquer the Earth. Grodd's attack reminds Barry of a traumatic Gorilla attack when he was a child, and the comforting words of his mother, reviving his memories and allowing him to fight back against Grodd, tricking him into smashing the support columns of the Temple, bringing the whole building collapsing down on top of him, seemingly killing him. The remaining Elders send The Flash home, but not before he insists that now that they are free of Grodd's reign, they can all be free to chose their own paths.
Unknown to anyone, King Grodd was not killed by the collapsing of the temple, and was saved when his loyal ally, General Silverback, uncovered him from the ruins. In a furious rage, Grodd returned to Gorilla City, killing all but one of the Elders, who he forced into a torturous device to allow him to generate the energy to take his Gorilla Army to the Flash, where he declared war on the Gem Cities and the Flash. As Gorilla soldiers tore through Central City, The Flash was forced to team up with The Rogues to stop them. On the sidelines of the battle, Grodd orders the Flash's new allies killed and for the hero to be brought to him, claiming that another power in the city requires his attention before he can join the battle. Grodd is interrupted by the arrival of Axel Walker, the Trickster who offered to be his guide through the city for the right price, angering Grodd enough to tear his outstretched arm off. With this, Grodd ordered that all the humans in Central City be rounded up in the Stadium, where the Elder would have need of them, as the machine in his head allowed the Elder to create mental projections to hide the Gorilla Invasion of the city from the rest of the world, but he was too weak to maintain it without siphoning off the minds of many humans. Realizing that Grodd's forces will keep coming unless he could deal with the King himself, Barry leaves the Rogues to deal with the foot soldiers while he goes to confront King Grodd.
The two fight, but Grodd reveals that he has gained access to a limited version of the Speed Force powers Barry possesses, and is strong enough that when the Flash throws a punch at him, it only manages to shatter the armor covering his own arm. Despite The Flash's best efforts, Grodd's greater strength, durability and enhanced speed prove to much for him, and he is thoroughly beaten, with Grodd ripping a stop sign out of the ground to impale and kill Barry once and for all. He is only saved at the last moment, by the efforts of Solovar, who leaps in front of the fallen hero to take the fatal blow. Grodd is forced to retreat as he loses all traces of the Speed Force, forcing him to seek out more and withdraw from the fight, allowing Patty Spivot to recover the Flash from the battlefield. While the Rogues devise a plan to take the captured civilians into Mirror World, Grodd is able to track down a container of Speed Force energy at the lab of Dr. Darwin Elias, allowing him to temporarily recharge.
Barry, realizing that he can't defeat Grodd through conventional means, decides to turn himself in, using his Speed Mind to bring himself and King Grodd into the Speed Force. When Iris West accidentally crashes a tank in front of their battle, Grodd decides to kill the Flash's friends first, but the Flash is able to keep him focused on their fight instead of the civilians trapped in the crossfire. Meanwhile, the Central City Police Force is able to send the machine The Elder is using into Mirror World, disrupting his hold to it and saving the civilians, destroying the illusions surrounding the city and allowing the military to move in. His army broken and retreating, Grodd is finished when the Flash has him rammed by a Woolly Mammoth which drags him deep into the depths of the Speed Force.
The apes of Gorilla City, now revealed to the world and under Solovar's leadership, have begun attempts to repair a peaceful relationship with the humans, helping to repair the damage Grodd's war caused and even erecting a monument to The Flash for saving the cities. When Ultramancreated a permanent eclipse over the Earth, Grodd returned, having been freed from his imprisonment in the Speed Force by the members of the Crime Syndicate, joining their Secret Society. Made even stronger for his time in the Speed Force, Grodd is able to effortlessly swat away The Pied Piper and rip helicopters out of the sky, demanding his apes fall in line. The Apes remain steadfast in Solovar's beliefs of peace, until Grodd impales the new leader on the Flash statue's symbol before killing any Gorilla willing to fight him. With his leadership reinstated, Grodd orders another Gorilla take-over of Central City, but with no Flash to stop him, Grodd is easily able to overwhelm any human resistance and raze the city. However, Grodd becomes bored of this ultimate victory and decides to leave, returning to Gorilla City with his army before the finishing the job and completely destroying Central City.
Grodd's forces abandoning the field forced the Crime Syndicate to send in new reinforcements to finish the job, which the Rogues defy in an attempt to protect the hospitalized Glider. When the Crime Syndicate respond to their rebellion personally, Johnny Quick and Atomica were recalled to the Watchtower before they could finish killing the Rogues. They were replaced by another wave of supervillains, teleported to Central City by Grid, including Gorilla Grodd, who was enraged that someone would dare summon him. The Rogues were easily outmatched by Grodd until the Pied Piper arrived to back them up, tricking Parasite into attacking the Gorilla King. Too distracted by his fight with Parasite, King Grodd was taken off guard when the Weather Wizard whipped up a storm to send the Syndicate's villains into the Mirror World, trapping Grodd inside.
Grodd would escape the mirror world and come to terrorize Metropolis under undisclosed circumstances. He would later come into conflict with Superman, Lex Luthor and Shazam when the latter saw his rampage on live television at S.T.A.R. Labs. Later after an infraction in the Flash Family due to a time traveler causing a disturbance in the Speed Force, Grodd lost the lion's share of his Light given enhancements.
He was eventually imprisoned back in Gorilla City where the denizens of which used him as a psychic buffer for collecting and storing all of their negative thoughts and darkest impulses. Aquaman and his wife Mera made trek into the hidden city via activation of The Maelstrom, a mystical transmatter device situated in an old Atlantean outpost from when it was apart of the thriving empire. Arthur would beseech Grodd after asking permission from his jailor, King Solovar; to partake of his knowledge. Grodd knew of the maelstrom gates as Curry's mother; Queen Atlanna made use of them in her journey. Showing his father, King Grodd; how to use the portals with an Atlantean scepter to get from place to place. In exchange for further information Grodd asked for physical exercise from Arthur Curry in order to pass the time.
As the two engaged in mortal combat however, it was quickly revealed that the battle was merely a distraction Grodd would use to facilitate his means of escape. But Arthur tricked him and had Mera change the location tablets on the Maelstrom portal, sending him to a different locations from where he intended when he accessed it using Aquaman's Trident. Leaving Gorilla Grodd trapped within the hellish labyrinth of Grecian myth.
During his time in obscurity, Grodd would escape the penal dimension he was left in only to have contracted an incurable illness which fatal effects could only be stymied by the Speed Force. To that end he would reach out and make Raijin; a former S.T.A.R Labs employee obsessed with the Speed Force, his subordinate. Whom would later go on to found the criminal organization of Black Hole backed by Gorilla City technology in his benefactors name; along with fellow scientist Dr. Carver. Eventually after Black Hole recruits Meena as the Negative Flash and employs Multiplex by imparting speed force energies unto him. Grodd used them to attack the Flash and all of Central City, kick starting another Speed Force Storm. With their help he then steals Barry's powers. After Barry take his powers back, he ends up controlling the Flash Family to attack him. He thwarted that scheme when Barry cure of his illness, resulting in losing the Speed Force from him. He is taken away by his comrades as he initiates a suicidal plot on destroying Central City with the use of Negative Speed Force. But the Flash family manage to stop the storm after his departure.
Grodd is revealed to have allied with Poison Ivy to eliminate humanity. He leads his forces to battle Damage.
Grodd was recruited by Lex Luthor as one of the members of his Legion of Doom, selected because of their compatibility with the seven forces necessary to unlock the Totality. Grodd was given power over the Still Force, thanks to his telepathy: Lex found the descendant of Flash's first villain, Turtle, an infant who finally had the access to the Still Force. Controlling its mind, Grodd was able to channel into the Still Force himself. Grodd faced Flash inside the Legion's underwater base, stripping him of his Speed Force powers and using them to feed the Still Force: this allowed the membrane which stood as barrier between the Multiverse and Umbrax to be broken.
The League though was successful in countering the maneuver of the Legion, with Flash accessing the Still Force and recreating the membrane, exiling Umbrax once again. After the Legion regained the Totality and Luthor woke Perpetua thanks to the faith of the Multiverse in Doom, Grodd was sent back in time together with Cheetah and Sinestro to stop the Flash and Green Lantern from retrieving a shard of Totality which was lost in the past, and was stored inside a ship in Pearl Harbor: in the end, the Legion was not able to stop them.
Still, Luthor and Perpetua found a way to prevail, and gave Doom victory over Justice. Grodd, together with the rest of the Legion, waited for his reward, being one of Perpetua's loyal soldiers. Instead, the whole Legion, outside of Lex, was trapped inside Brainiac, turned unwillingly into Perpetua's Throne, all to fuel Luthor with the power of the seven negative forces of the Universe.
In the Legacy of Chris Thorndyke,
And he is reprised by Charles Halford in the English dub, as a tribute of Powers Boothe, and Takehito Koyasu in the Japanese dub