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Real Name: Mekt Ranzz
First Appearance: Superman #147 [DC Comics August 1961]
Character created by Jerry Siegel and Curt Swan
Prowess 3 {Average}
Coordination 4 {Fair}
Strength 4 {Fair}
Intellect 3 {Average}
Awareness 4 {Fair}
Willpower 4 {Fair}
Stamina: 8
Determination: * - Villain
Pilot
Technology [Mechanics]
Electrical Control 8 {Amazing}
Absorption (Electricity)
Brownout
Resistance (Electricity)
. His mental instability and obsession with his familiy often affects his judgement.
. "I am the Lightning Lord. And the storm calls for your doom.”
. Outcast within his planet's society.
Character created by Jerry Siegel and Curt Swan
ABILITIES
Prowess 3 {Average}
Coordination 4 {Fair}
Strength 4 {Fair}
Intellect 3 {Average}
Awareness 4 {Fair}
Willpower 4 {Fair}
Stamina: 8
Determination: * - Villain
SPECIALTIES
Pilot
Technology [Mechanics]
POWERS
Electrical Control 8 {Amazing}
Absorption (Electricity)
Brownout
Resistance (Electricity)
QUALITIES
. His mental instability and obsession with his familiy often affects his judgement.
. "I am the Lightning Lord. And the storm calls for your doom.”
. Outcast within his planet's society.
Points: 56
ORIGIN STORY
Mekt Ranzz was born the first of three children on the planet Winath. In Winathian society, it was common for parents to give birth to twins, but Mekt was born an only child – a fact that later made him an outcast in Winathian social circles. When he was still a young child, Mekt's parents gave birth to twins, Garth and Ayla.
The importance of the twin bond (whether fraternal or identical) is difficult for non-Winathians to comprehend. It is very common for pairs of twins to marry. Some experts attribute Winath’s celebrated serenity and stability to the emotional support and sense of belonging derived from having a twin sibling — comforts which Mekt never knew. From a psychosocial viewpoint, Mekt’s “singleton” status was akin to a deformity — the reaction of the populace ranged the gamut from curious repugnance to patronizing attempts to be consoling. Mekt sensed his status as an “oddity” at an early age and his behaviour became increasingly erratic.
Years later, when all three were teenagers, they attended a party on an alien planet. Returning home, their shuttlecraft malfunctioned and they crashed on the planet Korbal. They discovered that their ship had run out of power and that its engines needed to be recharged. Garth Ranzz lured a herd of Lightning Beasts towards the craft hoping to use their electrical discharges to repower the ship. The animals' energy bursts struck the teens however and not the ship, imbuing all three of them with the ability to generate electricity. Mekt, Garth and Ayla used their powers to recharge the ship's engines and return home.
The importance of the twin bond (whether fraternal or identical) is difficult for non-Winathians to comprehend. It is very common for pairs of twins to marry. Some experts attribute Winath’s celebrated serenity and stability to the emotional support and sense of belonging derived from having a twin sibling — comforts which Mekt never knew. From a psychosocial viewpoint, Mekt’s “singleton” status was akin to a deformity — the reaction of the populace ranged the gamut from curious repugnance to patronizing attempts to be consoling. Mekt sensed his status as an “oddity” at an early age and his behaviour became increasingly erratic.
Years later, when all three were teenagers, they attended a party on an alien planet. Returning home, their shuttlecraft malfunctioned and they crashed on the planet Korbal. They discovered that their ship had run out of power and that its engines needed to be recharged. Garth Ranzz lured a herd of Lightning Beasts towards the craft hoping to use their electrical discharges to repower the ship. The animals' energy bursts struck the teens however and not the ship, imbuing all three of them with the ability to generate electricity. Mekt, Garth and Ayla used their powers to recharge the ship's engines and return home.
Following this incident, Mekt quickly withdrew from society and disappeared into the galactic underground. Garth had no idea what fate had befallen his brother, and began searching neighboring star systems in the hopes of finding him. It was on this search that Garth met Rokk Krinn and future wife Imra Ardeen shortly before the formation of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Mekt however, still scornful for not having a twin, continued to develop a more antisocial personality and this resentment ultimately led him to a life of crime. When next he resurfaced, he had aligned himself with similarly-minded individuals known as the Cosmic King and Saturn Queen. Calling himself Lightning Lord, he helped to establish the Legion of Super-Villains.
Lightning Lord and his villainous Legionnaires clashed with the Legion of Super-Heroes many times over the years, the rivalry between his brother and he growing stronger with each conflict. When Ayla Ranzz came of age and began calling herself Gossamer, Mekt tried unsuccessfully on numerous occasions to seduce her into a criminal lifestyle. Mekt's mental instability not withstanding, he actually cared very deeply for his sister, and only tried to corrupt her so that he could be closer to her.
A tall, formidably muscled man, Lightning Lord is still young but has stark white hair and piercing blue eyes. Overall, he’s an imposing figure with tremendous personal charisma, marred by the occasional deranged look in his eyes. He’s aware that he can be both compelling and intimidating, and heightens the effect with use of his powers — for example, allowing blue-white sparks of electricity to crackle around his hands or in his eyes when engaging in personal interaction.
Lightning Lord has a forceful and compelling personality, but he’s grown progressively more psychotic over the years. His family has always been very important to him — he’s been known to visit the site of his parents’ deaths on the anniversary of their death, and it’s clear that his brother Garth and sister Ayla are more important to him than anyone else. But their importance to him is twisted and conflicted. On at least one occasion, Garth gave Mekt the opportunity to kill him and he backed down, fleeing in confusion.
But as his psychosis has grown he has tried again and again to rectify that situation and kill his brother. He also is obsessed with subverting his sister and getting her on his side — though, considering how his last meeting with Ayla went, he may well decide to just kill her, too. Compensating for the fact that he is a singleton, he continually speaks down to Garth and Ayla, reminding them that he is the elder, calling them little brother or little sister repeatedly and demanding that they obey him.
His delusions demand that others acknowledge his greatness and speak respectfully to him; he’s liable to blast those who don’t, though he’s never been known to deliberately try to kill anyone other than Garth. He habitually refers to people as “fools” or “idiots” and mocks their shortcomings. He also speaks of “the lightning” and “the storm” as being a living thing. Storms “speak” to him, proclaiming his greatness, predicting the defeat of his enemies. He has rebuked his family for daring to call him by name rather than by his chosen title. When Ayla fought him as Lightning Lass, he was shocked and infuriated that she would use lightning against him, the lord of the lightning. When she defeated him, he cried out that the storm had betrayed him.
Despite his delusions, Mekt is a quick thinker and a skilled combatant. Some profiles have indicated that his lack of Legion training means he must necessarily be less skilled, controlled, or powerful than his brother and sister. This is not the case. Mekt fights intelligently, making good use of the environment around him as well as the full force of his electrical abilities. If an opponent is shielded or immune to his powers, he shifts to blasting out the floor beneath them, or destroying the ceiling above and burying them in debris.
He has also developed applications of his power which Garth and Ayla have yet to emulate, such as his “shock field”, an invisible electrical aura in the air around him which painfully shocks anyone who approaches. In fact he usually seems more powerful than Garth or Ayla, due to his lack of inhibition and willingness to use the full force of his abilities; though in their one-on-one duels it becomes clear that Garth and Ayla are a match for him when pushed to use their full power.
A tall, formidably muscled man, Lightning Lord is still young but has stark white hair and piercing blue eyes. Overall, he’s an imposing figure with tremendous personal charisma, marred by the occasional deranged look in his eyes. He’s aware that he can be both compelling and intimidating, and heightens the effect with use of his powers — for example, allowing blue-white sparks of electricity to crackle around his hands or in his eyes when engaging in personal interaction.
Lightning Lord has a forceful and compelling personality, but he’s grown progressively more psychotic over the years. His family has always been very important to him — he’s been known to visit the site of his parents’ deaths on the anniversary of their death, and it’s clear that his brother Garth and sister Ayla are more important to him than anyone else. But their importance to him is twisted and conflicted. On at least one occasion, Garth gave Mekt the opportunity to kill him and he backed down, fleeing in confusion.
But as his psychosis has grown he has tried again and again to rectify that situation and kill his brother. He also is obsessed with subverting his sister and getting her on his side — though, considering how his last meeting with Ayla went, he may well decide to just kill her, too. Compensating for the fact that he is a singleton, he continually speaks down to Garth and Ayla, reminding them that he is the elder, calling them little brother or little sister repeatedly and demanding that they obey him.
His delusions demand that others acknowledge his greatness and speak respectfully to him; he’s liable to blast those who don’t, though he’s never been known to deliberately try to kill anyone other than Garth. He habitually refers to people as “fools” or “idiots” and mocks their shortcomings. He also speaks of “the lightning” and “the storm” as being a living thing. Storms “speak” to him, proclaiming his greatness, predicting the defeat of his enemies. He has rebuked his family for daring to call him by name rather than by his chosen title. When Ayla fought him as Lightning Lass, he was shocked and infuriated that she would use lightning against him, the lord of the lightning. When she defeated him, he cried out that the storm had betrayed him.
Despite his delusions, Mekt is a quick thinker and a skilled combatant. Some profiles have indicated that his lack of Legion training means he must necessarily be less skilled, controlled, or powerful than his brother and sister. This is not the case. Mekt fights intelligently, making good use of the environment around him as well as the full force of his electrical abilities. If an opponent is shielded or immune to his powers, he shifts to blasting out the floor beneath them, or destroying the ceiling above and burying them in debris.
He has also developed applications of his power which Garth and Ayla have yet to emulate, such as his “shock field”, an invisible electrical aura in the air around him which painfully shocks anyone who approaches. In fact he usually seems more powerful than Garth or Ayla, due to his lack of inhibition and willingness to use the full force of his abilities; though in their one-on-one duels it becomes clear that Garth and Ayla are a match for him when pushed to use their full power.
One of the villains that, for me, has had a strong motivation to be a villain; a bit Freudian, but believable. Who, in one moment of our lives, never felt a bit jealous of a sibling? Add a bit of mental instability and — ta-dah! — here you have: Mekt Ranzz, Lightning Lord. Converted characters unavoidably exceeds the 45-point limitation that the ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying Game core book recommends. Character revised according to rules presented in ICONS Great Power book. Streamlined, once again, according to ICONS Superpowered Roleplaying: The Assembled Edition.
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