The Dark Circle is a criminal organization appearing in media published by
DC Comics
DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
, primarily as an enemy of the
Legion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st centuries of t ...
. They first appeared in 1968, created by
Jim Shooter
James Shooter (born September 27, 1951) is an American writer, editor, and publisher in the comics industry. Beginning his career writing for DC Comics at the age of 14, he had a successful but controversial run as editor-in-chief at Marvel Comic ...
as a criminal organization founded by five members and consisting of them and their clones.
The Dark Circle concept was later modified to consist of members from five core worlds instead of clones. A later version, introduced following the '' Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!'' reboot, was led by Brainiac 4 and had several known Legion enemies among their ranks instead of generic masked henchmen.
Fictional history
The Dark Circle first appear in ''Adventure Comics'' #367 as an insurgent group planning to conquer the United Planets in the 30th century. It is composed of five people and their clones.
In the "
Five Years Later
''Five Years Later'' is a collaborative album by American jazz guitarists Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie (guitarist), John Abercrombie, recorded in March 1981 and released on ECM Records, ECM February the following year.Dominators conquer Earth, the Dark Circle secretly aids the resistance movement, hoping to gain control of Earth, before being betrayed by
Universo
Universo is a supervillain appearing in DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes. He was created by Jim Shooter and Curt Swan, and first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #349 (October 1966).
Fictional character biography
P ...
.
Post-Zero Hour
In post-'' Zero Hour'' continuity, the Dark Circle is an ally of the Affiliated Planets and is led by Brainiac 4, consisting of the leaders of the Khunds, the Gil'Dishpan, the Dominators, and the Sklarian Raiders. Brainiac 4 later kills the Dark Circle when they realize the level of her insanity.
Members
* Ontiir - A member of the Dark Circle from the planet Tsauron. He is later killed by Kimball Zendak.
* Grullug Garkush - A member of the Dark Circle from the planet N'cron.
* Norak Kun - A member of the Dark Circle from the planet Naltor.
* Gorgoth - A member of the Dark Circle from the planet Fresish.
* Rolind Siepur - A member of the Dark Circle from the planet Arane II.
Other versions
* An alternate universe iteration of the Dark Circle appears in ''
Tangent
In geometry, the tangent line (or simply tangent) to a plane curve at a given point is, intuitively, the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. Leibniz defined it as the line through a pair of infinitely close points o ...
: Superman's Reign'' #3. This version is a
necromancy
Necromancy () is the practice of Magic (paranormal), magic involving communication with the Death, dead by Evocation, summoning their spirits as Ghost, apparitions or Vision (spirituality), visions for the purpose of divination; imparting the ...
cult, with
Etrigan the Demon
Etrigan the Demon is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jack Kirby, Etrigan is a demon from Hell who, despite his violent tendencies, usually finds himself allied with the forces of good, mainly beca ...
, Bane, and Sargon the Sorcerer as prominent members.
* An unrelated Dark Circle, led by Tala, appears in ''Phantom Stranger'' #20 (July–August 1972).
In other media
* The Dark Circle appears in the '' Legion of Super Heroes'' (2006) episode "In Your Dreams", with Grullug (voiced by Dave Wittenberg) and Ontiir (voiced by Bumper Robinson) as prominent members. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. This version of the group are
mercenaries
A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...
who utilize cloaking technology.
* The Dark Circle appears in ''
Legion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st centuries of t ...
'' (2023), with Mon-El as a prominent member. This version of the group was founded by Brainiac in the 21st century to enable his resurrection and persists into the 31st century. It has also gone by many names such as Black Zero,
Ouroboros
The ouroboros or uroboros (; ) is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent symbolism, snake or European dragon, dragon Autocannibalism, eating its own tail. The ouroboros entered Western tradition via Egyptian mythology, ancient Egyptian iconogra ...