Paragon is a

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are often ...

published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

. He first appeared in ''

Justice League of America The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceive ...

'' vol. 1 #224 (March 1984), and was created by

Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ) (born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the '' Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled ''Astro City'', a four-year run on ''The Avengers, Thunderbolts'' and '' Superman.'' Early life ...

and

Chuck Patton Francis Chuck Patton is an African-American comics artist and animator. He is best known for his work on DC Comics' ''Justice League of America'' in the 1980s, specifically for the period in which the team relocated to Detroit and was staffed wit ...

Fictional character biography

In his initial appearance Paragon faced and defeated the

by duplicating their unique abilities, but was defeated by the

Red Tornado Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

, an

inorganic In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemis ...

android, and

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness ...

(armed with his power ring), whose artificial powers Paragon could not duplicate. In his earliest appearance Cochin's stated goal was the eradication of all those he considered "inferior"—more than three-quarters of the

human race Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

. After his single appearance Paragon went unseen for more than two decades (real time). However, he has recently become a recurring opponent of Superman, although one who in certain circumstances was seen to help the Man of Steel.''Superman'' #675 (April 2008)

Powers and abilities

* Cochin has the ability to duplicate the physical and mental abilities of organic beings in his vicinity and use them himself, even magnifying them by a considerable amount. This includes the ability to copy

superhuman powers The term superhuman refers to humans or human-like beings with enhanced qualities and abilities that exceed those naturally found in humans. These qualities may be acquired through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. Th ...

. * Unlike supervillains such as the

Parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...

, who drains the powers of beings, Paragon does not take his target's unique abilities, but rather duplicates them. * He is unable to copy the powers of inorganic beings such as the

or weapons such as Green Lantern's ring. * In his original appearance, Paragon would lose someone's power as soon as they were out of his range. In his recent appearances, he was able to prolong the time he retains an ability through the use of a special high-tech suit of his own design.

References

External links

DCU Guide: Paragon
{{Justice League characters Characters created by Kurt Busiek Characters created by Chuck Patton Comics characters introduced in 1984 DC Comics supervillains DC Comics metahumans