Pariah (Kell Mossa) is a fictional character in stories 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 ...

. He is a cosmologist who first appeared as a pivotal character during the ''

Crisis on Infinite Earths ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' is a 1985 to 1986 American comic book fictional crossover, crossover series published by DC Comics. Written by Marv Wolfman and penciller, pencilled by George Pérez, it was first released as a 12-issue limited ser ...

'' storyline.

Publication history

Pariah first appeared in ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' #1 (April 1985), and was created by writer

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade (character), Blade, and DC Comi ...

and artist

George Pérez George Pérez (; June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022) was an American comic book artist and writer, who worked primarily as a penciller. He came to prominence in the 1970s penciling ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' and ''The Avengers (c ...

Fictional biography

Pariah is a scientist from an unidentified alternate universe that was destroyed by the

Anti-Monitor The Anti-Monitor is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He served as the main antagonist of the 1985 DC Comics miniseries ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' and later appears as an enemy to the Green Lantern Corps ...

. The

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

rescues him and forces him to witness the destruction of other universes. In ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', the Anti-Monitor escapes his prison and ravages the

multiverse The multiverse is the hypothetical set of all universes. Together, these universes are presumed to comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describ ...

. After the Anti-Monitor is destroyed and the multiverse reduced to a singular universe, Pariah,

Lady Quark Lady Quark is a fictional character, a superheroine in the DC Universe. In the DC Comics 12-issue limited series ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' (1985-1986), the character was one of the rulers of Earth-Six, which was ruled by royalty. In the 2011 ...

, and

Harbinger A harbinger is a forerunner or forewarning, but may also refer to: Companies * Harbinger Corp., an Internet-oriented business * Harbinger Capital, a hedge fund * Harbinger Knowledge Products, an eLearning products and content services company ...

embark to explore it. Years later, Pariah is killed by

Alexander Luthor Jr. Alexander Luthor Jr. is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The son of Earth-Three's Lex Luthor, he played a large role in the ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' and ''Infinite Crisis'' events. Publication history ...

In ''

Blackest Night "Blackest Night" is a 2009–10 American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous central miniseries, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis, along with a number of tie-in i ...

'', he is temporarily resurrected as a

Black Lantern The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of wikt:corporeal, corporeal revenants (resembling intelligent zombies or jiangshi) appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of d ...

. Pariah is resurrected in ''

The New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...

'' continuity reboot, where he makes a minor appearance as a prisoner of

A.R.G.U.S. A.R.G.U.S. (Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans) is a fictional government organization appearing in DC Comics. A.R.G.U.S. first appeared in ''Justice League'' vol. 2 #7 and was created by Geoff Johns and Gene Ha. Headed by Amanda Walle ...

In ''

Dark Crisis "Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths", originally "Dark Crisis", is a 2022 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, comprising an eponymous central 7 issue mini-series by writer Joshua Williamson and artist Daniel Sampere, and a number of tie-in bo ...

'', Pariah is corrupted by the Great Darkness and battles the

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

before being killed by his anti-matter cannon.

Powers and abilities

Pariah is seemingly indestructible and immortal. During ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', he survived a catastrophic disaster caused by the Anti-Monitor. Granted by the Monitor, he can teleport to other multiverses which serve as his focal point. He possesses superhuman physical abilities and can fly. Using the Great Darkness, he can create pocket dimensions and erase others from existence.

In other media

* An original incarnation of Pariah,

Nash Wells Harrison Wells is the name of several characters portrayed by Tom Cavanagh in The CW's Arrowverse franchise, primarily on the television series ''The Flash''. Wells, created by Geoff Johns, Greg Berlanti, and Andrew Kreisberg, is an original cre ...

, appears in the

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American Superhero fiction, superhero media franchise and shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series ...

crossover "

" (2019), portrayed by

Tom Cavanagh Thomas Cavanagh (born October 26, 1963) is a Canadian actor. He is known for a variety of roles on American television, including starring roles in ''Ed (TV series), Ed'' (2000–2004), ''Love Monkey'' (2006) and ''Trust Me (American TV series) ...

. * An original incarnation of Pariah,

John Constantine John Constantine (), also known as Hellblazer, is an antihero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben, and first appeared in ''Swamp Thing'' #37 (June 1985). I ...

, appears in the

Tomorrowverse The DC Animated Movie Universe (DCAMU) is an American media franchise and shared universe of animated films distributed between 2013 and 2024 by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment. Based on characters from the DC Universe (DC Comics) ...

films '' Green Lantern: Beware My Power'' and '' Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths'', voiced by

Nolan North Nolan North (born October 31, 1970) is an American actor best known for his voice acting roles. After his breakthrough role as Dr. Chris Ramsey on the ABC soap opera '' Port Charles'' in 1997, North moved into voice acting when the show ended ...

. 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.

References

External links

Pariah
at DC Comics Wiki {{Justice League characters Characters created by George Pérez Characters created by Marv Wolfman Comics characters introduced in 1985 DC Comics characters who can teleport DC Comics immortals DC Comics male characters DC Comics scientists Fictional characters with dimensional travel abilities Fictional physicists