Obsidian

Origin

Todd Rice is the son of Alan Scott and Rose Canton, the villain known as Thorn. One of a pair of twins, both were put up for adoption as infants and separated. Todd grew up in an abusive home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - the same town as his sister, Jade. Jade was the lucky one as Todd was regularly abused. In his late teens, Todd found he had a twin sister and he set out and eventually found Jade.

Afterward, they set off and joined a team called Infinity Inc. which was largely filled with the proteges and offspring of the JSA. When Infinity Inc. ended Obsidian and his friend Nuklon were put into the JLA comic book of the early nineties. It was here that the first appearance of Todd’s homosexuality appeared when he said he loved Nuklon.

Todd inherited a chance of mental illness from his mother, Thorn. Then being corrupted by scientist Ian Karkull, Obsidian turns evil, using his shadow-like powers to aid him in stealing all the shadows from an entire city, to help him spread darkness all over the world.

Todd has recently joined the Justice Society of America as a security guard for the New York Headquarters. He did this until the latest attack on it which caused him to transform into an egg of darkness. This egg was nearly stolen by the All American Kid.

Powers and Abilities

Obsidian has a variety of shadow-like powers from his father's exposure to shadow energy in a fight with Ian Karkull. He has the power to possess someone's shadow and combine it with his own. When Obsidian turns to Shadow form, he is much stronger than when in Human form. He is able to control his powers so that he can grow to an huge size or create objects out of shadows. When in shadow form he can pass through objects and also fly. He also has miniscule telepathic abilities which allows him to force a person to the evil side of their soul which could drive them crazy. During the crisis in which Neron was attempting to gain the souls of heroes it was shown that Todd's powers were greatly increased. He seemed able to move through the shadows to almost anywhere in the universe, and draw on the evil around him for power. Though it hasn't been shown since it is reasonable to assume that Obsidian is vastly more powerful when evil or the darker forces are more strongly presented in the mortal world.

Animated Appearances

Obsidian is to the left of Batman

He appeared as a member of the Justice League in Justice League Unlimited. However, he was not given a speaking role and was not seen in combat.