Salamandroid

Origin

In his earliest appearances, the origin of Salamandroid was very ambiguous. He may have been a revived gang member who had a daughter. He might have had a mystical origin. Whatever it was, it was enough to convince van Sciver that the character had some potential.

Later printings elaborated how shortly after CyberFrog was accidentally born on Earth, another amphibian was caught in the same energy mass that created him. Kjell Sinn had anticipated that CyberFrog would need help if he was to fulfill his purpose as the protector of Earth. So she redirected the flow of the unstable energy and put it all on an unsuspecting salamander.

The consumption by the salamander was surprising, even to Kjell Sinn. According to her, it was as if the second amphibian was trying to outdo his brother by absorbing even more of the energy. By the time that the process was finished, the monstrous Salamandroid was born. And just in time to begin fulfilling his own purpose as a protector.

Creation

The idea for Salamandroid was spontaneously dreamed up during a trip to the San Diego Zoo by Ethan van Sciver. Initially, Salamandroid didn’t belong anywhere within the CyberFrog continuity. He was conceived as a separate character who had different kinds of adventures from the original cybernetic amphibian hero. In fact, he was only meant to be a one shot character who only appeared as a small part of an anthology collection of comic stories. However, the decision to make him a part of the CyberFrog universe was inevitable.

In his original appearance, the exact origins of Salamandroid weren’t set in stone. His origin was actually quite convoluted. It wasn’t known if he himself was once a gangster who had been mysteriously given a monstrous form. Or if he was somehow alien in origin. Whatever his original intended origins were, they were not elaborated upon, since the initial storyline was ended after the first installment.

Salamandroid was given a second chance when it was decided that he fit in nicely with the CyberFrog universe. From there, he was introduced as CyberFrog’s long lost younger twin brother, and was given a role as his brother’s protector.

Character Evolution

Personality

Unlike his easy going, irresponsible brother, Salamandroid carries himself with dignity, honor, purpose, loyalty and discipline. While CyberFrog will slack off and sit back to catch his favorite TV show, Salamandroid will be patrolling the city for trouble, before contacting his brother to call him into action.

Also unlike CyberFrog, he does not grasp humor very well. He is shown to have a more childlike intelligence, understanding things in a more simple or literal sense. As such, he doesn’t crack wise during combat, instead belittling his enemies by drawing attention to their weaknesses and how easily he could destroy them with a swing of his tail. However, there are hints that he may know more than he lets on about certain situations.

Described as being as sweet as a puppy dog, Salamandroid is gentle and polite with everyone he meets. His gentle and responsible nature has led to him being an adoptive father figure to Rebecca Lynn, who he looked after all throughout her childhood. This normally benign and placid nature completely flips at the sign of danger. Salamandroid takes his responsibility as a protector very seriously, and will slaughter anyone and anything that threatens an innocent life without mercy and with extreme overkill.

Appearance

Big barely scratches the surface of his description. Standing at a towering twelve feet and weighing an impressive two-thousand pounds, he outweighs and outsizes just about everybody he meets. Adding to his bulk is the excess of armor that covers his body, turning him into a veritable living tank.

His skin is electric blue with yellow spots. His body is heavily armored, with his neck, back, arms and legs being almost completely made of metal. Each of his digits terminates in long, sharp claws. Besides that, his chest and abdominals don’t have much armor. Not that he would need it, as he mostly fights while crawling on all fours. Along with all of that armor, his extraordinarily long tail is made completely of metal, and functions as a weapon.

Design-wise, his original look was more akin to a crocodile than a salamander. In more recent entries, Salamandroid’s design has been made into something of a chimera. While he definitely resembles a salamander more faithfully, his design also includes elements of a crocodile, a dragon, and of course a puppy dog.

Hall of Heroes

In his first appearance as a part of a Hall of Heroes anthology, Salamandroid was a thing of terror and of vengeance. Mobsters were running in terror from somebody (or something) that was only referred to as ‘the salamander.’ At this time, there wasn’t much to his character, besides being an impressive, hulking monstrosity that had a softer side when it came to being an adoptive father to an orphaned girl.

While Salamandroid didn’t have much development in his initial appearance, he would later be integrated into the CyberFrog canon with a more elaborated backstory.

Harris Comics

During the years at Harris, Salamandroid’s character was fleshed out in more detail. His origin was revealed as being CyberFrog’s younger twin brother. Also fleshed out was his personality as being honorable, compassionate and responsible. The idea was to create a contrast between him and his brother, who he would later encounter during the run of Harris Comics.

Also during this time, Salamandroid would be searching for a greater purpose to fulfill. While it is implied what it may be, the exact points of it are never made clear due to the sudden ending of CyberFrog comics.

ALL CAPS COMICS

After so many years, Salamandroid was fully fleshed out as a character with a solid origin story. It was made perfectly clear what type of character he was right from his first appearance.

Major Story Arcs

Debut Appearance

Salamandroid’s first appearance. First, he is seen slaughtering a group of gangsters, who Salamandroid has deemed unfit to live. Afterward, he goes to pick up his adopted daughter, Rebecca. In a later reprint, we learn what led to the two of them meeting one another as they had.

When his story was retold for the first time, Salamandroid was born on Earth shortly after CyberFrog. Nearby, a mob hit was taking place, and the newly aware Salamandroid experienced rage and indignance toward the unjust act. Just before the dead man’s daughter, Rebecca, was going to be killed next, Salamandroid’s birth was complete, and he emerged from the swamp to murder all of the criminals in one fell swoop. Directly after, he took in the frightened Rebecca as his own daughter.

Amphibionix

In his first major appearance in the CyberFrog continuity, Salamandroid begins to carry out the purpose that he was born to do. While CyberFrog is obsessing over a corpse that he can’t get rid of, Salamandroid takes it upon himself to defeat the rest of his enemies. While CyberFrog is completely unaware of his brother’s presence, it is implied that Sal was there to protect his brother from danger.

Sometime after that, Salamandroid meets up with Rebecca, who is now grown up and living with a foster family. While the reunion is joyful for the two of them, Salamandroid tells her that they can’t meet very often anymore, since he has discovered what his true purpose is. Unfortunately, the nature of this purpose would be left ambiguous, as CyberFrog comics ended abruptly shortly after this event.

Vyzpzz Invasion

Here is where Salamandroid truly shines as a character. As of Blood Honey, a soft reboot of the CyberFrog series was enacted, and much of the canon was overhauled. During this time, Salamandroid meets his brother and Heather Swain face to face, becoming an active member of their team, instead of hiding in the shadows.

Sometime before the Vyzpzz invade the Earth, Salamandroid had been out collecting tips about a bomb that Rumblebee had been delivering to Skorpeone. It is during this time that Sal and Frog get separated, and the initial battle with the invading horde is lost. Years later, nobody knows where Salamandroid is anymore, but there is hope that he is somewhere out there still protecting the remaining humans.

Powers

Sal’s cybernetic powers do not measure up to CyberFrog’s in many ways. While CyberFrog was born to be the savior of the planet, Salamandroid was born to be his brother’s protector. As such, while he lacks the ability to rapid evolve, his physical abilities far exceed what CyberFrog is capable of.

Superhuman Strength

Almost nothing is too heavy for Salamandroid to lift. The exact limit of his strength is unknown, but it is shown that his strength far outclasses almost anyone else he meets.

Superhuman Durability

Attacks that would send even other superpowered cybernetic beings flying don’t leave so much as a scratch on Salamandroid’s heavily armored body.

Enhanced Senses

It is unknown just how they scale in comparison to human capabilities, but Salamandroid is shown to be able to see things from far away and can track people by scent.

Enhanced Jump

Through nothing but sheer strength, Salamandroid is able to jump several times higher than the average human.

Homing Sense

A buzzing sensation that only he can hear draws him to where there is danger so that he may prevent it or stop its progress. While this isn’t seen directly, Sal describes exactly the sensation that he feels to Rebecca.

Plasma Breath

Salamandroid is able to spew forth a swath of purplish plasma from his mouth.

Prehensile Tail

His excessively long tail is not only a powerful weapon. It acts as an extra limb while his hands are occupied.