Who's Who: Glorith I

 

Glorith I
by Russell & Siskoid

Real Name: Glorith

Super-Power(s): Magic, time control
Planet of Origin: Baaldur

Relationship to Legion: Villain

Legion Log
The original Glorith of Baaldur was a henchwoman of the Time Trapper's who was sent back in time to the 30th Century where she attempted to destroy the Legion by transforming them into children. When the prepubescent Legionnaires managed to defeat her, the Time Trapper de-aged her until she reverted to protoplasm.

When Mon-El essentially destroyed the Time Trapper in the later days of this iteration of the Legion, his death erased the Pocket Universe and the Superboy who inhabited it from existence, which in turn meant that the Legion was never formed. Without the Legion to hold his power in check, the sorcerer Mordru dominated much of the known universe. In this altered timeline, Glorith was Mordru's "First Wife". Another of Mordru's wives, Mysa (in another continuity, the Legionnaire White Witch), had visions of the previous reality and the Trapper's importance in preventing the rise of Mordru. Mysa's covert allies, Andrew Nolan (the Legionnaire Ferro Lad) and Rond Vidar, devised a plan to use Glorith to recreate the previous timeline, and end Mordru's domination.

The original timeline was thus restored but with some notable changes: Mon-El (renamed "Valor") replaced Superboy as the Legion's inspiration, 20th-Century member Supergirl was replaced by 30th-Century member Laurel Gand of Daxam, and the Time Trapper was replaced as the master of time manipulation by Glorith. This timeline is sometimes referred to as the Glorithverse.

Glorith frequently meddled in Legion history. She was responsible for the death of An Ryd (a crime for which Ultra Boy was framed), Brainiac 5's temporary loss of sanity, and the genocidal destruction of the planet Daxam (an event which replaced the death of Superboy in Legion history). At one point, Ultra Boy began to suspect that Glorith had manipulated the timeline to replace another being (the Time Trapper) and steal his power, and that she would soon reach omnipotence. To stop her, he tricked Mordru into attacking her. Although the battle was essentially a draw, it cost her enough power to prevent her from conquering the universe. Eventually, Glorith learned of Ultra Boy's covert operations. To punish him, she sent his fiancee Phantom Girl a thousand years back in time (where she became the amnesiac Phase and joined L.E.G.I.O.N.), and made it seem that Phantom Girl had died. To maintain a balance, she took a 20th-Century Durlan (who was the sole friend of L.E.G.I.O.N. founder Vril Dox II) and sent him forward to the mid-30th Century. After a virus permanently removed his shape-shifting powers and froze him in humanoid form, the Durlan assumed the name R. J. Brande. He would prosper in business, becoming one of the richest persons of the era and the benefactor of the Legion of Super-Heroes. It was also eventually revealed that she rescued the body of Triplicate Girl killed by Computo and turned her into one of her agents; this would allow Luornu Durgo to assume the identity of Duo Damsel once again.

Additionally, Glorith attempted to seduce Valor in the 20th Century. When he ultimately rejected her, she banished him to the Bgztl Buffer Zone (the "Glorithverse" equivalent of the Phantom Zone) until he was released in the 30th Century by the Legion. After the so-called Five-Year Gap, she would frequently plague the Legion, going so far as to team up with Mordru to take over the universe, and at one point causing various Legionnaires to be permanently aged or de-aged.

Ultimately, however, Glorith's continual rewriting of timelines caused the original Time Trapper to reappear, exacerbated the destabilization of the current timeline, and was a major catalyst for the events leading to Zero Hour, after which Legion continuity was completely rebooted.

After the Reboot, Glorith does not appear, but the Legion befriends a young girl named Lori Morning, whose power lust eventually leads her to manifest the same appearance as the original adult Glorith. Lori is hinted to become a new Time Trapper.

Glorith does not appear in the Threeboot.

After Infinite Crisis, Glorith's original history has presumably been more or less restored. During the Final Crisis, Mordru calls upon those that died by pain and torture by his hand, and Glorith is among their number; her reanimated skeleton arises and is promptly destroyed by the Legion. Later, a girl called Glorith, apprenticed on Sorcerers' World, joins the Legion, but this is a separate character. (See Who's Who: Glorith II.)

Defining Villainous Moment: 

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) Annual #1

Glorith destroys Daxam

Important Glorith Stories:

Adventure Comics #338

(reprinted in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 4
and Showcase Presents The Legion Vol. 2)

 
Glorith of Baaldur appears as a lackey to the Time Trapper;
when she fails to destroy the Legion, he de-evolves her into slime

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #5

Glorith is Mordru's First Wife in a reality without the Legion

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #13

Glorith replaces the Time Trapper in a new reality called the Glorithverse

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) Annual #1

The secret history of Glorith has her create the Legion by bringing R.J. Brande to the
30th Century, but she also destroys Daxam, sends Phantom Girl to the past, etc.

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #17

Glorith poses as the Khunds' Demon Mother to manipulate their empire

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) Annual #2

A jilted Glorith sends Valor to the Bgtzl Buffer Zone for a thousand years

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #42

Glorith "rescued" Triplicate's body killed by Computo and turned her into one of her agents

Valor #11-21

Glorith goes back in time to make Valor fall in love with her

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #53

Glorith attacks the Legion, leaving several aged or de-aged; plus, her secret origin!

Legion of Super-Heroes (v4) #60, Legionnaires #17-18, Valor #23

Glorith's alliance with Mordru to recreate the universe in their image exacerbates the problems
she's caused with the timeline and precipitates Zero Hour

Legionnaires #51

Lori Morning appears in one panel as Glorith after "dialing up a hero"

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #2

Mordru raises Glorith from the dead to fight the Legion; her bones are quickly defeated