Steppenwolf foolishly fought for himself. Let me make my intentions clear... Hail Darkseid!
- — Superman src
Brutaal is a clone of Superman created by Darkseid.
History
Rise of Bizarro
At some point in time, Darkseid managed to manufacture a clone of Kal-El in almost every facet. This clone had all of Kal's memories, including his upbringing with the Kents. However, it does not appear to have any memory of Val-Zod.
The Hunger Dogs
As Brutaal, the Superman clone fought the new Wonders and defeated them alongside the other Hunger Dogs.[1] He would then spare the heroes for an unknown reason and would go to Steppenwolf's aid during the World Army's invasion of Dherain. The new Wonders eventually returned after being healed by Doctor Fate and would help evacuate the remaining World Army Soldiers. The clone would soon aid Steppenwolf in his fight with Green Lantern and ended up defeating him. The clone then killed Steppenwolf, as the latter was declaring himself the master of Earth rather than Darkseid, and then removed his costume, making everyone mistakenly believe him to be the original Superman.[2]
The clone continued his assault on the World Army's Arkham base, but soon came in to conflict with Doctor Fate who came to stop him. After a very brief battle Superman got the upper hand and managed to crack Fate's helmet. Just as he was about to kill Fate, the Flash arrived and took the beaten Fate back to the World Army's base. After defeating Fate, the Superman clone continued to attack the base and managed to cause most of it to cave-in.[3] Just as he prepared to enter the destroyed base, Flash stepped in and tried to distract the clone, by forcing him to chase him. The clone eventually caught him, but spared him, saying that he could be useful to Darkseid. The clone eventually returned to Arkham with an unconscious Flash and told Mister Terrific and Terrence Sloan that Darkseid had need of them and then told Doctor Bedlam to release the horde of Parademons to attack Earth.[4]
The clone, after releasing the Parademon horde, took Flash, Mister Terrific, and Sloan to Washington, D.C., where he took the Washington Monument and threw it into the White House. The clone then declared that everyone should be thankful, for Darkseid had decided to make their Earth into the "New Apokolips" and he needed Sloan and Mr. Terrific's help to do it.
The clone later left Sloan and Terrific with Bedlam and continued with exterminating the remains of the World Army. The clone ended up in Moscow, where the remaining members of the World Army were be transported to safety by Sandman. The World Army's Wonder the Atom tried to hold off the Superman clone, but was quickly defeated after the clone used his heat vision to remove Atom's right arm and used it to knock him. Even though he defeated Atom, the clone was unable to finish off the remaining World Army forces, who escaped through Sandman's portal.
After leaving Moscow, the clone met up with the Beguiler and discovered the Space Ark, which was the last hope for humanity to survive, while the remaining people on Earth were left to die. Beguiler offered to destroy the ship, but was stopped by the clone, who decided to make an example. The clone then proceeded to break the ship open in the vacuum of space, killing all of the passengers inside. After killing all of the passengers, Bedlam contacted Superman and told him that he discovered Sloan was hiding a Kryptonian. The clone would then return to the location where they were holding Sloan and attempted to interrogate him, but he was stopped by Doctor Bedlam, who revealed that the Kryptonian's name is Val-Zod and he was held at the World Army's Arkham base. After seeing some footage of Val's escape, the clone notices Batman and mistakes him for Bruce Wayne. The clone then tells Bedlam to send some Parademons with him to Gotham believing that's where he will find Val.
Upon arriving in Gotham, the clone began to search for Val, whom he quickly found. The clone managed to overpower Val and attempted to kill him, but was stopped by Red Tornado, who revealed herself to be Lois Lane. After revealing herself to the clone she got hit by one of the Parademons' blasts, which then caused the clone to attack them and then goes back to evil berserk way before Lois snaps him out. The clone and Lois then leave and go to the Kent farm where Superman kills Pa Kent because he stood up against him and Darkseid.

When the clone clashes with Val-Zod, now wearing the symbol of the House of El, Val realizes that the clone was not the real Superman. He realizes the scars around the clone's eyes are not scars, but cracks in his skin. He cracks the skin to reveal a broken, haphazard being with an inverted House of El symbol. Lois destroys what is left of the clone and it decays into dust.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Bizarro Physiology
- Solar Radiation Absorption
- Superhuman Strength: As a clone of Superman Brutaal possesses incredible physical strength. He can easily rip a man's head off and has proven able to easily defeat both Green Lanter and The Atom in a few blows.[1] He has shown enough power to bisect Steppenwolf's body with a single blow[2] and can cause small earthquakes by stomping on the ground.[3]
- Superhuman Speed: Brutaal is able to move far faster than the fittest human being and appears as a blur when reaching high speeds.[5]
- Superhuman Agility
- Superhuman Reflexes
- Superhuman Stamina
- Invulnerability: Brutaal's body is invulnerable to all forms of damage. During their first confrontation he took a blow from Green Lantern and showed no damage whatsoever.[1]
- Self-Sustenance
- Flight: Brutaal can fly at incredible speeds, appearing only as a blur.[1] At his top speed he was able to keep up with Flash but not outrun him.[4]
- Super-Breath
- Superhuman Senses
- Superhuman Hearing: Brutaal's hearing is so acute to allow him to hear conversations happening in closed rooms in other locations.[3]
- Superhuman Smell
- Superhuman Vision
- Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision
- Telescopic Vision
- Microscopic Vision
- X-Ray Vision: Brutaal can use his X-ray vision to look through solid matter.[4]
- Thermal Vision
- Heat Vision: Brutaal can project from his eyes powerful beams of heat capable of easily disintegrating a human being.[6]
- Omega Sanction: Brutaal can bend and twist his optic beams, making them all the more deadly.[3] These beams are fast enough to hit the Flash.[4]
- Solar Radiation Absorption
Abilities
Weaknesses
- Vulnerability to Magic
- Power Limitation: Brutaal is not a perfect clone and when he pushed himself too much against Superman his body started to crumble and revealed his Bizarro nature.[7]
Related
- 19 Appearances of Brutaal (Earth 2)
- 12 Images featuring Brutaal (Earth 2)
- 3 Quotations by or about Brutaal (Earth 2)
- Character Gallery: Brutaal (Earth 2)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Earth 2 #15
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Earth 2 #16
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Earth 2 #17
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Earth 2 #18
- ↑ Earth 2 #25
- ↑ Earth 2 #14
- ↑ Earth 2 #26
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