Plasmus

Character Name	Plasmus
Image
Caption	Plasmus as depicted in Who's Who in the DC Universe #18 (August 1986). Art by Marv Wolfman (penciller) and George Pérez (inker).
Real Name	Otto von Furth
Species	Metahuman
Publisher	DC Comics
Debut	The New Teen Titans #14 (December 1981)
Creators	Marv Wolfman George Pérez
Alliances	Brotherhood of Evil Suicide Squad Secret Society of Super Villains
Powers	*Superhuman strength, stamina, and durability *Regeneration *Fatal touch

Publication history

Plasmus first appeared in The New Teen Titans #14 and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.

Fictional character biography

Otto von Furth was a mine worker in East Berlin, Germany until an unexpected cave-in trapped him and four fellow miners for seven days. Von Furth's co-workers die, leaving him as the only survivor. After being rescued, Von Furth is hospitalized to be treated for radium poisoning. He is later kidnapped by ex-Nazi General Zahl, who transforms him into a metahuman with plasma-based abilities. Subsequently, he joins the Brotherhood of Evil under the name Plasmus. He and the Brotherhood of Evil fight the Teen Titans on different occasions. He enjoys these fights, but regrets not being able to kill Zahl.

The Brotherhood of Evil later reforms into the Society of Sin. During the "Our Worlds at War" event, Plasmus is recruited into Lex Luthor's Suicide Squad and apparently dies fighting Imperiex.

Plasmus accepts an invitation to join the Secret Society of Super Villains in the Countdown to Infinite Crisis series Villains United.

Plasmus is featured in Infinite Crisis as part of a small group of villains who bomb the city of Blüdhaven. The villain Chemo is dropped from an aircraft and detonates, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians.

During the One Year Later crossover, Plasmus rejoins the Brotherhood of Evil. He is also seen in Salvation Run. He is used by Lex Luthor as a power source for a teleportation device and is killed when the device self-destructs.

Plasmus is resurrected following The New 52, which rebooted the continuity of the DC universe. He appears as one of several villains who seek to take Blue Beetle's scarab for the Brotherhood of Evil.

Powers and abilities

Plasmus' body is made of chemicals that dissolve whatever they touch, reducing objects and people to a protoplasmic state. He additionally possesses immense strength, stamina, and durability, as well as self-healing capabilities.

Other versions

Plasmus appears in Tiny Titans.

In other media

Television

• Plasmus appears in Teen Titans (2003), voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. This version uncontrollably transforms into a sludge monster while awake, only reverting to human form while unconscious. Additionally, he can detach varying quantities of himself which can act independently and often take on insectoid forms. Later in the series, Plasmus mutates further, gains the ability to generate acid, and joins the Brotherhood of Evil.
• Plasmus, based on the Teen Titans (2003) incarnation, appears in Teen Titans Go! (2013).
• Plasmus appears in Young Justice, voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. This version is a Markovian child who was kidnapped and had his metagene activated as part of a metahuman trafficking operation. While battling the Justice League, Plasmus is shot and killed by a farmer who believes him to be a monster.

Video games

• Plasmus appears in Teen Titans (2005), voiced again by Dee Bradley Baker.
• Plasmus appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.

Miscellaneous

• Plasmus appears in Justice League Unlimited #31.
• Plasmus appears in Teen Titans Go! (2004).

References

• Cowsill, Alan, Irvine, Alex, Manning, Matthew K., McAvennie, Michael, Wallace, Daniel, DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle, 2019, DK Publishing
• Cowsill, Alan, Irvine, Alex, Korte, Steve, Manning, Matt, Wiacek, Win, Wilson, Sven, The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe, 2016, DK Publishing
• Rovin, Jeff, Jeff Rovin, The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains, 1987, Facts on File, New York
• Cronin, Brian, September 25, 2021, How Superman's Killer Doomsday Was Recruited by the Suicide Squad, live, September 25, 2021, April 3, 2025, CBR, en, Amanda Waller recruited a number of major heavyweight villains including Chemo, Shrapnel, Mongul and Plasmus working under the direction of Manchester Black (the head of the Authority substitute known as The Elite) to go on a special secret mission as a new Suicide Squad specifically to help even the odds against Imperiex.
• March 2006, Batman, All They Do is Watch Us Kill, Part 2, 649, 1, DC Comics, Winick, Judd, Battle, Eric, Ramos, Rodney, Sinclair, Alex
• July 2008, Salvation Run, We Gotta Get Out of this Planet, 7, 1, DC Comics, Sturges, Lilah, Chen, Sean, Wong, Walden; Faucher, Wayne, Kalisz, John, ; Chu, Tom S.
• November 2011, Blue Beetle, Metamorphosis, Part One, 1, 8, DC Comics, Bedard, Tony, Guara, Ig, José, Ruy, Pantazis, Pete
• Salvatore, Brian, March 2, 2012, Review: Tiny Titans #49, live, July 28, 2014, April 3, 2025, Multiversity Comics, en, And so, when reading Tiny Titans #49, I tried to not care why Clayface and Plasmus weren't villains, or other totally irrelevant matters. Instead, I laughed my ass off at the Legion cameos, enjoyed seeing Larfleeze done in the inimitable Baltazar style, and generally smiled the entire issue.
• Plasmus Voices (Teen Titans), live, April 6, 2024, April 6, 2024, Behind The Voice Actors
• Dandeneau, Jim, January 6, 2019, Young Justice Season 3 Episode 3 Review: Eminent Threat, live, December 6, 2021, October 12, 2024, Den of Geek, en-US, The only place this show has really failed so far this season is when the regular guy walks out of his house, walks back in, and then later shoots Plasmus. The first 2/3 of that are played for laughs, I think (or at least I can’t stop laughing about the look on his face), and then he kills a kid. A bit jarring.
• Mills, Joey, January 6, 2019, Young Justice: Outsiders Season 3 'Eminent Threat' (Spoiler Recap), live, November 30, 2020, April 3, 2025, Bleeding Cool, en, Freed from Vertigo's control, Otto helps the team defeat Ecks as Vertigo escapes. Halo resurrects and heals. It looks like another victory for the team until the farmer returns and shoots Otto – thinking the metahuman a monster.
• Eisen, Andrew, October 4, 2013, DC Characters and Objects - , Scribblenauts Unmasked, Guide, live, October 11, 2013, April 6, 2024, IGN
• Teen Titans Go!, #14 - If You Can't Beat 'Em... (Issue), live, July 12, 2016, January 17, 2025, Comic Vine, en, Speedy joins the Titans as Plasmus returns to menace the city!