Who and what is the Bizarro Superman? A longtime DC Comics character with a complicated history, Bizarro has had more than a few origins and different iterations. More often than not portrayed as a dull, misunderstood brute with a penchant for destruction, Bizarro has long been associated as a Superman foe.
However, his motivations and journey have drifted as time has gone on, providing him with much more dimension and dynamics. Read on to learn what Bizarro was, what he turned into thanks to DC retcons and reboots, and what he is now currently in the DC Universe's present.
When he was first introduced in 1958, Bizarro was the product of a scientists' duplicating ray being turned on Superman, creating a mirror image version of the Man of Steel dubbed Bizarro, a monstrous version of Kal-El with white skin. Bizarro also possesses the opposite of Superman's powers such as fire breath and cryonic vision. Furthermore, kryptonite has no effect on him. His speech is often portrayed as being impaired, with his wishes and desires being the opposite of what he says. For example "Me Am Hate Superman" would be Bizarro-speak for "I Love Superman." He also wears a mirrored suit of Superman's, complete with a reversed "S" on the chest, wanting to emulate Superman with often disastrous results. While some fans might think this first version of Bizarro to be somewhat simplistic, he actually was given more dimension than most other villains at the time, thanks to the popularity he received. He even got his own series titled "Bizarro World", where he duplicated himself a Bizarro-Lois Lane and other Bizarro citizens on their own cube-shaped planet called Htrae (Earth spelled backwards).
Over time, and after a few Crises and reboots later, Bizarro's origins was changed to be that of a clone created by Superman arch-foe Lex Luthor. In the New 52 reboot, it's revealed that Lex Luthor was attempting to clone Superman by infusing his DNA with that of a human's. While 10 years of gestation would have supposedly done the trick, Lex Luthor was forced to release and activate subject B-0 after only 5 years, needing some backup to take down the Crime Syndicate during the Forever Evil storyline. The result was the slow-speaking, white- skinned copy of Superman with reversed powers fans know Bizarro to be (though the reverse-speak was lost).
This version of Bizarro still had the innocence of a child, and Lex convinced him to help him, which ended up with the clone giving his life to save Lex. After Forever Evil concluded, it was revealed that Lex grew fond of his creation, determining to create an exact copy of Bizarro (what was essentially a half-baked Superman clone). During DC's Rebirth, Jason Todd the Red Hood and the Amazonian Artemis discover the fruit of Lex's labor: a new Bizarro clone identical to the first clone.
Rather than see Bizarro as a brutish monster, Jason and Artemis befriend Bizarro, giving him happiness and and a place to belong. Together, they from a Dark Trinity known as the Outlaws. When Bizarro gets sick and his cells start to deteriorate, Lex agrees to help Jason and Artemis revive him, provided he get the credit and Bizarro becomes considered his property. Lex's work is successful, but also makes Bizarro incredibly smart, though that starts to fade away over time. However, Bizarro has become more mature (he grew a beard), adopting a more zen approach to life, but still willing to punch stuff to help his friends when needed.
So what is Bizarro? Is he a villain or anti-hero? Monster or misunderstood? Clone or duplicate? smart or dumb? Destructor or zen master? That's the truly great thing about Bizarro. He's been all of the above at one time or another, and some of them simultaneously. He's just "bizarre" enough to have been characterized in so many different ways, yet his core still remains the same: he wants to belong and be happy. He's no Superman, but that's a good thing in this case. Me am hate Bizarro.