Supervillain Origins: Hector Hammond

Supervillain Origins: Hector Hammond

He is the large-headed telepathic enemy of the Green Lantern, and is notorious for feeding on the positive thoughts of others. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we will explore the comic book origins of Hector Hammond.

As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginings and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen to primarily follow the storyline, which unfolded in the 1960s Green Lantern comic book series in issue #5 and was later expanded upon in the Justice League of America issue #14.

Hal Jordan, otherwise known as the Green Lantern has a slew of deadly enemies. However, Hector Hammond is one of the few that is native to his home planet of Earth.

Originally a petty criminal on the run from the law, he one day stumbled upon fragments of a meteor in the woods. Observing the radiation’s startling and rapid evolution-inducing effects on the nearby plant life, he decided to kidnap four scientists and expose them to its transformative effects.

Soon after conducting his devious plan, their intelligence rose exponentially, and with every IQ point they gained, they lost ounces of willpower, ensuring that they could be easily controlled.

Forcing his mutated prisoners to create advanced technology, he sold these inventions. Making a huge profit, he used the money and influence to become a powerful celebrity.

Peaking the interest of Earth’s Green Lantern protector, Hal Jordan decided to investigate the mogul and get to the bottom of his rapid rise and production of alarmingly advanced technological innovations.

In order to accomplish this, Hal has his mechanic friend Thomas take on his persona as the Green Lantern. This diversion, complete with replica power-ring and costume, allowed Hal to seek out the answers without raising suspicions by Hammond or his organization.

Unaware of the impersonation, Hammond inadvertently kidnapped Thomas in order to steal the Green Lantern Power Ring. Succeeding, he used the advanced technology to devolve Thomas into a chimpanzee.

Realizing what has happened, and that Hammond is in fact a hardened criminal mastermind, Jordan personally confronted the mogul in a power ring battle.

Inferior and unable to recharge, Hammond’s ring eventually ran out of energy.

Capturing his new enemy, Jordan restored his friend and the other scientists to their original states.

However, this was not the end of Hector Hammond, as he later escaped from prison, and sought vengeance. Hammond returned to the Meteorite and exposed himself to large amounts of its cosmic rays.

His brain grew to an enormous size, giving him telepathic and telekinetic powers, as well as immortality.

Unfortunately, the power carried consequences. His body became immobilized and he lost the ability to speak. Trapped in a motionless state, he used his psionic powers to communicate and control the minds of others.

However, the side effect to this mind-reading ability is a constant craving and need to feed off of the positive thoughts of others and rip them from their minds, taking them as his own.

Using his mind slaves, he focused his energies on stealing the Green Lantern’s Power Ring, and would battle Hal Jordan several times throughout the years.

In 2011, Hector Hammond made his first major film appearance in The Green Lantern as the first nemesis of Hal Jordan.