Parasite is the name of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Each iteration of the character has the ability to temporarily absorb the life force, attributes, memories, and superpowers of anyone through physical touch. The most well-known and recurring incarnation is Rudy Jones, who has become one of Superman's most enduring enemies and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues' gallery. The Rudy Jones incarnation of Parasite has been substantially adapted from the comics into multiple forms of media, most notably in the DC Animated Universe's Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League as well as the live-action TV series Smallville and Supergirl, portrayed by Brendan Fletcher and William Mapother respectively. Additionally, Raymond Jensen and Ally Allston appear in Supergirl and Superman & Lois, portrayed by Anthony Konechny and Rya Kihlstedt respectively.
Publication history The Raymond Maxwell Jensen version of Parasite first appeared in Action Comics #340 (August 1966) and was created by Jim Shooter. Shooter, who began working for DC at age 13, says that his inspiration for the villain was learning about parasites in his ninth-grade biology class. As of 2026, artist Al Plastino can be found listed as the character's co-creator. Shooter addressed the issue, and his process at DC at the time, in a 2016 email to writer Stephen Sonneveld :
Pet peeve: I did not "co-create" the Parasite. I designed the character visually and every other way. No one helped. But how would you know? The credits say otherwise, of course... It's even more annoying because I supplied character designs and comprehensive layouts for that (and every) story done for DC. Nonetheless, whoever did the finished art is my "co-creator." Sigh. Curt Swan, Al Plastino and the rest do not need their resumes padded. They're Hall of Fame on their own merits.
The Rudy Jones version of Parasite first appeared in Firestorm (vol. 2) #58 and was created by John Ostrander and Joe Brozowski. The Alexander and Alexandra Allston versions of Parasite first appeared in The Adventures of Superman #633 and were created by Greg Rucka, Matthew Clark, and Andrew Lanning. The Joshua Allen version of the New 52 Parasite first appeared in Superman (vol. 3) #23.4 and was created by Aaron Kuder.
Fictional character biography
Raymond Maxwell Jensen In pre-Crisis continuity, Raymond Jensen is a lowlife who gets a job as a plant worker for a research center. Wrongly believing that the company payrolls are hidden in storage containers, Jensen opens one and was bombarded with energies from biohazard materials (which was actually waste collected by Superman when he traveled into outer space), transforming him into a purple-skinned, parasitic entity. Any time he touched someone, he could absorb their physical and mental properties. Touching Superman would instantly absorb a sizable fraction of his powers (it was established early on that he is not capable of acquiring the whole of Superman's powers). On one occasion, while attempting to absorb a greater portion of his adversary's powers than previously, his body disintegrated for a period of time due to the pressure in his cells. Despite these abilities, Parasite became depressed because he could no longer embrace his wife and children. Despite this, he had knowledge of his foe's alter ego and often used this to attack Clark Kent. Gaining sizable intellect from his multiple encounters with Superman, Parasite devised the means to reanimate dormant plant remains left behind from the Earth-Two supervillain Solomon Grundy, creating a newer and stronger version of the creature to plague his adversary. On another occasion, Parasite devised the means to temporarily transfer the powers of the hero Air Wave to Air Wave's adversary Casey Jones.
Rudy Jones Originally a menial slacker, Rudy Jones is transformed into Parasite while working as a janitor at a Pittsburgh S.T.A.R. Labs facility. Unknown to anyone, Darkseid manipulates Jones into exposing himself to radioactive waste, transforming him into Parasite. Jones gains the ability to absorb the life energy of other people, which he requires to sustain his body. Parasite joins the Suicide Squad in confronting Firestorm, who is attempting to make the United States and the Soviet Union give up their nuclear weapons on behalf of a terminally ill Martin Stein. Throughout his appearances, Parasite's abilities evolve, giving him the ability to absorb fire, electricity, and consciousnesses, and mimic the genetic makeup and appearance of others. However, he is forced to absorb energy more frequently to stay alive. After escaping from S.T.A.R. Labs, Parasite formulates a plan to get back at Superman. After absorbing Lois Lane's knowledge and learning Superman's secret identity, Parasite plans to emotionally break Superman by posing as Lois. Just as Parasite is about to lay the final blow to Superman, he is stricken with kryptonite poisoning that he had drained from Superman, unbeknownst to either of them. Parasite dies before he can tell Superman Lois' whereabouts. In Justice League of America, Parasite resurfaces in St. Roch, Louisiana, where he uses his abilities to temporarily neutralize the powers of villains for a fee so they can evade detection. The 2009-10 miniseries Superman: Secret Origin redefines Parasite's origin. In this version, Rudy Jones is a janitor at the Daily Planet who is selected to join LexCorp. There, he eats a donut imbued with Kryptonite radiation that transforms him into Parasite. In the DC Rebirth relaunch, Parasite is a member of the Suicide Squad. In Dawn of DC, Parasite reforms, is employed at Supercorp, and is given a special wristband that supplies him with energy. He also develops the ability to create small duplicates of himself and adopts one of them as a pet. Parasite is later seemingly killed by Doomsday, but absorbs part of Doomsday's energy, which allows him to survive.
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