science

Ultra-Humanite

Ultra-Humanite is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ultra-Humanite rather than just read about it. In short: The Ultra-Humanite is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared as a recurring adversary of Superman, and was the first supervillain faced by him.

Key takeaways

Ultra-Humanite belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ultra-Humanite to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ultra-Humanite from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Ultra-Humanite is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared as a recurring adversary of Superman, and was the first supervillain faced by him. Though his name is a near-synonym for Superman, he was designed to be the polar opposite of Superman; while Superman is a hero with superhuman strength, the Ultra-Humanite is a criminal mastermind who has a crippled body but a highly advanced intellect. The Ultra-Humanite served as Superman's nemesis until the introduction of Superman's archnemesis, the mad scientist Lex Luthor. The origins of the Ultra-Humanite are shrouded in mystery. Even he claims not to remember his true name or appearance and attributes his vast intellect and mental prowess to scientific experiments of an unknown nature. In other media, the Ultra-Humanite has appeared in Justice League, voiced by Ian Buchanan, as well as the third and final season of The CW network television series Stargirl.

Publication history The Ultra-Humanite was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. He first appeared in Action Comics #13 (June 1939), which was written by Siegel and drawn by Paul Cassidy (serving as a ghost artist for Shuster).

Fictional character history

Golden Age

The Ultra-Humanite is described by Superman as a "mad scientist who seeks domination of the Earth", is paralyzed from the waist down, and uses a wheelchair. Possessing a heightened intelligence, he prefers to use his talents for crime. Superman sets out to take down the Cab Protective League, an organization headed by racketeer Jackie Reynolds. Reynolds' union intimidates other cab drivers through violence and threats against passengers. Apprehended by police, who overheard him mention his crimes during an argument with Superman, Reynolds is sentenced to Sing Sing penitentiary, but escapes by using a cigarette to emit a poisonous gas that kills his guards. Superman finds Reynolds in a cabin hideout, only to learn that Reynolds is working for the Ultra-Humanite. Superman is knocked out by an electric trap and taken captive. Reynolds and the Ultra-Humanite attempt to kill him with a buzz saw, but Superman's tough skin breaks the saw into fragments, which hit and kill Reynolds. Ultra-Humanite's henchmen set fire to the cabin, escape with their boss, and leave Superman to die. Superman regains consciousness and leaps into the aircraft's propeller, deliberately crashing the plane. He is unable to find the Ultra-Humanite, who escapes. Ultra-Humanite is killed in battle with Superman after taking a blast from his own electrical gun. His assistants revive him with adrenaline. However, his body is still dying, so Ultra has his henchmen kidnap actress Dolores Winters and transplant his brain into her body. When "Dolores" threatens to disfigure her captives using a torch, Superman recognizes her as Ultra-Humanite. After Superman extinguishes the torch, Ultra-Humanite escapes. The Ultra-Humanite made his last Superman appearance in Action Comics #21 (1940), and made no further comic book appearances for several decades. He was replaced as Superman's arch-enemy by Lex Luthor, who was introduced in Action Comics #23 (1940).

Silver Age and the Multiverse With the introduction of DC's multiverse system, the continuity of Golden Age Superman stories and the Ultra-Humanite were retroactively placed on Earth-Two, the Earth of DC's Golden Age characters. The Ultra-Humanite was reintroduced during the Silver Age as a recurring villain in the "Mr. and Mrs. Superman" feature in the Superman Family anthology comic. The feature consists of stories about the early years of the marriage between the Earth-Two Superman and Lois Lane. These stories feature a number of Golden Age Superman villains of which the Ultra-Humanite is the most prominent. In a JLA/JSA teamup story in Justice League of America #195-197 (1981), the Ultra-Humanite transfers his consciousness to an albino gorilla body. Later on, he recruits Brain Wave, Monocle, Rag Doll, Psycho-Pirate, Mist, Plant Master, Signalman, Cheetah, and Killer Frost into the Secret Society of Super Villains.

Post-Crisis After the 1985-86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman's history was rewritten in The Man of Steel miniseries, and the Earth-Two Superman was removed from continuity. The Ultra-Humanite was excluded from Superman's reboot; previous appearances of the Ultra-Humanite fighting Golden Age Superman were retold to show him having fought other 1940s heroes. The Ultra-Humanite's most ambitious scheme occurs in the 2002 "Stealing Thunder" story arc from JSA #32-37 where, having taken over the body of an aged Johnny Thunder, he deceives Jakeem Thunder into handing over his magical pen. With Thunderbolt's power, the Ultra-Humanite restores his body's youth, and then proceeds to take over the world. Under his rule, Earth is transformed into essentially a single mind, with nearly every metahuman becoming an extension of him. A few heroes manage to escape the control of the Ultra-Humanite. After the reserve JSA are able to temporarily short out Thunderbolt, the Ultra-Humanite is seemingly killed by the Crimson Avenger.

One Year Later

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Ultra-Humanite: Ultra-Humanite's original body, art by Joe Shuster. — Ultra-Humanite's original body, art by Joe Shuster.

Ultra-Humanite: The Ultra-Humanite (left) as he appears in Justice League. — The Ultra-Humanite (left) as he appears in Justice League.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ultra-Humanite

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ultra-Humanite claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ultra-Humanite before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ultra-Humanite ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ultra-Humanite

In research: Ultra-Humanite appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ultra-Humanite in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ultra-Humanite is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Animal supervillains, Characters created by Jerry Siegel, Characters created by Joe Shuster, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ultra-Humanite outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ultra-Humanite in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ultra-Humanite means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ultra-Humanite out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ultra-Humanite in simple terms?

The Ultra-Humanite is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared as a recurring adversary of Superman, and was the first supervillain faced by him.

Why does Ultra-Humanite matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ultra-Humanite?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ultra-Humanite.