- "It's not a robot. It's an anthropomorphic pseudo entity with combat capabilities. I call it Red Tornado."
- —T.O. Morrow[src]
Red Tornado was an android designed by T.O. Morrow for the United States Army to kill rogue Kryptonians. Morrow created Red Tornado in his own image.
When Supergirl outmatches the android in training, he escapes from the military camp causing havoc, but was prevented by her. Secretly, the android was controlled by Morrow who was fired by General Sam Lane and wanted to get revenge on him. After Morrow's death, Red Tornado gained self-consciousness, but he was eventually destroyed by Supergirl.
Years later, Red Tornado was briefly resurrected by Lex Luthor along with Metallo, Overgirl and Parasite on Earth-Prime to help him battle Supergirl and her team, but he was defeated by Brainy and was destroyed again.
History[]
Original multiverse[]
Creation[]
Red Tornado was a $1 billion investment by the United States Army, taking over 11 years of research and development. The android was intended to be a failsafe against rogue Kryptonians, such as Superman and Supergirl.[1]
Tested against Supergirl[]
In late 2015, Red Tornado was activated by T.O. Morrow when General Sam Lane asked Supergirl to fight it, to test the android's capabilities. The next day, both Red Tornado and Supergirl battled. Though Red Tornado was initially winning the fight, Supergirl soon gained the upper hand and caused internal system damage to Red Tornado, dismembering its arm in the process. As a result, Red Tornado's emergency self-preservation function was activated and the android escaped.
The next day, still under the control of Morrow, Red Tornado confronted Sam, Lucy Lane, and James Olsen, knocking Lucy into a table with a gust of wind. As Red Tornado attempted to attack Sam, Supergirl intervened. The android then created a tornado as a diversion to escape.[1]
Destruction[]
The Superfriends were able to draw Red Tornado out with a projection of General Lane. The android attempted to attack the hologram before being shot in the back by Supergirl. Another duel between the two ensued. Red Tornado managed to overpower and keep Supergirl in a chokehold until Alex Danvers killed T.O. Morrow, breaking his control over the android. However, Red Tornado had gained sentience and pushed Supergirl back with a gust of wind. As the android advanced towards her, Supergirl fired a powerful blast of heat vision onto Red Tornado, eventually causing it to explode.[1] In the aftermath of the battle, however, Supergirl had exhausted her solar energy through her heat vision and temporarily lost her abilities.[2]
New multiverse[]
During a fight with the Superfriends, Lex Luthor used the Fifth Dimensional magic of the AllStone Totems to resurrect Red Tornado as his ally. He fought Brainy and Alex Danvers but Brainy exploded his body as pushing on one of monsters sent by Nyxly, destroying him once again.[3]
Weapon specifications[]
- Aerokinesis: As a combat android, Red Tornado was designed to be able manipulate the air around it.
Red Tornado using his powers.
- Air blasts: Red Tornado was capable of creating highly concentrated blasts of wind through rotating its wrists.
- Tornado creation: Red Tornado could create destructive tornadoes, with wind speeds up to 350 mph,[4] which were powerful enough to devastate an entire city.[1]
- Propelled flight: Red Tornado was capable of flight by channeling cyclone winds through the lower part of its body.
- Missile projection: Red Tornado could fire missiles from its hand, which were able to stun Supergirl while exploding against her, though they could not damage her.[1]
- Extreme durability: Red Tornado was built to be completely bulletproof.[4] It was able to sustain multiple hits from Supergirl without malfunctioning, though it was eventually damaged by her and escaped. Red Tornado even withstood her heat vision for a time before being overloaded by its energy and exploding.[1]
- Super strength: Red Tornado has inhuman strength that allows it to fight a Kryptonian on almost equal grounds, to the point where it could almost overpower and kill one, as it seemed to come close to killing Supergirl with a chokehold.[1]
- Enhanced sight: Red Tornado had advanced vision, thanks to enhanced sensory relay built into its face.[4]
Abilities[]
- "It was designed to kill Kryptonians."
- —J'onn J'onzz to Sam Lane[src]
- Skilled hand-to-hand combatant/Martial Artist: Red Tornado was programmed to be a skilled fighter. He was able to avoid Supergirl's blows and give his own.[1]
- Stealth mode: Red Tornado had a stealth mode operative in which he was 100% undetectable, even from Supergirl herself. This was due to the android's dermal covering being made of a biosynthetic polymer which contained traces of lead to block her X-ray vision.[1]
- GPS: According to Maxwell Lord, Red Tornado was a robot with an incredibly advanced GPS system.[1]
- Sentience: Red Tornado was programmed with neural guidance functions[4], allowing him to learn and strategize. He even began exhibiting sentience moments before his death.[1]
Weaknesses[]
- Freeze breath: Supergirl managed to break an arm of Red Tornado using her freezing breath.[1]
- Heat vision: Supergirl managed to destroy the Red Tornado using her heat vision.[1]
Appearances[]
Supergirl[]
Season 1
Season 2
Season 6
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Comics[]
Adventures of Supergirl[]
- "The Next Dream" (mentioned)
- "Our Backs to the Wall" (mentioned)
Gallery[]
Promotional images[]
Supergirl[]
Season 1[]
Trivia[]
- Red Tornado was powered by hybrid battery cells.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
- In the DC comics, the android Red Tornado was originally created as an enemy to the Justice League, though he eventually redeemed himself, not only adopting a human alter ego, that of "John Smith", but also becoming a member of the team. He is the second character to carry the "Red Tornado" moniker, as the first was a woman named Abigail "Ma" Hunkel.
References[]
| Other versions of Red Tornado (Earth-38) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To see other versions of this robot, click the Earth name below for that Earth's counterpart of Red Tornado. | ||||
| New multiverse | ||||
| Earth: Prime | ||||
| Original multiverse | ||||
| Earth: 38 • X | ||||
| Transmultiversal multiverse | ||||
| Earth: | ||||