Grodd

"Not God, Grodd!"

- Grodd

Grodd is a silverback gorilla that was experimented on by S.T.A.R. Labs. After being exposed to the energy from the particle accelerator, Grodd then escaped his cage and developed powerful psychic abilities, becoming a near-unstoppable enemy of the Flash. Having cared for Grodd, Caitlin Snow was sympathetic to his condition as the only meta-gorilla, and so she helped Team Flash send him to Earth-2 where he could be with more of his kind in Gorilla City. However, Grodd wanted to rule over humankind, plotting to dethrone Solovar and to take over Central City on Earth-1 with an army. After this failed, he was locked up back on Earth-1 by A.R.G.U.S. Due to a rupture of time caused by the Legends, Grodd ended up as an anachronism in 1967's Vietnam, starting his own cult and fighting the Legends, before being found and recruited as a follower of Mallus by Damien Darhk. Upon their defeat, Grodd was presumably sent back to A.R.G.U.S. by the Time Bureau.

Test subject
Four years before the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator accident, Grodd was an ordinary silverback gorilla that was kept as a test subject in S.T.A.R. Labs. He was scheduled to be part of enhanced gene therapy experiments conducted by Dr. "Harrison Wells" (who was really Eobard Thawne) and General Wade Eiling, the latter of whom wanted to explore the possibilities of psychic abilities, such as mind control, and tortured Grodd in a similar manner to that in which he tortured Martin Stein. However, once "Wells" discovered Eiling's inhumane methods, he shut down the program but decided on other plans for Grodd himself. Along with "Wells", Caitlin Snow also grew fond of Grodd and often visited him in his cage.

The S.T.A.R. Labs accident
When the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator exploded, the dark matter it released reacted with the drugs and medicines Eiling and his men had administered to Grodd, awakening psychic powers and boosting his intelligence.

The gorilla then destroyed his cage and escaped. In the aftermath of the explosion, Thawne showed Barry Allen the ruins of Grodd's enclosure when he was taking him around S.T.A.R. Labs.

Living in the sewers and working with Thawne
In 2015, Grodd took up residence in a sewer and began carving his own name into a wall repeatedly. He was encountered by maintenance workers, who attempted to run but were attacked (and seemingly killed) by Grodd. Later, Thawne as the Reverse-Flash abducted Wade Eiling and brought him to Grodd, revealing his identity as "Harrison Wells". Grodd displayed telepathic powers, as Eiling could "hear" a voice talking in his head, and Grodd then seized Eiling from behind and dragged him away.

About 3 months later, after "Wells" was exposed as Thawne/Reverse-Flash, he sent out Grodd to distract Barry Allen's team. To that end, Grodd mentally controlled Eiling into attacking a gold reserve. As The Flash arrived on the scene, Grodd, using Eiling as a conduit, incapacitated Barry by bombarding him with mental hallucinations of Eiling's experiments on him, before having his puppet Eiling flee the scene. Grodd continued to control Eiling by attacking a police escort before he was captured by Barry and imprisoned in the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator. Grodd communicated through Eiling, recognizing Barry and Caitlin by name.

Grodd later kidnapped Joe West when he, Barry and Cisco Ramon were searching the sewers for him. When Joe pulled out his gun, Grodd used his powers to make Joe point his gun at himself but he stopped Joe from killing himself as he stated his distaste for guns. Joe offered him a banana, but Grodd hates bananas.

Later, Cisco and Caitlin forced Grodd away from Joe by remotely venting steam pipes so he'd be far enough for Barry, who was protected against Grodd's telepathy with a headband, to hit him with a supersonic punch. However Grodd's mental power along with his sheer size and strength enabled him to anticipate the move and catch the punch before lifting Barry into the air by the neck. As he tossed The Flash through a brick wall into a subway tunnel, the hero lost his headband, allowing Grodd to mentally attack him again, crippling him as an oncoming train approached. However, with help from Iris West's motivation, Barry obtained the willpower to overcome Grodd's attack and evade the train. Grodd leaped at Barry, who dodged the attack, and the gorilla was hit by a second train. However, Grodd survived and made his way to the surface, climbing and jumping off a building, furious.

Departure to Earth-2
Grodd returned a few months later, mind-controlling scientists to gathering various neuro-enhancing chemicals to fuel his new mission to create more intelligent gorillas like himself. Grodd had moved into an abandoned building as his base of operations and brought the chemicals there, also kidnapping Caitlin under mind control in the hopes of forcing her to create more intelligent apes, as he had fond memories of her from his time at S.T.A.R. Labs. However, their process was interrupted by the arrival of Earth-2's Harrison Wells, who masqueraded as Eobard Thawne to trick Grodd into letting his guard down so he could be taken down by chemical injections, allowing Wells and Caitlin to escape. After tricking Grodd into following The Flash to the site of one of the breaches to Earth-2 in Central City, the team managed to force him through, sending Grodd to a jungle on Earth-2, which was revealed by Wells to be the location of a refuge for gorillas who'd been subjected to lab experiments, like Grodd.

Grodd's revenge
During his time in Gorilla City, Grodd was forced to serve Solovar, the albino gorilla leader of Gorilla City. He also sought for revenge on Team Flash, and thus, during the long year he spent in Gorilla City, Grodd came up with a plan of revenge: beat Solovar, become the leader of Gorilla City, and return to Earth-1 and attack Central City with the help of the other gorillas. In 2016, Grodd sent an invitation to Wells, asking him to come to Gorilla City. When Wells came with 10 other people, Grodd killed the 10 others and kidnapped Wells, knowing it would bring the attention of Team Flash, including Barry, who could beat Solovar. The plan worked as Barry, Cisco, Caitlin and Julian Albert came to save Wells, only to get captured by Grodd and other gorillas. Grodd brought them to Gorilla City and locked them in cages, without informing Solovar. After they woke up, Grodd, through Wells, told the team that Solovar wanted to rule the humans and bring a war to Earth-1, and that would be sent to the arena and fight Solovar until one of them die. Grodd also told them that if Solovar lost, he would become the leader of Gorilla City, and he'd keep the gorillas from attacking. When Barry asked him how they could trust him, Grodd said that Earth-1;s Central City is still his home, and there are still humans that he will never forget, alluding to Caitlin. He then stopped controlling Wells and physically entered the room, telling Barry that if he wins, Central City will be spared, and if he doesn't, Central City will be destroyed. Later, Grodd came to the room with Solovar, who was mad that Grodd didn't tell him that humans came to the city. As Grodd began to explain to Solovar that he was going to inform him, Solover punched Grodd in the face, making him fall to the ground. After Solovar explained that he would execute Team Flash if Barry lost, the two gorillas left, leaving the team in their cells. Grodd later watched the fight between The Flash and Solovar. After Barry won and told the gorillas that the humans only want peace, Grodd demanded for the Flash to be taken out. Barry was shot by a dart, which made him pass out.

After that, Grodd, controlling Wells, told Barry that now he is the ruler of Gorilla City and he is not going to let them go. After Barry realized Grodd lied to them and that Solovar didn't want to attack Central City, Grodd told them how he came up with the idea. Thawne had always taught Grodd to plan ahead. Cisco then asked him why he didn't kill them. Grodd told him that he needs him to open a breach to Earth-1 so he and his army could go there. When Barry told him that he could not do this, Grodd replied by saying that he is an animal. Barry threatened Grodd, saying that he would to stop him, but Grodd stopped controlling Wells and came to the room again, replying that he wouldn't stop him. When Grodd later came to check the team, he found Barry, lying on the ground, motionless, with his skin tinged blue. Caitlin told Grodd that Barry went into shock and his heart stopped, likely due to previous injuries. He then checked Barry and found him to be cold. Caitlin pretended to cry over Barry's death, when in reality she had used her powers to freeze Barry. Grodd told her that he has no use for him anyway, before dragging the "corpse" out of the cell. Later, he caught Team Flash trying to escape. As the Gorillas tried to stop them, the team went into a breach to Earth-1, escaping Grodd. Grodd roared in anger as they departed. Afterward, Grodd revealed to his soldiers that he had captured and mind-controlled Gypsy, planning to use her to open a breach to Earth-1 as a backup plan in case Cisco got away, having planned ahead as Thawne taught him to. Grodd told her that she was going to open the breach, and Central City would fall before him.

Grodd successfully led his army to Earth-1 and then sent Gypsy to attack Team Flash. After this failed, Grodd attacked an army general and mind-controlled him to send a powerful missile to damage Central City. After this also failed, Grodd led his army into the streets, only to be faced by Barry, Kid Flash, and Jesse Quick. After a battle in which the gorillas appeared to be succeeding against the speedsters, Gypsy and Cisco appeared with Solovar, who was armed and dressed in golden battle armor. In his vengeful fury, Solovar brutally attacked Grodd. They wrestled with fists and weapons while climbing around a building until Solovar was able to overpower Grodd and defeat him, smashing him down into the street. Before he could finish him off, however, Barry stopped Solovar and asked him to spare Grodd like Barry spared Solovar. He agreed on the condition that Grodd was never to return to Earth-2 and departed with the army of gorillas that now bowed to him. Grodd was then incarcerated on Earth-1 by A.R.G.U.S. in a special cell that dampened his powers.

Traveling through time
About a year later, Grodd found himself displaced in time as an anachronism. He appeared in Vietnam in 1967, during the Vietnam War. He started to attack both American and Vietnamese soldiers, taking control of survivors to serve him and build a kingdom for himself as the "God" of the Ông Trời Mới cult. Grodd planned to arrange the assassination of US President Lyndon Johnson to trigger World War III and have his revenge against humanity. His actions drew the Legends to him to investigate. Amaya Jiwe/Vixen, a member of the Legends who had the power to connect with animals, tried to reason with Grodd, empathizing with his suffering. She offered him to bring to a time before humans, where he wouldn't be bound by hate and pain anymore and could live out his life in peace. Grodd was reluctant to trust Amaya but she used the Anansi Totem to channel a gorilla's spirit in order to get through to him. Grodd began considering the offer before Mick Rory and his father arrived with a platoon of soldiers to break up the cult. Feeling that Amaya betrayed him, Grodd turned away and decided to steal the Legends' time ship, the Waverider, to travel back in time to change the course of evolution so he could have a gorilla planet and prevent humans from ever existing at all.

Grodd managed to find the ship but Martin Stein was already taking it to the air to avoid it being stolen by him. Grodd managed to find and control a comatose Sara Lance into trying to stop the ship but she was knocked out by Isaac Newton before she could stop Stein. The American Air Force delivered a bomb strike and Grodd jumped onto the Waverider but Stein made the ship time-travel, leaving Grodd in mid-air. He fell towards the bombarded inferno beneath him but magically vanished. He then ended up back in the present day, in front of Damien Darhk. Damien told him that he was his number one fan but Grodd demanded Damien to send him back. Damien showed off the time stone that Mallus had bestowed upon him and told Grodd that he didn't need a time machine when he could time travel with a thought. Darhk then brought Grodd into the service of Mallus.

Grodd went on to create chaos throughout the timeline in an effort to weaken Mallus' prison. For example, he was sighted in ancient China, attacking the Great Wall.

Grodd eventually went back to the United States, where he rampaged, beating Time Bureau Director Wilbur Bennett to death. He then roared into his communications device, at Sara Lance, Ava Sharpe, and Rip Hunter before he destroyed it.

Sent by Mallus, Grodd traveled to the United States in 1979 to kill Barack Obama in order to create another anachronism to help free the demon. He found Obama in his dorm room in his college and chased him down until he managed to grab him. Before he could kill him, Mick Rory burned him on the chest with his Heat Gun which made him release the future president. Grodd prepared to retaliate but then Ray Palmer shrank him, locking him in a jar and placing him in the Waverider.

Damien Darhk later freed Grodd to save his daughter in 1992 Zambesi. He had Grodd go and attack the village in an effort to destroy it as history originally intended so as to keep Mallus from being free and not lose Nora. Grodd terrorized the villagers and confronted Esi, Amaya's daughter. Esi used the Anansi totem against him but Grodd was able to overpower her and used his psychic powers to immobilize her. An elderly Amaya came to try and save her daughter but Grodd knocked her away effortlessly. Before he could finish both mother and daughter off, Nate Heywood arrived and used the power of the Earth Totem against Grodd to send him flying away from the village.

Grodd was presumably taken into custody and returned to his rightful place in 2018 in his A.R.G.U.S. cell by the Time Bureau.

Possible future
At some point in the future, Grodd will fight against King Shark.

Personality
"Look, I know you're not a fan of A.R.G.U.S. but Grodd is a psychopath."

- Ray Palmer

Not much of Grodd's personality is shown due to his developing psychic powers, though he has demonstrated a high level of intelligence. Grodd's intelligence seems to be increasing with time as his ability to form full sentences and communicate increases with each appearance he makes. Originally, Grodd would speak in the third person and often only use 2-3 word sentences but, by the time of "Attack on Gorilla City," Grodd spoke fluent English through Harry. He also has some contempt towards humans, shown when he battles Barry a second time while psychically attacking him, stating "human weak." This indicates that he views humans are inferior to him. In addition, he despises Eiling greatly due to his experiments and was not hesitant in manipulating him to commit crimes and take the chance to hurt him. The only person he has not shown to hate is Eobard Thawne, who saved him from Eiling's experiments. As such, he views him as a father, and will presumably comply with any request Eobard will ask him for. He also does not hate Caitlin Snow, stating while controlling her "Caitlin good." The reason behind this is currently unknown but it can be assumed it's because as Cisco said, "she was always kind to him."

Grodd's contempt for humans may be what drives his sadism towards them, as shown when he forced Joe to point a gun at his own head while leaving the man total awareness of what was happening to him. He is also lonely and wants more like him, which is part of the reason that drives him to kill and even steal Caitlin and make her make more of him. Grodd had a strong bond with Eobard, calling him father, and was easily able to tell Harrison Wells from Earth-2 was not him before being fooled into thinking he was Eobard. Eobard soon taught Grodd to always think ahead, a trait he continues to use even after his death. Grodd lives under one code; "kill or be killed."

Grodd proved to be manipulative, fooling Team Flash into Solovar's plans so that he could control Gorilla City for himself and easily fooled the Vietnamese into believing he was a god.

Ironically, despite being an ape, Grodd does not like bananas.

Powers and abilities
"When the dark matter hit Grodd, all the drugs and serums that Eiling injected him with could've activated. Maybe the Accelerator explosion created a meta-gorilla. I think we know what happens when a super-intelligent ape who's pissed off at humans escapes captivity."

- Cisco Ramon

Powers

 * Meta-gorilla physiology/Psychic serums enhancements: After Grodd was struck by the energy of the particle accelerator explosion but also due to all the drugs Eiling injected him with, this altered his DNA and supercharged his cells, augmenting his physiology into well-beyond normal gorilla condition.
 * Super agility: Grodd can scale a building and maneuver through sewers despite his large size with minimal effort. He can also move fairly quickly for his size. He was able to catch up with the Flash when he was goaded to chase him.
 * Super durability: Grodd is durable enough to survive getting hit by a train as well as take several super speed enhanced physical attacks from Barry unfazed, showing himself even more resilient than Tony Woodward's metallic form. However, with enough velocity behind his strikes, Barry can inflict some damage on him.
 * Super strength: Due to his unusually large size and modifications, Grodd has shown considerably high strength, far more than any other gorilla. With a single hand, he is able to easily lift a full-grown adult human male. As Barry attempted to perform a supersonic punch on Grodd, Grodd caught Barry's fist with relative ease and hurled him aside. His strikes can send people flying at great distances in the air, with enough force to make an impact with another surface fatal. Despite his mighty strength, he was not strong enough to defeat Solovar.
 * Telepathy: With the power to send neurological signals beyond himself and into others, Grodd gained mental-manipulation powers. Grodd most commonly uses this as a means to talk to others. This can also allow him to sense when people are near, quickly alerting him of the Flash running at him at Mach 1 speed. He can also control humans that are near him like puppets and maintain the control for prolonged periods of time. For offensive purposes, Grodd can overwhelm the minds of his enemies with his own negative memories and severely disorient and cripple them. Such attacks also can be projected via those under mind-control. Likewise, he is able to link his mind with the puppet's, allowing him to see and hear what they do. It would appear that his range of influence is only on what he can physically perceive through his senses. Those who have been continually exposed to Grodd's power appear to develop a lasting physic bond with him. Grodd can also control someone's actions while leaving them conscious as he did with Joe. He kidnapped Caitlin over mind control and when Cisco was talking to Caitlin, she punches him under Grodd's control. He can also mentally attack through the victim's own negative and traumatizing memories, as he did to Flash to make him see and feel Grodd's memories of being experimented on as if he were experiencing it himself. Barry managed to use his memories of Iris to counter this and continue to fight.
 * Psionic blasts: Being a telepath, Grodd can project a powerful "mental blast" than can hit the target mentally or leave them unconscious.
 * Psychic illusion: Being a telepath, Grodd can project realistic illusions in other people's minds and make them experience things that not actually happening.
 * Mental detection: Being a telepath, Grodd can feel and detect the mind of others, as well as their intentions, emotions and mental states.
 * Mental shield: Being a telepath, Grodd can telepathically shield himself and others from mental intrusions with enough effort, such as preventing other telepaths from scanning his mind.
 * Psychic translation: As a telepath, Grodd can psychically translate other languages; for example, he can translate human English and ape language.

Abilities
"Father taught me well; always think ahead."

- Grodd


 * Genius-level intellect/Expert tactician/Manipulator/Leader: Grodd's most noticeable and dangerous trait is his high intellect, making him a threat even to humanity and other meta-humans like the Flash. In 2015, after escaping S.T.A.R. Labs, Grodd went and lived in the sewers and started making math equations on the walls of his sewer home, with his intelligence rapidly expanding. Said intellect include changing the direction of Barry's sonic punch. Very calculating and methodical in every action he takes. He is able to plan for every plausible detail several steps ahead, a trait he learned from Eobard. By 2017, he was able to construct a plan in which helped him take control of Gorilla City and all of his other fellow Gorilla-kind. He also proved to be a strong leader of Gorilla City once Solovar lost his position.
 * Hand-to-hand combatant: Grodd is a capable close-range combatant shown in his fight with Solovar, however, he has stated he was no match for the latter which was proven when they fought in Central City.
 * Multilingual: Although he was using his telepathy, it can be assumed that Grodd is capable of fluently speaking English and animal languages. By 2017, he began speaking English fluently, through telepathy.

The Flash
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DC's Legends of Tomorrow
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Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics, Gorilla Grodd is one of The Flash's greatest enemies, the two having faced each other on many occasions ever since Grodd's debut in 1959. Also, he obtained his heightened intellect, telepathy and telekinesis after being exposed to the radiation of a meteorite. This same meteor also enhanced an entire troupe of gorillas which went off to create Gorilla City, with Grodd being a rebel among them.
 * Grodd is unusually large and tall, even for a silverback. In real life, the normal height for male gorillas is actually close to that of humans, being around 5 feet tall or so. Grodd's height (as well as other gorillas shown in the Arrowverse, like Solovar) clearly exceeds that.
 * Unlike in the comics, Grodd did not show the ability to speak normally. This is probably because, despite his advanced mental state, his vocal chords are still those of a normal gorilla's and not capable of speech like a human.
 * Grodd's ironic dislike of bananas is a trait shared by his counterpart from the animated series, Justice League/Justice League Unlimited.
 * The yellow helmet Grodd had Eiling wear is likely a reference to the DCAU Grodd's mind control helmet.
 * Like in the DC comics, Grodd takes control of Gorilla City in the heart of an African jungle, though it was on Earth-1 in the comics.
 * When Cisco is talking about how Grodd could be an intelligent ape mad at humanity, he references the 1972 film Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.
 * David Sobolov went on to reprise his role in Justice League Action and LEGO DC Super-Villains.
 * Grodd's uncredited motion capture in the episode  was done by Daniel Cudmore who also played Jackhammer and William Lang/Gridlock on  and  respectively.