Grodd


 * For his Earth Nineteen counterpart, see Gorilla Grodd.

"Foolish human. I am Grodd!"

- Grodd

Grodd is a silverback gorilla that was experimented on by S.T.A.R. Labs, and is now currently the only known non-human meta-human, rather being known as a meta-gorilla. 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. But Grodd was eventually sent to Earth Two where he could be with more of his kind.

Test subject
Five years before the particle accelerator accident, Grodd was an ordinary silver back 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 Harrison Wells and Wade Eiling, the latter of whom wanted to explore the possibilities of psychic abilities, such as mind control, torturing 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 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 activated the drugs and medicines Eiling and his men had administered to Grodd, awakening his psychic powers.

The gorilla then destroyed his cage and escaped. Wells showed the cage to Barry Allen when he was taking him around S.T.A.R. Labs.

Living in the sewers and working with Wells
He took up residence in a sewer and began carving his own name into a wall repeatedly. He was encountered by workmen, who attempted to run but were attacked (and seemingly killed) by Grodd. Later, 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" someone talking in his head and mentioned God. Grodd corrected him and said his own name before grabbed Eiling from behind and drag him away.

Three months later, after Wells is exposed as the Reverse-Flash, he sends Grodd to distract Barry Allen's team. To that end, Grodd mentally controls Eiling into attacking a gold reserve. As the Flash arrived on scene, Grodd, using Eiling as a conduit, incapacitated Barry by bombarding with mental hallucinations of Eiling's experiments on him, before having his puppet 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, acknowledging Barry and Caitlin Snow 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 doesn't fire it while showing how he dislikes guns and bananas.

Later, Cisco and Caitlin force Grodd away from Joe by remotely venting steam pipes so he'd be far enough for Barry, who was protected against his telepathy with a headband, to hit him with a super sonic punch, but Grodd's sheer size and strength enabled him catch his fist and lift Barry into the air by the neck. As he tossed the Flash through a brick wall into a subway tunnel, the latter lost his headband, allowing Grodd to mentally attack him again, crippling him as an oncoming train was approaching. However, with help from Iris West's motivation, Barry obtained the will to overcome Grodd's attack and evaded 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 Two
Grodd returns briefly, gathering various neuro-enhancing chemicals and kidnapping Caitlin under mind control in the hopes of forcing her to create more intelligent apes, however, he is stopped by the efforts of Barry, Cisco and Earth Two's Harrison Wells. They trick him into following Barry to the site of one of the breaches in Central City, and Barry manages to force him through, sending Grodd to a jungle on Earth Two, which is revealed by Dr. Wells to be the location of a refuge for scientific experiment gorillas like himself.

Personality
Not much of Grodd's personality is shown due to his developing psychic powers, though he has demonstrated a high level of intelligence. 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 to 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 Two was not him before being fooled into thinking he was Eobard.

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

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 and Wells 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 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 super sonic punch on Grodd, Grodd caught Barry's fist with relative ease and hurled him aside. His strikes can send people flying great distances in the air, with enough force to make an impact with another surface fatal.
 * 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.

Abilities

 * High-level intellect: Grodd is very intelligent. Based on the math equations scrawled on the walls of his sewer home, Grodd's intelligence is rapidly expanding. Said intellect include changing the direction of Barry's sonic punch.
 * Multilingual: Although he was using his telepathy, it can be assumed that Grodd is capable of fluently speaking English and animal languages.

The Flash
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Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics, Gorilla Grodd 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 an all-gorilla civilization, Gorilla City.
 * Hector Hammond, a Green Lantern villain, obtained his own psychic powers after being exposed to the same meteorite.
 * 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.
 * At the end of, the teaser reveal shows Grodd overlooking a primitive city surrounded by giant statues and carvings of gorillas, referencing the Gorilla City of the DC comics. Like in the DC comics, it is located in the heart of an African jungle.
 * When Cisco is talking about how Grodd could be an intelligent ape mad at humanity, he is referencing Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.