The Untold Truth Of Martian Manhunter

J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, had a wonderful life on his home planet. He married the love of his life, M'yri'ah, and they had a beautiful daughter together named K'hym. But one day, all life on Mars was destroyed, and J'onn was the sole survivor. He lost his wife, his daughter, and his entire world, but he didn't let that pain turn into hate or turn him into a monster; instead, he turned that pain into compassion for everybody around him. He devoted his life to helping others and keeping as many people from suffering in the most Martian way possible.

With his leading role in the beloved Justice League animated series, his supporting roles in various live-action shows, and his surprise appearance in Zack Snyder's Justice League, the Martian Manhunter is likely the most important superhero in DC's expansive pantheon who most people barely realize exists. While he may not have the name recognition of giants like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, or Iron Man, he's an incredible character, and often becomes a favorite of those who discover him. Here are some of the untold truths about the Martian Manhunter that make countless fans leap with joy whenever he appears onscreen.

In his initial origin in Detective Comics #225, J'onn J'onzz is a Martian scientist accidentally transported to Earth by Dr. Erdel, who subsequently dies from a heart attack due to the shock of the event. Trapped on Earth with no way to return home to Mars, J'onn J'onzz adopts an anglicized version of his Martian name, joins the local police force, and becomes Detective John Jones. 

Though the character would not feature in detective stories forever, the police aspects of his origin continue to this day. In most of the character's modern origin stories, J'onn J'onzz was a "Manhunter," a Martian detective who focused on finding and capturing wanted criminals. When he found himself on Earth, he decided to do the same, initially as a police detective and later (after the emergence of the likes of Wonder Woman and The Flash) as a superhero, ultimately creating his codename from his former profession as a Martian Manhunter. 

The Martian Manhunter's susceptibility to fire manifests in interesting ways, however. Usually, it's a physical weakness tied to the Martian ability to shape-shift, the idea being that Martian physiology is either completely disrupted by extreme flames (like rubber or cheese melting when exposed to heat), or that it simply has no inherent defense against it. Another common physical explanation of the weakness is that it's the result of a virus that spreads through telepathic contact and creates a fever so intense it lights them on fire, killing them. 

Sometimes, however, writers create alternative explanations for the Martian's weakness. In one version, it was an entirely artificial limitation imposed on the Martians by the Guardians of the Universe in order to curb some sort of ancient intergalactic aggression. The most popular version, however, was introduced in the Martian Manhunter's third comic book series. In this account, the vulnerability was entirely psychological and completely unique to J'onn. J'onn's people had been killed by a plague that he survived, and when he gathered their bodies and burnt them in a massive funeral pyre, the sight of it gave birth to an intense phobia.  

Unlike many superheroes, the Martian Manhunter's standard costume remain unchanged for the majority of his superhero career until around 2006. During those fifty years, he sported a relatively simple and striking look: a blue cape with a high collar, blue boots, red straps across his chest, blue boxer briefs, and absolutely no pants whatsoever. It was a design choice of the 1950s that seemed to have been made to highlight his alien appearance. It works, to an extent, but it's truly surprising that it took this long for the Martian to finally earn a design update that gave him a much-deserved pair of pants. 

The initial change was made after a major comic book event titled Infinite Crisis. In the aftermath, there was a push to update J'onn's look, so he was given a new design within his brand-new solo comic book series. In his new outfit, the only skin the Martian exposed was his head. This has remained relatively unchanged in his designs since then, which tend to leave his chest or arms bare while always keeping his legs warm. 

J'onn J'onzz is Martian, but he's not the only species from the planet to have claimed that term. Traditionally, there are three species of Martians: White, Green, and Red (and occasionally yellow). The differences involve more than their dominant color, however, encompassing culture, origin, abilities, and true form.

In the ancient history of Mars, there were originally two species of Martians: the warlike White Martians and the peaceful, scientific Green Martians. For a time, they were able to coexist peacefully and work together towards common goals, including the colonization of the rings of Saturn. During this effort, they found it necessary to clone themselves to have enough workers to finish the project, and these clones became the Red Martians. The Greens treated them well, but the Whites treated them like slaves. In time, the Red Martians rebelled and became the children of Saturn, plunging the Green and White Martians into a civil war from which they never recovered. 

Though their true forms differed, White and Green Martians possessed all of the same powers and abilities. The Red Martians, however, were different. Though they shared the same physical abilities of strength and metamorphosis, their mental powers were far stronger, making the Saturnians capable of both telekinesis and powerful blasts of psychic energy. 

By the time J'onn J'onzz arrived on Earth, he'd already lived for hundreds of years on the planet Mars. His people don't age like Earthlings do. Humans age as their cells' reproduction processes break down over time, but Martians' shape-changing physiology does not, allowing them to live for hundreds of years.

J'onn's age changes from version to version, but he's usually at least 200 years old before he comes to Earth for the first time and typically never older than 500 during his superheroic adventures with the Justice League. The upper limit of his life span isn't known, but it's quite likely that he's essentially immortal unless something other than time strikes him down. Martian Manhunter #1,000,000, for example, shows J'onn still alive and well in the 853rd century. 

Though his most famous secret identity is Detective John Jones, the Martian Manhunter has adopted a multitude of secret identities over the years, often maintaining several at a time. In the late 1960s, he operated as Marco Xavier to infiltrate an international criminal empire. In 1998's Martian Manhunter #2, readers discovered that J'onn also lived in Japan as Yuchiro Takata, a retired Japanese businessman who had founded a company dedicated to reverse-engineering alien technology for the betterment of mankind.

This fact is often utilized in adaptations of the character as well. In Zack Snyder's Justice League, J'onn lives on Earth as Calvin Swanwick, a former U.S. Secretary of Defense. In the Justice League Unlimited animated series, J'onn doesn't have a secret identity until he takes a leave of absence from the team to explore Earth, eventually adopting the guise of an elderly Chinese man to better live with a human woman he's fallen in love with.

Over time, the Justice League changed dramatically. Members came and went. Iterations of the team would disband, move headquarters, revamp their lineup, and reunite in new and interesting ways, but throughout nearly every single one of those versions, one constant always remained: J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. Nearly every version of the team has counted the jade warrior among their ranks; it's actually far easier to count versions that haven't than to count all of the ones that have. 

In addition to being one of the League's most powerful members, J'onn is a font of wisdom and experience for his teammates, who often refer to him as the soul of the Justice League. As the team's longest-serving member, J'onn enjoys the sense of camaraderie and family it provides. More than that, the team's ideals constitute the core of the Manhunter's Martian philosophy. 

Made popular by the Young Justice animated series, M'gann M'orzz, aka Miss Martian, is the closest thing that J'onn J'onzz has to a traditional sidekick, but that term doesn't apply very well. In her first appearance in 2006, Miss Martian was a new member of the Teen Titans who'd never even met the Martian Manhunter before. During her time on the team, they eventually discovered that M'gann was actually a White Martian who didn't agree with her culture's warlike nature and sought to make up for their evil deeds by becoming a hero on Earth. 

Not only is she not related to J'onn, but she's not even a member of the same species. She had never met him before Earth. They quickly became friends, bonding over their shared ideals and memories of Mars. Even at this point, though, they didn't work together often and never shared the traditional mentor-sidekick relationship that other heroes did.

J'onn J'onzz's live-action adventures didn't end with the made-for-TV misadventure, however. The Martian Manhunter eventually found his way to the CW show Smallville. The show focused on Clark Kent's formative adventures before he became Superman, and during the show's later seasons, a mysterious man named J'onn (played by Phil Morris) began helping the Kryptonian. 

J'onn next received the live-action treatment next on Supergirl. Played by David Harewood, J'onn had assumed the identity of Hank Henshaw, the director of the DEO, the arm of the U.S. government in charge of dealing with extraterrestrial threats. When Kara becomes Supergirl for the first time, she begins working for the DEO. She eventually discovers J'onn's true nature, befriends him, and begins fighting crime alongside him. The show spent a significant amount of time delving into J'onn's Martian backstory, going so far as to set several stories on Mars, make the White Martians a recurring villain, and introduce both M'gann M'orzz and Ma'alefa'ak. 

Carl Lumbly's history with the Martian Manhunter didn't end there, however. In addition to voicing the character in several later animated movies, the actor would eventually join the cast of Supergirl in its third season as M'yrnn J'onzz, the father of the superheroic Martian Manhunter. Lumbly used the same South African accent from the Justice League animated series when playing J'onn's father, and the casting was quite a treat for fans of both shows. 

M'yrnn joined the cast when J'onn received word from M'gann that the resistance movement on Mars discovered evidence that J'onn's father was still alive. Supergirl and the Martian Manhunter traveled to Mars, discovered that M'yrnn is a prisoner of the White Martians, and staged a successful rescue, bringing him with them back to Earth. J'onn spent the next few months helping his father recover from the experience and connecting with him after decades apart. M'yrnn eventually passed away due to the psychic injuries he sustained during his captivity, but not before telling much of his people's history on to his son.