Vandal Savage

Vandal Savage is a supervillain and a member of the Light, designated L-1.

History
Vandal Savage was born around 50,000 years ago.[1] He was once mauled by a cave bear and acquired three scars across his face. [4] At some point after that, he was bathed in the radiation of a meteor, [5] which gave him unnaturally long life. Over the following centuries, Savage adopted different aliases. He would then disappear from the public eye for decades, between identities, and change locations. This way, he managed to retain his anonymity well into the mid-20th century. [6] He fell afoul of the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron, though he did not feel they were a threat to his larger plan. [7]

At some point, Savage had an undocumented conflict with the Flash.[8]

The establishment of the Light was Savage's idea. [9] He thought that the Justice League, by protecting the weak, defied his ideas of natural order and the survival of the fittest. When Aqualad, Robin and Kid Flash broke into Cadmus, Mark Desmond requested an audience with the Board of Directors, and briefed them on the incident, also informing them that the three heroes had been apprehended. L-3 ordered Desmond to clone them and Savage told him to dispose of the originals. This course of action ultimately failed and the boys broke out and took Superboy with them. Savage initially dismissed the severity of the ordeal and remarked that the loss of the clone could be played to their advantage.

However, after the young heroes destroyed Mister Twister[11] and torpedoed their operations in Santa Prisca, he deemed their interference as enemy action. After the arrest of the Injustice League, Savage viewed the test of the Kobra-Venom plants a success and how, with their "proxies" exposed and arrested, the Light could continue to operate without suspicion. The other members of the Light appeared by threes on either side of him, and he stated that shadows still concealed their Light. {| style="width: 40%; margin-left:15px; margin-top:-5px; margin-bottom:-5px; border: 0;"

Vandal Savage was attending a video conference, along with the rest of the members of the Light, when the Riddler and Sportsmaster arrived with the regenerated remains of the echinoderm. n an attempt to intercept Kid Flash's delivery of a heart intended for Queen Perdita of Vlatava, on behalf of Perdita's uncle Count Vertigo, Vandal Savage attacked four members of the South Dakota Highway Patrol who had been charged with clearing the route. Kid Flash stopped to rescue the patrolmen, and fought Savage for about 15 minutes. The fight was inconclusive, but when Kid Flash realized that he was wasting too much time, he ran off to deliver the heart. After the Light's mole rendered every member of the Justice League under their control, a mind-controlled Batman gave Vandal Savage security clearance to enter the Watchtower, where every member of the League silently bowed before him, and he watched the sun set on Earth from a window.[2] While he basked, Red Arrow escaped.
 * }

Savage oversaw the operations from the observation deck. He was surprised to see Black Canary, Red Tornado and Red Arrow, but knew they were lying about their motives. Klarion saw they weren't online. He had Hal Jordan restrain them, and Vandal gave each of them a new chip of Starro-tech. As he explained his motives to them, Klarion discovered the Team had taken out multiple Leaguers already and that the three heroes in front of them were immune to the mind control. Klarion had to call in six Leaguers from an away mission to restrain them. Vandal concluded that, now that the Team knew how to negate Starro-tech, lethal force was an option.

The Team wasn't killed; in fact, they succeeded in tagging all Leaguers with their cure-tech. Despite Klarion's protests, Savage opted for an escape. They could not risk damaging the Watchtower and causing the death of the League, as they were still part of the Light's plans in some way. Klarion teleported them both away.

Savage held a conference with the Light and Black Manta, where he lauded the latter for his efforts and officialized his induction into the group. {| style="width: 40%; margin-left:15px; margin-top:-5px; margin-bottom:-5px; border: 0;"

Black Manta summoned Vandal Savage and the other members of the Light to introduce his son, Kaldur'ahm, and welcome him to their ranks. Vandal Savage attended the Justice League's trial on Rimbor. He sat in the shadows near Mongul, whom he goaded into attacking the Earth by noting the Reach would be too powerful with metahumans under their control, posing a threat to his plans of galactic domination. {| style="width: 40%; margin-left:15px; margin-top:-5px; margin-bottom:-5px; border: 0;"
 * }

The Light held a conference where Sportsmaster stated his grievance; he wanted to kill Black Manta's son in compensation for killing his daughter without permission. Vandal told him killing Kaldur'ahm was a nonstarter, so Sportmaster attempted to kill Black Manta instead, but was stopped by Deathstroke, who Vandal had ready to replace Sportsmaster. Sportsmaster then escaped via helicopter. Vandal boarded the Manta-Sub, visiting a catatonic Kaldur'ahm. As a father himself, he said he understood Black Manta's pain. He had a solution to make Kaldur'ahm whole again; he borrowed Psimon from Queen Bee to sift through Kaldur'ahm's mind for every fractured memory. At a fruit juice production line, Lex Luthor informed Vandal that the Team had left the most profitable piece of the business untouched and stated that shipments were already being distributed to needy nations and would soon be available world wide.
 * }

Inside Luthor's office, Vandal asked if the Team procured a sample of the additive, which Luthor confirmed. Lex then showed him a document with pictures of the rescued abductees, stating that they must form a Team of their own.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-e212_3-3"> {| style="width: 40%; margin-left:15px; margin-top:-5px; margin-bottom:-5px; border: 0;"

Over video conference, Vandal Savage was informed by Black Manta of Kaldur'ahm's full recovery.
 * }

Following the Team's successful liberation of Blue Beetle and Green Beetle, Savage and other members of the Light met with the Reach. The Ambassador aired his grievances, with Savage giving permission to Kaldur'ahm to address them, given nobody else had sacrificed more for the Reach or the Light. Words, though, turned into a fight, which was broken up by Kaldur. He asked about the Justice League, and Savage said that well placed bribes, as well as outrage from the attack on Rimbor, would ensure the League's conviction.

When Artemis's cover was blown, the Light and Reach realized that Aqualad had been manipulating them. Miss Martian, disguised as Deathstroke, shot the two non mortally, and Kaldur triggered a recording revealing how the Reach had been manipulated by the Light, as well as how Savage had engineered the assault on Rimbor. Savage ordered "Deathstroke" to turn it off, but the latter claimed to have no idea how. The Ambassador was furious and threatened to use the Warworld. When Savage revealed he had the key, Aqualad and Artemis dropped the act, Miss Martian revealed herself and other Team members arrived. Savage brought in soldiers from the League of Shadows and than ordered them killed, but Kaldur'ahm told him that he underestimated them, revealing that the rest of the Team had infiltrated the strike force. Savage grudgingly acknowledged Aqualad was right, and then fled with Klarion to the War World.

Vandal Savage and Klarion defeated the guards surrounding the key chamber, and took the War World to parts unknown.

Vandal Savage delivered a warning to the planet that he was from Earth and that his planet was not to be touched by alien incursion or invasion. The League, who had just been freed, questioned how he planed to back up the threat, and immediately afterwards the Warworld appeared in the skies over the planet. Vandal Savage arrived on Apokolips via a boom tube. He walked past Desaad and G. Gordon Godfrey and approached a tall figure standing at the end of a balcony. The figure turned around and shook hands with Savage, as he remarked how it was "Business as usual."

Powers and Abilities

 * Longevity: <span class="CIT_link" style="cursor:help; color:#006633; font-style:italic" title="This is canon-in-training and has yet to be confirmed in-universe.">Exposure to the meteor has granted Savage <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21">[21] a greatly expanded lifetime, enabling him to survive for around 50,000 years and still be in his prime.
 * Strength: He has above average strength and resilience.