Nathaniel Tryon, aka Neutron, was a member of Tess Mercer's team of metahumans and had the ability to produce radioactive nuclear blasts from his body.
Powers and Abilities[]
Tryon had the ability to effect radioactive blasts from his body. He used his power as little as he spoke, as Livewire appears to have been the only member of Tess' team to have seen this ability in action. Livewire told Plastique and Parasite that he used these blasts when she and Tryon confronted the beast Doomsday with little effect. Plastique relayed this to Tess.
Early Life[]
Not much is known about Tryon's life prior to being imprisoned in LuthorCorp's Black Creek facility in Montana nor after, other than being trained and participating in Tess' team. However, he apparently acquired his powers through meteor infection.[1]
Season Eight[]
As a member of Tess' team of metahumans, Neutron was present when the team baited Clark Kent with shapeshifter Eva Greer posing as Chloe Sullivan running from the monster Doomsday. Eva's job was to get close to Clark to get him to reveal himself as the Traveler, as Tess believed that the Traveler was the only one capable of defeating the monster. During this time, Livewire and Neutron tracked Doomsday, ordered by Tess merely to follow the beast and call for back-up when they found him.
Doomsday became aware that he was being followed and attacked Neutron and Livewire. Neutron retaliated against the beast with his radioactive blasts but they failed to harm Doomsday in any noticeable way. Neutron was gruesomely killed, allowing Doomsday to escape. Livewire was left to watch over his lifeless body as Plastique and Parasite arrived.
Later, it is revealed that Neutron's radioactive blasts irradiated Doomsday to such a degree that Tess was able use the exposure to track the whereabouts of Davis and Chloe.
In the Comics[]
Action Comics #525 (November 1981). Cover art by Ross Andru Nathaniel Tryon was created by Marv Wolfman and Joe Staton and first appeared in Action Comics #525. Tryon was a petty thug who worked as a security guard at a nuclear power plant as inside man for a caper. He was caught in the meltdown of a nuclear reactor, which turned his body into nuclear energy but kept his sentience. This energy had to be contained in a special suit.
Tryon learned how to control this energy. He discovered that the U.S. government had allegedly caused and covered up the nuclear accident and killed those responsible. He took up a criminal career as Neutron.
Neutron fought Superman and was defeated and imprisoned at S.T.A.R. Labs. He was eventually freed by the Fearsome Five and joined their ranks. He also was part of a failed assassination plot devised by Conduit to kill Jonathan and Martha Kent, Superman's adoptive parents. During the attempt, Superman intervened and Neutron collided with another criminal, Plasmus, both obliterated in the blast. He reappeared and sometime later was confronted by Superman again, this time disappearing in an atomic blast.
Neutron would reappear and become a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains; hired by Intergang to kill Clark Kent; and as a member of the Nuclear Legion with Professor Radium, Geiger, Mister Nitro and Reactron. Eventually, he was used by Lex Luthor as a power source for a teleporter and was seemingly killed when the device self-destructed.
Neutron's body is composed of nuclear energy that grants him super strength, durability, nuclear blasts, flight at immense speed, transformation into pure energy, and radiation absorption.
Notes[]
- The character originally appeared in the script and in casting sides as Fallout.[citation needed] The name was changed during production when the producers decided to align the characters with known DC villains.
- According to Emil Hamilton, Neutron was meteor infected.[1]
- Neutron had no lines of dialogue in his brief appearance during the episode Injustice.
- While he is presumed to be Nathaniel Tryon, Neutron's real name was never established. Tess Mercer and everyone else just calls him "Neutron".[1][2]
Appearances[]
- Season Eight: Injustice, Doomsday (Mentioned only)