PURPLE MAN

 

PURPLE MAN

Real Name: Zebediah Erik Killgrave

First Appearance: Daredevil (Vol. 1) #4, October 1964

Powers: Zebediah Killgrave was a Communist spy exposed to an experimental nerve gas that triggered body-wide changes in him on a mutagenic level, most notably his hair color and skin pigmentation permanently becoming a shade of purple. He also developed unique pheromone powers as a result.

His abilities subvert his victims' willpower through chemical agents he releases into the atmosphere at all times through his pores, chemicals which are inhaled or absorbed directly through the skin of other people. People affected by the chemical simply lose any capacity to resist his direction (unlike hypnosis, where victims cannot normally be compelled to do things they wouldn't normally do, like kill, Killgrave can easily force such an act). If he tells them to sit, they will sit and remain sitting no matter how much they want to get up. He can not only command physical actions from his victims, but command them to feel specific emotional responses, like if he tells a person to want something, they will want it for as long as his power lasts. He can even create illusions to some degree, by suggesting people see something that isn't there ("Imagine your worst nightmare taking place right before your eyes"). The effects of his power are continuous for as long as he's in his victim's presence, but they begin to fade after he leaves the vicinity. Most people will simply snap back to normal after he's gone, but if someone spends an abnormally long period of time being affected by him, they can experience some severe withdrawal symptoms. Jessica Jones was under his control for eight straight months, and experienced headaches, loss of motor control, borderline dementia, and to this day suffers psychologically from that loss of her willpower.

Briefly, Killgrave's power turned his victims purple-skinned like him, a factor his daughter possesses, but this hasn't been used since.