Although sometimes forgotten or downplayed among DC's stable of iconic heroes, the Martian Manhunter is considered by many to be the heart and soul of the Justice League. His sage wisdom and understanding see him usually cast as one of the nicest heroes in the League, mentoring younger heroes and being a sort of father figure/favorite uncle to the team. However, this image didn't gel with the grim and gritty '90s, so Martian Manhunter briefly got a spooky makeover.

Bloodwynd was a mystical and somewhat violent hero in the '90s who unbeknownst to many on the Justice League was also tied to Martian Manhunter. Despite his connection to the League as well as the mystic world of magic, Bloodwynd has become an obscure and esoteric character since his debut. Here's how the hero came to be and how Martian Manhunter took on his bloodiest persona yet.

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The Origin of Bloodwynd

Martian Manhunter disguised as Bloodwynd

The man known as Bloodwynd was a descendant of a group of black slaves in America's past who turned against their evil master Jacob Whitney. They conducted a ritual to create a magical Blood Gem with which they killed Whitney, and they would later bequeath this same gem to their descendants. The gem would give its user great strength, flight, mystical energy, necromancy and other powers, with the reserves of this energy being nearly limitless. The user could also force someone to experience all of the pain that they'd inflicted upon others.

Unfortunately, Whitney's spirit would live on in the pocket dimension held within the gem, where it would become the demonic Rott. This would come back to bite Bloodwynd, and it would also involve the Justice League hero Martian Manhunter.

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How Martian Manhunter Became Bloodwynd

Martian Manhunter Alex Ross

Rott would eventually be able to draw Bloodwynd himself into the Blood Gem's dimension, trapping the modern-day descendant of his former slaves. He also manipulated Martian Manhunter into impersonating Bloodwynd, with seemingly no one the wiser as to the Martian's absence during "Bloodwynd's" presence. Bloodwynd had already been incredibly mysterious beforehand, leading many to wonder about his origin. The ruse would finally be discovered during the battle that would end in the death of Superman.

The Justice League realized that "Bloodwynd" was actually Martian Manhunter when a nearby fire struck fear into him. Fighting with Rott afterward, they freed the real Bloodwynd, who officially joined the Justice League afterward. His esoteric nature continued, however, as he remained standoffish and refused to tell anyone why he didn't want to fight the villainous Dreamslayer. After a few other appearances such as in the storyline "Day of Judgement," Bloodwynd exited the mainstream and was forgotten in the DC Universe.

Bloodwynd was in many ways emblematic of the '90s, starting with his name. Both Bloodwynd and Rott had the trademark poor grammar of the era, with their names being intentionally misspelled. Then there were his dark and amorphous powers, which made him somewhat similar to fellow '90s darling Spawn. He also had a much looser moral code than most other heroes, as shown when he tormented a drug dealer.

Beyond their initial connection, there's been no real bond or between Martian Manhunter and Bloodwynd. This stems mainly from just how obscure the latter became, as well as how quickly it happened. The reason for making Martian Manhunter briefly become Bloodwynd was likely a combination of his shapeshifting powers explaining the transformation and Manhunter being niche enough to not derail any planned storylines. Ironically, modern comics and adaptations have depicted Martian Manhunter's human form as an African-American man, so this is perhaps Bloodwynd's greatest legacy.

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