The Purple Man

The Purple Man

(pop culture)Born in Yugoslavia, Zebediah Killgrave was once a spy who attempted to steal an experimental chemical from the U.S. Army. A guard fired at Killgrave and missed, hitting a canister of the chemical, dousing the spy. Not only did the chemical permanently dye Killgrave's skin and hair purple, but it also altered his physiology: now Killgrave's body gives off psychoactive chemicals comparable to pheromones that weaken the willpower of people in his vicinity. Killgrave can simply ask a person to do something, no matter how ridiculous or horrific, and the victim will feel obliged to obey. Only a relatively few people have the strength of will to resist the Purple Man's power, including his foremost nemesis Daredevil, who defeated Killgrave in the latter's first appearance, in Marvel Comics' Daredevil vol. 1 #4 (1964), written by Stan Lee and drawn by Joe Orlando. Although the Purple Man built a criminal empire and even considered ruling the world, he eventually gave up both ambitions, since he could have anything he wanted simply by asking for it. Whereas Frank Miller portrayed the Purple Man as a humorous prankster in Marvel Team-Up Annual #3 (1980), in 2003 Brian Michael Bendis depicted Killgrave as a sadistic figure who mentally enslaved Jessica Jones, the former superhero of the Marvel series Alias. Kara Killgrave, alias the Purple Girl or Persuasion, a character from Alpha Flight, has purple skin and powers similar to Zebediah Killgrave's, and believes him to be her father. Oddly, the Purple Man's only appearance on screen is in an episode of X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997).