White Triangle
| White Triangle | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 4 #66, (March 1995) |
| Created by | Mark Waid |
| In-story information | |
| Type of organization | Terrorist hate group |
White Triangle is a fictional racist organization in the post-Zero Hour continuity of DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes. They first appear in Legion of Superheroes vol. 4 #66, (March 1995), and were created by Mark Waid, Tom McCraw and Lee Moder.[1]
History
The White triangle group believes that Daxamites are superior to all other beings and that contact with non-Daxamite races is "unclean". Those raised in White Triangle communities are deliberately kept ignorant of the basics of biology and other sciences, so as to maintain their belief in the racial creeds of their society.[2] They are also taught that the story of the Daxamite hero Valor "seeding" many of the humanoid races of the galaxy from a common ancestral group (Earth humans) is a lie.[3]
The White Triangle's isolationist and xenophobic doctrine spread to several worlds, including Earth. Finding the very concept of the recently formed United Planets abhorrent, the White Triangle set about plotting its destruction. Blaming industrialist R.J. Brande's stargate technology for making the UP possible, the Triangle ordered one of their followers on Earth, Roderick Doyle (Brande's business partner), to have Brande assassinated during a trip to Earth. The assassination was foiled by Rokk Krinn, Imra Ardeen and Garth Ranzz, three teenagers who were on the same ship. Ironically, seeing teens from disparate worlds working together inspired Brande to form the Legion of Super-Heroes as a living symbol of the UP's ideals.[4] The Triangle provided Doyle with a bomb to make a second attempt on Brande's life, hoping to kill him, the newly formed Legion and the United Planets general assembly in a single stroke, but the Legion foiled their plans again[5] and a mental probe of the assassins revealed Doyle's role.[6]
Upon Doyle's failure, the Triangle recruited mercenaries[7] to release the prisoners of a supermax private prison called Planet Hell, hoping to use the convicts to destroy the UP and as expendable shock troops. Again, the Legion foiled the plot with the aid of the Workforce.[8]
Throughout all these events, the existence of the White Triangle remained secret. This changed with the drafting of Laurel Gand into the Legion. Laurel, codenamed Andromeda, was raised in a White Triangle community on Daxam, and her indoctrinated disdain for all non-Daxamites often interfered in her ability to perform as a Legion member.
On an outing with several of the female Legionaires, she witnessed an assault on an aquatic alien by three thugs. Laurel insisted on handling them alone, but upon capturing them, she saw that they wore White Triangle pendants and therefore let them off with a warning.[9] Later, the same three thugs would assault the Legionnaire Luornu Durgo, nearly killing her.[10] The investigation into the attack would lead the Legion to discover the Triangle's existence. Feeling guilty over Durgo's attack, Laurel confronted the thugs, only to have them poison her with lead, a substance fatally toxic to Daxamites even in trace amounts. She was cured by Brainiac 5, who forced her to confront the fact that he wasn't her inferior before giving her the antidote. Afterwards, Shrinking Violet discovered a White Triangle necklace in her room.[3]
Meanwhile, the Legion began to link the White Triangle to increasing incidents of racial violence, while a direct action cadre of Daxamite Triangles began to destroy stargates across the galaxy. [11] This culminated in a larger group of Daxamites laying waste to the planet Trom, whose population of peaceful transmuters enabled R.J. Brande to develop the stargate technology. [12]
Cosmic Boy attempted to have Andromeda expelled from the Legion, but Ambassador Roxxas, who was secretly the leader of the White Triangle, convinced the UP President to allow her to remain. He then bullied Andromeda into giving him the anti-lead serum. Taking it himself and giving it to four other Daxamites, Roxxas proceeded to cause mass destruction on Earth. The serum required tailoring to the genetics of the individual being cured, so by taking a formulation make for Gand, the other Daxamites were driven insane. The Legion managed to stop the four Daxamites with the aid of Jan Arrah, the last surviving inhabitant of the planet Trom, while Andromeda herself defeated Roxxas, seemingly at the cost of her own life, though she would be discovered alive later. [13]
Following Roxxas' apparent death, the Legion and the Science Police went on a galaxy-wide hunt for all active White Triangle cells. [14]
The White Triangle organization has not been seen in the most recent Legion continuity reboot ("Threeboot").
References
- ↑ Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 4 #66
- ↑ Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 4 #67
- 1 2 Legion of Super-Heroes #70
- ↑ Legion of Super-Heroes #0
- ↑ Legionaires #0
- ↑ Legionaires #19
- ↑ Legion of Super-Heroes #63
- ↑ Legionaires 21 & 22, Legion of Super-Heroes #65
- ↑ Legionaires #23
- ↑ Legion of Super-Heroes #67
- ↑ Legionaires 26 & 27
- ↑ Legion of Super-Heroes #71
- ↑ Legionaires Annual #2
- ↑ Legion of Super-Heroes #72