Red Tornado

Red Tornado is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in Justice League of America #64 (August 1968), and was created by Gardner Fox and Dick Dillin.

The Silver Age Red Tornado's first appearance was in Justice League of America #64 (August 1968), written by Gardner Fox. He is an android created by the supervillain T. O. Morrow for the purpose of infiltrating the Justice Society of America (part of the plan involved giving the android a false memory indicating that it was the Red Tornado who had attended the first JSA meeting). After the android was complete, it was merged with two other entities: Ulthoon the Tornado Tyrant of Rann and the Tornado Champion.

These two tornado entities originated from the planet Rann in the Earth-One universe. This being, originally one entity, confronted Rann's adopted champion, Adam Strange, and was defeated. Following that defeat, the being contemplated the nature of good and evil and decided that good was the superior force. It observed the exploits of the JLA and then departed Earth and settled on an abandoned planet, which it transformed into a perfect replica of Earth, right down to its populace. The only absence was that of the Justice League of America, and the tornado entity split itself to become the JLA of this world, taking for itself the name of the Tornado Champion. However, this life was not to last for long, as it discovered that it had inadverdently split itself into two separate entities, based on its decision as to which side was superior. The second entity, which embodied the Tornado Champion's previous evil side, dubbed itself the Tornado Tyrant. Confronting the Tyrant, the Tornado Champion was easily defeated. Disheartened, the Tornado Champion lured the Tyrant to Earth-One, where the Tyrant was defeated by the real JLA. The Tornado Champion decided that there was little satisfaction in being an imitation, and journeyed to Earth-Two in an attempt to find a new identity. The Tornado Champion came upon the criminal T. O. Morrow, who was creating an android with which to infiltrate and defeat the Justice Society of America. The Tornado Champion decided to assume control of the robotic form. The merging had an unexpected side effect, however: The Tornado Champion's memory was erased. Red Tornado thus seemed to be a new life-form.

Believing itself to be the original JSA associate, Red Tornado visited JSA headquarters and announced its return to active duty. The JSA, not recognizing the android, was incredulous but allowed the Tornado to accompany them to defeat a theft at a nearby museum. Through a series of mishaps choreographed by Morrow, Red Tornado seemingly killed the JSA members. Red Tornado then tracked Morrow to his lair and seemingly defeated him. When the remaining JSAers arrived to investigate, a booby-trapped weapon felled them all. Morrow then traveled to Earth-One, where he defeated the JLA as he had the JSA before them. Red Tornado, recovered from his previous injuries, followed Morrow and revived the JLA. The JLA and the android then defeated Morrow, uncovering a method to revive the JSA back on Earth-Two. Morrow confessed that Red Tornado was his android construct, but the JSA still admitted him as a member in good standing.