View source for Brotherhood of Evil

{{Short description|Group of DC Comics supervillains}}
{{For|the team of mutant terrorists|Brotherhood of Mutants}}
{{Infobox comics organization
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|publisher=DC Comics
|debut=''[[Doom Patrol]]'' #86<br>(March 1964)
|creators=[[Arnold Drake]]<br>[[Bruno Premiani]]
|base=
|members=[[Brain (DC Comics)|The Brain]] (leader)<br>[[Monsieur Mallah]]<br>[[Gemini (DC Comics)|Gemini]]<br>[[Warp (comics)|Warp]]<br>[[Plasmus]]<br>[[Houngan (comics)|Houngan]]<br>[[Phobia (comics)|Phobia]]<br>Trinity<br>Elephant Man<br>Goldilocks<br/>[[General Immortus]]<br>[[Madame Rouge]]<br>[[Garguax]]
|cat= teams
|subcat=DC Comics
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|villain=y
|sortkey=Brotherhood of Evil
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The '''Brotherhood of Evil''' is a group of [[DC Comics]] <!--Do not add "fictional" as it is tautological; supervillains (and characters in general) are by definition implied to be fictionalized to some extent.-->[[supervillains]], archenemies of the [[Doom Patrol]], [[Justice League]] and [[Teen Titans]].

The Brotherhood of Evil appears in the third season of the [[HBO Max]] series ''[[Doom Patrol (TV series)|Doom Patrol]]''.

==Publication history==
The Brotherhood of Evil first appeared in ''[[Doom Patrol]]'' #86 (March 1964) and were created by [[Arnold Drake]] and [[Bruno Premiani]].<ref name=Guide>{{cite book |last1=Cowsill |first1=Alan |last2=Irvine |first2=Alex |last3=Korte |first3=Steve |last4=Manning |first4=Matt |last5=Wiacek |first5=Win |last6=Wilson |first6=Sven |title=The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe |date=2016 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-5357-0 |page=56}}</ref>

==Fictional team history==
===Origins===
The Brotherhood of Evil was founded by the enigmatic villain the [[Brain (DC Comics)|Brain]]. In the beginning, the group's motivation was world domination.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wells |first=John |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-64 |date=2015 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490458 |page=180}}</ref> It is later revealed that Brain's true purpose for the Brotherhood was to destroy [[Chief (DC Comics)|Niles Caulder]] and his "colleagues". Caulder murdered Brain so he could turn the scientist into [[Robotman (Cliff Steele)|Robotman]] without Brain's consent, but his plans were foiled by the Brain's creation, the intelligent [[gorilla]] [[Monsieur Mallah]]. Brain swore revenge against Caulder and his "pets", the Doom Patrol, who like Brain were often victims of experimentation in order to create an army of super-heroes through the ruining of innocent lives (several members were experiments of the Nazi war criminal [[General Zahl]]).

The original line-up consisted of the Brain, Mallah, and their first recruit, the shapeshifter [[Madame Rouge]]. They fought the Doom Patrol on a regular basis and were later briefly joined by fellow Doom Patrol villains [[General Immortus]] and the alien [[Garguax]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Rovin |first=Jeff |author-link=Jeff Rovin |title=[[The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains]] |date=1987 |publisher=Facts on File |isbn=0-8160-1356-X |location=New York |pages=386–387}}</ref> The group also was aided by the clumsy henchman Mr. Morden, who often operated robotic devices for the Brain including a robot called Rog (which was originally built by Niles Caulder).

The group's constant failure to defeat the Doom Patrol combined with the growing romantic attraction between Madame Rouge and Patrol leader Niles Caulder, led to Madame Rouge breaking free of the mental conditioning the Brain used to forcibly recruit her. Rouge quit the Brotherhood to join the Doom Patrol but the Brain quickly recaptured Madame Rouge and brainwashed her again to make her evil personality dominant. The result backfired horribly on the Brain, as Madame Rouge turned against her evil teammates and launched a missile to destroy the Brain and Mallah.

Now aided by escaped Nazi war criminal Captain Zahl, Madame Rouge captured the members of the Doom Patrol and forced them to choose the horrible death of dying in a nuclear explosion to save Codsville, a small [[Maine]] fishing village. The Doom Patrol reluctantly chose death and were apparently killed in the explosion.

===Return===
Madame Rouge and Zahl (now calling himself "General" Zahl) stayed in hiding for many years, gathering an army of minions for their next big plan, the invasion and conquest of the country of Zandia. Meanwhile, the Doom Patrol had reformed with Robotman as the only surviving original member. Along with Doom Patrol hanger-on [[Mento (character)|Steve Dayton]] (AKA Mento), the two avoided going after Madame Rouge for the murders of Doom Patrol as they did not want to involve young Doom Patrol member [[Beast Boy]] in their vendetta. However, when Beast Boy (now calling himself "Changeling") joined the New [[Teen Titans]], the two adult Doom Patrol members went after Rouge. Both were defeated: Mento was tortured until he mentally broke down while Robotman was left deactivated and hung as a warning to trespassers outside their headquarters.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=August 2020}}

The New Teen Titans went looking for Robotman and Mento when Beast Boy had not heard back from them, which ultimately led to conflict with Rouge and Zahl. Surprisingly though, the heroes were aided by the Brain and Mallah and their new version of the Brotherhood of Evil. Brain and Mallah had predicted Rouge's betrayal and went into hiding, leaving decoys that Rouge ultimately destroyed. Rouge and Zahl both died while fighting Beast Boy and Robotman respectively. The Brain's new Brotherhood left the Titans, knowing that they would soon come into conflict.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=August 2020}}

The Brain and the new Brotherhood of Evil came into conflict with [[Brother Blood]], whose life-restoring blood pits Brain sought to use to prolong his own life. To deal with Blood's inhuman powers, the group repeatedly attacked the Titans to kidnap [[Raven (DC Comics)|Raven]] and force her to aid them in defeating Blood. They ultimately succeeded in kidnapping Raven with the Brain's influence and the fear manipulating power of  [[Phobia (comics)|Phobia]], briefly turning Raven to the Brotherhood's side. In doing so, Raven's demonic father [[Trigon (comics)|Trigon]] was able to gain control over Raven's body and nearly killed both the Titans and the Brotherhood, if not for the intervention of [[Donna Troy]] (who had been teleported outside the battlefield by [[Warp (comics)|Warp]] at the start of the fight).{{Volume needed|c=y|date=August 2020}}

The Brotherhood resurfaced again in [[Zandia]], months later as the New Teen Titans were in a bitter battle to rescue Raven and team leader Nightwing (who was mind-controlled by Brother Blood while working undercover as Dick Grayson) from Blood's cult. During the battle, Brain and Mallah finally got access to the blood pits of Blood while the Brotherhood captured [[Jericho (DC Comics)|Jericho]] and tied him to a lightning rod to force a final showdown with the Titans, which they lost. Meanwhile, a cave-in trapped Mallah and Brain underground, separating them from their team.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=August 2020}}

Meanwhile, Mr. Morden, now transformed into [[Mr. Nobody (comics)|Mr. Nobody]], attempted to reform the Brotherhood in Paris, but eventually decided (having gone basically insane) that the name and focus of the group be changed to reflect the fact that "the universe is a drooling idiot with no fashion sense" - the [[Brotherhood of Dada]] was born. The Brotherhood of Dada would fight the Doom Patrol on two separate occasions before being permanently defeated.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=August 2020}}

Meanwhile, Brain and Mallah made their way to America, without the help of the Brotherhood of Evil. The two broke into the lair of the latest incarnation of Doom Patrol to steal one of Robotman's spare bodies for the Brain. Now with a body, Brain declared his undying love for Mallah just as the spare body exploded (the robot body had gained sentience, a fact the two were unaware of, and had vowed to destroy itself rather than have a human brain inserted into it again).{{Volume needed|c=y|date=August 2020}}

The rest of the Brotherhood meanwhile rechristened themselves the "Society of Sin" and recruited a new female member named Trinity. This incarnation of the Brotherhood would only exist for one battle with the Titans before the group returned to their existing name and dropped Trinity from its roster.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=August 2020}}

In ''The New Titans'' #97-99, Brain and Mallah apparently returned to the Brotherhood with a shocking new member: [[Elasti-Girl|Rita Farr]], the sole member of the original Doom Patrol who had not came back to life at the time. The return was bittersweet though, as Brain was suffering from severe mental deterioration and Mallah proclaimed that only Mento's new Mento helmet could save the Brain. The group forced Changeling to steal the helmet for them in exchange for Brain helping restore [[Cyborg (DC Comics)|Cyborg]]'s mental capacities (Cyborg had become a brain dead automaton at this point in time). Changeling stole the helmet but quickly changed his mind about giving it to Brain, leading to "Rita Farr" to make her presence known and attack her son from behind while "Mallah" distracted Changeling with energy blast powers that the ape never possessed beforehand. This caused the Brotherhood to realize that the three were not who they claimed to be, leading to Warp escaping and bringing the Titans in to save Changeling and his teammates from the fake Elasti-Girl, Brain, and Mallah. Several weeks later, the three imposters attacked the Titans again and this time, they brought in an army of Titan villains with them, including a doppelganger of Plasma. This time the identities of the villains were revealed: they were energy beings who served a sentient alien computer called Technis which needed to assimilate Cyborg in order to survive.

===Brotherhood lives again===
The Brotherhood of Evil were not seen during the second half of the 1990s and would not return until 2005, in ''JSA Classified'' #1-3. Brain and Mallah themselves were magically resurrected a year prior to this during a ''[[The Flash (comic book)|Flash]]'' tie-in for ''[[Identity Crisis (DC Comics)|Identity Crisis]]'', having been revealed to be in jail for quite some time. The two were interrogated by the fifth incarnation of the Teen Titans for the location of [[Plasmus]] and Warp, as those two were suspects in the murder of [[Sue Dibny]]. It has been implied that the two were resurrected as a result of the same reality altering wave that erased the Doom Patrol from the timeline, resulting in the team only recently being formed by Caulder.

With Madame Rouge's daughter [[Gemini (DC Comics)|Gemini]] now a member, the group reunited with Phobia, Mallah, and Brain and joined the [[Secret Society of Super Villains]], under the command of inner circle member [[Deathstroke]]. Deathstroke had the group acquire [[Chemo (character)|Chemo]] for the Society and in ''Infinite Crisis'' #4, dropped the monster onto the city of [[Blüdhaven]]. Murdering several million people, the Brotherhood became the most wanted villains in the DC Universe for their act of mass murder. Furthermore, [[Warp (comics)|Warp]] was recruited by [[Doctor Psycho]] to free [[Doomsday (DC Comics)|Doomsday]] for the Society as part of the group's final endgame against Earth's heroes.

After the [[One Year Later|one-year gap]], between the end of ''Infinite Crisis'' and ''Teen Titans'' (vol. 3) #34 (the first issue of Teen Titans after the "One Year Gap") the Brotherhood has gained members Elephant Man and Goldilocks while losing Phobia, who opted to stay a freelance villain but still kept ties with the Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood then returned to their independent roots and launched a massive crime wave independent of the remains of the Secret Society of Super-Villains. Their goals included cloning a new body for the Brain as well as creating unstable clones of existing super-heroes to sell to third world dictatorships in Africa, putting the team in conflict with the Teen Titans, Doom Patrol, and the [[Outsiders (comics)|Outsiders]].

The Brain, Monsieur Mallah, General Immortus, Phobia, Plasmus and Warp appear in the ''[[Salvation Run]]'' mini-series. In ''Salvation Run'' #4, the Brain and Mallah are killed by [[Gorilla Grodd]]. Plasmus and Warp are used by [[Lex Luthor]] as a power source for a teleportation device, and are seemingly killed when it self-destructs.

===The New 52===
In September 2011, [[The New 52]] rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, the Brotherhood of Evil is featured as its members [[Phobia (comics)|Phobia]], [[Plasmus]], and [[Warp (comics)|Warp]] are competing against [[La Dama]]'s agents to obtain the scarab. It ends up in the possession of Jaime Reyes who becomes [[Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)|Blue Beetle]]. Blue Beetle manages to fight off both villain groups. To ensure that Phobia, Plasmus, and Warp succeed in reclaiming the scarab, a robotic gorilla called Silverback is sent to meet up with them. Silverback warns the three villains that if they fail again, he will be the one who will "clean up the mess".<ref>''Blue Beetle'' (vol. 8) #1 - 3 (November 2011 - January 2012)</ref>

==Membership==
[[File:Originalbrotherhood.png|frame|The Brotherhood of Evil at its original ''[[Doom Patrol]]'' series peak:<br>
[[Madame Rouge]], [[General Immortus]], Garguax, [[Brain (DC Comics)|The Brain]] and [[Monsieur Mallah]].]]
Here is a list of the Brotherhood of Evil members:

===Brotherhood of Evil===
* [[Brain (DC Comics)|The Brain]]
* [[Monsieur Mallah]]
* [[Madame Rouge]]
* [[Garguax]]
* [[General Immortus]]

===Second Brotherhood of Evil/Society of Sin===
* [[Brain (DC Comics)|The Brain]]
* [[Monsieur Mallah]]
* [[Phobia (comics)|Phobia]]
* [[Houngan (comics)|Houngan]]
* [[Plasmus]]
* [[Warp (comics)|Warp]] 
* Trinity
* [[Elasti-Girl]] - Revealed to be an impostor in ''The New Titans'' #103

===Third Brotherhood of Evil===
* [[Brain (DC Comics)|The Brain]]
* [[Monsieur Mallah]]
* [[Gemini (DC Comics)|Gemini]] - Revealed in ''Batgirl'' #61
* [[Houngan (comics)|Houngan]]
* [[Phobia (comics)|Phobia]] - No longer a member as of ''Teen Titans'' (vol. 3) #34
* [[Plasmus]]
* [[Warp (comics)|Warp]]
* Elephant Man - Revealed in ''Teen Titans'' (vol. 3) #35
* Goldilocks - Revealed in ''Teen Titans'' (vol. 3) #35

===Fourth Brotherhood of Evil===
* [[Phobia (comics)|Phobia]]
* [[Plasmus]]
* Silverback
* [[Warp (comics)|Warp]]

===Fifth Brotherhood of Evil===
* [[Brain (DC Comics)|The Brain]] - Dies in ''Unstoppable Doom Patrol #1''
* [[Monsieur Mallah]]
* [[General Immortus]]
* [[Gemini (DC Comics)|Gemini]]
* Doctor Inside-Out 
* Elephant Man
* Goldilocks 
* [[Houngan (comics)|Houngan]]
* Lady Tiger Fist 
* [[Plasmus]]
* [[Brotherhood of Dada#The Quiz|The Quiz]]
* [[Shrapnel (DC Comics)|Shrapnel]]
* Veiniac
* [[Warp (comics)|Warp]]

==In other media==
===Television===
[[File:Brotherhoodofevil.jpg|right|thumb|225px|The Brotherhood of Evil as depicted in ''[[Teen Titans (TV Series)|Teen Titans]]''.]]
* The Brotherhood of Evil appear in ''[[Teen Titans (TV series)|Teen Titans]]'', consisting of the [[Brain (DC Comics)|Brain]], [[Monsieur Mallah]], [[Madame Rouge]] and [[General Immortus]]. Initially fighting the [[Doom Patrol]], they later recruit [[Doctor Light (Arthur Light)|Doctor Light]], [[Psimon]], [[Cinderblock (character)|Cinderblock]], [[Red X]], [[Adonis (Teen Titans)|Adonis]], [[Trident (DC Comics)|Trident]], [[Puppet King (Teen Titans)|Puppet King]], [[Johnny Rancid]], [[Mumbo (supervillain)|Mumbo]], Professor Chang, [[Plasmus]], Angel, [[Warp (comics)|Warp]], [[Phobia (comics)|Phobia]], [[Punk Rocket]], [[Killer Moth]], Kardiak, XL Terrestrial, Katarou, [[Atlas (DC Comics)|Atlas]], [[André LeBlanc (DC Comics)|André LeBlanc]], [[Control Freak (Teen Titans)|Control Freak]], [[Wintergreen (comics)|Wintergreen]], the I.N.S.T.I.G.A.T.O.R., the [[H.I.V.E.]] Headmistress, the [[Fearsome Five|H.I.V.E. Five]], Wrestling Star, Kitten, Fang, [[Mad Mod]], the Witch, [[Demolition Team|Steamroller]], Malchior, Mother Mae-Eye, Master of Games, [[Ding Dong Daddy]], Newfu, Bob, Overload, [[Private H.I.V.E.]], and [[Cheshire (comics)|Cheshire]].
* The Brotherhood of Evil appears in ''[[Doom Patrol (TV series)|Doom Patrol]]'', consisting of the Brain and Monsieur Mallah, with [[Mr. Nobody (comics)|Eric Morden]] and [[Garguax]] as former members from the 1940s and Madame Rouge attempting to join them until the Brain betrays her.

===Miscellaneous===
The Brotherhood of Evil appear in ''[[Teen Titans Go! (2004 comic series)|Teen Titans Go!]]''. Additionally, a heroic, alternate universe version of the Brotherhood called the '''Brotherhood of Justice''' appear in issue #48, consisting of General Immortus, [[Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi)|Doctor Light]], [[Mammoth (comics)|Mammoth]], Madame Rouge, and Psimon.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Aquaman}}
{{The Atom}}
{{Black Canary}}
{{Blue Beetle}}
{{Captain Atom}}
{{Doom Patrol}}
{{Flash}}
{{Freedom Fighters}}
{{Green Arrow}}
{{Green Lantern}}
{{Hawkman}}
{{Justice League characters}}
{{Justice Society of America}}
{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}
{{Metal Men}}
{{Superman characters}}
{{Teen Titans}}
{{Wonder Woman}}

[[Category:1964 comics debuts]]
[[Category:Characters created by Arnold Drake]]
[[Category:Comic book terrorist organizations]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1964]]