Match's behavior is feral; he seems unable to form words, and is aggressive even without provocation. He reacts violently to the Superman-shield, though he has attached to it himself. After his clothing was damaged, he branded himself with a new logo with his heat vision , but was enraged when once he realized it was mirrored. [2]
Physical appearance[]
In 2010, Match appeared completely identical to Superboy, with one notable difference: his eyes have black sclera, light blue irises, and black pupils.[2]
By 2015, Match had become disfigured; he had gotten paler, his left leg and the left side of his face had swollen, and his right arm had become oversized.[3]
He has a self-inflicted brand on his chest: an approximation of Superman's S-shield, though in mirrored form.[2]
History[]
Early life[]
Match was created as part of Project Match by Cadmus, as a first attempt to clone a Kryptonian. Lex Luthor wished for Superman to "meet his match", but the project was a failure. Kryptonian DNA proved too difficult to replicate, and the imperfect sequence made Match uncontrollable. He was stored deep inside Cadmus, and his presence was kept a secret. Cloning a Kryptonian would eventually be tried again, this time more successful because the gaps were filled with human DNA.[2]
Luthor told Superboy about his "brother", though he claimed Match was a later project than Project Kr. Superboy eventually found the chamber where Match was held, locked away and put on ice with countless other experiments. Just as he promised, Superboy freed Match. However, Match was not capable of thanking his liberator. Instead, he attacked the boy with a red S-shield on his chest.
The fight destroyed a lot of containment pods, and though Match beat Superboy because he had access to full Kryptonian powers, he was telepathically put to sleep by Dubbilex, who had Match transported to Genomorph City.[2]
In Dubbilex's secret hideout, Match was kept sedated by G-Gnomes. However, he managed to break their thrall when he noticed Superboy. This time, Superboy had enhanced powers thanks to shields Luthor gave him, and he beat Match. Guardian and Mercy arrived to put Match back on ice.[2]
The Collector of Worlds's force field cut through Match's containment pod, liberating him. All efforts by Lex Luthor's security forces to contain him failed.[3]
Metropolis December 1, 17:30EST
Match erupted from the ground near a startled Batgirl, inside the force field bubble.[5]
Having fought him long enough for the park to evacuate, Batgirl decided to end the battle. She threw a foam and smoke pellet at Match; the smoke distracted him, and the foam choked him. Batgirl could not evade his wild flails though, and was thrown against the edge of the force field. A LexCorp van pulled up and Match was taken away.[6]
2020[]
At some point, Lex Luthor showed Match in his containment pod to Juan Cordero, telling Cordero he had reached out to Superman and Superboy for help with Match, but was rebuffed.[7] Match was eventually released from his pod. He joined Onslaught.[8]
Onslaught guarded a LexCorp Robotics factory when it was raided by the Outsiders. Devastation introduced Match as their newest member before the two groups began to fight. Match took on Superboy until he was disabled by Kryptonite poisoning from Metallo.[8]
As a genetic clone of Superman, he has the normal abilities of a Kryptonian who has absorbed the solar energy of a yellow sun at the proportionate level to his physical age.[2] As of now, his powers include:
Solar suit: Match dons a white solar suit with a red Superman S-symbol on the chest. Five years later, he has a red version of the suit with a white S-symbol. The suit allowed him to absorb yellow sun radiation to fuel his powers even underground.
Match was a clone of Superboy, created by the Agenda. Though at first, he was able to pass on as his template, and on multiple occasions acted as an impostor, eventually his DNA broke down and he became closer to Bizarro.
Match at one point uses his heat vision to burn an S-shield on his chest; this is a reference to Superboy-Prime. The backwards S is common among Bizarro versions of Superman.
