Who the Clix? is a series of articles featuring information on comic book characters that have been made into figures for the popular tabletop game Heroclix. These articles are meant to help Heroclix players learn more about the characters behind their favorite pieces.

Today we look at a group of heroes with a more convoluted history than the X-Men: The Legion of Super-Heroes

Appearances in Heroclix: Superman/Wonder Woman, The Flash, War of Light, Superman and the Legion of the Super-Heroes, FF: Superman, Superman, DC 75th Anniversary, Arkham Asylum, Crisis, Justice League, Legion of Super Heroes, Origin, Giants, Collateral Damage, Legacy, Unleashed, Cosmic Justice

First Appearance: Adventure Comics #247

Members: Colossal Boy, Computo, Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Ultra Boy, Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad

Created By: Otto Binder and Al Plastino

Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy meet their idol, Superboy. They tell the young hero about a super-hero club they formed with him as an inspiration. After a series of tests, Superboy is inducted into the Legion of Super-Heroes. They continue to team up with Superboy as he meets more and more members of the club from the 30th century, with his cousin Supergirl even eventually being recruited.

The Legion has one main requirement of its members: they must possess one natural superpower that no other Legionnaire has. They operate out a clubhouse that looks like a yellow rocketship buried in the ground on Earth. They would go on to face such foes as the Fatal Five, Shadow Lass, Dark Circle, and Mordru.

Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad go on to be married, and in certain timelines become the parents of the monster Validus. The Legion continues to battle evil throughout the universe, even coming to blows with the new god Darkseid. After the Crisis, the Legion was revealed to have been inspired by a Superboy from a pocket dimension created by one of their foes, the Time Trapper.

After a horrible event known as the Magic Wars, the Legion is shattered and the universe is worse for it. A group of Legionnaires try to reform the Legion to fight back against the Dominators. During this time, Legion history is also rewritten by events surrounding the Time Trapper in which Mon-El is the inspiration for the forming of the Legion.

A group of clones is discovered, known as Batch SW6, that represents a number of the Legionnairs in their younger days. These clones and their adult counterparts learn to co-exist and the SW6 Legionnaires rebel against the Dominators to help the downtrodden. Even two Legions proves to not be enough, however, as the Earth is destroyed. Several Legionnairs are forced underground, taking on new costumes and identities.

After the events of Zero Hour, however, much of the Legion timeline is restored. This also leads to more new events, such as frequent trips to the modern day. In the future, the Legion begins to gain respect after defeating the White Triangle Daxamites and exposing the United Planets President Chu as a villain. Chu is responsible for the Braal-Titan War, the Sun Eater Hoax, the formation of the Fatal Five and brainwashing of Jan Arrah. This Legion is lost in space and time after a horrible accident and later recruits the Connor Superboy as a member.

The timeline shifts again through unknown machinations and change small details about the Legion’s formation and career. This Legion lives in an Orwellian society that suppresses emotions and keeps a watchful eye on minors. The Legion fight for social reform and try to bring back the inspiration that ancient tales of superheroes once did. This Legion also has a cult like following of millions of citizens across the universe.

The timeline shifts again, moving closer to the original timeline. The sun of Earth has turned red and Earth-Man manages to turn some Earth born Legionnaires against aliens. He convinces them that Superman was a human that gained his powers from Mother Earth. Superman eventually is brought to the future to help restore the Sun and defeat Earth-Man. This Legion eventually comes into conflict with the Time Trapper, teaming up with other Legions that have been “lost” due to the change in the time stream.

A number of the Legion are stranded in the 21st Century, trying to ensure the events that will create their future. The Legion still in the 31st Century is eventually disbanded, with the Legionnaires largely retiring or joining the Science Police.

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