DJINN	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Gerry Conway and Jimmy Janes

SPECIES DATA

Homeworld: Unknown
Physical characteristics:
Eyes: Red
Fingers: Five
Toes: Five
Skin Color: Green
First Appearance: Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 2 #266 (August 1980): "Kantuu"
Creators: Gerry Conway and Jimmy Janes

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of the Djinn in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #3 (July 1988)

NOTE

In the year 480 AD, the warrior race of Djinn discovered space travel and left their solar system to conquer other worlds. The Djinn plotted to enslave the galaxy and destroy anything in their way. One of the Djinn, Kantuu, organized a Djinn raid on the planet Oa, homeworld of the Green Lantern Corps. They never reached their target.

The Guardians of the Universe assembled in deep space and destroyed the Djinn armada in an instant. The Djinn were not killed by their foes; instead, the Guardians imprisoned them in bottles formed of emerald energy and shrank the would-be conquerors to less than 1/100th of their original size. There the Djinn would remain until an innocent soul freed them.

The Guardians wanted to teach the Djinn humility by obligating them to perform three services to their rescuer and then they would earn their freedom. The Guardians then scattered the Djinn throughout the universe, to planets on the verge of civilization. Twenty Djinn fell to Earth.

Kantuu landed in Arabia and was freed briefly by Lord Saladin. Apparently, the Djinn leader fell into disfavor with Lord Saladin as he was imprisoned once more and then commanded to leave the Earth.

Twenty-five hundred years later, on the ice planet Wondil IX, former Legionnaires Chuck "Bouncing Boy" Taine and Luorna "Duo Damsel" Durgo were mining crystallak ore in an ice cave.

Taine utilized a digger beam in Wondil's crystal mines to aid in their excavation, but was confronted by a magnetic anomaly which caused the beam to reflect off the crystalline walls. The beam destroyed the digger machine but the colonists survived. Undaunted, Taine investigated the cause of the anomaly.

There, frozen in the crystal, was Kantuu's bottle. Taine used a pick to break through to the bottle but inadvertently shattered it. The explosion released Kantuu from his long imprisonment. He grew to enormous height and shattered the walls of the ice cave, hurling himself into space with no regard for the ice sleds of approaching Wondil IX colonists.

Taine recognized Kantuu's language as Arabic and was able to track him through space. Kantuu appeared as humanoid, but sensor readings indicated he was pure plasma energy. The Legion of Super-Heroes was alerted and members Element Lad and Colossal Boy were sent to intercept.

Kantuu destroyed everything in his path, including a hyper-space relay station 16 parsecs from Wondil IX. The Legionnaires converged on Kantuu and were soundly defeated. Taine ordered Kantuu back into the bottle but the Djinn would only follow a literal command. Since the bottle was broken, he could not return to it. Kantuu set off to free his fellow Djinn.

As Kantuu made his way from Wondil IX to Earth, he stopped along the way to investigate the mobile mining city of Vulkan. The miners used the city to excavate ores from a volcanic planet orbiting a red giant. The Djinn destroyed the city, leaving one survivor, a fighter pilot named Tage.

The Djinn spoke to her telepathically. He wanted her to know who he was and where he came from. Some time later, the Legion of Super-Heroes found Tage and she passed along Kantuu's story.

The Legion of Super-Heroes arrived on Earth before Kantuu and found the other bottles, which they hid on the moon. They then set a trap for the Djinn. When he reached Earth, Kantuu believed he had found one of the emerald bottles amongst the merchants of New Damascus. He relished the opportunity to free one of his brother Djinn to have as a servant which he could mold. Opening the bottle, Kantuu was surprised to be facing Gim "Colossal Boy" Allon.

The Legionnaires kept Kantuu distracted while Bouncing Boy got close enough to order Kantuu to create a new bottle, like the one the Guardians had imprisoned him in. He swatted Taine away but was stymied by Duo Damsel. She warned the Djinn if he struck one her bodies, the other would order him to destroy himself. Kantuu chose to return to his imprisonment rather than face

Kantuu's bottle was taken to the moon as well. The Djinn have not been heard of since.

The thirtieth century stories occurred pre-Crisis and Zero Hour and therefore may not apply in current continuity.

GLCWP NOTE

The Legion of Super-Heroes story does not explain why the Guardians needed to defend Oa when the Green Lantern Corps could have been dispatched against them. My guess is the Djinn represented a threat greater than the Corps could handle, perhaps by engaging them in other battles while Kantuu's ships were free to attack Oa.