Mxyzptlk, also known as Mxy, is an imp, an extremely powerful extra-dimensional being from the Fifth Dimension, and a self-proclaimed god who came to National City to profess his love for Kara Danvers/Supergirl. Mxy began endangering lives with his mystical powers in an attempt to "woo" her until she banished him back to his home dimension.
Mxy was later punished by the Fifth Dimensional authorities, being court-ordered to help out those he wronged in order to use his powers freely again. His final task was Kara, who Mxy offered a chance to salvage her friendship with Lena Luthor. Ultimately, Mxy helped Kara come to terms with life, thus accomplishing the imp's task and allowing the two to part ways as friends. Later, Mxy was summoned by his former friend Nyxlygsptlnz and Kara in Earth-Prime. Eventually, he ended up entering Nyxly's Fifth Dimensional orb to nullify her powers and save the Superfriends.
Three hundred years ago, Mxy met Princess Nyxlygsptlnz.[1] At some point, Mxyzptlk assured Nyxly that he would support the overthrowing of King Brpxz. After their plot failed, Mxy betrayed Nyxly and testified against her, and she was banished to the Phantom Zone. Eventually, Mxy hid an amulet in a cave in Corto Maltese.[2]
After Kara Danvers began to be honest about her true feelings with Mon-El, they were about to kiss when a flying light flew around the apartment. It materialized into Mr. Mxyzptlk and he introduced himself, right before he proclaimed his love for Kara.[4]
Mxyzptlk proposes to Kara.
Mxyzptlk tried to woo Kara with his powers though Mon-El tried to stand in his way. He easily banished Mon-El to the D.E.O. before returning to woo Kara and used his powers to put her in a wedding dress. Kara, however, gently told him that she didn't like him though Mxyzptlk just thought she was playing hard to get. When Kara tried to stop some thieves, Mxyzptlk arrived and made their guns fly off their hands, though he easily turned them on the thieves themselves and Kara just managed to stand in the way and stopped them from getting shot. Soon after, Parasite was attacking National City and Kara and Mon-El went to engage him before Mxyzptlk arrived, wearing his version of Superman's suit to try and save everyone. Mon-El, however, saw through the act and knew that he conjured the creature to try and 'play the hero'. Mon-El demanded that Mxyzptlk just say his name backwards and return to his dimension and Kara was surprised that was the way to banish him. Mxyzptlk then made Kara an ultimatum, agree to marry him or he would unleash havoc upon the people of Earth.
Mxyzptlk duels Mon-El.
Mon-El went out and called Mxyzptlk out and challenged him to a fight. Mxyzptlk accepted and transported them to a theater where he conjured them pistols. Mon-El took his and immediately shot him though it did nothing. Mon-El then revealed that he took an energy dampener from the D.E.O that would render Mxyzptlk powerless. They fought hand to hand though Mxyzptlk managed to swipe the dampener from Mon-El and reversed it, giving him his powers back. He bound Mon-El and was about to shoot him with a lead bullet but Kara arrived and agreed to marry him. She told him to come to the Fortress of Solitude at noon the following day.
Kara tricks Mxyzptlk into saying his name backwards returning him to his dimension.
Mxyzptlk arrived but Kara revealed that she wasn't going to marry him and only brought him there so that he couldn't hurt any innocent people. Mxyzptlk became enraged and animated Jor-El's ice statue to attack Kara. She managed to destroy it but Mxyzptlk wasn't deterred, warning Kara that he would make the Earth crumble with a snap of his fingers and follow her across the cosmos until she agreed to love him. Kara had the Fortress go into lockdown and activated its self-destruct sequence. Mxyzptlk began to panic and pleaded Kara to not do this. She revealed that there was a code to deactivate the self destruct sequence. They went to the control panel where, Kara pointed out the buttons to punch in the code and Mxyzptlk managed to stop it before it was too late. However, the code was revealed to be "KLTPZYXM" and he began to fade back into his dimension. Mxyzptlk mournfully admitted Kara that all he wanted was to have someone love him. As he vanished, Kara told Mxyzptlk that love had to come and find him, not have it forced on anyone.[5]
Not long after, Mxyzptlk returned to Earth-38, appearing in Kara's apartment where he tried on one of her bathrobes and found her journal. Pretending to write from Kara's perspective, Mxyzptlk claimed she was in love with him and excessively complimented his own powers, appearance, and intellect. Mxyzptlk was interrupted when Kara returned home from work. He then hastily wrote his name backwards in the journal and promised to be back in a few months. Before Mxyzptlk could be confronted by Kara, he disappeared back to the Fifth Dimension.[6]
Punishment and redemption[]
"Before I met you, I was, um, I was pretty lonely. You know, and in that pain, I...I would tend to sort of, force myself on people, and, uh, out there with you today, saving the world, I felt like, um...I felt like I was liked for being me. I felt like I had friends."
Mxy was punished for his misbehavior by the authorities of the Fifth Dimension. Court-ordered to help those he had previously wronged, Mxy spent (from the third dimension perspective) years correcting his mistakes. Last on his list was Kara. Mxy offered to change her past so Kara's best friend, Lena Luthor, wouldn't hate her anymore for keeping her identity as Supergirl secret. But no matter what point in the last four years they looked for a good moment; the resulting domino effect always ended up poorly, attempting to completely erase Kara and Lena's friendship,
Mxyzptlk and Supergirl went to an alternate reality.
Mxy accidentally trapped them in a future where Lena had gone insane after being made into a Metallo by Lillian, brainwashed Brainy into serving her, and created a Fifth Dimensional energy dampener. Stealing the Fifth Dimensional hat he lost to Hat in a card game from the D.E.O., Mxy returned them to their original timeline.
Kara told him that; the ordeal taught her to accept things as they were. Mxy also told her their journey made him feel liked for; who he really is, as opposed to his past pushy self. Finally accomplishing his task, he reclaimed his powers and time traveled to the 1780s. He left a buffet of Maria's favorite foods as a parting gift. He left Kara's loft after seeing Kara happy and hoping Mxy would visit again.[3]
When Kara was trapped by Nyxly and the latter stated that only magic could help Supergirl in her current predicament, Kara called Mxyzptlk to her aid.[7]
Mxy sings while explaining Nyxly's tragic past.
After escaping, Mxy went with the Superfriends to the Tower and told his past with Nyxly, but couldn't use magic as she could track them like that. He tried to help them without magic, but failed, so he came up with the idea of duplicating himself to trick Nyxly using a device created by Lex Luthor, but failed due to his Imp physiology. When Nyxly was going to kill the Superfriends, Mxy saved them and sacrificed himself by entering her orb to put power-dampening cuffs on her.[2] He was eventually freed from the orb by Lex Luthor, planning to use Mxy's 5th dimensional essence as a way to retrieve the Love Totem, which had embedded itself into Esme.
Initially, Mxy appeared to be a cheerful, carefree, laid-back, arrogant and overconfident individual, but he was soon revealed to be immoral and ruthless, as he will do anything to get what he wants, even if it means putting innocent lives in danger, as he has no regard for innocent lives.[5] This chaotic personality is revealed to have stemmed from being lonely and wanting to be liked by individuals, thus; the excessive desire for attention.
While Mxy was serving out his punishment and helping those; who he had wronged with their problems, he realized the immaturity of his younger-self and was more considerate of others' feelings. After helping Kara with her situation, he realized that; he liked being wanted for his true-self; even without his "magic". With a renewed perspective, Mxy decided to resume having fun in the Third Dimension with less antagonistic results.[3]
Winn implies Mxy often serves as the Legion's magical consultant; showing a desire for heroism. [8]
Powers and abilities[]
Powers[]
Reality manipulation/Nigh-omnipotence : Mr. Mxyzptlk has shown incredible magical powers that seem to warp reality itself. These powers appear to have no limit in scale, with him frequently being referred to as "all-powerful". Mxyzptlk claims to be able to destroy the Earth with a snap of his fingers.[5] These powers include, but are not limited to:
Mimicry: Myx was able to possibly copy all of Superman's powers, since he used his flying technique and his freezing breath.[5]
Clairvoyance: Mxyzptlk claims to have been watching Kara Zor-El from his dimension.[5]
Conjuration: Mxyzptlk can create objects or sentient creatures at a whim. He created a duplicate Parasite, conjured up flowers, violinists, a wedding ring, and many other objects. He can also make them disappear instantaneously.[5]
Power bestowal: Calling himself "a god", Mr. Mxyzptlk suggested that he could turn Kara into a similar "god", allowing her to have powers similar to his.[5]
Shapeshifting: Mxyzptlk is capable of changing his appearance at will.[3]
Telekinesis: Mxyzptlk was able to take away the guns of bank robbers and wield it against the restrained robbers with mental commands.[5]
Teleportation: Mxyzptlk dodged Mon-El's punch by teleporting to Kara's side. He can also transport others across vast distances. He transported Mon-El from Kara's apartment to the center of the D.E.O.'s main headquarters in his underpants with a snap of his fingers.[5]
Time travel: Mxyzptlk was able to send Kara back in time to change history with a snap of his fingers.[3]
Superhuman strength: Even without his mystical powers, Mxyzptlk was able to go toe to toe with a solar-powered Daxamite, though he is not as strong as one.[5]
Superhuman agility: During his brief conflict with Nyxlygsptlnz, Mxyzptlk was able to perform a perfect cartwheel with incredible speed to avoid an attack from Nyxly.
Invulnerability: Even without his mystical powers, Mxyzptlk was able to go toe to toe with a solar-powered Daxamite, taking hits from Mon-El with almost no pain or injury.[5]
Abilities[]
Skilled hand-to-hand combatant: Mxyzptlk is a capable hand-to-hand combatant, enough to hold his own against Mon-El.[5]
Weaknesses[]
Mxyzptlk's name spelled backwards to banish him.
Banishment: Mxyzptlk can be banished and sent back to his home dimension; if he says or writes his name backwards.
Fifth dimension connection: Mxyzptlk's powers can only be used while he is able to access fifth dimension energy. If the connection is blocked, all his powers are neutralized and he is virtually no different than a normal human.
Fifth dimension higher authority: Mxyzptlk is still subjected to the authorities of the fifth dimension. After he had wronged several other individuals, they forced him to make amends with them and help them, limiting his powers; until he completes this task. Also, while under this task, he could not enter private residence; without being invited first.[3]
Mentality: While Mxyzptlk's powers are vast, they can only affect the physical world; for example, he does not possess omniscient knowledge. While able to conjure up any form of written knowledge he needs, he still has to learn it the same way as anyone else.
Personal choice: Mxyzptlk cannot manipulate one's personal thoughts or free-will; to which he cannot make a person fall in love with him, prevent them from killing themselves or even force them to drink orange juice (the latter's purpose is unknown to him).
Killing: As revealed by Brainiac 5 Imps aren't allowed to kill other beings. But they can find loopholes; such as; when Mxyzptlk was going to kill a group of robbers using their own guns. This implies they can't use their powers to kill others.
Being Tracked by other Imps: Mxyzptlk magic can be tracked by other Imps like Nyxlygsptlnz if he tried using his magic.
In the DC comics, Mr. Mxyzptlk is an imp from the Fifth Dimension who can manipulate reality. He is an antagonist of Superman, and although he frequently acts as a pest, he does no long-term damage. He cannot be made to return to his home dimension until he's tricked into saying or writing his own name backwards, "Kltpzyxm".
