Match (Prime Earth)

Match is an imperfect clone of Superboy created by the Agenda, and a member of the Task Force X, otherwise known as the Suicide Squad. Initially led to believe he was the real Superboy, he has since learned the truth of his origins and resolved to be a hero nonetheless.

History

Creation

Match was one of several clones created by the criminal organization Agenda to be a better and stronger version of Superboy; however, he appeared to be physically unstable and destined to turn into a Bizarro.^[1] Desiring for Conner to lead her "Suicide Squad" but knowing she would not be able to subdue him without significant retaliation, Amanda Waller decided to use Match as an alternative. Subsequently Match was brainwashed to believe he was the real Conner and treated with an Agenda serum that temporarily stabilized his aspect and speech patterns.

Joining the Suicide Squad

While operating with the team, who had no idea he was not the original Superboy, Match repeatedly attempted to help people against orders.^[2] This put him at odds with Peacemaker and led Waller to have fellow teammate Nocturna use her coercive abilities to probe his mind and ensure that he would still cooperate. Though she didn't reveal it to Waller, Nocturna realized that Match's memories were being controlled, though she did not yet understand to what end.^[3][4]

During a mission to forcefully recruit Bolt on her nightly run, Match attempted to forewarn her; she did not understand in time as she was preoccupied with confusion at seeing "Superboy" work with assailants, but managed to escape back home to Titans Tower unharmed. Red X, a mysterious young vigilante who had been stealing info from the Teen Titans, offered to help the Suicide Squad into the Tower; while inside, Match tripped an alarm after he became fixated on a framed photograph of Conner and his Young Justice team and wandered off to view it. Red X betrayed the Suicide Squad to protect the young heroes who responded to the alarm after Waller gave the OK for Talon to use lethal force, causing the group to retreat with a mission failure.^[5]

Meeting Conner

After the disastrous encounter, Match and the Squad were instead sent to Earth 3 to capture Black Siren, Earth 3's equivalent of Black Canary; Nocturna used the opportunity to confess her concerns to Match about the memory tampering. When Match had to defend himself against Ultraman his wellbeing began to deteriorate, exacerbated by his extreme distress and anger over Waller's manipulations. After fleeing back to their own Earth and being sent to a Russian bunker to retrieve "medication" for Match's worsening condition, he was confronted by the real Conner, having been alerted by the Teen Titans Academy students to his existence.^[4]

Superboy confronted him and told him the truth but Match, believing Conner to be the actual clone, reacted violently just to be faced with the brutal truth when the effects of the serum ran out, revealing his Bizarro nature. Though Conner wished to help Match, Waller had him and the rest of the Squad teleported to an unknown location before anything could be done. The revelation of his existence rocked Match's sense of self, though he did not wish to be a bad person and ultimately resolved to continue helping others to the best of his ability. He took a modified form of his medication that allowed him to communicate normally, but left his newly mutated appearance unchanged.^[6][7]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Bizarro Physiology: Match is the imperfect clone of Superboy and for this reason he appears to possess the average powers of a Kryptonian.
  • Superhuman Strength: Match possesses inhuman levels of physical strength, this makes him strong enough to fight on an even level with the likes of Superboy and Ultraman.^[4]
  • Superhuman Stamina
  • Invulnerability: Match is extremely resistant to all forms of damage and only beings of similar power can hurt him. He fought toe-to-toe with Ultraman and got out of the fight with only minor wounds.^[4] He has survived being punched into the core of the Earth by Power Ring and soon emerged while showing no damage.^[8]
  • Superhuman Speed
    • Superhuman Reflexes
    • Superhuman Agility
  • Enhanced Senses
    • X-ray vision
    • Enhanced Hearing
  • Heat Vision
  • Molecular Acceleration: Match has been seen to be able to vibrate his vocal cords to speak at different frequencies, as he did when he tried to communicate secretly with the Speed Force user Bolt.^[9]
  • Flight
  • Super-Breath
• Telekinesis: As a clone of Conner Kent, Match exhibits some telekinetic ability, occasionally using them to lift his teammates.^[6]

Abilities

• Leadership^[10]

Weaknesses

• Diminished Intellect: Without his serum Match's speech abilities deteriorates to the level of that of a common Bizarro.
• Serum Dependency: Match needs his serum to retain his speech pattern and human aspect.
• Monstrous Appearance: Due to genetic flaws in the cloning process, Match suffered from cellular degeneration which made him turn into more like normal Bizarro clone and even speaking backwards of normal.
• Vulnerability to Kryptonite^[11]

Notes

• Match was created by Ron Marz and Ramon Bernado, first appearing in Superboy (Volume 4) #35. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Match first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Suicide Squad (Volume 7) #1 by Robbie Thompson and Eduardo Pansica.
  

Trivia

• Match considers Nocturna to be his best friend,^[6] and is in a relationship with her since.^[12]
• Despite his current form as Bizarro, Match somehow still has the same powers and weaknesses as normal Kryptonian and not opposites like Bizarro-Superman.^[13]

Related

• 22 Appearances of Match (Prime Earth)
• 29 Images featuring Match (Prime Earth)
• 3 Quotations by or about Match (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Match (Prime Earth)

Footnotes

Suicide Squad member This character is or was a member of the Suicide Squad, a team of imprisoned super-villains who perform high-risk missions for the U.S. Government in exchange for commuted sentences, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Suicide Squad members" category.

Crime Syndicate/Society member This character is or was primarily a member of the the CSA (Crime Syndicate of America • Crime Syndicate of Amerika • Crime Society of America), in any of its various incarnations, either on Earth-Three, Earth-3, Earth 3, or in the Antimatter Universe. As with all other CSA members, they are an evil version of a hero of the mainstream DC Universe, primarily the Justice League. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "CSA members" category.

Superboy Villain(s) This character is or was primarily an enemy of Superboy. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Superboy Villains."