Tonight’s episode of The Flash introduced Arrowverse fans to Kilg%re, a metahuman who doesn’t just have the ability to control technology he has the ability to infect it as a bio-digital virus.
However, the Kilg%re in comics is a little different than his small-screen counterpart. Created by Mike Baron and Jackson Guice and first appearing in The Flash Vol. 2 #3 in 1987, Kilg%re is a sentient computer virus of alien origin that has the ability to take control of anything and everything electrical, including the world’s computer systems. By infecting the system, Kilg%re was able to infect every computer in the world.
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And it wasn’t just infecting computers for nefarious purposes that made Kilg%re such a problem. The virus killed a scientist who was working to help Wally West’s version of The Flash run faster, used a cloning chamber to clone said scientist, and then took the clone over, giving the virus a physical body to house itself in should someone manage to figure out how to get Kilg%re out of the computer system. The Flash had to reach out to Cyborg and Dr. Tina McGee for help, ultimately stopping Kilg%re before he could do anything with the clone and keep himself safe from deletion.
Kilg%re has also been seen in more recent comics as well. Popping up in the DC Rebirth Cyborg comics, Kilg%re took on a huge robotic body and then formed a villainous alliance with other tech-based bad guys, namely the Calculator and Gizmo, which definitely isn’t a good thing for the heroes.
While the Kilg%re of comics is a little different than the villain on tonight’s The Flash one thing is clear — technology is great when it’s the good guys running the show.
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
