Doctor Phosphorus

Did You Know?

• Doctor Phosphorus has the ability to manipulate radiation for various effects, such as burning skin and toxic fume emissions.
• His body's major organs are not present, but he produces an endless source of energy for himself.
• When he sold his soul to Neron, Sartorius was granted greater powers, as well as temperature control.

Fictional character biography

Dr. Alex Sartorius belonged to the Tobacconists' Club and, with backing from club chairman Rupert Thorne, planned to erect a nuclear power plant in Gotham City. Public opposition forced him to relocate the project far from the city. During a meltdown at the plant, irradiated sand transformed Sartorius, shifting him one step up the periodic table from silicon to phosphorus. His skin now burned on contact with anything, and his skeleton became visible through his flesh like an x-ray. Vowing revenge, he aimed to poison Gotham’s water supply, but Batman stopped the scheme. Phosphorus fled and enlisted Thorne to kill the Dark Knight. Their subsequent battle inside the power plant ended with Phosphorus falling into the reactor, presumed dead in the explosion.

In the Underworld Unleashed storyline, he bargained his soul to the demon Neron for better command of his abilities, allowing him to wear ordinary clothes without them igniting. Later, in the Starman series, the villain Mist hired Phosphorus to assassinate the original Starman, Ted Knight, but the retired hero defeated him. A second encounter saw Phosphorus expose Knight to a lethal dose of radiation, giving him a terminal illness. In their third fight, Knight used his cosmic rod to rip up the pavement beneath Phosphorus and drive him into the ground, apparently killing him.

Phosphorus resurfaced in Detective Comics #825, held at Cadmus Research laboratories. Scientists there discovered he was no longer human, his organs replaced by pure energy. He escaped but was subdued by Batman and sent to Arkham Asylum. During Batman’s presumed death, Phosphorus broke out and kidnapped Kirk Langstrom and his wife Francine, seeking their research. Kirk stopped him by transforming into Man-Bat. In the 2011 New 52 reboot, Phosphorus joined the Secret Society of Super Villains.

In other media

Doctor Phosphorus served as the basis for the version of Firefly seen in The Batman, where the character was voiced by Jason Marsden. In the episode "White Heat," Firefly and his girlfriend Dr. Jane Blazedale try to steal a phosphorus isotope to improve his weapons, but an accident transforms Firefly into Phosphorus, giving him burning skin and a touch that sets things on fire. Alexander "Alex" Sartorius, also known as Doctor Phosphorus, appears in Creature Commandos with Alan Tudyk providing the voice. This version is a former scientist turned crime boss, an inmate at Belle Reve Penitentiary, a widower to an immigrant woman named Parvin, and a member of the Creature Commandos. Flashbacks show Alex asking crime lord Rupert Thorne for funding to cure cancer through nuclear fusion, while secretly feeding Thorne false data because of Thorne's ties to the country Bialya. When Thorne found out, he had Parvin and the Sartoriuses' son killed, framed Alex for the murders, and tried to kill him using his own nuclear equipment. After his transformation, Alex went insane, murdered Thorne, his family, and his men, took over Thorne's criminal empire, and was eventually stopped by Batman and sent to Belle Reve. Doctor Phosphorus also appears in The Lego Batman Movie, as a summonable character in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure, and in Smallville Season 11: Titans. Dr. Alex Sartorius appears in Batman: Arkham Knight through Simon Stagg's audiotapes, where he was raised Catholic but chose science over faith, worked at Stagg Industries, and later developed pyrophobia after being exposed to Scarecrow's fear toxin. Doctor Phosphorus is also part of the Lego minifigure series for The Batman Movie Series 2.