Lightning Lord - Pre-Zero Hour

Pre-Zero Hour

Lightning Lord (real name Mekt Ranzz) is a founding member of the Legion of Super-Villains.

A single birth on a planet where twin births are the norm, Lightning Lord developed an anti-social personality in response to his circumstance of not having a twin sibling. When the spacecraft which he was travelling in along with his younger brother and sister (Legion of Super-Heroes members Lightning Lad and Lightning Lass) ran into electrical difficulties, the Ranzz siblings were forced to land their craft on the planetoid Korbal. In an attempt to lure the local lightning beasts to recharge their battery, they were charged with electrical energy themselves, giving them the power to generate lighting. Given his newfound ability, Lightning Lord decided to turn to a life of crime.

He has an adversarial but protective relationship with his siblings, and during any given encounter will usually attempt to get one of them (usually his sister) to join him in his life of crime. However, in a story set in the future, Mekt returns to Winath and reforms. This story also introduces Mekt's male lover (which is confirmed by the author of the story, Tom Bierbaum). This interpretation of the character does not carry into the later versions of Legion continuity.