Bizarro

Bizarro first appeared as a created duplicate in Silver Age comics: the original Superboy-era Bizarro was produced by a duplicating ray accident (Superboy #68, 1958). Later canonical origins in the comics expand the concept: Lex Luthor recreating duplication technology to make a Bizarro in some stories; General Zod producing bizarro duplicates of himself on Krypton as soldiers; and an entire cube-shaped planet called Htrae (Earth spelled backward) populated by Bizarro-versions of people. Across storylines the common causal element is deliberate or accidental technological duplication creating a sentient inverse of an existing individual.

Depictions vary by era and version but share an uncanny, visibly altered look signaling a flawed imitation. Early Superboy-era Bizarro is described with chalky white skin and childlike, erratic features. The earliest newspaper/novelty versions showed a costume bearing a 'B' on the chest instead of Superman's 'S'. Modern portrayals often use a purple-tinted variant of the Superman costume (a design popularized by later media such as Superman: The Animated Series and adopted in comics), and portrayals emphasize an unenviable or uncanny visage consistent with a mirror-opposite.

Bizarro is generally portrayed as possessing the same superhuman powers as Superman/Superboy in the relevant storyline—strength, durability, and related abilities—because he is a duplicated or artificially created counterpart. Behaviors and cognition vary: some versions are childlike, erratic, or morally confused ('me don't know difference between right and wrong'), while others organize into societies (Bizarro World) or armies (General Zod's bizarro soldiers). Individual narratives show Bizarros capable of both antagonism and attachment, including attempts to emulate Superman or form relationships (for example, creating or falling in love with a Bizarro Lois).