Clayface

The mantle 'Clayface' has no single origin: across publication eras different people become Clayface. Basil Karlo (Golden Age) began as an actor who adopted a villain persona; Matthew Hagen (Silver Age) gained vast shapeshifting powers and resiliency after exposure to a pool of radioactive protoplasm; Preston Payne (Post‑Crisis era) became a corrosive clay-like being and required transmission of his condition to survive; Sondra Fuller (Lady Clay) and others obtained similar properties through technology or experiments. Later stories also show characters using blood or skin samples from existing Clayfaces to recreate or augment powers (for example, Karlo injecting himself with samples from Preston Payne and Sondra Fuller to become an 'Ultimate Clayface').

Appearances vary by incarnation and era, but commonly involve bodies that are visually and materially clay- or mud-like, malleable and capable of changing form. Early Basil Karlo initially wore a Clayface costume as a villain persona; later versions physically transform into living clay creatures. Depictions differ across comic continuities and media adaptations.

Most Clayfaces possess shapeshifting abilities derived from their clay-like composition: altering form, mimicking others, and reforming when damaged. Some incarnations (e.g., Matthew Hagen) display enhanced resilience and regenerative capacity after exposure to protoplasm; others (e.g., Preston Payne) have corrosive or melting contact effects and in specific storylines a compulsion or necessity to transmit their condition to others. Narrative plot devices also depict transmission via blood or tissue samples and the recreation of Clayface powers through injections or samples (e.g., Karlo, Dr. Peter Malley). Clayfaces typically function as criminals or antagonists and have joined villain teams in large-scale DC events.