DeSaad

Created by Jack Kirby for the Fourth World saga, DeSaad first appeared in Forever People #2 (1971) as one of the New Gods of Apokolips. His name and character are explicit allusions to the historical Marquis de Sade: he embodies institutionalized cruelty and the systematic application of torture within Darkseid's court. Within the fictional cosmology he is a long-serving Apokoliptian subordinate and torturer who aids Darkseid's campaigns, experiments on captured beings, and seeks means to further Darkseid's aims (including plots involving the Anti-Life Equation).

Sources summarize multiple visual portrayals rather than a single fixed description. As a New God he is depicted in comics and animation with the stylized, otherworldly physiognomy typical of Jack Kirby's New Gods; in media adaptations he has been portrayed in live-action and animation — examples cited in sources include Steve Byers (Smallville) in live-action and Peter Guinness providing motion-capture/voice work for Zack Snyder's Justice League, alongside numerous animated appearances (Super Friends; Superman: The Animated Series; Justice League; Young Justice; Justice League Action). The supplied materials do not provide a single, detailed canonical physical description.

Across continuities DeSaad is portrayed as nigh-immortal (long-lived and resistant to disease/toxins) and as an inventor and practitioner of torture. In various storylines he demonstrates enhanced physical strength (e.g., lifting multiple tons in The New 52), high invulnerability, telepathy or mind-entry abilities, emotional manipulation or the capacity in some continuities to feed on or manipulate negative emotions, creation of illusions or disguises in certain portrayals, and energy absorption/manipulation. Behaviorally he functions as Darkseid's torturer, psychological manipulator, experimenter, trainer of Apokoliptian forces, and agent-provocateur, engaging in capture, conditioning, and experimentation on other beings (examples include capturing Martin Stein and hijacking the Firestorm matrix; conditioning Infinitors; bonding with Orion in one storyline). Variations in specific powers and emphasis are continuity-dependent.