Plasmus

Plasmus
Background information
First episode	"Divide and Conquer"
First comic	If You Can't Beat 'Em
Voice	Dee Bradley Baker
Character information
Real name	Otto Von Furth
Other names	Prisoner 385901 Ternion Big zit (By Robin in "Divide And Conquer") Booger-Man (By Cyborg in "Transformation")
Species	Deviant
Affiliations	Slade Brotherhood of Evil
Goal	Consuming toxic sewage
Residence	Jump City
Allies	Mammoth Cinderblock Overload
Powers and abilities	Regeneration Elasticity Underwater breathing and pressure resistance can shoot acid and ooze at a distance Can alter his physical structure at will High resilience and damage resistance
Weapons	His own body, his own mouth and his hands

I don't know what's more disgusting, Plasmus, the way you look or the stuff you eat.

―Robin

Plasmus is a villainous mutant monster that drinks toxic sewage and radioactive waste, and, by default, an enemy of the Teen Titans.

Character history

Plasmus' first incarnation.

While his original form is human, he involuntarily transforms into a large purple ooze monster whenever he is awake, at which at the point of awakening, his human form will be engulfed by the very slime that he expelled before becoming one with the monster. As a result, whenever he is in custody, he is put into a soundproof stasis tank to prevent him from transforming, and visitors and prison workers must not make any noise whatsoever in order to make sure he is fast asleep.

Plasmus first appeared in the series when Cinderblock stole his stasis tank from prison so he could be reawakened and used as a decoy for Slade's wicked purposes. At first, the Titans had trouble fighting him due to the absence of Cyborg, who had quit the team; as a result, Plasmus was able to capture Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy. He attempted to destroy Robin, but the boy wonder was rescued by Cyborg, and the two defeated Plasmus and saved the others by taking him out with an explosion.

His second incarnation in "Transformation."

In a later conflict, Plasmus began consuming waste from a sewer pipe at a football stadium. He was confronted by the Titans and fell into some sewage when Starfire shot at him. As a result, the mixing of Plasmus' temporarily disrupted body structure with raw sewage transformed him into a more inhuman version, giving him multiple green eyes and making him capable of spitting acid. It is unknown how the battle with the Teen Titans against Plasmus ended, possibly either the Titans defeated him without Starfire's aid or Plasmus was laughing at Starfire's appearance.

Later, Plasmus was re-recruited by Slade and Terra and ordered to distract Cyborg and Beast Boy from saving the rest of the Titans. After Terra failed to defeat the Titans, Plasmus was fused with Cinderblock and Overload to form the creature Ternion, combining their powers into a more frightful and powerful version. Ternion proceeded to attack the Titans, but was eventually defeated; Plasmus, along with Cinderblock and Overload, were de-fused and went their separate ways.

Plasmus shows up again to menace the Titans on their "last day" before Trigon's arrival. The titans confronted him, but he was defeated single-handedly by Raven, who projected her astral form into Plasmus' mind, rendering him unconscious.

Plasmus in a whale-shaped form underwater.

Plasmus later resurfaced again, this time as a recruit of the Brotherhood of Evil. When the Brotherhood carried out its plans to eliminate young superheroes all around the Earth, Plasmus was sent in Trident's company into the deep sea, where they captured Aqualad and Tramm. When Beast Boy and his Titans team arrived at the Brotherhood's base for battle, Plasmus joined the fight. He managed to catch Beast Boy in the fray, but again Raven used her astral self to render him unconscious, defeating him and returning him to his human form. He ended up flash-frozen along with most of the other villains in attendance.

Physical appearance

Plasmus' human form in his stasis isolation glass tank.

As a whole, Plasmus is a towering repulsive symbiote of dripping dark magenta slime with long, slouching arms, green eyes, and a large mouth. As of "Transformation", Plasmus, after getting exposed to the contents of raw sewage below a football field, gains a newer albeit hideous form: multiple green eyes and boils on his arms along with black lips and his massive teeth are shown.

Plasmus' human form, Otto Von Furth/Prisoner 385901, however, is that of a sleeping male in his late teens with a thin build, shaved head, and wearing only a pair of black speedo swim briefs. His eyes are brown during the first few moments before transforming. This human form is only maintained whilst sleeping in a stasis tank with the contents being a sort of breathable fluid that is contained within soundproof glass and kept in an ambient, isolated cell as shown in "Divide and Conquer".

Personality

Plasmus is a gluttonous, gross, toxic waste-consuming monster. He seemingly has no conscious or reason just the hunger to devour unhealthy waste from chemical plants and concoctions from sewer runoffs. Plasmus doesn't speak but expresses himself through growls, high pitched squealing, and roaring. Other than that, Plasmus has some measure of obedience when he is unleashed by Slade. Plasmus is shown to have a sadistic streak as he let's out an eerie hollow cackle when he thinks he's ensnared most of Titans through his extensions.

Unlike his monstrous habits, Plasmus's human form, Otto Von Furth/Prisoner 385901, is shown to be the polar opposite. While asleep, Otto is docile as a means to keeping Plasmus in check. But once he's awakened, Otto immediately panics, meaning he greatly fears Plasmus and the havoc he can unleash on others. In the short time he is awake, Otto reacts in panic and despair as he can only be human when he's asleep. This heavily implies that Otto isn't really evil but a prisoner himself to Plasmus once he involuntarily transforms into the latter. It remains unknown how Otto came to be this way or if he'll ever be cured to live a normal life. However, based on a DC source, Otto was a miner back then until a cave-in trapped him and his miner friends for seven days while mining highly radioactive radium. Everyone succumbed to radiation poisoning but Otto is the only survivor but was heavily exposed to radiation poisoning, and was rushed to a local hospital.

Powers and abilities

Plasmus in his human form.

Beast Boy trapped within Plasmus.

Plasmus' primary power is super strength. As a creature composed of ooze and with no solid skeletal structure, Plasmus is able to both withstand and regenerate from a vast amount of physical damage, and to execute limited shape-changing and limb-stretching. In combat, he attacks distant enemies either by elongating his limbs (or creating additional ones) to whip or grapple them, or he spits slime to bludgeon and entrap them. In his second incarnation, Plasmus also became capable of spitting acid.

It's implied that he still possesses some intelligence even while transformed, as he split himself to make it easier to fight the titans.

Appearances

Season 1

• "Divide and Conquer"
• "Masks" (Poster only)
• "Mad Mod" (Cameo; photograph only)
• "Apprentice - Part 1" (Poster only)

Season 2

• "Transformation"
• "Aftershock - Part 1"
• "Aftershock - Part 2"

Season 4

• "The End - Part 1"

Season 5

• "Homecoming - Part 2" (Cameo)
• "Calling All Titans!"
• "Titans Together"

Teen Titans Go!

• "If You Can't Beat 'Em"
• "When Chibis Attack" (Cameo)
• "The Strangest Sports Story Ever Told"

Video game appearances

• Battle Blitz
• Calling All Titans!
• Teen Titans

Gallery

Click here to view the gallery.

Background information

• In the DC Comics, Plasmus is made up entirely of burning protoplasm (hence the name), which is basically the equivalent of molten lava, instead of purple ooze.

Trivia

• Plasmus is one of the few characters whose signature appearance changes during the series.
• In the first episode, when Cinderblock went to free him, Plasmus's human form said in utter fear, "I'm awake? I should never be awake! I'm only human when I'm sleeping!" This implies that he turns into an evil monster against his will.
  • Also in the same episode, Plasmus' prison number was 385901, the production number of the episode "Divide and Conquer". This episode was aired as the third one, due to decisions made by Cartoon Network executives.
• Plasmus was featured as the final villain in the computer game Teen Titans Battle Blitz.
• In "The Strangest Sports Story Ever Told", Plasmus strangely appears in his first form.
• Plasmus' human form is based off of series producer David Slack.
• In the Batman Comics Cassius "Clay" Payne the fifth Clayface is similar to Plasmus, both are human while on unconscious, and transformed when they wake up.
• This incarnation of Plasmus was designed exclusively for the show. In the comics, Plasmus is a monster made entirely of burning protoplasm, the near-exact equivalent of molten lava, instead of purple goop. A more accurate depiction in the show would be something like the radioactive slime monster the Titans deal with in Russia when they meet Red Star.