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From SCIFIPEDIA
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Karate Kid is a fictional comic book superhero owned by DC Comics and is part of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Character Origin
Val Armorr's biological father was Kirau Nezumi, a notorious criminal known as the Black Dragon. The Japanese superhero White Toshi (Toshiaki White Crane) kills his arch nemesis Black Dragon in battle, and decides to raise the villain's orphaned son as his own. Retiring from his superhero career, he becomes known as the Sensei. Residing in the 31st century in the Japanese sector of a united Earth, the Sensei trains his adopted son Val Armorr in all Martial Arts techniques as well as peaceful creative practices such as meditation, sculpting, and painting.
Val becomes a master of all martial arts forms, many having their origins on different worlds. He develops his own discipline known as "Super-Karate" as well.
Aware that joining the Legion of Super-Heroes without any intrinsic super-power would take some convincing of the membership, Val carefully plans his strategy for the Legion "Try-Out" he attends. After breaking a steel girder with a single Karate chop, Karate Kid challenges the Silver Age Superboy to combat in front of the membership. Of course, the Boy of Steel is the victor, but not before being tossed around the hall quite decisively by Val. At the end of the battle, Superboy says, "Even though Karate Kid bit off more than he can chew, anyone that can give me that kind of tussle belongs in the Legion."
Character History
At the same try-out as Karate Kid, the Legion also accepts into the membership Princess Projectra, Ferro Lad, and Nemesis Kid. Nemsis Kid is exposed as a traitor a few issues later, and eventually joins the Legion of Super Villains. Nemesis Kid's power is to manifest whatever abilities he needs to beat any single opponent.
Soon, Karate Kid is linked romantically to Princess Projectra, who later takes on the superhero identity of Sensor Girl. Her power is to manifest incredibly convincing illusions.
In the Bronze Age of Comics, Karate Kid spends some time in the 20th century in his own short-lived comic book series.
Back with the Legion some years later, Val marries Princess Projectra (now Queen) and retires from the Legion with her to Orando. When Orando is attacked by the Legion of Super-Villains, he is severely beaten in battle by Nemesis Kid, and dies part of the effort to save the planet. There is a second Karate Kid named Myg of Lythyl who attends the Legion Academy and hopes to take Val's place in the Legion some day.
In the Justice League of America #8 (2007), we find out that before he died Karate Kid returned to our century with seven other Legionnaires on a secret mission. His memory scrambled by the trip, Val takes on the identity of Trident. When Batman and Mister Terrific restore his memory, he and his fellow Legionnaires complete their mission. In Justice League of America #10 (2007), Star Boy tells Val that Dream Girl predicts that the two of them should remain in the 21st century for a coming crisis. DC Comics editors inform us that this storyline will continue in the 2007-2008 weekly maxi-series, Countdown.
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