Young Justice (animation)/Characters/The Light

This page is for listing tropes related to members of "The Light", a mysterious council of DC bad guys who seem to be behind almost every major crime the Team encounters in the animated series Young Justice. Their alliances even extend off-planet - Desaad has supplied them with the technology of The New Gods, and they add the Kroloteans' "Competitor", heavily implied to be the Reach, to their contacts in season two.

While they control a large number of minor baddies from DC lore who do their bidding and dirty work, the group itself is a mere 7 members. As of season 2, the members are:

• Vandal Savage (L1)
• Ra's al Ghul (L2)
• Lex Luthor (L3)
• Queen Bee (L4)
• Black Manta (L5)
• The Brain (L6)
• Klarion the Witch Boy (L7)

For other characters that appear in the series, see the Young Justice Character Index.

In General

• Big Bad: The group as a whole takes this role. "Auld Acquaintence" reveals Vandal Savage had the idea to form the group, but they act as an alliance of equals.
  • Big Bad Septumvirate
• Canon Foreigner: The group itself, though its individual members are not.
• The Chessmaster
• Evil Versus Evil: Manta and Aqualad nuke a Krolotean base at the behest of the "Competitor".
• The Faceless: When they're projected on their viewscreens, you can't make out more of each member than a glowing silhouette.
• The Illuminati: The Light seems to have a lot of Illuminati-characteristics, down to the name ("The Light" being very similar to "the enlightened ones").
• Karma Houdini: At the end of the first season.
• Legion of Doom: Serve as an interesting reconstruction of the concept.
• Light Is Not Good
• The Man Behind the Man: Make that "The Commitee Behind Cadmus". Nearly every villain in the series so far is working for them, or at least somehow connected to the group.
• The Omniscient Council of Vagueness
• Order Versus Chaos: Chaos to the Justice League's order. Though in this case, they don't want to destroy the world, just prevent humanity's stagnation from too much peace and status quo.
• Shadow Archetype: You might notice how there are seven members of The Light just like there were seven founding members of the Justice League.
• Spell My Name with a "The"
• Rule of Seven: They have never had more than seven members at a time so far.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Want to fast-track humanity's advancement and put Earth on top throughout the universe. Unfortunately, they're also willing to do almost anything to get there.
• Xanatos Gambit: The Light is an expert at these. They use one in nearly every episode.
• You Are Number Six: Before each member was revealed they were only known by their number within the Light in the credits.

Current Members

L1: Vandal Savage

Vandal Savage A04

Voiced by Miguel Ferrer

• Badass Longcoat
• Beard of Evil
• Brown Eyes
• Contemplative Boss
• Contemporary Caveman: Very evident in his design.
• Earth Is the Center of the Universe: He appearantly holds the opinion that Earth's rightful place is "at the center of the cosmos".
• Evil Sounds Deep
• Fallen Hero: Word of God is that Savage was a hero at one time or another.
• Genius Bruiser: The genius part is obvious, but he's also a very dangerous hand-to-hand combatant.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has three scars on his face. Word of God says they're from a run-in with a bear.
• Implacable Man: Takes full body rams powered by Super Speed with as much difficulty as getting breathed on.
• Kneel Before Zod: At the end of "Usual Suspects" he makes the entire mind-controlled Justice League bow to him.
• Lightning Bruiser: Considering he caught Wally by surprise, he clearly qualifies.
• Revenge by Proxy: Subverted. He tried to kill Wally, claiming in order to take revenge against The Flash. According to him, he has a score to settle with the Scarlet Speedster. However, in reality he was only trying to delay him from his mission.
• Really 50,000 Years Old
• The Social Darwinist: He is a firm believer of conflict helping to advance the species. He founded The Light because he believes the Justice League's goal of helping humanity is holding mankind back.
• We Need a Distraction: His role in "Coldhearted" amount to this.

L2: Ra's Al Ghul

Ra's Al Ghul

Voiced by Oded Fehr

• Back From the Dead: Lampshaded by Alfred in the tie-in comics, when he notes that Ra's never stays dead.
• Beard of Evil
• Fallen Hero: Word of God is that Ra's was a hero at one time or another.
• Green Eyes
• Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Or 600, Word of God hasn't pinned down an exact year yet.
• Skunk Stripe

L3: Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor

Voiced by Mark Rolston

• Affably Evil: Politely spoken, kind and seems to want peace for the world. But he's still Lex Luthor, and working with Savage and the others to carry out a decidedly social darwinist agenda.
• Badass in a Nice Suit
• Bald of Evil: It is Lex Luthor after all...
• Corrupt Corporate Executive
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Completely inverted in "Targets", where Lex uses a few well placed super assassins to help sell his most recent advances in cyborg weapons technology to a major government.
• Evil vs. Evil: Lex and the League of Shadows don't get along... but that is a front. See Villain Team-Up below.
• Glorified Sperm Donor
• Green Eyes
• Luke, I Am Your Father: He supplied some of Superboy's DNA, making him effectively Superboy's human father.
• Manipulative Bastard
• Not So Different: He argues to Superboy that he has far more in common with him than Superman does, as he doesn't believe the world has Black and White Morality.
• Third Person Person
• Villain Team-Up: Is shown to be in one with Ra's Al Ghul in "Targets". It's only later that we learn it's because they're both members of The Light.
• Villain with Good Publicity

L4: Queen Bee

Queen Bee

Voiced by Marina Sirtis

• Even the Girls Want Her: According to Batman, she has the ability to put not just men but also some women under her thrall (no doubt a thinly veiled reference to her power working on lesbians).
• Evil Is Petty: She murdered Marie Logan during the timeskip. The only logical reason for her to bother would be to spite M'gann.
• God Save Us From the Queen
• Manipulative Bitch: Just listen to what she says to M'gann.
• Qurac: Runs a nation known as Bialya
  • Which apparently is right next door to the actual DC Comics fictionation Qurac, as the team infiltrate her country by crossing the border. (Qurac is actually a decent country in this continuity, though).
• The Smurfette Principle: The only female member of The Light.
• The Vamp
• Violet Eyes
• Would Hurt a Child: In "Images", she casually threatens Garfield by having him placed under her thrall. She can easily make him hurt himself if she wants.

L5: Black Manta

Black Manta

Voiced by Khary Payton

• Artificial Gill
• Badass
  • Badass Arm-Fold: Example
  • Badass Normal
• Clothes Make the Superman
• Dragon Ascendant: Is promoted to take Ocean Master's place on the Light in the 3rd episode of season 2.
• Eye Beams
• Large Ham: At times.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: During the Time Skip Aqualad learned Black Manta was his father, and switched sides.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Check out the inside of his sub.
• No MacGuffin, No Winner: Invoked
• Offing the Offspring: He attempted it in "Downtime" by shooting at Aqualad and Garth. He didn't care if he killed his own son in explosion he himself caused. They're working together by Season 2.
• Powered Armor
• Scary Black Man: Masked, but he still counts.
• Spotting the Thread
• Wicked Cultured

L6: The Brain

The Brain

Voiced by Nolan North/Corey Burton

• Affably Evil
• Brain In a Jar
• Deadly Doctor: Should be apparent when he tries to take out Captain Marvel's brain.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin
• Evil Genius
• French Jerk
• Mad Scientist
• Poirot Speak
• Spell My Name with a "The"

L7: Klarion

Klarion the Witch Boy

Voiced by Thom Adcox

• Adaptational Badass: In the comics, he's a magic user from the Witch-World. Here, he's a Lord of Chaos and the actual Arch Enemy to Doctor Fate.
  • "Misplaced" shows him effortlessly kicking the team’s asses in battle and apparently he is higher ranking that Wotan, Felix Faust, Blackbriar Thorn and Wizard in the magical hierarchy. Not that this is surprising.
  • He has lost to Nabu twice, and its unlikely Nabu was at full power either time; however, the first time he lost because his familiar was targeted, the second because he was distracted fighting the entire team at once and he wasn't serious because his plan was just a distraction. He has yet to lose in a straight fight.
  • And in the final episode of the first season, Vandal Savage stops him from fighting the team- and possibly the Justice League, or at least any members who might have woken up-, not because he wouldn't win, but because he would probably destroy the Watchtower in the process. Klarion halfheartedly denies this before admitting that, yeah, he probably would. Its pretty obvious that he's the most powerful villain in the show at time of writing.
  • Badass in a Nice Suit
• Adaptational Villainy: While he is morally grey in the comics, he's nowhere near this bad.
• All Witch Boys Have Cats
• Beware the Silly Ones
• Black Eyes: He easily fits into the first catagory due to his status of an evil lord of chaos.
• Creepy Child / Teens Are Monsters: Played with. He acts like a child and looks like a teenager despite being an "ageless" Lord of Chaos and could be considered the oldest member of The Light.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: He almost looks grey in some shots due to how pale he is.
• Familiar: His cat Teekl.
• Faux Affably Evil: Quick to joke and laugh, but he's probably one of the worst villains in this continuity in the sense that there's probably nothing he won't do.
• Femme Fatalons: Black, of course.
• For the Evulz: Word of God is that Klarion joined the Light mostly because "it seemed like fun".
• Game Face: First seen during his fight with Nabu in "Denial" and used throughout "Misplaced". It helps to show that he's not human at all.
  • Nightmare Face: His eyes alone put him pretty firmly in the Uncanny Valley.
• Horned Hairdo
• Humanoid Abomination
• Intelligible Unintelligible: Teekl's meows are intelligible to Klarion, and indeed the cat at times seems to be more knowledgeable than Klarion himself.
• I Shall Taunt You
• Jerkass
• Karma Houdini: As Fate points out, Klarion can't be held, so it's not really worth trying to even stop him from leaving.
• Oh Crap: When he realizes that Nabu knows what his cat actually is.
• Order Versus Chaos: In this series Klarion is a Lord of Chaos.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: His normal outfit and overall colors are black and shades of red.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Teekl's eyes can look downright demonic but Klarion's Game Face has a rather ratlike pair of them as well.
• Right-Hand-Cat
• The Sociopath
• Spoiled Brat: His own minions occasionally have to act like frustrated parents.

Klarion: This isn't T. O. Morrow.
Sportsmaster: Klarion, this is Professor Ivo.
Klarion: I didn't order this! Send it back! (Teekl purrs at him) Morrow's in a coma? Did I already know that?

• Trickster: Not a nice one though.
• Villain Exit Stage Left : A justified case. See Karma Houdini.

Former Members

L5: Ocean Master

Ocean Master (Prince Orm of Atlantis)

Voiced by Roger Craig Smith

• Bishonen
• Cain and Abel: With Aquaman.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Savage says that he was disgraced. This may or may not mean he's dead, but he lost his membership regardless.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Ocean Master is actually mentioned and appears very briefly in a flashback told as a story in "Downtime." This is before it's revealed that Orm is him or that he's a member of The Light.
• Foregone Conclusion: A version of Aquaman's brother who's a decent person? That's not gonna last long...
  • Especially when you consider he has the same voice actor as L5.
  • Comic #14 confirms it: L5/Ocean Master is Orm.
• Fantastic Racism: In the comic tie-in, he leads the Purists, a cult dedicated to "cleanse" Atlantis from non-humanoid Atlanteans. He actually doesn't give a damn about the Purist cause, but they make convenient minions.
• Gray Eyes
• Would Hurt a Child: Or more specifically, would hurt said child's pregnant mother in an attempt to gain her power, thereby killing said child at the same time. Luckily, he was stopped.