Mr. Mxyzptlk

Mr. Mxyzptlk
File:Mxyzptlk.png Imagine saying his name five times fast.
Species	Imp
Gender	Male
Marital status	Single
First appearance	CotSF: "The Rise and Fall of the Super Friends" (1978)
Played by	Frank Welker

Mr. Mxyzptlk (pronounced miks-ill-plick) is a mischievous Imp from the Fifth Dimension homeworld of Zrfff, and a recurring villain in the Super Friends franchise. He is a practical trickster with reality-warping powers who enjoys making the lives of Superman and the Super Friends team difficult. He is voiced by Frank Welker.

Character description

Mxyzptlk generally as a short humanoid with a bald head, who consistently wears a orange and purple jumpsuit, and a purple bowler hat.

Powers

As an imp, Mxyzptlk posses vast magical abilities that allow him to have the following:

• Reality alteration: He can manipulate reality and the laws of the universe in such a way as to appear magical, and in almost any way he sees fit. The extent of this power appears to have no limits, such as being able to transform humans' bodies and minds, bringing inanimate objects to life, an summoning items out of will.
• Flying: His magic also grants him the ability to levitate himself, appearing as if he is floating in the air.
• Teleportation: He can disappear and reappear with or without the snap of his fingers.

Weakness

He only has one weakness. If he is tricked into saying his own name backwards, "Klytpzyxm" (pronounced kilp-ill-skim), he returns back to the Fifth Dimension for 90 days. Any effects of his magic are removed once he leaves, giving the impression that everything in the Third Dimension return to normal.

Appearances

TV series

• Challenge of the Superfriends
• The World's Greatest Superfriends
• Superfriends
• Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show

Behind the scenes

• Mr. Mxyzptlk is a DC Comics character created by Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. He debuted in Superman #30 (September 1944).
• In Challenge of the Superfriends and The World's Greatest Superfriends, Mxyzptlk was originally given a squeaky voice. From the 1980 Superfriends shorts onward, his voice was toned down to the one similar to Frank Welker's perfomance as Toyman.
• In "The Man in the Purple Hat" storyline of Action Comics #975, Mxyzptlk reveals that he has been the same person, regardless of which continuity or medium he appears, and which variations he goes by. This retroactively makes the Super Friends version of the character the same as the one in the mainline DC Comics universe.

In popular culture

• In Superman and Batman: World's Funnest, Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite battle each other in almost the entire DC Universe, and travel to the universe of the Super Friends cartoon. Mxyzptlk appears as his counterpart in that universe, and is perplexed with some of its quirks, including the stiff movements.
• In the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Mxyzpixilated," Clark Kent mispronounces Mxyzptlk's name as miks-ill-plick (as in how he was addressed in Super Friends), whereas Mxyzptlk corrects him by saying it as mix-yez-spit-lick in this series.