Created by Hanna-Barbera Creator Hanna-Barbera Affiliation Super Friends | Team affiliations Super Friends Fictional universe DC Universe | |
Abilities Super strength, teleportation, telepathy, conjuration of illusions and physical objects Partnerships Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, Samurai Similar Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, Samurai, Gleek, Wendy and Marvin | ||
El Dorado is a Hispanic superhero featured in various incarnations of the Super Friends animated television series. He was voiced by Mexican actor Fernando Escandon.
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Fictional character biography
El Dorado was created solely for the Super Friends cartoons and has never appeared in a DC Comic. He first appeared as minor character in the Super Friends animated shorts, which aired in 1981 season and later in Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show as a full-time member. El Dorado spoke English with an accent, sporadically substituting common Spanish words or phrases, such as adding words like "rapido" and replacing nearly every instance of "yes" with "si".
In El Dorado's debut episode "Alien Mummy" it is revealed that he is of Mexican descent. The narrator sets the scene by describing the location as 'ancient Aztec ruins in the Mexican wilderness'. One of El Dorado's lines is "these are the mysterious ruins of my people".
Powers and abilities
El Dorado's powers were not well-defined and were highly ambiguous. His most frequently used ability was teleportation, which he accomplished by wrapping his cape over his body and vanishing. Anyone or anything he wrapped his cape around could also be teleported with him, and there appeared to be no limit to the distance he could travel. Another of his frequently used powers was the ability to generate illusions. Defined as "holograms," these illusions were also capable of fooling other senses, as they sometimes generated noise and could be touched; he once created a sea monster which roared loudly, and on another occasion generated a pile of fake dolls a villain was forced to physically dig through.
He also exhibited some degree of mental powers, including telepathy. During the series' opening theme, he is at one point shown to be hovering, suggesting flight capabilities, and he would sometimes enter from the side of the screen as if he were just landing.
He may have also possessed superhuman strength, as he once competed directly against Kalibak in physical combat and was also seen on several occasions to lift heavy objects with little effort. Knowledgeable about Pre-Columbian history (yet vague in his explanations), he assisted the Super Friends whenever they were forced to enter unfamiliar ruins or areas in Latin America. No official origin was ever given to explain El Dorado's past, nor the method through which he had acquired these powers. They may be mystical in nature and he is empowered by ancient magic and his people's warrior-spirit, possibly derived from ancestral "Ancient Aztec Sorcerers". Another possibility is that his powers are purely psionic, and the Aztec elements are incorporated purely for thematic purposes.