Killer Frost

Crystal Frost

Crystal Frost was the first incarnation, appearing in Firestorm #3 (June 1978). While Frost was studying to be a scientist in Hudson University, she fell in love with her teacher, Martin Stein. While working on a project in the Arctic, Frost was upset to learn that Stein did not reciprocate her feelings (for his part, Stein told a fellow researcher that he had noticed that Crystal was a withdrawn student of his and he merely tried to draw her out of her shell, which Crystal completely misinterpreted). Frost accidentally locked herself in a thermafrost chamber but survived, being transformed in a way in which she was able to absorb heat from a living being and project cold and ice. Calling herself "Killer Frost", she began her murderous crusade against men and clashed with Firestorm on many occasions. Killer Frost eventually died after she absorbed too much energy from Firestorm. Crystal has been identified as one of the deceased entombed below the Hall of Justice. Her body was reanimated as a Black Lantern.

Louise Lincoln

Dr. Louise Lincoln is the second incarnation; she first appeared in Firestorm (vol. 2) #21 (March 1984) and used the "Killer Frost" name in Firestorm (vol. 2) #34 (April 1985). Lincoln was a colleague and friend to Crystal Frost. After her friend's death, she decided to repeat the experiment as a last respect to her former mentor, and became the new Killer Frost. She became just as ruthless as her predecessor and began her own personal vendetta against Firestorm, whom she blamed for Frost's death. She briefly served as a member of the Suicide Squad and sold her soul to Neron for more power.

During the Underworld Unleashed event, Killer Frost attacked Hawaii, freezing part of the islands before being stopped by Superboy and Knockout.

After a group of mobsters put out a hit on Lois Lane, Killer Frost rescued her from Solomon Grundy, only to then leave the reporter bound and gagged on a set of train tracks, hoping to take the credit and reward for Lane's death. Her plan was foiled by Superman who rescued Lois before the train could hit her.

Killer Frost was later freed when the DEO refrigeration truck transporting her crashed. Effigy happened upon the crash and she discovered the heat from his pyrokinetic abilities enabled her to kiss him without freezing him over. The two had a brief flirtatious partnership that dissolved when Effigy lost patience with her lecturing him on how to defeat Green Lantern. After Green Lantern buried them both under a mountain of snow, Effigy escaped and abandoned her to be apprehended again.

In the Superman/Batman "Public Enemies" arc, Killer Frost was one of many supervillains seeking to earn a $1 billion reward offered by President Lex Luthor to sanction Superman and Batman, whom he considered treasonous. She teamed with Mister Freeze, Icicle (Cameron Mahkent) and Captain Cold in an attempt to ambush the two heroes in Washington D.C., but all four were defeated. They attacked in a second wave, along with more villains such as Giganta and Gorilla Grodd, but a similar backup of superheroes battered them all into submission. It was later discovered in Superman/Batman #3 that this ice-themed team of villains was being mind controlled by Grodd.

Dr. Light hired Killer Frost and Mirror Master to attack Green Arrow and Black Lightning at a hospital in Chicago, Illinois, where Kimiyo Hoshi was being held. Green Arrow stopped Killer Frost by firing an arrow filled with Greek fire into her thigh. Unable to absorb the heat from the arrow, she was defeated in Green Arrow (Volume 3) #54-55.

Around this time, Lincoln discovered that she had contracted cancer, and tricked Jason Rusch, the new Firestorm, into curing her. With her health and powers restored Killer Frost went on a rampage, only to be defeated when Jason used his abilities to reverse his alterations to Lincoln's body, returning her cancer.

Killer Frost returned during the events of One Year Later, where she had apparently entered into a relationship with Mr. Freeze. Together, the two villains went on a killing spree in Manhattan, hoping to draw Firestorm into an elaborate trap. Once the hero arrived, Killer Frost used a device to send both of them into space, where she sought to absorb the heat energy of the sun. Firestorm narrowly managed to stop her plan, and both Killer Frost and Mister Freeze were taken into custody by Batman. As they were being sent away, Killer Frost angrily revealed to Mister Freeze that she had only been using him as a pawn, and had no romantic interest in him.

Killer Frost was later seen battling Firestorm in the Justice League of America Wedding Special until Lex Luthor, Joker and Cheetah arrived, subdued Firestorm, and invited Killer Frost to join the new Injustice League. She then appeared in Salvation Run, where she was sent to the Prison Planet after having been defeated and captured by the Suicide Squad.

In DC Universe #0, she was seen as the member of Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains. She is later seen as one of the villains sent to retrieve the Get Out of Hell Free card from the Secret Six, and ultimately helped deal the killing blow to the crazed supervillain Junior and the troubled vigilante known as the Tarantula. A short time after this encounter with the Secret Six, Killer Frost appeared as one of the participants in a metahuman fighting tournament in Tokyo. She was defeated by Wonder Woman and Black Canary, who had disguised themselves as villains in order to take down the tournament from the inside.

Caitlin Snow

In September 2013, as the "Villains Month" part of the Forever Evil storyline during The New 52, Killer Frost was featured in the one-shot Justice League of America #7.2, also titled Killer Frost #1. She can also be seen on the cover of Forever Evil #1, which hints at her involvement in that series. The issue revealed this is yet another version of Killer Frost, Dr. Caitlin Snow, a scientist sent to S.T.A.R. Labs Outpost #72 in the Arctic to work on a thermodynamic engine whose creator had committed suicide. Snow soon discovered the place had been infiltrated by H.I.V.E. agents. When they tried to kill her inside the engine, Snow frantically ripped off the coolant system, merging her body with ice. Transformed into a heat vampire, she killed the H.I.V.E. agents out of revenge. She then wandered out into the cold until she came across a Norwegian camp and took their heat too. Hijacking a helicopter, she made it back to her hometown Pittsburgh. She even created a suit that helped her retain heat for longer. She later encountered the superhero Firestorm and discovered that his powers could temporarily heal her mutation. She tried recreating the Firestorm Nuclear Matrix several times only to fail with each attempt. When Firestrom and the Justice League were declared dead by the Crime Syndicate, she lost hope for a cure to her condition.

Killer Frost later has a scientist named Byte track down Martin Stein, the original creator of the Firestorm Matrix, to his secluded cabin while he had gone into hiding during the Crime Syndicate's takeover of Earth. She encountered Steve Trevor who was sent there on a mission to try to find the Justice League who were imprisoned inside Firestorm. Learning he was alive, Snow allied herself with the two men to find them. Soon they were attacked by supervillains Multiplex, Black Bison, Hyena, Tempest and Plastique for betraying the Syndicate. While fighting them off, Stein, Trevor and Frost teleported to another A.R.G.U.S. base where they learned that to free the Justice League, they needed Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth. Discovering Cheetah was keeping it as a trophy, they found her and her Menagerie but were subdued. Doctor Light (Arthur Light) suddenly appeared and blasted everyone except Frost and Trevor unconscious. After defeating him, they managed to deliver the Lasso of Truth to Cyborg who successfully used it to free his teammates.

DC Rebirth

In DC Rebirth, Caitlin Snow is taken to Belle Reve Penitentiary where she is introduced to the Suicide Squad and offered a place on the team by Amanda Waller. She accepts and joins the team. She helps the Suicide Squad in their fight against the Justice League, but subsequently assists them against Maxwell Lord when he is possessed by Eclipso, whose attempt to tap into her 'darkest desire' only unlocks her desire to make a difference. Afterwards, Waller is forced to release Snow into Batman's custody. She then joined the new Justice League of America made up of Batman, the Atom, Lobo, Black Canary, Vixen, and the Ray.

Powers and abilities

All versions have shown the ability to absorb heat from external sources and transmute it into waves of cold. Using these powers, Killer Frost can create an ice-sheen across her entire body that grants her increased durability, cause intense blizzards that can instantly freeze the target and generate objects composed completely of ice, such as projectiles in the form of ice shards and defensive walls or shields. She can also instantly freeze animate matter through physical contact, and is unable to touch a normal person without freezing them.

Her weakness is the need to absorb external heat sources to generate ice: although heat based weapons such as flamethrowers only make her stronger, she can be imprisoned in cold surroundings such as being locked in a refrigeration truck or buried under a mountain of snow. The Caitlin Snow version of Killer Frost is constantly plagued by a hunger for heat which can only be sated by absorbing the heat from a living being, a process which inevitably kills the victim. However, in recent stories she seems to have finally gotten it under control by only absorbing a tiny amount of heat from every person she touches, sparing them and leaving them otherwise unharmed.

While the exact limits of her abilities have yet to be established, how much power Frost can channel at once seems to depend on how much heat she has absorbed and stored in her body. For example, when she absorbed all the heat from Superman (whose body is supercharged by yellow solar energy) during a stand-off between the Justice League and the Suicide Squad, she was able to flash-freeze the entire league in a single blast.

It also seems that using up all the heat energy she has stored up at once can put Frost's life in danger. If she doesn't feed in time, she even risks dying of "starvation".

The Caitlin Snow version of Killer Frost also boasts a genius-level intellect, being S.T.A.R. Labs' youngest and brightest scientist prior to her tranformation. She could solve complexe equations easily, operate heavy energy generating machinery and appeared particularly skilled in the field of physics and research about energy. She once managed to create an ice prism with her powers that converted Superman's heat vision into a bright burst of sunlight to defeat Eclipso.

DC Super Friends

Killer Frost appeared in the DC Super Friends comic as part of a group of ice-themed villains called the "Ice Pack" that encased a city in ice and snow.

Justice League Adventures

The Crystal Frost version of Killer Frost appeared along with Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, Minister Blizzard, Cryonic Man, Icicle, Polar Lord and Snowman in the Justice League Adventures comic.

Justice League Unlimited

Killer Frost appeared in the Justice League Unlimited spin-off comic book along with her Secret Society teammate (and current romantic interest) Heat Wave.

DC Bombshells

Killer Frost appears in the DC Bombshells continuity, which takes place during World War II. Though she's never explicitly named, her outfit is similar to Caitlin Snow's. She is German and serves Hugo Strange of the Nazi Regime alongside Penguin and a brainwashed Harvey Dent (who is eventually rescued by the Batgirls). While Penguin is in love with her, it's unknown if she truly reciprocates the same feeling.

DC Super Hero Girls

Killer Frost appeared in the DC Super Hero Girls by the name of "Frost". In the series, she is shown to be a superhero, instead of a super villain. She has her own separate bio with her powers and personality listed. She is shown to be very smart too. There she lives with Lady Shiva, Miss Martian and Star Sapphire. She has her own bedroom with: a nightstand, a king sized bed, a desk and other decorations. Her appearance is also different: she has long hair made into a ponytail. She has blue eyes, white skin and all of her outfits have something to do with ice and snow.

Television

Film

Video games