Dr. Phosphorus
Back to Starring Main > Dr. Phosphorus
Real Identity: Alexander "Alex" Sartorius
Affiliations: Sartorius Labs and Task Force M
Appearances: The Collywobbles, The Tourmaline Necklace, Cheers to the Tin Man, Chasing Squirrels, The Iron Pot, Priyatel Skelet, and A Very Funny Monster
Powers/Skills: Radiokinesis, Pyrokinesis, Enhanced Strength, and Unarmed Combat
Voiced By: Alan Tudyk
Alex Sartorius was a nuclear scientist married to a woman named Parvin. They lived in Gotham City. His happiest moments included playing airplane with his toddler in the backyard. The toddler wanted him to go faster. Parvin voiced her concern with taking money from Rupert Thorne, a reputed crime lord. Sartorius admitted he didn't like it either. She stated there would be no good end to it. He promised there was but he couldn't continue his research without the funding. He told her he loved her. She replied that was irrelevant to the discussion. He emphasized a nuclear fusion treatment that destroyed cancer forever without harming the patient was worth dealing with anyone. He believed with a treatment like that, his father might still be alive as well as her mother. She wished there was another way. Thorne and his thugs murdered Parvin and their child then forced him to touch their blood, touch a knife, and touch their bodies to implicate him as the killer.
Once they were done, they threw him into a black van. While Thorne and his thugs weren't looking, he opened the back doors and jumped out. He tried to limp away in vain. He was pinned to the ground and dragged back into the van. Thorne told him he wasn't going anywhere and wondered when he was going to get that. They arrived at Sartorius Labs. Thorne looked at the nuclear fusion chamber and mused that was where the magic happened. Sartorius begged to know why Thorne was doing this to him. Thorne told him he knew the terms of the deal: they funded his experiments, he made cancer go away, and they would get the results of all of those experiments to share with their "friends" overseas in Bialya. Sartorius knew it as a fascist regime. Thorne commented he tried not to be judgmental and reiterated it was just business. Sartorius pointed out he did what Thorne wanted and gave him all the results. Thorne became angry and confronted Sartorius on the doctored results the Bialyan scientists easily saw which in turn put him in a spot.
One of the thugs found a file that appeared to be the real results. Sartorius pleaded with Thorne about giving an oppressive regime nuclear secrets and thought of such a regime his late wife escaped from. Thorne mocked him for throwing his dead wife under the bus. Sartorius clarified he didn't think anyone would notice the made-up statistics. Thorne wasn't buying his excuses and ordered his men to pack all the files up and to grab the hard drives. They asked about Sartorius. He was shoved into the chamber. Thorne called it the age-old story of the nuclear scientist who goes crazy, murders his family and then commits suicide by atomizing himself with nuclear energy. They turned on the machine then laughed and taunted him. Sartorius didn't die and instead, Dr. Phosphorus was born. His mind snapped and he laughed as he left the laboratory. A bum was naturally frightened and ran off. He was now Dr. Phosphorus, a sociopath with irradiated skin he can use to burn through people and objects.
Phosphorus made his way to Throne's estate and demanded to see him. The private guard at the front gate was scared witless and tried to ask for a name in order to check his list. Phosphorus punched through the glass and ripped his face off. He found Thorne eating with his wife and two children and asked who wanted to shake hands with a skeleton. Phosphorus murdered all four of them then hunted down Thorne's thugs. He lit one on fire in his apartment, dropped another off the side of a building, and killed a third while he was grocery shopping then took over all of Thorne's empire without much opposition. One night, Phosphorus and his gang partied at the Ice Lounge. In the middle of a dance routine, the power went out. Phosphorus looked up and saw Batman at the skylight.
Phosphorus was arrested and imprisoned at Belle Reve Correctional Center's secret Non-Human Internment Division in Louisiana. In 2022, Amanda Waller assigned Rick Flag Sr. to protect Princess Ilana Rostovic, the heir apparent to Pokolistan, whom the United States of America were in negotiations with for unmined petroleum deposits, from Circe and the Sons of Themyscira. Flag referred to Phosphorus as "Jason and the Argonauts." Phosphorus was in the middle of a game of Jenga with G.I. Robot. He pulled a piece out then disintegrated it. Flag asked how the radiation affected the people around him. Waller estimated the effects should be minimal as long as you don't sleep in the same room as him. Flag keyed in on "minimal." Waller mused it could be called a free vasectomy.
Waller and Flag entered the common area. Phosphorus, Bride, and Weasel charged at them. Flag drew his gun. Waller, unworried, held out her Nanite Detonation Control and applied a crippling electrocution to all five prisoners. She told Flag they were his new task force, Task Force M. M for Monsters. She also gave them the nickname Creature Commandos and tossed him the controller. Task Force M was transported on an Osprey named Sheba. While on route to Pokolistan, Flag addressed his team and acknowledged he knew they weren't exactly enthusiastic about the mission. Dr. Phosphorus instead stated they were delighted to serve their country. Bride figured out he was smiling sarcastically. They were met at the airport by the Pokolistani military and a paramilitary unit known as the Amethyst Knights. Flag tried in vain to tell Weasel to calm down during the drive to Poko Castle. Phosphorus exclaimed Weasel urinated on him. He was annoyed no one thought to take him for a walk after the long trip. Bride warned he better not be looking at her.
Flag bowed to Princess Ilana but the Amethyst Knight Alexi decided to mess with him and lied only the sacred, customary bow was allowed in the castle and they were obligated to kill him. The knights surrounded the task force and armed their gauntlets. Flag claimed he was not briefed on what kind of bow to use. Alexi and the knights broke into laughter. Alexi pointed out Flag was about to mess his pants. Flag denied it repeatedly. Alexi boasted they were a lot like Americans and cited the Jamie Kennedy Experiment, Super Bowl Shuffle and the "Wazzup" phrase. Dr. Phosphorus sarcastically commended him on his current popular culture references. He then asked Phosphorus, "where's the beef?" Princess Ilana told him that was enough and they proceeded to a banquet prepared for the honored guests. Phosphorus opted to heat up his own steak. Later in the evening, Flag awoke to find Dr. Phosphorus trying to steal his Nanite Detonation Control. Flag was quickly reminded of the danger of Phosphorus' irradiated skin after punching him.
The fire and damage caused by Phosphorus soon caused the floor to cave in. They both fell down to the kitchen below and continued fighting. Eventually, Flag recovered the control and Phosphorus cowered. Princess Ilana entered the kitchen. Flag called him an idiot and questioned him if he thought Waller only gave him one then pointed out he would be hopping like a Mexican jumping bean for days if he escaped but if he told Waller about it, he would dead. He stressed they were supposed to be on the same team. Princess Ilana took Flag to a bathroom to tend to his wounds. Phosphorus, Weasel, and G.I. stood at the doorway and worried as Flag stared at them while holding the Nanite Detonation Control. Ilana closed the door. They eavesdropped. Alexi approached the bathroom door but Phosphorus stopped him. Alexi wanted to inform Flag two of his teammates left the grounds. Phosphorus estimated he needed 30 seconds. Weasel grunted. Phosphorus agreed and noted Flag was an older guy and probably had a lot of experience. He changed his mind and suggested a full minute.
Alexi didn't find the situation funny. Phosphorus clarified it looked like he was smiling even when he was not. Alexi thought he meat he wasn't smiling. Phosphorus revealed he was. The moans and knocks from inside the bathroom continued. After a long pause, Alexi asked if he could knock on the door. Phosphorus held out his index finger. The moans continued. As they walked to the transport, Flag made it clear they should have let Alexi brief him sooner. Phosphorus shrugged and told him to sue him for being a bro and doing him a favor. Flag didn't think much of the favor. Phosphorus concluded he couldn't do anything right in his eyes. Flag advised him to drop the martyr complex since he tried to murder him two hours ago. G.I. Robot armed a gun and asked Flag if Phosphorus was a dirty Nazi. Flag stated he wasn't. They loaded up into the transport and took off for Frankenstein Manor. On Flag's signal, they breached the manor and discovered Bride in the foyer chained to a chair with her mouth taped shut. Dr. Phosphorus believed it was a trap.
Phosphorus super heated the chains and Bride broke free. Flag pondered why Bride was left alive and realized Circe and the Sons lured them to the manor so they could attack the castle. They took off. A Son opened fire on Phosphorus but he effortlessly disintegrated the bullets then shoved his arm through the Son's gut and immolated him, calling him a shish kabab. They watched G.I. Robot levitate into the air and shoot down the Sons, only to be blown up by Circe. Weasel later tackled Circe out of Ilana's bedroom onto the castle grounds then continued slashing and biting her. Phosphorus remarked he loved a good barbecue then burned her face. The defeated Circe claimed the Commandos had doomed the world. The Commandos returned to Belle Reve. In the Non-Human Internment Division, inmates received their daily meal. Dr. Phosphorus was being sarcastic about being back home to the sweet smell of hyena vomit. Bride was annoyed he was acting like they were buddies all of a sudden. They saw Congorilla and Nosferata take all of Mazursky's food.
Bride bashed Congorilla to death after he declined to return the food. Phosphorus took Nosferata's tray and swapped it with Mazursky's empty tray, noting now everyone was happy except her because she had no food and was ugly and him because he no longer had a jaw and was likely dead. Economos told Bride she was leading the team back to Pokolistan with Mazursky, Phosphorus, and Weasel. They were picked up by Alexi. While on the drive to the castle, Alexi took a call and diverted to an ambush after Rick Flag Sr. tipped Princess Ilana about the next attempt on her life. He lied about traffic and having to take an alternative route then lied the engine was making a funny hoise. Dr. Phosophorus yelled at him to keep moving even if it damaged the engine permanently. The military and Amethyst Knights took up positions around them. Alexi put a gun to Bride's head but Phosphorus punched his head off. They exited the transport and scattered. Phosphorus took his clothes off and cut through a tank, killing both soldiers inside while in motion flipping them off. The tanks split in half and exploded. A heavily wounded tank driver begged Phosphorus not to kill him. He stepped on him and melted his head into a puddle.
In the evening, Phosphorus hid in a dumpster. After some Amethyst Knights passed by, he got out and continued through the city on foot. Phosphorus hid in an alley then jumped over a wall onto a family's property. He melted the doorknob and entered the house before he was spotted. He noticed framed photographs of a little girl then looked at her parents' wedding picture. The little girl stared at Phosphorus and stated in her language that she was hungry. He correctly guessed what she said. The little girl ate cereal in the kitchen. Phosphorus wished she didn't see him since he didn't want to risk any witnesses giving away his location. She called him "skelet" to which he easily figured was "skeleton." She called him "priyatel skelet." He wasn't sure what that meant. The little girl's parents woke up and ran downstairs. They found Phosphorus playing airplane with their daughter outside. He put her down and apologized then asked if they minded telling him which way it was to Poko Castle. The mother pointed.
Phosphorus continued to the castle. As the Sun rose, Phosphorus was reunited with Weasel then Bride and Mazursky as they all neared the castle. Phosphorus complimented Bride on her hot new look, her clothes ripped up from a fight in the brothel. She told him to can it and referred to him as Jack Skellington. She mused it was time to go kill a princess. They invaded the security tower and Bride killed the royal guard stationed there. Mazursky questioned the mission and wondered if they were going to kill Princess Ilana for no reason. Dr. Phosphorus noted there were billions of humans in the world and asked Weasel who would notice a few less. Weasel drooled. Phosphorus interpreted that as he didn't care. Mazursky disagreed with him and didn't think Weasel understood what he was saying. Bride brought up the vision Waller saw and felt any risk was worth stopping it. Mazursky was unsure. Bride looked at the security camera feeds and tried to find a path into the castle that wasn't swarming with guards. Dr. Phosphorus found feeds stored from the past few days. He lit a cigar but was surprised to find a video from two days ago that showed Princess Ilana talking to Clayface.
Frankenstein made it to the tower and addressed the Bride only to be quickly shot in the chest three times. He fell down to the castle grounds. Phosphorus asked if he was a paramour of hers. She told him to can it. Bride wanted to head to the wall at the back to the garden since it looked like the least protected. She believed the other side was where there were the fewest guards. Phosphorus vaporized the jaw off a single Royal Guard and went to work in burning a path through the wall. Phosphorus made it through the wall and they hid among the trees. Weasel saw Ilana and became animated. Mazursky held him down, realizing she was excited to see Ilana because she played fetch with him during their previous visit. Bride was naturally annoyed. Phosphorus asked if they should put him down. Both Bride and Mazursky told him no at the same time. He told them to calm down since he was just brainstorming. Bride believed the only way to get to Ilana was underwater. Mazursky refused to do it. They tried in instruct her on how to kill Ilana.
Mazursky stated she didn't know how to kill. Bride took out her curved blade and told her to shove it into Ilana's belly and twist then pointed out water was her advantage. Phosphorus reminded her killing Ilana was the only way to save the world. Bride stated she was a monster like her. Mazursky recalled she once said the opposite back in Frankenstein Manor. Bride claimed she was lying because she was a bitch then assured Mazursky she was the biggest freak of them all. Phosphorus added his approval. Mazursky decided to do it. After she left, Phosphorus asked Bride if it sounded like he cared. Weasel ran into the pond and got her attention. Ilana noticed Mazursky and dodged her thrust. They struggled underwater. Phosphorus grabbed Weasel but got bitten on his left arm. Weasel's lips burned. Phosphorus tossed him. Mazursky lost the blade and was killed by Ilana. The Knights surrounded the Commandos. Sergei ordered them to halt and arrived with Waller on the line. Waller told Bride she made a mistake.
The Knights called Weasel a hero and Sergei declared they would build a monument in his honor. Phosphorus was annoyed. Bride asked if he wanted to Knights to pet him. Phosphorus thought it would nice only if they hands didn't burn off since he hadn't been touched in 15 years. She acknowledged knowing how that felt. She walked away and told him she would be back. Bride returned and told Phosphorus and Weasel they were leaving and to make it fast. They sniped at each other. An embassy official wanted to ask them questions but Bride shoved him to the ground. Phosphorus saw tears streaming down her face and understood. He patted her shoulder as they left the castle. Waller had an abandoned wing in Belle Reve converted for the use of the Commandos. Phosphorus played table tennis against Nosferata, one of the new additions to the team.