Marvel Comics (Earth-616)

Zebediah Killgrave - The Purple Man

Zebediah Killgrave was, in the height of the Cold War, a Yugoslavian spy attempting to infiltrate the American military, when an accident involving a batch of chemicals caused him to- Oh, just, forget it. Zebediah Killgrave is one of the most dangerous serial killers on the planet. His ability is simply, when he asks a person to do something, they are compelled to do it, no matter what the task. If he desires money, he can enter a bank and ask the teller for all they have. If he desires company, he can pull any woman off the street to join him, no questions asked. If he wants someone to drop dead, he only needs to instruct them how. Given his absolute control on everything around him, he has begun to see everything he involves himself with as a grand story with characters whose traits he can define and perfect, grand battles he can orchestrate, and plenty of tension he can fuel with a dramatic death or two.

Strength

Smashes a wine glass in his hand. (source) (X-Man #35)

Agility

Lunges for Daredevil, right over a lighthouse balcony. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #154)

Durability

Daredevil claims he heals supernaturally fast. (source) (Daredevil (2014) #9)
Daredevil claims he can heal from anything eventually. (source) (Daredevil (2016) #19. If you say so.)
Evidently survives a flying saucer crashing and exploding. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #89/Marvel Tales (1964) #100)
Takes a laser blast from Paladin to the chest. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #154)
Falls from a cliffside lighthouse into the ocean. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #154)
Survives a punch from Jessica Jones that sends him flying and cracks a windshield. (source) (Alias #28. Barely.)
Survives a pounding from an enraged Luke Cage. (source) (New Avengers (2005) #3)
Survives a headbutt from Luke Cage that crumpled his nose and caved his face. (source) (Thunderbolts (1997) #147)
Takes a beating from Elektra and stays conscious, then falls off a crumbling floor into the ocean off of Rikers Island and swims to Long Island. (source) (Heroes for Hire (2011) #11. (held back))
Gets hit by a train and is back on his feet the next day. (source) (Daredevil (2014) #9-#10)
While still heavily injured, takes a beating from Daredevil. (source) (Daredevil (2014) #10)
Survives having his face slammed into a computer console hard enough to break it. (source) (Daredevil (2016) #19)
Survives getting shot through the chest and stays conscious enough to order a crowd to get Jessica Jones off of him. (source) (Jessica Jones (2016) #15)
Killed by the explosive shockwave from one of Namor’s punches. (source) (Marvel Graphic Novel #27)

Zombie Physicals

Is risen from the grave as a kind of zombie after dying, through a combination of Kara Killgrave’s psychic powers and pheromone control. (source) (He later claims he was simply in a delusional state, but given that he shows enhanced physical strength, the ability to raise other zombies, and the inability to control people like normal, it’s clearly a different physical state than normal for him. (Claim source: X-Man #34 https://i.imgur.com/k0KkCz3.jpg?1. Abilities source: Alpha Flight (1983) #62 https://imgur.com/a/M2CaTb1))
Smashes a marble statue’s head with a punch. (source) (Alpha Flight (1983) #62)
Smashes open a locked grate with a punch. (source) (Alpha Flight (1983) #62)
Jumps through a window. (source) (Alpha Flight (1983) #62)
Smashes through a huge section of wall with help from a crowd of zombies. (source) (Alpha Flight (1983) #62)
Easily tears through couch cushions. (source) (Alpha Flight (1983) #62)
Punches through an elevator door. (source) (Alpha Flight (1983) #62)
Takes hits from Goblyn’s claws that rend his flesh without issue. (source) (Alpha Flight (1983) #62)
Survives a massive gasoline fireball explosion for a few moments before deteriorating too much and dying again. (source) (Alpha Flight (1983) #62. He gets better though.)

Other

Is the third most wanted terrorist on the planet after Magneto and Dr. Doom. (source) (Jessica Jones (2016) #14)

Pheromones - General

Killgrave can make a person follow his every command without question, not realizing what they’ve done until after the effect wears off. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #4)
His pheromones work by sapping the wills of people affected by it until they’re willing to agree with anything he says. (source) (Marvel Graphic Novel #27. This is why especially willful characters are able to resist him.)
Unlike Kara’s powers, his doesn’t usually turn his victim’s skin purple, but sometimes it does. (source) (X-Man #36. Apparently it takes effort to keep them normal-looking.)
Convinces a crowd of people to not only do something but to think a certain way. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #4)
Can tell crowds of people what to do, regardless of whether they want to or not, up to and including killing themselves. (source) (Alias #24)
Not only can a person be made to do anything, whether they would have anywhere near the desire to or not, but the compulsion feels as natural to the victim as any other normal thought. (source) (Alias #25)
While Killgrave’s pheromones have a limited range, if a command has been given and then the victim exits that range, they still feel compelled to see their assignment through. (source) (Alias #25)
Gives an order that’s still being followed long after the fact. (source) (Daredevil (2014) #8)
People under his control don’t experience a rise in their heartbeat. (source) (Daredevil (2016) #18)

Pheromones - Strength

Riles up a crowd to attack Daredevil to the point that he had trouble stopping them. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #88)
Easily controls an entire theater full of people. (source) (Marvel Team-Up (1972) Annual #4)
Controls a crowd of people through a televised broadcast. (source) (Marvel Team-Up (1972) Annual #4)
Clears out the entirety of Sea World. (source) (Jessica Jones (2016) #13)
Able to finally control Daredevil through a combination of increasing his pheromone strength and using a sound system to amplify the sound of his voice. (source) (Marvel Team-Up (1972) Annual #4)
Easily commands a powerful psionic. (source) (X-Man #36. His pheromones affect the body biologically instead of mentally.)
Jean Grey was able to implant a psychic defense in Jessica Jones’ mind that blocks his control. (source) (Alias #28. To a point.)
Forces Genis-Vell to turn off his cosmic awareness. (source) (New Thunderbolts #10)
People given commands will kill themselves voluntarily to get it done. (source) (Daredevil (2016) #18)
His pheromones are able to travel and infect people through Shroud’s mist. (source) (Heroes for Hire (2011) #10)
Overpowers and shorts out Puppet Master’s mind control machine by maxing out the pheromones he pumps into the people being controlled. (source) (Villains for Hire #4)

Pheromones - Versatility

Can control who his powers do and don’t affect. (source) (Villains for Hire #1)
Makes a man forget about his actions and involvement even after direct control fades. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #147)
Spider-Man was able to shake off the order to forget with a photograph and his Spidey Sense. (source) (Marvel Team-Up (1972) Annual #4)
Vague commands are open to interpretation on the part of the victim. (source) (Marvel Graphic Novel #27)
Apparently gives some form of non-verbal order. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #154)
Can make people see things if he tells them to. (source) (Alias #28)
Commands to see things can also be vague. (source) (Alias #28)
Alters Elektra’s memories and emotions. (source) (Daredevil (2016) #20)
Is able to speak through Jessica Jones’ daughter while both of them are locked in a safe room. (source) (Jessica Jones (2016) #14)
Speaks through a whole crowd. (source) (Jessica Jones (2016) #15)
After his powers are amped by Benjamin Killgrave’s artificial pheromones, is able to control Jessica Jones’ body directly while communicating with her thoughts, despite her wearing a neural disruptor. (source) (Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter #3)

Pheromones - Limitations

Fades with proximity. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #4)
His power can’t work if there’s a physical barrier between him and his targets. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #4)
It also can’t work if a person can’t hear his commands. (source) (Marvel Team-Up (1972) Annual #4)
Basically powerless when gagged. (source) (Marvel Team-Up (1972) Annual #4)
His power is limited even if his words are only partially drowned out. (source) (Daredevil (2014) #10)
Has trouble controlling especially dim-witted people. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #4)
Even if a person can’t resist his mind control outright, a small amount of willpower can keep them conscious and actively attempting to outmaneuver his control. (source) (Marvel Tales (1964) #100)
Requires concentration to keep people with some willpower under control. (source) (Marvel Tales (1964) #100)
Can’t control animals. (source) (Marvel Tales (1964) #100)
Robotic individuals (like Vision) are immune to Doom’s Psycho Prism and logically to Purple Man as a whole. (source) (Marvel Graphic Novel #27)
Daredevil knocks some people out of a lingering command (outside of his proximity) with a bucket of cold water. (source) (Marvel Team-Up (1972) Annual #4)
Wonder Man, a being of pure energy, is immune to his pheromones transmitted through Doom’s psycho prism. (source)
Wonder Man apparently got over his immunity to Killgrave’s pheromones. (source) (Jessica Jones (2016) #16)
His powers can be sedated through the use of specialty drugs. (source) (New Avengers (2005) #3)
Splitting his attention means that individuals under his control have less room to improvise under his commands and thus don’t perform as well. (source) (New Thunderbolts #12)
Elektra was able to protect herself from his pheromones by holding her breath. (source) (Heroes for Hire (2011) #11)
Even when Daredevil was emotionally weakened to the point of being capable of following his orders, he resisted by being too depressed to bother. (source) (Daredevil (2014) #10)
Jessica Jones is able to shrug off a control similar to his with a neural disruptor. (source) (Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter #2-#3)

Pheromones - Usage in Gear and on Teams

Creates a gas that can control a crowd of people outside of his usual range and incapacitates Daredevil, who was previously entirely unaffected by him. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #88)
Doom creates a prism with a single strand of his hair that allows him to control a restaurant of people and the cops outside without a verbal command. (source) (Marvel Graphic Novel #27)
Doom creates a prism with Killgrave’s entire body that puts the entire world under his control. (source) (Marvel Graphic Novel #27)
After putting three of the Purple Children into his own Psycho Prisms, Killgrave is able to directly control the entire world. (source) (Daredevil (2016) #19)
The Purple Children then put Killgrave in the Psycho Prism and make the entire world forget Daredevil’s secret identity. (source) (Daredevil (2016) #20. When a person is reminded of his identity, they suddenly remember always knowing instead of starting from scratch (Source: Daredevil (2016) #20 https://imgur.com/a/x90s70m).)
Infects Manhattan’s water supply with pheromones, uses a telepath to monitor, and is helped by Zemo opening holes in space to control the entire city of New York. (source) (New Thunderbolts #12. Outcome source: https://imgur.com/a/HUKS9k3 ‘New Thunderbolts #12’.)
The Purple Son was able to achieve a similar effect to Killgrave’s normal control by mixing Killgrave’s blood with his own, pumping pheromones through the air or directly injecting them into people. (source) (Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter #2-#3)
A bad mixture of Purple Son’s pheromones with too much of Killgrave’s blood temporarily turns people purple when injected. (source) (Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter #3. That’s it.)
An evil clone of Squirrel Girl shrinks Killgrave down and puts him in a jar and somehow uses this to control Dr. Strange. (source) (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe)

Pheromones - Characters Who Have Resisted His Control

Daredevil (source) (Daredevil (1964) #4)
Daredevil resists even after an upgrade. (source) (Daredevil (1964) #147)
Paladin (source) (Daredevil (1964) #154)
Kingpin (source) (Marvel Team-Up (1972) Annual #4. Kingpin is shown with a pair of noise blocking earplugs just after, but it’s never confirmed whether or not he was wearing them during their meeting. It would make sense why he didn’t struggle much to overpower Killgrave’s will, but he also seemingly understood what Killgrave had said and initially pointed the gun to his head when asked. It’s ambiguous.)
Dr. Doom (source) (Marvel Graphic Novel #27)
Namor is immune to the effects of Doom’s psycho booster (which increases Killgrave’s power) without the use of a secondary booster. (source) (Marvel Graphic Novel #27. It’s likely that he would be immune to Killgrave’s power on its own as well.)
Namor was controlled even without the booster, but only through being in closest proximity to the psycho prism and being dehydrated for months. (source) (Marvel Graphic Novel #27)
Emma Frost wins a game of will chicken against the Purple Children and was able to partially resist being injected with Killgrave’s blood. (source) (Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter #2. Purple Children can collectively override and reverse Killgrave’s control (Source: Daredevil (2014) #8 https://imgur.com/a/dVXYxKi). Emma Frost also partially resisted being injected with his blood (Source: Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter #2 https://imgur.com/a/PtjU4v5).)

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