Years after Triumph's initial appearance, Priest revealed that the character was partially based on DC Comics creative director Neal Pozner: "His shtick was: Triumph was always right... it was what made him so annoying to his fellow heroes... He was. At the end of the day, Neal would be proven right. That fact, more than anything else, annoyed many staffers beyond reason".[1]
Fictional character biography
Triumph is a member of the Justice League who entered a dimensional limbo while saving Earth, erasing the world's memory of him. He later returns to Earth and rejoins the Justice League.[1][2][3][4][5] However, Triumph's arrogant nature causes him to be expelled from the group.[6] During this time, he loses his soul to the demon Neron.[4]
In JLA, Triumph becomes a destitute and resorts to selling stolen League items to supervillains to pay rent. He is influenced by the fifth-dimensional imp Lkz before the Justice League and Justice Society stop him. The Spectre later transforms Triumph into an ice statue that is stored in the Watchtower and later destroyed by Prometheus.[7] Several years after Triumph's death, it is revealed that he has a son named Jonathan. He battles the Teen Titans before Raven convinces him to stand down.[8][9]
Triumph can manipulate and sense the electromagnetic spectrum, enabling him to control electricity and sense television and radio signals.[12][13] He can also generate force fields and change the density of other objects.