Time Trapper

The Time Trapper appears in Legion of Super-Heroes comics published by DC comics. He is currently appearing in Final Crisis: The Legion of Three Worlds. The Time Trapper is an enigmatic being who lives at the End of Time. He hosted The Traitor Game XV: Who Succeeds At The End Of Time?

General History
Originally, the Time Trapper appeared to be a sort of warlord from the distant future. He fought against the Legion of Super-Heroes and, in one of his earliest appearances, created an "Iron Curtain of Time" that prevented the Legion from going forward in time. His exploits have not simply been against the Legion, however, as he has also fought against Wonder Woman and the Super Friends.

One of the more noteworthy stories involving the character began in Action Comics #591. The Legion of Super-Heroes had originally been established based on the historical accounts of Superboy. He was so much inspiration to them, they traveled to the past and brought him to the future to make him a member. However, in the wake of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superboy no longer existed in the Legion's past. Yet, he was still on their team. The Time Trapper had created a pocket universe within the folds of time to which he would divert the Legion every time they tried to journey to the past to see Superboy (and every time he tried to journey to the future). This plot eventually became revealed when the Time Trapper tried to turn Superboy against the Legion. Superboy refused, and was eventually killed in a cataclysm the Time Trapper forged.

Subsequently, in revenge, four Legionnaires traveled to the End of Time to confront him. In the encounter, the Time Trapper was seemingly killed. This story, published in The Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 3) #50, was the inspiration for Traitor Game XV.

The Time Trapper has appeared in multiple forms since and has manifested with multiple identities. He has died multiple times, and yet keeps returning.

Traitor Game XVIII
After Traitor Game XVIII: Reality Bites!, the Limbo Legion began capturing hosts of previous games. Omniwave traveled to the End of Time and fought the Time Trapper, both of them knowing beforehand that the Time Trapper would lose the fight.

The Time Trapper was captured and put in a containment pod within Immortus's Castle Tenebrae.

Traitor Game XX
In The Traitor Game XX: Challenge of the Limbo Legion!, Metron freed all the hosts the Limbo Legion captured, including the Time Trapper. Shortly thereafter, Vandal Savage killed Immortus and Soundwave began absorbing the ambient temporal energy. This caused a temporal wave, leading to much chaos. Within the temporal wave Chronos and Amazo appeared. Due to events in Game XV, they each had a copy of the Time Trapper's power. Amongst the chaos, those tend ended up dead. The Time Trapper absorbed the copy of his power.

After everything had settled, the Time Trapper returned to the End of Time.

Traitor Game XV
The copied energies he absorbed in Traitor Game XX did not sit well with the Time Trapper. They were killing him. Realizing he had limited time to act, the Time Trapper began searching for beings from history who were supposed to participate in a Traitor Game, but had not yet done so. Before he could summon them, however, he was interrupted by the Legion of Super-Heroes, who had come to the End of Time seeking a means to win a battle in their own time. He brainwashed them and sealed them in the mansion through which they had traveled in time.

Shortly thereafter, The Time Trapper gathered beings from across realities and held his own Traitor Game, with the promise that the victor would become his heir upon his death. When a player was eliminated from the game, he sent them to the Legion's mansion, forcing them to fight a comparable Legion member.

At game's end, the Time Trapper revealed he never had any plans to make an heir. Subsequently, there was a large battle involving the players and the Legion. In the end, a weakened Time Trapper was finally killed when the Legionnaire Quislet inserted himself into the Trapper's cloak. No longer in control of what he used to shield his power and further contaminated by Quislet's presence, the Time Trapper died.

It can be assumed based on his presence in The Legion of Three Worlds that the Time Trapper has once again somehow managed to survive.