Onslaught is a fictional character appearing in
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
.
Onslaught was written as a sentient
psionic
In American science fiction of the 1950s and 1960s, psionics was a proposed discipline that applied principles of engineering (especially electronics) to the study (and employment) of paranormal or psychic phenomena, such as telepathy and psycho ...
entity created from the consciousness of two mutants:
Professor Charles Xavier and
Magneto
A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
. During a battle between the
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
and Magneto's
Acolytes, Professor Xavier used his
telepathic
Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
powers to shut down Magneto's mind, rendering him catatonic. It was explained through the Onslaught crossover series that the darkest aspect of Magneto's mind escaped into Xavier's subconscious, where it "merged" with Xavier's own darker nature to eventually grow into a separate persona of its own.
Publication history
The character first appeared in cameo in ''X-Men: Prime'' #1 (July 1995), named in ''Uncanny X-Men'' #322 and made his first full appearance in ''
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
'' vol. 1, #53 (June 1996) where he was co-created by writers
Scott Lobdell
Scott Lobdell (; born 1960) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter known for his work on numerous ''X-Men'' series for Marvel Comics in the 1990s, various work for DC Comics in the 2010s, namely ''Red Hood and the Outlaws, Teen Titans ...
,
Mark Waid
Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles ''The Flash'', '' Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', ''Fantastic Four'' and '' Dar ...
, and artist
Andy Kubert
Andrew Kubert (; born February 27, 1962) is an American comics artist, letterer and writer. He is the son of Joe Kubert and brother of Adam Kubert, both of whom are also artists, and the uncle of comics editor Katie Kubert. He is a graduate of an ...
. He was written and introduced as a villain that was part of the effect of events in the 1993 "
Fatal Attractions" storyline. Onslaught's introduction into X-Men storylines caused its own crossover event across multiple Marvel comic book titles (including ''X-Men'' and ''Uncanny X-Men'' issues, and ''
Cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
'' issues).
Fictional character biography
Origins
Onslaught is a sentient psionic entity created from the consciousness of Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto. During a battle between the X-Men and Magneto's Acolytes, Magneto used his powers to rip the
adamantium
Adamantium is a fictional metal alloy appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and in various games in the Elder Scrolls franchise. It is best known as the substance bonded to the character Wolverine's skeleton and claws. In ...
from Wolverine's skeleton, causing such extensive injuries that his healing factor was exhausted. Xavier was so unhinged with anger over the brutality of Magneto's assault against Wolverine that he used his telepathic powers to shut down Magneto's mind and render him
catatonic. During the psionic contact, Magneto's anger, grief, and lust for vengeance entered Xavier's consciousness, mingling with every long-suppressed negative feeling Xavier had endured during the last 30 years. This result created the being known as Onslaught.
First appearance
Onslaught remained dormant for some time but subtly began influencing Charles Xavier. After an attempt to spy on the new mutant
Nate Grey
Nathaniel Grey (X-Man) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Steve Skroce, the character first appeared in ''X-Man'' ...
, a refugee from the world known as the "
Age of Apocalypse
"Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 comic book crossover storyline mostly published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The ''Age of Apocalypse'' briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616 and had ramifications in the main Marvel Comic ...
", resulted in the latter pulling Xavier from the astral plane into the real world, the aspect of Onslaught in Xavier was able to use this experience to 'teach' itself how to manifest its own body.
Onslaught offers
Juggernaut
A juggernaut (), in current English usage, is a literal or metaphorical force regarded as merciless, destructive, and unstoppable. This English usage originated in the mid-nineteenth century and was adapted from the Sanskrit word Jagannath.
...
a chance to join him in his effort to generate fear in a twisted plot to "unify" humans and mutants. When Marko declines his offer and decides to warn the X-Men of the danger ahead, Onslaught uses his powers to mentally block Juggernaut from remembering its true identity, and magnetically to fling him from Vancouver to New Jersey. When the X-Men find him, Cain was only able to tell the X-Men one word, the name of his attacker: "Onslaught".
Following the encounter with Juggernaut, Onslaught invaded a government-sanctioned
Sentinel
Sentinel may refer to:
Places Mountains
* Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana
* Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica
* Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring grani ...
base. He downloaded the current specifications for the mutant-hunting androids and erased portions of the memories of the employees working in the clandestine factory. Additionally, Onslaught had started recruiting others to do his dirty work for him and first manifested himself to the X-Men when he challenged the teleporter Gateway to test
Cyclops
In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...
,
Storm
A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere
An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...
, Wolverine, and
Iceman, by kidnapping them and sending them to face off against his agent Post. Later, Onslaught helped Jean Grey and Gambit escape from a secret meeting held at the Pentagon, where Bastion, the leader of Operation Zero Tolerance, met with various world leaders to discuss the threat of mutants.
Onslaught’s attention was also occupied by another task; the recruitment of the immensely powerful telepath Nate Grey. To do the job, the powerful entity knocked out Sebastian Shaw and Tessa, to lure Holocaust away from them, promising him immeasurable power in exchange for his loyalty. He then dispatched Holocaust to test Nate. Using physical force, Nate eventually cracked Holocaust’s armor, though he was unable to breach the powerful psionic defenses Onslaught placed around Holocaust’s mind. Accepting defeat, Holocaust fled, but warned Nate that Onslaught knew his potential now and would come in person to claim him.
Onslaught later sought out Jean Grey, hoping to convince her to join his cause with the offer of power rivaling that of the Phoenix Force. He took her into the astral plane where he revealed damaging information about Professor Xavier, such as a long-forgotten attraction the Professor had to Jean during the X-Men's early days in hoping to recruit her Phoenix Force experience to gain more power. Jean resisted Onslaught, but he defeated her and sent her back to her physical body with only a fleeting memory of what had happened as well as the name "Onslaught" telepathically branded on her forehead.
Gradually, Xavier's frustration with his dream of mutant-human harmony began to increase, exacerbated by the daily growth of anti-mutant hysteria, the deaths of dozens of mutants from the lethal Legacy Virus, and his own failed attempt to rehabilitate
Sabretooth. Xavier reached his breaking point when anti-mutant humans killed a young mutant near the grounds of the
Xavier Institute for Higher Learning
The X-Mansion or Xavier Institute is the common name for a mansion and research institute appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The mansion is depicted as the private estate of Charles Francis Xavier, a character in X ...
, the secret base of the X-Men. At this point, Onslaught awakened within Xavier and took full possession of the Professor's mind and body. Onslaught-as-Xavier called together the X-Men. When they resisted his plan to turn them into soldiers fighting a total war against humans, Onslaught revealed himself to the X-Men and tried to destroy them. Bishop, remembering childhood stories of a traitor betraying and killing the X-Men, began to realize that the guilty party was Xavier as Onslaught. Bishop rescued his teammates, but Onslaught escaped, taking Xavier's body with him.
Once free, Onslaught created a childlike psionic projection named Charles to gain the trust of
Franklin Richards. Onslaught captured the child, despite a rescue attempt by Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. Now carrying Franklin and Xavier, Onslaught also captured Nate Grey, intending to use his raw psionic power to fuel Onslaught’s plans to transform the human race into a collective consciousness. Onslaught returned to New York, reprogramming the Sentinel robots to obey his commands and form a protective circle around Manhattan, sealing off the island from the rest of the world.
The X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers joined forces to challenge Onslaught. Their first confrontation with the entity and his minions resulted in the rescue of Xavier, reducing Onslaught to a mass of psionic energy contained within his armor. Unfortunately, this also prevented Xavier from influencing the villain with his better nature. A second and final confrontation occurred at Onslaught's Central Park citadel where the heroes made a number of attempts to free Franklin and X-Man from Onslaught's armor. During their next assault, Jean Grey used her telepathy to suppress the part of the monstrous Hulk's mind that contained the rationality of his alter ego, Dr. Bruce Banner. With his new, nearly-feral intelligence pushing his rage - and thus, his strength - to unbelievable levels, the Hulk battled Onslaught and tore apart his armor. The resulting explosion of psionic energy separated Banner and the Hulk, and Onslaught was left as an energy being, immune to most physical harm. Onslaught then used Franklin's powers to create a second sun that would destroy the heroes and Manhattan. In desperation,
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
flew into the energy being, disrupting Onslaught's form. Realizing that Thor's efforts alone were insufficient to destroy their adversary, the non-mutant members of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four entered the energy field. The X-Men were unable to do likewise, as it was theorized that if Onslaught, a being of mutant origin, came to possess a mutant host, he would become unstoppable. Onslaught dissolved, seemingly destroyed, along with the heroes who had thrown themselves into the rift.
The remaining Sentinels were disabled, Franklin and Nate were rescued, and Manhattan was returned to normal. Later, it was revealed that the Avengers and the Fantastic Four did not die, as had been surmised. Rather, the heroes were reborn in a pocket universe created by Franklin. The Avengers and the Fantastic Four returned to their rightful home months later, possessing only hazy memories of their time on Counter-Earth.
Onslaught Reborn
A five-issue
limited series Limited series may refer to:
*Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series
*Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered
*Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...
was issued in late 2006 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the "Onslaught" storyline, titled ''Onslaught Reborn'', by writer
Jeph Loeb
Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III () is an American film and television writer, producer and comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series '' Smallville'' and ''Lost'', writer for the films ''Commando'' and ''Teen Wolf'', and a writer and ...
and artist
Rob Liefeld
Robert Liefeld (; born October 3, 1967) is an American comic book creator. A prominent writer and artist in the 1990s, he is known for co-creating the character Cable (comics), Cable with writer Louise Simonson and the character Deadpool with wri ...
. ''Onslaught Reborn'' features the return of the villain and addresses unresolved plot threads; this event is set after the "
Decimation
Decimation, Decimate, or variants may refer to:
* Decimation (punishment), punitive discipline
* Decimation (signal processing), reduction of digital signal's sampling rate
* Decimation (comics), 2006 Marvel crossover spinoff ''House of M''
* ''D ...
" and "
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
" storylines.
After
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Her first appearance was in ''The X-Men'' #4 (March 1964) ...
used her powers to de-power most of Earth's mutants, the powers of Charles Xavier and Magneto collided to reform Onslaught, whose consciousness lingered after his defeat. Onslaught swore revenge on the young Franklin Richards and any other hero that he despised, manifesting as a monstrous version of his previous form with a skull-like face. He first took control of both the
Human Torch
The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of ...
and
Mr. Fantastic in an attempt to kill Franklin, but was soon interrupted by the
Invisible Woman
The Invisible Woman (Susan "Sue" Storm-Richards) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four and was the first female superhero created by Marvel during ...
and
the Thing, who saved Franklin. Franklin ran to Counter-Earth, but Onslaught followed.
[''Onslaught Reborn'' #1–5 (Jan. 2007-Feb. 2008).]
As Onslaught appeared in Counter-Earth he became larger, and regained his Magneto-like mask. He soon encountered the Avengers and was presumed defeated after he fell into the ocean. Instead of worrying about Onslaught, the Avengers questioned Franklin's credibility, as Franklin claimed to be the son of both Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. On Counter-Earth Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman were not married and did not have children. Shortly after this, Thor was assaulted by an Onslaught-possessed Hulk, who battled Thor to determine which of the two was more powerful. Onslaught switched between the bodies and possessed Thor, who struck the Hulk with lightning. As Thor was about to strike again, he dropped his hammer, as Onslaught was not worthy to carry it. Onslaught switched back to the Hulk, and punched Thor into the atmosphere. Onslaught was assaulted by the Avengers before he could pick up Thor's hammer. Captain America ordered the Human Torch and Iron Man to rescue Thor, telling them they had about sixty seconds for the rescue. They raced to save him, and Johnny took Thor back to the
Baxter Building
The Baxter Building is a fictitious 35-story office building appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The building is depicted in Manhattan, and its five upper floors house the Fantastic Four's headquarters.
Publication hist ...
, where Mr. Fantastic discovered that Franklin really was his son. In the battle,
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
ordered
Hawkeye to find Onslaught, and confronted Hawkeye with the fact that Wolverine was hiding in Hawkeye's costume. The Avengers continued to battle the Hulk, while Captain America was thrown into a building.
Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
, from the atmosphere, charged down at the Hulk at full speed, hoping that Bruce would forgive him someday. He punched the Hulk, knocking him out. He and Captain America assessed their next move until Onslaught possessed Iron Man and attacked Captain America. Back at
Avengers Mansion
Avengers Mansion is a fictional building appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It has traditionally been the base of the Avengers. The enormous, city block-sized building is located at 890 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York ...
,
Rikki Barnes
Rebecca "Rikki" Barnes is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''Heroes Reborn (1996 comic), Heroes Reborn'' #1/2 ( ...
was babysitting Franklin when
Loki
Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Na ...
,
Executioner
An executioner, also known as a hangman or headsman, is an official who executes a sentence of capital punishment on a legally condemned person.
Scope and job
The executioner was usually presented with a warrant authorising or order ...
, Scarlet Witch,
Enchantress, and Ultron V surprised them with an offer to help defeat Onslaught. On a balcony, an invisible
Ant-Man
Ant-Man is the name of several superheroes appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, Ant-Man's first appearance was in ''Tales to Astonish'' #27 (January 1962) but first appeared in costum ...
and the Invisible Woman let themselves be known, as Sue refused to let the villains cause Franklin any harm.
After a brief skirmish, the heroes and villains decided to work together to defeat Onslaught. Rikki "Bucky" Barnes defeated Onslaught using a
Fantasticar
The Fantasticar is a fictional flying car appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The vehicle is depicted as the primary mode of transportation for the fictional Marvel comics superhero team, the Fantastic Four. Several ver ...
to send both Barnes and Onslaught through the
Negative Zone
The Negative Zone is a fictional setting, an antimatter universe appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The location is depicted in various publications from Marvel, most frequently in ''Fantastic Four'' and '' Captain Mar ...
barrier in the Fantastic Four's lab, trapping them. Franklin returned home, Bucky found herself on
Earth 616
In the fictional Marvel Comics multiverse, Earth-616 is the primary continuity in which most Marvel Comics titles take place.
History of the term
The term was first used in "Rough Justice", a story credited to both Alan Moore and Alan Davis ...
, and Onslaught was last seen floating outside the Area 42 Prison in the Negative Zone.
Onslaught Unleashed
Some time later, Rikki Barnes, now known as Nomad, began having strange and vivid nightmare about the deep jungles of South America. When her teammate Toro is kidnapped just like she dreamed, she begins to suspect that her nightmares are something more sinister than she first thought. Later, while investigating Corporate Conglomerate Roxxon for illegal weapons systems, the Secret Avengers come across the plans for Project Power, a new and incredibly deadly power source being secretly developed in the Colombian rainforest. As the Secret Avengers investigate the facility, Beast and Ant-Man find the source of the mysterious energy source to be from the Negative Zone. As Rikki races inside the facility to locate Toro, she stumbles into the control room instead, where the sinister voice of her dreams beckons and reveals itself to be Onslaught.
Possessing Rikki's body, Onslaught reveals that the real Rikki had, in fact, died in the Negative Zone; his current host was just a construct made by Onslaught himself so he could use the energy he had stored in her as an anchor to pull himself back into the main Marvel Earth. The revelation that Rikki had been sent to the main Marvel Earth solely to serve as Onslaught's tether forced Rikki to fight back to prove he was wrong. Eventually, Rikki had Gravity kill her so that Onslaught could not return and destroy Earth.
Despite Rikki's apparent death, Steve Rogers began to have nightmares similar to the ones Rikki had before, suggesting that enough of Nomad's (and Onslaught's) energy may have survived to escape death and now seek a new way to return to the main Marvel reality.
Red Onslaught
A clone of
Red Skull
The Red Skull is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and its predecessor Timely Comics. The first version, George Maxon, appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 and #4. The main ...
later exhumes Charles Xavier's corpse and grafts part of his brain onto his own, giving him Xavier's psychic abilities.
In the lead-up to the ''
AXIS
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
* Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
'' storyline, Magneto is pushed too far by the Red Skull and his
S-Men
The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several fictional teams and organizations and this page lists them.
0–9 198
A A-Force
A-Next
A.I. Army
Because of his revelation that he is now a simulated A ...
, after discovering that the madman had turned Genosha into a Concentration Camp and was exterminating mutants and inhumans. Filled with anger, Magneto killed the S-Men before killing the Red Skull, offering him a "clean death". Rather than using his own magnetic powers, Erik used bricks to shatter the villain's skull, however by murdering the Red Skull, he merely unleashed Onslaught, who had apparently been dormant within Xavier's mind, causing the psionic being to merge with the Red Skull and become Red Onslaught, by far the most powerful incarnation of Red Skull. He then started telepathically spreading hate across the world, as Magneto and the Avengers Unity Division tried to stop him. The Avengers came to help after locating the Skull following the discovery he was the source of the "World War Hate", who were shortly after joined by the X-Men and other allies. However, the Red Onslaught deployed two Adamantium Stark Sentinels which had been created by Iron Man under the influence of the Skull's telepathy, with their creation having been wiped from his memories by the villain. Red Onslaught is eventually defeated by the combined might of
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Her first appearance was in ''The X-Men'' #4 (March 1964) ...
and
Doctor Doom
Doctor Victor Von Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in ''The Fantastic Four'' #5 in July 1962. The monarch of the fi ...
, that tried using their magic to perform a moral inversion on him that would allow Professor X to control the amalgamation, but their efforts backfire, causing all the heroes and villains present during the confrontation to morally invert from their usual behavior. With the Skull now reverted to a human body that is identified as the 'White Skull' — implied more than once to be Professor Xavier in control of the body once again — he is hidden from the inverted Avengers by
Edwin Jarvis
Edwin Jarvis is a supporting character in the Marvel Comics titles ''Iron Man'' and ''Avengers (comics), The Avengers''. He is the loyal household butler of the Stark family. Since the 1990s, the character has appeared heavily in media adaptations ...
until the aged Steve Rogers can retrieve him. Working with the inverted villains — now referring to themselves as the 'Astonishing Avengers' — and with the resurrected
Brother Voodoo
Brother Voodoo (Jericho Drumm) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #169 (September 1973). The character was created by publisher Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Len W ...
now possessing the inverted Scarlet Witch, the White Skull is able to undo the inversion, although he simply returns to his Red Skull persona rather than Onslaught.
Powers of X
With the secret aid of Moira MacTaggert (who's revealed not only alive but actually a mutant herself with the power of reincarnation), Charles Xavier and Magneto created a mutant nation on Krakoa. Moira noted on her journal that her actions in manipulating Xavier had broken his psyche and she feared this would eventually unleash something unexpected on the world. Moira's fears were fulfilled when Xavier launched the psychic attack upon Magneto years later which created Onslaught.
Reign of X
Following the creation of Krakoa as a mutant nation, Nightcrawler becomes aware that a dark presence is haunting Krakoa, radically altering and influencing the minds of the young mutants and pushing them to their darker and crueler impulses on a day-to-day basis, especially in light of effective immortality. This boogieman is a mysterious figure that appears and hunts the mutants in their dreams. The youths named him the Patchwork Man and even tell campfire ghost stories of him. Believing the culprit to be his son Legion, Xavier recruits Nightcrawler to investigate and bring Legion to Krakoa. Nightcrawler eventually finds and rescues Legion from Project Orchis with the later confirming to Nightcrawler that the Patchwork Man is none other than Onslaught, somehow restored and weaponized by Project Orchis, the secret alliance of anti-mutant scientists and politicians, in the hopes that his influence would push mutantkind into destroying themselves.
Onslaught's return was kept a secret by Nightcrawler and Legion, out of fear of how it would lash out to protect itself if exposed. Working with Kuan-Yin Xorn and Shen Xorn, Legion tried to set a trap for the psychic entity by merging the minds of Loa and Mercury to entice him to invade. He was able to escape and caused a fight between Fabian Cortez and Lost at Stacy X's orphanage and later possessed every mutant in the Green Lagoon during a meeting between Legion and his father, forcing David and the Xorn brothers to kill everyone there in order to free them from his control. Legion eventually deduced that as the Patchwork Man, Onslaught had been feeding on the parts of the mutants psyches that were lost during resurrection, and implanting a part of himself into the mind of every resurrected mutant.
Onslaught Revelation
Its eventually discovered that Project Orchis implanted a sliver of Onslaught's on Lost, who they had used as a test subject before. When Lost was revived, the piece of Onslaught implanted itself on every mutant on the island. Thankfully, Onslaught was discovered before his plan was completed and he moved to a new plan, the "Cruciball". As mutants were being revived, Onslaught implanted the idea for a massive party where mutants would then kill each other while a mind-controlled Professor Xavier erased their minds from Cerebro. Onslaught would then eat these minds and grow infinitely stronger. When the "Cruciball" was foiled, Onslaught decided to take matters into his own hands and manifested himself in the physical world. Due to the fact that Magneto has become significantly peaceful and Professor Xavier has embraced his darker side, Onslaught's new form mimics that of Professor X's with a blood-red, Cerebro-like helmet, black bodysuit and jagged claws. He even lords over mutants in much the same way that Xavier has been doing recently. Possessing Magneto and Xavier again soon afterwards, Onslaught renew his attack on the Krakoans. However, even with his powers augmented by his first hosts, this version of Onslaught was, after all, only a sliver of the original powered up by stolen energies, therefore he was no match for Nightcrawler, Legion, and their allies, who worked together to create the Alter, Legion's own mind organized into a functioned pocket universe in the Astral Plane, where mutants could link their minds together. Under Nightcrawler's direction they them embrace Onslaught instead of fighting him which diminished him under the weight of their very human emotional baggage. Nightcrawler then crushes the pathetic creature that Onslaught has been reduced to, apparently ending his threat once and for all.
Powers and abilities
Onslaught is a psionic entity with superior physical and mental power; possessing the combined abilities of both his progenitors
Professor X
Professor X (Charles Francis Xavier) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as the founder and sometimes leader of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writ ...
and
Magneto
A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
. He also later added the powers of
Franklin Richards and
Nate Grey
Nathaniel Grey (X-Man) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Steve Skroce, the character first appeared in ''X-Man'' ...
to his own, making him even more incredibly powerful. At its prime, Onslaught is capable of telepathy, telekinesis, energy projection, sensing mutant presences, manipulating magnetic fields, mind control, flight, mental manipulation, possession, astral projection, perceiving the world around himself as patterns of magnetic and electrical energy, absorbing any mutant into his being and affecting reality itself. Onslaught can also enhance his physical size and strength.
Onslaught's powers were well over that of
Omega Level. In his first form (when he was one with Xavier), Onslaught showed a wide variety of abilities including immeasurable strength, and incredible resistance and endurance. Onslaught's psionic powers appeared limitless, appearing to surpass even that of Xavier in his right mind. He was especially powerful in the Astral Plane, where he appeared to have god-like abilities. From what has been seen, he seems to have total mental control over anyone or anything he wishes, ranging from altering people's perception to believe they are someone or somewhere else (he demonstrated this by making Wolverine believe he was a wolf pup, and making Storm think she was a child). Even in his initial form, he also demonstrated sufficient physical strength to punch the Juggernaut unconscious across North America, and to rip the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak out of his body. Onslaught also possessed many forms of energy projection, all of which are at high levels of power.
After fully evolving into his own, separate consciousness and having Professor X ripped from him in the Astral Plane, Onslaught evolved into a second form, less resembling Magneto and looking more like a cybernetic monster. In this form, thanks to adding the full potential of Franklin Richards and Nate Grey combined, his powers were increased to god-like levels, including the ability to mass-manipulate (his complete takeover of all the Sentinels), create and reshape matter at will (shown when he created his citadel, and when he created a second sun to destroy Earth), and an apparent
omniscience
Omniscience () is the capacity to know everything. In Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, this is an God#General conceptions, attribute of God. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain. In B ...
(as evidenced when he easily thwarted an attempt to sneak into his citadel). He could use his combined reality-warping and telekinetic abilities to boost his physical strength to the point that he was able to go toe-to-toe in a physical fight with the Hulk even after the Hulk's mind had been blanked and his strength and rage set to incredible levels thanks to Jean Grey 'shutting down' the subconscious influence that Bruce Banner normally exerted over the Hulk to stop him going too far.
For a time, Onslaught had these powers while still in his first form; the majority of these came from the absorption of Nate Grey and Franklin Richards. In the end, Onslaught's true body was revealed to be a mass of pure, psionic energy that was immune to all forms of physical attacks.
Other versions
Ultimate Marvel
In the
Ultimate Marvel
Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring re-imagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe. Those characters in ...
reality, Onslaught is alluded to in Professor X's return sporting futuristic armor. Xavier was seemingly killed by the time traveling mutant "
Cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
", however, Cable did not actually kill Xavier, but transported his unconscious body with him back to the future to keep under mental block until his questions could be answered. He healed Xavier's spine and replaced his legs and prepared him for the coming of Apocalypse, led by his avatar
Sinister
Sinister commonly refers to:
* Evil
* Ominous
Sinister may also refer to:
Left side
* Sinister, Latin for the direction " left"
* Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see ...
.
Xavier tried fighting Apocalypse and failed. He was barely saved when Jean merged with the
Phoenix God
The Phoenix Force is a fictional entity appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, the Phoenix Force is famous for its central role in ''The Dark Phoenix Saga'' storyline, and is fre ...
and defeated the powerful mutant. But she pointed out to Xavier that because of him, he set the mutant cause back by a hundred years. She expected him to start over, and reversed time to the point where the attack never happened. Xavier later went to
Muir Island
The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features.
Places
Certain places fe ...
to recuperate with
Moira MacTaggert
Dr. Moira MacTaggert (sometimes spelled ''MacTaggart'', ''McTaggart'', ''McTaggert''), more recently known as Moira X, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared in ''The Uncanny X-Men ...
.
X-Men '92
During the battle against the
Shadow King
The Shadow King (Amahl Farouk) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is particularly associated with the X-Men family of comics. His nemesis is the X-Men's leader, Professor X, while he also ...
(who was possessing
Cassandra Nova
Cassandra Nova is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, Cassandra first appeared in ''New X-Men (2001 ...
) as part of the ''
Secret Wars
''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'' for short, is a twelve-issue American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written ...
'' storyline, Professor X faced Shadow King on the Astral Plane in the form of Onslaught.
[''X-Men '92'' #4 (Nov. 2015).]
In other media
Video games
* Onslaught is a
boss character
In video games, a boss is a significant computer-controlled opponent. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight. Bosses are generally far stronger than other opponents the player (game), player has fa ...
in ''
Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes'', voiced by
Maurice Dean Wint
Maurice Dean Wint is a British-born Canadian actor who has starred in several films and television shows.
Life and career
Wint was born in Leicestershire, England, and moved to Canada in 1967 with his family. He began to act in Toronto on stag ...
. In this game, he appears as the final boss, and he has two forms the player must defeat: the first form which is that of a normal-sized character, and the second and final form which is that of a floating giant. Upon defeat, he is revealed to be Charles Xavier.
* Onslaught appears as a villain character in ''
Marvel Super Hero Squad Online
''Marvel Super Hero Squad Online'' was a massively multiplayer online game for younger audiences based on the ''Marvel Super Hero Squad'', developed by American video game companies The Amazing Society and Gazillion Entertainment. The open beta ...
'', voiced by
Travis Willingham
Travis Willingham is an American voice actor. His most notable roles include Roy Mustang in the ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' franchise, Portgas D. Ace in ''One Piece'', Ginko in ''Mushishi'', Knuckles the Echidna in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchi ...
.
* Red Onslaught is a raid boss in the
MMO ''
Marvel Heroes''.
* Onslaught is a recruitable, unlockable and playable character in the match 3 RPG game ''
Marvel Puzzle Quest
''Marvel Puzzle Quest'' is a video game released by D3 Publisher and Marvel Entertainment on October 3, 2013, and developed by Demiurge Studios. The fourth installment in the '' Puzzle Quest'' series, it is a free-to-play, match-three ''Bejeweled ...
''.
* Onslaught also appears in Marvel SNAP, a 6 cost card that has the Ongoing effect of double your other Ongoing effects at this location.
Collected editions
References
External links
Onslaughtat Marvel.com
In-depth analysis on the creation of OnslaughtArticle on the Onslaught crossover
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