Apocalypse (character)

Apocalypse
File:Apoc ghotm.png Apocalypse drawn by Dave Cockrum.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	X-Factor #5 (June, 1986)
Created by	Louise Simonson (writer) Jackson Guice (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	En Sabah Nur
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	Four Horsemen Dark Riders Clan Akkaba
Abilities	Self-manipulation Immortality Superhuman strength, speed, agility, endurance, reflexes, and durability Teleportation Flight Technopathy Healing factor Energy manipulation Psionic powers Genius level intelligence

Apocalypse is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain created by Louise Simonson and Jackson Guice. The character is first mentioned as "the master" in X-Factor #4 (May 1986). He has a cameo on the last page of X-Factor #5 (June 1986) and his first full appearance in X-Factor #6 (July 1986). His true name, En Sabah Nur, was revealed in X-Force #37 (August 1994). Born five thousand years ago in ancient Egypt, Apocalypse is a virtually immortal mutant bonded with extraterrestrial technology. He seeks to remake the world to fit his mad Social Darwinist eugenic philosophy: only the fittest have the right to survive — and he gets to define who is fittest. Though Apocalypse's first traditional appearance was in the pages of X-Factor, retcons have identified the unnamed benefactor of the Living Monolith from the Marvel Graphic Novel #17 (1985) as in fact Apocalypse in disguise. The X-Men villain Moses Magnum, first appearing in Giant-Size Spider-Man #4 (April 1975), was later retconned as a minion of Apocalypse in Classic X-Men vol. 1, #25 (1988).

Apocalypse is one of the primary adversaries of the X-Men and among the most fearsome villains in the Marvel universe, wreaking havoc on the past, the present, and/or the future. In multiple alternate timelines, (including the Age of Apocalypse,) the character rules over the Earth. Apocalypse is notable for transforming Angel into one of his Four Horsemen with razor-sharp metallic wings, and infecting Cyclops' son with a "techno-organic virus" that caused the child to be sent to the future where he became the time-travelling soldier known as Cable, who returns back to the past to prevent Apocalypse's future domination of the planet. The line "I am as far beyond mutants as they are beyond you!" spoken by Apocalypse (to Graydon Creed) in the 1990's X-Men: The Animated Series has become a well known catchphrase by the character.

Publication history

Apocalypse first appeared in 1980's X-Men spin-off series, X-Factor. The original writer of X-Factor, Bob Layton, intended to use the Daredevil villain Owl as the main villain for the mutant team. When he however was removed from the book and replaced with Louise Simonson, she requested that the last page of X-Factor #5 be changed to a shadowy shadowy character named Apocalypse, as Simonson wanted a new character to be the main villain for the book. The character would go on and make his full appearance in the #6 issue. Apocalypse was the principal adversary of X-Factor, until being apparently killed at the climax of issue #68 (July 1991). He returns in X-Men vol. 2, #14 for the 1990's crossover: X-Cutioner's Song, though, Apocalypse is killed at the end of the crossover.

Following events of the Legion Quest (1994), the normal reality ceased to exist, replaced by an alternate timeline known as the Age of Apocalypse, in which Apocalypse has conquered much of the world. Starting in the February of 1995, the first issue came out, X-Men Alpha. This special issue introduced the new world that the X-Men universe would exist in for the next four months. This popular storyline came to its conclusion in X-Men Omega (June 1995), with Apocalypse's death as well.

Apocalypse is brought back to life in Uncanny X-Men vol. 1, #335 (August 1996), during the Onslaught crossover. The same year, Apocalypse's origin story is detailed, in his own four-issue miniseries, titled The Rise of Apocalypse, written by Terry Kavanagh and penciled by Adam Pollina. Apocalypse is also revealed to be behind the origin of other X-Men villains; Exodus in Black Knight: Exodus; Mister Sinister in The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix.

In January 2000, the mysterious storyline of The Twelve finally unfolded, in which Apocalypse plays a major part in. The story arc is followed by a series of sub-chapters, Ages of Apocalypse, and a four-issue limited miniseries, The Search for Cyclops. The long-term significance of this storyline is that it was accepted as averting the time line Apocalypse rose to rule the world, thus, ending Cable's original mission with him victorious and that Apocalypse was now permanently dead. After six years, Apocalypse however returned in X-Men vol. 2, #181 (2006). Apocalypse also appeared in a two-part storyline in Cable & Deadpool (issues #26 & 27) and a miniseries of his, X-Men: Apocalypse vs. Dracula, both which serves as prologues to the "Blood of Apocalypse" storyline.

Fictional character biography

Rise of Apocalypse

En Sabah Nur, as featured on the cover of Rise of Apocalypse #1 (1996). Pencils by Adam Pollina.

The story of Apocalypse begins 3000 BC (approximately 5,000 years ago) Egypt during the First Dynasty. Born gray-skinned (although Apocalypse's skin color is sometimes depicted as flesh colored or dark skinned) and blue-lipped with natural facial markings, in the settlement of Akkaba, he is abandoned as an infant, but found by a band of desert nomads, the Sandstormers, whose leader, Baal, sees the child's potential power, and raises him as his own, naming him En Sabah Nur (meaning "The First One").

Nur is taught in the philosophy that the tribe lives and dies by: survival of the fittest. Nur and Baal are the only Sandstormers to survive on the day that General Ozymandias, with his army, destroys the Sandstormers tribe, as they find refuge in a sacred cave before it collapsed. Baal eventually dies from lack of nourishment after weeks of deprivation, but before he does, he admits to Nur that he had believed him to be a savior foretold in ancient prophecies who is destined to overthrow Rama-Tut. The young Nur vows to take revenge on the pharaoh and claim his destiny. He hides himself as slave in Tut's city, where he has visions of Egyptian gods who reveal his great destiny.

The pharaoh Rama-Tut, in actuality an earlier incarnation of Kang the Conqueror who had come back in time to locate the young Apocalypse and take him under his wing, tries to convince Nur to join him, but the young mutant savagely attackes the pharaoh only to be taken down by the conqueror's futuristic weapon. Nur survives, and tries to rescues Nephri, Ozymandias' sister, who had become attracted to the mysterious slave, but Nur is ultimately rejected by Nephri for his inhuman appearance, and she turns to her brother for protection in her panic. Heartbroken by this final rejection, En Sabah Nur's prodigious mutant abilities fully emerge in his enraged state, and he renames himself Apocalypse. Rama-Tut flees the former slave's rampage, while Nur uses his advanced technology to enslave and transform his former tormentor, Ozymandias, into a blind seer made of living stone, who would forever chronicle Apocalypse's future destinies. Fifty years later, Nur revisits Nephri, now an elderly Egyptian Queen on her deathbed, and mocks the loss of her beauty and vitality, in constrast to his own unchanged appearance, despite the passage of time.

Early centuries

As the millennia passes, Apocalypse travels around the world to determine if his time of testing had come. He appear throughout history, encouraging civilizations to worship him as a god from several ancient mythologies and testing their strength by manipulating them into fighting wars of conquest. Apocalypse begins to beget progeny, who faithfully followed him as the Clan Akkaba. At some point, Apocalypse discovers advanced alien technology, which he uses to transform and enhance himself. Apocalypse now enters states of suspended animation, while he waits for mutants to become more common, leaving Clan Akkaba and Ozymandias to act in his stead while he sleeps. Apocalypse has some history of having fought the alien race of godlike immortals known as Eternals, primarily the members Ikaris and Sersi, having been referred to as their "Ancient Nemesis". In the 12th century, Apocalypse would re-encounter the Eternal Sersi, when he came across the crusader Bennet du Paris and awakens his latent mutant powers, transforming him into Exodus.

In Victorian London, 1859, Apocalypse encounters Nathaniel Essex, a British scientist, and through him, learns the scientific term for beings like himself – mutant. Coercing Essex and members of the Hellfire Club into working for him, Apocalypse plots the first steps in his quest for global conflict on an unprecedented scale. He uses his advanced technology to transform Nathaniel into Mister Sinister, and commands him to create a plague to ravage and transmute the population of the world. At the same time, the mutant heroes Cyclops and Phoenix had been sent back through time to stop Apocalypse. Close to slaying the British Royal Family, Apocalypse is suddenly greatly weakened, and Cyclops and Phoenix manage to defeat him. It is revealed that Sinister had betrayed Apocalypse, seeing his vision of the future as madness, and had instead created a plague that attacked only Apocalypse, forcing the ancient mutant into his hibernation sanctuary. In 1897, Apocalypse is awaken by his followers, in order to deal with Dracula, who is turning members of Clan Akkaba into vampires to battle Apocalypse, as revenge for his earlier defeat centuries ago as Vlad Tepes. Apocalypse, with some assistance from Abraham Van Helsing, kills Dracula. The continuation of the Akkaba line is secured by Ozymandias through a disabled but powerful teleporter named Frederick Slade mating with a woman.

Modern era

File:Archangeapoc.png

Apocalypse with Warren Worthington III a.k.a. Angel as the Horseman Death in X-Factor #24 (January 1988). Pencils by Walter Simonson.

Apocalypse spends many years hidden, but awakes from his slumber by the arrival of the mysterious time-traveling mutant Cable (ironically, Cable had come to the present to prevent the ancient mutant's awakening). Awakened almost a century earlier than he had planned, Apocalypse decides to examine the world and determine its conditions for testing. He grants superhuman powers to the terrorist known as Moses Magnum, who does his bidding by testing the strong and winnowing the weak, battling the X-Men and the Avengers. Apocalypse first crosses paths with the original X-Men team (then organized as the mutant hunting group, X-Factor) when he briefly employs the Alliance of Evil, and orders them to capture the mutant Michael Nowlan. Apocalypse plans to use Nowlan's power-boosting mutation to provide mutantkind with unlimited power. This plan was foiled by the interference of the X-Factor team.

Apocalypse later begin recruiting mutants to serve as his Four Horsemen. Among them is Angel, whom Apocalypse saves from an exploding plane, granting him artificial wings (after he had lost his own natural wings) in exchange for his servitude. The X-Factor member is reborn as Death. Apocalypse summons the X-Factor team to his cloaked ship, which floats invisibly above the city. Apocalypse was interested in this group of mutants and had studied them, monitored their activities and researched their origins and motives after learning of Professor Xavier and the X-Men. Apocalypse explains his scheme to unleash his Horsemen and destroy New York, and offers X-Factor a place at his side. In the end, the Horsemen are defeated by X-Factor, thanks to the help of both the reformed Angel as well as Power Pack. Apocalypse leaves his Celestial Ship for them and in return, takes the willing Morlock Caliban. Afterwards, Apocalypse secretly takes some control over the ship, and it starts to fight X-Factor, but they regain control. Apocalypse escapes with Caliban to one of his bases at Mount Everest.

During the Evolutionary War, when the High Evolutionary begins embarking on a scheme to evolve mankind, Apocalypse opposes the Evolutionary's ideals, confronting the mad genetict on his moonbase. At the same time, below ground, X-Factor and the Subterranean race are fighting off the Evolutionary's minions. The battle between Apocalypse and the High Evolutionary continues in space until Apocalypse teleports them both to a vantage point for the underground battle. At its conclusion, Apocalypse determines that the Evolutionary is doing his work for him and leaves. Following the genetic manipulation of Caliban, Apocalypse is confronted by the Norse god Loki, who wants him to join his "Acts of Vengeance", but Apocalypse refuses and the two briefly fight.

Sins of the Future

File:Nathaninfectedbyapoc.png

Apocalypse infecting Nathan with a techno-organic virus, as depicted in Cable vol. 2, #64 (Feb, 1999). Pencils by José Ladrönn.

After the Inferno conflict, Apocalypse learned of Sinister's attempt to create an adversary powerful enough to destroy him; Nathan Christopher Charles Summers, the son of Scott Summers and Madelyne Pryor. Apocalypse, viewing him as a threat and realizing that Nathan's energy is the very energy that awoke him all those months earlier, sends his newly formed group, the Riders of the Storm, to abduct the Summers child. Apocalypse at this time had conquered the city of Attilan, home of the Inhumans, and enslaved part of its population. X-Factor, alongside the Inhuman Royal Family, attacks Apocalypse's lunar stronghold. Although Apocalypse is severely defeated, the young Nathan is infected with a techno-organic virus, and is sent to the future with a woman named Askani to be cured.

In the future, Apocalypse has conquered the world and ruled until the 39th century. By this time, Apocalypse's body had grown feeble; he becomes aware of the young Nathan's presence in this time, but only succeeds in kidnapping a clone of the child which the Askani created. Apocalypse plans to transfer his consciousness and power into the clone's stronger body, but perishes in combat with the (real) teenage Nathan. Nathan grows up to become the warrior Cable (while his clone grows up to become the mutant terrorist known as Stryfe,) and travels back to the past in order to prevent this dark future from happening.

In the present, Apocalypse survived his apparent death on the moon and had returned to Earth to one of his rejuvenation chambers. Apocalypse is prematurely reawakened by the Riders (now calling themselves, The Dark Riders), who inform their master that his Horsemen (War, Famine and Caliban) had kidnapped Cyclops and Jean Grey, supposedly under his instructions (in actuality, Mister Sinister, who was posing as Apocalypse). Apocalypse is later nearly killed (when attempting to rejuvenate himself again) by Stryfe who had arrived in the past to take revenge on Apocalypse. At the end of this conflict, Apocalypse is presumed deceased due to his two recent attempts at regeneration having been interrupted, and after a brief battle on the Moon with his former servants, the Dark Riders (who had joined Stryfe), he is left for dead by Archangel.

Apocalypse's dead body apparently is recovered by the Dark Rider's new leader - Genesis, the son of Cable, who had traveled to the present to ensure Apocalypse's rise and exact revenge on his father. Genesis plans to resurrect Apocalypse by sacrificing the lives of the people in villages neighboring Akkaba. During this time, Wolverine was held captive by Genesis, who attempted to restore Wolverine's lost adamantium skeleton and turn him into a Horseman as a gift for Apocalypse. However, Wolverine broke free and mutated into a feral state, and then killed Genesis and nearly all of the Dark Riders (Ironically enough, Apocalypse himself would repeat Genesis's scheme of reinforcing Wolverine's skeleton with adamantium again and brainwashing him into servitude, succeeding where Genesis had failed). During the fight, Cannonball opened the coffin containing Apocalypse's body, but found it empty. Apocalypse was seen alive before this issue.

Further schemes

Apocalypse is revived with Ozymandias at his side and quickly learns of the present danger; Onslaught. He observes the conflict between the psionic entity and Earth's heroes with Uatu the Watcher, who suggest to Apocalypse a course of action; an alliance with the one who hated him the most, Cable. Apocalypse surmises that Onslaught would be most vulnerable through the astral plane, and that he needs Cable for actual physical transportation to this realm. Once on the astral plane, Apocalypse would remove the captive Franklin Richards, greatly weakening Onslaught. The plan succeeds, but is interrupted by the Invisible Woman, who had invisibly accompanied the pair, having suspected Apocalypse's motive in wanting to actually kill her son. However, the reprieve in battle gave Onslaught the time to escape, prolonging the conflict.

Following the events of the Onslaught saga, the gamma-spawned powerhouse, the Hulk and his human alter ego, Banner, are split into two separate entities; Hulk now draws upon energy derived from Franklin Richards' pocket universe; Apocalypse recruits the Hulk to become his Horseman, War, with intentions of using the Hulk's nexus-energy to overcome the Celestials. To test this newest recruit, Apocalypse set War against the New World Order, a shadow cabinet organization that intends to conquer the world. The New World Order in turn set the Juggernaut and the Absorbing Man against War, but both are easily defeated. However, Hulk comes to his senses after injuring his friend, Rick Jones. Despite this apparent setback, the incident was still a victory for Apocalypse as it was a successful testing of newly understood Celestial technology. Apocalypse activates the self-destruct mechanism on the sword of War, which the New World Order had obtained, destroying their headquarters.

When Apocalypse's long-hidden Harbinger, originally a normal man whom Apocalypse in the 19th century once left to incubate for 100 years to reemerge as his herald, awakens from its deep sleep, Apocalypse releases his Horseman (Caliban) and his scribe Ozymandias from his possession, to fend for themselves, if they were to survive the coming events caused by his Harbinger. Cable and the Avengers battles the Harbinger, but are unable to stop it. Apocalypse then appears, activating a bomb inside the Harbinger which would destroy all of New York, but Cable manage to prevent this disaster.

Intending to re-start the human-Deviant war, as part of his plan to test the strong, Apocalypse sets off nuclear warheads at Lemuria, causing the Deviants to further mutate (which also restors Ikaris's father Virako to life). Apocalypse launches an attack at San Francisco, using a mentally controlled Deviant, Karkas, now a gigantic monster, that the Eternals are forced to battle. Apocalypse is confronted by his centuries-old foe, Ikaris, who now is a Prime Eternal. Although, Apocalypse defeats Ikaris, the Eternal still succeeds destroying his ship and thwarting his plan.

The Twelve

Main article: Apocalypse: The Twelve

File:ApocalypseTwelve.jpg

Apocalypse merges with Cyclops in X-Men vol. 2, #97 (February 2000). Pencils by Alan Davis.

Supposedly lost diaries of the mutant seer Destiny surfaced, telling of twelve beings that could defeat Apocalypse once and for all. Before the X-Men could discern a course of action, various mutants, all listed in the prophecy, are abducted by Apocalypse's Horsemen including a faction of the Skrulls. The Twelve legend was in fact a ruse, orchestrated by Apocalypse himself; once the Twelve are assembled, Apocalypse intended to use them to transform himself into a godlike entity beyond the Celestials.

It is revealed at the end of this story arc, that Apocalypse's physical form has been burned out due to the vast amount of energies he has under his control, forcing him to wear a bio-armor (like his future counterpart), and now plans to use Nate Grey as a host body for him move his energy and consciousness into. The X-Men confront Apocalypse as he is close to merging with Nate, but are unable to stop him. Cyclops however, pushes Nate Grey out of the way, merging with Apocalypse instead. While the merge is successful, Apocalypse's aim for unlimited power was not, and he attempts to complete the transformation by warping reality into various scenarios (see Ages of Apocalypse). Apocalypse hoped to lull the Twelve into empowering him with their energy, but eventually, the mutants realize their true predicament and Apocalypse teleports away.

An amnesiac and powerless Cyclops regained control of the merged form, but Apocalypse begin to re-emerge, however. Jean and Cable are alerted to his location in Egypt, where Jean in the end manage to free Cyclops by telepathically tearing out Apocalypse's essence from her husband's body, rendering Apocalypse in an incorporeal astral form, which Cable apparently destroys using his Psimitar.

Post-M-Day

File:Xmen182vol.2.jpg

X-Men vol. 2, #182 (April 2006). Cover art by Salvador Larroca.

Due to the events of M-Day, in which most of the mutants lost their powers, Apocalypse was revealed to be alive and well. The techno-organic virus, with which he long ago infected Cable, was revealed to be the means by which Apocalypse's spirit reconstituted itself. With only a drop of his blood into a vat of organs and blood, the virus would rewrite the genetic code of the material within to form a body for Apocalypse. Apocalypse awakes from a slumber in a tomb in Akkaba, recalling:

"Across the world — helpless mutants slaughtered. Pogroms. Horror. ...Something has woken me from my slumber. Once, a sudden surge in worldwide mutant power stirred me from a similar sleep. Now — a plummet in global mutant capacity — has opened my eyes".

Apocalypse finds himself in a world with its mutant population reduced to a tenth of what it had been, out of the millions who populated earth prior to his demise at Cable's hands, and his bent on becoming the new messiah for mutant-kind. Reappearing inside a Sphinx-shaped ship, Apocalypse confronts the X-Men with his newly assembled cadre of Horsemen on the front lawn of the X-Mansion . The Horseman Famine uses his powers to cause an intense feeling of hunger and weakness in the mutants and humans on the institute grounds. Apocalypse offers the mutants an elixir; his own blood, provided they join his side. Apocalypse then approaches the world leaders at the United Nations in New York and issues an ultimatum: humanity would destroy ninety per cent of its own population, putting man and mutant on level ground in anticipation of the final conflict when the worthy alone would survive - or Apocalypse would unleash his meta-plague on the world and obliterate all humanity.

In the end, Apocalypse's horsemen are lost, Ozymandias betrays him, and he is forced to retreat by combined assault of the X-Men and the Avengers. Ultimately, it is discovered that the Celestials lent their technology to Apocalypse, requiring as payment greater sufferings later. He attempts to embrace death as an escape from his lifelong pact, only to find himself instantly resurrected and hearing a voice: "We cannot let you die. Not yet. It is time Apocalypse… it is time".

Characterization

Personality

Characterizations of Apocalypse have varied through the years. He is depicted with concerns of the evolution of mankind and how it must progress; he tests mankind to provide his own form of natural selection, culling the weak from the strong in order for humanity to grow stronger. Apocalypse is sometimes portrayed as a malevolent and megalomaniacal despot, bent on conquering the world as the self-considered fittest. At his core, Apocalypse believes only the strong survive and that the weak must be destroyed. He is not above engineering events to weed out the unfit; in his quest, Apocalypse works behind the scenes, weeding out the weak through genocide, global war and conflict. With the increased super-powered beings on the planet, Apocalypse sees no further use for normal humans.

Apocalypse's strong belief in survival of the fittest has made him a considerable complex foe. Even when seemingly defeated, his plans have that even a loss is a victory; in his first encounter with the X-Men, when the mutant team had defeated his Alliance of Evil, Apocalypse, much to Cyclops's confusion, displayed satisfaction, stating that they had done well and that their "assistance" has been invaluable and he will find them again when he needs their help in winnowing out the weak. Apocalypse also did not consider X-Factor for foiling his plan a defeat, but a victory of lesser degree; not only had X-Factor proved that they were among the strong, but division now existed with his former Horseman joining the team, and as they now controlled his Celestial ship, Apocalypse predicted that it would cause distrust between the mutant group and the New York human populace.

He has shown to admire his servants when they are standing up to him; as his former Horseman Archangel had come to his sense, refusing to serve him no longer and attacking him, Apocalypse responded saying "excellent! Strong in mind, as well as body!". Apocalypse did not kill Sinister upon learning of his treachery but forgave him, seeing strength in Sinister's defiance, although with the understanding that it would not be tolerated again.

Apocalypse may also be a sadist; during the X-Cutioner's Song, when his entire body was falling apart, Apocalypse stated to take joy in the struggle of his pain.

Powers and abilities

Apocalypse is generally potrayed as a feared, dangerous and one of the most powerful mutants in the Marvel Universe, possessing a vast array of powers rather than a singular mutant power, unlike other mutants. He further augmented himself through Celestial technology, though it is unclear if these enhancements granted him any additional powers beyond what he already possessed. His powers appear to change according to the story's need and/or the creative team's desires; Apocalypse was initially portrayed as a shape-shifter with the ability to teleport himself including others over unknown distances, but his powers have been greatly expanded since then, and he has displayed immense strength, near invulnerability, rapid regeneration, energy absorbing and projecting abilities, various telepathic and telekinetic capabilities, etc.

Apocalypse has complete control over the atomic structure of his body — can physically alter his form in any way, allow his body to become extremely malleable, and even increase his size and strength by taking on additional mass from an extra-dimensional source. Apocalypse can stretch, or contort his limbs and body into a multitude of shapes and sizes, with elasticity and flexibility far beyond the natural human limits. He can open holes through his body to avoid attacks. He is able to form various weapons (e.g. blades, hammers, guns, or shields) with parts of his body, including wings or jets to enable flight. He is also able to adapt his body to apparently any disease or environment. On one occasion, he has showed the ability to phase his hand through another object/person. Through his shape-shifting ability, Apocalypse can give himself virtually any physical superhuman power.

Thanks to his mutant power of immortality, Apocalypse is immune to aging. He does not need sustenance of any kind, and his body produces practically no fatigue toxins during physical activity, able to exert himself at peak capacity indefinitely. Apparently Apocalypse belongs to a sub-species of immortal mutants known as the Externals. Apocalypse as been referred to as an External on several occasions, however, his longevity is believed by Selene as mostly due to technological means. Although, Apocalypse was already many centuries old before his first encounter with the technology with which he would later integrate himself. To note, Selene herself needs to maintain her supply of life force that she drains from living victims.

Aside from his superhuman powers, Apocalypse is an extraordinary genius. His knowledge in various areas of science and technology, primarily genetics and biology, is far more advanced than conventional science; even Beast needed Apocalypse's peerless expertise in biology to cure Xavier of a techno-organic virus. Apocalypse has mastery of Celestial technology that he uses for his own applications, such as altering mutants or humans (he is able to directly interface with the various technologies he has at his disposal). Apocalypse is a skilled manipulator, able to turn even the greatest of the X-Men to his side. He is also a master strategist; Apocalypse revealed to his Skrull allies during the gathering of the Twelve that he had been precisely preparing every single one of his plans and plots for centuries, using hundreds of generations of pawns and peons, both human and mutant, all to reach the specific end goal of evolving to a level of power far beyond even the Celestials themselves. Apocalypse has a very sharp intellect; he once found a safe house of Cable, where he immediately realizes that Cable's weaponry is based on his work and his technology; it took him but a moment to come to the correct conclusion that Cable was not only a time traveler from the future and that he himself ruled this future, but also that Cable was Nathan Summers.

Technology

The exact origin of Apocalypse's technology has been inconstant throughout the years. Originally, writer Fabian Nicieza revealed in X-Force #37 (1993) that Apocalypse (as En Sabah Nur) in the middle of the 12th century discovered a starship of the Celestials in China that had crashed on a mountain ages ago. Although, Apocalypse already possessed Rama Tut's abandoned technology that he used to transform Ozymandias into his eternal servant.

By the end of the Blood of Apocalypse storyline, it is revealed that Apocalypse built a pseudo-Celestial ship from alien “blueprints” in Egypt, and that the Celestials loaned their technology to Apocalypse in return for an unknown, yet to be revealed, favor. Nevertheless, Nicieza the following year in Cable & Deadpool #27, continued his contradicting version involving the crashed Celestial Ship in China.

Summers brother

During his run on Cable, Author Robert Weinberg planned for Apocalypse to have been the Third Summers Brother all along, but left the book before he could go along with his plan. . Rather than an entirely different origin, Weinberg's idea functions as a prelude to the Rise of Apocalypse story. Following the concept of predestination paradox; Christopher Summers, married with Katherine Anne, had a love affair with a nameless woman, possibly a mutant, and left her before she discovered that she was pregnant. For reasons unknown, she never informed Summers that she was going to have his son. Shortly after the woman gives birth to a powerful mutant, the boy is taken from her, stolen by a mysterious time-traveling figure from the future, who goes back into the past and abandons the child, who knew neither his father nor mother, on the desert of Egypt. He was called "The First One" (because the baby was the First Summers child), or as he became known in the language of those who found and raised him, En Sabah Nur, the mutant to be known as Apocalypse. Moreover, while posing as a God during his lifetime, Apocalypse had fathered children, who, in turn had children, until one of his descendants could have been in London at the time of The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix. As such, it would be possible that the X-gene that developed in the Summers family also came from Apocalypse (making him Cable's uncle).

Weinberg disliked Apocalypse as being the first mutant, stating "Surely no one reading Marvel Comics ever believed that Apocalypse was the first mutant? He may have been one of the first powerful mutants, but the first one? Never. Evolution is based on the theory of survival of the fittest. Modern man is the result of thousands of mutations over a hundred thousand years. Claiming someone in early Egyptian times was the first mutant is not only bad science, it’s just ridiculous.

Other versions

Main article: Alternate versions of Apocalypse

In addition to his mainstream incarnation, Apocalypse has had been depicted in other fictional universes.

In other media

Main article: Apocalypse in other media

Apocalypse has been adapted in various other media, such as television including computer and video games.

Bibliography

Main article: Bibliography of Apocalypse

List of detailed appearances by the character.

External links

• "Apocalyptic Accounts" at UncannyXmen.net
• The religion of Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur)
• Cerebra's Files
• Marvel.com