Merge:Holocaust

Holocaust (also known as Nemesis) is a supervillain from the X-Men series of comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character's first appearance was technically in Stryfe's Strike File #1 (1993), though the 'regular' version of Holocaust would first appear in X-Men Alpha (1995) as a component in the Age of Apocalypse alternate timeline. He is referred as the son of Apocalypse, and is one of his Horsemen.

Age of Apocalypse
Holocaust played a significant part in the Age of Apocalypse storyline as one of the Horsemen, a Biblically-inspired quartet of villains that enforced Apocalypse's cullings. He first appeared as an agent of his father Apocalypse in a human body. Spying on the X-Men's headquarters on Wundagore Mountain, he waited until most of the team left to attack. Scarlet Witch had been left in charge of the facility and the small children at the school in case the team didn't come back alive. Holocaust, then calling himself Nemesis, fatally wounded Scarlet Witch and killed most of the small children. In revenge, Magneto destroyed his physical form, which was transported to his crystalline armor (both events happened off-panel).

The next time that he appeared he was in charge of the Infinite processing plant in Indianapolis. Sabretooth, having a vendetta against Holocaust, convinced Blink to teleport him and Wild Child after the villain. Rogue tried to object but Blink did as she was told. Sabretooth and Holocaust battled exhaustively, but eventually the villain got the upper hand. Chaining Sabretooth to a stone slab and slicing his chest, Holocaust left him for dead. Enraged by Sabretooth's apparent death, Blink attacked Holocaust and seemingly killed him in a vat of acid, but the villain emerged unharmed. The rest of the team came to the rescue and Rogue almost destroyed the villain, but he teleported away before it was too late. He returned to the citadel of his father, Apocalypse, where he encountered Nate Grey, also known as X-Man. Nate had no interest in fighting anyone other than Apocalypse, and quickly dispatched Holocaust with a massive psionic attack. However, Holocaust recovered soon afterward and again attacked Nate, leaving Magneto to fight Apocalypse alone. Holocaust and X-Man were evenly matched and fought for quite some time, until Nate used a piece of the M'Kraan Crystal to stab Holocaust in the stomach. The crystal, which is the nexus of all realities, had a unique effect on the two when combined with the energy that escaped from Holocaust's armor, transporting the pair into the main Marvel universe shortly before Bishop prevented the timeline from ever occurring... or so it seemed. An interesting side note to Holocaust is his lackey/ally called "Wolverine". This was not the same Wolverine from Earth 616 (who as called Weapon X in this reality) but rather a entirely new villain that some have speculated was actually Fabian Cortez. AoA Wolverine displayed Cortez's ability to amplify the power in others, although he only did so by infusing regular humans with power and fueling them to a berserker rage. AoA Wolverine wore a costume similar to the Acolyte's costume of Earth 616, and also sported a long pony tail like Cortez, although AoA Wolverine appeared to be balding on top. His frame was considerably larger than Cortez, but it is possible that Cortez used his own mutant ability on himself. He also wore large, curved blades along his forearms which he used as a weapon. AoA Wolverine was apparently killed by Gambit, when Gambit charged a large rock, stuffed it in his belt, and then kicked him upward as the charged detonated. The resulting blast sent AoA Wolverine flying out of sight, and he was never depicted again.

Main Marvel Universe
Holocaust wound up floating in space, where his body was taken aboard Magneto's orbiting space station, Avalon. Former New Mutants member Rusty was ordered to guard his body, which was thought to be frozen, and his life force was drained by the villain. Holocaust then went on a rampage, fighting Exodus and subsequently destroying the space station.

He became the main antagonist of X-Man, who also was transported to Earth-616, and they had several run-ins. In one such incident he was acting as the emissary of Onslaught. They battled until Holocaust's armor was broken and he had to flee, but he revealed that he was only sent to gauge X-Man's potential. Now that he had, Onslaught would come for him in person.

Exiles
Holocaust later became 'unhinged' in time and was forced to join the time-travelling group of heroes known as the Exiles, replacing the seemingly useless member Beak from the main Marvel universe. The roster at that time included Holocaust's enemies from the Age of Apocalypse's X-Men, Blink and Sabretooth, whom he had personal vendettas against. Finding himself back in his native reality, and with the knowledge that Apocalypse died--leaving him as rightful heir to his empire--Holocaust went off to claim his prize. However he sensed the familiar energy of the M'Kraan Crystal and went to investigate. He found that the Army had confiscated the artifact from Apocalypse's citadel and had been trying to figure out what it was ever since. Holocaust also learned that there was another M'Kraan energy signature on the earth at that time--the Tallus. Holocaust agreed to work with the Exiles so they could confront the Timebroker and get back to their respective realities. Noting how the Dark Beast teleported inside of the crystal to be transported to a different reality, Holocaust deduced that they could do the same to reach the place where the Timebroker resided. Blink reluctantly agreed and the team found themselves at Panoptichron, the palaca on the edge of reality that was the headquarters for the Timebroker--or more accurately the Timebreakers.

When the Exiles went to the Timebroker's base, they discovered a twisted, dictator-like version of Hyperion in charge. He had apparently died and had been placed inside of a crystal stasis wall by the Timebreakers, but he had recuperated and taken over the hub. Angry, Holocaust attacked Hyperion but proved to be no match for the supervillain, who broke open Holocaust's armor with a headbutt. He then inhaled Holocaust, leaving nothing left of Apocalypse's son but a broken shell.

Powers and abilities
Generates concentrated bio-plasmic microwave blasts that he focuses through the gun on his left arm, immense super-strength, invulnerability, ability to drain off the life force energy of a victim to fuel the shapeshifting and phasing properties of his crystalline armor and energy projecting abilities.

Trivia

 * Holocaust's cameo in Stryfe's Strike File included several years worth of foreshadowing as to the X-Men story plotlines by Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza.


 * His name was, for a time in the late 90s, changed back to Nemesis after pressure from Jewish groups. His action figure was even called Dark Nemesis.  It reverted to Holocaust for his Exiles appearance.

Appearance in other media
Holocaust was the third Horseman of Apocalypse in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. His powers were enhanced by the Stepford Cuckoos, as well as minor minions, which he ruthlessly killed to increase his strength.

Holocaust made a brief cameo appearance in the X-Men Animated Series, episode entitled One Man's Worth. He was part of the Mutant Resistance led by Magneto, alongside Wolverine, Storm, Jason Wyngarde, Mimic, Nightcrawler, Morph, Sabretooth, Colossus, Wildchild, Jean Grey and Mister Sinister.

External link

 * Uncannyxmen.net bio on Holocaust