Merge:Horsemen of Apocalypse

The Horsemen of Apocalypse are a team of fictional supervillains in the Marvel Universe that serve the ancient mutant Apocalypse as his personal strikeforce. The horsemen are always given the same names: Death, Famine, Pestilence, and War.

While Apocalypse has altered and empowered a number of individuals to serve him, such as Ozymandias, Exodus, Mister Sinister or Moses Magnum and has also employed other teams such as the Alliance of Evil and the Dark Riders, the Four Horsemen remain as Apocalypse's main followers.

Earlier incarnation
Sometime during the fifteenth century, Apocalypse had already created his Horsemen and rode among them as well, leading an army of followers known as The Riders of the Dark. This army was so strong and powerful that some were led to believe that they were just a myth to scare soldiers before their first battle. During 1459, in Romania, the Horsemen of War led the Riders of the Dark, and single-handedly defeated the pre-vampire Dracula's army as well as Dracula himself.

First modern incarnation
The first modern Horseman recruited by Apocalypse was Plague, a member of the Morlocks, whom he recruited during the Mutant Massacre to fill the role of Pestilence. He then approached ex-soldier Abraham Kieros and granted him the position of War. Autumn Rolfson was Apocalypse's third choice and was given the position of Famine. Apocalypse then saved the dewinged Angel from his sabotaged, exploding plane and chose him to be his fourth and final Horseman, Death.

The Four Horsemen were forced to battle one another for leadership, and Death emerged victorious. In a battle against X-Factor, the Horsemen were nearly defeated until Death appeared, shocking his former comrades. Caliban went to Apocalypse and asked for a power boost so he could avenge his fellow Morlocks. Pestilence was slain in the battle and Archangel came back to his senses after assuming he killed his former comrade, Iceman. Apocalypse was forced to retreat with his remaining Horsemen and Caliban.

Caliban replaced Angel on the team and became Death. He captured Cyclops and Jean Grey and took them to Mister Sinister. The X-Men tracked him down and defeated Caliban and Famine and then realized the Horsemen were under Mr Sinister's orders. The X-Men were later defeated by Apocalypse. Caliban battled Sabretooth for revenge and lost the battle, his intelligence was reduced to that of a child.

The Hulk
After a battle with the X-Men in their mansion, Hulk was discovered by Apocalypse and became his second incarnation of War. Apocalypse set him against the Juggernaut to test his strength. Hulk was able to knock back Juggernaut with the huge celestial energy boost that Apocalypse had given him. He was also able to best the Absorbing Man but came to his senses when he thought he had injured his friend, Rick Jones.

Second incarnation
For his second team of Horsemen, Apocalypse had Wolverine abducted, replacing him with a Skrull imposter to prevent his absence being noted, and pitched him in battle against Sabretooth. The winner of the battle, Wolverine', became his Horseman of Death. Wolverine as Death, battled the X-Men and killed the imposter Wolverine. Apocalypse then turned Deathbird into his second Horseman, War. Caliban was once again chosen to be one of Apocalypse's Horsemen, this time becoming Pestilence. Pestilence and War fought X-Force and captured Cable. In a battle against the X-Men, Death was unmasked and revealed to be Wolverine.

In Apocalypse's lair, Cable escaped and defeated Death in battle. Apocalypse then threatened to kill Caliban. Apocalypse captured Ahab and turned him into his fourth Horseman, Famine. The Horsemen then started collecting "The Twelve". When Death captured Mikhail Rasputin and failed to teleport out with him, he was chased into the Morlock Tunnels by the X-Men. He battled them and regained his memory, thanks to the efforts of Jubilee, Shadowcat, Archangel and Psylocke. The rest of the Horsemen were teleported to another dimension by Mikhail.

Third incarnation
Following the House of M and M-Day, Apocalypse resurrected, only to find 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. Bent on becoming the new messiah for mutantkind, Apocalypse assembled a new cadre of Horsemen, with the purpose of wiping out 90% of the baseline human population.

Apocalypse's new Horsemen are Gazer (as War), Sunfire (as Famine), Polaris (as Pestilence) and Gambit (as Death). Gazer was saved from death and forced to battle an archeologist for the mantle of War, which he won with the aid of Apocalypse's majordomo and scribe, Ozymandias. Both Sunfire, who had lost his legs at the hands of Lady Deathstrike and his powers to Rogue and Polaris, an M-Day victim, were captured, and reluctantly altered into Famine and Pestilence, respectively. Gambit, however, submitted himself willingly to be transformed into Death, as he had come to believe Apocalypse could be helpful to the mutant cause though he would require to be watched. Sunfire was able to break free of Apocalypse's control with the help of Emma Frost, although he was weakened by the experience. Polaris was knocked out by Iceman in the final battle. She was abandoned, saved by Havok, and was debrainwashed by the X-Men. Gazer died defending Apocalypse, stabbed in the back by Ozymandias. Gambit's fate has yet to be seen; Sunfire took him somewhere at the conclusion of the final battle, only to be approached by Mister Sinister.

Succession line

 * Horseman of Famine: Autumn Rolfson, Ahab and Sunfire.
 * Horseman of War: War, Abraham Kieros, the Hulk, Deathbird and Gazer.
 * Horseman of Pestilence: Plague, Caliban, and Polaris.
 * Horseman of Death: Archangel, Caliban, Wolverine and Gambit.

Alternate versions

 * In the alternate reality known as Age of Apocalypse, Apocalypse had five Horsemen instead of four with no given titles, with some exceptions such as Death and War. The only member who was also a Horseman in the main Marvel Universe was Abraham Kieros, War. The first group of Horsemen consisted of Sabretooth (possibly only an ally), Candra, Gideon, Death (an unknown female, speculated to be Selene or Lifeforce, a mutant member of the Dark Riders, or Plague of the Morlocks.), and War. Later members included a never-seen Horseman named Bastion (who should not be mistaken with Earth-616 Bastion, as he wouldn't even exist in the AoA) and Maximus of the Inhumans as the second Death. Ultimately, Apocalypse announced the War of Succession, a battle between all his Horsemen. The four remaining Horsemen would rule North America alongside him. These four were Holocaust, Mikhail Rasputin, Bastion, and Mister Sinister. It is mentioned that Candra was killed by Holocaust, and Bastion was killed after the war by Abyss making Abyss the newest horsemen and first recruit after the war. In a flashback, it is revealed that Mikhail was chosen after he defeated War during Apocalypse's attack on Russia.


 * In the Ultimate Universe, Sinister was mentioned to be the first Horseman. Due to his incompetence, Lord Apocalypse decided to choose another Horseman to resurrect him. Of course, due to Sinister's state of mind in the Ultimate Universe, whether or not Apocalypse actually exists remains unconfirmed.


 * In the Mutant X series, Angel was chosen as Apocalypse's Horseman of Death, but went through a dramatically different transformation with bat-like wings, and he could breathe fire. To signify his transformation he changed his name to Fallen and sided against Apocalypse with Havok's group known as the Six. Eventually his treachery got the best of him and Fallen betrayed his teammates to realign himself with the Horsemen against an evil Professor X. The other Horsemen were all new characters except for War, who was most probably Abraham Kieros.


 * One of the original members of the Exiles was Thunderbird, who was transformed into Apocalypse's Horseman, War. As War, Thunderbird has lost his humanity and sense of taste but had enhanced senses. He managed to break through Apocalypse's mind control and rejoined his allies, the X-Men. When he went into battle-mode, he could even overpower the Hulk.


 * When the Scarlet Witch altered reality and created the House of M, Apocalypse was brought back to life. He was a former enemy of Magneto who became his subordinate, ruling North Africa. Magneto had sent him to kill Black Panther. He went to Wakanda along with his Horsemen. Only one of his Horsemen was shown, which was Iceman.


 * In Cable and Deadpool, the Enemy of the State story-arc, Deadpool went to find Cable who had disappeared and was forced to travel to alternate universes to find him. In the first universe Deadpool found a new group of Horsemen. An eight-armed Spider-Man was Pestilence, The Blob was Famine, and Archangel was Death. The three fought Deadpool, Siryn, and Cannonball. When Deadpool figured out there is still one more Horseman left, a super-powered Cable appears and defeated all of them. Cable was War, the Fourth Horseman. Deadpool teleported to another universe when he realised he couldn't win.


 * In yet another alternate reality, Wolverine was turned into the Horseman of War. He turned against Apocalypse and killed him, then slaughtering Earth's criminals and villains. Eventually he became the peaceful Brother Xavier.


 * In the Marvel Mangaverse comic, Avengers Assemble, Apocalypse was a Power Rangers-esque villain that grew in size and battled with the Iron Avenger (four vehicular machines that can transform together in the form of a giant Iron Man) piloted by the Avengers team (Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, Vision). The horsemen included the Archangel, Juggernaut, Sinister, and the White Queen.

Other media

 * In the X-Men Animated Series, the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse were the same ones as in the X-Factor comics. The lineup was composed by mutants that submitted themselves to the so-called Mutant Cure, developed by Dr. Adler - actually Mystique in disguise. The "Cure" process transformed the four mutants: Autumn Rolfson (Famine), Plague (Pestilence), Abraham Kieros (War) and Angel (Death) into altered mutants under the control of Apocalypse.


 * The four-part episode Beyond Good and Evil featured another team of Horsemen, created by Apocalypse during his time in Ancient Egypt. The style of these Horsemen reflected their Egyptian origins.


 * In X-Men: Evolution, Apocalypse enslaves two major heroes and two major villains to be his Horseman. Professor X became Death, with enhanced telepathy, agility, and strength, and the ability to conjour a "mental sword" similar to Psylocke's daggers or knives, but more powerful. As War, Magneto had far more powerful magnetic abilities, but didn't seem to exhibit any new abilities. Storm, as the horseman of Famine, seemed to have no new abilities, minus an increase in stamina. Finally, Mystique served as Pestilence, having enhanced shape-shifting abilities, being able to transform into more than one object, such as a group of bats or snakes. She was also given enhanced speed and agility.


 * In X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, the four horsemen of Apocalypse, as in the Age of Apocalypse, were Abyss, Mikhail Rasputin, Holocaust, and Archangel; Mr Sinister was a kind of "fifth" horseman, working as Apocalypse's right-hand man.