Merge:Onslaught

Onslaught is a Marvel Comics supervillain who was the focus of a huge intra-company crossover in 1996. He was created by writers Scott Lobdell and Mark Waid and designed by artist Andy Kubert with input from dozens of others. He first fully appeared in X-Men (vol. 2) #53 (June 1996).

Although his nature was initially unclear, Onslaught was a composite lifeform made up of Professor Xavier's repressed mental characteristics and influenced by psychic contact with Magneto. Utilizing Xavier's vast psionic powers and Magneto's control over the electromagnetic spectrum, he transmuted himself into the physical world and was defeated through the combined efforts of the entire Marvel superhero community.

"Onslaught" is also a shorthand for the Onslaught Saga, which began in Onslaught: X-Men, ended in Onslaught: Marvel Universe, and led directly into the Heroes Reborn collection of series. The event permeated almost all Marvel comic books published in summer 1996.

Character history


During the conclusion of the Fatal Attractions crossover, Magneto ripped the adamantium from Wolverine's skeleton after Wolverine attempted to kill him. In response, Professor X shut down Magneto's mind psionically -- something he swore he would never do. Since the Professor used his powers in anger, his mind became open to the influence of Magneto's psyche, which festered and grew in Xavier's repressed subconscious. This small element of Magneto's psyche took root in the dark corner of Xavier's mind, where his repressed anger at humanity's intolerance toward mutants was buried. This was the seed that would grow into the being known as Onslaught. Eventually this part of Xavier's psyche became so strong, with the help of Magneto's psyche, it eventually became powerful enough to completely manifest itself out of psionic energy, and split itself from Xavier. This occurred in X-Men (vol. 2) #25, with further details in Wolverine #105.

Onslaught was first mentioned in Uncanny X-Men #322, in which the Juggernaut crash-landed in Hoboken, New Jersey, having been hit hard enough by Onslaught to send him across the country and forget who or what Onslaught actually was. Onslaught's presence was felt behind the scenes in several other X-Men stories over the following year, but little was revealed about the character during this time; ultimately, the stories during this time would bear little relevance to the actual plot of the "Onslaught" crossover. Around this time, Nate Grey (X-Man), a powerful psychic from the Age of Apocalypse timeline, came to Earth. When Professor X attempted to scan Nate's mind, Nate accidentally pulled Xavier's astral form into the physical realm. As revealed later, this was the means by which the Onslaught entity learned how to manifest itself in a physical form. Onslaught's next major role in a story was in X-Men (vol. 2) #50, in which a team of X-Men fought his herald, Post. After the battle, a psychic entity (actually Onslaught himself) appeared to the X-Men before vanishing. The entity appeared in this form once more in Uncanny X-Men #333, in which it assisted Gambit and Jean Grey in their investigation of the anti-mutant government agent Bastion.

Onslaught made its first full appearance under that name and in costume in X-Men (vol. 2) #53. Onslaught's physical form, as first seen here, was enormous and had a uniform similar to Magneto's. It was extraordinarily intelligent, and had vast psionic and magnetic powers. He kidnapped Jean Grey, took her to the astral plane, and attempted to convince her to follow him and to become his consort. Without revealing to her that he was a part of Xavier's mind, he tried to show her the extent of Xavier's own repressed anger and frustration, both towards the seeming futility of his dream and towards his own students - expressed in the form of a flashback to X-Men (vol. 1) #3, in which Xavier mused on his undeclared and unexpressable love for Jean Grey. She rejected him and fled from the astral plane. She and the other X-Men soon met with the Juggernaut in Uncanny X-Men #333, who wanted her to use her telepathic powers to read his blocked memory and find out who Onslaught really was. Before they could do so, Onslaught kidnapped Juggernaut and imprisoned him within the mystical gem that granted him his powers (X-Men [vol. 2] #54). The entity then manifested itself before the X-Men, defeating them in battle (Onslaught: X-Men).

Bishop, the time-lost mutant from the future, had been warned that a traitor within the ranks of the X-Men had betrayed the team in the late 20th century, leading to their destruction. While Bishop had long thought that person to be Gambit, the aforementioned events made it clear that the actual traitor was Xavier, or more accurately, Onslaught.

Assisted by Post and Dark Beast (who had infiltrated the X-Men by disguising himself as Beast), Onslaught attempted to start a global apocalypse that would destroy all of humanity. Dark Beast and his allies fought X-Factor and loosed a number of Sentinels on New York City in X-Factor #125. These Sentinels fought Spider-Man, the Punisher, and the Green Goblin (Phil Urich, a superhero who retired as result of this battle), and killed the parents of the girl who would become Jolt. Post defeated Cable, after which Cable and the Hulk fought each other. Afterward, the two teamed up with Apocalypse for an inconclusive assault on Onslaught. Meanwhile, Wolverine and Elektra were able to discern Onslaught's origin as a twisted synthesis of the minds of Xavier and Magneto.

Following Onslaught's devastation of the X-Men, they were visited by the Avengers, accompanied by Rogue and Joseph (Magneto's clone, who was thought to be Magneto himself). Nate Grey and X-Force soon joined the heroes at the X-Mansion. Grey and X-Force remained behind while the other heroes travelled to the Fantastic Four's headquarters, where they unsuccessfully attempted to prevent Onslaught (in the form of a young Charles Xavier) from kidnapping Franklin Richards (Fantastic Four #415). Meanwhile, the members of X-Force were subdued by Mister Sinister, who also kidnapped Nate Grey. Although Sinister attempted to convince Grey to work with him, Grey was also psychically visited by Onslaught (again in Xavier's child form), who kidnapped him despite the interference of Franklin Richards. Onslaught was able to use the near-limitless psychic power of his two young captives to amplify his own, changing into his second physical form in the process. In this form, Onslaught fought the Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Joseph. During the battle, Thor was able to physically separate Xavier from Onslaught. Without Xavier's influence, Onslaught turned from wanting to eliminate non-mutant humans to wanting to eliminate both mutants and humans.

Onslaught's physical form was destroyed by the gathered heroes (whose ranks now included the Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and surprisingly, Doctor Doom). In doing so, however, they unleashed his full extent of his power. Unchecked, Onslaught used his power to create a second sun, with which he intended to destroy the Earth. The heroes determined that they could enter Onslaught's energy-based form and use their own bodies to contain Onslaught's psychic energy while the mutants, now having something tangible to hit, would unleash all their firepower on the heroes to destroy Onslaught, which would kill the heroes in the process. Furthermore, using a mutant to contain Onslaught's energy would allow Onslaught to draw upon that mutant's power to increase his own. The Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Bruce Banner (but not the Hulk, who was physically separated from Banner during the battle), and an unwilling Doctor Doom appeared to sacrifice their lives in this fashion. Namor and the Scarlet Witch (both mutants) were also among those who sacrificed themselves. The Scarlet Witch used her probability-control powers to shield herself so that she could enter, and Namor may have been able to enter due to the fact that he is a human-Atlantean hybrid, rather than a traditional Homo Superior. Thanks to Franklin Richards' power, the heroes who gave their lives to destroy Onslaught did not die; instead, they were reborn in a pocket dimension (Heroes Reborn). This dimension was contained within a ball that Franklin would carry with him until the missing heroes were able to return.

In this pocket dimension, during a chaotic event involving the impending detonation of the gamma power core of the Avengers headquarters (which was later revealed to be a breach in space and time), Onslaught himself briefly appeared as a non-corporeal being. With the departure of Rob Liefeld and Jeph Loeb from the Avengers title, this mysterious occurrence was never touched upon again; however, in late 2006, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Onslaught event, a mini-series, Onslaught Reborn, by Loeb and Liefeld, will see the villain return and explore this dangling plot thread.

Reading order
PROLOGUE X-Men(Vol.2) #54 Onslaught:X-Men

PHASE 1 Avengers #401 Cable #34 Fantastic Four #415 Uncanny X-Men #335 X-Man #18 X-Men(Vol.2) #55

IMPACT 1 Excalibur #100 Generation X #18 Incredible Hulk #444 Wolverine #104 X-Factor #125 X-Force #57

PHASE 2 Cable #35 Fantastic Four #416 Uncanny X-Men #336 X-Man #19 X-Men (Vol. 2) #56

IMPACT 2 Amazing Spider-Man #415 Avengers #402 Generation X #19 Green Goblin #12 Incredible Hulk #445 Iron Man #332 Punisher (3rd Series) #11 Spider-Man #72 Wolverine #105 X-Factor #126 X-Force #58 X-Men Unlimited #12 Onslaught: Marvel Universe

Epilogue Onslaught: Epilogue

'Related Issues' Avengers #400 Cable #31, 32, 33 Excalibur #99 Uncanny X-Men #322, 333, 334, 337 X-Force #46, 52 X-Man #15-17 X-Me n(Vol. 2) #46, 49, 50, 53, 57 X-Men Unlimited #10 Spider-Man #416

Varying appearances
Onslaught's armor and appearance have been drawn in vastly different ways, presumably due to different artists having conflicting interpretations of him.


 * Officially, his helmet resembles Magneto's, with the purple trim around the facial area, with the helmet empty and fields of light for eyes. In several issues, he has been depicted with a red, noseless face, or a lack of purple rim around his face.


 * It can be gathered that Onslaught should have muscle-like plates around his armor, appearing almost robotic at times. However, several artists have drawn the red area of his armor as flesh.  The details of his armor's purple plating has been depicted differently, as well.


 * Onslaught's massive, monstrous second form has also been depicted in various ways. Most of them are the same as the armor variations of the first form, but there are others; at times, he has been depicted without purple plates on his forearms, with varying minor differences in the structure of his head, and shape of his overall design.

Powers and abilities
Onslaught has existed in two forms, each with different spectrums of power.

The first form is associated with Onslaught the most, and the one he had when he was one with Xavier. In this form, Onslaught has shown a wide variety of abilities including nearly limitless strength, and near indestructibility. This strength is shown when it is revealed that he knocked The Juggernaut, literally, across North America. At one point, Onslaught remarks that he can increase his physical strength to any levels he wills it. 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 near-infinite telepathy by altering one'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), to most conceivable forms of telekinesis. Onslaught also possessed many forms of energy projection (lasers etc.), all of which at high levels of power. Another demonstration of its power was when Onslaught ripped the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak out of the supposedly indestructible Juggernaut's body, solidifying its raw power.

After fully evolving into his own, separate consciousness, Onslaught captured Franklin Richards and combined the child's vast reality-altering powers with his own. This caused Onslaught to evolve into his second, more powerful form. In this form, his powers were increased to virtually godlike 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 (as evidenced when he easily thwarted an attempt to sneak into his citadel). He could change reality at an almost unlimited extent. His physical strength was also shown to be astonishingly high; so much so he was able to go toe-to-toe in a physical fight with the Hulk, after the Hulk's mind had been blanked and his strength and rage set to incredible levels, using the mental powers of Jean Grey. 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 and, under normal circumstances, all forms of energy as well.

List of casualties
The final battle against Onslaught cost the Marvel Universe eighteen of its most prominent figures. Though they would return, the event marked a turning point in their individual histories.


 * Dr. Bruce Banner; notably not the Hulk version of his personality who was separated by Onslaught and left behind.
 * Black Panther
 * Captain America
 * Crystal
 * Doctor Doom
 * Falcon
 * Giant-Man
 * Hawkeye
 * Human Torch
 * Invisible Woman
 * Iron Man
 * Mister Fantastic
 * Namor the Sub-Mariner
 * Scarlet Witch
 * Thing
 * Thor
 * Vision
 * Wasp

In the miniseries Heroes Reborn: The Return, She-Hulk and the Inhumans were erroneously depicted as heroes returning to Earth from the pocket universe.

Final Battle Roster
Those that fought Onslaught in the last battle included those in the List of Casualties, Cyclops, Professor X, Jean Grey, Hulk (with and without Banner), Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit, Storm, Cable, Joseph (Magneto's clone), Bishop, Iceman, Nate Grey (X-Man) and Franklin Richards.

Onslaught Reborn
Onslaught is slated to make a return in late 2006/early 2007. The creative team is Jeph Loeb (writer) and Rob Liefeld (penciler).

Appearances in other media


Onslaught has appeared as the final boss in Marvel vs. Capcom. In that version of the story, Xavier subconsciously used Onslaught's power to call heroes from another universe to help the Marvel super heroes battle him. At the end of the game, the player faced Onslaught in the two forms seen in the comics. In two endings to the game, Jin Saotome (in his own ending) and Captain America (in Hulk's ending) sacrifice themselves to defeat Onslaught (who had become the mass of pure energy in said endings). Onslaught becomes a playable character on the PlayStation version after the player defeats him with any character. He is also able to use some of Magneto's attack, such as Magnetic Shockwave and Magnetic Tempest. Many fans agree that he is the hardest boss to defeat in the entire Marvel VS series because of the high damage his moves inflict.