Arkady Rossovich (Earth-616)

Omega Red
Name	Arkady Gregorivich Rossovich
Current Alias	Omega Red
Aliases	Red Death, Vasyliev Arkady, Red, Horseman of Wellness, Tongue of Czernobog
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Vampire Nation Formerly Weapon X-Force, Horsemen of Salvation, Kingpin of the Red Mafia (Kingpin), former employee of The General, Ivan the Terrible, and Matsu'o Tsurayaba, formerly KGB, Black Widow Ops Program, Neo-Soviets
Relatives	Vassily Rossovich (brother, deceased); Omega Clan (clones)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	6′11″ (2.11 m)
Weight	425 lbs (192.78 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Red
Hair	Blond
Unusual Features	Omega Red is an albino, with glowing red eyes and chalk-pale skin. Cybernetics and tubing are visible on his cheeks and body. Implanted within his arms are long coils made of Carbonadium, an unstable, artificial alloy that resembles adamantium but is more malleable and considerably less resistant to damage. The coils serve as a conduit for his lethal pheromones.
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Mutant enhanced through the Soviet Super-Soldier Program; using cybernetics and implanted Carbonadium coils that serve as a conduit to release death spores.
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Russia
Personal Information
Identity	Known to Authorities
Citizenship	Russian, Soviet, Krakoan
Occupation	Prisoner; former crimelord, KGB agent, Russian mobster, warrior serving Matsu'o Tsurayaba, special "super-soldier" operative of Soviet intelligence, mercenary
Base of Operations	Mobile Formerly bases used by Matsu'o Tsurayaba; Red Room, Moscow, USSR; East Berlin; East Germany; Semipalatinsk Test Site aka The Polygon, Kazakhstan
Creators and Appearances
Creators	John Byrne, Jim Lee
First	X-Men (Vol. 2) #4 (November, 1991)
First	X-Men (Vol. 2) #4 (November, 1991)

 First we live. Then we die. In between is just blood and noise. 

—Omega Red

History

Early Life

Arkady Rossovich (Russian: Аркадий Григорьевич Россович) was a Russian mutant. His parents and his brother Vassily were scared of him even before he had developed his mutation. Arkady's bloodthirst first manifested with the mutilation of animals and the disappearance of local beggars. Vassily ended up ratting on Arkady.

He later joined the Russian Army where he became part of the GRU Spetsnaz. Despite serving in the army, he also continued his crimes, he started to prey on young children, especially young girls, that he kidnapped and killed. His crimes were for a time left unnoticed until he was transferred to a Soviet Outpost near the Antarctic Circle where the disappearance and death of several children were finally noticed by the other Russian soldiers. After discovering the atrocious crimes he committed, he was executed by the Red Army but his latent mutant powers saved him from death which prompted his superiors to use him for their super soldier program.

Before he could be used for the Russian super soldier program, he escaped to Europe where he started to commit several crimes with the help of his newfound powers, his "death factor". His crimes attracted the attention of Erik Lensher, who decided to help a young Interpol agent, Sean Cassidy who went rogue after the Soviet Union pressured Interpol to drop the case. Erik wanted Sean to find him and to deal with him permanently.

Arkady's goal was also to have Sean Cassidy killed him before he could be retrieved by the Russian Army but Sean refused, but after Arkady killed his partner, Magrite Devereaux, with his death factor, Sean shot him several times in retaliation but he survived. In the end, Sean finally arrested him and thought that he was sent to prison, but unknown to him, Arkady fell into the hands of the KGB who then used him for their super soldier program in order to create a soldier similar to Captain America.

Omega Red

The end result of the experiments was Omega Red, the Soviet government implanted several cybernetic enhancements that made him much more powerful, they also implanted one retractable Carbonadium tentacle within each of his arms. Carbonadium was the Soviets' attempt to recreate the artificial alloy known as adamantium. It was a more malleable form of adamantium. He used them as weapons and as grappling appendages. He was able to a wrap a victim in his coils to literally drain them of their life energy. This vampiric tendency was once essential to Omega Red's survival; the carbonadium implants, while great offensive weapons, slowly poisoned him and he was required to regularly drain the life energy of a person, or perhaps take small amounts from larger numbers of individuals, in order to temporarily sustain his immune system.

In order to stabilize his condition, Omega Red required the "Carbonadium Synthesizer," a device that was stolen by Wolverine, Maverick, and Sabretooth during their final mission together as "Team X" when this trio was also trying to rescue a double agent named Janice Hollenbeck. Furious, Omega Red went after them, but another member of Team X, Kestrel, stalled him with his gun until the others got away. Unfazed, Omega Red wrapped Kestrel up in his coils and tried to tear him to pieces however Kestrel managed to teleport away to safety.

It was because of his need for the carbonadium synthesizer that Omega Red continuously sought out Wolverine, Sabretooth and Maverick over the years, believing they may know of its whereabouts.

Return from Hibernation

Omega Red is reborn

At some time in the past, the Soviet government decided that Omega Red was too unpredictable and treacherous to be relied upon, and placed him in cryogenic suspended animation until a method could be found to control him. After the fall of Communism in Russia, he was released by the clan of ninja known as the Hand. Omega Red served Matsu'o Tsurayaba, who revived him from suspended animation. Omega Red was led to believe that Wolverine knew the whereabouts of the carbonadium synthesizer which could save his life, and sought him out in an effort to find this device. Omega Red defeated Wolverine and brought him to Tsurayaba. In doing so, he came into conflict with the X-Men for the first of many times.

Later, Omega Red battled and fell under the mental control of the Soul Skinner in Siberia. The Soul Skinner then used him to battle Wolverine and the X-Men. Omega Red captured Wolverine and Jubilee, but escaped after the Soul Skinner's death.

M.O.D.A.M.

Meanwhile in Siberia, Omega red interrogates Arkady about Olinka Barankova; he says that she defected to A.I.M. Omega Red then killed him. When Iron Man battled M.O.D.A.M., Omega Red appeared and claims that M.O.D.A.M. is Olinka Barankova, an intelligence agent from his past. M.O.D.A.M. had no memory of this, but prepareD to battle Omega Red. While Omega Red and M.O.D.A.M. battled, Tony recovered and regain control of his armor. Brannex asked Iron Man to stop Omega Red, but he only agreed when Brannex promises to return all of the nuclear materials A.I.M. purchased from Stane International. M.O.D.A.M. denied being Olinka Barankova and observed that all A.I.M. records are falsified, but Omega Red refused to believe her. Iron Man arrived and saved M.O.D.A.M., but has to fight her off as well.

Acolytes

Omega Red vs Cable

Omega Red attacked the Acolytes in the London sewers. Katu despised Omega for killing his wife and child and destroying his arm. When Moira MacTaggert was testing Cable and the Techno-organic virus. Suddenly, the alarms go off in the building. Moira grabbed Cable's gun and then fell to the floor unconscious. Omega Red appeared and says that she is not dead yet. Omega battled Cable and knocks him around while Cable is still under anaesthesia. He finds the compound that he originally came for. He then is told that the computer has turned off the dampening system since Cable's tests are done and he turns to see Cable is back on his feet. He fought with Omega Red. Then Arkady used his tentacle to turn the bionic dampener back on and Cable goes limp and goes unconscious. Cable teamed up with Colossus and the Acolytes to battle Omega Red. Omega Red held the director of the Tyuratum Space Center in his clutches. He wanted to get more information about the Epsilon Red project that he was a part of and what created Omega Red. The Director told him that Epsilon Red was just a cosmonaut and Omega was a soldier. Omega says that he wants to get rid of this blood lust that is taking over his body and thinks the key is with Epsilon Red. The Director gives him a disk with all the info about Epsilon Red on it. They fought and Cable finally succumbs to Omega's death spores. Katu suddenly appeared and says he is going to exact revenge on Omega and is going to teleport him and Omega into the vacuum of space. Katu tries to use his powers and finds that Cable is inhibiting him from carrying this out. Cable says he won't let Katu sacrifice himself. Katu says there is no other way and he then redirects his energy inward and Katu and Omega disappear in a blinding light.

The Logan Files

Omega Red working for the General

While working for the drug lord known as the General, Omega Red was recruited by Sabretooth to attack Wolverine's friends and family alongside Lady Deathstrike. Sabretooth had promised both Omega Red and Deathstrike access to the Weapon X program files which contained information on almost every mutant on earth but also a share of the Weapon X program's money, but Sabretooth betrayed his new henchmen by teleporting away with Wolverine, his daughter Amiko, the money and the information.

The Hunt for Sabretooth

Shortly after, an agent of the Weapon X program, Agent Zero, was tasked into hunting down Sabretooth after he betrayed Weapon X and stole their files on every mutants on earth, to that end he decide to seek Omega Red's help. Omega Red who was now a Kingpin of the Russian mafia decided to help Agent Zero in order to get some payback after Sabretooth's recent betrayal, he gave him Sabretooth's whereabouts and told him that Sabretooth was now selling Weapon X secrets to several countries and was about to get rich. Despite his disguise, Omega Red was sure he knew Agent Zero's real identity who then left and apprehended Sabretooth. Unknown to Omega Red, Agent Zero was none other than his old foe Maverick.

The Search for the Carbonadium Synthesizer

After the events of House of M (Event), Omega Red and his army confronted Wolverine, who was tracking his long lost son in Berlin, to obtain the Carbonadium Synthesizer. In order to lure Logan out of hiding, Omega Red decided to attack a center for depowered mutants where he severely injured Maverick and took Jubilee as an hostage along the way.

With the help of the Black Widow, Wolverine managed to trick Omega Red by promising him the Carbonadium Synthesizer in exchange for Jubilee's life and as a result he was captured by by Dum-Dum Duggan and a number of S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

Facing Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler

Omega Red's freedom was then bought by The Red Room in the hopes of using him to their own ends. However after an undisclosed period of time, Omega Red broke free from his master and encountered Colossus, and Nightcrawler and engaged them in combat. Thanks to the Red Room's experimentations on his body, his healing factor was enhanced and his skin was largely impervious to Wolverine's claws. Although Omega Red was finally defeated after Nightcrawler teleported him hundreds of feet in the sky and let him fall to the ground which knocked him unconscious, he was then turned back over to S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.

Death

Omega Red's final battle

While on the trail of the mysterious Romulus, Wolverine encountered Omega Red who had been relocated to a Russian prison by Romulus' organization. A fight between them soon then broke out, but Wolverine gained the advantage by impaling Omega Red with the bars of one of the prison cells. Wolverine allowed him to live, however, knowing that otherwise Omega Red would use his powers to completely drain the life energies of all the prisoners, if necessary, to heal himself from the injuries he sustained. Eventually, Omega Red caught up with Wolverine after he was captured by another agent of Romulus Wild Child resulting in a fight between Omega Red and Wild Child. Using the confusion, Wolverine escaped while Omega Red killed Wild Child before tracking his foe once again.

Omega Red finally caught up to Wolverine but Wolverine didn't want to fight him anymore after Wild Child revealed to him that it was all part of Romulus plan to have him fight against Sabretooth, Cyber, Omega Red, Wild Child and Daken in order to see who would be the strongest and the fittest to replace Romulus as the head of his empire. But Omega Red threatened to go after Daken if Wolverine didn't fight him prompting Wolverine to face Omega Red one last time. Upon seeing the wounded Wolverine only armed with a broken sword, Omega Red laughed, let his guard down and told his foe he would give him one free shot. Unknown to Omega Red, Logan's broken sword was none other than the Muramasa Blade, a mystic blade forged with a piece of Wolverine's soul and which could kill anything.

Wolverine then threw the broken Muramasa Blade directly at Omega Red's heart, Omega Red then started to feel weak because of the blade's powers and died shortly after.

Hell

Because of his past actions, Rossovich's soul was sent to Hell, and after the criminal organization known as The Red Right Hand sent Wolverine's soul to Hell, Omega Red was sent by Satan to fight against his old foe alongside several villains killed by Wolverine through the years. He managed to quickly get to Wolverine and told him he was going to make him suffer for eternity before being stabbed by his old foe.

Legacy

The Omega Clan

After Omega Red's death, a secret organization known as the White Sky were hired by Daken's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to create clones from the remains of Omega Red.

These clones were known as Omega Red, Omega Black and Omega White. Each of these clones had different abilities from each other and they were programmed to hate Wolverine's X-Force team and believed that they killed their parents. But in the end they were defeated by X-Force.

Rebirth

Back from the dead

Years following Omega Red's death, a group of magically-empowered Solntsevskaya Bratva led by Viktor Komolov set out to bring back Rossovich from the dead. After trading Omega Red's coffin from the Hand, Komolov and his men put their mastery over magic to use in a ritual that resulted in Omega Red's rebirth. This process was only temporary, which required Omega Red to regularly absorb life force from other people to stay alive. Even then, that would only delay the inevitable decay of Rossovich's body. Because of this, Komolov and his men sought a way to make Omega Red's return permanent.

Komolov's right-hand Anatoly Rasputin took advantage of being the estranged uncle of powerful sorceress and X-Men member Magik, and lured the X-Men to Russia under the pretense of warning them of Omega Red's return. After ambushing Magik, the Solntsevskaya Bratva took her to Komolov, who successfully forced her to strengthen Omega Red. When the X-Men came to Magik's aid, Omega Red attacked them. He was ultimately defeated by Logan, and taken into custody by S.I.C.K.L.E..

Weapon X

Omega Red facing Weapon X

Omega Red was imprisoned at the Stranniy Corrective Labor Camp and injected with nanobots controlled by S.I.C.K.L.E. that could be used to cause him severe pain. Omega Red's estranged brother Vassily, who had become the director of S.I.C.K.L.E., decided to use Arkady to stage the assassination of pro-mutant military general Toma Zaslon. S.I.C.K.L.E. facilitated Omega Red's break-out from the labor camp so that he could kill General Zaslon, and Vassily communicated his brother throught he nanites in his body. The mutant-rescue squad Weapon X intervened and prevented Zaslon's murder. Sabretooth convinced Omega Red to turn on S.I.C.K.L.E., and they used Lady Deathstrike to neutralize the nanites in his bloodstream.

Joining Weapon X

Omega Red approached the S.I.C.K.L.E. Mothercarrier under the pretense of having killed General Zaslon, and confronted his brother. Feeling uneasy by Omega Red's declarations, Director Rossovich tried to activate the nanochain inside his brother's blood to no avail. Omega Red constricted him with his tentacles, prompting the S.I.C.K.L.E. agents to take action, but they were taken down by Weapon X. Even though Vassily managed to escape from Omega Red, he was killed by General Zaslon. She appointed herself as S.I.C.K.L.E.'s new director and declared Weapon X friends of Russia. Omega Red remained with the team and they rebranded themselves into a mercenary group called Weapon X-Force. Sabretooth's concern for Omega Red caused him to respect Victor, even declaring that Victor was the first person that made him believe he could be more than a monster.

Weapon X-Force

Omega Red as a member of Weapon X-Force

After several successful missions, the team decided to rescue Monet, who had fallen under the influence of a cult secretly led by Mentallo. After freeing Monet and being joined by Deadpool, the team decided to take down the cult and discovered that its real leader was William Stryker. Along the way the team was captured and forced to fight in an arena against several mutants put under the control of Mentallo but thanks to the Nuke Pills that Lady Deathstrike kept after a previous mission with Weapon X , they were able to free all the mutants from Mentallo's contol and killed Stryker.

But after learning that Stryker went to Hell and planned to return, the team decided to go to Hell in order to deal with him once and for all, to that end they went to see Azazel. After a brief fight with him, he agreed to send them to Hell , the team was then able to stop Stryker but as the cost of Sabretooth sacrificing his life. Unknown to the team, a feral Sabretooth free of the inversion and back to his older self was later sent back to the land of the living by the Devil.

Age of X-Man

Omega Red as the Horseman of Wellness

When X-Man tried to convert the world into a utopia through force, he created the Horsemen of Salvation to help him. One of them was Arkady who was turned into X-Man's Horseman of Wellness. Arkady and the Horsemen battled the X-Men who tried to stop X-Man. When X-Man realized that he would never be able to carry out his vision with the X-Men around, he eliminated his enemies in an instant as well as Arkady and the other Horsemen on Quadra Island. He was sent by X-Man to a different reality created by X-Man to be a utopia for all mutants could live in peace.

He memory was altered by X-Man and was made to think that the Soviet Union experimented on to become one of their super-soldiers. After the fall of the Union, Omega Red was deemed too dangerous so he was locked him up in a secret bunker at the Semipalatinsk Test Site aka The Polygon, Kazakhstan.

File:Arkady Rossovich (Earth-616) from Age of X-Man Apocalypse & The X-Tracts Vol 1 1 001.png

Omega Red in the Age of X-Man reality

After years in captivity, a group of mutants traveled there to find out what was making the local residents sick. As they were taking readings they noticed that a pile of dead animals surrounded the bunker, but still went further in to check it out but both died due to the lethal poison even though one of them was immune to radiation.

Arkady's prison has decayed and crumbled which allowed his escape. He made it to a main city where he killed some of the inhabitants of a house after he saw how the world had become due to the X-Men.

He worked for the X-Tracts for a little while, until they disagreed. He took out all of the members when they went after him, except Genesis. Genesis began attacking him, soon he seemingly killed Genesis, but before he died, he created an explosion that apparently killed himself as well.

Catacombs

Omega Red resurfaced in Paris later on, and agreed to work with Dracula and the Vampire Nation in exchange for the Carbonadium Synthesizer. Omega Red's first mission was to enter Krakoa and lure Wolverine to one of Dracula's hideouts in Paris in order to allow Dracula's soldiers to steal Logan's blood. Once done, Logan's blood was then transferred to Dracula, allowing him to now survive when exposed to daylight.

His mission completed, Omega Red returned to Paris and was given the Carbonadium Synthesizer by Dracula himself although Dracula warned him that there was a detonator hidden inside of it as he still had use of him. Dracula then ordered Omega Red to join Krakoa but to obey him.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

Omega Red possesses various superhuman attributes as a result of being a mutant and after undergoing augmentation procedures at the hands of the Soviet government during the 1960s. He was described by Dazzler to be an Omega Level Mutant.

• Death Factor: Omega Red can emit lethal pheromones (death spores) from his body. These spores result in the weakness or death of anybody in his vicinity. The severity of the effect is based on the endurance, health, and relative proximity of the victims. Normal humans can be killed or incapacitated after a matter of seconds of exposure, while a being with exceptionally accelerated healing powers and physical stamina can sustain exposure for minutes or hours. Omega Red must secrete his pheromones or they will begin to erode his own body. After his most recent resurrection, Arkady was revealed to have stronger and even more potent spores circulating constantly through his tentacles and has stopped emitting it as a pheromone. This generally served as a backup in case of his tentacles ever being cut, which quickly happened.
• Life Force Absorption: Omega Red has the ability, and need, to drain the life force of other humans to sustain his own. He can do this by ensnaring his victims within his tentacles and using them as a conduit for his death factor. At one time the combination of his "death factor" and the presence Carbonadium in his body had the effect of slowly poisoning him which caused him to need to drain life forces frequently. The more life force he drains, the stronger he gets and the faster he heals.
• Superhuman Strength: Omega Red is superhumanly strong and is capable of lifting about 10 tons normally. After his resurrection, Arkady was revealed to have gained some new abilities; namely, the ability to increase his body mass as he absorbed energy. After absorbing the life energy of a powerful unnamed mutant, Arkady was shown to be capable of lifting roughly fifty tons. Theoretically, his full strength is limitless.
• Superhuman Stamina: Omega Red's muscles generate considerably less fatigue toxins than the muscles of an ordinary human. He is capable of exerting himself at peak capacity for about a day before fatigue begins to affect him. However, he can use the energy he drains from others to enhanced his stamina even further.
• Superhuman Durability: Omega Red wears a suit of bright red armor, composed of a material believed to be secondary adamantium. This armor, which covers most of Omega Red's body, renders him highly resistant to injury. He once withstood an energy blast from the mutant Chamber, that propelled him a distance of several miles without sustaining injury. Even without the armor, Omega Red's body is capable of withstanding powerful impact forces and blunt trauma, such as falling from several stories or being repeatedly struck by superhumanly strong opponents, that would severely injure or kill a normal human with little to no discomfort.
• Superhuman Agility: Omega Red's natural agility, body coordination, and balance are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. Absorbing the life force of enemies increases his agility exponentially.
• Superhuman Reflexes: Omega Red's reflexes are similarly enhanced and are superior to those of the finest human athlete. Absorbing the life force of enemies increases his reflexes exponentially.
• Regenerative Healing Factor: Omega Red is capable of healing at much greater speeds than that of an ordinary humans. He has proven capable of healing from deep slashes and puncture wounds within a matter of minutes. However, he is able to use the energy he drains from others to enhances his healing powers to higher levels. After his resurrection, Arkady was shown to be capable of healing from even fatal injuries almost instantly when sufficiently charged. His healing factor appears to focus on his tentacles and armor as well, implying that they have become a part of his body.

Abilities

Omega Red is also an excellent hand-to-hand combatant and military tactician, having defeated foes such as Iron Man, Cable, and Wolverine. He was trained in various forms of armed and unarmed combat by both the Soviet government and various organizations throughout the Japanese underworld. Highly intelligent, he has quickly become highly skilled in the management of criminal organizations.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

He also wears a suit of red retro-Russian armor. This armor has withstood assaults from Wolverine's Adamantium claws, though his claws can penetrate the material after repeatedly, powerful strikes.

Weapons

Carbonadium Tentacles: Omega Red possesses Carbonadium tentacles housed within his arms. Carbonadium is an unstable, artificial alloy that is the former Soviet Union's attempt at recreating true adamantium. While the alloy is only slightly less durable and more malleable than adamantium, it is also radioactive. The radioactivity of the metal, when combined with Omega Red's death factor, allows him to literally drain the life force of his victims. Omega Red can also use the tentacles as whips or restraining bonds, restraining most individuals easily due to the durability of the tentacles.

Notes

• Due to his mutant "death factor" and the presence of carbonadium within his body, Omega Red must frequently drain the life forces of others in order to survive. However, if he found the carbonadium synthesizer, he could use it to synthesize and "clean" carbonadium (allowing him to have the benefits of carbonadium without having to combat radiation poisoning), the only metal that can neutralize the "death factor," thereby stabilizing it within his body.
• Omege Red was one of the few mutants to retain his powers after M-Day.

See Also

• 125 appearance(s) of Arkady Rossovich (Earth-616)
• 10 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Arkady Rossovich (Earth-616)
• 24 minor appearance(s) of Arkady Rossovich (Earth-616)
• 12 mention(s) of Arkady Rossovich (Earth-616)
• 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Arkady Rossovich (Earth-616)
• 182 image(s) of Arkady Rossovich (Earth-616)
• 8 quotation(s) by or about Arkady Rossovich (Earth-616)
• 3 victim(s) killed by Arkady Rossovich (Earth-616)
• 2 item(s) used/owned by Arkady Rossovich (Earth-616)

Links and References

• uncannyxmen.net Bring on the Bad Guys: Omega Red - Tendrils of Terror

Recommended Readings

• Generation X #10 - Generation X #11
• X-Men (Vol. 2) #4 to X-Men (Vol. 2) #7
• Maverick #1 – "The Sword Song on a Barren Heath"
• The Logan Files
• Weapon X (Vol. 2) #3 – "The Hunt for Sabretooth"
• Uncanny X-Men #498 - Uncanny X-Men #499
• Wolverine: Origins #38 - Wolverine: Origins #40
• X-Men: Gold (Vol. 2) #9 to X-Men: Gold (Vol. 2) #11
• Wolverine (Vol. 7) #1 – "Catacombs"