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.[4] He was captured by the Interpol agent Banshee and turned over to the KGB, who wanted to create a super soldier similar to Captain America.[5]
Omega Red
The end result of the experiments was Omega Red. The Soviet government 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.[6]
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" sometime during the 1960s when this trio tried to rescue double agent named Janice Hollenbeck and the carbonadium synthesizer. It was because of his need for the carbonadium synthesizer that Omega Red continuously sought out these three individuals over the years, believing they may know of its whereabouts.[6] In Berlin, and Wraith went back to try out a new weapon on Omega Red. When Omega Red survived a direct hit from the weapon, he wrapped Wraith up in his coils however Wraith managed to teleport away to safety.[7]
Return from Hibernation
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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.[6] After the fall of Communism in Russia, he was released by the clan of ninja known as the Hand.[8] 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.[9]
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.[10]
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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13]
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.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16]
Deadly alliance
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Omega Red working for the General
While working for the drug lord known as the General,[17] Omega Red was recruited by Sabretooth to attack Wolverine's friends and family alongside Lady Deathstrike. Sabretooth had promised both Omega Red and Deathstrike information on almost every mutant on Earth, but betrayed his new henchmen by teleporting away with Wolverine, his ward Amiko, and the information.[18]
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.[19]
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.[20]
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.[21]
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' orgranization. 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.[22] 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.[23] 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.[24]
Omega Red finaly 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.[24]
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.[25]
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.[26] But in the end they were defeated by X-Force. [27]
Rebirth
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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.[28] After trading Omega Red's coffin from the Hand,[29] Komolov and his men put their mastery over magic to use in a ritual that resulted in Omega Red's rebirth.[30] 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,[28] 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..[31]
Weapon X-Force
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Omega Red as a member of Weapon X-Force
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.[32] 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.[33] 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.[33]
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.[4] 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.[34] 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.[4]
Age of X-Man
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.[35] 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.[36]
_from_Age_of_X-Man_Apocalypse_%26_The_X-Tracts_Vol_1_1_001.png){kind=link}
Omega Red in the Age of X-Man reality
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.
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.[3]
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.[37]Attributes
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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.[1][38][39][40] He was described by Dazzler to be an Omega Level Mutant.[41]
- 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.[1][38][39][40]
- 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.[1][38][39][40]
- 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.[1][38][39][40]
- 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. [1][38][39][40]
- 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.[1][38][39][40]
- 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.[1][38][39][40]
- 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.[1][38][39][40]
- 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.[1][38][39][40]
Abilities
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
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.[1][38][39][40]
- Omege Red was one of the few mutants to retain his powers after M-Day.[42]
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
Recommended Readings
- Generation X #10 - Generation X #11
- X-Men (Vol. 2) #4 to X-Men (Vol. 2) #7
- Wolverine (Vol. 2) #173 to Wolverine (Vol. 2) #175
- Weapon X (Vol. 2) #3
- 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
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #8
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 5) #3
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Age of X-Man: Apocalypse & The X-Tracts #1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Weapon X (Vol. 3) #20
- ↑ Generation X #10–11
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 X-Men (Vol. 2) #5–6
- ↑ Wolverine (Vol. 2) #61
- ↑ X-Men (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ X-Men (Vol. 2) #4–7
- ↑ X-Men (Vol. 2) #18–20
- ↑ Iron Man #295
- ↑ Iron Man #296
- ↑ Iron Man #297
- ↑ Cable #9
- ↑ Cable #10
- ↑ Cable #11
- ↑ X-Men: Liberators #2–4
- ↑ Wolverine (Vol. 2) #173–175
- ↑ Wolverine: Origins #6–7
- ↑ Wolverine: Origins #8–10
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #499
- ↑ Wolverine: Origins #36–37
- ↑ Wolverine: Origins #38
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Wolverine: Origins #39
- ↑ Wolverine (Vol. 4) #2
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #25
- ↑ Uncanny X-Force #34
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 X-Men: Gold (Vol. 2) #10
- ↑ X-Men: Gold (Vol. 2) #8
- ↑ X-Men: Gold (Vol. 2) #9
- ↑ X-Men: Gold (Vol. 2) #11
- ↑ Weapon X (Vol. 3) #18
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 Weapon X (Vol. 3) #19
- ↑ Weapon X (Vol. 3) #21
- ↑ [[Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 5) 3-10|[[Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 5) #3|Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 5) 3]]-10]]
- ↑ Age of X-Man Alpha #1
- ↑ Age of X-Man: Apocalypse & The X-Tracts #4
- ↑ 38.00 38.01 38.02 38.03 38.04 38.05 38.06 38.07 38.08 38.09 38.10 38.11 38.12 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 4) #6
- ↑ 39.00 39.01 39.02 39.03 39.04 39.05 39.06 39.07 39.08 39.09 39.10 39.11 39.12 Marvel Encyclopedia #X-Men
- ↑ 40.00 40.01 40.02 40.03 40.04 40.05 40.06 40.07 40.08 40.09 40.10 40.11 40.12 Dark Reign Files #1
- ↑ Age of X-Man: Apocalypse & The X-Tracts #2
- ↑ X-Men: The 198 Files #1
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Wolverine 2004 Vol 1 1