Age of Apocalypse
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The "Age of Apocalypse" is a popular X-Men story arc. Although occurring in the alternate universe of Earth-295, it has often had ramifications in the universe of Earth-616, the universe most commonly used in Marvel Comics.
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[edit] Storyline
Legion (David Haller), an extremely powerful psionic mutant and son of Professor Charles Xavier and Israeli diplomat Gabrielle Haller, travels back in time with the intention of killing Magneto, Xavier's former best friend and current arch-nemesis. When David is on the verge of ending Magneto's life, Xavier places himself between the two, and Legion kills Xavier instead. Due to a "Grandfather Paradox", Legion then ceases to exist. Xavier has now died before Legion was even fathered.
Because of Xavier's sacrifice, Magneto comes to believe in his late friend's dream of peaceful co-existence between humans and mutants. Apocalypse, a nearly immortal mutant who has survived for centuries, was monitoring the fight. In this reality, he chooses this moment as the perfect time to begin his "survival of the fittest" genetic war, which doesn't happen in the regular Marvel Universe until ten years later.
In this timeline, Magneto establishes the X-Men, but not until after Apocalypse establishes himself as a major power. Apocalypse comes to rule all of North America; New York City is renamed Apocalypse Island and the Statue of Liberty is replaced by a gigantic statue of his visage.
Apocalypse initiates a worldwide genocidal campaign of "cullings" in which millions of humans die. The few that survive live on parts of Europe and Africa which are not devastated by nuclear weapons, a fleet of Sentinels as their only defense.
Meanwhile, the disturbance of the timeline leads to a crystallization wave of the M'Kraan Crystal that is heading toward Earth...
[edit] Characters and affiliations
[edit] Mutant heroes
| Team | Leader | Members | Notes |
| X-Men | Magneto |
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Led out of the ruined Xavier mansion, which never became a school in this universe. |
| X-Ternals (X-Force) | Gambit | Lila Cheney, Jubilee, Strong Guy, Sunspot | |
| X-Calibre (Excalibur) | Nightcrawler | Mystique, Switchback and Damask (the Black Queen of London's Hellfire Club). | |
| Generation Next (Generation X) | Shadowcat and Colossus | Husk, Chamber, Skin, Know-It-All (M), Mondo, Vincente | |
| The Outcasts | Forge | X-Man, Toad, Soaron (Sauron in normal continuity), Brute (Sunder in normal continuity), Mastermind, Sonique (Siryn in normal continuity) | X-Man is the son of Scott Summers and Jean Grey, created from their DNA by Mr. Sinister. |
The only major mutant character missing in the original Age of Apocalypse is Psylocke. Fans speculated that she was likely either killed in one of Apocalypse's cullings or that she is one of the members of the Brain Trust keeping control over the pens. However, when the Age of Apocalypse was revisited a decade later, she appeared in X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #4. Her origin remains unknown. There has been no explanation of what exactly she was doing during the original Age of Apocalypse, other than the fact she had some kind of past connection with Wolverine.
[edit] Other anti-Apocalypse forces
Besides the X-Men and its many offshoots, the Human High Council remains as the other power opposing Apocalypse. Unlike the X-Men, however, the Human High Council considers the extermination of mutants as a viable option. Bolivar and Moira Trask, as well as Brian Braddock, are the major proponents for a mutant holocaust.
Secretly, the Human High Council supports a Human Underground Resistance.
| Team | Members | Notes |
| Human High Council | Emma Frost, Bolivar Trask, Moira MacTaggert-Trask, Brian Braddock (Captain Britain), Mariko Yashida, Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross | |
| Human High Council agents | Gateway, Carol Danvers, Ben Grimm (Thing), Susan Storm (Invisible Woman), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Donald Blake (Thor), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Gwen Stacy and Victor von Doom (Doctor Doom) | |
| Sentinels | Programmed to protect humans above anything else for which they are capable of not attacking mutants if it aids in the accomplishment of their Prime Directive. | |
| The Underground | Valerie Cooper | An underground resistance group that aids refugees escape from North America to Europe. |
| Henry Peter Gyrich | A human supremacist suicide bomber that threatens Heaven. | |
| Joseph Robertson | Maintains the clandestine newspaper Daily Bugle with the purpose of informing humans of the news kept in secret by Apocalypse's regime. | |
| Robert Kelly | An activist of mutant-human peaceful coexistence, for which Apocalypse imprisoned him. Rescued by Magneto, Nightcrawler and Rogue. Later brokered the Kelly Pact, a non-aggression treaty between the Human High Council and Apocalypse. |
[edit] Apocalypse's agents
| Team | Members | Notes |
| Four Horsemen of Apocalypse |
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| Elite Mutant Force | Cyclops, Havok, Beast (known later as "Dark Beast"), Northstar, Aurora, the Bedlam brothers Jesse Aaronson and his brother Christopher (known as King Bedlam of the second incarnation of the Hellions in normal continuity), Cannonball, Amazon, Emplate and the Monets | |
| The Madri | Duplicates of Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man of Earth-616 | |
| The Brotherhood of Chaos (Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) | Arclight, Box (Madison Jeffries), Copycat, Spyne, Yeti | |
| Domino's Bounty Hunters | Domino, Grizzly and Caliban | |
| The Pale Riders | Danielle Moonstar, Damask (AOA version of the Black Queen of London's Hellfire Club), Dead Man Wade (Deadpool) | |
| Death's Inhuman Strike Force | Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, Gorgon, Triton, Crystal, Lockjaw and Rhino. | Genetically altered clones of the murdered Inhuman Royal Family. |
| Shadow King & Strong Guy | ||
| Sebastian Shaw | ||
| Magma | ||
| The Infinites | Mudir Rictor, Prelate Unus, Prelate Delgado, Prelate Gallo and the Vanisher. | Genetically engineered army created by Sinister and the Beast. Squadrons of Infinites are led by a Prelate or Mudir. |
| Wolverine (not the same as Wolverine in normal continuity). | ||
| Enslavers of Seattle Core | Sugar Man, Quietus | |
| Reavers | Donald Pierce, Slocum, Clegg, Mangle, Dead-Eye and Vultura. | Humans enhanced by Apocalypse's techno-organic virus. |
| Diablo, the Absorbing Man | Two wardens in Apocalypse's prisoner camps in Mexico. | |
| Rex | Apocalypse's majordomo. | |
| Stryfe Force | Mikhail's Rasputin personal army. Formed by the best from his Upscale Program. | |
| Keeper Murdock (Daredevil) | Mikhail's personal warden. Responsible for watching over Empath, Mikhail's prisoner. | |
| Marauders | Dirigible (Kingpin/Wilson Fisk), Red (Norman Osborn), Arcade, and the Owl | Human terrorists that have betrayed mankind. |
| Bruce Banner/The Thing (The Incredible Hulk in Earth-616) | A scientist of the Human High Council, secretly "bought" by Mikhail Rasputin, who supplies him with mutants for experiments in which Banner seeks to mutate himself. |
[edit] Neutrals
| Team | Members | Notes |
| Avalon (the Savage Land) | Destiny, Cain (Juggernaut), Douglas Ramsey (Cypher) and Wendy | |
| Heaven | Angel, Karma and Scarlett MacKenzie | Nightclub run by Angel and its employees. |
| John Proudstar (Thunderbird) | Leader of Ghost Dance, an anti-Apocalypse cult and the first stage in the Infernal Gallop to Avalon. | |
| Newell (Stingray) | Captain of the Submarine Excalibur that transports refugees to Avalon. | |
| Callisto | Leader of a band of pirates | |
| Prisoners in Sinister's Breeding Pens | Polaris, Avalanche, Artemis, Pyro, Phantazia, Newt, Blob | |
| Rossovich (Omega Red) | An information broker | |
| Wolfsbane | In her wild wolf form. | |
| Peter Corbeau | A scientist and astronomer captured by Apocalypse and forced to serve him as his librarian. | |
| Scavengers | Mister Hyde and Cobra | Cannibal mutates who plague graveyards and attack anyone, regardless of their allegiance. |
| Bullseye | One of the many human prisoners aboard Mikhail Rasputin's ships. | |
| The Brood | Christopher Summers, Colleen Wing, Misty Knight | Humans transformed into Brood following the escape of Christopher Summers, who had been infected by a Brood Queen. |
[edit] Timeline escapees
After the Age of Apocalypse story arc, Bishop travels back in time to prevent the timeline from ever occurring. This occurs simultaneously with a nuclear exchange between the Human High Council and Apocalypse. Most characters were seemingly killed by the nukes, but the fate of the remaining survivors remained unclear. It is presumed that they were erased from existence.
Some characters escape the Age of Apocalypse into the Earth 616 continuity. These include Nate Grey (the AOA version of Cable), Holocaust (one of Apocalypse's horsemen), Beast, and Sugar Man. Nate Grey allies himself with the X-Men a few times, but later "dies" by disseminating into every lifeform in the universe. Holocaust remains at large in the main Marvel Universe until he joins the Exiles and is killed by another universe's evil version of Hyperion (in Exiles #62). Sugar Man later died at the hands of the 616 Callisto. Dark Beast is the only one of these four still alive. Beast and Sugar Man are sent 20 years into Earth 616's past. This allows for major retconning that explains that the Age of Apocalypse's Beast (now known as Dark Beast) has a hand in the creation of the Morlocks. It also explains why Mister Sinister initiated the Mutant Massacre: he recognized his stolen handiwork, and ordered it exterminated, as a debasement of his art. Furthermore, Sugar Man gave genetic technology secrets to the Genegineer of Genosha, allowing this small nation to become powerful by enslaving mutants.
Blink escapes into the multiverse itself: she joins and leads the reality-hopping team of heroes known as the Exiles. Her counterpart on Earth 616 has been dead since the Phalanx Covenant story arc.
Sabretooth also survives along the same means as Blink. He joins a team of reality-hopping super beings known as Weapon X. During one mission, he opts to stay behind on a world to raise a child. Eventually, he is brought back into action and joins the Exiles. They have since visited the post story-arc Age of Apocalypse, the survival of which comes as a surprise to Blink and Sabretooth.
[edit] Tenth-year anniversary
In 2005, Marvel published an Age of Apocalypse one-shot and mini-series to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the popular event.
The one-shot features stories set before the events depicted in the original "Age of Apocalypse" event, similar in focus to the Chronicles of the Age of Apocalypse issues: the one-shot contains the story of how Colossus and Shadowcat left the X-Men to train Generation Next, how Sabretooth met Wild Child, the first appearance of the Silver Samurai and that the world survived the Human High Council's nuclear attack.
In the mini-series, we are introduced to several characters who weren't in the original storyline. Long time characters Psylocke, Cloak, Dagger and the Morlocks including Feral, Thornn, Leech, Marrow and Skids who where survivors of Mister Sinister's experiments are introduced. Newer characters X-23, Beak and Icarus are seen along with the concept of Xorn.
The Exiles, three of which are from the Age of Apocalypse universe, visited the world as well during this time.
X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse, released the same year, was heavily influenced by the AoA storyline, including several characters and concepts from the storyline.
[edit] What If? Age of Apocalypse one-shot
In What If? Ages of Xavier, Legion did kill Magneto. Because Magneto was dead, the X-man had less hardships to go through by not had to deal with Magneto. The mutants had become publicly accepted but Xavier still felt that something was not right. He felt that the X-men were not ready for what was coming. Apocalypse appears with an army of mutants and defeat rather easily the X-men. Scott and Jean had married and had left the X-men. Apocalypse taunted Xavier by saying that his dream did not grow stronger but had taken it for granted while Apocalypse had given his army of mutant a dream and make it grow to which Xavier agrees but then says is not to late. Xavier kills Apocalypse with a massive psychic attack but dies by doing so. The army of mutants retreats saying that both Apocalypse and Xavier were weak but that the dream of Apocalypse was right. Scott re-opens the institute and start to gather new students, saying that Xavier's dream should live, while watching them, the army of mutants congratulate him and says that the strongest dream survive...
In What If? Ages of Apocalypse did not end, Galactus came and was killed by Magneto.
In 2006, Marvel published a What If? Age of Apocalypse one-shot which reveals what would have happened if both Xavier and Magneto were killed by Legion, leaving no-one to form the X-Men. As explained by Uatu the Watcher, the governments of the world respond to the hundreds of deaths caused by Legion's attack by capturing mutants and sending them into concentration camps, causing non-mutant superhumans to flourish. Some mutants, such as Cyclops, escape the camps and flee to the Savage Land. After Apocalypse conquers the world, he gains hundreds of mutant and superhuman followers including the Absorbing Man, Banshee, Cannonball, clones of Spider-Man, the Hulk, Holocaust, Juggernaut, Lady Deathstrike, Namor, the Scarlet Witch, Sebastian Shaw, Storm and Sunspot.
Apocalypse's followers destroy the mutant sanctuary in the Savage Land and only Nate Summers and Sauron escape. They join the Defenders, a group of heroes consisting of Brother Voodoo (the new Sorcerer Supreme), Captain America (wielding Mjolnir), Captain Britain (who uses Iron Man's armour), Colossus, the Molecule Man, the Thing (who uses a prosthetic arm and leg) and Wolverine (who isn't bonded to any adamantium), who have learned the truth about their reality from the sacrifice of Doctor Strange. They have pledged not to change the past but to overthrow Apocalypse in the present. As they fight back Nate puts his own plans in motion to change the past, with tragic consequences.
The majority of the Defenders are killed in the struggle against Apocalypse. Nate succeeds in killing Apocalypse with the help of the Molecule Man. Nate then garbs himself in Apocalypse's armour and uses the stolen Eye of Agamotto to open a time portal into the past to stop Legion's actions. Captain America unleashes a bolt from Mjolnir that kills Nate and he and Wolverine walk off. Uatu reveals that by trying to change the past, Nate merely caused events to repeat themselves in yet another reality, as the lightning bolt destroyed Legion, Xavier, Magneto and hundreds of others. He mentions that this problem is spreading like a cancer across the multiverse, as reality after reality turns into an Age of Apocalypse.
[edit] External links
- UncannyXmen.Net's look at the Age of Apocalypse
- Age of Apocalypse summary
- It Only Hurts When I Sing: The Age of Apocalypse Resource Center
