| Omni-Man | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Image Comics |
| First appearance | Invincible #1 (January 2003) |
| Created by | Robert Kirkman Cory Walker |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Nolan |
| Species | Viltrumite |
| Place of origin | Viltrumite Homeworld |
| Team affiliations | Guardians of the Globe Viltrumite Empire |
| Notable aliases | Nolan Grayson |
| Abilities | Flight, Vast superhuman strength, superhuman speed, endurance, and senses, invulnerability, greatly prolonged lifespan |
Omni-Man is a fictional character, a superhero, supervillain and anti-hero in the Image Comics Universe. Omni-Man is the father of Invincible and a member of Viltrumite race, a humanoid species of extraterrestrial origin who possess superhuman strength, super speed, virtual immortality, and flight. Unusually for a superhero, he sports a notable large moustache. Moustaches are culturally mandatory for male Viltrumites.
In 2009, Omni-Man was ranked as IGN's '93rd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time'. The website cited his charismatic moustache in its ranking.[1]
Omni-Man arrived on Earth in the 1980s, where he eventually adopted the secret identity of a best-selling author named Nolan Grayson. He married a woman whose life he had saved named Debbie, and the two of them produced a son, Mark Grayson.[2] It was later revealed that Nolan was sent to Earth as a conqueror for the Viltrumite Empire, a revelation that was in stark contrast to his previous claims that his presence was to advance human technology and protect the Earth from extraterrestrial dangers. In a confrontation shortly thereafter, Omni-Man beat Mark to within an inch of his life and then fled the planet.[3]
It was further revealed that Nolan had found a new planet over which to rule, in the hopes offsetting some of the consequences of his earthly failure.[4] Nolan's rise to power, however, was entirely peaceful. The custom of the native inhabitants, the Mantis Aliens (an insectoid people who live entirely within a nine month span) was to simply choose the oldest among them to act as their leader. Also, as on Earth, Nolan has taken yet another native wife, Andressa, and sired a second son. The genetic differences between Viltrumites and the mantis-people were more apparent, though, than they were with humans. This caused the child to age much more slowly than his mother's species, but much faster than his father's.
Omni-Man's attempts to appease the Viltrumite Empire ended in failure with his defeat and capture at the hands of his own people. He was held captive in a prison until the Empire was able to send the required Viltrumite executioners. His parting words to Mark were "Read my books, Mark. My books..."[5] In a conversation with his tailor Art Rosenbaum, Mark learns that the books Nolan referred to were not his well-known travel books, but a series of failed science fiction "novels". While Arthur suspected that the stories were Viltrumite folklore, Mark quickly realized that they were in fact first-person accounts of Nolan's own missions to destroy potential threats to the Viltrumite Empire, which could provide the secrets to defeating the Viltrumites.[6]
He's later saved on the day of his execution by Allen the Alien, to whom he agrees to reveal the "secret": Viltrumites are a near-extinct race, with less than fifty pure-blood able individuals left. Emboldened by the incredible strength shown by his ersatz ally, he begins a two-men campaign to eradicate Viltrum's supremacy [7]
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