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| "Age of Apocalypse" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||
| Publication date | 1995–1996 | ||
| Genre | |||
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| Main character(s) | Alternate universe X-Men and associates | ||
| Creative team | |||
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"Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 comic book crossover storyline mostly published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The Age of Apocalypse briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616 and had ramifications in the main Marvel Comics universe when the original timeline was restored. It was later retconned as having occurred in the alternate universe of Earth-295.
During the entirety of the Age of Apocalypse event the regularly published X-Men comics were replaced by new X-Men related mini series, focusing on various teams and individuals in the Age of Apocalypse world including X-Calibre, Gambit and the X-Ternals, Generation Next, Astonishing X-Men, Amazing X-Men, Weapon X, Factor X, X-Man and X-Universe. The event was bookended by two one shots, X-Men Alpha and X-Men Omega.
The storyline starts with Legion (David Haller), a psychotic mutant who traveled back in time to kill Magneto before he can commit various crimes against humanity. Legion accidentally kills Professor Charles Xavier, his father, leading to a major change in the timeline. The death of Professor Xavier leads Apocalypse to attack 10 years sooner than he did in the original timeline, taking control of Earth and altering everything that happened from that point forward. Apocalypse is opposed by several factions of mutant resistance, including a group led by Magneto. The group manages to send the mutant Bishop back in time to prevent the murder of Professor Xavier, undoing the entire timeline.
In 2005, Marvel published an Age of Apocalypse one-shot and miniseries to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the fan favorite event. The book looks at what happened after the end of the original story, revealing that the timeline became in fact an alternate earth, designated "Earth-295". The "Dark Angel Saga" in 2011 revisited the alternate reality once more, leading to an Age of Apocalypse ongoing series launched in 2012 that ran for 14 issues. The world was also featured as part of Marvel's 2015 Secret Wars.
Storyline
Legion (David Haller), a psychotic mutant on Earth and son of Professor Charles Xavier, travels back in time with the intention of killing Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr). However, Legion travels to a time when Magneto and Xavier are still friends while in Israel. As Xavier dies trying to protect Magneto, Legion vanishes, and a new timeline is created. The only person aware of how history has changed is Lucas Bishop, a time traveling mutant who followed Legion.
Because of Xavier's sacrifice, Magneto comes to believe in his late friend's dream of a peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur), an immortal mutant villain, was monitoring the fight. He chooses this moment as the perfect time to begin his world conquest, which did not happen in the mainstream Marvel universe for another ten years.
Magneto assembles the X-Men just as Apocalypse begins his war. Despite the X-Men's resistance, Apocalypse conquers all of North America and eventually mutants are considered the ruling class. Apocalypse initiates a genocidal campaign called "cullings," killing millions of humans. To further ensure that no one is left to challenge him or undo the circumstances that led to his reign, he has everyone with telepathic or chronal abilities hunted down. Meanwhile, the changes in the timeline result in a destructive crystallization wave created by the M'Kraan Crystal.
X-Men: Alpha
X-Men: Alpha was published in January 1995 and launched the "Age of Apocalypse" crossover story. It briefly shows readers how many popular X-Men characters have changed in this new world. Bishop is reunited with Magneto while retaining fragmented memories of the true timeline. Magneto assigns his X-Men and their allies various missions. Some are to gather the forces needed to change history while others will continue resisting Apocalypse. The story continues in eight interlocking miniseries, each focusing on a different team of X-Men or other mutant forces. Each miniseries temporarily replaced one of the monthly X-Men titles being published at the time.
X-Calibre
X-Calibre is a team built around Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), who is sent by Magneto to locate Destiny (Irene Adler), a mutant capable of seeing into the future, so that she can verify Bishop's story. Nightcrawler must travel to Avalon, a secret refuge where mutants and humans live together in peace. Along his journey, he encounters John Proudstar (Thunderbird), the monk Cain, the pirate Callisto, and his mother Mystique (Raven Darkholme). The chief antagonists for Nightcrawler's journey consist of the Pale Riders, a trio of Apocalypse's servants made up of Moonstar (Danielle Moonstar), Damask (Emma Steed), Dead Man Wade (Wade Wilson) and the Shadow King (Amahl Farouk). Nightcrawler's team consists of Mystique, Switchback, and later Damask, who joins Nightcrawler after realizing the beauty Avalon has to offer. The X-Calibre series gets its name from an in-joke between Nightcrawler and his mother, Mystique, because of the caliber of bullets she uses, simply stamped with an X. This title replaced Excalibur.
Gambit and the X-Ternals
Gambit (Remy LeBeau)'s X-Ternals consist of Sunspot (Roberto de Costa), Jubilee (Jubilation Lee), Strong Guy (Guido Carosella) and Lila Cheney. They are sent deep into space using Lila's teleportation in order to retrieve a shard of the M'Kraan Crystal, essential to the verification of Bishop's alternate reality. The X-Ternals are pursued by Rictor, a henchman of Apocalypse desperate to earn his master's praise by killing Gambit. Upon reaching Shi'ar space, the X-ternals fight the Imperial Guard in order to retrieve the crystal shard. Upon their return to Earth, Strong Guy betrays the team, not only stealing the M'Kraan Crystal, but also kidnapping Magneto's son, Charles. This title replaced X-Force.
Generation Next
Generation Next consists of a young group of mutant students trained by the husband and wife team of Colossus (Piotr "Peter" Rasputin) and Shadowcat (Katherine Pryde-Rasputin). They consist of Chamber (Jonothan "Jono" Starsmore), Husk (Paige Guthrie), Mondo, Vincente Cimetta, and Skin (Angelo Espinoza). They are sent by Magneto into the Seattle Core to rescue Colossus' sister, Illyana Rasputin, who is the last surviving transdimensional teleporter. Illyana Rasputin is a slave of the Sugar Man, one of Apocalypse's prefects and ruler of the Seattle Core. Mondo finds Illyana Rasputin and hides her inside of his body, intending to smuggle her out at shift change. When Mondo is found out, the ensuing fight finds the Sugar Man killing Mondo with a blast from his tongue, exposing the rest of Generation Next. While fighting a near hopeless battle, Generation Next is left for dead by Colossus, who sacrifices them in order to save his sister. This title replaced Generation X.
Astonishing X-Men
The Astonishing X-Men are led by Rogue (Anna Marie Lehnsherr, Magneto's wife) and consist of Sabretooth (Victor Creed), Blink (Clarice Ferguson), Wild Child (Kyle Gibney), Morph (Kevin Sydney) and Sunfire (Shiro Yoshida). They are sent by Magneto to stop the cullings, which are being undertaken by Holocaust, Apocalypse's son and one of his horsemen. While helping with the evacuation and protection of humans, Sabretooth asks Blink to teleport him to Holocaust's location, which she reluctantly does. Sabretooth and Holocaust fight a vicious duel but Sabretooth is defeated and seemingly killed, horrifying Blink. (Sabretooth had rescued Blink from Mr. Sinister and she had come to see him as her dearest friend and mentor.) The team then fights Holocaust and his Infinites, destroying his factory. However, Holocaust manages to escape and the team returns to Xavier's mansion, where Rogue learns that both her son and her husband have been captured. Sabretooth is revealed by Iceman to have survived the battle, to Blink's delight. This title replaced The Uncanny X-Men.
Amazing X-Men
The Amazing X-Men consist of team leader Quicksilver (Pietro Lehnsherr) and Storm (Ororo Munroe), Dazzler (Alison Blaire), Banshee (Sean Cassidy), Iceman (Robert "Bobby" Drake), and Exodus (Paris Bennet). The team is sent to Maine by Magneto to aid in the evacuation of humanity to Europe. During this mission, the team fights Apocalypse's Brotherhood of Chaos, as well as the Horseman Abyss, who is defeated (but not killed) by Quicksilver. During their absence from the Xavier Mansion, Magneto and Bishop are attacked by Apocalypse himself, who captures them both. Fulfilling their mission, Quicksilver splits up his team to help the other X-Men: sending Iceman to rendezvous with Rogue's team (the Astonishing X-Men) and Dazzler and Exodus to find Magneto's son, Charles. Finally, Quicksilver, Storm, and Banshee go to rescue Bishop, who is in the hands of the Madri, Apocalypse's priests. This title replaced X-Men.
Weapon X
Weapon X (Logan) and his lover Jean Grey are depicted in this series carrying out missions for the Human High Council. Jean and Weapon X drift apart, as the Human High Council intends to launch a nuclear strike on the U.S. as Jean is appalled by the loss of life it would cause. After Weapon X concludes a battle with Donald Pierce, Jean leaves to help evacuate the U.S., bidding a tearful farewell to Logan. Weapon X is then sent to recruit Gateway, whose teleportation ability is necessary to bring the fleet to America. As the fleet leaves, Weapon X decides to join them, if only to find Jean somewhere in America before the bombs are dropped. This title temporarily replaced Wolverine.
Factor X
Factor X consists of the Elite Mutant Force (EMF), who serve Apocalypse. They are split into five sibling groups: Cyclops and Havok (Scott Summers and Alex Summers), Emplate and the Twins (Marius, Nicole, and Claudette St. Croix), Cannonball and Amazon (Sam and Elizabeth Guthrie), the Bedlam Brothers (Jesse and Terrence Aaronson), and Aurora and Northstar (Jean-Marie and Jean-Paul Beaubier). The EMF is tasked with maintaining control of Apocalypse's breeding pens, where people are imprisoned, tortured, and experimented on by the Beast, also a member of the EMF. Havok, jealous of his brother's leadership role, discovers that Cyclops is a traitor who has been helping people escape the pens; and in one such escape attempt, both Aurora and Northstar are seriously injured. Havok then exposes Cyclops and attempts to kill him, but Cyclops escapes with the aid of Jean Grey, who has arrived to evacuate as many people as she can before the Human High Council's nuclear strike. The Bedlam Brothers also choose to side with Cyclops, and they successfully defeat both Amazon and Cannonball. Cyclops and Jean defeat Havok, and as they lead the freed prisoners out of the pens, Havok is determined to kill his brother. This title replaced X-Factor.
X-Man
The protagonist of X-Man is Nate Grey, a mutant born of Cyclops' and Jean Grey's DNA, and the most powerful telekinetic in the world. He lives under the guidance of his father figure Forge, who leads a group of outcasts consisting of Mastermind, Toad, Brute, and Sauron, who attack trains and factories of Apocalypse while masquerading as a theatre troupe. This title replaced Cable.
Characters and affiliations
Mutant heroes
The only then-existing major mutant character missing in the original Age of Apocalypse is Psylocke. When the "Age of Apocalypse" storyline was revisited a decade later, she appeared in X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #4 in Asian form. Her origin remains unknown. There has been no explanation of what she was doing during the original Age of Apocalypse, other than the fact that she had some kind of past connection with Weapon X.
| Team | Leader | Members | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generation Next | Colossus (deceased), Shadowcat (deceased) | Chamber (deceased), Xorn (AoA version of Husk, deceased), Know-It-All (AoA version of M) (status unknown), Mondo (deceased), Skin (deceased), Vincente Cimetta (deceased) | |
| The Outcasts | Forge (deceased) | Brute (The Age of Apocalypse version of Sunder, deceased), Mastermind (deceased), Soaron (The AoA version of Sauron, deceased), Sonique (The AoA version of Siryn), Toad (deceased), X-Man (Nate Grey, MIA) | X-Man is the "son" of Jean Grey and Scott Summers, created from their DNA by Mr. Sinister, and as such is a "spiritual twin" of Cable. |
| X-Calibre | Nightcrawler | Damask (The AoA version of the Black Queen of London's Hellfire Club) (MIA), Mystique (deceased), Switchback (MIA) | Following the fall of Apocalypse the team disbanded. The current whereabouts of Damask and Switchback are unknown. |
| X-Men | Magneto (deceased), Jean Grey | [1]
|
Led out of Wundagore Mountain until the complex was destroyed by Nemesis. Later moved to the ruined Xavier mansion, which never became a school in this universe. After the fall of Apocalypse, Magneto moved his X-Men to Washington, D.C. where they took up residence in the newly constructed Xavier Institute. More recently they are now based in Atlantis. |
| X-Ternals | Gambit (deceased) | Lila Cheney (status unknown), Jubilee (status unknown), Strong Guy (deceased), Sunspot (considered deceased by his teammates) | Following the fall of Apocalypse the team disbanded. The current whereabouts of Lila Cheney and Jubilee are unknown. |
| New Mutants | Beak (status unknown), Kirika (deceased), Xorn (deceased), Silver Samurai (deceased), Wolfsbane (status unknown), Psylocke (status unknown) | Mutants that joined Magneto's cause after the fall of Apocalypse. |
Other anti-Apocalypse forces
Besides the X-Men and its many offshoots, the Human High Council remains as the only 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 the Human Underground Resistance.
X-Universe also reveals the fate of several non-mutants individuals. Peter Parker was executed because he was a potential contact for Gwen Stacy. T'Challa and Namor perished when Wakanda and Atlantis were attacked by Apocalypse. Frank Castle went missing following a mutant raid on a Buddhist temple where he had sought peace after the death of his family. Reed Richards and Johnny Storm sacrificed themselves in the evacuation of Manhattan Island.
| Team | Members | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Human High Council | Brian Braddock (Captain Britain) (deceased), Emma Frost, Moira Trask (deceased), Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (status unknown), Bolivar Trask, Mariko Yashida (status unknown) | |
| Human High Council agents | Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Donald Blake (Thor, deceased), Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel, deceased), Gateway, Ben Grimm (Thing, deceased), Gwen Stacy, Tony Stark (Iron Man), Susan Storm (Invisible Woman) (deceased), Victor von Doom (Doctor Doom) (deceased) | |
| 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 the nightclub Heaven. | |
| 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. | |
| Joseph Robertson (deceased) | Maintains the clandestine newspaper, the Daily Bugle, with the purpose of informing humans of the news kept in secret by Apocalypse's regime. | |
| Deceased Mentions | Frank Castle | Killed in action. |
| Peter Parker | Deceased human boyfriend of Gwen Stacy who never became Spider-Man. | |
| Reed Richards | Died in the evacuation of Manhattan Island. | |
| Johnny Storm | Died in the evacuation of Manhattan Island. | |
| T'Challa | Died after Wakand was attacked by Apocalypse's Horsemen. | |
| Namor | Died after Atlantis was attacked by Apocalypse's Horsemen. |
Apocalypse's agents
| Team | Members | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Brotherhood of Chaos (Brotherhood of Mutants) | Arclight (deceased), Box (Madison Jeffries) (deceased), Copycat (deceased), Spyne (deceased), Yeti (deceased) | Arclight, Spyne and Yeti were mentioned to have been killed by Iceman, their deaths however were not shown on panel. |
| Inhuman Strike Force | Black Bolt (deceased), Crystal (deceased), Gorgon (deceased), Karnak (deceased), Lockjaw (deceased), Medusa (deceased), Rhino (deceased), Triton (deceased) | Death's personal army. They are the genetically altered clones of the Inhuman Royal Family with the exception of Rhino. |
| Bounty Hunters | Domino (deceased), Caliban (deceased), Grizzly (deceased) | Hunters in the service of Apocalypse. Their prime objective was to find and bring dead or alive the mutant known as Nate Grey. |
| Elite Mutant Force | Amazon (Lizzie Guthrie) (deceased), Aurora (deceased), Beast (MIA), the Bedlam brothers Jesse (MIA) and Terrence Christopher Aaronson (King Bedlam in normal continuity) (MIA), Cannonball (deceased), Cyclops, Emplate (deceased), Havok (deceased), the Monets (status unknown), Northstar (deceased) | Mr. Sinister's EMF is composed of mutant siblings belonging to powerful bloodlines, except for Beast, who serves as Sinister's leading scientist. |
| Enslavers of Seattle Core | Quietus (deceased), Sugar Man, Rastus (deceased) | The core was a slave camp ran for the sole purpose of generating electricity across North America. |
| Horsemen of Apocalypse | Abyss (deceased), Holocaust/Nemesis (deceased), Mr. Sinister (deceased), Prelate Rasputin (brother of Colossus) (deceased)
|
Sabretooth served as the Horsemen's leading Hound |
| The Infinites | Created by Sinister and the Beast from the genetic material of captured mutants and humans either deemed unworthy of living or executed for opposing Apocalypse. In the end to ensure his survival, Apocalypse made possible for the Infinites to gain the ability to self-replicate themselves. | Infinites were led by officers holding ranks such as Prelate or Mudir and were employed to carry out Cullings, massacres of human communities throughout North America. |
| Mecha-Mutates | Groomed specifically for assaults on the human rebels' mutant-nullification grids, they are actually regular human traitors who traded their humanity for the privilege of serving the Dark Lord Apocalypse. | Hatchet-9, several unnamed members |
| Fedayeen | Mudir Rictor (deceased) leader of the Kurbaj Squadron | The Fedayeen are the police of the Age of Apocalypse. Unlike the Infinites, they are not generally further mutated. |
| The Madri | Duplicates of Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man in normal continuity, deceased) | Experimented on by both Beast and Sinister, his powers have mutated out of his control. Now, the Madri, form the wicked clergy of Apocalypse, worshipping him as a god and serving as his inquisitors. |
| Marauders | Arcade (deceased), Dirigible (Kingpin, deceased), the Owl (deceased), Red (Norman Osborn, deceased) | Human terrorists that have betrayed mankind. |
| The Pale Riders | Damask (Age of Apocalypse version of Emma Steed) (defected), Dead Man Wade (Age of Apocalypse version of Deadpool, deceased), Danielle Moonstar (deceased) | A trio of assassins serving Apocalypse. |
| Altered Humans (Age of Apocalypse versions of the Reavers) | Clegg (AoA version of Roughouse, destroyed), Dead-Eye (destroyed), Mangle (destroyed), Donald Pierce (destroyed), Slocum (AoA version of Bloodscream, destroyed), Vultura (AoA version of Dragoness, destroyed) | Humans enhanced by Apocalypse's techno-organic virus. |
| Stryfe Force | Mikhail Rasputin's personal army. Formed by the best of his Upscale Program which is a program to augment the normal humans with cybernetics implants. They are activated by a silent signal. | |
| Hellions | Catseye, Jetstream, Roulette, Tarot, Beef, Bevatron | A team of young mutants that were trained in the use of their powers to become Apocalypse's agents. |
| Hounds | Sabretooth (defected), Wild Child (defected), Caliban (deceased), Wolverine (not the same as Wolverine/Logan in normal continuity, deceased) | Mutants used to hunt down and imprison mutants and humans in concentration camps or simply to kill their targets. Sabretooth was used as the leading Hound to the Horsemen until his defection. Wild Child was too ferocious that he was kept a prisoner until Sabretooth rescued him. Caliban was used as the prime hound to the Bounty Hunters and Wolverine was a mutant altered by the Beast who served Holocaust as his leading hunter after the defection of Sabretooth. |
| Absorbing Man and Diablo | Two wardens in Apocalypse's prisoner camps in Mexico. | |
| Bruce Banner/The Thing (Hulk in normal continuity) | 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. | |
| Magma (deceased) | An assassin sent by Apocalypse to eliminate the Human High Council. | |
| Keeper Murdock (Daredevil in normal continuity) | Mikhail Rasputin's personal warden. Responsible for watching over Empath, Mikhail's prisoner. | |
| Rex (MIA) | Apocalypse's majordomo. He appears to be currently at large and wanted by the X-Men for the part he played in the empire of Apocalypse. | |
| Shadow King (MIA) | Apocalypse's leading telepath. | |
| Strong Guy (deceased) | Implanted with a bomb and forced to serve Apocalypse. Betrays the X-Ternals. | |
| Sebastian Shaw | He appears to be currently at large and wanted by the X-Men for the part he played in the empire of Apocalypse. | |
| Balrog-Class Meta-Cyborg | Created by Sinister in his genetic processing tanks. They appear to be giant land-based cybernetic squids or octopuses. |
Neutrals
| Group | Members | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Avalon | Cain (Juggernaut) (deceased), Destiny (status unknown), Douglas Ramsey (Cypher in the main reality) (deceased), Wendy (deceased) | A haven for humans and mutants, housed in a secret area of the hidden prehistoric land known as Savage Land. |
| The Brood | Misty Knight (deceased), Christopher Summers (deceased), Colleen Wing (deceased) | Humans transformed into Brood following the escape of Christopher Summers (who had been infected by a Brood Queen). |
| Heaven | Angel (deceased), Karma (deceased), and Scarlett MacKenzie (presumed deceased) | A nightclub run by Angel and its employees. |
| Artemis (deceased), Avalanche, Blob (deceased), Newt (deceased), Phantazia (status unknown), Polaris (status unknown), Pyro (deceased) | Prisoners in Mr. Sinister's breeding pens. | |
| Scavengers | Cobra (deceased), Mister Hyde (deceased) | Cannibal mutates who plague graveyards and attack anyone, regardless of their allegiance. |
| Morlocks | Feral, Leech, Marrow, Skids, Danna Moonstar, Thornn | Survivors of Mr. Sinister's experiments. |