ONSLAUGHT II
Created By: Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid & Andy Kubert
First Appearance: X-Man #15 (May 1996)
Group Affiliations: Mojoworld, Freedom Force, The Sisterhood of Mutants
Role: Cosmically-Powerful Menace
PL 17 (512)
STRENGTH 16 STAMINA -- AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 8 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 4
Skills:
Deception 8 (+12)
Expertise (Science) 6 (+14)
Insight 2 (+7)
Intimidation 10 (+14, +15 Size)
Perception 10 (+15)
Technology 6 (+14)
Advantages:
Daze (Intimidation), Extraordinary Effort, Fearless, Improved Critical (Blasts) 2, Improved Initiative 2, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Startle, Withstand Damage (Trade Defenses for Toughness)
Powers:
"Mutant Powers: The Combined Powers of Professor X, Magneto, Nate Grey & Franklin Richards"
"True Body- Psionic Energy" Insubstantial 4 (Feats: Innate) [21]
"Mighty Armour" Protection 24 (Extras: Impervious 23) [47]
Regeneration 12 [12]
"Large Size" Growth 3 (Str & Sta +3, +3 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, -3 Stealth) -- (10 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [7]
Mind-Reading 17 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Effortless, Cumulative, Sensory Link) Linked to Mental Communication 4 (Feats: Subtle) (Extras: Area, Selective) (106) -- [125]
- Dynamic AE: "Focused Mind Control" Mind Control 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (64)
- Dynamic AE: "Group Mind Control" Mind Control 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective) (Flaws: Touch Range -2) (57)
- Dynamic AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 14 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (57)
- Dynamic AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 15 (Visuals & Hearing) (Feats: Dynamic, Dimensional) (Flaws: Physical Body is Defenseless) (32)
- Dynamic AE: "Focused Mental Blast" Damage 16 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Will Save) (65)
- Dynamic AE: "Mental Illusions" Illusion (All Senses) 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Selective) (Flaws: Resisted by Will) (56)
- AE: "Area Mental Blast" Damage 12 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Selective, Will Save) (60)
- AE: "Brainwashing" Affliction 14 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Transformed Mentally) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (56)
"Magnetism"
Senses 4 (Detect Magnetics/Metals- Ranged, Acute & Analytical) [4]
Immunity 10 (Mental Effects) (Extras: Sustained +0) [10]
"Telekinetic Might & Other Powers"
Flight 10 (2,000 mph) [20]
Features 1: May Spend 2 Hero Points and get to Double Area Effects [1]
"Restructure Reality" Transform 18 (Anything to Anything) (Extras: Continuous) (108) -- [136]
- AE: "Create Worlds" Create 20 (Feats: Innate, Precise, Increased Mass 20) (Extras: Movable, Continuous) (112)
- Dynamic AE: "TK Wave" Damage 16 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 10) (Extras: Area- 250ft. Cone +2) (75)
- Dynamic AE: "TK Burst" Damage 16 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 10) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Burst +2) (75)
- Dynamic AE: "TK Ram" Damage 16 (Feats: Dynamic, Penetrating 10) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Line +2) (75)
- Dynamic AE: Telekinetic Blast 25 (Feats: Dynamic, Variable 2- Any Energy, Extended Range 4, Indirect 4, Penetrating 14) (75)
- Dynamic AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 22 (Extras: Perception-Ranged on 16 Ranks) (Feats: Dynamic) (61)
- Dynamic AE: Nullify Electronics & Machinery 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Sustained +2) (Flaws: Touch Range) (43)
- Dynamic AE: "Shape Metal" Transform Metals to Metals 15 (Feats: Increased Mass 5- 800 tons) (36)
- Dynamic AE: "Metal Everywhere!" Environment 4 (Impede Movement 2) (9)
- Dynamic AE: Concealment 10 (All Senses) (Flaws: Limited to Machines) (11)
- Dynamic AE: "Remove Powers" Affliction 17 (Fort; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed to Powerless) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2) (52)
- Dynamic AE: Force Field 8 (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Immobile -2) (3)
- AE: "Drain Energy" Affliction 16 (Will; Impaired/Disabled/Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Perception Ranged +2) (Flaws: Limited to Energy Powers) (32)
- AE: "Sense Energy" Senses 11 (Detect Energy- Ranged 6, Acute & Analytical, Tracking) (11)
- AE: "Capable of Nearly Any Effect" Variable (Cosmic) 15 (105)
- AE: Teleport 20 (Feats: Increased Mass 10) (Extras: Extended, Accurate) (90)
- AE: "Drag Out of the Psionic Plane" Teleport 12 (Extras: Extended, Accurate, Attack Only) (Flaws: Limited to Telepaths on the Astral Plane) (48)
Unarmed +3 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Mind-Reading -- (+16 Mind-Reading, DC 26)
Focused Mind Control -- (+16 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 26)
Group Mind Control +12 Area (+12 Affliction, DC 22)
Mental Blast -- (+16 Perception-Ranged Damage, DC 31)
TK Area Attacks +16 (+16 Damage, DC 31)
TK Blast +8 (+25 Ranged Damage, DC 40)
Thrown Object +8 (+18 Ranged Damage, DC 30)
Initiative +0
Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +24 (+34 if Immobile, +12 Impervious), Fortitude --, Will +18
Complications:
Motivating (Killing Everyone)- Onslaught hates humans for hunting mutants, and hates mutants for being willing to get along with humans.
Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 391 / Defenses: 22 (512)
Onslaught- The Big Bad of the '90s:
-Onslaught is one of those iconic '90s characters and wannabe Mega-Villains that generally got ignored after a period of time- having stopped collecting comics RIGHT BEFORE HIS DEBUT, I missed out on his whole run (though I read an issue here or there featuring the build-up, like his "New Villain Stink" moment of jobbing out The Juggernaut by punching him cross-country), and when I returned in 2000 or so, he'd been long gone and nobody seemed to mention him again. It turns out his origins were in the sequence in X-Men #25, where Professor X mind-wiped Magneto (after Mags had ripped the Adamantium from Wolverine's body)- the influx of dark rage into Xavier's soul eventually (after a series of failures on Xavier's part, including the failed rehabilitation of Sabretooth and the death of an innocent mutant by racists) manifesting into a low-level Cosmic Being (COMICS, am I right?). This thus capped off the "Who Killed the X-Men?" mystery that was a huge part of Bishop's backstory, as in his timeline the X-Men were slain by one of their own.
-Onslaught makes a few plans using minions (Post, Mimic, an empowered Blob) but is mostly just a Big Evil Genocidal Guy who attacks the good guys, resulting in a massive knock-down, drag-out fight in New York City involving nearly every active superhero at Marvel from that time. Jean Grey even telepathically turns the Hulk into a feral rage-monster to put him at maximum power, shredding Onslaught's armor! Along the way, his kidnapped victims include Xavier himself, Nate Grey & Franklin Richards. However, what keeps Onslaught from being Just Another Evil Cosmic Guy is the results- to do some dumb-ass de-powering thing, the heroes have to dive into Onslaught's untouchable Energy Form so that he can become solid, and thus killable to others. The end result of course KILLING THEM, which leads to the greatest mass-death of major characters in Marvel history: The Fantastic Four, The Hulk (who separated from Bruce Banner), Doctor Doom and The Avengers are all killed, because only humans could absorb the energy (Scarlet Witch was written in because of her Reality Warping powers... they just wanted to write their way out of THAT one, obviously...). Naturally, Spider-Man was the only major human hero left alive.
Heroes Reborn:
-This led to the creation of the Heroes Reborn universe (a controversial idea that basically saw Marvel stunt-hire Jim Lee & Rob Liefeld to re-work their '60s heroes- Lee's stuff was well-received, while Liefeld's was... not. His stuff was ugly as hell and was written like garbage (he'd copy his Cap work onto another couple lame rip-off series, thus draining his legacy EVEN MORE), but in general, most fans thought this was dumb, and when the heroes Returned a few years later, this was mostly dropped and ignored. However, I would argue the whole thing had a POSITIVE effect on comics as a whole, as it was like the final death of the "Iron Age of Comics"- the grittiness and crappiness went away, The Avengers got rebooted under Busiek & Perez (before this, it was dying on a vine- the whole "Tony Stark was a traitor all along" thing and Teen Tony Stark and whatever were KILLING THEM), we got The Thunderbolts (who'd debuted to replace the dead heroes), and more. We kind of needed this weird darkness before the dawn- it washed all the garbage away.
-2006 saw the return of the character in a Limited Series nobody seems to remember- he was reborn when the Scarlet Witch depowered most mutants, and Xavier & Magneto's powers combined to reform him. He was defeated in the Heroes Reborn universe, as Rikki Barnes (the Bucky of that world) trapped him in the Negative Zone, stranding her on Earth-616. He would show up once again to control Rikki, and she would commit suicide to prevent his return.
Red Onslaught:
-A concept of Onslaught reappears, as "Red Onslaught", in the story where a clone of the Red Skull possesses the telepathic might of Charles Xavier. An enraged Magneto slaughters the Skull, but the proximity to Xavier's powers reforms an "Onslaught"-tier being with the Skull's personality. The resulting threat is so huge that Magneto summons a band of Marvel's villains to help, and Doctor Doom & the Scarlet Witch attempt to fend off Red Onslaught by casting a "moral inversion" spell to put Xavier's mind in control of the creature. This backfires as a backlash inverts most of the heroes and villains present, starting the AXIS event. Various characters turn good or evil and everything is messed up for a bit, but Red Onslaught becomes the good "White Skull"- a normal human attempting to make things right. Possibly being Xavier in control, the White Skull undoes the inversion, sacrificing himself as the Red Skull returns.
-This story was... dumb. I mean, "Everyone switches sides" was honestly a GREAT idea, but their means for this was ridiculous. You form the Extinction Level Event in Onslaught controlled by the RED FREAKING SKULL, but it's only as an excuse to invert everyone for a few months? Then you just do away with the guy entirely by story's end like it never mattered? Never mind that the event story kind of buggered a lot of active comics (it was also used to write out the "Havok & Wasp are together FOREVERRRRRRRRRR" thing Rick Remender was trying to do. In the end, AXIS proved unpopular, though a few characters maintained their inversion (like Havok).
Onslaught's Might:
-Onslaught is basically a super-powered combo of Professor X's Mental Powers, Nate Grey's Telekinesis, some Magneto stuff, plus Franklin Richards' Reality Warping power, turning him into a Super-Powerhouse. Oddly, his Power Feats aren't entirely that apparent in combat- aside from punching The Juggernaut across a continent, he seemed to struggle to bring down whole super-teams, despite all of his power. However, he IS nigh-unkillable, which is why he was so dangerous and the heroes had to sacrifice themselves to kill him- he effectively had little to worry about from their physical attacks (when a fully-psychotic Hulk punched through his armour, he was left an untouchable field of energy), and could basically out-attrition anybody, even IF he didn't really manage to beat anyone up in the final battle.
-His biggest feats of power involve basically taking the attacks of all of Earth's heroes at once, creating a Citadel that no power could break though (The Vision's intangibility was needed), and creating a second Sun in Earth's atmosphere that threatened to tear apart the planet (over time). Otherwise, he's your everyday unstoppable Cosmic Menace (with PL 16 defenses and the ability to do basically everything).