Apocalypse (comics)

Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur) is a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain and an enemy of the superhero group the X-Men. Created by writer Louise Simonson & artist Jackson Guice, he first appeared in X-Factor #5 (June 1986).

An immortal born over 5,000 years ago in ancient Egypt under the name En Sabah Nur, upon entering an alien space-craft he was forever altered into something beyond mutant. After his mutant power awakened and taking the name of Apocalypse, he has throughout the centuries dedicated his existence of remaking the world to fit his extreme Social Darwinist eugenic philosophy: only the fittest have the right to survive — and he gets to define who is fittest.

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries AD, when mutants became a sizable part of the human population, Apocalypse would become most active, seeing it as a perfect time to utilize his goal, viewing mutants as the stronger race that is destined to inhabit the world instead of humankind. Evidently, this would bring him into conflict with the X-Men, and they would find themselves involved in various schemes of his and battle his often accompanied servants, the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse (a nod to the Horsemen of the Book of Revelation, and named after each). The posing threat and determined goals of Apocalypse, have almost lead to the total annihilation of the world in story arcs such as The Age of Apocalypse and The Twelve, making him a feared, dangerous, and perhaps most powerful opponent of the X-Men.

He has been featured prominently in 1990s X-Men animated series, its successor X-Men: Evolution, and is the title character and main antagonist in video games such as X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse and X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.

Creation & development
Original X-Factor writer Bob Layton intended to use the Daredevil villain Owl as the X-Factor's main villain. When he however was removed from the book and replaced with Louise Simonson, she requested that the last page of X-Factor #5 be changed to an shadowy unseen character named Apocalypse, as Simonson wanted a new character to be the main villain for the book and the character would go on and make his initial full appearance in the #6 issue of X-Factor. Since his adversary role in the 1st series of X-Factor, Apocalypse quickly became a major villain in several X-Men titles over the years, usually with entire story arcs or crossovers, and make prominent appearances in The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, Askani'son, X-Men: Search for Cyclops, Black Knight: Exodus and Eternals: Apocalypse Now. While the action in these stories was not centered around him, the characters involved were affected by him. Though his first traditional appearance was in the pages of X-Factor, retcons since that time have identified the unnamed benefactor of the Living Monolith from the Marvel Graphic Novel as in fact Apocalypse in disguise. The X-Men villain Moses Magnum, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men #119 (1978), was later retconned as having been a minion of Apocalypse.

The character's true name - En Sabah Nur - was revealed in X-Force (1st series) #37. Apocalypse's origin story was detailed in his own limited four-issue comic book miniseries in 1996, titled The Rise of Apocalypse, by writer Terry Kavanagh. Robert Weinberg, during his run on Cable, planned a rather complex series of circumstances that would have revealed that Apocalypse was in fact the Third Summers Brother all along, but Weinberg left the book before he could go along with his plan. Apocalypse was also once planned to be the mastermind behind the Weapon X project that gave Wolverine his adamantium skeleton. Apocalypse had another limited miniseries in 2006 titled X-Men: Apocalypse vs. Dracula.

Characterization
Creator Louise Simonson depicted Apocalypse as an ancient, powerful, and mysterious villain working behind-the-scenes using others as pawns to achieve his 'survival of the fittest' goal; that the 'weak' shall be exterminated for the 'strong' to rule over the planet, and he's not above engineering events to weed out anyone he considers 'unfit'. He considers himself as the fittest, and thus safe from his ideology. He had no actual intentions of ruling the world, but of strengthening it, achieved through horrific and barbaric ways. Even when seemingly defeated, his plans mean that even a loss is a victory. In X-Factor #25, Apocalypse did not consider X-Factor for foiling his plans a defeat, but a victory of lesser degree. Not only had X-Factor proven that they were among the strong, but division now existed with his former Horseman joining the team, and as they now controlled his Celestial ship, Apocalypse predicted that it would cause distrust between the mutant group and the New York human populace. Since leaving the character, writer from writer throughout the years have portrayed Apocalypse as a malevolent and power-hungry tyrant, bent on enslaving the world, as the self-considered 'fittest'/'most deserving', notably in alternative realities in which he had overthrown the world, such as the Age of Apocalypse and in a distant future.

X-Men editor Mike Marts said of the character's recent return in 2006:

"Apocalypse, at his core, has always been about ensuring that the mutant race is strong enough to survive whatever hardships it might encounter. Now, after the events of M-Day, the mutant race is at its all-time low…so if there was ever a time where the mutant race needed a savior, it’s now. And En Sabah Nur intends to be that savior."

The Rise of Apocalypse
The story of Apocalypse begins with his birth in mid-3rd century BC Egypt during the First Dynasty. He was born gray-skinned and with his characteristic disfigured lips, a sign of doom, in the settlement of Akkaba and abandoned by his original parents. The child was left to die in the harsh desert sun. However, a roving band of feared nomad raiders, the Sandstormers, slaughtered the population. Their ruthless leader, Baal, found the child crying in rage, and believed him to have the potential to be a god. He raised the child as his own, naming him En Sabah Nur (translates into "The First One") in anticipation of others like him.

The tribe lived and died by the philosophy of survival of the fittest, with "fittest" being the toughest, most ruthless and pitiless. As En Sabah Nur grew, he surpassed the other tribesmen in intelligence and strength. Everyone in the tribe except for Baal hated and feared him for his inhuman looks and superior abilities. Nur did not understand their fear, but hardened his heart against it. Moreover, he believed in the principle that Baal and the tribe lived by, that only the fittest, tested by hardship, would, and should, survive. En Sabah Nur earned the right to adulthood at seventeen by surviving an endurance test in the desert: Nur killed three armed warriors of the tribe using only his bare hands. He and Baal were the only Sandstormers to survive when General Ozymandias attacked their camp.

They found refuge in a sacred cave before it collapsed. After a week of wandering without food or water, they found the remnants of a timeship inside an underground Egyptian tomb. Baal told En Sabah Nur to continue, spreading the Sandstormers' doctrine, with the ultimate goal being the removal of Rama-Tut, a man from the future who had arrived in a fantastic ship and had become the Pharaoh of Egypt. Baal told Nur that he believed him to be a conqueror whose coming was foretold in ancient prophecies, and that Nur was in fact destined to overthrow Rama-Tut. When Baal died from lack of nourishment, Nur, whose mutant physiology kept him alive, vowed to take revenge on Rama-Tut and claim his destiny. When Nur reached the surface, he was quickly enslaved. While a slave, he kept his disfigured lips constantly covered, and Ozymandias' sister, Nephri, became attracted to the mysterious slave. Eventually he experienced a vision of the Egyptian death god Set, who urged him to become a conqueror.

En Sabah Nur caught the attention of the Pharaoh, in actuality a time-travelling earlier incarnation of Kang the Conqueror, who had come back in time to locate the young Apocalypse and take him under his wing. Kang knew that Apocalypse, one of the most powerful mutants who ever lived, was destined to rule the world, and had been born in ancient Egypt. Hence, Rama-Tut had gone back in time to find Apocalypse as a child, raise him, and thereby become his master. Since Rama-Tut's mission failed, he decided to keep Apocalypse as a slave. En Sabah Nur was thrown into a pit of snakes, but survived when his powers activated. He revealed his face to Nephri, who rejected him for his appearance, and refused to bow to Rama-Tut, who by this time had captured the likewise time-travelling Fantastic Four by using a futuristic weapon. The pharaoh shot Nur with the same gun, and the latter was once more left to die, but survived with the sudden emergence of his mutant abilities. Rama-Tut fled the former slave's rampage, as the Fantastic Four went back to their own era. Apocalypse also enslaved his former tormentor Ozymandias by using Rama-Tut's advanced technology to turn him into a blind seer made of living sandstone, and would take advantage of the latter's ability to chronicle his future destinies. Years later, Apocalypse revisited Nephri, now an ancient Egyptian Queen, he mocked her dying beauty, as he was still as he had been years before. He walked away, leaving Egypt.

Early centuries
As the centuries and millennia passed, he traveled around the world, appearing throughout history, worshipped as a death god in several ancient mythologies. During this time Nur began to beget progeny, who faithfully followed him as the Clan Akkaba. Offsprings of Apocalypse receive a portion of his power, those closest related having near identical abilities. He also frequently acted as a conqueror, raising armies to do his bidding. At some point, En Sabah Nur discoveres a starship in Mongolia created by the alien Celestials. Apocalypse struck down the ship's guardian, the immortal Saul, and entered the Ship. Unable to understand the technology inside, he left again, searching the world for a key to the mysteries inside. He finds this key when the time-traveler known as the Traveler, actually Cable, kills him. The Traveler's techno-organic blood is accidentally mixed with Apocalypse's and Ozymandias returns him to the Ship. Inside, Apocalypse finds that his new techno-organic body can link to the Ship and make contact with it, transforming and enhancing him.

In 1495, an early Horseman of War, leading Apocalypse's armies (Riders of the Dark), bests the man who would later become Dracula in single combat. Apocalypse ruthlessly delivers the final blow to him, but Vlad refuses to die. During the 12th century, Apocalypse encounters crusader Bennet du Paris and awakens his latent mutant powers. Bennet almost immediately rebels but is soundly defeated by Apocalypse, who places him in suspended animation, where he remains until the late 20th century when Magneto revives him as his leading Acolyte, Exodus. Apocalypse enters long states of suspended animation to re-energize his body while he waits for mutants to become more common, leaving Clan Akkaba and Ozymandias to act in his stead while he sleeps.

In 1859, he is stumbled upon, and awaken by the Maraduders, a group of criminals hired by a British scientist named Nathaniel Essex. Once introduced, Apocalypse learned the scientific term for beings like himself – mutants. Forming a partnership with the scientist, Apocalypse used his advanced technology to mutate Nathaniel into a being now called Mister Sinister. Apocalypse's first command was to create a plague to ravage and transmutate the population of the world. Sinister however, saw it as madness, and decided to betray his new master, by instead creating a plague to attack only him. Grealty weakened upon this attack, he re-entered his hibernation sanctuary, and upon teleporting away, he forgave Sinister for his treachery, with the understanding that it would not be tolerated again.

In 1897, Apocalypse is once more woken, this time by his followers, in order to deal with Dracula, who is turning members of Clan Akkaba into vampires to battle Apocalypse, as revenge for his earlier defeat and the way the Dark Lord previously shamed him. Apocalypse, with Abraham Van Helsing, kills Dracula, although the master vampire would frequently return and suffer many more deaths. The continuation of the Akkaba line is secured by Ozymandias through a disabled but powerful teleporter named Frederick Slade mating with a woman referred to as Miss Ferguson. It's stated that Chamber is a member of this bloodline, since another surviving member of Clan Akkaba had the last name Starsmore and possessed the mutant ability to exhale gouts of flame. The Starsmore family never forgot about Apocalypse, although Chamber later rejected them.

Emerging once again at the cusp of the 20th century, Apocalypse again enlisted the aid of Mister Sinister, only to be once again, betrayed by Sinister, who infectes his master with a virus, though, Apocalypse was aware of this second betrayal from the start, he hoped nevertheless that Sinister would still join his cause. Returning to his regenerative hibernation, he instructs his now former servant that they should never see each other again. Apocalypse also leaves one man to incubate for 100 years to emerge as his herald.

Modern era
Apocalypse awoke from his slumber by the arrival of the mysterious time-traveling mutant Cable, but spent many years hidden. Ironically, Cable had come to the present to prevent the ancient mutant's awakening. During these times, Apocalypse would grant superhuman powers to the terrorist known as Moses Magnum, who did his bidding by testing the strong and winnowing the weak. Apocalypse planned to use a mutant named Michael Nowlan's ability of augmenting mutant powers to provide mutant-kind with a source of unlimited might, and lead this army of super-mutants in a war against all of mankind. He employed a group of mutants, all of whom called themselves the Alliance of Evil, to capture the power amping mutant. This plan was foiled by the interferences of the X-Factor.

Apocalypse later started recruiting mutants to serve as his Four Horsemen, and granted Angel artificial wings (who had lost his own) in exchange for his servitude, and the X-Factor member reborn as the Horseman, Death. Apocalypse planned to use his Horsemen to destroy New York, but X-Factor defeated them, much to the reformed Angel's help. Apocalypse took and radically altered the willing Morlock Caliban, who saw him as a source of revenge for his fellow Morlocks killed in the Mutant Massacre. After a while, Apocalypse eventually freed Caliban from his control, and the mutant returned to the Morlock tunnels.

When the High Evolutionary had begun embarking on various schemes to evolve mankind, Apocalypse opposed, and fought him. Apocalypse himself would be confronted by Loki in human disguise, who wanted him to join him.

Over a few months later, Apocalypse had conquered the city of Attilan, home of the Inhumans, and enslaved part of its population. He selected and mutated six Inhumans to form a group he called the Riders of the Storm (named after his earliest army). Apocalypse at this time had learned of Sinister's intentions behind the son of Scott Summers and, more or less, Jean Grey; Nathan Christopher Charles Summers, whom Apocalypse sensed would grow up to be a powerful mutant and possible threat one day. He also detected that the infant's energy signature was the same as the one that awakened him all those years ago. He sent his Riders to Earth to aduct the child. Through the help of Black Bolt and the Inhuman Royal Family, the X-Factor attacked Apocalypse's lunar stronghold, where he was ultimately defeated. However, the young Nathan had been infected with a techno-organic virus (derived from the technology that gave Apocalypse his powers), was sent to the future with Askani for a cure, where he became the time-traveling mutant warrior known as Cable. It was also not the end of the immortal mutant, as the Riders of the Storm took Apocalypse's destroyed body back to Earth to one of his regeneration chambers for hibernation.

X-Cutioner's Song
Before his regeneration cycle was complete, Apocalypse was reawakened by the Riders (now calling themselves The Dark Riders). Enraged, he demanded to know why he was revived. The Riders informed their master of recent events: his horsemen had kidnapped Cyclops and Jean Grey, supposedly under his instructions (in actuality, Mister Sinister, who was posing as Apocalypse). Further, Charles Xavier, mentor and founder of the X-Men, had been the victim of an assassination, reportedly perpetrated by the man called Cable, the leader of the recently formed X-Force. These incidents, added by Apocalypse's burning need to determine their meaning, began the conflict that would be referred to as the X-Cutioner’s Song. After a brief fight with the X-Men, Apocalypse desperately needed another regeneration cycle. Once again, his hibernation was interrupted, but this time by the mutant terrorist known as Stryfe. Using his prodigious telekinetic powers, Stryfe easily bested the weakened Apocalypse, who escaped by teleportation, but in his departure, he lost his Riders, whom changed their allegiances to Stryfe.

The conflict came to an apex at his own former base on the moon, after having allied himself with the students of Xavier to defeat Stryfe. Due to his two recent attempts at regeneration interrupted, the ancient mutant lay dying during the battle, and Apocalypse, it seemed was no more. Despite his apparent death, (including Stryfe's) the Dark Riders would soon find a new mutant to follow, Cable's son, Tyler. Believing to have been betrayed by his father in the future, Tyler had traveled back in time as well, adopting the name of Genesis and considered himself the new heir of Apocalypse.

Onslaught and War
Apocalypse's dead body was recovered by Genesis, who restored Apocalypse to life by sacrificing the lives of many people in villages neighboring Akkaba. During this time, Wolverine was held captive by Genesis, who attempted to restore Wolverine's lost adamantium skeleton and claws and turn him into a Horseman as a gift for Apocalypse. However, Wolverine broke free and mutated into a feral state, and then killed Genesis and nearly all of the Dark Riders, with the exception of Gauntlet. During the fight, Cannonball opened the coffin containing Apocalypse's body, but found it empty. The body was stolen by Ozymandias and Apocalypse was reborn with Ozymandias at his side in Uncanny X-Men #335.

Watching the conflict between the psionic entity Onslaught, and Earth's heroes, with Uatu the Watcher, who suggested to Apocalypse a course of action, an alliance with the one who hated him most, Cable. Upon convincing his eternal foe of a short alliance, Apocalypse surmised, that Onslaught would be most vulnerable through the astral plane, and that he needed Cable for actual physical transportation to this realm. Once on the astral plane, Apocalypse would remove the captive Franklin Richards, greatly weakening Onslaught. The plan succeeded, but was interrupted by the Invisible Woman, who had invisibly accompanied the pair, having suspected Apocalypse's motive in wanting to actually kill her son. Unfortunately, the reprieve in battle gave Onslaught the time to escape, prolonging the conflict. Despite the failure of Apocalypse's plan, Onslaught was eventually defeated, with, however, the cost of the combined forces of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four (although the two teams would eventually turn out to be very much alive).

After the Onslaught saga, Apocalypse would discover and recruit the Hulk to become the third incarnation of War, by being supplied with weaponry (and a helmet shielding Hulk from his father's abusive and severely distractive spirit). Apocalypse wanted to use the Hulk's nexus-energy, derived from imminent Celestial Franklin Richards' pocket universe to overcome the Celestials. To test this newest recruit, Apocalypse set War against the New World Order, a shadow cabinet organization founded by Ozymandias. The New World Order set the Juggernaut and the Absorbing Man against War and were both easily defeated. However, Hulk came to his senses after having injured his friend, Rick Jones. Despite this apparent setback, the incident was still a victory for Apocalypse as it was a successful testing of newly understood Celestial technology. The test completed and the Hulk having left, Apocalypse ended the only loose end left, the New World Order. Activating the self-destruct mechanism on the sword of War, which they had obtained, Apocalypse destroyed their headquarters, ending their attempt at global puppetry.

The Twelve
Some time later Apocalypse had been gathering new Horsemen, among them chosen was none other than the X-Men member Wolverine (As Death). Supposedly lost diaries of the mutant seer Destiny surfaced, telling of twelve beings of fantastic power that could defeat Apocalypse once and for all. The Twelve were mentioned by the Skrulls and the situation with Wolverine seemed to coincide with recently discovered texts in the late diary. Before the X-Men could discern a course of action, various mutants, all listed in Destiny’s prophecies, were abducted by the Four Horsemen. The Twelve legend was revealed to be in fact a ruse orchestrated by Apocalypse himself; once the Twelve were assembled, he planned to use them to transform himself into a godlike entity beyond the Celestials. The Twelve, chosen not only for their mutant powers but also for the Jungian quasi-archetypes they represented, consisted of:


 * Magneto and Polaris, representing opposing magnetic poles.
 * Storm, Sunfire and Iceman, representing elementals.
 * Cyclops, Phoenix and Cable, representing family (Father, Mother, Child), and chosen for the power of the Summers-Grey bloodline.
 * Bishop and Mikhail Rasputin, representing time and space, respectively.
 * Professor X, representing the mind.
 * The Living Monolith as the core.

Having assembled his selected subjects, Apocalypse inserted them into a gigantic device of Celestial design. Lacking the original energy source that would be require to power the machine, mutants with the correct type of abilities were needed instead. Apocalypse planned to funnel the powers of the eleven mutants into The Living Monolith, and then from the Monolith into Nate Grey. As the power flowed into Nate, Apocalypse would possess Nate's body, which he had determined was the only physical body able to withstand such primal energies.

Unbeknownst to Apocalypse, Magneto had recently lost his powers, leaving his part unfulfilled. Deciding to make do with only eleven, Apocalypse continued his merger with Nate Grey. The failure of the machine to function properly, however, allowed The Twelve to escape, whom confronted Apocalypse as he was preparing to transfer his essence, but are defeated by Apocalypse. Seeing no alternative, Cyclops lunged at Nate, pushing him out of the energy vortex containing he and Apocalypse, fulfilling the merger process. Although he did not achieve the godhood he wished, Apocalypse's power was expanded to an incredible degree.

After teleporting away, an amnesiac and powerless Cyclops regained control of the merged form. But as Apocalypse began to re-emerge, however, Jean and Cable were alerted to his location, and she finally managed to free Cyclops by telepathically forcing Apocalypse's spirit out of her husband's body. Apocalypse was rendered an incorporeal astral form, and Cable took advantage of the opportunity to apparently destroy him, sundering his spirit with his Psimitar. Apocalypse's time with Cyclops left its mark, making the X-Man more ruthless after his return and partially being the cause of his marital problems with Phoenix.

Resurrection
Due to the events of M-Day, in which most of the mutants lost their powers, Apocalypse was revealed to be alive and well. The techno-organic virus, which he long ago infected Cable with, was also revealed to be the means by which Apocalypse's spirit reconstituted itself. With only a drop of his blood into a vat of organs and blood, the virus would rewrite the genetic code of the material within to form a body for Apocalypse. He awoke from a slumber in a tomb in Akkaba, recalling:

"Across the world — helpless mutants slaughtered. Pogroms. Horror. ...Something has woken me from my slumber. Once, a sudden surge in worldwide mutant power stirred me from a similar sleep. Now — a plummet in global mutant capacity — has opened my eyes".

Apocalypse, finds himself in a world with its mutant population reduced to a tenth of what it had been, out of the millions who populated earth prior to his demise at Cable's hands. Bent on becoming the new messiah for mutantkind, Apocalypse assembles a new cadre of Horsemen, with the purpose of wiping out 90% of the baseline human population.

His new horsemen were: Gazer (War), Sunfire (Famine) and Polaris (Pestilence). Gazer was saved from death and forced to battle an archaeologist for the mantle of War, which he won with the aid of Apocalypse's majordomo and scribe, Ozymandias. Both Sunfire, who had lost his legs at the hands of Lady Deathstrike and his powers to Rogue and Polaris, an M-Day victim, were captured, and reluctantly altered into Famine and Pestilence, respectively. Reappearing inside a Sphinx-shaped ship, Apocalypse confronted the X-Men on the front lawn of the X-Mansion. One of the X-Men switched sides and submitted himself willingly to be transformed into a Horseman Death: Gambit, as he had come to believe Apocalypse could be helpful to the mutant cause though he would require to be watched, although his mind was frayed as a result. Apocalypse also swayed some of the 198 to his side, including Skids, Scalphunter and Fever Pitch.

Sunfire was able to break free of Apocalypse's control with the help of Emma Frost. Polaris was de-brainwashed by the X-Men. Gazer died defending Apocalypse, stabbed in the back by Ozymandias. Gambit was taken into seclusion by Sunfire and deprogrammed.

Despite recruiting several refugees to his cause, Apocalypse was forced to retreat by the X-Men and the Avengers. Ultimately, it was discovered that the Celestials lent their technology to him, requiring as payment greater sufferings later. Apocalypse attempted to embrace death as an escape from his lifelong pact, only to find himself instantly resurrected by the Celestials who took him away.

Powers and abilities
Apocalypse is an extremely powerful mutant bonded with Celestial technology. He is virtually tireless, tremendously resistant to injury, and able to rapidly regenerate from damage. He could rearrange the molecules of his body for various purposes. His entire body could be reshaped at will, include turning into weaponry, increasing size and mass, elongating his limbs, adaption of his body to any diseases and the vacuum of outer space, or augmentation of his own superhuman physical abilities. In addition to extraordinary strength, Apocalypse is capable of telepathy, telekinesis, energy projection and absorption, force field generation, and interplanetary teleportion.

He is forced to repeatedly enter a state of hibernation in rejuvenation chambers to revive his native power and life force. During this time, Apocalypse is vulnerable. If the regeneration cycle isn't completed, he is left in a physically weakened, and potentially, dying state. Most recently, Apocalypse has been needed host bodies to house his life energies, although most could not withstand his power, in effect eventually burning them out, which has made it necessary to transfer his consciousness into a succession of hosts, abandoning each one when it grew too old. Following his merging with Cyclops, he briefly possessed limited control over time and space.

Aside from his superhuman powers, Apocalypse is wise and highly intelligent, with a millennia of experience and acquired knowledge. He possess a degree of mastery over Celestial technology and expertise in the fields of biology and genetic engineering beyond conventional norm. He is a natural leader, as well a skilled planner and strategist, and demagogue, having turned various mutants into his horsemen on numerous occasions.

Age of Apocalypse


When Professor X's son Legion traveled back in time to kill Magneto before he would become a supervillain, he instead accidentally killed his own father. This resulted in an alternate timeline (Earth-295) in which Magneto, not Professor X, founded the X-Men, and in which Jean Grey never became the Phoenix. In this timeline, the Age of Apocalypse, Apocalypse arose ten years before he was awoken by Cable and set out to conquer most of North America with the aid of thousands of mutants at his command. He succeeded and set up widespread human concentration camps in his conquered areas, with genetic experiments headed by his four horsemen, Sugar Man and the Dark Beast, torturing millions to death in the process. His global ambitions destabilize the world to the brink of destruction. Meanwhile, the disturbance of the timeline leads to a 'crystallization wave' of the M'Kraan Crystal that is heading toward Earth...

However, Apocalypse's regime lasts only twenty years. While the empire has the power to destroy the world, it is slowly falling apart. Apocalypse has to deal with the X-Men as well as the Human High Council, while his Horsemen are each involved in their personal plots: Sinister secretly plans on destroying Apocalypse while Mikhail Rasputin has disappeared in order to establish his own personal domain; and while remaining loyal, Holocaust and Abyss are involved in their personal struggles.

In the end, when it seems Apocalypse will remain victorious, he suffers an attack from all X-Men and their allies and ends up ultimately ripped apart and killed by Magneto himself.

Amalgam Comics
In the Amalgam Comics universe (Earth-9602), Apocalypse was merged with the long-lived villain Ra's al Ghul to become Ra's-A-Pocalypse.

Askani
In (Earth-4935), Apocalypse had gained control of the entire planet up till the 39th century, and had set up a brutal aristocratic system and mutants were the ruling class. He was frequently opposed by the order of the Askani. This version of Apocalypse was forced to transfer his spirit to a series of host bodies that would house his power. Seeking out a host body that could sustain him for all eternity, he captured the infant clone of Nathan Christopher, recognizing the youth's potential, Apocalypse raised the boy and named him Stryfe. But, to Apocalypse's surprise, the bonding procedure failed; the boy was a clone, and thus, unsuitable for as a host. Separated from any useful host, Apocalypse finally perished.

Cable/Deadpool
In Cable/Deadpool #15, an alternate version of Apocalypse appears on Earth-570 where he has overthrown the world with the aid of his Four Horsemen: Archangel (Death), Spiderman (Pestilence), the Blob (Famine) and Cable himself (War).

Exiles
In the native reality of Exiles member Nocturne, Apocalypse had a son called Armageddon, who was artificially created through the genetic material of Apocalypse himself and Jean Grey as his ultimate weapon. Ironically, he rejected Apocalypse's methods and instead joined against his worst enemies, the X-Men, and helped them destroy his father.

Guardians of the Galaxy
In the Guardians of the Galaxy timeline (Earth-691), Apocalypse attempted to enslave the mutants of Magneto, and went toe-to-toe with the master of magnetism in a fight that ended both their lifes.

House of M
When the Scarlet Witch revisioned the subjective history of the world during the so-called House of M erasing most of the world population's memories and putting them in different positions, Apocalypse was placed as one of Magneto's most trusted lieutenants, but in the manufactured history between the two, they came to blows early in the Mutant-Human War, battling over the right to lead mutantkind. Apocalypse lost, but instead of destroying him, Magneto offered Apocalypse a place by his side.

Apocalypse, surprised by his rival's generosity, accepted the offer. Magneto gave Apocalypse an important mission: to free the hundreds of captured mutants held in mutant concentration camps across the United States. Apocalypse succeeded, and those freed mutants were crucial in the eventual mutant victory. When the House of M arose to rule the world, Apocalypse was placed in charge of North Africa, but against Magneto's wishes he and his horsemen enslaved the human population and forced them to reconstruct many of the pyramids and monuments that were destroyed over the millennia. Magneto choose to turn a blind eye towards Apocalypse's actions.

During the "House of M" event itself, Apocalypse was seen on a Magneto-ordered mission to kill the African resistance-leader Black Panther, who had already defeated Magneto's assassin Sabretooth, beheading him with a sword. Apocalypse was disintegrated by the voice of the Inhuman leader Black Bolt.

Marvel Mangaverse
In the Avengers one-shot that ties into the first volume of Marvel Mangaverse (Earth-2301), Apocalypse appears as an enemy of the Avengers. While his appearance is modified to fit into the book's art style, he is still roughly the same character, bent on purging the earth of those he considers unfit. He is defeated and buried under a cliff by the Avengers. In this reality, his four horsemen are Mr. Sinister, White Queen, Juggernaut, and Archangel.

Mutant X
In the Mutant X universe (Earth-1298), Apocalypse was actually an ally of the X-Men and The Six. He was killed by Charles Xavier, a villain in this reality, while protecting the Earth-616 Alex.

Ultimate Apocalypse
In Ultimate X-Men (Earth-1612), set in the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Apocalypse appears as an entity worshipped by Sinister. It is not clear whether this Apocalypse is real or just a piece of fiction in the insane mind of his believer. In Sinister's apartment, he spoke to a Lord Apocalypse which was a stuffed effigy, but while Sinister was imprisoned in the Triskelion, Apocalypse appears to Essex (though whether or not this was just a hallucination is unknown) and commands him to choke himself. In Magnetic North, Sinister mentions that "A child is coming. The master will be reborn", presumably referring to Apocalypse. At some point after, Sinister is found dead, suffocated by his own shirt crammed into his throat (presumed a suicide). In the Aftermath story arc, a foot of a statue is seen in Cable's future which bears a striking resemblance to that of the figure of Apocalypse owned by Sinister.

In the solicitations for January 2008, Issue 90 shows Sinister returning to life to herald the coming of Apocalypse.

What If...?
In What If...? (vol. 2) #69 - Set during the X-Cutioner's Song, Apocalypse fails to cure Xavier of the techno virus. The X-Men believe Apocalypse killed him on purpose, and attack. Apocalypse kills them all single-handedly. He then goes to the moon to confront Stryfe, beating the Dark Riders, and another team of X-Men (pretty much X-Force and X-Factor, plus a few X-Men who weren't present at the original slaughter). However, Apocalypse is defeated when he offers Stryfe a truce, and an enraged Stryfe forces the pair of them into the timestream (the one he and Cable were lost in at the end of the original crossover).

In What If...? (vol. 2) #110 - Angel had remained Apocalypse's horseman, however, to Apocalypse's shock, he had instead slained the strong instead of the weak.

In What If...? (vol. 2) #111 - Apocalypse had transformed Wolverine into War. Ultimately, he is killed by his creation.

In ''What If? Age of Apocalypse'', 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, 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. The majority of the Defenders are killed in the struggle against Apocalypse. However, Apocalypse is finally killed by Nate with the help of the Molecule Man.

X-Men: The Animated Series
In the X-Men animated television series, Apocalypse made several appearances and was voiced by the late John Colicos. On two occasions, he was voiced by James Blendick.

In this animated version, Apocalypse is portrayed as an unstoppable and insane force of destruction, hinted to be the personification of evil. He showed no known limitations to his power, and stated that he knows more of this world than we dared dream. His goal was to destroy the current world so a new world could be created in its place, in his image. He claimed to be "as far beyond mutants as they are beyond humans", and was depicted many times as an invincible opponent in the series. He was invulnerable to apparently all forms of physical harm, including the X-Men could not even hurt. Not even Wolverine's adamantium claws were able to cut through his body. No matter what the attack was, none resulted in any physical damage upon him, many of them couldn't even move him.

He would make his first appearance in part of a plotline revolving around an offer to "cure" mutations. Apocalypse was also secretly behind the assassination of Senator Kelly, which Mystique reveals to Rogue (It is also hinted that Apocalypse may have transformed Mystique into the shape-shifter she is, as she tells Rogue that Apocalypse made her what she is, and gave her purpose). Apocalypse also appears in a storyline revolving around Cable. In this story, Apocalypse masquerades as a member of the Friends of Humanity, and uses Graydon Creed in creating a Techno-Organic virus to infect and kill every mutant on Earth. However, unknown to Creed, the virus will not only kill mutants but humans as well. The mutant Bishop traveled back in time, from 2055 AD, and teams up with the X-Men to stop the virus. With help from Cable, Apocalypse's scheme is successfully stopped.

His former horsemen, Archangel had become hell-bent on destroying Apocalypse, having spent months hunting down and trying to find a way to kill the seemly invincibly millennia old mutant. One of Archangel's experts in ancient relics soon provided him with an ancient document telling of a way to destroy Apocalypse, but this was revealed to be a hoax, created by Apocalypse who in actuality was the expert in ancient relics. Apocalypse was then witnessed Magneto's televised speech declaring Asteroid M a safe haven for mutants, and with Deathbird, he revived Fabian Cortez, after he had been left to die at Asteroid M by Magneto.

In the Beyond Good and Evil storyline, towards the end of the series, Apocalypse attempted to attain godhood by kidnapping the most powerful psychic beings from across the universe. He planned to kill them simultaneously, in order to release a wave of psychic energy powerful enough to destroy everything outside the Axis of Time. He then wanted to re-create the universe in his own image, so he could rule unchallenged. Magneto and Mystique had been assisting Apocalypse without full knowledge of his intentions, believing Apocalypse would merely recreate an Earth ruled by mutants; upon learning Apocalypse's true plot, they turned on him and helped Bishop, Cable, and the X-Men to stop him. In the end, the freed psychics used their combined powers to trap Apocalypse in the astral plane, where he would remain for all eternity and never harm mankind or existence again.

In one of the final episodes of the series, Apocalypse is shown to be communicating from the astral plane with Fabian Cortez, whom Apocalypse had turned into his servant prior to the Axis of Time events. He charged Cortez with finding a powerful mutant to serve as his vessel, which would allow him to return to our world. However, Cortez failed by the interruptions of Beast and Caliban. This resulted in Apocalypse claiming Cortez himself for the vessel, and Apocalypse lived once more.

X-Men: Evolution
In X-Men: Evolution, Apocalypse was first mentioned in a single episode of the second season of the animated series. The last half of the third season focused on the battle to stop Apocalypse from rising, and he became the main villain for the fourth and final season of the series. He was played by David Kaye.

Unlike the comic books, this Apocalypse possessed vast unsurpassed powers that were never well defined, although the origin of this version is largely the same as the one created in the comics. In the series, Apocalypse had discovered a device left by Rama-Tut (never explicitly said to be Kang) called the Eye of Ages that would turn all humans on Earth into mutants (similar to the device used by Magneto in the X-Men movie, but on a global scale). When Apocalypse tried to power the device, he was weakened, and his high priests, afraid of his power, imprisoned him inside the Eye of Ages and then took him to the top of the Himalayan Mountains and imprisoned him behind three doors. Centuries later, Apocalypse would be able to use telepathy to reach the world outside his prison and used the hypnotist Mesmero to help unlock the doors. The final door required Mesmero to enlist the aid of Rogue and Mystique&mdash;Rogue would use her energy-absorbing power to absorb enough energy from other mutants to revive Apocalypse, and Mystique would use her shape-shifting abilities to unlock the door (turning her to stone in the process). The X-Men and Magneto with his Brotherhood of Mutants worked together to stop Mesmero, but they were too late. The awakened Apocalypse defeated them all in an instant and vanished.

Apocalypse's master plan included uncovering pyramids in Mexico, China, and Egypt that would help to relay the Eye of Ages' mutating effect across the globe. To help protect these pyramids, Apocalypse enslaved Magneto, Professor X, Storm, and Mystique to guard the three pyramids and the base hidden under the Sphinx. The X-Men gathered their allies (including modified Sentinels under the command of S.H.I.E.L.D) and launched an offensive against the pyramids. In the end, Rogue stopped Apocalypse by using the power she absorbed from Leech to shut off his mutant abilities and trap him in the Eye of Ages. Wolverine then sent Apocalypse through time using the vessel that Rama-Tut had used to arrive in ancient Egypt. Apocalypse was not killed, but his destination was unknown. After his defeat, Wolverine and Rogue think they may not be lucky and seeing the last of Apocalypse won't be possible. If there had been a fifth season, Apocalypse could have returned.

Video games



 * In the SNES video game X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse. Apocalypse is secretly based in Genosha and has kidnapped a number of mutants. Like his comic book counterpart, Apocalypse offers the X-Men the chance to become his Horsemen.


 * In the X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter games. Apocalypse appears as one of the boss characters. He appears initially as a large character on the same scale as the other playable characters, but then grows to an enormous size after screaming "I AM THE APOCALYPSE!!!", far too big to fit on a single screen. His main weapon is his gigantic fist, which can turn into various weapons (such as a drill or mace) that do major damage when it strikes the player's character. His weakest point is his head, although flying attacks must be used to attack it. Although he was the main boss in X-Men vs. Street Fighter, he was downgraded to a sub-boss in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter with a cyborg version of Akuma called "Cyber-Akuma" (Mech-Gouki in the Japanese version) taking his former spot. It was revealed that Apocalypse captured Akuma and transformed him into a cyborg with incredible power, which made him extremely difficult to defeat.


 * In X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse, the X-Men are a transported to an alternate reality ruled by Apocalypse.


 * In X2: Wolverine's Revenge, Apocalypse made a minor appearance at ending, and was voiced by Chris Smith.


 * In X-Men Legends, Apocalypse makes a cameo appearance in the ending, and he was voiced by Dan Hay.


 * In X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, Apocalypse is the primary villain, and is voiced by Richard McGonagle. The game begins with the X-Men and Brotherhood joining forces, both of whom have "grievances with Apocalypse." Apocalypse is looking for mutants with "Harmonic DNA" which he would use to power a device that would essentially make himself invincible. He eventually found four mutants: Polaris, Quicksilver, Emma Frost, and Sabretooth. He also kidnapped Beast, using him to translate Nuwali symbols to explain about the device, and has Mr. Sinister drug Beast, controlling his mind and turning him into a spy for Apocalypse. He later kidnaps Angel, transforming him into the Horseman Death, which parallels the comic storyline in which Angel becomes Archangel, and serves Apocalypse as Death. Apocalypse loses control of the harmonic power after being pushed to use it by the X-Men and Brotherhood. This shouldn't have happened, and it is hinted at the very end of the game that Mr. Sinister sabotaged the device


 * In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, he is briefly mentioned


 * Apocalypse has been visibly seen in the teaser trailer for the upcoming game, Marvel Universe Online.

Toys

 * Apocalypse has appeared in the Marvel Legends toy line in Series 7 and as the BAF for series 12. This figure was based on Apocalypse's look in the recent Blood of Apocalypse issues, although with some minor added coloration.


 * Bowen Designs has produced and released two sculpts of Apocalypse. The first is an extremely detailed porcelain mini-bust, and a statue of Apocalypse, featuring an interchangeable gun hand.