Cerebra's Files: Age of Apocalypse
Colossus
Real Name: Piotr Nikolaievitch RasputinAffiliation: Generation Next (Leader)
Previous Affiliations: X-Men
Status: Deceased (Gambit)
Relatives: Katherine Pryde-Rasputina (Shadowcat, wife, deceased), [Nikolai (father, deceased), Natalia (mother, deceased)], Mikhail (brother, deceased), Illyana (sister)
Alternate-X Versions: (616), Ferro Man (Amalgam - merged with DC's Ferro Lad), (DoFP), Czar Piotr, (Earth X), (Exiles: Weapon X), (Mangaverse), (Mutant X), (Ultimate), (Evolution), (Movieverse), (TAS), Comrade Rasputin (What If? FF)
Codename Etymology: Pronounced kə-lŏs'əs [From Greek kolossos] An enormous statue.
Powers & History: Colossus could convert his entire body into organic steel. With the transformation he gained enormous strength and durability. Colossus, along with his brother Mikhail, was one of Russia’s premier mutant superheroes until his brother betrayed him to join Apocalypse’s side.
Piotr Rasputin served alongside his brother Mikhail as a Soviet Super Soldier before Apocalypse’s war. When Apocalypse attacked the Soviet Union, Mikhail was taken prisoner and transformed into a Horseman. Swearing to stop Apocalypse and his brainwashed brother, Colossus joined Magneto’s X-Men. Soon after joining, Colossus fought the Horseman Sabertooth to save the life of a mutant named Katherine Pryde. One of Magneto’s first students at Mount Wundagore, Colossus left after "graduation" to carry Magneto’s teachings to his own country. However, he rejoined the X-Men after he lost his entire family during a culling in Kiev. He served the X-Men for many years, but shortly after his marriage to "Katya" Pryde (Shadowcat) he lost the will to fight, sitting out a battle with Infinites while his teammates were forced to pick up the slack. Sensing that forcing Piotr to fight would do no good, Magneto instead asked him and Kitty to train and mentor Generation Next, a group of young mutants training to be the next generation of X-Men.
Over the years Colossus became very cold-hearted and had adopted a fatalist ‘kill or be killed’ outlook. He tried to impart this same attitude to his charges and was a very harsh instructor with little emotional attachment to them. As part of his plan to restore the disrupted 616 timeline Magneto visited the Generation Next base and had Know-It-All hack into Apocalypse’s data banks to search for any mutant with the ability to time travel, even somebody whose powers had not yet manifested. The search came up with only one possible candidate – Illyana Rasputin, much to Colossus’ surprise, as he had believed his sister killed in the Kiev culling.
Know-It-All learned that Illyana was held in a high security prisoner plant called The Core, and Generation Next was handed the task of breaking her out. Colossus and his wife Shadowcat waited outside near the perimeter from where they kept track of their wards via Know-It-All, while Generation Next split up and broke into the complex in disguise. Unfortunately, their cover got blown and they were discovered by Sugar Man, the prison’s overseer, who then killed Mondo. Accompanied by his wife, Colossus fought his way to Generation Next and after beating the Sugar Man to a pulp, reclaimed Illyana. By now, Generation Next realized that they were surrounded by dozens of guards and getting out would not be easy.
Deciding that Magneto’s mission and Illyana’s safety had top priority, Colossus ordered Shadowcat to take him and the girl to safety, even though it meant abandoning their students. He later returned to rescue them but saw that they were beyond help, and he took Kitty and Illyana back to Magneto’s base. From there they travelled to Apocalypse’s citadel with the rest of the X-Men and Bishop and Destiny in order to find and use the M’Kraan crystal. On learning that Illyana was dead in the timeline they were trying to restore, Colossus tried to stop her from entering the crystal and engaged in a short battle with the X-Men during which Shadowcat tried to stop him, and he accidentally crushed his wife to death when she didn't phase out of the way. Momentarily shocked by his actions, Colossus stopped his rampage and Gambit took advantage of this distraction to attack and fatally injure him. With his dying breath Colossus expressed his regret to his sister that he could not be as strong as she was.
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