Cerebra's Files

Onslaught


Affiliation: None
Alternate-X Versions: None
Codename Etymology: Pronounced ŏn'slôt' [From Middle Dutch aenslach: aen- "on" + slach "to strike"]; A violent attack.
Powers & History: Onslaught was created when Professor X, in a moment of foolish arrogance, wiped his nemesis Magneto's mind. In his anger, Xavier was vulnerable to a dark part a Magneto's psyche that transferred itself back across the telepathic link and hid inside of him. This dark aspect combined with all of Xavier's frustrations and emotions, his own dark side, and gained sentience and independence. Unbeknownst even to Xavier himself, Onslaught began to engineer events world-wide, starting with the liquidation of a Sentinel processing plant and the complete mind-wiping of its staff. He then battled Juggernaut, knocking him clear across North America. Onslaught was fascinated by Nate Grey, and through Xavier's encounter with the boy, learned to physically shift himself (and others) in and out of the astral plane physically. Sensing a threat in Blaquesmith, Onslaught blew up his ship in Baltimore Harbor, but for some reason didn't kill him. Onslaught first tried to have Phoenix join him, hoping to use her experience with the Phoenix Force to learn how to gain more power. She declined, of course, and when she learned Onslaught's true identity from Juggernaut, she was so shaken that she could not formulate a course of action until it was too late. Juggernaut had tried to escape Onslaught, seeking aid from Xavier, his step-brother. Onslaught nearly killed Juggernaut by ripping the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak out of his chest (a feat which should have been impossible, as the gem was mystically bonded to Juggernaut) and imprisoning him within it (again, an impossiblity except for a master sorcerer). Onslaught then revealed himself to the X-Men, who also refused to join him. By this time it was obvious that Magneto's influence was also at work, as Onslaught's psi-armor was very similar to Magneto's costume, and he had control over electro-magnetism as well as telepathy. Onslaught battled the X-men and defeated them, leaving Phoenix to make the mysterious "X-Traitor" recording that would intrigue Bishop 100 years later. The X-Men recovered, but Onslaught let loose a psionic blast that should have killed them all. Bishop, however, threw himself into the bolt's path and absorbed it, saving the X-Men and changing his past, our future. Onslaught was still not completely in control of Xavier, and was exhausted by his efforts, so he left with Dark Beast, who had been posing as the real Beast, and who offered Onslaught minions to command. His next target was Franklin Richards, whose reality-warping abilities would make Onslaught nearly a god. Onslaught defeated the Fantastic Four and some of the Avengers and made off with the boy, physically incorporating him into his own structure. He also captured Nate Grey, and with the three most powerful mutants on Earth under his control, created a citadel in Central Park, and unleashed a EM pulse that stopped New York cold. Then Onlsught deployed the Sentinels he had captured from the plant months before, and the robots went on a rampage, but against humans, not mutants, until the heroes stopped them. The heroes gathered to fight Onslaught, and during the battle, Xavier was displayed to them, as Onslaught taunted them with his power. At that point, Thor burst through Onslaught and physically removed Xavier from the villain. However, this did not slow Onslaught down; in fact, once he was no longer tethered to his original host, Onslaught became a being of pure psionic energy. Tapping into Nate Grey's mind to learn how the Apocalypse of his time took over the world, Onslaught realized that neither men nor mutants were "worthy" to live on Earth, and so decided to obliterate them all. Using Franklin's awesome power, Onslaught created a second sun in the sky. While Storm and Thor tried to minimize the climactic damage, the Hulk had Phoenix shut down his Banner persona, and became a raging beast intent on stopping Onslaught. The two fought, and the Hulk even broke Onslaught's armor, but it didn't matter. Onslaught had evolved into pure thought. The heroes realized that matter was needed to contain Onslaught, so Thor flew into the torrent of psionic energy. When he proved insufficient, the rest of the non-mutant heroes joined him (mutant matter would only have fed Onslaught, who was a mutant himself), sacrificing their lives to defeat one of the most powerful beings ever.
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