Holocaust (comics)
Encyclopedia
- The character is not to be confused with the Milestone and DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
villain HolocaustHolocaust (DC Comics)Holocaust is a fictional character in the Milestone Comics universe. Created as part of the Blood Syndicate for Milestone Media, the character has since gone on to become a gangster and supervillain.-Publication history:...
. He is also not to be confused with the historical Holocaust.
Holocaust is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. The character first appeared in X-Men Alpha (February 1995), and was created by Scott Lobdell
Scott Lobdell
Scott Lobdell is an American comic book writer.-Early Career:Scott didn't begin to read comics until he was 17 years old, while lying in bed after lung surgery....
and Roger Cruz
Roger Cruz
Roger Cruz is a Brazilian comic book artist.- Biography :Cruz started his professional career as a letterer for Editora Abril, the Brazilian publishing house, for whom he lettered many Portuguese translations of American comics; then worked as a writer and art assistant for Mil Perigos, a...
.
Fictional character biography
Holocaust, originally known as Nemesis, is the purported son of ApocalypseApocalypse (comics)
Apocalypse is a fictional character who is an ancient mutant that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Factor #5 , created by writer Louise Simonson and designed by artist Walter Simonson...
and also served as one of his Four Horsemen
Horsemen of Apocalypse
The Horsemen of Apocalypse is a team of fictional supervillain characters that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team is first mentioned in X-Factor #10 , and makes their full appearance in X-Factor #15...
in the Age of Apocalypse
Age of Apocalypse
"Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 - 1996 comic book crossover storyline published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The Age of Apocalypse briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616, although it was later retconned as having occurred in the alternate universe of Earth-295, it had...
timeline. His first assignment from his alleged father was to spy on the X-Men and attack them when the chance arose. Nemesis waited in a nearby mountain range in hiding until most of the mutant team had left. He then attacked the base, which was only guarded by the Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch
The Scarlet Witch is a fictional comic book character that appears in books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in X-Men #4 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
and a small group of young mutants. Nemesis killed most of the students early on in the fight, but then was engaged by Scarlet Witch. Even with her probability manipulation, Wanda found it difficult to harm Nemesis. Nemesis then killed Scarlet Witch.
During Apocalypse's blitzkrieg launched against Europe and Asia, Nemesis joined Apocalypse in Japan. The Horseman slaughtered thousands of humans in Apocalypse's name and captured Sunfire, but before they could kill him, Sunfire unleashed a nuclear level plasma blast. Nemesis absorbed the blast, saving himself and Apocalypse.
When Apocalypse returned home to recuperate, Nemesis, now charged with Sunfire's energies, was left to take care of Japan. A small squad of X-Men attacked him. Using Sunfire's energy, Nemesis was about to murder Quicksilver
Quicksilver (comics)
Quicksilver is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in X-Men #4 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
when Magneto
Magneto (comics)
Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
, still enraged by the death of the students and his own daughter at the hands of Nemesis, used his powers to strip away most of Nemesis' flesh. The X-Men then retreated, many of them injured, and left Nemesis for dead.
The burnt corpse of Nemesis was however still alive and he was eventually recovered by Apocalypse. Nemesis awoke in the labs of the Beast
Dark Beast
Dark Beast , sometimes known as the Black Beast, is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an alternate reality evil version of the X-Men’s Beast...
and his spiritual essence was fitted with a near indestructible crystalline exo-armor that would not only channel his energy but also contain him and keep him from dissipating. This was the birth of Holocaust and he would eventually become a Horseman again.
When culling the state of California, Holocaust was annoyed to find that his hound Sabretooth
Sabretooth (comics)
Sabretooth is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne. The character first appeared in Iron Fist #14...
was finally fed up with murdering innocent women and children and instead began hiding some children from the cullings. He announced Sabretooth’s betrayal to his Infinites and ordered them to take him away to prison. The Infinites wondered aloud why Holocaust would let Sabretooth live. None of them could figure it out, but Sabretooth knew. Holocaust knew Sabretooth was not afraid to die. He also knew that Sabretooth’s only fear is that of the uncontrollable beast inside him. Instead of letting him die, he wanted Sabretooth to become the feral monster he had the potential to be.
Later, hoping to get his revenge against Magneto for forcing him to live out the rest of his years in a specially made suit of armor, Holocaust sent his hound Wolverine
Crule (comics)
Crule is a fictional character, a mutant in the Marvel Comics universe. His first appearance was in X-Force vol. 1 #12.-Fictional character biography:...
to eliminate the one closest to Magneto. However, Wolverine would fail in his mission.
In recent times, Holocaust would be a mainstay of Apocalypse's Horsemen, he would clash with Blastaar
Blastaar
Blastaar, sometimes called the Living Bomb-Burst and Blasstaar, is a Marvel Comics supervillain. Blastaar is an opponent of the Fantastic Four and lives in the Negative Zone...
and his Baluurians, invaders from the Negative Zone
Negative Zone
The Negative Zone is a fictional setting, an antimatter universe depicted in publications from Marvel Comics, most frequently in Fantastic Four and Captain Marvel. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, it first appeared in Fantastic Four #51 .-Fictional description:The Negative Zone in the Marvel...
who sought to take over the Earth, Holocaust would manage to fight them into fleeing. With the signing of the Kelly Pact, Apocalypse was to cease his ghastly experiments and genetic cullings, however Apocalypse would have no desire to do so. Later when his fellow Horseman Sinister defected, Apocalypse and Holocaust failed their attempt to search for him.
Holocaust would later be dispatched to Chicago to initiate a culling of the humans that were living there. Learning about this, the X-Men would send a squad to stop him. Sabretooth, now an X-Man would seek to defeat Holocaust on his own and have his teammate Blink
Blink (comics)
Blink is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero featured in various X-Men-related series. Created by Scott Lobdell and Joe Madureira, the character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #317 .-Publication History:...
teleport him and Wild Child closer to the site of the culling. In a one-on-one battle, Sabretooth would smash Holocaust's armor, however he would fail to stop him, but not before his comrade Wild Child could escape to tell the other X-Men where Holocaust was located. Holocaust would savagely maim Sabretooth, and leave him for dead before resuming his operations. Coming across Sabretooth's seemingly dead body, Blink would go after Holocaust alone and the overconfident Horseman was taken by surprise and nearly killed by the young X-Man who hold her own until the other X-Men arrived to help her out. Rogue
Rogue (comics)
Rogue was first slated to appear in Ms. Marvel #25 , but the book's abrupt cancellation left her original introduction story unpublished for over a decade, before seeing print in Marvel Super Heroes #11 in 1992. Rogue's first published appearance was in Avengers Annual #10...
nearly defeated Holocaust but he teleported himself to Apocalypse’s stronghold just in time, but not before telling Rogue that Apocalypse had captured her husband Magneto.
During the final battle in the Age of Apocalypse, Holocaust attempted to slay Magneto but would be stopped when Nate Grey
Nate Grey
Nathaniel "Nate" Grey is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, in particular those related to the X-Men franchise...
intervened. Holocaust battled Nate Grey which ended with Holocaust being stabbed with a shard of the M'Kraan Crystal
M'Kraan Crystal
In the fictional Marvel Comics Universe, the M'Kraan Crystal is a gigantic crystalline artifact that lies at the nexus of all realities. The Crystal contains a negative galaxy, a source of near limitless power, which pulls and traps all matter inside. The Crystal plays a prominent role in several...
. This caused an unexpected result as both vanish without a trace.
Arriving on Earth 616
By using the M’Kraan Crystal fragment as a dagger that he plunged into Holocaust’s chest, Nate somehow transported both of them to the present of the regular marvel Universe. Holocaust materialized in Earth’s orbit, his containment suit shattered, and his body encased in a block of ice. He was found by the AcolytesAcolytes (comics)
The Acolytes is a team of comic book mutant supervillains in the Marvel Comics universe. The Acolytes followed the principles of the mutant Magneto, particularly the mutant right of superiority over normal humans. Some members of the Acolytes even worshipped him with a religious fervor and regarded...
, and Exodus
Exodus (comics)
Exodus is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Joe Quesada, he first appeared in X-Factor #92...
ordered him brought aboard Avalon. Inside Avalon Holocaust was able to drain the life energy of a few Acolytes to regain some of his strength. He escaped his containment chamber and began to battle Exodus, whom he remembered as an X-Man from his timeline. Their battle destroyed the station, and they crashed to Earth, where Holocaust drained more human lives to prevent his essence from dissipating.
Holocaust was eventually found by Sebastian Shaw. Shaw and Holocaust formed a short-lived and uneasy alliance, with Shaw providing Holocaust with a new containment suit. Holocaust then helped Shaw capture and brainwash X-Force, but after that plan failed their partnership dissolved.
Holocaust then found the psionic being Onslaught
Onslaught (comics)
Onslaught is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Man #15 , and was co-created by writers Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid, and artist Andy Kubert....
and embraced the being as a chance to get back at Nate Grey. Holocaust became an agent of Onslaught's Dark Descendants willingly. Holocaust's first assignment under Onslaught was, to Holocaust's satisfaction, to attack Nate Grey. Holocaust was barely defeated, and was forced to retreat. Onslaught later revealed to Holocaust that he had sent him merely to test the mettle of the X-Man.
When Onslaught finally launched his massive assault on the city of Manhattan, Holocaust would be dispatched to cause chaos in the streets along with fellow Dark Descedant's minion Post
Post (comics)
Post is a fictional character and mutant in the Marvel Comics universe. His first appearance was in X-Men v2, #50.-Fictional character biography:...
. He would clash with the Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
who would trick the two into knocking each other out with their powers.
During the incident when he, Dark Beast
Dark Beast
Dark Beast , sometimes known as the Black Beast, is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an alternate reality evil version of the X-Men’s Beast...
, Sugar Man
Sugar Man
Sugar Man is a fictional character, a mutant villain appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Chris Bachalo, he first appeared in Generation Next #2 ....
and Nate, all refugees from the Age of Apocalypse, were captured by the Shi'ar
Shi'ar
The Shi'ar are a fictional species of aliens in the Marvel Comics universe. The Shi'ar Empire also called the Aerie, is a vast collection of alien species, cultures and worlds situated close to the Skrull and Kree Empires, and alongside them, is one of the three main alien empires...
, who viewed the fact that Holocaust still had part of the M'Kraan Crystal inside him as the highest heresy, Holocaust appears to have renamed himself Nemesis, mostly due to Dark Beast's refusal to call him anything else. He then found out that his new containment suit has a shape-shifting capability, which can be used if enough bio-energy is absorbed. Nemesis used this ability to make himself look like Nate Grey, killing more and more people until the two adversaries finally clashed. Nemesis was defeated and so much of his energy was drained that he was searching out Dark Beast, who created his first suit, for assistance.
Return to the Age of Apocalypse
Suddenly, he became unstuck in time, and (again calling himself Holocaust), he returned to his birth reality, where he was told to join the ExilesExiles (comics)
Exiles, in comics, may refer to:*Exiles , one of two series published in 1993 and 1995 by Malibu Comics*Exiles , a series published by Marvel Comics starting in 2001*Exiles , Marvel Comics villains...
. Angered at the Timebroker's interference, and learning that Apocalypse had died, this fact was so tempting to Holocaust that he forgot about his time issue and went forth to claim the throne. He would have done so, too, had he not stumbled upon the even more tempting power of the M'Kraan Crystal
M'Kraan Crystal
In the fictional Marvel Comics Universe, the M'Kraan Crystal is a gigantic crystalline artifact that lies at the nexus of all realities. The Crystal contains a negative galaxy, a source of near limitless power, which pulls and traps all matter inside. The Crystal plays a prominent role in several...
once again. He tracked down the M'Kraan Crystal and took control of the army base housing it. Believing that the Exiles' resourcefulness in time traveling would aid him in get away from the Timebroker's influence, he convinced the Exiles to help him sync the Tallus to the Crystal and attack the Timebroker directly. Unfortunately for him as they reach the Panoptichron, the base of the Timebroker, they find instead the Weapon X member, Hyperion ruling as an emperor there and controlling the M'Kraan Crystal. Holocaust, enraged at Hyperion's possession of what he believed was rightfully his by blood, attacked the emperor, but to no success. Hyperion cracked his exoskeleton open and absorbed Holocaust's bio-energy into himself by literally inhaling the villain, effectively killing Holocaust.
Powers and abilities
Holocaust originally possessed physical invulnerability and the power to generate highly destructive bio-nuclear microwave energy blasts, which he can use to fly. Upon his later evolution into an energy being, he could also drain the life-force from others to charge his bio-phasing and shape-shifting crystalline-based life-support exo-armor, which also granted him superhuman levels of physical power.Earth-616
Holocaust's Earth-616 version has finally made his presence known in the main reality as Genocide, the son of Apocalypse and Autumn RolfsonFamine (comics)
Famine is a fictional character, a Mutant supervillain appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. She is most notable for being one of the original four horsemen of the villain Apocalypse.-Fictional character biography:...
. Afraid that Apocalype would see the child as a threat to himself and that he would kill him, Autumn kept his existence hidden apparently with the help of the Clan Akkaba
Clan Akkaba
Clan Akkaba is a fictional cult in the Marvel Universe. Created by Frank Tieri and Clayton Henry. The Clan is composed of the descendants of the mutant supervillain Apocalypse and first appeared in X-Men: Apocalypse vs...
and Dark Beast
Dark Beast
Dark Beast , sometimes known as the Black Beast, is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an alternate reality evil version of the X-Men’s Beast...
.
Warren Worthington III, who had succumbed to the darkness within him and was now becoming the new Apocalypse
Apocalypse (comics)
Apocalypse is a fictional character who is an ancient mutant that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Factor #5 , created by writer Louise Simonson and designed by artist Walter Simonson...
arrives to the location where Autumm and Genocide were hidden and they both join Archangel's quest. They traveled to Cavern X where they face Warren's former teammates and half of Wolverine's
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
body ended being incinerated by Genocide. Later, under Archangel's orders, he wiped out a small town in Northern Montana.
Television
- Holocaust makes a brief cameo appearanceCameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in the X-Men: The Animated SeriesX-Men (TV series)X-Men, also known as X-Men: The Animated Series, is an American animated television series which debuted on October 31, 1992, in the United States on the Fox Network as part of its Fox Kids Saturday morning lineup...
episode "One Man's Worth".
Video games
- Holocaust appears as a boss in the video game X-Men Legends II: Rise of ApocalypseX-Men Legends II: Rise of ApocalypseX-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse is an action role-playing game released in 2005 for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, N-Gage, PlayStation Portable, and GameCube video game consoles as well as the PC...
voiced by Peter LuriePeter LuriePeter Hill Lurie is an American television personality, Sports anchor and voice actor who has worked in several television shows, movies, and dubbed anime, since the mid-1990s. He is well known as the voice of Vulcan Raven in the Metal Gear Solid video game series, and the Marvel Comics...
. He's a horseman of Apocalypse based at the Madri Temple and is the protector of the Stepford CuckoosStepford CuckoosThe Stepford Cuckoos are a set of fictional mutant psychically linked quintuplets . They are students at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning and appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics...
(who he refers to as the Trinity). He appears during the battle with the Stepford Cuckoos.
Toys
- Although the packaging refers to him as "Dark Nemesis", an action figure of Holocaust was made by Toy Biz in a ninja themed series of X-Men figures during the '90s.
- A Holocaust build-a-figure in the fourth series of Hasbro's Marvel LegendsMarvel LegendsMarvel Legends is an action figure line based on the characters of Marvel Comics, initially produced by Toy Biz, then by Hasbro. This line is in the scale, with spin-off lines in the , , and scale.-History:...
was released in 2009. - WizkidsWizKidsWizKids, Inc. is an American New Jersey-based company that first made its mark in the game industry producing collectible miniatures wargames. WizKids was purchased by and is a subsidiary of National Entertainment Collectibles Association. The company was founded in 2000 by Jordan Weisman, a...
released a "colossal" version of Nemesis as part of their Giant Sized X-Men set of HeroclixHeroClixHeroClix is a collectible miniatures game that uses the Clix system. Originally designed and produced by WizKids, it is now owned and marketed by NECA. Players construct teams of comic book heroes, villains, and other characters from popular video games such as Street Fighter, Gears of War, and Halo...
in March 2011.
External links
- Holocaust at Marvel.com
- Uncannyxmen.net bio on Holocaust