With these reposts you get the same full bio, art and our storyline concept, but also some behind the scenes thoughts on how and why Fabian (co-writer) and I went about doing what we did (go to the bottom).
This post comes from last October when we did a “Fearsome Character” theme. And there are few characters as fearsome as APOCALYPSE!!
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| Original Apocalypse look by Walter Simonson |
Check out our take on the world's first mutant below and let us know what you think.
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| Nu-Perspective Apocalypse design by Shawn Alleyne |
Real Name: En Sabah Nur/Evan Sabah Nur
Current Alias: Apocalypse
Identity: Secret
Occupation: Conqueror
Place of Birth: Originally Aqaba, Egypt; Later cloned in The World
(a highly-advanced man-made pocket-verse facility)
Base of Operations: Mobile
Affiliations: Leader of The Four Horsemen; X-Men (formerly);
X-Force (formerly); Akkaba Clan
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Force #7 (2011)
Original Creators: Louise Simonson and artist Jackson Guice(En
Sabah Nur); Rick Remender and artist Esad Ribic (Evan Sabah Nur)
Story: Known
in modern times as Apocalypse, En Sabah Nur was a genocidal tyrant raised by the
brutal warlord Baal of the Sandstormers over 5000 years ago in ancient Egypt.
Blessed with immortality, being nigh-unstoppable and ancient Celestial
technology, Apocalypse was driven by the harsh Darwinian physiology of
“survival of the fittest”. Clashing time and again with the X-Men and Earth’s
other mightiest heroes, nearly bringing about the end of the world each time,
En Sabah Nur met his own end repaying a debt to an ancient Celestial pact. The
descendants of En Sabah Nur – known as the Akkaba Clan – cloned their ageless
progenitor who was soundly murdered and re-cloned by Fantomex. Fantomex sought
to raise the boy to be the opposite version of the maniacal mutant despot for a
while, until eventually handing him over to the Jean Grey School for Higher
Learning. “Evan” Sabah Nur came to be a part of the X-Men and X-Force, and even
fought against them and the Avengers when under the influence of the Red Skull
(who had Professor Xavier’s mind) and his S-Men. However, a series ofordeals,
combined with a far-flung time-displaced adventure to ancient Egypt that saw Evan
come face-to-face with his younger original self, pushed him over the edge
towards his predestined fate. Evan embraced his Apocalyptic destiny and went on
the run to reflect. He eventually returned, having fully ascended into his full
Apocalypse form, with a personal revelation to share with the world. Whether
human, mutant, or other, he challenged anyone to deny that crisis was the only
true way to winnow out the weak and fortify the strong. To that end, Apocalypse
now vowed to become the invisible hand of god and savior of man, decreeing he would
orchestrate a series of world disasters, events and physical tournaments, to
accelerate the culling process. The gift to those strong enough to survive will
be enhanced powers via his Celestial technology. From this controlled chaos, Apocalypse
believes a unified Earth will rise up, capable of surpassing its physical and
moral frailties and divisive vices towards meta-mutant evolution.
Powers/Abilities:
Apocalypse is one of the most powerful beings on Earth, whose powers derive
from his absolute control over his own molecular structure. This grants him a
wide array of superhuman abilities inclusive of super strength, super reflexes,
shapeshifting, size alteration, elasticity and nigh-invulnerability. With this
ability to alter his form as it suits him, he can transform his limbs into
weapons, wings, jets, etc; regenerate from fatal injuries; self-power bestowal
(generating a wide range of powers at will) and adapt his body to apparently
any disease or hostile environment. He can also project and absorb energy and
is capable of technopathy, being able to directly
interface with the various technologies he has at his disposal. He also does
not require food, oxygen or sleep to live, rendering him self-sustainable and
virtually immortal. Apocalypse can also augment others through his body’s
genetically integrated techno-organic virus, enhancing the victim’s innate
powers/abilities (or granting them) while influencing their minds into his
thralls. Apocalypse also possesses a level of telekinesis, telepathy and
psychic immunity, however not as powerful as other similar Omega-level mutants.
While he does not have full mind control, Apocalypse can subtly mentally
influence others through vocal commands once their will is sufficiently weak. He
is also capable of absorbing and projecting vast amounts of energy from his
being. Another ability demonstrated is that of mutant-mimicry (emulating active
mutant powers via tactile contact) the limits of which are still ill-defined. Apocalypse's
blood can heal other mutants, but is fatal for humans, with his blood shown to
restore his de-powered mutant descendants. Unlike previously, Apocalypse no
longer needs periodic rejuvenation in Celestial-tech slumber chambers, nor
hosts and consciousness transferal to extend his existence. While lacking the
millennia of experience of his previous incarnation, this Apocalypse still
possesses super-genius level intelligence, making him potentially a master
strategist, tactician, scientist and inventor.
Paraphernalia: Apocalypse’s original armor was created from highly-advanced Celestial technology. It would in fact be this encounter and infusion that would be Apocalypse’s downfall, eroding his inherent immortality. Seeking to not make the same mistake, his new reverse-engineered armor does not have that fatal flaw, and is actually now fully organic and bonded to his body, working in conjunction with his own inherent mutant powers. The bio-armor grants added durability and an energy source to project powerful blasts as well as generate virtually impenetrable force fields. Through distorting space, Apocalypse can achieve teleportation via his armor, with a temporary disorienting side-effect.
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| First rough sketch done by Shawn years ago. As you can see all the elements are still there. |
Q&A with Fabian and Shawn
What do you like most about the original character? – Fabian: Apocalypse is a perennial
mega-villain, a staple of the X-Men franchise.
Shawn: More so than Magneto, I always thought Apocalypse was the X-Men's ultimate villain. And he has the coolest name in comic book history.
What made you choose this character? – F: The first mutant with epic
powers and a Darwinian complex…nuff said. [But if I had to say more] I mean, the last X-Men movie had
him as the big bad. The fact he has been dormant in the comics with all the
legal issues with Marvel/Fox/Disney and the Summers/X-Men drama recently, he
kind of needs to make a comeback, in a big way….enter Nu-Perspective.
S: Apocalypse is one of those guys who's known as the big bad, but to me has never done anything to be proven as the big bad. That needs to change.
In regards to the story aspect of the update, what was your main inspiration for the direction? - S: Following Fabian's lead, the main inspiration came from wanting to explore what a real survival of the fittest mentality would be like in a world of superpowered people. And when I broke down Apocalypse's motivations, he doesn't really care about mutants, he's all about who is worthy, whether mutant, human or otherwise. That was very compelling.
Did the character pose a challenge to update and if
so what was the hardest part of the redesign? – It was a tough call giving his
extensive history and popularity at the time. Apocalypse has a loooonnnngggg history with the
X-Men and like them has translated into every medium from the comics, to the
animated 90s show, to the movies and was the boss of the early Capcom fighting
games, and a boss in other videogames. You almost can’t have X-Men without him.
So for me, how do you add to that
rich legacy? I know for Shawn it was his iconic look and topping that. I
figured he decided to go big or go home on this one.
S: This wasn't that big of a challenge. I had a redesign in mind for years, so when it was time to add him to Nu-Perspective I was ready.
In hindsight is there anything you would do
differently now? – F: I
think there really wasn’t much more we could have done with Apocalypse as he’s
probably the most recognizable on our list. I have no doubt we’d be seeing him
eventually.
S: Nah, we nailed it. (Digitally high-fives Fabian) lol
Is there something in particular you want to point
out? – F: Shawn’s whole
design…nuff said.
S: Humbly bows
NP
What IS Nu-Perspective you ask? Well, it's a bi-weekly column I started with my writing collaborator Fabian Wood with the purpose of revamping and updating different underdeveloped, underutilized and all-but-forgotten Nubian (black) comic book and pop culture characters.
Fine Print: Nu-Perspective is a column focused on revamps and updates of various
underdeveloped, underutilized and all-but-forgotten Nubian (black)
characters specifically. We aim to showcase these chosen characters in
fresh, contemporary and exciting ways both visually and story-wise to
show just how awesome they can truly be. All characters are copyrights
and trademarks of the respective publishers and creators. This column is
used solely for artistic enjoyment.
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