Grayson has inherited his father Omni-Man’s natural Viltrumite abilities — superstrength, flight, superspeed, enhanced senses and slowed aging. As he is still maturing, his powers have not reached their full strength yet.

Omni-Man was initially uncertain whether Mark’s powers would ever reach the level of a typical Viltrumite, since Mark was half human.  After seeing his son in action the first few times, Omni-Man revised his assessment upward, speculating that Mark’s abilities might eventually exceed his own. Nevertheless, Mark is well below full Viltrumite ability at this time, as evidenced by the brutally one-sided thrashing his father inflicted upon him during their battle.

History

Mark Grayson was born to Debbie Grayson, a normal human woman, and Nolan Grayson, a Viltrumite humanoid who protected Earth as the superhero Omni-Man. Nolan told Mark that he had been part of Viltrum’s exploration corps and that he had found himself so fascinated with Earth that he decided to settle on this planet even though it would be centuries before Earth could enter the galactic community.

Mark did not begin getting his powers until shortly before graduating high school, so he led a fairly normal youth. His inherited Viltrumite abilities manifested during his senior year and he became a superhero like his father, taking the name Invincible. He met the Teen Team soon afterward and became a member of that group in short order.  He got along well with all of the Teen Team members but his closest friendship was with Atom Eve, who went to the same high school as Mark in her civilian identity.

The thrill of Mark’s new lifestyle did not last long. The Guardians of the Globe (a Justice League analogue) were all killed in their headquarters and the murderer was revealed to be Omni-Man. Nolan Grayson revealed his true mission — to prepare the Earth for Viltrumite rule. Nolan asked his son to join him in establishing Viltrumite dominion over the world, but Mark refused. Omni-Man and Invincible fought, but the son was no match for the father. Though Omni-Man severely injured Mark, he could not bring himself to kill his own son and fled Earth instead, deeply upset.

Mark was taken into custody by Cecil Stedman, the agent who acted as a coordinator and liaison between the US government and the superhero community. Omni-Man had formerly worked with Cecil, who had no idea of Omni-Man’s true intentions. Thanks to Omni-Man’s communication gear, Cecil had overheard the conversation between Mark and Nolan during their confrontation and knew that Mark did not share his father’s motivations. Invincible was recruited in his father’s stead, working with Cecil Stedman and the superhero community as a whole. He also began college.

As for Omni-Man, after leaving Earth Nolan realized that he could not go back to the Viltrumite Empire. He would be considered a traitor for his weakness in abandoning his post instead of killing his son Mark.  He explored the galaxy, looking for a new world to conquer in hopes that finding another planet to introduce to the Viltrumite Empire would lessen his punishment. Within a week, he found a planet inhabited by humanoid insects with very short life spans. To beings for whom a generation was a mere six months, the powerful and many-millennia-old Nolan seemed especially godlike. Nolan was swiftly chosen to be leader of the entire planet, dubbed the Mantis World in official accounts.

After a few months Nolan had married and his new wife, Andressa, had borne a child. This new son looked like a human, albeit one with purple skin. Realizing that the Viltrumites would be coming for him soon, Nolan summoned Mark from Earth to take Nolan’s new son under his care. Nolan knew that the Viltrumites would see his new son as imperfect, which would carry a death penalty under Viltrumite law.

Just as had Nolan explained the situation to Mark, a trio of Viltrumites arrived. Mark and Nolan hid Nolan’s new wife and child and then fought the Viltrumites, who were slaughtering the planet’s native population simply to frustrate Nolan. The brutal melee ended with all five men badly injuring each other before falling unconscious. When Mark awoke, more Viltrumites had arrived and were taking Nolan away, presumably for a trial followed by execution. Feeling that Mark had proven himself worthy of his Viltrumite heritage during the battle and willing to overlook Mark’s resistance as loyalty to his father, the Viltrumites left Mark to take up Nolan’s mission on Earth. Mark would have one hundred years to put Earth in order for the Viltrumites. If he failed to do so, he would be detained and executed when they arrived at that time.

Once Mark recovered from his injuries, he spent weeks helping the planet’s natives rebuild. When a vessel was ready to return Mark to Earth, Andressa asked him to take her son with him. The child was growing at about four times the rate of a human, but this was still glacially slow compared to the natural aging of Andressa’s people.  Entire generations would come and go while the boy was still a child, making it impossible for him to have a normal life. This disconnection might become even worse once the child came of age, as Nolan had theorized that this son’s aging would slow to something approaching normal Viltrumite standards once he reached adulthood just as Mark’s had. This would result in his son living hundreds or thousands of years. Mark agreed and when he returned to Earth Mark’s mother decided to take the child under her care.

Before being taken away, Nolan asked Mark to read “his books.” Mark was confused by this request but upon investigation he learned that his father had written a series of science-fiction books before he started his more successful career as a travel guide author. Upon reading the books, Mark realized that they were in fact journals of Nolan’s real-life adventures before coming to Earth and that they listed the various things Nolan had encountered that were capable of harming Viltrumites — knowledge Mark could use to defeat them. This task has taken on greater urgency since Mark was recently informed by the Viltrumites that when they returned to Earth sometime in the next five years his performance would be evaluated. If he is found at that time not to be making proper progress toward reforming Earth into a proper member of the Viltrumite Empire, he is to be killed and replaced. 

Description

Mark Grayson is a handsome young white male with tousled medium-length hair and a fit (though not muscular) build. As Invincible, he wears a black body suit with blue knee-high boots, yellow fingerless gloves that extend over his forearms, and a large yellow “i” on his chest. A blue band wraps around the shoulders of the costume and cuts between the dot and the body of the i. The yellow dot of the i extends into a cowl over Invincible’s head that leaves the top of his head, his ears, and his lower face exposed. His eyes are covered by pale blue fisheye goggles, much like those of the DCU’s Blue Beetle’s costume.

Personality

Mark is a normal, friendly young man. He became a superhero out of an instinctive drive to use his powers to do good works. He does enjoy the life of a superhero and will occasionally crack jokes during fights, but does not let his enthusiasm lead him into reckless action.  Mark’s willingness to assess a situation and attempt negotiation has sometimes helped him avoid getting into pointless fights.

While Invincible is sometimes slightly overconfident in his abilities, he is not at all deterred when he does find himself facing an opponent powerful enough to hurt him.

Mark’s favorite hobbies include hanging out with his friends and reading the “Science Dog” comic book.

DC Universe History

Since Omni-Man and Invincible assisted other heroes but worked independently (in other words, not being full-time members of any supergroup), they could be inserted as is. Placing them on the west coast of the United States would give them enough necessary distance from the home turf of most other major DC heroes to avoid any troubling overlap.

Since the original Guardians of the Globe (GOTG) were obvious analogues for the Justice League, it is possible to integrate the events of the series by having Omni-Man slaughter the actual JLA.  Barring that extreme measure, it is entirely possible to simply throw in the GOTG as a separate superteam though, especially since they were based in Utah, comfortably far away from the east coast cities that were home to the members of the JLA. An intermediate measure would be putting the Global Guardians in the stead of the GOTG, which would also reflect the more international membership of the GOTG.

New rules

Near-Immortal Advantage
Cost: 15 HPs
This advantage increases the life-span of a character by a factor of x20 to x 100, making his total lifespan span over millennia. Such characters usually age by this retarded rate throughout their lives, or they age normally to adulthood after which aging is retarded. Aging attacks directed against the character, such as Spirit Drain with the Aging Bonus, will have their RV increased by 15 APs. Examples: Asgardians, such as Thor have this Advantage.