Immortal

Background

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Powers & Abilities

Strength Level

The Immortal possesses superhuman strength. He can lift (press) at least 100 tons directly overhead. He can hurl a person into orbit around the Earth or hit a Viltrumite hard enough to actually give the alien being pause.

Known Superhuman Powers

No matter what tragedy befalls him, the Immortal simply cannot die. He does not age, is completely immune to disease, heals at an impossibly rapid rate, has virtually inexhaustible endurance and stamina and is seemingly invulnerable to conventional forms of injury. It takes a superhumanly powerful blow or a direct hit from anti-tank weaponry to even give him pause.

Outside of his unusual longevity and immortality, the Immortal possesses superhuman strength and the enviable gift of unaided flight. The Immortal’s top flight speed is currently unknown, but it is sufficient enough for him to reach escape velocity.

Presumably he gained these abilities at the same point in time which he gained his immortality.

Abilities

The Immortal literally has lifetimes of experience in virtually all manner and walks of life. He has been in several wars and presumably had several professions throughout his immortal life. Unfortunately, he rarely seems to make use of these life experiences, and instead relies on his awesome strength and immortality instead.

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Limitations

In the past, the Immortal’s recuperative abilities have been temporarily neutralized when he was decapitated or torn in half. Both injuries left his body in a death-like state until his body parts were reunited.

While the Immortal’s recollection of the last century seems relatively clear, his memories of the events before that have steadily degraded with time. He has some sketchy memories of the 1800s (he remembers disguising himself as Lincoln) and he vaguely remembers Christopher Columbus from the 1400s. But previous to those dates, his memory is a complete blank.

History

The true story of the Immortal’s origin is currently a mystery, even to the man himself. Due to the severe memory loss that the Immortal suffers from, he can only remember sketchy details.

The only fact that is known about the Immortal’s past is this. Some 3,000 years ago he was born and lived his life as a mortal human being. Then the incident occurred. Its origins were unknown. It could have been an irradiated meteorite falling from the skies, or a mystical duel between rival superpowers, alien experimentation or even a side effect of a dimensional rift.

All that is known is that after the incident occurred, the Immortal was imbued with belief-defying superhuman powers and the gift of true immortality.

I just can’t remember

After gaining his powers, the Immortal wandered about the world exploring it in the way that only a man with nothing but time on his hands could. During that time, he supposedly travelled to England where under the guise of Lancelot. There, he joined a young king named Arthur and his circle of knights.

Sometime afterwards, he allegedly sailed the girth of the Atlantic ocean under the guise of Columbus and discovered a new lands. He has even told a tale where he assumed the guise of Abraham Lincoln  and ruled the United States when the former president could no longer serve his country.

Twentieth Century Man

Undisclosed events in the early days of the twentieth century convinced the Immortal that he could do more good for the people of the Earth if he came out of the shadows. He would now use his superhuman abilities openly as a costumed champion of justice.

As time progressed, his example spurred other costumed adventurers to come out of the proverbial woodwork. Thus, he soon found himself surrounded by superhumanly powerful and like-minded allies that he would eventually call friends. The group decided to make their loose association official and founded the Guardians of the Globe.

It didn’t take long for the team to gain official support from the Global Defense Agency. With the Government’s support and Omni-man’s addition to the team, the Guardians of the Globe became the Earth’s premier team of superheroes and remained so for years.

One day, the Immortal received a summons over his Guardians communicator while he was battling his old foe, the Bi-plane. Immediately after he defeated Bi-plane, the Immortal flew to the mountainside headquarters of the Guardians of the Globe. The entire team was there, minus Omni-Man.

As the group tried to ascertain exactly why they were summoned, they were all murdered in a single blur of motion. The Immortal was the only one spared, and only for a moment at that. He had just enough time to look at the teams murderer, Omni-man, in the face and spit a curse before Omni-man beheaded him with a single powerful blow.

The Guardians of the Globe are dead

The Immortal only had a few days before he was revived by the Mauler Twins. The Maulers had reattached the Immortal’s head to his body and affixed a control collar which they hoped would allow them to control the ancient hero. Unfortunately for them, the Immortal awoke in a rage. He battered his way out of the Maulers confined headquarters seeking nothing less than bloody vengeance.

It only took him a few hours to find his former ally battling a titanic monster on the one of the many beaches of Los Angeles. Without warning or pause, the Immortal attacked Omni-man in full view of the civilians and television cameras.

Though he took Omni-man by surprise initially, the brawl quickly turned south for the “eternal warrior” (no relation). Omni-man quickly asserted his physical superiority. It took only a few additional moments for the past to repeat itself, and the Immortal found himself torn in two once again. Not at his neck, but instead at his waist this time.

The Immortal’s remains were recovered far more quickly this time, by members of the GDA. Once his discarded halves were reattached, he immediately returned to life. He awoke to discover that Omni-man’s treachery had been revealed. Furthermore, Omni-Man’s own son Invincible had attempted to punish his father for his deeds.

Back to Business

Left with nothing more to do, the Immortal returned to a new incarnation of the Guardians of the Globe. At first it was as an advisor, and then as its leader. As time passed and the Guardians spent more time together, the Immortal began to find himself being drawn to one of the young female members of the team, Dupli-Kate.

Despite his initial reluctance to do so, the two eventually entered into a passionate relationship and fell deeply in love.

The two remained active members of the Guardians of the Globe. They participated in several adventures together before getting married on a whim. Married life was an adjustment for both heroes. The Immortal had to fight his instinct to protect his wife and Kate wanted nothing less than to be treated as an equal and capable member of the team.

This all came to a head when the two were separated during two simultaneous Guardians missions. The Immortal was forced to face a Martian armada in the dark reaches of space alongside of Invincible and several of the Guardians’ “heavy hitters,”.

Meanwhile, Kate was sent (with Rex-Splode and Shrinking Ray) to prevent the Lizard League from acquiring tactical nuclear devices from a secure government location. Even as the Immortal’s team was vastly successful in their mission, Kate’s ended in tragedy with the deaths of both Kate and Shrinking Ray.

Widower

The Immortal was informed of Kate’s death upon his return from space. He immediately began to spiral into a deep state of depression and rage. He found himself lashing out at friends and opponents alike, and was at a complete loss of control.

Eventually, he realized that he was losing control and he took a leave of absence from the Guardians before he seriously hurt someone else.

The Immortal exiled himself to the far reaches of the Canadian north for months while trying to find his centre once more. His solitude was cut short though when he received the surprise of his life. He had returned from a fishing trip to find his wife, Kate, standing shyly in the centre of his cabin.

Unwidowed

Kate revealed to the Immortal that the entirety of their time together, he had been interacting with one of her duplicates. Her true body remained hidden away in a secret location known only to her. It was this fact that had made her so fearless in battle. As long as her “zero” body survived, she was functionally as immortal as he.

With the two joyfully united and his centre restored, the Immortal cautiously returned to active duty with the Guardians. His caution was well warranted, as the next two adventures he undertook with the Guardians ended poorly.

The first found him leading what remained of the fractured Guardians team against their former ally Invincible. They had had a falling out with Cecil Stedman. Invincible had decided to help the fugitive Gary Hampton (aka the Wolf-man) escape from GDA custody.

The Immortal himself attempted to apprehend the young Viltrumite, but Invincible’s strength proved to be too much for the Immortal. Like his father before him, Invincible singlehandedly trounced the Guardians and easily escaped.

The Invincible War

Angstrom Levy then unleashed 16 extra-dimensional duplicates of the young hero Invincible. One of the more vicious of the doppelgängers attacked the Guardians. This version of Invincible had no compunctions about utilizing lethal force against his foes, and tore through the Guardians in seconds.

He casually slaughtered every one of Kate’s duplicates, beheaded the Immortal and ultimately forced the hero Darkwing to sacrifice his life to halt his rampage.

This last loss proved to be too much for the Immortal. Concerns over his new wife’s safety and his own relative powerlessness before his last string of foes caused him to seriously consider retirement. It was an easy decision for him, as Kate had already suggested starting a family.

With that, the Immortal retired from active duty and bought a home in the suburbs. Before long, the Immortal and Kate started a new family; Kate gave birth to a pair of twins (exactly the same as she and her brother).

The next year passed relatively uneventfully for the Immortal, until Dinosaurus flooded every coastal city worldwide. With the death toll numbering in the millions, the Immortal could no longer stand by on the side lines, and came out of retirement. Kate, however, remained retired in order to rear their children.

The Deep Future, Imperius Rex !

Sometime in the distant future, the Immortal was appointed the steward of the planet Earth by Invincible, its then ruler. He was given the task of ruling over this small part of Invincible’s empire while Mark went into deep space with the rest of his family.

The appointment was only supposed to be a short one, but neither Invincible or any member of his family returned for centuries.

As the centuries passed, the Immortal’s unending existence drove him mad. He desperately searched for a way to end his life. Failing to find one, he became a cruel despot with the intention of forcing his subjects to find a way to kill him.

His prayers were answered when a pair of rebels utilized a time machine to travel deep into the past and return with the one man who had enough raw power to stop the Immortal: Invincible himself. Upon his arrival, Invincible was immediately taken into custody. Invincible soon found himself face to face with the Immortal who begged him for death.

Even after a long and poignant explanation, Invincible refused to murder his friend. This drove the Immortal into a frenzy, and he attacked Mark again and again in an attempt to provoke him into battle. Finally, with the realization that his friend was in true agony Invincible wrenched the Immortal’s head from his shoulders, granting him his final request.

Description

The Immortal is a tall handsome caucasian male, with jet black hair and steely grey eyes. His body is built like a professional football player, with thick broad shoulders and a wide muscular chest. His costume is rather unique, it consists of a blue unitard that leaves his face bare.

The costume is covered with white and orange stripes, several which end in circular patterns that surround his knees and shoulders. His hands are covered with orange and white gloves as are his feet.

A single orange stripe runs vertically up the centre of the costume’s chest while a solid orange circle surrounds his neck, creating the illusion of an “i” (coincidentally, Invincible’s costume has a similar pattern in Yellow/Blue).

Most of the time, the Immortal carries a stern look on his face and holds himself with a regal and imposing bearing. However, in moments of weakness his face and posture betrays the heavy burden that his immortality places upon him.

Personality

Over the course of the series, The Immortal’s personality and behaviour can be described as erratic at the best of times. When things are going well, he is a confident and charismatic man who can be easily accepted as a leader and friend.

At other times, his pride, temper and aggressiveness seem poised to consume him. In truth, the Immortal is a man whose exceedingly long life is threatening to drive him mad. He has suffered loss after loss after loss and is losing the ability to cope.

After the loss of his wife, Grace, and his friends in the Guardians he avoided making human connections in order to insulate himself from the pain of their eventual demise.

His marriage to Dupli-Kate though has changed him. Her youth and vigor has rekindled his passion for life and a desire to establish closer connections to his teammates.

Despite the fact that he has several centuries of life experience, the Immortal generally takes the simplest and most direct solution to any problem. If something is in the way, he hits it. When looking for his people to follow him, he bellows orders. At his core, he is a simple man that as found himself trapped in extra-ordinary circumstances.

Quotes

(To Invincible after recovering from Omni-man’s brutal attack) “Cecil says you’re one of the good guys. I have my suspicions. It’s been my experience that apples rarely fall far from the tree… even if they tell themselves otherwise at first. I’m going to be keeping an eye on you. I won’t let you fulfill his mission. I see one sign of you changing sides and I’m taking you out. Simple as that.”

(Coming across the Maulers in the process of a robbery)
Mauler #1: “Oh crap. Look — you don’t really want to hurt us, do you ?”
Immortal: “I do, in fact.”
Mauler #1: “You shouldn’t be pissed. We put you together ! We brought you back to life ! If it wasn’t for us — you’d still be rotting in that grave !”
Mauler #2: “Yeah !! You should be thanking us !!”
Immortal: “I wouldn’t consider what’s coming next to be a proper ’Thank you.‘ But I’ll let you be the judge.”

“Please child. You’re insulting me by fighting back.”

“I’ve already been married 17 times. I was not looking forward to another wedding. I’m not big on ceremony. I like it better this way — more romantic.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t experienced before. Nothing I’m not used to. It’s just — the thing that bothers me the most — her age — she was so young — I didn’t know I’d lose her so soon. I thought we would have more time together.”

“How dare you threaten me ? You are the one who is invading my territory. I’m in no mood for surrender. If it’s a fight you want — it’s a fight you’ll get !”

(In a future timeline, where he is ruler of the planet Earth) “I haven’t seen you since you took your family and left this planet. What was that — 200 — 300 years ago ? I just… can’t remember. I carry within me a great sorrow, Mark. Something I can’t overcome… not anymore.”

(In a future timeline, where he is ruler of the planet Earth) “I want it to end… finally, at long last… I just want it to be over. I want to die, Mark.”

(In a future timeline, where he is ruler of the planet Earth) “I can’t lead a world I don’t care about … I’m finished. I’ve wanted to die for some time. I can’t do it myself… all attempts have failed. I’ve tried to instigate my murder… but it can’t be done. The things I’ve done… the horrible acts I’ve committed, I’ve taken lives — all in an attempt to inspire a revolt — an attack against me, but they always fail.”

“I hope that is true, because I am not coming back. I am through with this life. My wife wants to start a family, I’m ready to give that to her.”

Immortal: “ … nearly every major coastal city in the world is under water. I’m needed.”
Kate: “You’re needed here. I thought we put all this behind us — we started a family. That isn’t what we do anymore.”
Immortal: “ Our children are safe and you’re here to protect them if something else happens. I’m going to go make sure other people’s children are safe, because I can and because it’s the right thing to do.”

(After devastating the United Nations building with a “Blitz” attack) “This childish tantrum is over.”

By Bryan Gittens.

Source of Character: Image Comics Series – Invincible, created by Robert Kirkman (author), Cory Walker (illustrator/artist), Ryan Ottley (Illustrator).

Helper(s): Dr. Peter Piispanen, Sébastien Andrivet.

Writeup updated on the 9^th of September, 2013.