
Kid Omni-Man aka Young Omni-Man
(Oliver Grayson)
Context
Young Omni-Man (formerly Kid Omni-Man) is despite the awkward name one of the major characters in the popular, long-running super-hero comics series Invincible, by the author of The Walking Dead.
He’s a kid with Superman-type powers, who has been through some difficult phases.
This entry covers Oliver’s entire known history as of this writing, from his birth to the Viltrumites wars.
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Background
- Real Name: Oliver Grayson.
- Former Aliases: Kid Omni-Man, Young Omni-man.
- Marital Status: Single.
- Known Relatives: Nolan Grayson (Father), Debbie Grayson (Foster Mother), Andressa (Biological mother, deceased), Mark Grayson (Half-Brother).
- Group Affiliation: Coalition of Planets.
- Base Of Operations: Talescria.
- Height: 5’6” Weight: 140 lbs.
- Eyes: Blue Hair: Black
Powers & Abilities
Strength Level
Oliver possesses the vast superhuman strength that one would expect to find in a Viltrumite youth of his physical age, height, weight and build.
This places his strength level within the “Class 100” range. It is unknown whether or not Oliver’s strength will eventually equal or surpass that of either his father or brother, due to the imperfect union of his Viltrumite and Thraxxan DNA.
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Known Superhuman Powers
Oliver is unique in all of the universe. He is the son of a Viltrumite warrior (Nolan) and a Thraxxan female (his mother Andressa). Viltrumite DNA is unusually aggressive and generally dominant when combined with other species genetic material, but in Oliver’s case it has proven to be less compatible with Thraxxan DNA.
This has resulted in him manifesting several of the physiological characteristics found within the Thraxxan race in addition to the normal abilities attributed to the Viltrumite race.
Like all Viltrumites, Oliver possesses vast superhuman strength, speed, durability, stamina and flight. Despite his youth, Oliver is already stronger and more durable than any Earth-born superhuman (save Invincible).
His body is capable of resisting intense impacts, high calibre gun fire, and extremes in temperature with no outward sign of damage or discomfort. The biochemical processes of his body are so efficient that he could survive for days on a single lungful of air, and in the unusual event that he get injured, he will heal the damage at a superhuman rate.
Through the sheer force of will alone, he can move his entire body and fly at fantastic speeds. Oliver has shown that he is capable of matching speeds with his brother, Invincible, who is capable of traveling over 8000 miles in less than 25 seconds within the Earth’s atmosphere. He can reach even greater speeds in the vacuum of space.
Oliver also enjoys the extended lifespan afforded to him by his Viltrumite heritage. Though he won’t live as long as a pure blooded Viltrumite, he will enjoy a lifespan that extends for centuries, if not millennia.
Abilities
At first glance, Oliver would appear to have a genius level intellect, but the truth is far stranger than that. Oliver’s Thraxxan heritage has manifested itself as a form of eidetic memory and the ability to adapt to and learn new concepts and skills at a vastly accelerated rate.
Oliver’s rate of learning and comprehension of new concepts is so rapid that in most cases it appears to be instantaneous, or savant-like.
Limitations
The average member of the Thraxxan race has a lifespan of nine Earth months. They grow from hatchling to adulthood within days, and all aspects of their life occurs at a highly accelerated rate. For the first 12 months of his life, Oliver experienced this rapid maturation, and grew from an infant to a preteen within that time.
His Viltrumite DNA stubbornly asserted itself soon thereafter. It has slowed the rate at which he ages to that of a homo sapien. With this in mind, it has been estimated that Oliver will not experience the virtual immortality of the average Viltrumite lifespan, but rather will only live for a handful of centuries.
Presumably, Oliver shares the same vulnerabilities that affect all Viltrumites including the bioengineered Scourge Virus (which decimated the Viltrumite race) and an unusual allergy to the Klaxus plant.
Outside of his “decreased” lifespan and the common vulnerabilities that all Viltrumites share, Oliver received horrific wounds in the Viltrumite war resulting in the loss of his left arm and lower jaw. He has since received artificial replacements for both, and has been returned to full health and mobility.
However, his artificial arm (despite its advanced and alien nature) is significantly weaker than his own natural arm. It is unknown how vast this difference will eventually be when he reaches his full maturity.
History
The planet Thraxxa was first discovered by the Viltrumite Nolan, AKA Omni-Man. He found it a few weeks after abandoning his post on the planet Earth. Upon his arrival, he discovered that it was inhabited by a native race of aliens who called themselves Thraxxans.
The Thraxxan’s were a mantis-like people that possessed a rare genetic quirk. They aged from birth to maturity to death within nine months. Their hierarchy was based on age and the eldest being on the planet ruled over all.
Upon his arrival, Nolan Grayson was quickly made ruler of their world. After a period of adjustment he took a native Thraxxan named Andressa as his wife. Their union produced a son who would eventually be named Oliver.
Viltrumites murder planets
Nolan recognized that Thraxxa’s peace could not last. When his people discovered that he had abandoned his post on Earth, they would come for him.
In anticipation of this event, Nolan sent a Thraxxan representative to the Earth to retrieve his son Mark Grayson (better known as the hero Invincible). He hoped that the two of them would be able to defend Thraxxa from the impending Viltrumite assault.
It wasn’t long after Mark’s arrival that a trio of Viltrumite warriors arrived, hell bent on wreaking destruction upon the populace and apprehending Nolan. Nolan sent Andressa and the infant Oliver into hiding, while he and Mark battled the invaders. Despite their best efforts, Nolan and Mark were eventually defeated by the invading Viltrumites.
Aftermath
Nolan was taken into custody, while Mark was left battered and unconscious in the ruins of Thraxxa. With their goal accomplished, the Viltrumites quickly lost interest in Thraxxa, and left its devastated people to their own devices.
In Nolan’s absence, Andressa assumed sole control of Thraxxa’s people. She oversaw the rebuilding of their society in the wake of the Viltrumite rampage. Between her guidance, and Mark’s raw power, they managed to rebuild enough of their infrastructure to allow Invincible to leave within a few months.
During that time Mark grew closer to his younger brother. When Andressa begged him to bring Oliver back to his home world, he easily agreed. It was plain to see that despite the rapid rate Oliver was aging, his Viltrumite DNA would cause him to outlive everyone who cared about him on Thraxxa. He would end up alone.
My stepson is an alien, part 1
The Grayson brothers had a long and uneventful journey to Earth. Upon their arrival, Mark took Oliver to the one place he knew he would receive the care he needed. He took him to the home of his mother, Deborah Grayson.
Deborah was shocked and hurt by the news that her estranged husband had started a new family. She initially could not believe the audacity of her son’s request that she care for his child. But when Mark was called away by an emergency, she quickly bonded with the child and decided to raise him as her own.
She even went so far as to actually name him (up until this point, Oliver had gone nameless due to the Thraxxan custom of allowing individuals to choose their own names upon maturity).
It wasn’t long thereafter when Mark told Cecil Stedman (his government handler), what had occurred upon Thraxxa and revealed Oliver’s presence on the planet Earth. Cecil was thrilled and even eager to have another being of Mark’s caliber on his payroll.
With the success that Deborah had already had in raising Mark, Cecil the necessary arrangements to keep young Oliver in her care.
My stepson is an alien, part 2
In a few short months, Oliver had matured in appearance and intellect, becoming physically a pre-teen with a firm grasp of the English language. Even more shockingly, Oliver began to manifest his Viltrumite legacy at a far younger age than his brother did.
It didn’t take long (despite Deborah’s reservations), for Oliver to adopt his own costume and begin to battle the Earth’s criminal element.
Oliver’s burgeoning abilities easily eclipsed those of his homo sapien counterparts, and allowed him great success despite his inexperience. However, his emotional growth had failed to keep pace with his physical growth.
His immaturity combined with his alien outlook led him to believe that other than a few exceptional cases, human life wasn’t at all precious, and eventually after slaying the Mauler Twins in battle, he found himself at odds with his brother Mark.
The two lived together in an awkward state of silence until Oliver eventually decided that the burgeoning ill-will the two felt for one another wasn’t worth it. He made a promise to Mark that he would attempt to see the humans in the same manner that he did, and moreover that he would refrain from killing his opponents (even if it made sense).
Viltrumite after Viltrumite, part 1
Things settled down for awhile, and Oliver settled into a comfortable rhythm of studying with his tutor April, spending time with Deborah and fighting crime. Eventually, this pattern was disrupted when Angstrom Levy unleashed a score of corrupt extra dimensional duplicates of his brother Mark.
The alternate Invincibles wreaked havoc and waves of destruction planetwide in the effort to discredit Mark. Presumably, they also were meant to weaken the Earth’s defences in preparation for Angstrom’s final confrontation with the young hero.
Oliver confronted one of the duplicates in Deborah’s home, and put up as good a fight as he could. To his dismay, the alternate Invincible was just as powerful as his brother. While their fight was fierce it was brief and Oliver came out on the losing end.
Despite this, he wasn’t seriously injured. Oliver was able to rally alongside his brother and make a final assault on Angstrom Levy when the villain was unprepared.
Viltrumite after Viltrumite, part 2
Soon thereafter, while the Earth’s forces were clearing away the wreakage of the Invincible War, the Viltrumite enforcer Conquest made Earth fall. Conquest demanded to know why Mark had not continued his father’s work as he was ordered, and why the Earth’s defences were still in place.
In response, Mark attacked the massive Viltrumite and quickly learned that despite the training and preparation he had undergone, he was still physically inferior to an angered Viltrumite.
Oliver watched his brother receive a vicious beating from the berserk Viltrumite on the television for as long as he could. When he could not stand it any longer raced into the sky in the attempt to help. He arrived just in time to prevent Conquest from killing his brother, but in turn was brutally manhandled by Conquest.
He received a particularly nasty compound break of his arm and was very nearly torn in half during the course of the beating.
The Viltrumite War
Mark eventually defeated Conquest with aid from his girlfriend, Atom Eve. However, the two sustained life-threatening wounds during the battle. Oliver soon found himself with company in the military hospital he had been taken to immediately after his confrontation with Conquest.
Despite the vast differences in their injuries, Oliver’s less mature body needed a greater amount of time to heal. He spent several days in a military hospital biding his time until he had healed enough to leave and eventually help Mark with the clean up efforts.
Upon his recovery, life for Oliver once again settled back into his familiar pattern. He had several run-ins with villains from his brother’s “rogues gallery,” including one of which ended up with his costume getting destroyed.
When he approached Art the Tailor for a new one, Art gave him one that was more suitable for his physical age. With his new costume, Oliver altered his heroic name from “Kid” to “Young Omni-man”.
The Viltrumite War
Shortly thereafter, Nolan Grayson and Allen the Alien returned to the Earth. They attempted to recruit his Mark in the war effort against the Viltrumites. Oliver was floored at Nolan’s appearance, and eagerly volunteered to help with the war effort.
He desperately wanted to impress the man he had not seen since he was literally an infant. It was because of this that he was absolutely crushed when Nolan refused his offer, and gave him a feeble reason for leaving him behind.
Oliver protested immediately, but Nolan refused to change his mind until he saw the intense disappointment in Oliver’s eyes. In that moment, Nolan’s stance softened and he extended the same invitation to Oliver that he had done with Mark.
Pleased as punch, Oliver eagerly gathered what little belongings he would need and joined Mark and Nolan aboard the transport they would use to return to Coalition space
The craft (which bore a startling resemblance to the USS Enterprise) was intercepted and destroyed shortly after it entered Coalition space by Conquest. He had somehow gained the knowledge of their arrival and was sent to murder them before they could join the Coalition.
Space invaders, part 1
Oliver, alongside both his father and brother, attacked Conquest and his pair of Viltrumite allies in the vain attempt to defeat them before their air ran out. Ultimately, Oliver proved to be too weak and his brother was gravely wounded while saving his life from Conquest.
Oliver and Nolan spent the next nine months living on an unnamed and uncivilized planet in Coalition space. They waited for Mark to heal and awaken from the coma that he had fallen into immediately after Conquest’s death.
The time wasn’t wasted though, as Nolan used the time to not only train his son in the ways of war, but also to get to know him better. Despite the unending boredom and barrenness of their surroundings, Oliver had the time of his life with his father.
Space invaders, part 2
Mark eventually regained consciousness after nine long months, fully healed and rested. With Mark back in action, the Grayson family took to the skies and flew directly to Talescria under their own power.
They arrived just in time to turn the tide in a desperate battle between the besieged Coalition forces and their Viltrumite invaders. With the Grayson’s arrival, the Viltrumites beat a rapid retreat.
Less than a week passed before Oliver and several other high powered members of the Coalition embarked on a desperate journey to Viltrum, the Viltrumite home-world. They were attempting to ambush the retreating Viltrumite forces. Unfortunately, they were ambushed by the Viltrumites instead.
During the pitched battle, Oliver managed to hold his own until he made the singular mistake of confronting the Viltrumite Grand Regent on his own. Thragg dismembered him with a single contemptuous punch and left him to die in the darkness of space. With that, Oliver lost consciousness and his part in the war was over.
Sons and Fathers
Oliver awakened weeks later in a Talescrian hospital. Despite the fact that he had been broken, battered and oxygen deprived, he lived. His doctors informed him that his wounds were healing quite nicely. His skin had all but grown over his newly acquired artificial jaw and arm (he lost both to Thragg during their battle).
He was also informed that both is father and Mark had returned to Earth in pursuit of the Viltrumites. With nothing better to do, Oliver spent the next few weeks on Talescria convalescing and getting to know Allen the Alien. The two became fast friends, with Allen watching out for Oliver as though he were his guardian.
Nolan eventually returned to Talescria with his wife Debbie in tow. Thrilled to see his foster mother, Oliver spent some time visiting with her until the Talescrian news aired a live broadcast showing Omni-man battling Allen.
Oliver raced off to interfere in the battle, initially taking his father’s side until he found out that Nolan was trying to prevent Allen from unleashing the Scourge virus on the Earth.
After taking a moment to consider his options, Oliver turned on his father and helped Allen defeat him. With Omni-man out of the way, Oliver returned to the Earth alongside Allen to dispose of the Earth-bound Viltrumites.
The Scourge, part 1
The two (along with Allen’s retinue) arrived in Earth space within two weeks of their departure. They were immediately confronted by Invincible. When Allen explained his plan for defeating the Viltrumites, Mark immediately balked and refused to allow the two of them to infect the planet.
Allen and Oliver expected Mark’s response and with that a brief skirmish broke out until Grand Regent Thragg arrived. Thragg had been monitoring Earth space and had detected their arrival. Thragg was too much of a deterrent, and with his arrival the battle halted.
Despite Oliver’s protests, Thragg and Allen bartered a peace treaty between the Coalition and the Viltrumites. Just as they were discussing terms, the Earth born Guardians of the Globe arrived and attempted to take everyone present into custody.
The Scourge, part 2
While Invincible, Thragg and Allen were distracted by the humans, Oliver made a rash decision. He flashed through space and grabbed the weaponized Scourge virus and raced towards the Earth. His brother intercepted him before he could unleash the virus and the two briefly struggled over the weapon.
During their fight, the dispenser accidentally blasted a full dose of the virus into Mark’s face and immediately stunned the hero. To Oliver’s horror, he had unwittingly infected one of the only people he cared about in the universe with the one thing that was sure to kill him.
To his great relief, Allen appeared out of nowhere and caught the stunned hero. It only took them a few seconds to realize that the Virus had already taken hold inside of Mark and they raced him off to the only place they knew was isolated enough and had the technology to possibly save him. That was Thragg’s command carrier,hidden on the dark side of the moon.
They then left him in the Viltrumites care (as they were unwelcome upon the carrier) and awaited on the Earth’s surface for news of his conditions. While they waited, Allen and Oliver sought out their war-time ally, Tech Jacket.
My brother is dying
They found him embroiled in a particularly difficult battle with a powerful alien invader. Despite their near immeasurable raw strength, the three allies found themselves on the losing side of the battle until Atom Eve intervened and neutralized the alien.
Eve’s appearance was not a coincidence. She had arrived looking for Allen as he was one of the few beings that knew the location of Dinosaurus’ lair (he had gotten the information from Invincible before he succumbed to the virus).
Apparently, while Allen, Oliver, & Tech Jacket were battling the alien Dinosaurus had abducted Mark and left the command carrier. The three aliens along with Eve and Bulletproof converged on Dinosaurus’ lair and confronted the villain only to discover that he had been protecting Mark from Thragg.
With the crisis averted and Mark’s seeming return to health (albiet without his powers), Allen and Oliver decided it was time to return to Talescria. The two journeyed home over the next two weeks, and upon their arrival, Allen freed Nolan and begged for his forgiveness.
Talescria
When Allen had finished, Oliver did much the same. Mark’s near death had truly shaken him to his core and made him rethink his notion about taking a life, any life, casually. Pleased at his son’s epiphany and continued growth, Nolan accepted his apology, and left once more for the Earth.
Rather than return to the Earth alongside his father, Oliver decided to remain on Talescria and to continue to think about the series of events that had recently concluded.
Description
Though Oliver is just over two years old, his physical body is that of a typical 14-16 year old Viltrumite boy. He has a handsome face which is framed by an unruly shock of shoulder-length hair. He is of an average height, but has several pounds of rock hard muscle onto his youthful frame.
Despite this he still possesses a lean athletic build, and would easily pass for a human being except for the fact that his skin still has a slight lavender hue. It is clear that the colour of his skin continues to lighten daily and that at some point in the near future, the lavender hue of his skin will fade completely, rendering him indistinguishable from the average Caucasian youth.
Costumes past and present
Oliver’s current costume is a vast improvement over his original. It has a much simpler colour scheme: the body suit is black and red only. The lower half from the waist down is black covering his legs and has red calf-length boots, while the upper half is black and red with a large red “O” and red gloves.
The sleeves of the suit are still short though. A red domino mask covers his face now.
His Kid Omni-Man costume was horribly ugly. It consisted of a black and red body suit with yellow boots and gloves. The sleeves of the suit were short while the legs of the suit covered only his upper thighs, leaving the rest exposed. A large yellow “O” sat in the center of his chest, while a black domino mask covered his face.
Personality
In some ways, Oliver is your typical kid brother. He’s full of energy, enthusiastic, excitable and somewhat naïve to the ways of the world. He hovers off of the ground constantly, and uses phrases like “Hell YEAH!” and “COOL!” when he’s excited about something.
He loves being a superhero and has switched already switched his costume in his short career. And like any child, Oliver pushes the boundaries and struggles with his family’s (Invincible in particular) attempts to shelter him from harm. He constantly exposes himself to danger and taking risks that one of his obvious intellect would typically avoid.
In other ways though, Oliver can be off-putting. His capacity for learning and adapting to new situations makes him seem unnaturally intelligent at times, and his clinical detachment from the majority of humanity truly exposes his alien nature.
As the quotes illustrate, he did not always believe that all life is precious. Instead, he strongly held the belief that those who pose a risk to the greater collective should simply be eliminated.
For the majority of his life, his vast intellect had outstripped his moral development giving him just enough knowledge to rationalize his actions but not enough to truly decide what is right and what is wrong.
Other traits
Like most teenagers, he has an overdeveloped sense of immortality. Oliver gladly confronts foes that are far more capable than he with a grin and wanton abandon.
In addition, Oliver disliked (and most likely still does) the human race; he feels that as a people humans are war-like, selfish and not much better than the Viltrumites themselves. This fact, combined with the fact that like all Thraxxans Oliver places little value on individual life, caused Oliver to believe that is was okay to murder humans (one or all) in order to accomplish a greater goal.
As long as the individuals that he values/cares about (Mark, April, Debbie, Nolan and possible Eve) were safe, Oliver was fully capable of sacrificing all of humanity to achieve a goal that he desires. As a result of current events, Oliver has had an epiphany of sorts and has begun to rethink his previous stance on the sanctity of life (human or otherwise).
Quotes
“HA ! I’m totally holding my own. You guys are screwed !”
“So what ? They were BAD GUYS… they killed people down there. I killed them — now they can’t kill anyone. You should be happy !”
“Why should I ? How many times have you fought those guys now ? How many people have they killed since the first time you fought ? What you do is illogical. The logical thing to do would be to stop these guys — permanently. That’s what makes sense to me.”
Oliver: “Human life isn’t precious. Not in general — not everyone. People risk their lives every day. They kill each other. If they don’t think their lives are important, why should I ? Most of them are utterly insignificant.”
Invincible: “You sound like Dad.”
Oliver: “So ? Why is that bad ? Was he so wrong ? Did nothing he said make sense to you — even on a small level ? Have you every thought that maybe our father was right ?”
(While unleashing a charging kick attack into Conquest) “Eat one, you old sack of turds !”
“That’s it ! I’m messing this guy up !”
“Hey, dick head — a black hole called — it wants its suck back !”
“On my mother’s planet — I’d be an elder, hell — I’d be MONARCH by now.”
(Addressing Allen the Alien, after interrupting a battle between Allen and Omni-man)
Oliver: “You have a virus that could kill all Viltrumites ? And you… want to release it on Earth.”
Omni-man: “Yes, and because of our similar genetic make-up… it’s very likely that it could wipe out the entire human population in the process.”
Oliver: “…He’s right. Let him do it.”
(Describing human beings) “They’re assholes. They are only for taking what they don’t have from those that do. They’re a small and petty people who are nearly as addicted to violence as our race is.”
DC Universe History
As a people, the Viltrumites would make an excellent foil to the Superman family. During the original Invasion series, instead of the Dominators recruiting the Daxamites to invade the planet Earth, perhaps they stumbled upon the planet of Viltrum.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Oliver Grayson
Dex: 07 | Str: 17 (16) | Bod: 14 | Motivation: Anti-Heroic Seeking Justice/Thrill of Adventure |
Int: 10 | Wil: 07 | Min: 07 | Occupation: Adventurer |
Inf: 03 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 06 | Resources {or Wealth}: 006 |
Init: 020 | HP: 035 |
Powers:
Cold Immunity: 06, Flame Immunity: 06, Flight: 25, Mind Over Matter: 10, Recall: 20, Regeneration: 02, Sealed Systems: 15, Superspeed: 15, Systemic Antidote: 04
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Recall: Form Function (+1FC).
- STR: Right arm has listed STR, Artificial Left Arm has STR of 16.
Skills:
None.
Advantages
Lightning Reflexes, Omni-Knowledge, Slowed-Aging (100s of years).
Connections:
Allen the Alien (High), Atom Eve (Low), Invincible (High), Omni-Man (High).
Drawbacks:
Attack Vulnerability (-2CS vs attacks against the inner ear), Creepy Appearance (Lavender Skin), Exile (Planet Thraxxa, Involuntary), Fatal Vulnerability (Scourge Virus), Gradual Loss Vulnerability (Scourge Virus, All Powers reduced to 0 APs and Physical Stats reduced to 02 APs, Rare), Loss Vulnerability (Klaxus Plant, All Powers and physical attributes reduced by 2CS, Rare), SIH (Viltrumites), Minor Rage, Miscellaneous (Artificial Left arm and jaw, 0 Pts), Secret Identity.
Genre:
Action.
Equipment:
TELEPATHIC EARPLUG [BODY 03, Comprehend Languages: 06, Telepathy: 06, R#: 2 ; Limitations: Comprehend Languages: Spoken Languages only; Telepathy is for communication only – no mental battles].
Design notes
Set Oliver’s STR and BOD to a level where he can hold his own against the average adult Viltrumite for a few rounds. To represent Oliver in his tween stage, his physical stats to DEX 06, STR 15 and BOD 13.
Note that at that stage, Oliver did not know about his Sealed System Power and had the following limitations to his Superspeed: Can only substitute for Dex in non-combat situations (-2FC), Does not add to Initiative (-1FC).
Replaced the Astounding Potential advantage with the Omni-Knowledge advantage to better represent his ability to seemingly instantly learn new skills.
Source of Character: Image Comics Series – Invincible, created by Robert Kirkman (author), Cory Walker (illustrator/artist), Ryan Ottley (Illustrator).
Helper(s): Roy Cowan, Darci, Frank Murdock.
Writeup completed on the 22nd of June, 2013.