Unus the Untouchable

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Background

Powers & Abilities

Unus is a mutant with a protective invisible force field. Centered on Unus, the field protects him, his clothing, and any objects he may be holding.

Attacks (bullets, punches, energy blasts, etc.) tend to bounce off the field, with a potential to rebound on attackers. The rebound is generally not very accurate, but often sends antagonists running for cover. Unus can solidify his field to the point where he can walk on it, suspended a few feet above the ground.

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Unus is also physically fit and a capable combatant. A trained wrestler with a powerful physique, Unus hits very hard. He sometimes uses a baseball bat as a weapon. Protected by his force field, the bat won’t break no matter how hard he hits with it.

His OHOTMU entry states that hardening his force field around his hands or the bat amplifies the force of his blows. Unus himself once said that he and his bat could do more damage than a Sherman tank. Such an amplification effect isn’t really demonstrated on-panel in any story.

So far as he demonstrated, he’s “just” a big, muscular, invulnerable athlete in peak physical condition with an unbreakable club and combat training. That in itself is enough for him to do more damage than a tank… eventually.

History

Unus the Untouchable was a professional wrestler and a powerful mutant. An early foe of the X-Men, Unus clashed repeatedly with them and other super-heroes.

He was a friend and partner of the Blob and sought both wealth and power as a member of two organizations of mutant terrorists, the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and Factor Three.

His wrestler’s skills and personal force field made him a formidable opponent, but he never truly fulfilled his potential. He finally died, not in battle, but as a victim of his own out-of-control powers.

Prelude, part 1

Unus’ given name was Angelo Unuscione. Little is known of his early life. According to secondary sources he was born in Milan, Italy and his mutant force field powers manifested in adolescence.

He used them as a school bully and later as a small time criminal. After immigrating with his family to America, Unuscione legally changed his name to Gunther Bain.

As an adult, Bain used his powers to make a living as the costumed wrestler “Unus the Untouchable,” his stage name obviously derived from his Italian birth name. Had Bain debuted several years later, after the creation of the super-powered Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, he might have had a chance to gain the wealth and fame he desired.

As it was, he was a flamboyant but small-time wrestler and carnival attraction hoping to make it big. Nevertheless, Unus was devastating in the ring, and was quickly gaining a following as an undefeated champion.

Prelude, part 2

He apparently trained hard, developing a powerful physique and fighting skills, but his real asset was a personal force field which repelled any opponent, preventing him from being struck or grappled. Unus could make small holes in this invisible field through which he could counterattack, allowing him to down an opponent while never even being touched in return.

His uncanny abilities attracted the attention of Magneto, master of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The nascent Brotherhood had already clashed several times with the X-Men, and both sides were eager to find and recruit new mutants.

Magneto sent Mastermind to evaluate Unus’ potential and willingness to join the Brotherhood. Bain was eager, believing this was his chance to achieve greater wealth and power than he ever could as a simple wrestler.

Mastermind informed him that he would have to prove his worth first. He suggested Unus try to locate the X-Men’s secret base or even defeat an X-Man in battle.

War of the Ring, part 1

As luck would have it (dun dun dun!), Hank McCoy, aka the Beast, had recently quit the X-Men to become a professional wrestler. The Beast had been attacked by an anti-mutant mob after rescuing a little boy stranded on top of a building.

Disgusted with the fear and hatred of humans, McCoy decided to use his mutant powers for his own gain instead of thankless heroics. Like Unus before him, the Beast turned his physical prowess toward professional wrestling, soon gaining minor fame. Before long he was pitted against the local champion…Unus the Untouchable.

Facing Unus in the ring, the Beast quickly deduced that his opponent had superhuman powers and must also be a mutant. He also spotted Mastermind in the audience and realized that the Brotherhood was aware of this powerful potential recruit.

Unus won the wrestling match when the Beast, thinking his way through the implications of the encounter, was bounced out of the ring and was too slow making his way back inside. He got away unhurt, however, and without Mastermind or Unus figuring out his true identity.

War of the Ring, part 2

Meanwhile, Unus had been spotted by the X-Men’s mutant-detecting machine, Cerebro, as an unidentified mutant. The X-Men’s leader, Professor X, sent his four remaining X-Men (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, and Angel) to investigate. All unawares, Unus wandered around town wondering how to find the X-Men. Instead he happened on a bank robbery.

Unus decided to rob the criminals, ignoring their guns since bullets were repelled by his force field. His ambitions stirred by the interview with Mastermind, Unus figured that even if he didn’t gain admission to the Brotherhood, he could still use the money to finance his own plans for conquest. But the bank robbery attracted both the police and the remaining X-Men, and battle broke out.

While the four X-Men fought a futile battle against the invulnerable and untouchable Unus, the Beast devised a machine to amplify Unus’ power. Since the device was not an attack, Unus’ force field did not repel it, and indeed the field immediately intensified in strength.

It became so strong that Unus was unable to shut it down, and anything he tried to touch was forcibly repelled, including food. The Beast offered to restore him to normal if Unus surrendered and promised not to join Magneto. Unus gave his promise, was restored, and seemed shaken by his experience.

When the Beast told him that the X-Men would keep the device in case Unus ever again caused trouble, the crestfallen mutant vowed to stay out of trouble and return to his life as a wrestler.

Round Two

Some months later, Unus faced another mutant in the ring. Unus’s battle with the Blob was arranged by the alien mastermind Lucifer, another enemy of the X-Men. Under his influence, the Blob and Unus recognized each other as fellow mutants with grudges against the X-Men.

The two mutants formed a partnership and, prompted subtly by Lucifer’s mind control technology, came up with a plan. They dressed up in X-Men costumes and committed a spectacular series of robberies, smashing their way into bank vaults and armored cars, getting rich while trashing the X-Men’s reputation.

The X-Men tracked the pair down and attacked. The heroes used Beast’s device on Unus, but it had no effect. Lucifer had not only boosted Unus’ confidence from afar, he had also immunized him to the Beast’s machine.

Blob and Unus kept the X-Men busy, but the fight ended inconclusively when Cyclops blasted the ground out from under their feet. They fell on top of an underground train, which carried them away before the battle could resume.

Factor Three, part 1

While the X-Men turned their attention to tracking Lucifer down, Unus and the Blob were recruited by the subversive organization called Factor Three. Factor Three was supposed to be an alliance of mutant criminals seeking world domination.

The group’s first attack on the X-Men was made by a human technologist, the Ogre, and the Banshee, who was forced to work for Factor Three by a bomb attached to his body. But the core members (Vanisher, Blob, Unus, Mastermind, and deputy leader Changeling) were led by the mysterious Mutant Master.

The Mutant Master claimed that Factor Three was the “third factor”, balancing the great political powers in the East and the West by means of their mutant powers and advanced technology.

Factor Three had initial successes, including kidnapping and imprisoning Professor X. As a member of Factor Three, Unus again clashed with the original X-Men as he attempted to help trigger a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

Factor Three, part 2

Unus and the other rank-and-file members of Factor Three believed that they would be able to take over the world once the U.S. and U.S.S.R. had mutually devastated each other.

The X-Men narrowly thwarted their efforts and freed both Professor X and the Banshee. The Banshee’s sonic scream destroyed the Mutant Master’s disguise, revealing him to be an extraterrestrial. His secret exposed, the alien revealed his true goal: to weaken Earth in preparation for his own people’s attack.

The mutants of Factor Three and the X-Men teamed up to take down the alien and his androids, and on that occasion the good and evil mutants parted with a truce. As they left Factor Three’s base, Unus set the self-destruct mechanisms to erase all the Mutant Master’s works.

Band of Brothers, part 1

Unus’ immediate activities following the downfall of Factor Three are undocumented. The X-Men next encountered him months later, when they battled Larry Trask’s Sentinels.

The Mark II Sentinels captured some of the X-Men and a number of “Evil Mutants” — including Unus, Blob, Vanisher, Mastermind, Toad, Mesmero, and the reformed Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

After the X-Men defeated the Sentinels, Unus and the other captives were freed and allowed to go their own way. Unus, the Blob, and Mastermind apparently left together, intent on re-starting the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

This new Brotherhood was not very successful. In their first foray they attempted to recruit a fourth member, a newly surfaced furry and feral mutant. The creature was actually the Beast, accidentally mutated by his own research into a new form.

Though the Beast was struggling to deal with his transformation and the Brotherhood had some initial success manipulating him, he did eventually turn on the Brotherhood and defeated the trio of evil mutants.

Band of Brothers, part 2

Unus was next captured and held alongside other mutants by the Secret Empire, which used their mutant energies to power advanced weaponry. But that iteration of the Secret Empire was brought down by Captain America, the Falcon, and X-Men Cyclops and Marvel Girl. With the Secret Empire’s defeat, Unus and the other evil mutants escaped.

Magneto then resurfaced, once again taking the Brotherhood in hand and adding the siren Lorelei, of the Savage Land Mutates, to the ranks of Unus, Blob, and Mastermind. They relocated to the Carlsbad Caverns, where Magneto was using technology recovered from the hidden race of Deviants to scientifically develop a new artificial lifeform.

This immensely powerful being he christened Alpha, the Ultimate Mutant.

Alpha and Omega, part 1

But Magneto’s old nemesis Professor X became aware of his activities. With the X-Men away on another vital mission, the Professor telepathically sought out other allies and made contact with the highly attuned mind of Dr. Strange. Strange and his fellow Defenders (Hulk, Nighthawk, and Valkyrie) came to Xavier’s aid and together they and Professor X attacked the Brotherhood’s hidden base.

Mastermind’s illusions kept the heroes at bay long enough for Magneto to blindside and KO them all. Magneto, wanting Xavier to witness his triumph, imprisoned the Professor and the Defenders in a magnetic force field while he hurried to complete his work on Alpha. Predictably, the heroes broke free and battle resumed.

Unus easily held the Valkyrie at bay until he made the mistake of partially lowering his field to try grappling with her. The Valkyrie retaliated and managed to flip Unus through the air — directly into the path of the Hulk’s fist.

Unus was knocked out and the Brotherhood was on the ropes, but at that moment Magneto finished his work and his creation, Alpha, awoke. Alpha possessed vast psionic powers but initially had a very limited awareness and understanding.

It was developing quickly, but in the interim, Alpha followed Magneto’s instructions blindly. Alpha’s irresistible powers subdued the heroes and, at Magneto’s command, teleported the Brotherhood away to the United Nations building in New York City.

Alpha and Omega, part 2

The Brotherhood forced their way into the General Assembly, where Magneto demanded the world be turned over to mutants, using Alpha to demonstrate their true power. But the Defenders and Professor X pursued the villains and attacked again.

The still-evolving Alpha briefly battled them until he was challenged to weigh both sides to determine who was truly in the right. Using his highly advanced mind and super-powers, he *ahem* made the remarkable deduction that the good guys were the ones who didn’t have “Evil” in their team name.

Alpha reverted all of the Brotherhood, including Unus, to infancy. Then, deciding Earth was not evolved enough for him, Alpha departed for space.

This seemed to end the careers of Unus, Magneto, and the other evil mutants. The Brotherhood babies were taken to Muir Island and kept under the care of Moira MacTaggert, a human ally of Xavier’s. But sometime later Shakari, an undercover agent of the alien Shi’ar  Empire, received instructions from the Shi’ar Emperor to kill Charles Xavier.

Adopting a costumed identity as Eric the Red, Shakari began looking for allies to help him against Xavier and the X-Men. Going to Muir Isle, Eric used the Shi’ar’s advanced technology to restore Magneto to the prime of adulthood, incidentally also returning Unus, Blob, Mastermind, and Lorelei to their adult states.

Vanishing Point

Magneto, now a young man with his powers at their peak, decided he no longer needed the Brotherhood to back him up. While he plotted against the X-Men on his own, the Brotherhood fled Muir Isle. Mastermind apparently chose to go his own way as well, later resurfacing alongside the Hellfire Club.

Unus, Blob, and Lorelei were soon found by the Vanisher. The four villains wanted revenge on the X-Men, but didn’t know the location of their secret base. They put together a plan to draw out the X-Men by attacking a new super-team, the Champions of Los Angeles, whose members included X-alumni Angel and Iceman.

While Vanisher stayed hidden, Unus, Blob, and Lorelei burst in on the Champions, pretending to be pursued by the Vanisher’s tame Sentinels. Temporarily negating their own powers to make sure they were convincing in their claims of helplessness, the three allies burst in and begged for help in defeating the robots.

The Champions “defended” the trio, but while they were distracted, the Vanisher revealed himself, wielding a powerful ray gun which probably incorporated Sentinel tech.

The Champions looked beaten until Darkstar saved the day. She destroyed one of the Sentinels blasted it into the still-powerless Unus, Blob, and Lorelei, knocking them out. Vanisher tried to flee and was stuck in mid-teleport by Darkstar’s darkforce powers. The captured Unus was finally sent to prison for his crimes.

Psych 101

A few years later (“real” time, probably less than a year in comic book time), Unus agreed to appear at a psychiatric conference for a lecture entitled “The Alienated Mutant in Our Society.” Bound in chains and accompanied by prison guards, Unus was to speak as both an expert on the subject as well as a living example of it.

But the prison warden who approved Unus’ appearance had underestimated his powers. Unus agreed to attend the lecture simply to get out of the high security prison he’d been in. As soon as he was on stage in the lecture hall, he intensified his force field and repelled his chains with such force that they burst.

As luck would have it, one of the psychiatrists in attendance was Dr. Leonard Samson, the gamma-powered sometime-superhero. Doc Samson attacked, but even his strength was not enough to get past Unus’ force field.

Switching tactics, Samson lofted a chunk of the concrete Unus was standing on into the air, with Unus still standing on it. Every time Unus fell back toward Earth, Samson hit him again, the rebound effect of Unus’s field lobbing him higher and higher into the air. Getting airsick, Unus surrendered and was sent back to jail.

Psych 102

Under unrevealed circumstances Unus escaped again. He decided that from now on he’d stick to holding up small businesses, so as to avoid super-heroes. He held up Marty’s lunch counter and Pops’ candy store, successfully repelling any concerned citizens, before heroes for hire Power Man and Iron Fist intervened.

Unus subdued the heroes, mostly by letting them wear themselves out attacking him, before escaping through the sewers. After counting his cash in his slummy apartment, Unus contemplated going straight, but moved to hold up the Gem Theater instead.

Power Man and Iron Fist attacked anew, and Unus was shaken by the Fist’s iron fist. Power Man finally threw Unus up in the air, field and all, until Unus released his field to come down. Before he could land, however, Iron Fist knocked him unconscious with a blow.

Untouchable

Unus was next seen seeking out the help of his old ally the Blob, who now ran a small fair. Unus’ powers were beginning to fluctuate — his forcefield was expanding while his control over it waned. Blob hid Unus in a tent that was held up by Unus’ field.

Since Blob’s strength allowed him to push against Unus’ field, Blob was the only company Unus could keep. Soon Blob had to start feeding Unus, using maximum effort to get the food close to Unus’ mouth. Unus began fearing that air would be repelled from his field so, calling Unus his best friend, Blob vowed to get a hero to help him.

Instead Blob encountered the Hulk. A fight broke out, and Unus joined in to defend his friend. The angry Hulk hit Unus’ field with a mighty blow which overloaded and shorted out Unus’ force field. The battle over, the Hulk leapt away. Unus, now able to breathe again, went to see to his friend the Blob.

But his relief was short-lived. Within days Unus’ powers were back and growing out of control again. He took refuge at a carnival, his power inflating a big top and preventing anyone from entering. Unus went several days without food and found it hard to breathe.

Blob came back and found Unus in dire straits. While they talked, Unus collapsed from lack of oxygen, seemingly dead. This sent Blob on a mournful rampage through New York. Spider-Man and the Black Cat put a stop to that, but it was too late for Unus.

Postlude

After his death two other mutants with force field powers have debuted, claiming to be Unus’ children. They have different last names and so are presumably only half-siblings. Carmella Unuscione, a fanatical Acolyte of Magneto with a dangerous ‘psionic exoskeleton’, is one.

The other is Jared Corbo aka Radius, who has been involved with Alpha Flight and Department H. It’s unclear when they were conceived (if they’re truly Unus’s children) or if they had any relationship with their father, much less each other.

Considering their ages, Unus must have fathered them when he was very young. In fact, during her first appearance, I assumed Carmella Unuscione was a younger sister or cousin of Unus, rather than his daughter.

Description

Unus is a large, physically powerful man, with dark hair and blue eyes. His size was imposing enough to comment on in the original, 1960s era stories — so these days he might be drawn as even bigger than 6’1 and 220 lbs.

In the wrestling ring he wears trunks and boots. In combat as a would-be mutant conqueror, he wears a colorful red battle costume. He’s been known to commit petty crimes while wearing a suit or casual civvies.

Personality

Unus desires wealth and power and has entertained ideas of world conquest. At times the failure of a scheme leaves him a little demoralized. At those points he’ll give up grandiose ideas of conquest and settle for making a quick buck.

He continued to use his powers as a wrestler, sometimes traveling with carnivals and circuses, and commited the occasional robbery or petty theft. He didn’t seem to go in for the higher-paid but riskier mercenary work. These were strictly small-time, low-risk thefts.

Unus and the Blob formed a pretty natural partnership when they meet, and apparently that relationship grew through the years, with the two of them becoming real friends.

As a random aside, he also smoked cigarettes.

Quotes

“Not for nothing am I called Unus, the Untouchable !”

“You seem to be the leader… so you shall be my victim !”

“I don’t have to depend on my mutant power alone !! I didn’t spend years in the ring for nothing !”

Unus: “What’s this ? Have the local yokels run outta men, so they haveta send hippos against me now ?”
Blob: “I’m gonna make you swallow them words, buster !”

“Stand back ! I can do more damage with this baseball bat than a homo sapien [sic] can with a Sherman tank !”

“Then, you’re no mutant — any more than you were human ! You’ve been playin’ us for suckers — but no more !”

DC Universe History

Unus would work fine in the DCU. I tend to see him as a foe of the New Teen Titans, maybe as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil, but I normally amalgamate the DC and Marvel Brotherhoods anyway (using Phobia and Warp to amp up the MU’s Brotherhood).

He could also easily be used as a recruit for the Fearsome Five (er, six…or whatever). He’d work as a villain for the original Outsiders or Doom Patrol, too.

Alternate History

I find it interesting that Mystique recruited the Blob for her second Brotherhood but did not recruit Unus. It’s especially odd given that the Blob was in prison and Unus wasn’t. It’s even more odd given that the Blob and Unus already had worked together as partners and friends.

The likely explanation is that Claremont already had as many Brotherhood members as he did X-Men, and had worked out who would pair off against whom. That’s not a good in-universe reason, though. It may be that Unus’ fluctuating powers made him unappealing to Mystique.

Still, in your timeline Unus could certainly join the second Brotherhood alongside the Blob, making that group even more formidable. Alternately, Mystique may have tested Unus (as she did the Blob) and he may have failed. This would inevitably create enmity between Unus and Mystique’s group.

Finally, if none of that interests you, I also think it’s likely that the Hellfire Club would recruit him, as an operative if not a member of the Lords Cardinal. Snobbery might keep him out of the leadership, as the Lords Cardinal are wealthy and elite while Unus is a petty criminal and small-time wrestler.

On the other hand, the Hellfire Club was in a constant race against Xavier to recruit mutants, and Unus is formidable in his way. Unus wanted to join a group of mutants that would help him achieve power, wealth, and eventual world domination.

The Hellfire Club had a far better chance of that than any other group he joined, so they’d certainly appeal to him.

By Chris Cottingham.

Source of Character: Marvel Comics.

Helper(s): Frank Murdock, Capita_Senyera ; The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (OHOTMU) #11, November 1983; OHOTMU vol. 2 #14, January 1987; Marvunapp  (for tracking down appearances and for the initial version of the History, which I’ve since rewritten).

Writeup completed on the 27^th of August, 2013.