Juggernaut (character)
| Juggernaut | |
|---|---|
| File:Juggforever.png Juggernaut Art by Kevin Maguire | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The [Uncanny] X-Men (volume 1) #12 (July 1965). |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Cain Marko |
| Species | Mystically enhanced human |
| Team affiliations | New Excalibur, Black Tom Cassidy, Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (mole), X-Men |
| Abilities | Resistance to being stopped, Super-strength, Invulnerability |
Juggernaut (Cain Marko) is a Marvel Comics character, a longtime enemy of the X-Men, who has recently become a superhero. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared X-Men #12 (July 1965).
Marko was once Charles Xavier’s bullying stepbrother. He gained almost unsurpassed strength and invulnerability from the mystic “Gem of Cyttorak.” For years, he used his powers in a life of crime, often teaming-up with Black Tom Cassidy and tangling with his stepbrother’s X-Men. Template:Spoiler In early 2000s issues of Uncanny X-Men, Juggernaut underwent a crisis of conscience and briefly joined the team. He has since transferred to the European Excalibur.
A popular character, Juggernaut has fought the X-Men in several animated series and video games. Vinnie Jones played the character in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand in which he is a mutant member of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants.
Character history
Origin
Cain Marko is the step-brother of Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men. His father, Kurt Marko, married Charles' mother, Sharon, after her husband Brian Xavier died. Kurt neglected Cain and drove Sharon to alcoholism. Anti-social and malicious in general, Cain held a special contempt for his step-brother Charles Xavier who due to a hidden mutant power of telepathy excelled at all endeavors and cast Cain completely in shadow. One day Cain was further humiliated as Xavier accidentally probed his mind and learned of Cain's insecurities toward him. The revelation to Cain that Xavier's success that loomed over him was actually gained through a secret superhuman advantage intensified Cain's resentment toward Xavier considerably.
Cain was sent to a military boarding school, due to his lack of discipline, and later served in the army. While serving together in the Korean War, Cain and Charles stumbled onto the ancient temple of Cyttorak, lost for centuries. On an altar, Cain saw a huge red gem, the Crimson Ruby of Cyttorak, and immediately grabbed it. Upon the gem was an inscription, and he spoke it aloud: "Whosoever touches this gem shall be granted the power of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak! Henceforth, you who read these words, shall become ... forevermore ... a human juggernaut!"
The cavern collapsed. Charles was able to escape, but it took Cain years to dig himself out as he underwent the transformation. Cain seethed with rage at his step-brother and, after finally emerging from the mountains he was buried under, he set out to hurt Charles as much as possible.
Criminal Life
Juggernaut first appeared on-panel in Uncanny X-Men #12, although his presence was sensed by Professor X in the previous issue. He has since fought various heroes of the Marvel Universe, primarily the X-Men but also including Spider-Man, the Avengers and the Incredible Hulk.
During his criminal career the Juggernaut amassed notable wealth and thoroughly enjoyed his work. Often accompanying him was the mutant mercenary known as Black Tom Cassidy, who was his only friend, and with whom he once tried to share his power. Tom did not like the physical effects of the power on his body, however, so it was eventually returned to Cain. As the power is mysteriously divided and diminished when possessed by more than one host, Cain hurled the gem into space to prevent anyone from invoking the power for themselves and weakening him again.
Later, he underwent a brief revision of his powers and origin, and was seen on the run from the psychic entity called Onslaught. Onslaught physically struck the Juggernaut from Canada all the way to New Jersey at the beginning of the Onslaught crossover with a blow that strangely knocked the Juggernaut unconscious. The lapse in portrayal would continue as Onslaught would later imprison the Juggernaut in the Cyttorak dimension by reaching into Cain Marko's chest and pulling out the ruby of Cyttorak, leaving Cain Marko powerless. As the ruby had never physically resided in Cain's body nor does he require physical contact with it to retain his power, this act contradicted all previous depictions of the Juggernaut and the ruby. How or whether this storyline can be reconciled with the rest of the Juggernaut's appearances is unknown. The Juggernaut continued his criminal activities and various adventures, such as becoming the celebrated patron of Sirocco Sprawl, New Mexico.
Later, the Juggernaut was revealed to be a part of 7 others known as The Exemplars, who, like Cain, are living manifestations of the power of various mystical entities. The 8 were entranced and supposed to battle each other to determine which entity was supreme. This battle would result in the destruction of the Earth but was prevented due to the Juggernaut breaking out of the trance with help from Professor Xavier. The Juggernaut then began taking down his fellow Exemplars early, which thwarted the intended plan. For this, the Exemplars later united against the Juggernaut and kidnapped him. The Juggernaut was rescued by the Avengers, who after being defeated by the Exemplars managed to convince them that they were not in their right minds. Released from their trance the Exemplars left peacefully.
As a return for the favor of saving his life, the Juggernaut agreed to go to prison willingly. There the villain was abducted by the sentient Celestial ship, Prosh, and enlisted into a mission to help save man and mutantkind. Once the mission was over, Cain returned to prison where he devised a plan. He would pretend to reform in order to work for the government to gain inside connections to further his criminal activities. To this end, he asked the Commission on Superhuman Activity if he could be their bounty hunter. The CSA was suspicious of the notorious Juggernaut's request but agreed anyway. After presumably gaining all the connections he wanted, the Juggernaut dropped the reform facade and revealed his criminal intentions.
Exiled
During the Onslaught saga a dimensional rift transported Juggernaut into the Ultraverse, along with fellow X-Men villains Siena Blaze and Reaper. There the three joined the Exiles, with the Juggernaut effectively becoming the team's new leader through intimidation. He developed a romantic relationship with pyrokinetic beauty Amber Hunt but unsurprisingly she proved to be the only member the loner Juggernaut truly cared for. The Juggernaut's time in the Ultraverse came to an end as the result of a botched business transaction between fellow villain and Exile, Reaper, and the mysterious alien beings called Tradesmen. In response to one of the Tradesmen being killed as he negotiated with Reaper, a collection of Tradesmen tracked down the Exiles and demanded exact compensation:the termination of an Exile. Reaper agreed to the terms but stepped out of the way of the killing blast so that it would strike the Juggernaut instead. This did not kill Cain, however, because Reaper used his energy scythe at the exact moment of contact to combine with the blast, causing Juggernaut to be sent back to the Marvel Universe.
Redemption
As the result of an undisclosed battle with Cyttorak, his patron deity, Cain lost most of the power of the Juggernaut. Thereafter, Cain reconciled with Xavier and joined the X-Men. In an unusual turn for someone of Cain's personality he immediately befriended several people at the mansion including a young mutant boy named Sammy Pare, a.k.a. Squidboy, who had a positive influence on him. Cain later allowed himself to be taken into custody and then had a one-night stand with She-Hulk, who as Jennifer Walters was representing him in his trial for all the crimes he had committed as a criminal. Amazingly, Cain was exonerated of all his crimes and allowed to go free despite having numerous outstanding felonies both at home and abroad.
Later, Black Tom Cassidy resurfaced and Juggernaut joined his new Brotherhood of Mutants, with the intention of betraying the group and warning the X-Men when he had the chance. Sammy stumbled upon the Brotherhood having a meeting, and thinking that Juggernaut had betrayed the X-Men he became angry and started yelling. Annoyed, Black Tom killed the boy. Furious with rage, Juggernaut tried to kill his former friend. When the Brotherhood were sucked into a black hole by the second Xorn, Juggernaut accompanied them to make sure Nocturne (another mole) would be safe if everyone survived and to make sure the Brotherhood didn't try to attack the mansion again.
He ended up in Mojoworld and became the property of Mojo along with Nocturne. To escape, Nocturne took control of Mojo's henchman, Spiral, and opened a portal to the X-Men's Danger Room, where they were reunited with the team. This, however, was a trap set by Spiral, who was in more control of her body than thought, leaving a portal open to allow Mojo to cross over as well. Mojo turned the X-Men into X-Babies, but they managed to overpower his forces anyway. Juggernaut still felt extremely guilty about Sammy's death, and how the boy's last words were that he hated him. He wondered if he should remain a child, this being his chance to start over with a clean slate, but Storm comforted him and convinced him not to. The X-Men were re-aged, and Juggernaut remained with the team.
In the wake of House of M, in which the majority of the mutant population was depowered, Juggernaut has joined the new Excalibur grouping in London.
Powers and abilities
Because of his association with the X-Men, Juggernaut is often mistakenly labeled a mutant. Juggernaut traditionally possessed huge power, of mystical origin. He had tremendous physical strength, a total resistance to physical injury due to his mystic spell of invulnerability; an impenetrable force field that he could summon at will; and unlimited stamina. His spell also granted him unbreakable skin, therefore making his forcefield an added protection in case he did not wish for a certain attack to touch his physical body. Due to the mystical energies flowing through his body, he did not need to eat, breathe, or drink fluids. As a vessel of mystic energy, he also possessed many abstract powers that had yet to be fully revealed. Finally, while moving, he could, essentially, not be stopped, except in extreme cases such as when he fought the Incredible Hulk and the psychic being Onslaught. To compensate for his most significant vulnerability — to telepathic assault — he also wore a helmet of a mystical alloy, which prevented his mind from being read or attacked.
With his depowerment at the hands of Cyttorak, however, his power levels decreased in almost every respect. He now needed to breathe, and, while still highly super-strong, possessed only a fraction of the strength he once wielded. He also became mortal and could be killed by relatively minor amounts of punishment. Finally, he was no longer an "unstoppable force," and was stripped of his mystical armour and telepathy-shielding helmet (instead wearing "unstable molecule" replicas that did not replicate the telepathic shield).
Seen as recently as New Excalibur issue #3, however, Juggernaut seems to be back at full strength. He easily powered through the combination of the evil version of Jean Grey's telekinetic onslaught and the evil version of Cyclops' full assault optic blast with no ill effects to himself. Juggernaut also easily withstood an ice barrage from the evil version of Iceman, when it was seen that in Uncanny X-men issues #410-411 that he could not then withstand an assault from Iceman. He still, however, does not possess his mystical armor and remains susceptible to attacks on his mind by powerful telepaths.
Ultimate Juggernaut
In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, not much is known about Cain Marko. What is known is that he grew up in the same trailerpark as Rogue did and doesn't seem to be related to Xavier in any way. He refers to himself as trailertrash at some point, but also points out that because he grew up in a trailerpark people often underestimate his intelligence. This had led to a belief that he is actually smarter than his 616 counterpart. Ultimate Juggernaut seems to be a regular mutant with super strength, with no mystical background to his powers.
At some point in his life he was incarcerated by Weapon X and forced to act as a living weapon under the direction of Col. John Wraith. Juggernaut was part of the strike force that took out the X-Men, forcing them into Weapon X as well. When The Brotherhood removed the security implants that were prohibiting the mutants from leaving their cells, Juggernaut fought for his freedom. After the entire ordeal, Cain was offered a place with both Xavier's X-Men and The Brotherhood. Cain chose The Brotherhood, but has apparently left the team for parts unknown. In the Ultimate X-Men 2005 annual, Juggernaut was bonded with a gem stolen by Rogue and Gambit called the Cyttorak Gem. Though its full repercussions are unknown, Juggernaut did describe himself as feeling "better than ever". He also revealed that he had a crush on Rogue, whom he grew up with and shared a cell with while in the Weapon X program.
His trademark helmet was made for him by weapon X. It is able to track anyone who has ever been in the Weapon X program. It was destroyed by Gambit when he battled Juggernaut in Las Vegas.
Appearances in other media
- Juggernaut was the villain in the "A Firestar is Born" episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.
- Juggernaut appeared in the X-Men animated series, the Pryde of the X-Men pilot, and the more recent X-Men: Evolution series, which changed him into Xavier's half-brother and made him a mutant whose powers were awakened by a Cyttorak gem, explained to hold special properties that enhanced and evolved mutants.
- Juggernaut has also appeared in various X-Men video game spinoffs. He appeared in the X-Men arcade game, the X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse Super NES game, X-Men: Mutant Academy 2, X-Men Legends, and X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (as a boss in Legends and a playable character in Legends 2). He has also appeared in several of Capcom's Marvel-based fighting games, beginning with X-Men: Children of the Atom; his Capcom rendition is notable for being the largest version of him yet, slightly taller than in the comics, and just about as wide.
- William H. Marshall voiced Juggernaut in "A Firestar is Born", Rick Bennett in the X-Men animated series, Paul Dobson in X-Men: Evolution, and John DiMaggio in X-Men Legends.
- Vinnie Jones plays Juggernaut in the Spring 2006 movie X-Men: The Last Stand. Juggernaut's powers in this version are the result of mutation, and he is a trusted lieutenant of Magneto. He has no links to Professor Xavier beyond the fact that both characters are portrayed as being British - albeit Juggernaut speaks with Jones's less refined accent. His helmet, as opposed to the dome with three holes (one for each eye and another for the mouth) instead seems to be a dome which nonetheless leaves his face completely exposed.
