The Universe of Marvel Comics

Baron Von Strucker fought for the Nazis during World War II as the leader of the Blitzkrieg Squad, Germany's answer to the Howling Commandos led by Sgt. Nick Fury. After the war, Strucker took control of a Japanese secret society and evolved it into the worldwide terror group Hydra. Kept alive and vigorous by the Death Spore virus within his body, Von Strucker's goal is total world domination.

As a child, Karl Mordo gained an interest in the occult from his grandfather, Viscount Crowler. As an adult Mordo sought out a mystic master known as the Ancient One in Tibet. The Ancient One recognized that Mordo had great potential as a sorcerer, but he also saw that Mordo was only motivated by a desire to gain power for his own ends. Mordo plotted to destroy the Ancient One by sending his spirit image to hypnotize the Ancient One's servant into poisoning his food. Mordo threatened to let the Ancient One die if he did not reveal all his knowledge of black magic. In the nick of time, Mordo's plot was discovered by Dr. Stephen Strange, another of the Ancient One's pupils. Strange sent his spirit image to Tibet and the two spirit images fought as the old man lay in a coma. Strange managed to use his amulet to revive the old man.

The younger son of British aristocrat, John Falsworth was killed and vampirized by Dracula. As Baron Blood, Falsworth served German intelligence during World War I and II. During World War II Baron Blood battled Union Jack (who was secretly his brother, Montgomery) and the Invaders. Decades later, Blood was beheaded by Captain America. Two later vampires took the name Baron Blood: Doctor Strange’s brother Victor and Mongomery’s grandson Kenneth Crichton.

After his wife’s death, Irish Interpol agent and mutant Sean Cassidy was forced to join Factor Three, an organization of evil mutants, by the evil Changeling. The group gave him the name Banshee and controlled him by fitting him with an explosive Headband. Professor X, leader of the X-Men, used his telepathic powers to remove the band and Banshee then defeated Factor Three. Later, Banshee joined the X-Men and became co-head—with Emma Frost—of Xavier’s Academy, where he taught the young mutants of Generation X. Following the tragic death of his beloved, Dr. Moira MacTaggart, Banshee suffered a breakdown. He then formed X-Corps, which came into conflict with his former X-Men colleagues.

Prophecy has it that death of Norse God Balder will result in Ranarok—the destruction of Asgard, the home of the Norse Gods. For the reason Odin commanded his wife Frigga to make Balder (his son) invulnerable top physical injury and so she cast spells that protected him from everything mistletoe. The God of mischief, Loki, Thor’s adopted brother, learned of this and tricked the blind God Hoder to fire an arrow tipped with mistletoe wood, at Balder. Only Odin’s intervention saved him, but before his recovery, Balder’s soul was to travel through the underworld where it encountered the spirits of those he killed. Balder’s return to the land of the living was not without difficulties: he fell into a deep depression after Nanna, he beloved, sacrificed herself to save him from marrying the Norn sorceress Kamilla. Roving the desert, determined to kill himself, Balder gained hope from a vision of the future. Since then, he has come to love Kamilla, with whom he fought against Surtur and the legions of the Muspelheim. He also ruled Asgard when Odin was believed dead, but following the God-ruler’s return Balder went back to his new love, Kamilla.

Azazel is the leader of the Neyaphem, a race of mutants who resemble demons. In ancient times Azazel claims that he once ruled the Earth until he and the Neyaphem were banished to another dimension by Cheyarafim, a race of mutants who resemble angels. As part of his place to reconquer Earth, Azazel mated with various women, fathering mutants with teleportational powers. Among the women he seduced was the mutant Mystique, who gave birth to their son Kurt Wagner, alias Nightcrawler. When Nightcrawler learned that Azazel was his father, he not only rejected him, but helped defeat him.

Formerly known as Paragon and Her, Ayesha was created by a group of scientists calling themselves the Enclave. Hoping to create a perfect life form, they created a being called Him. But Him (later known as Adam Warlock) refused to be controlled. They then tried to create a perfect female they called Paragon, but she also rebelled, destroying the Enclave’s base. After meditating in a cocoon, she emerged as Her, able to tap into pure cosmic energy. She hoped to mate with Warlock but, following his death, set off to find a suitable companion.

The Awesome Android was creation of the evil Mad Thinker, constructed using research notes that once belonged to scientist Reed Richards. The Mad Thinker intended to use the Awesome Android as a weapons to destroy the Fantastic Four. However, as time went by, the android developed a personality of its own and freed itself from the Thinker's villainous thrall. "Awesome Andy" now works peacefully as an aide in the legal offices of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzburg & Holliway.

Dominic Petros was a Greek immigrant to the US with mutant powers. Calling himself Avalanche, he was recruited into the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants by the shape-shifting mutant Mystique and participated in the Brotherhood's first attempted assassination of Senator Robert Kelly. Although Avalanche left the Brotherhood for a time to blackmail California with the threat of an earthquake, he had returned to the group when it turned itself over the the US government and began working as a military strike force. Avalanche's whereabouts are presently unknown--he was battling with the Brotherhood once again whey they were sucked into the black hole inside the head of the mutant Xorn.

Orphans Jeanne-Marie Beaubier and her twin brother Jean-Paul were separated, and Jeanne-Marie was raised in a strict religious school for girls. Jeanne-Marie was so unhappy she threw herself off a roof--and found herself flying. This was the first manifestation of her mutant powers, but Jeanne-Marie thought a miracle had taken place. She told the headmistress, but was punished for blasphemy. Jeanne-Marie developed a personality disorder: her everyday self was introverted, but her repressed side was uninhibited. Five years later, Jeanne-Marie became a teacher at the school. One night, Wolverine saw her use super-speed to defend herself from a mugger. Wolverine introduced her to James MacDonald Hudson, who reunited Jeanne-Marie with her brother. Taking the code names Aurora and Northstar, Jeanne-Marie and Jean-Paul joined Hudson's team of Canadian heroes, Alpha Flight. Since then Aurora's psyche has continued to change, even manifesting a third personality.

Having used the identity Power Man and Goliath, Erik Josten joined Baron Zemo and his Masters of Evil as Atlas. The group later changed its name to the Thunderbolts. While battling the criminal Count Nefaria, Atlas was exposed to Nefaria's ionic bomb and became a being composed of pure ionic energy. He later managed to place his ionic energy into the body of his love Dallas Riordan, and the combined being returned to the Thunderbolts to battle Graviton.

Named after the huntress of Greek mythology, Atalanta is a member of Pantheon, a covert organization of superhumans which intervenes in world affairs to prevent disasters. A deadly shot with her flaming bow, Atalanta's skin, body tissue and skeleton are denser than a normal human's, affording her greater resistance to injury. She also possesses a fast healing factor and an extended lifespan. A psychic power enables her to mentally perceive her target even if she is unable see it. Virtually nothing is known about the origin of Atalanta, except that she is related to other members of the Pantheon. She has been the lover of fellow Pantheon member Achilles.

A young Watcher, as such temporal matters as age are measured by that intergalactic race, Aron eschewed his people's pledge of non-interference in all things, choosing instead to use his great cosmic abilities for his evil enjoyments. He toyed with the lives of the Fantastic Four, replacing them with corrupt duplicates, and later engineered a civil war within his own Watcher race. As Aron was about to destroy the Fantastic Four, Uatu the Watcher, who was responsible for our section of the cosmos, reluctantly killed him.

During the late 1930s, Swiss geneticist Arnim Zola discovered a tome of Deviant science and learned how to create artificial life. He build himself a new body, with a brain inside its chest, a holographically-projected face, and and “ESP box” for a head. Zola became a valued member of Hitler’s Third Reich, preserving Hitler’s consciousness after his death in the form of the Hate-Monger. Zola;s creations have included Primus and Doughboy, as well as bio-plastiods that can impersonate any being. A frequent foe of Captain America, Zola is also responsible for resurrecting the Red Skull into a copy of Captain America’s own body.

Leader of the long-lived intergalactic race known as the Troyjan, the teen who would one day be known as Armageddon almost single-handedly reversed the fortunes of his race's declining empire. Under his leadership, the Troyjan expanded their galactic power base, and the became a force to be reckoned with. Armageddon's attentions first turned to Earth after his son Trauma Atalanta of the Pantheon in order to make her his mate. Trauma was subsequently killed in battle with the incredible Hulk. Vowing revenge, Armageddon used a resurrection device created by the gamma-enhanced genius known as the Leader to reincarnate the then-deceased Thunderbolt Ross, in order to lure the Hulk into his clutches. Once the Hulk had been captured, Armageddon intended to use his life-force to restore Trauma to life. But the Hulk's energy proved too powerful, and it incinerated the remains of the deceased Troyjan warrior--leaving Armageddon with an even greater desire for revenge.

When his wife became mortally ill, Antonio Rodriguez turned to Dr. Karl Malus, who promised to try to cure her if Antonio worked for him and submitted to his experiments. Malus combined genes from an armadillo with Rodriguez's genes, transforming him into a super-powerful being resembling a humanoid armadillo. Malus assigned the Armadillo to invade the West Coast Avengers Compound. There Captain America defeated the Armadillo but realized he was not a criminal at heart. Though the Armadillo has sometimes run foul of the law, he prefers to earn his living in wrestling matches against super-strong opponents.

Arkon is a great leader and warrior on the planet Polemachus. The culture of Polemachus glorifies war and Arkon became his world's greatest warrior. As Imperion of the largest country on Polemachus, Arkon attempted to conquer the other nations of his world. But when Polemachus was faced with planet-wide annihilation, Arkon came to Earth believed that its destruction could save his homeworld. On Earth, Iron Man teamed with Thor in a plan which saved Polemachus and stopped Arkon's aggression.