Who is Apocalypse?
The first time people found out about Apocalypse being in a X-Men movie was during the post credit scenes of X-Men days of future past. There we saw an unknown figure singlehandedly creating the pyramids of Egypt using telekinetic powers. Some people might be scratching their heads at this scene while others might recognize this immediately. Let’s talk about it.
This scene is paying homage to the 1996 series, Rise of the Apocalypse written by Terry Kavanagh and Illustrated by Adam Pollina. 5,000 years ago a baby was found in ancient Egypt by nomadic raiders. That baby was named En Sabah Nur by the tribes leader Baal and is trained how to survive. In this time period, Egypt is ruled by the Pharaoh Rama-Tut who actually is a time traveler from the future.
Rama-Tut arrived in this time period because he knew that En Sabah Nur was destined to become one of the most powerful mutants in history and that he would be known as Apocalypse. Rama-Tut wanted Nur to be his Heir. In the post credit scene Apocalypse is already really powerful, he shows this by constructing the pyramids with his telekinetic abilities. In the series Rise of the Apocalypse, En Sabah Nur was born with grey skin, and blue lines on his face. He looked super creepy which is why he was abandoned in the first place.
Here are some quick facts about Apocalypse as we fly by.
Height: 7’0″
Gender: Male
Eye Color: Red
Weight: 300 lbs
Skin color: Grey
Birth Place: Akkaba, Egypt
Powers
Control of his body down to a molecular level
Teleportation
Can enhance and increase his strength
Power of Transformation
Energy absorption
Immortality
A Death and New Beginnings
Baal raised Nur and trained him to think that only the strong, ruthless and pitiless survived, and that they should be the only ones to survive. After Nur successfully completed his trial into manhood by killing three armed guards with his bare hands, Baal took Nur into a sacred cave. There was a cave-in and their entrance became blocked by rocks. They were trapped underground for a week when they stumbled upon the remnants of Rama-Tuts time ship in an underground Egyptian tomb.
Baal died from lack of nourishment but before he died, he told Nur that he believed him to be a great conqueror. Baal believed that Rama-Tut was no God and just an ordinary man and that Nur was destined to overthrow him. Nur was kept alive purely by his mutant physiology. after four more weeks trapped in the cave system, he found his way out. Then he was enslaved by Logo, the grand vizier of Rama-Tut. Talk about having a bad day right?
An Enslaved God
Rama-Tut intended to own Apocalypse and have him at his beck and call. Things didn’t really go that way as Nur refused to be loyal to Rama-Tut, the result was Rama shooting Nur and wounding him and leaving him to die but his mutant abilities were just emerging. Nur survived with his mutant powers of immortality and mass shifting, awakening. Nur returned to Rama-Tut defeating him and Ozymandias but Rama-Tut escaped back to the future.
His Four Horsemen
So who were the those four dudes in the trailer standing behind him in the trailer, you might be thinking, well I’m going to tell you. Those were his four Horsemen. Around the 15th century Nur had created his personal guard known as the Four Horsemen. The roles have been filled by different people over the years including the Hulk, Angel, Wolverine, and more but each member holds a title. The titles being the Horseman of War, Famine, Death and Pestilence. In the upcoming movie the new Horsemen are Angel, Magneto, Storm, and Psylocke.
How can Apocalypse be Stopped?!
He is incredibly powerful but e can be defeated. In one story arc Apocalypse is in need of a new body as his has become weak with age. He attempts to fuse 12 mutants together in a mutant body and then take over that body. The plan is not fruitful as there is a glitch in the program and Magneto’s body was to weak to truly be of use. Apocalypse wanted the life force of all 12 mutants to be transferred to Nate Grey. Cyclops attacked Apocalypse but Apocalypse fused with Cyclops’ body and escaped.
Cable and the Phoenix found Cyclops forcing Apocalypse out of Scott’s body. Cable was then able to stab Apocalypse with a Psimitar Spear killing him.
There are a lot more stories with Apocalypse and in some he does manage to take over Earth, but this should be enough of a backstory to let you know who he is and what he plans on doing.
