History ComicBook / AgeofApocalypse

** The lack of magic or magic users like Comicbook/DoctorStrange, [[Series/AlphaFlight Shaman]], or [[Series/{{Excalibur}} Amanda Sefton]] has also been noted. Strange and Shaman ''possibly'' died during the culling when they were still normal humans, but Amanda is European and her whereabouts are completely unknown.

** A case of ShowingTheirResearch, since mainstream Gateway is mute by choice, and has spoken before (albeit, approximately three words in total).

** Not counting the ten-year revival ([[FanonDiscontinuity many fans don't]]), Psylocke is the most notable no-show, though WildMassGuessing suggests that she was lobotomized as part of Apocalypse's Brain Trust (a collection of disembodied telepathic brains that serve as Big Blue's primary psychic defense), thus explaining her brother [[ComicBook/CaptainBritan Brian]]'s almost manic dedication to bringing him down.

*** This incident's noodliness actually leads to [[spoiler:TheReveal, where Logan [[IAmNotLeftHanded uses the claws in his handless arm]] to kill TheHeavy in his series.]]

** A case of ShownTheirResearch, since mainstream Gateway is mute by choice, and has spoken before (albeit, approximately three words in total).

** If [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Holocaust]] had thought about where his name came from for just a minute, it would be obvious why he's on Magneto's hit list.

* CoDragons: The Horsemen of Apocalypse (Sinister, Holocaust, Abyss and Prelate Rasputin). Former Horsemen (Candra, Gideon, War, Death, Maximus/Death II, Bastion, Sabretooth).

** The ''Uncanny X-Force'' arc reveals William Stryker as a BadassGrandpa, who through AwesomenessByAnalysis and incredibly sharp weapons, singlehandedly takes down a freaking Sentinel.

** A version of Abyss--one of Apocalypse's horsemen--later appeared in the normal Franchise/MarvelUniverse, but due to Apocalypse not ruling the world, he was a hero and Damask's 616 counterpart is ComicBook/{{Excalibur}} villain Emma Steed. Oh, and thanks to events in ''Uncanny X-Force'', there's now a 616 version of Holocaust, calling himself Genocide.

%%* AlternateUniverse

* ApocalypseNot: The ten-year revival series makes the world look much less nasty in comparison to the original run.

* MadScientist: Sinister. And his apprentice turned NumberTwo, Beast, who not only performs gruesome experiments to create more powerful mutants, but [[ForTheEvulz just for fun]].

* WorldOfBadass / TookALevelInBadass: The [=AoA=]-verse is truly an awful place, dominated by the Darwinist decree of 'Survival of the Fittest.' And yet, this same philosophy creates a 'verse where nearly ''everyone'' is even more badass then they were in the original timeline, in one way or another. Thought that Sabretooth was already a tough mo-fo? Wait until you see his first fight with Holocaust. You don't think Iceman is living up to his full potential power-wise? Let [=AoA=] Iceman show 616 Iceman how it's done. And Wolverine manages to kick ''just'' as much ass, if not more, with just the one set of claws. The list goes on and on, which makes sense, considering just what it takes to survive in this hellhole.

* ARealManIsAKiller: Colossus expects the younger mutants to kill one another during training to ensure survival of the fittest.

* RegionalRedecoration: ''Age of Apocalypse'' takes place in an AlternateTimeline where [[ItMakesSenseInContext Xavier is accidentally killed by his time-travelling psychotic son, who was trying to assassinate Magneto.]] Without Xavier around, the X-men are unable to stop Apocalypse from triggering a nuclear war. This leads to a VillainWorld where [[FantasticRacism mutant Nazis are hard at work exterminating the remnants of the human race]], Europe is a fortress fighting a losing war against Apocalypse, and [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/84/2a/0c/842a0c91558d9547af9b175e05f240c3.jpg most of the planet is a toxic]] DeathWorld.

* GoThroughMe: During a massive battle, Colossus sees that his little sister is in trouble and rushes to save her, with gusto. Iceman steps up and says something along the lines of "No can do pal, if you want to get out of here you'll have to go through m-"... and the next panel shows Colossus smashing Iceman into a million pieces. [[spoiler:Though that wouldn't actually kill him now after some power {{Ret Con}}s.]]

** Not counting the ten-year revival ([[FanonDiscontinuity many fans don't]]), Psylocke is the most notable no-show, though WildMassGuessing suggests that she was lobotomized as part of Apocalypse's Brain Trust (a collection of disembodied telepathic brains that serve as Big Blue's primary psychic defense), thus explaining her brother [[Series/CaptainBritan Brian]]'s almost manic dedication to bringing him down.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AoATrope.gif]]

In 1995, this crossover from Creator/MarvelComics among the [[Comicbook/XMen X-Titles]] began when Legion, son of Professor Xavier, travelled back in time to kill ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, but ended up killing his own father instead. This story, itself a minor crossover called ''Legion Quest,'' led to the main ''Age of Apocalypse'' crossover.

For four months the X-titles were replaced by miniseries that took place in the AlternateUniverse that had come about [[ForWantOfANail for want of an Xavier]]. This BadFuture VillainWorld was a [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian]] [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack]] ruled by the titular ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}}, where heroes were villains, villains were heroes, and AnyoneCanDie. The non-mutant comics weren't part of the crossover, though a two issue miniseries ''X-Universe'' did show what happened to the non-mutant Marvel heroes in the new history. Scott Lobdell directed the overall story arc and some of Chris Bachalo's best work is featured in this series. The series were renamed as follows:

-->'''Apocalypse''': So be it, whelp. Any last words?
-->'''X-Man''': Four, in fact. '''THIS ONE'S FOR FORGE!''' *kick to the face*

* BerserkButton: Did anyone ''not'' see ComicBook/{{Magneto}} getting [[RoaringRampageofRevenge at least a little upset]] about people being hoarded into concentration camps by a supposedly "Superior Race"?

* DeathWorld: Several continents have been wiped out by nuclear weapons, most of the rest of the planet is an irradiated wasteland, genocidal death squads hunt down and wage war on the surviving human race and "race-traitors", dissenters and opponents of the tyrannical regime can expect to be thrown into concentration camps to try and survive sadistic experiments, and North America is divided between the EvilOverlord and his [[CoDragons most trusted and dangerous lieutenants]], who rule their territories as personal kingdoms. The world is intentionally [[CrapsackWorld crapsack]] as Apocalypse believes everyone has to earn the right to live and will come out stronger for it by surviving and prospering on this nightmare planet.

* TheDisembodied: The villain Holocaust.

* EvilOverlord: Apocalypse himself is one of these in this story. Holocaust and Mikhail have similar plans of their own.

** In universe examples include Cyclops and Strong Guy among others.
** [[spoiler: Wolverine as of the Dark Angel Saga in Uncanny having become the heir to Apocalypse, with a BrainwashedAndCrazy Storm, and Bobby Drake.]]

** [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII The Holocaust]] almost killed Magneto. Magneto almost-kills Holocaust

* MadScientist: Sinister. And his apprentice turned NumberTwo, Beast, who not only performs gruesome experiments to create more powerful mutants, but [[ForTheEvulz just for fun.]]

* NoodleIncident: The Cyclops-Wolverine fight in which Wolverine lost a hand, and Cyclops lost an eye, was much-discussed, but not shown in the original comics.

* NotSoDifferent: Colossus philosophy after years of war is quite similar to that of Apocalypse.

* QuirkyMinibossSquad - Some members of the Pale Riders (Dead Man Wade) and the bounty hunters (Caliban) ''are'' quirky, but the squads are rather efficient.

* LaResistance - The X-Men and the Human Resistance
* PsychicNosebleed: X-Man gets this when he overstresses himself using his power; it's one symptom of his eventual SuperPowerMeltdown (see below).

* SuperPowerMeltdown: X-Man was engineered by Sinister to eventually (and literally) burn out from the strength of his psionic power.
** During his adventures bopping around the multiverse, he finally managed to get this fixed.

* TruceZone: Heaven, the nightclub run by Warren Worthington III, he himself attempts to play the TrueNeutral role, providing entertainment to the elite of Apocalypse's regime, but also information to "terrorists" like the X-Men or Gambit's X-Ternals.

** A version of Abyss--one of Apocalypse's horsemen--later appeared in the normal MarvelUniverse, but due to Apocalypse not ruling the world, he was a hero and Damask's 616 counterpart is {{ComicBook/Excalibur}} villain Emma Steed. Oh, and thanks to events in ''Uncanny X-Force'', there's now a 616 version of Holocaust, calling himself Genocide.

** Numerous characters are on different sides in this reality, including Sabretooth, Exodus, Domino, Mystique, Sinister, Cyclops, Havok, and Dark Beast, who even crossed over to the main MarvelUniverse and became a recurring X-Villain.

* BlondGuysAreEvil: Nemesis (Holocaust's previous persona, before being nearly killed by [[{{Irony}} Magneto]]), Havok.

** Not counting the ten-year revival ([[FanonDiscontinuity many fans don't]]), Psylocke is the most notable no-show, though WildMassGuessing suggests that she was lobotomized as part of Apocalypse's Brain Trust (a collection of disembodied telepathic brains that serve as Big Blue's primary psychic defense), thus explaining her brother Brian's almost manic dedication to bringing Apocalypse down.

** The lack of magic or magic users like Comicbook/DoctorStrange or X-Men ally Amanda Sefton has also been noted. Strange ''possibly'' died during the culling, when he still was merely a human surgeon, along with Peter Parker, Reed Richards and Johnny Storm. And Cap's probably floating in a block of ice, somewhere in the Artic.

* CanonForeigner: Among others, Charles Lehnsherr, Dead-Eye, and Switchback. The only thing the [=AoA=] Arclight, Bastion, and Wolverine share with their classic Marvel Universe namesakes are the names. The classic Arclight is a woman ([=AoA=] Arclight's a man), the normal MU Bastion appeared as a mutant-hater ''after'' [=AoA=], and the [=AoA=] version of the classic {{Wolverine}} goes by the name Weapon X. Sugar Man had no known counterpart in the classic Marvel Universe, but as noted below he, plus Dark Beast, X-Man, and Holocaust (whose respective counterparts are Beast, Cable, and Genocide), did literally immigrate from the [=AoA=] reality to the classic universe in the finale.

In 1995, this crossover from Creator/MarvelComics among the [[Comicbook/XMen X-Titles]] began when Legion, son of Professor Xavier, travelled back in time to kill {{Magneto}}, but ended up killing his own father instead. This story, itself a minor crossover called ''Legion Quest,'' led to the main ''Age of Apocalypse'' crossover.

* {{Irony}}: {{Magneto}} has always been concerned about a human genocide against mutants. Instead, there ends up being a mutant genocide against humans.

** In a wonderful case of {{Irony}} Holocaust was almost killed by {{Magneto}}.

* WorldOfBadass / TookALevelInBadass: The [=AoA=]-verse is truly an awful place, dominated by the Darwinist decree of 'Survival of the Fittest.' And yet, this same philosophy creates a 'verse where nearly ''everyone'' is even more badass then they were in the original timeline, in one way or another. Thought that Sabretooth was already a tough mo-fo? Wait until you see his first fight with Holocaust. You don't think Iceman is living up to his full potential power-wise? Let [=AoA=] Iceman show 616 Iceman how it's done. And Wolverine manages to kick ''just'' as much ass, if not more, with just the one claw. The list goes on and on, which makes sense, considering just what it takes to survive in this hellhole.

In 1995, this crossover from Creator/MarvelComics among the [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} X-Titles]] began when Legion, son of Professor Xavier, travelled back in time to kill {{Magneto}}, but ended up killing his own father instead. This story, itself a minor crossover called ''Legion Quest,'' led to the main ''Age of Apocalypse'' crossover.

** Also, [=AoA=] Blob, who joined Daken's Brotherhood of Mutants and [=AoA=] Nightcrawler, who has joined XForce

* DontYouDarePityMe: {{Quicksilver}} learned that his father had been kidnapped by his worst enemy, his half brother had vanished, and a virtual stranger had also been captured. He had to decide to rescue the stranger. When his girlfriend Storm tried to sympathize, he refused to talk with her because if he thought of what he was doing, he would not be able to do it.

* BerserkButton: Did anyone ''not'' see SelfDemonstrating/{{Magneto}} getting [[RoaringRampageofRevenge at least a little upset]] about people being hoarded into concentration camps by a supposedly "Superior Race"?

** Numerous characters are on different sides in this reality, including Sabretooth, Exodus, Cyclops, Havok, and Dark Beast, who even crossed over to the main MarvelUniverse and became a recurring X-Villain.

* CanonForeigner: Among others, Charles Lehnsherr, Dead-Eye, and Switchback. The only thing the [=AoA=] Arclight, Bastion, and Wolverine share with their classic Marvel Universe namesakes are the names. The classic Arclight is a woman ([=AoA=] Arclight's a man), the normal MU Bastion appeared as a mutant-hater ''after'' [=AoA=], and the [=AoA=] version of the classic {{Wolverine}} goes by the name Weapon X. Sugar Man had no known counterpart in the classic Marvel Universe, but as noted below he, plus Dark Beast, X-Man, and Holocaust (whose respective counterparts are Beast, Cable, and the recently-revealed Genocide), did literally immigrate from the [=AoA=] reality to the classic universe in the finale.

** A version of Abyss--one of Apocalypse's horsemen--later appeared in the normal MarvelUniverse, but due to Apocalypse not ruling the world, he was a hero and Damask's 616 counterpart is {{ComicBook/Excalibur}} villain Emma Steed. Oh, and thanks to recent events in ''Uncanny X-Force'', there's now a 616 version of Holocaust, calling himself Genocide.

** More recently, [=AoA=] Blob, who joined Daken's Brotherhood of Mutants and [=AoA=] Nightcrawler, who has joined XForce