Line #49 ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse


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7	In 1995, this crossover from Creator/MarvelComics among the ''ComicBook/XMen'' titles began when Legion, son of Professor Xavier, traveled back in time to kill Magneto, but ended up [[GrandfatherParadox killing his own father]] instead. This story, itself a minor crossover called ''Legion Quest'', led to the main ''Age of Apocalypse'' crossover.
8
9	For four months the X-titles were replaced by miniseries that took place in the AlternateUniverse that had come about for want of a Xavier. This BadFuture VillainWorld was a {{dystopia}}n {{Crapsack\|World}} ruled by the titular Apocalypse, where heroes were villains, villains were heroes, and AnyoneCanDie. The non-mutant comics weren't part of the crossover, though the 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 Chris Bachalo provided some of the art. The series were renamed as follows:
10
11	* ''Uncanny X-Men'' - ''Astonishing X-Men''
12	* ''X-Men'' - ''Amazing X-Men''
13	* ''X-Men Unlimited'' - ''X-Men Chronicles''
14	* ''Wolverine'' - ''Weapon X''
15	* ''X-Force'' - ''Gambit & The X-Ternals''
16	* ''X-Factor'' - ''Factor X''
17	* ''Excalibur'' - ''X-Calibre''
18	* ''Generation X'' - ''Generation Next''
19	* ''Cable'' - ''ComicBook/XMan''
20
21	TheConstant was Bishop. Hailing from an alternate future, he was already a chronal anomaly and thus unaffected by the change. He was the only one who remembered the world 'as it should be' and convinced the heroes to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong, even though it would mean that their own timeline would cease to exist. It turned out that the world was doomed anyway, as both hemispheres would have been leveled by nuclear attacks. Some characters managed to escape the closing of the temporal singularity and entered normal {{Continuity}}. One who failed to make it back was the remarkably popular Blink, the second of her lamented deaths. [[DeathIsCheap Death may be cheap]], but she did not return until five years later in a four-issue self-titled miniseries which segued into ''ComicBook/{{Exiles}}'', a series about a team of characters who are all UnstuckInTime.
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23	On the tenth anniversary a sequel miniseries was produced, which isn't very popular among fans; among other things, it shows little evidence of the devastation evident in the original series. There was also a "What If" story pitting the survivors of the original series against Galactus. An arc in ''Uncanny X-Force'' paved the way for a 2012 series for the survivors.
24
25	A shining example of the DarkerAndEdgier comics of TheNineties: a ''literal'' post-Apocalyptic warzone.
26
27	----
28	!!Tropes featured in the series
29
30	* AdaptationalJerkass: Oh man! It would take a lot less time to list who hasn’t been hit by this (Magneto, Mystique and Exodus being notable inversions). Most normally heroic characters are [[GoodIsNotNice jerks]] or [[AdaptationalVillainy straight up villains]] and most villains are much much worse than they are on Earth 616.
31	** A few examples: [[NiceGuy Nightcrawler]] and [[GentleGiant Colossus]] are both rude and merciless assholes and Beast is a sadistic right hand man for Mister Sinister while Blob is a cannibal.
32	* AdvancingWallOfDoom: As it turns out, the crystalizing wave that transformed the timeline into the [=AoA=] timeline was still going. The M'Kraan Crystal just ''hates'' temporal anomalies.
33	* AgeOfTitles: The title of the crossover.
34	* AlternateUniverse: Arguably the most famous in comics, at least where Marvel is concerned.
35	* AndThenWhat: This is discussed by the BigBad himself. After accomplishing his plan to TakeOverTheWorld (or at least conquer much of it and turning the rest into a CrapsackWorld), Apocalypse realizes that governing his brutal new [[TheSocialDarwinist dog-eat-dog]] empire is actually pretty tiresome.
36	* AndThisIsFor:
37	-->'''Apocalypse''': So be it, whelp. Any last words?\
38	'''X-Man''': Four, in fact. '''THIS ONE'S FOR FORGE!''' kick to the face
39	* AnyoneCanDie: It's an AlternateUniverse, and a particularly {{Grimdark}} one at that, so this trope is in full effect. Longtime but not actually iconic characters in main continuity are {{Red Shirt}}s here.
40	* ApocalypseNot: The ten-year revival series makes the world look much less nasty in comparison to the original run. The later ''Uncanny X-Force'' arc, on the other hand, restores the nastiness and adds more.
41	* BadassBoast: Fittingly enough, Magneto gets probably the best one of the series when he [[spoiler:''rips Apocalypse in half'']] in their final fight.
42	-->For ''twenty years'' you've gone ''on'' and ''on'' about how only the ''strong survive''. Tell me ''again'', [[spoiler:Apocalypse]]...just how ''strong'' you ''are''.
43	* BadassNormal: Gwen Stacy stands out the most, compared to her counterpart in the normal continuity, but many other other non-mutant Marvel heroes (who managed to escape Apocalypse's human cullings...Peter Parker and half of the ComicBook/FantasticFour did not) qualify as well.
44	** William Stryker is revealed as one in the ''Uncanny X-Force'' arc, singlehandedly taking down a Sentinel without breaking a sweat.
45	* BedTrick: During ''Legion Quest'', the story that'd lead to this, an amnesiac Legion used his powers to pose as his own father and then sexually assault his own mother, Gabrielle Haller.
46	* BerserkButton:
47	** 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"?
48	** 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. Though this is likely intentional, since he only took the name Holocaust after Magneto destroyed his flesh-and-blood body, forcing him to rely on a containment suit.
49	** Holocaust himself is distinctly not happy about the way Nate utterly dismisses him.
50	* BlackAndGrayMorality: Forget about Magneto. In a setting where the [[FantasticRacism mutant Nazis]] have already conquered or wiped out half the world and the remaining humans are willing to nuke them in self-defense, Sabretooth and the Sentinels are good guys.
51	** ALighterShadeOfGrey: That said, some of the "former" villains are ''vastly'' more sympathetic in this setting - Magneto is utterly ''haunted'' by Charles' death and thus tries his absolute damnedest to live up to the dream in a world that is far more actively hostile to the concept, and [=AoA=] Sabertooth was ''famously'' more jovial, likeable and friendly than his 616 counterpart had been up to that point. Both of these turns were so liked (in addition to the Mags-Rogue relationship) that elements of the [=AoA=] characters [[RecursiveAdaptation were adapted into the primary versions of the characters]] after [=AoA=] came to a close.
52	* BlessedWithSuck: Averted, in normal continuity, Chamber's power causes most of his chest and face to melt off, but in this reality, he simply had a hole drilled in his chest to let the energy escape.
53	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Mikhail, who was captured and tortured by Apocalypse.
54	* BreakoutCharacter: Blink, easily the most popular character to come out of the event, who started as an EnsembleDarkHorse. This eventually resulted in her leading a team in ''ComicBook/{{Exiles}}'' due to fan demand to bring her back, and, again, she is easily the most popular character in that series.
55	* BurnScarsBurningPowers: In this universe, Pyro was experimented on by Beast and gained the ability to generate fire by himself. However, he wasn't immune to the flames he produced, resulting in extensive burn scarring.
56	* 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 ComicBook/{{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.
57	* CanonImmigrant:
58	** 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 ''ComicBook/UncannyXForce'', there's now a 616 version of Holocaust, calling himself Genocide.
59	** Holocaust, Sugar Man, Dark Beast, X-Man, [=AoA=] Sabretooth and [=AoA=] Blink are literal examples of this; the former four found their way into the classic MU during the finale (X-Man interacted with his counterpart, Cable, a few times and Dark Beast once impersonated his counterpart, the classic Beast in the lead-up to ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}) and the latter two, via ''ComicBook/{{Exiles}}.'' Given Holocaust died, he's unlikely to meet his newly-revealed 616 counterpart, Genocide, unless he's resurrected.
60	** In the late-1990s, in the ''X-Force'' title, Jesse Aaronson (Bedlam) was introduced in issue #82 as X-Force's ally, while his brother appeared in issue #87 (by this time, main reality has settled in). Both were the Bedlam Brothers in ''The Age of Apocalypse'', a pair of enforcers who debuted in the ''Factor-X'' title.
61	** Also, [=AoA=] Blob, who joined Daken's Brotherhood of Mutants and [=AoA=] Nightcrawler, who has joined ComicBook/XForce.
62	* CatchPhrase: Apocalypse's constant referrals to the "chosen" and the "forgotten".
63	* CharactersDroppingLikeFlies: As one would expect from a dystopian alternate timeline, numerous Marvel characters were killed off as part of the backstory, and many more die over the course of the main story. And then, in the finale, [[spoiler:the [[{{Muggles}} human]] resistance sends a massive airship fleet to Apocalypse's domain to NukeEm All. Even though Apocalypse has already been killed. Later, a ComicBook/WhatIf story shows the handful of survivors, human and mutant, trying to rebuild...and then [[PlanetEater Galactus]] shows up.]]
64	* CoDragons: The Horsemen of Apocalypse (Sinister, Holocaust, Abyss and Prelate Rasputin). Former Horsemen (Candra, Gideon, War, Death, Maximus/Death II, Bastion, Sabretooth) also served in this role before either dying or (in Sabretooth's case) [[HeelFaceTurn defecting to the X-Men]].
65	** The Elite Mutant Force serve as Co-Dragons for Sinister (Cyclops, Havok, Cannonball, Amazon, Northstar, Aurora, the Bedlam Brothers, Marrow, the M Twins)
66	*** Cyclops becomes the TokenGoodTeammate.
67	* LesCollaborateurs:
68	** The Marauders, human terrorists serving Apocalypse: Dirigible (Wilson Fisk), Red (Norman Osborn), Arcade and Owl.
69	** The Reavers, cyborgs enhanced with Apocalypse's technoorganic virus.
70	* CurbstompBattle: Nate Grey demonstrates his credentials in the final battle with Apocalypse by swatting the powerful Holocaust like a bug. While Holocaust later gets up for a Round 2 with Nate, as in their later encounters, Holocaust is hideously outclassed.
71	* 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 {{crapsack\|World}} 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.
72	* DePower: Happened to Magneto before the series proper began. He was able to damage Apocalypse's Celestial spaceship to the point that it could never fly again, but in doing so he nearly burned out his abilities, and in the present was said to only be about half as powerful as he was previously.
73	* DidTheyOrDidntThey: Fans were convinced that Rogue and Magneto hooked up in a previous storyline (despite WordOfGod), perhaps the reason why they were a genuine couple in this series.
74	* TheDisembodied: The villain Holocaust, once flesh-and-blood, was turned into a roiling mass of psionic energy inside a crystalline suit of armor.
75	* DontYouDarePityMe: ComicBook/{{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.
76	* DragonWithAnAgenda: Sinister, Holocaust and Prelate Rasputin have their own plans.
77	* EliteMooks:
78	** The Mutant Elite Force, who serve Sinister
79	** The Brotherhood of Chaos, associated with Abyss
80	** The Pale Riders
81	** Domino's Bounty Hunters
82	%%* TheEmpire
83	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Seems to be in the process of happening as the series ends. Apocalypse's sea wall weapons platform is laying waste to what remains of Europe, while the European military has launched all their surviving nuclear warheads at America.
84	* EvenEvilHasStandards: This is the entire reason Sinister betrays Apocalypse; his devotion to 'survival of the fittest' means that he wouldn't even mind if humanity wiped out mutantkind (because then they would have proven themselves stronger), but Sinister is obsessed with perfecting mutants through selective breeding and needs a stable genepool to draw from, which this conflict would eliminate.
85	* EverybodysDeadDave: This is the nature of the report [[spoiler:Colossus gives about Generation Next to Blink and the rest of the X-Men--his entire class of students (for those keeping score, that's Chamber, Vicente, Mondo, Husk, and Skin) was sacrificed to save Ilyana and repair the timeline]].
86	* EvilOverlord:
87	** Apocalypse himself is one of these in this story. Holocaust and Mikhail have similar plans of their own.
88	** [[spoiler:Logan (Weapon X) in the Dark Angel Saga.]]
89	* FaceHeelTurn and HeelFaceTurn:
90	** 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 Franchise/MarvelUniverse and became a recurring X-Villain.
91	** In-universe examples include Cyclops and Strong Guy among others.
92	** [[spoiler:Wolverine as of the Dark Angel Saga in Uncanny having become the heir to Apocalypse, with a BrainwashedAndCrazy Storm, and Bobby Drake.]]
93	** [[spoiler: Jean later briefly became the heir of Apocalypse as well.]]
94	* FutureBadass: Almost everyone in the series is a future badass version of themselves; the one glaring exception is Illyana Rasputin, who never went to hell in this continuity and is therefore a little girl rather than a teenaged demon-sorceress.
95	* 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 {{Retcon}}s.]]
96	* GuardStationsTerminallyUnattended: Nightcrawler (of all characters!) onboard the boat in X-Calibre #3.
97	* ImpliedRape: As noted under BedTrick, in the prologue arc ''Legion Quest'', Legion, amnesiac at the time, tried to use his own psychic powers to pull pose as Xavier and seduce Gabrielle Haller (''[[ParentalIncest his own mother]]'') and by the time Charles and Erik got to her, her clothes are ripped up and she's crying.
98	* {{Irony}}: ComicBook/{{Magneto}} has always been concerned about a human genocide against mutants. Instead, there ends up being a mutant genocide against humans.
99	** [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII The Holocaust]] almost killed Magneto. Magneto almost-kills Holocaust.
100	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Soaron is the volatile asshole in Forge’s group, often belittling Nate, but even after being injured, he still grabs a huge gun and blasts the hell out of attackers trying to harm Nate, and when the latter departs, Soaron sends him off with abrasive fondness.
101	* MarkedBullet: Mystique, also the source of the title 'X-Calibre'.
102	* MadScientist: Sinister. And his apprentice turned NumberTwo, Beast, who not only performs gruesome experiments to create more powerful mutants, but [[ForTheEvulz just for fun]]. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even Sinister finds the latter habit utterly deplorable.]]
103	* MasterSwordsman: It was to be expected that Nightcrawler is one. Less so for Toad and Caliban, of all people, who have a full duel ending with Toad killing his opponent.
104	* MayDecemberRomance: Magneto with Rogue; remember that, in this timeline, his backstory was intact until the moment Legion accidentally killed Charles, so he was still a WWII survivor.
105	* MessianicArchetype: Nate a.k.a. X-Man. As per usual, he's gunning for devil figure Apocalypse.
106	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When Bishop is able to fix the timeline by getting Legion to stab the two of them, Legion bemoans that all he wanted to do is to make Xavier's dream come true, not realizing the damage he would do.
107	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Quite a few, including Sinister, Abyss, and Holocaust. And of course the titular Apocalypse.
108	** In a wonderful case of {{Irony}} Holocaust was almost killed by ComicBook/{{Magneto}}.
109	* NoodleIncident:
110	** 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. This incident's noodliness is actually [[InvokedTrope invoked]] when [[spoiler:Logan [[IAmNotLeftHanded uses the claws in his handless arm]] to kill in his series, with TheReveal that his claws were not extended when his hand was lost.]]
111	** Whatever Magneto did to Nemesis after the latter killed the Scarlet Witch. The event apparently damaged Nemesis so much, he had to exist within a containment suit from then on, renaming himself Holocaust.
112	* OmnicidalManiac: Holocaust. While Apocalypse wants the fittest to survive, Holocaust wants to kill everyone in the world.
113	* PhysicalGod: Apocalypse and his destined arch nemesis, Nate Grey.
114	* PsychicNosebleed:
115	** X-Man gets this when he overstresses himself using his power; it's one symptom of his eventual SuperPowerMeltdown (see below).
116	** Jean Grey gets one too, when she overloads the Brain Trust with psychic energy.
117	* PunchClockVillain: The Bedlam Brothers
118	* TheQuisling:
119	** Keeper [[{{ComicBook/Daredevil}} Murdock]], who serves as TheConsigliere and TheDragon to Mikhail Rasputin.
120	** The Marauders on this universe are nothing but this, including the Owl, Arcade, Dirigible (this universe's version of the Kingpin), and Red (this universe's version of the Green Goblin).
121	** Dr. Bruce Banner, who serves as TheMole to Mikhail, who provided him mutant test subjects, allowing Banner to become "The Thing", [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk's]] Age of Apocalypse counterpart.
122	* QuirkyMinibossSquad: Some members of the Pale Riders (Dead Man Wade) and the bounty hunters (Caliban) ''are'' quirky, but the squads are rather efficient.
123	* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil:
124	** As noted under "Bed Trick", it's implied during ''Legion Quest'' that an amnesiac David used his powers to pose as Charles and then sexually assault his own mother.
125	** As revealed in the Blink mini-series which is a prequel to the main storyline [[spoiler:Sugar Man is actually a pedophile who sexually abuses the young female prisoners in the slave camps he supervises, including both Illyana Rasputin and Clarice Ferguson. The consolation is that at least Sugar Man apparently doesn't kill the girls he rapes, as both Illyana and Clarice still survived to later get rescued by the X-Men when they got PTSD, even though Sugar Man was implied (later confirmed on Earth-616) to also be a [[IAmAHumanitarian cannibal]] who eats his enemies alive.]]
126	* RegionalRedecoration: The Earth has certainly seen better days. Most of the planet is now a toxic DeathWorld, Central and South America have been shattered into islands floating in a radioactive sea, a large chunk of France is underwater, etc.
127	* ReligionOfEvil: The Madri, and the Brotherhood of Chaos. The regime itself promotes the idea of Apocalypse as a GodEmperor and PhysicalGod.
128	* LaResistance: The X-Men and the Human Resistance
129	* ARealManIsAKiller: Colossus expects the younger mutants to kill one another during training to ensure survival of the fittest.
130	%%* RememberThatYouTrustMe
131	* RetCanon: The classic Sunfire later sported his [=AoA=] counterpart's look, ironically as a horseman of Apocalypse while Shadowcat briefly employed a claw device similar to the one used by her [=AoA=] self.
132	* RippleEffectProofMemory: Bishop, as usual.
133	* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In the man comics, there's no evidence Bolivar Trask and Moira [=MacTaggert=] knew each other in person. Here, they're married.
134	* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Toad speaks like this, having somehow ended up an actor with a love of Shakespeare in this universe.
135	* ShoutOut: Damask's real name, Emma Steed, is a reference to the protagonist duo of the British SpyDrama TV series ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' (unrelated to Marvel's [[ComicBook/TheAvengers superteam]]), Emma Peel and John Steed.
136	* ShutUpKirk: Holocaust may be a monster, but he’s quite good with the zingers.
137	-->'''Rogue''': From where I’m standing, you’ve already lost!
138	-->''Holocaust punts her across the room.''
139	-->'''Holocaust''': Then stand over there.
140	* TheSpartanWay: Colossus' method of training young mutants.
141	* TheStarscream:
142	** Sinister (without the "Mister") betrays Apocalypse and seeks to destroy him because Sinister believes no lifeform will survive his plans.
143	** Holocaust is also implied to have more extreme plans.
144	* SuddenlySpeaking: Gateway, a mute Australian Aborigine in the mainstream universe, is quite chatty and a hell of a lot hipper, thanks to his role as an information broker. A case of ShownTheirWork, since mainstream Gateway is mute by choice, and has spoken before (albeit, approximately three words in total).
145	* SuicidalPacifism: Taken to a bizarre extreme with the Juggernaut. He has sworn never to use violence again, but when the Pale Riders attack Avalon, Nightcrawler yells at him that people he has the power to save are dying. The conflict in Cain is so wrenching, he ''has an aneurysm and drops dead on the spot.''
146	* 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.
147	* TheTimeTravellersDilemma: Fixing things to how they should be means the end of the line for everyone in this dimension, which gives Magneto pause when he considers the son he has with Rogue.
148	* 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.
149	* UnexplainedRecovery: Even though the usual "This is a 'What If' so let's kill everyone we can' rules apply, one character actually enjoyed a normal [[DeathisCheap comic book resurrection]], albeit as an after the fact RetCon brought about by editorial bungling. [[spoiler:Cyclops was intended to die in the end, but as many fans pointed out, the depiction of his death makes no sense; Havok's power shouldn't be able to even hurt him, much less kill him. So in the epilogue miniseries, he was established to be alive again (though he never appears).]]
150	** The ''Uncanny X-Force'' series that revisited the setting brought this about for the Blob, who is a cannibalistic enforcer for Weapon Omega there after having been last seen being operated on by Dark Beast, trying to attack him and being blasted to hell by the Summers brothers.
151	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Legion has no idea what he has unleashed, and once Bishop manages to go back in time again and show him, Legion is horrified at what happened.
152	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
153	** 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/CaptainBritain Brian]]'s almost manic dedication to bringing him down.
154	*** The Psylocke in the ten-year revival is most likely Kwannon, the Japanese female ninja telepathic assassin who body-switched with Betsy Braddock in the main universe, who remained in possession of her original body in this reality.
155	** The lack of magic or magic users like ComicBook/DoctorStrange, [[ComicBook/AlphaFlight Shaman]], or [[ComicBook/{{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.
156	* WhatIf: Three of them:
157	** The first one showed asked what would happen if they had to deal with Galactus, which took place after the events of the saga.
158	** The second asked what would happen if Legion was successful in killing Magneto and not accidentally killing Xavier.
159	** The third asked what would happen if Legion managed to kill Magento ''and'' Xavier. The end result is even worse, as most mutants side with Apocalypse.
160	* 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.
161	** The ''Uncanny X-Force'' arc reveals William Stryker as a CoolOldGuy, who through AwesomenessByAnalysis and incredibly sharp weapons, singlehandedly takes down a freaking Sentinel.
162	* WolverineClaws: In addition to Logan, Shadowcat wears a gauntlet with three retractable claws.
163

Context ComicBook / AgeOfApocalypse