Characters / Invincible (2021): The Grayson Family

Invincible (2021) Main Character Index
The Grayson Family | Superheroes | Supervillains (The Empire) | Others

The Grayson Family

Mark Grayson

Invincible (Markus "Mark" Sebastian Grayson)

"You might as well give up. I'm Invincible."

Voiced By: Steven Yeun

"It's about time."

The eponymous hero and main character. Mark starts as a 17-year old young man who, after finally gaining his long-awaited powers, discovers the realities of being a superhero.

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• 10-Minute Retirement: After the battle against his father, Mark tells Cecil that he'll be stepping away from being a hero for a while, stating the burden of it all is too much. Not long after that, he quickly dons his outfit after Cecil informs him an unknown contact is approaching the planet, which turned out to be Allen, the Alien. After an assuring conversation, Mark decides to finish high school before preparing for the battle with the Viltrumites.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
  • Not to say the source material didn't have any but this version gets hit with this early after he experiences an alien invasion for the first time. He also reveals that he's desperate to prove himself to his dad.
  • In episode 6 and 7 Mark becomes frustrated and agitated that his relationship with Amber has been tarnished due to refusing to tell the truth to her as well as attempting to reveal his secret identity only for it to fall flat when she reveals that she already knew. Mark starts to blow off William's advice and when he talks to Eve starts to act self-centered and self-loathing over his mistakes and actions, and only snaps out of it once he thinks his father is in danger.
  • He's also much less forgiving towards Nolan during their reunion on Thraxa. Justified given that Omni-Man was given the Adaptational Villainy treatment in the show, which made the atrocities he committed much less easier to stomach.
  • The climax of Season 2, where Mark loses control once he sees Angstrom hurting his mother and little brother, resulting in Mark beating him to death, puts a lot more weight to Mark holding on his ideal of what being human is, more specifically what a Viltrumite is not: someone who doesn't kill. Mark in the show is much deeply hurt over taking a life, no matter how others say it was completely justified, for Mark killing is something Viltrumites do and Mark still completely denies his Viltrum heritage, linking them to the absolute worst, vile kind of people he can think of. In the comic Mark was taken aback over killing Angstrom too, but to a lesser degree, as soon as he was rescued from that dimension by the older Guardians of the Globe and had a talk with Cecil, Mark had pretty much gotten over it, and was never shown linking his distress over killing Angstrom to his fear of becoming more like a Viltrumite.
• Adaptational Badass: He fares much better in his fight with the Viltrumites on Thraxa than he did in the comics. In the comics, he was able to land a few good hits but was ultimately outclassed. In the show, he managed to gain the upper hand on Thula but his hesitation to finish her off left him open for a stab in the gut.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: While Mark in the comics was a good guy, he also was a lot more indifferent toward the collateral damage, including loss of life, that came up in his early hero days. Seeing one of his classmates blow up wasn't even worth a mention in the comics, where in the show seeing someone die or failing to save someone causes him quite a bit of trauma to the point he questions if he even should be a hero. It culminated on how Mark reacts to losing control to murderous rage when facing Angstrom at the end of Season 2. In the show Mark holds his ideals over not killing much stronger than he ever did in the comics, as the show adds a new layer for Mark's reasoning to it: him linking murder to what Viltrumites nonchalantly do, and Mark absolutely doesn't want to be like them; so even with several people trying to comfort Mark by saying what he did to Angstrom was completely justified, he doesn't accept their words just yet; meanwhile in the comic as soon as he saw Debbie and Oliver were ok, and Cecil told him he did good, Mark was instantly over his mental distress.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • Mark has a much steeper learning curve than in the comics, where superhero-ing was so easy for him that it gave him a false sense of security in the job.
  • His strength at the beginning of the story in the show is lesser than what it was in the comic, which was exactly what gave Mark a false sense of security in the first place. Mark in the show is shown taking a lot more damage from his earlier foes. However, it’s implied in the show that sometimes he chooses to hold himself back, and would rather take the blows than killing his foes or causing collateral damage whenever the stakes are high, which becomes a problem in the Season 2 finale when he stops fighting with gloves, and smashes Angstrom Levy’s skull with his bare hands in a fit of rage, as the latter harmed his mother and his half-brother.
• Adaptation Distillation: The show puts more focus on Mark wanting to be a superhero in order to follow his father’s footsteps, a legacy kind of thing; in the comics there was greater focus in Mark being a comic book nerd, his eagerness to finally get his powers was also to live all the fantasies he has been reading in the papers, in the show Mark liking comics is a smaller part of his character.
• Adaptive Ability: Of sorts. All Viltrumites grow Stronger with Age so long as they keep pushing themselves, but it's implied that all of the physical trauma and beatings Mark has taken over the course of the series have made him unusually powerful for a juvenile Viltrumite by virtue of him getting thrown into the deep end and being forced to get strong quickly. He goes from being unable to land any meaningful blows against Nolan in season 1 to being able to match a much older warrior on equal footing in the first half of season 2. He's still not up to par with some of their best warriors, but he's still punching well above what would be expected of his young age.
• Afraid of Their Own Strength: Throughout Season 2, Mark becomes fearful of his own anger and what he's capable of, terrified of becoming like his father after the latter’s callous rampage. Especially at the end of season 2, when he gets pushed far enough into beating to death Levy in a rage. He later drops out of college to focus on mastering his abilities.
• Armor-Piercing Response:
  • Omni-Man is trying to get Mark to stop caring about humans by pointing out he will outlive everyone he could care about. He asks what Mark will have in even just 500 years. Mark answers that, in spite of everything, he'll still have his dad.
  “…You Dad, I’d still have you.”
  • Nolan witnesses the destruction of Thraxa and its inhabitants, and angrily asks Mark why he cares and how it’s better than feeling nothing for inferior creatures. Mark responds by saying “This is how you should’ve felt on Earth.” Nolan is once again speechless.
• Asleep for Days: The aftermath of the battle with Machine-Head and Battle Beast left him unconscious for a week. His fight with Nolan left him out for two weeks.
• Awful Truth: Where do we begin? His father, Omni-Man, is a high ranking soldier sent to conquer Earth. He, unlike Mark, sees humans as beneath them, and that he'll be better off with the Viltrumites, who aren't the pacifistic philanthropists that Omni-Man made them out to be, but a race of brutal warriors whose goal is to conquer the universe. Oh, and also, his girlfriend found out his secret identity long ago.
• Being Good Sucks:
  • Despite having Superman-esq abilities, he routinely gets his ass handed to him after every fight and is rendered a bloody mess by the end. He experiences one heartbreaking experience after another from the civilians casualties of hero/villain conflicts. His father puts him through Training from Hell, Cecil burdens him with the expectation that he should always be available in a way that he doesn't with other young heroes, and the schedule they put him under is slowly devastating his personal life with his school, his part-time job, friends and girlfriend. Reconstructed when his father is revealed to be Evil All Along. When Mark's desire to protect humanity is put is diametric opposition to Omni-Man's supremacist ideology, his own father tries to beat the weakness out of Mark in every way imaginable. It's when Mark manages to cling to his morals and love for his father that Omni-Man calls it quits and flees from Earth, leaving the rest of the Grayson Family utterly devastated.
  • Season 2 doesn't start out any better for him. It turns out that Invincible remaining a heroic figure is actually the outlier in The Multiverse, and there are far more evil Alternate Self of him that fall more in line with what Omni-Man intended for him. This gets him into trouble with Angstrom Levy after the latter self-mutates himself trying to stop a fight between Mark and the Mauler Twins during his experiment, undergoing an Identity Breakdown from having his mind flooded with his alternate selves' memories of Evil Invincibles and coming to believe that Mark either is or is going to become evil just like them. This drives him to swear Revenge on him for his disfigurement and the lives taken by Invincible, despite even the surviving Mauler Twin noting this Mark's lack of culpability in either of those, becoming Mark's multidimensional Arch-Enemy because of actions Mark hasn't actually done.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Mark is an honest, friendly, kind-hearted, and selfless person who doesn’t take himself too seriously. But don’t let that detract from the fact that he’s one of the most powerful superheroes Earth has ever seen, second only to Omni-Man. In most alternate timelines, he teamed up with his father to conquer Earth and was successful. And in the Season 2 finale, he beats Angstrom Levy to death after being pushed too far.
• Big Brother Instinct: While initially surprised at the discovery of his infant brother, Oliver, Mark quickly grows to care for the little one. He doesn't hesitate to bring him to Earth, offers to drop out of school to help raise him, and goes berserk when Angstrom Levy threatens to kill Oliver.
• Blue Is Heroic: In both his civilian and superhero lives, Mark's outfit is blue with yellow highlights. He's our likable, sympathetic protagonist who wants to become a hero who protects earth, unlike his villainous father, Omni-Man, who is decked out in red and white.
• Book Dumb: Mark has okay school grades, but is absolutely terrible at geography (and astrocartography).
• Break the Badass: Episode 8 in its entirety seems to be an exercise in breaking him. He discovers his father was not only sent to Earth to conquer it, but that he expected him to follow in his footsteps. This is followed by him fighting his father, shedding Broken Tears all the while, and being unable to do a single damn thing to him, while Omni-Man practically ragdolls him across the terrain and even through a train, trying to prove him that humans aren't worth his time. When he keeps trying to convince his father otherwise, Omni-Man gets physical and beats him to a bloody pulp, to the point that Mark can only wheeze weakly in pain by the time Nolan stops,
• Broken Tears: Mark spends almost all of his fight against his father openly weeping and in despair of the events unfolding around him. He sheds a last few when he gives his father an Armor-Piercing Response.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S": The yellow parts on the upper body of his costume form a lower case "i".
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Deconstructed. When Mark rushes home to save his family, he doesn't recognize Angstrom Levy due to the massive mutation he's experienced, but when he reveals who he is, all Mark remembers about was that he was "That Guy" since they were never actually introduced. That made Angstrom even more angry at him since he blames Mark for his Body Horror.
• Character Development: In regard to his relationship with Debbie, Mark goes through significant character growth - While they always had the typical arguing but still loving mother-son relationship, Mark initially held little respect for his mother; this was shown by when he indirectly refers to her as "nothing special" over his fear of not having powers and again, when he tells her to "make [him]" go inside the house to rest, knowing she couldn't physically make him. However, a combination of her loving parenting, wise words, emotional comfort, Nolan's true nature revealed, and the harsh reality of superheroism, has Mark gain more and more respect for Debbie. By Season 2, Mark even refers to her as the "strong one" in the family.
• Civvie Spandex: In his first foray into the superhero life. He dons very garish and ridiculous outfit, with only goggles and a bandana over his mouth to hide his identity.
• Clothing Damage: Just like in the source material, sometimes Mark's costume takes as much of a beating as he does. Makes you wonder how much Art has his work cut out for him.
• Dad the Veteran: His father Nolan is Omni-Man, the world's premier superhero and a high ranking soldier in the Viltrumite Empire's army.
• David Versus Goliath: Is the David to Omni-Man's Goliath in Episode 8. And before you ask, yes, Mark never had a chance.
• Defiant to the End: Even when his father beats him bloody and kills countless people in front of him just to prove that he shouldn't get attached to humans, Mark still refuses to join Omni-Man in conquering Earth for the Viltrum Empire and remains determined to fight for the sake of protecting the Earth and humanity. This frustrates Omni-Man until he finally inflicts a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Mark, only stopping when he can't bring himself to kill his own son and suffering from an emotional breakdown when Mark tells him that he would still have him as his father even after outliving everyone else on Earth.
• Determinator: Even though he never even stood a remote chance against Omni-Man, who reduces him to a bloody pulp, he kept on fighting, which ultimately results in Omni-Man suffering from emotional breakdown. No matter what you put Mark through, he will never give up.
• Dub Name Change: The Salvadoran Spanish dub names him Invencible, a literal translation.
• Embarrassing Middle Name: "Sebastian", as revealed on his high school diploma. Amber teases him about having kept another secret from her.
• Excellent Judge of Character: Despite Nolan’s actions, Mark was able to tell that his father’s time on Earth changed him for the better.
• Extremely Protective Child: Mark flies into a rage when he sees Debbie beaten with a broken arm caused by Angstrom Levy. He even breaks his no-killing rule when Angstrom Levy threatens to murder her and Oliver.
• Flying Brick: He has all the powers of his father: Nigh-Invulnerability, Super-Strength, and Flight. Being so much younger (and far less experienced in battle), however, means he’s far below Nolan’s level despite being one of the strongest heroes on Earth. He’s much tougher than he is strong at his current age, though he's not completely invulnerable and is repeatedly beaten bloody in many of his fights.
• Heroic Spirit: If anything, this is Mark's true superpower–he just won't give up. Rather fittingly as the term "invincible" doesn't mean "immune to damage," but "incapable of being defeated, overcome, or subdued."
• Hidden Depths: After his nasty break-up with Amber and the emotionally devastating fight Mark had with his father, he seems through with being a superhero, refusing Cecil’s invitation, but him answering Cecil’s call to see through who the potential out worldly alien invader could be, during a moment of levity with his friends to blow off some steam, reveals Mark was wearing his Invincible costume all along underneath his civilian clothes, showing Mark’s spirit was not entirely broken, his desire to help still lives.
• Hot-Blooded: Mark is mainly more docile at times, but he has shown to be very easily driven and determined with high enthusiasm. Though this does leave him to be incoherently stubborn at times as he'll impulsively rush into problems without a second thought and is easily aggravated when someone pushes him too far, potentially getting outright murderous if pushed far enough.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Believing he will never live up to his father's expectations, Mark complains to his mother about his fear of being normal like her.
  Mark: I'm nothing like dad. I'm more like you. I'm nothing special.
• Ideal Hero: Unlike his father, he always uses his powers to help people; even criminals like Titan.
• Informed Flaw: Everyone says that Invincible's time management skills are terrible given that he stands up Amber a few times for training or hero duty, and that his refusal to tell her the truth ends their relationship. Except...he's not running the training sessions, his dad is. Given Nolan's ulterior motives and his disdain for all humans except Debbie and Mark, it's hinted that Nolan is stalling Invincible on purpose to sabotage his relationship with Amber or is being Innocently Insensitive about it. Cecil seems to be doing the same thing by insisting that Invincible always answer the call of duty, while not holding Atom Eve to the same ones when she quits the Teen Team, refuses to join the new Guardians, and processes her own existential crisis. Not to mention that Invincible may be a new hero, but he's made a few enemies already and we all know the trope of a villain going after the love interest. Mark messed up by the fact that the adults in his life are putting too much pressure on him to be like his dad.
• Iron Butt-Monkey: Mark takes a ridiculous amount of abuse as Invincible, but it never stops him from dusting himself off and coming back for another fight if it means that he can save lives.
• Ironic Name: As Allen the Alien points out, he's very much "vincible". He tends to lose fights against enemies close to his level more often than not. Then again, see Meaningful Name.
• Jerkass Ball: For a few moments in Episode 7, Mark becomes more self-centered and rude towards William and Eve after failing to win Amber back. He even contemplates quitting being a hero and ignoring pleads for help until he sees his father supposedly in danger.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: He really lets loose when he sees that Titan is in serious danger, completely pummeling many supervillains in short order. Battle Beast cuts his rampage short, however.
  You guys are fucking dead!
• Lineage Comes from the Father: Omni-Man notes that his DNA is almost entirely Viltrumite even though only one of his parents is, attributing it to the strength of Viltrumite DNA.
• Living Weapon: In a sense, this is somewhat what his father intended for him to be, admitting that he could have easily started his conquering of Earth several years ago after integrating enough to become recognised as a powerful superhero, but intentionally held this off until he was certain Mark had developed his Viltrumite powers. Once Mark does, he instantly takes steps to weaken Earth by killing off its greatest defenders, whilst also trying to prep Mark on controlling his abilities and coming around to the Viltrumite way of thinking. Even after refusing to join Omni-Man, it's made clear that Mark's status as his son hasn't been forgotten by the survivors, with the Immortal making his distrust of Mark clear to his face and Cecil taking opportunities to observe and record Viltrumite weaknesses through Mark's performance, in case of Invincible needing to be stopped or the rest of the Viltrumite Empire eventually arriving to Earth.
• Loose Lips: Not to the same extent as William, but he reveals that he's Omni-Man's son to Teen Team when he cries out "Dad" out of worry when he sees him enter a Flaxan portal.
• Made of Iron: It's the one power out of all his Flying Brick abilities that gets showcased the most, even more so than the Flight or Super-Strength. A combination of Mark's inexperience and a steep learning curve, not to mention his dad's Social Darwinist beliefs meaning he subtly pushes Mark into some fights he isn't quite ready for, such as Battle Beast, means that Mark rarely walks away from a fight without shedding a lot of blood and his face beat to crap. His climatic fight against Omni-Man has him physically beaten and broken from the more experienced Viltrumite's pummeling, but it's clear that no other hero on the planet could have taken as much punishment and lived, let alone remained conscious throughout it.
• The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: Mark is constantly late to, canceling, or just missing plans he makes with Amber because of his work as Invincible. She clearly loves him, but is frustrated that he doesn't seem to be taking their relationship seriously. Mark considers telling her that he is Invincible at several points but doesn't. This comes to a head in Episode 6 when Mark has to become Invincible to fight the Reanimen attacking the college he, Amber and William are visiting, he tries to keep his cover by giving Amber the old "I-ran-to-get-help" excuse, but as far as Amber is concerned, he ran away when his friends and girlfriend were attacked. The next episode reveals that Amber actually figured out his secret identity a while ago. Her problem with him is the fact that, from her perspective, he never trusted her enough to tell her.
• Meaningful Name: Granted he is very much "vincible", but the definition of "invincible" is to be incapable of being conquered, defeated, or subdued. And no matter what pain he goes through, Mark does not give up. Therefore this name is actually less about his literal physical durability and more about his iron willpower. As the Season 1 finale shows, despite his father committing so many atrocities, forcing him to watch and outright beating him senseless to the brink of death, Mark never wavered and stayed true to his ideals showing that his will is unconquered and undefeated despite his body being broken. Compared to his father who while being more "invincible" compared to his son, becomes subdued after one sentence from a beaten and bloodied Mark, making him finally realize the ramifications of what he's done.
• Nice Guy: A compassionate and kind young man...at least on the surface. A major character conflict comes from his kindness contrasting with how he can become genuinely vicious when enraged. Especially considering his Viltrumite hertiage and actually killing Angstrom Levy in a rage, Mark becomes deeply concerned about whether he's truly a good person at heart. This conflict only gets amplified considering that in alternate universes rather than staying heroic he tends to become a mass murderer whose kindness is only surface level.
• Older Than They Look: Due to the Timey-Wimey Ball of The Multiverse, Mark's been spending an unspecified amount of time in the universes while fighting against Angstrom in the second Season Finale. By the end of the ordeal, he's implied to be much older, but the Long-Lived aspect of his Viltrumite physiology hardly makes this a difference.
• Orc Raised by Elves: While Nolan is from a race of superpowered Social Darwinists who believes humans are nothing but animals for conquering, Mark was raised on Earth as a human for most of his life with an idealistic image of what a hero is. Because of this, he is a firm believer in protecting humanity, and when Nolan reveals his true motivations, he decides that he would rather die protecting humanity than help his father conquer and/or destroy it.
• Origins Episode: The first episode plays this straight as it shows him gaining his powers, his hero name inspired by a speech they're given, and his final scene is his first official fight as Invincible.
• Puberty Superpower: His father tells him that he will get his powers during puberty, although he is a late bloomer, getting them at 17.
• Primary-Color Champion: Mark superhero outfit is yellow, blue and black.
• Protagonist Title: Mark's alias, "Invincible".
• Race Lift: He's half-Korean thanks to his mother's change in race.
• Rage Breaking Point: Mark has a tendency to unleash any built up frustration in a fight, allowing him to overcome his enemies in a short bursts of strength.
  • When Machine Head's group initially overpowers and subdues him, Mark becomes enraged enough to utterly demolish them...for a short time before Battle Beast steps in and outclasses him.
  • When he fights Omni Man and is enraged at his father's lack of humanity and insulting his mother, then ends up landing several hits until Omni Man subdues him once again.
  • Takes on a much darker turn at the end of Season 2 when he fights Angstrom. A combination of Angstrom threatening and hurting his family, as well as boasting about how strong his body had become, caused Mark to pummel Angstrom and use him as a punching bag to vent his frustrations. However, Angstrom wasn't quite as durable as either of them thought he was, and Mark ended up beating him to death. This seriously rattles Mark, making him Afraid Of His Own Strength for letting himself fly off the handle, causing Mark to feel he should have been more responsible and needs to learn to control his powers.
• Spider-Man Send-Up: Downplayed; he lacks any arachnid powers (due to being the son of the local Superman Substitute), but his personality is modeled after the younger incarnation of Peter Parker. Hilariously, this time, his father looks and sounds like J. Jonah Jameson.
• Super-Speed: Just like his dad, Mark has the power to move at superhuman speeds. Although he is not as fast as his father in his current state, he is still much faster than most other heroes on Earth.
• Super-Strength: Mark is strong enough to lift and/or hold up heavy objects, such as the large building he held up in the finale of Season One. His strength is second only to his father and other Viltrimites, as even other heroes on Earth who have the same powerset, such as the Immortal, are not as strong as him.
• Superman Substitute: Well, more like a Superboy substitute.
• Take This Job and Shove It: In episode 5, he straight up tells his boss at BurgerMart that he quits after told off for being late several times, dropping off his uniform on top of his boss.
• Teeth Flying: His face gets disfigured and his teeth start to go flying when he gets a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown from his father, Omni-Man.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Mark refuses to kill, mostly because he's a superhero, and because he doesn't want to be like other Viltrumites who kill practically without even thinking. Mark is deeply disturbed at the end of season 2 when he breaks this rule and actually kills Angstrom Levy for harming Debbie and Oliver. While it was somewhat accidental, Mark genuinely wanted Angstrom dead, causing Mark deep regrets and making him seriously wonder if he's just like his dad.
• Token Heroic Orc: According to Angstrom Levy's memories, across the multiverse Invincible is a bloody murderer who went along with Nolan's cruelty to various differing degrees, and Debbie infers from his argument that this Mark is the one Mark who's a hero, while this Levy is the one Levy who's a villain respectively. This unfortunately leads Angstrom to believe Mark is automatically a cold-blooded killer on principal, but this one is as far from that description as you can get, being a genuine hero who actively fought back against Omni-Man because he didn't want to join him and the Viltrumite empire in conquering the Earth.
• Unequal Pairing: Mark certainly never wanted this to be the case between him and Amber, but in "I'm Not Going Anywhere", it becomes clear that they can't stand side by side as equal partners despite how much they want it. The lynch pin is Anissa threatening Amber to force Mark into helping the Viltrumites conquer Earth, which causes Amber to suffer a breakdown, admitting that she feels insignificant in the shadow of Mark's superheroics and a potential tool for others to hurt Mark. They end up mutually breaking up.
• Uneven Hybrid: The nature of Viltrumite genetics makes this an interesting example. Mark is the child of a pure Viltrumite and a pure human, but Viltrumite genes are both incredibly dominant and also adaptive, meaning that as Mark grows older his Viltrumite heritage takes over and overshadows his human half. When Nolan is finally honest about who he really is when confronting Mark, he explains that most Mark's genetic makeup is Viltrumite despite having a human mother; when Nolan grows even more condescending of humanity he doesn't consider Mark human anymore to justify his point, saying how wrong it was to even raise him like one in the first place.
• Unstoppable Rage: When Mark finally loses control in his fight with Angstrom. Right after he discovered that Levy gruesomely broke his mother's wrist and put his younger brother in danger, Mark enacts an incredibly brutal and well deserving beatdown onto him that ends with Angstrom's death.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Mark developing his powers is why Omni-Man went on a rampage, Mark reminded him of his oath to Viltrum and he forced himself to fight in order to weaken Earth for Viltrum's arrival.
• Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: Mark can give most street-level villains a good thrashing, but it costs him his girlfriend, job, and grades. At the end of his second season, he ultimately discards much of his normal civilian life in order to get a better handle on his powers so he can face the incoming Viltrumite invasion.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: He really wants to be great and powerful like his dad, and angst quite a lot about it in the first episode. He fears his father doesn't think of him as ready to be a hero and provokes him to hit him just to prove himself to his own father.
  Mark:... I'm strong!
  Nolan: I know you are.
  Mark: No, you don't! I know you think I can't do this. Hit me, and let me prove you wrong. Please, dad. Please, just hit me!
• What the Hell, Hero?: In episode 6, Amber fumes on him after he ran off to put on his costume. Episode 7 also has her dumping Mark for not trusting her enough to tell her he's a superhero.
• Willfully Weak: Zig-zagged. Mark is incredibly young for a Viltrumite and thus not a physical match for his father, only landing any meaningful blows when he hit his Rage Breaking Point. But Nolan realizes that Mark unconsciously holds back his true strength when fighting Thula and has to scream at him to fight like a Viltrumite—kill or be killed—to get him to go all out. Once Mark allows himself to use his full strength, he’s able to get the upper hand on a much older, seemingly much stronger Viltrumite warrior.
  • Mark finally realizes this about himself in the season 2 finale, when he’s pushed to his limits fighting Angstrom Levy, where he becomes so enraged that he taps his full strength…and beats the villain to death with his bare hands. He’s so traumatized by the incident that when he has a flashback mid-flight, he comes frighteningly close to the same Super-Speed his father used to ignite the atmosphere of the Flaxan homeworld. He ultimately decides to drop of out college to master this aspect of himself so he doesn’t lose control again.

Nolan Grayson (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Omni-Man (Nolan Grayson)

"You don't seem to understand. Earth isn't yours to conquer."

Voiced By: J. K. Simmons

"That was your fault. Your stubbornness against the inevitable killed those people. How many more need to die, Mark? It's up to you."

Mark's father, Debbie's husband, and Earth's strongest hero. Born on the planet Viltrum to a race of superpowered aliens, Nolan volunteered to travel to the planet 20 years before the present day, with the purpose of helping its people strive toward a greater ideal... Until one day, he murders the Guardians of the Globe, some of his greatest allies, for no discernible reason.

The truth is that Nolan came to Earth as a scout to prepare the planet for an eventual Viltrumite occupation after gaining the trust of its people. While he would prefer that the impending takeover is peaceful and that no innocent blood is shed, he is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that Earth joins the Viltrumite Empire — although he's internally conflicted over what this means for his family.

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• Abusive Alien Parents: Before his son gets powers, he acts like a fairly conventional father. After he gets his powers, he begins to train his son rigorously, and is angry when his son doesn't listen to him. Seeing his son to be beaten within an inch of his life by Battle Beast and not lifting a finger to help cements him as this. In the Season 1 finale, he just goes completely above and beyond with this as he gets into a violent fight with Mark, senselessly beating him, telling him that he was going easy on him and this is his real education. He then causes the deaths of countless people in front of Mark (in one stand out case actually making use of Mark to cause said deaths), and then nearly beats Mark to death claiming that 17 years wasn't much and he can just make another kid.
• The Ace:
  • He's a great tactician, fighter, travel writer, and the most powerful superhero on Earth with thousands of years of combat experience. The only reason he leaves Earth in the Season 1 finale is because he can't bring himself to kill his own son. In other words, he defeats everyone he comes across. He only "lost" at the end because he gave up.
  • Even his fellow Viltrumites hold him in high regard despite him leaving his post. He manages to defeat three Viltrumites met after him in rapid succession with some help from Mark, only losing because he failed to make sure the first one was dead (though not for lack of trying). One of his prison guards even speaks to him in a respectful manner seemingly unusual to typical Viltrumite behavior; stating he looked up to him as a child and an admitted reluctance to hurt him.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Nolan's facial features are much softer and less rugged here, believably looking like a man in his mid 40’s at best compared to his comic incarnation.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In the comics, he only realized how much he genuinely cared about his family and how much he enjoyed the life he had built on Earth in retrospect, long after the Viltrumite Invasion and his part in it. In the show, he comes across as a lot more aware of just how much he enjoys his life on Earth, and as such, much more conflicted about his actions. Consequently, he is much more emotionally broken after leaving Earth in the show, actually losing his will to live by attempting suicide; Nolan in the comics was lost too after leaving Earth, but hadn’t completely lost his will to live just yet.
• Adaptational Jerkass: He was Evil All Along in the comics, but he kept that part of himself completely hidden until his direct confrontation with Mark over the matter.
  • Nolan's first heinous act, the murder of the Guardians of the Globe, is made so much worse here. In the original comic, he made it quick; he lured them back to base and took them all out near-instantaneously. If nothing else, there at least wasn't any time for them to feel the pain, showing that he was very impersonal about doing his "duty". In the animated series, however, he takes his time in his methods, as opposed to the clean instantaneous swipes through their bodies as originally, thus mauling people who feel every excruciating bit of it, while maintaining that cold indifference. The Nolan of the comics even goes on to later state that he'd intentionally done it as quickly and cleanly as possible, because if he drew it out he knew his attachments would stop him. Played with, however, as Nolan did attempt to kill the Guardians quickly, as his opening shot would have been a killing strike on the Immortal before he even realized what was coming. He only missed thanks to Red Rush's quick reflexes and speed, at which point he's forced to resort to dirtier and bloodier methods because the Guardians are able to put up a much better fight than they did in the comics where he completely got the drop on them.
  • Here, after Mark develops his powers, he becomes progressively colder and more domineering, culminating in him refusing to stop a dragon rampage out of spite for Cecil and refusing to step in when his son is being beaten close to death by Battle Beast, seemingly thinking of it as teaching his son a lesson.
  • In his desperate attempt to make Mark see through his lens, in order to help him conquer Earth, in the comic, Nolan mostly just tried to talk him through on how lesser humanity was compared to Viltrum. All the deaths caused by their fight were collateral. In the show, there are new scenes where Nolan is actively trying to kill many people on a whim to teach Mark a lesson.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • On the other hand, his kindness and love for his family is implied to be much more genuine than in the comics, where it was all a façade at first and he only came to truly appreciate them years later, in sorrowful retrospect. When trying to rehearse how he's going to confess to Mark that he murdered the original Guardians of the Globe, he says "I love you and your mother", and while he does claim to only love Debbie as a "pet" like in the comics, it's very likely that he didn't really mean it in this version. It's revealed in It's Been a While that he indeed loved Mark and Debbie; enough so that leaving his family after almost killing Mark drove him to the brink of suicide.
  • Also, unlike the comic book version, there are some hints that Nolan really did see the Guardians of the Globe as his friends and compatriots, and actually didn't take any pride or joy in killing them. But his loyalty to Viltrum outweighed his bond to the Guardians, and it's still clear in the show that he doesn't "regret" killing them, he just feels conflicted about killing them. And he tries to suppress this confliction by doing what he ends up doing with Mark and Debbie by overly-dismissing his past relationship with them and excusing that he was just "doing what he had to" for his mission.
  • In the comics, Nolan takes over Thraxa, hoping to somewhat redeem himself in the eyes of the Empire by taking over a "lesser" world. In the show, he instead saves a Thraxan spaceship that was about to enter a black hole where Nolan happened to be contemplating ending his life.
• Adaptational Wimp: Downplayed; In the comics, he killed the Guardians of the Globe with no effort and generally is so powerful that it takes a damn long time to actually equal up the ante against him. In the show, however, the Guardians actually severely wound him enough to legitimately get away with pretending he was the Sole Survivor of the attack, and his fight with Cecil's forces actually have him genuinely surprised and blindsided multiple times. In better circumstances, he could've lost. He's not quite a wimp however, because he's still the strongest being on Earth by the series scale, he's just vulnerable by comparison. This could also be seen as less Omni-Man becoming weaker, and more like everyone else becoming more competent.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: In the show, Nolan's Omni-Man costume has light-gray and red as its thematic colors; in the comics it was cyan and red. The light-gray here seamlessly associates Nolan with his Viltrumite heritage more.
• Adaptation Expansion: Due to the entire plot thread about what exactly happened with the Guardians of the Globe being expanded into a full long-lasting mystery in the show, Nolan is tangentially in events he was never part of in the comics, such as being around when Mark decided to help Titan and watching Mark getting crushed by Battle Beast.
• Aerith and Bob: Other Viltrumites have exotic and alien names such as Thragg, Thula and Lucan. Nolan meanwhile has a name that's fairly mundane by human standards, and it's his actual name rather than part of his guise on Earth. The show omits a little exchange Nolan and Mark had when reuniting in Thraxa, where Mark brings up that exact oddity, Nolan in the comics explains he just adjusted the spelling and pronunciation of his Viltrum name to fit his new Earthling identity, his name in Viltrum would be something like "Nowl-Ahn".
• Affably Evil: A genuinely loving husband, father, and friend who doesn't hesitate to murder and destroy on an absolutely massive scale when his planet requires him to.
• The Ageless: Nolan does age, but Viltrumites live for thousands upon thousands of years, informing Mark that he will live countless human lifetimes before showing even the slightest trace of age. Flashbacks of Nolan that take place thousands of years before present day show him looking pretty much the same as he does now, although with fully black hair and fewer lines on his face.
• Ambiguous Situation: Why did he suddenly decide to brutally murder the other Guardians of the Globe? He offers no explanation for it during the act itself and the show doesn't hint at anything that might have prompted it. It takes until episode 7 for him to say he only killed them because it was his 'responsibility', albeit in a practice confession meant for Mark. In episode 8, he finally reveals that he killed the Guardians to weaken Earth's defenses, as he was actually sent to the planet to conquer it. That said, given how dumb this is from a tactical standpoint^*Nolan lampshades that he and Mark are Long-Lived due to their Viltrumite heritage and will outlive most of their loved ones' lifespan, meaning Nolan could have spent those years steadily turning Mark gradually towards accepting the Viltrumite ways rather than jumping to the extreme of murdering the world's most beloved heroes, putting him on a timer to convince Mark before Cecil and the GDA take action against him It's heavily implied the actual reason was to make himself cross the Point of No Return, to ensure he'd remain committed to his mission regardless of any temptations towards remaining a beloved superhero and family man.
• Anti-Villain: While he's an agent of a galaxy-spanning empire, he does care for his family and wants to see the planet come under their rule peacefully if that's possible at all.
• Archnemesis Dad: He becomes this to his heroic son Mark after the latter discovers how ruthless and homicidal his father truly was, not realizing he was serving an intergalactic empire this whole time.
• Arc Villain: The main villain of Season 1.
• Assimilation Plot: He was chosen to invade Earth so he could weaken Earth's defences and allow Viltrum to take over if humanity turned down their offer of conquest. However, he met Deborah and they had Mark, forcing Nolan to delay the plan until he was certain that Mark was a Viltrumite. Ironically, Nolan was the one who assimilated to Earth and integrated himself as a hero. After 17 years, Mark got his powers and Nolan forces himself to follow through with his responsibilities to Viltrum.
• Ax-Crazy: While he clearly had shades of this before, as seen with his complete slaughter of the Guardians of the Globe and the Flaxans, he falls completely off the deep end in the Season 1 finale after Mark refuses to join his conquest of Earth, and goes on a massive killing spree while simultaneously beating the utter bejeezus out of his own son. By the end of the episode, hundreds, if not thousands of innocents are dead, either as a result of collateral or Omni-Man killing them directly.
• Bad Liar: In Neil Armstrong, Eat Your Heart Out, it's shown that he's very bad at lying on the spot. When Mark walks in on him and Deborah having sex, he uses his super-speed to cover up what was happening. He thought there was nothing suspicious about sitting in the dark with Debbie and grinning when Debbie sounds out of breath when she speaks.
• Bait the Dog: He comes off as a well-meaning father to Mark and husband to Debbie... before he ends the first episode violently murdering the Guardians of the Globe.
• Beard of Evil: He comes back with a thick beard which he grew while committing mass genocide against the Flaxans.
• Beard of Sorrow: Sports a nice thick one after a few weeks of drifting aimlessly through space following his abrupt departure from Earth.
• Beware the Superman: He's a pretty obvious Superman Substitute, as a human-looking nearly all-powerful alien who chooses to protect and fight for Earth as a superhero. However, it's eventually revealed that he's on Earth to conquer it, not save it, and he's gradually shown to be a cold-blooded murderer who is not afraid to commit planet-wide genocide and conquer Earth through any means necessary.
• Big Bad: Of Season 1, as the murderer of the Guardians of the Globe. He's later revealed to be a member of a warmongering, conquering species who sent him to Earth solely to weaken its defenses.
• Bigot with a Crush: His downright homicidal contempt for humanity didn't stop him from marrying a human and conceiving a Half-Human Hybrid child with her; and despite how horribly he betrayed his Earthling family, he really does love them deep down.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He presents himself as the heroic savior of the world despite being a murderous psychopath. After the funeral of the Guardians of the Globe where he calls them his friends, he acts callous and claims they were just his co-workers.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: Nolan presents his disdain for humans as such. He justifies it by emphasizing how long his life is compared to humans and how fragile humans are compared to Viltrumites, and demonstrates it by committing mass murder while saying that humans would benefit under Viltrumite rule. To him, self-worth is based on how long you live and how strong you are. The human equivalent would be if people hated the terminally-ill.
• Blunt "Yes": Mark tries to get an Armor-Piercing Question on Nolan, by asking if Debbie's life is "worthless" to him. He brusquely says yes.
• Broken Pedestal: His wife is less than pleased to find out he murdered the Guardians of the Globe. His son also turns a picture of them face down after Nolan murders countless civilians and nearly beats him to death.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S": He has a wide, stylized red "O" on his costume with a white “I” in the middle.
• The Bus Came Back: Downplayed as he is only gone for three episodes into season 2 before returning.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: After he committed genocide against the Flaxans, the first thing he does when he gets back home is just state he needs a shower.
• Casting Gag: J.K. Simmons is also very well-known for his role as J. Jonah Jameson in the Raimi and MCU Spider-Man films. JJ also sports a powerful mustache and a remarkably similar silver and black hairstyle to Omni-Man. This was more than likely intentional by the animators, as his comic counterpart looks a bit different than Jameson.
• Category Traitor: Due to abandoning his mission to conquer Earth and siring half-breed children with a Thraxan, Nolan is viewed as a traitor by his fellow Viltrumites. Lucan outright shouts during their fight that Nolan dishonored his people and that he deserves death for it. That said, he's still respected for his strength as a warrior, if nothing else.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Despite the atrocities he committed on Earth, his time with Mark and Debbie changed him enough that he actually interrupted his suicide attempt to save a Thraxan space ship.
• Color Motifs: Red and White, with the former representing humanity and the latter representing Viltrum. Viltrum and the Viltrumites are associated with a pure, stark white. This is contrasted with Nolan's red and white outfit, which shows how humanity has started to change him.
• Conflicting Loyalty: There are hints dropped that he knows how much he does care about his life on Earth, which makes it difficult for him to commit to conquering the planet. It comes to a head after Debbie finds concrete evidence that he murdered the Guardians of the Globe. Though he could easily kill her, he instead punches through a wall after she leaves and slumps down in a chair, possibly unsure if he could actually go through with it. After his confrontation with Mark, the realization that he nearly beat his own son to death causes him to abandon his mission and leave Earth in tears.
• Consummate Liar: Goes around giving half-truths to Debbie and Mark, all but Gaslighting them.
• Corrupted Character Copy: Of the Superman Substitute. Like Superman, he's a Human Alien who is sent to Earth and becomes its greatest hero. But unlike Superman, it's all a front for Nolan's more sinister motives.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Nolan's fight against Mark isn't just emotionally tolling on the latter, but one of the most brutal fights he's been in. Mark's beaten to within an inch of his life before his words finally get through to his dad, and he did next to no lasting damage physically.
• Desecrating the Dead: Uses the freshly killed Green Ghost's body as a shield against Aquarus' pressurized streams of water.
• Despair Event Horizon: Subverted. Right after nearly beating Mark to death, Nolan flies into space out of guilt he almost got his son killed. As Nolan flies throughout space, he encounters a black hole and is gets close to being Driven to Suicide, until noticing a ship of Thraxans. By noticing the ship, Nolan brushes off his despair to rescue its inhabitants and he gets to recuperate his emotions on Thraxa, until ready to reunite with his son, Mark, again.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • For all the measures Nolan took to fake having been the Sole Survivor of an alleged attack in his killing the rest of the Guardians, he totally goofed and forgot to dispose of his damaged suit from the incident— the suit covered with signs of damage and injury from the other Guardians. Debbie asks Art to look it over and they realize he killed the Guardians himself, much to Nolan's chagrin.
  • Heavily implied this happened after he slaughtered the Flaxans. By the time he got back home he had a noticable beard suggesting he had been there awhile. It is likely that after he slaughtered most of the planet, he realized he couldn't return home without their technology, so he forced the survivors to build the transport gate.
  • Trying to pin the Guardians’ murders on Darkblood ends up making Cecil certain that he’s the one who actually did it. It was an extremely stupid move to accuse the person actively investigating and suspicious of him of the crime.
  • Calling his mother a pet and killing thousands of people in front of him isn't going to make your son see to eye-to-eye with you.
  • Raising your son as a human for 17 years and expecting him to suddenly join an alien empire he's never heard of before on a dime isn't exactly a good plan. However, this is justified because the whole point of Omni-Man's character arc in Season 1 is him facing his conflicting feelings for his people and Earth, which makes him act irrationally. His original plan was to confess his murders to his wife and son at their home and conquer Earth without any violence. Still crazy, but far less so than what actually happened.
• The Dreaded: He’s this to everyone on Earth after Season 1. Other than Damien Darkblood, who Cecil sent back to hell to keep him from escalating tensions with the most powerful being on Earth.
  Rex: Wait, did he just say we’re the last line of defense AGAINST Omni-Man?
  Samson: Yeah, he did.
• Driven to Suicide: Very nearly during his self-imposed exile from Earth, being moments away from willingly drifting into a black hole before noticing and rescuing a ship full of Thraxans nearby, the encounter restoring his will to live.
• Driving Question: "Why did Nolan kill the Guardians of the Globe, and did he do it willingly?" is this for the first season, which we later find out was to lay the groundwork for an invasion and that he did it without being mind-controlled.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: As increasingly erratic and cold as he has been around them, We Need To Talk shows that Nolan does actually love his family, even though that leads him to suffering a crisis due to his Conflicting Loyalty.
  • He's utterly appalled to find out that Cecil's men had been spying on them.
  • Downplayed with Debbie as, while he claims he loves her more like a pet, he never raises his voice or physically harms her even after she has clearly become a liability.
  • He spends a portion of his fight with the Immortal actually trying to help Mark fight the kaiju Hail Mary, showing genuine concern for Mark's safety while his son struggles against the monster.
  • Despite beating Mark nearly to death, he cannot bring himself to actually kill him. Instead he becomes the first Viltrumite to abandon his post, rather than kill his own son.
  • Downplayed with the Guardians of the Globe. While his friendship with them did not stop him murdering them, the act obviously affected him as he stares in horror once the deed is done. And he winces somewhat when Cecil questions why he killed them.
  • Upon being welcomed by the Thraxans upon abandoning his post on Earth, he met Andressa and soon married her, even siring Oliver with her. Omni-Man clearly legitimately cares for both of them, is clearly frightened for the safety of his new-born son as a genetically non-standard hybrid, and enraged by the Viltrumites threatening them both and the rest of the planet.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • He remained loyal enough to the Viltrum Empire to reluctantly murder his friends, but he couldn't bring himself to murder either Art, Debbie, Mark, or even William.
  • While he went through with it and rationalized it as part of his mission, he took no pleasure in killing the Guardians and his expression after the deed was done heavily implies he was legitimately distraught and remorseful that he did it.
  • Reconstructed and discussed in "It's Been A While". His time with the peaceful and kind Thraxans helps give him perspective on his actions and further aids in him becoming a better person. So when he finds many - if not all of them - slaughtered in cold blood by his Viltrumite brethren, he is heartbroken and disgusted by his people's actions. He then demands Mark tell him why he is so grief-stricken and angry, since as a Viltrumite he shouldn't care at all if an "inferior" species is killed, yet he finds himself breaking down at the loss of lives he failed to protect and desiring revenge for their murders.
  • Additionally, Omni-Man explains to Mark in "It's Been A While" that the Viltrum Empire have very strict rules when it comes to cross-breeding with other species, namely that they are only allowed to breed with those genetically similar to them (such as humans) since they consider other kinds of species beneath them and hybrid children are killed for their perceived inferiority. However, his decision to settle down with Andressa and sire a child with her and genuinely care for both of them heavily indicates Nolan himself does not agree with this ideology and considers species worthy if they prove themselves, even if they will never be Viltrumite level.
• Evil All Along: His entire presence on Earth boils down to softening the trust of its people before weakening their defenses for his people to take over, and he's completely aware of this and willing to comply. Nolan would prefer that people submit to Viltrumite rule so that innocents don't have to die needlessly, but he also isn't above killing people to make a point. That being said, it's shown that he does care about his family, and has some hesitations with actually carrying out his duty to his homeworld thanks to his love for his son and wife.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
  • His battle with Mark is to convince him to abandon humanity so that they can conquer it for the Viltrumite Empire. Nolan gets angrier and angrier the more Mark refuses and flies away in tears when Mark shows how much he loves his dad despite their fight. Somewhat downplayed in that his body language and flashbacks suggest he absolutely comprehends... He just feels like he's obligated not to.
    Invincible: This is insane! What do you think is gonna happen!? That I'm gonna go enslave my friends for a bunch of aliens I never met!?
  • There's also his methods for convincing Mark. He kills vast numbers of people in an attempt to show Mark how fragile and inferior humans are, but Mark is simply horrified by the wanton slaughter.
• Evil Is Petty:
  • After ripping apart the Reanimen Cecil sent after him, he shoves one of the drones tracking him into a Reanimen's abdominal cavity, just to gross out the agents who are watching from the GDA.
  • He goes out of his way to kill as many people as he can in his fight against Mark, even one time using his body to kill a full subway full of people, and at least twice killing people who had a chance of surviving the destruction he caused. All of this to try and convince Mark why he was wrong to go against him and change his mind.
• Evil Versus Evil: Every conflict between Omni-Man and other villains while he was pretending to be a hero turns out to be this, as he's at least just as ruthless and far more dangerous than any of them. Best demonstrated when he battles the Flaxan Empire, a rival group of Alien Invaders, as they were merely wannabe competitors to his own planned conquest of Earth.
• Evil Virtues: He does value his loyalty to his people.
• Eviler than Thou: Omni-Man thwarts the Flaxans' latest attempted invasion of Earth by invading their own planet — and then proceeds to destroy their entire civilization with far greater cruelty and devastation than whatever any of the Flaxans had ever done themselves.
• Exact Words: His Pre-Mortem One-Liner to the whole Flaxan race is "You don't seem to understand. Earth isn't yours to conquer." It would sound like a standard Declaration of Protection if it wasn't for the odd emphasis on the "yours"... And then come episode 8, where it turns out Earth is marked for Viltrumite invasion.
• Eye Scream: During his second fight with the resurrected The Immortal, before he splits him in half, the latter forces his thumbs into his eyesockets. While he doesn't lose them due to being a Viltrumite, it does leave him with bleeding bloodshot eyes.
• Fake Ultimate Hero: While Nolan's acts of heroism are genuine, the purpose behind them — to prep the Earth for a takeover by a darwinistic alien race — is quite sinister.
• False Friend: Played With. After discovering that it was Nolan who murdered the Guardians of the Globe, Debbie states that the Guardians were their friends, having spent at least a decade working along side each other. However, while Nolan tries to play it off like he truly didn't care for them - outright calling them weak to Cecil - his reaction immediately after murdering them indicated that he did consider them friends and only murdered them out of a sense of duty to his empire.
• Family-Values Villain: The fact that Nolan has came to love his human family, is what led to him abandoning his mission to take over Earth.
• Flying Brick: He is super strong and can fly super fast.
• Foreshadowing: His horrified look after he murders the Guardians of the Globe (people he considered friends) at the start of the season hinted that killing his friends was close to the limit of what he was willing to do for his empire. Brought to fruition at the end of the season when it's shown that killing his family is beyond that limit.
• Foil:
  • To Mark. Both are incredibly powerful superhumans, but while Nolan believes this makes him superior to any non-Viltrumite, Mark only views himself as a regular teenager trying to do the right thing.
  • To Debbie. While Nolan exhibits extraordinary physical strength, Debbie exhibits incredible mental strength. Despite all of her husband's actions and harsh words, she carries on and continues to care for her son. Nolan tries to teach his son that might makes right, and Debbie reminds Mark to never lose his humanity despite his powers.
• Freudian Excuse: Exaggerated; Nolan was indoctrinated from birth into a highly advanced intergalactic civilization that valued power above all else and viewed emotional attachment as a weakness and betrayal as punishable by death. For over a thousand years, he has helped conquer numerous planets and has become one of its greatest and most loyal soldiers. As such, developing feelings for a seemingly inferior species causes him many conflicting emotions. His anger in the Season 1 finale is heavily implied to be directed at himself as much as it is at Mark.
  • It's also implied that his lack of empathy for other species is a defense mechanism in part. Considering the fact that he's already thousands of years old, and will outlive every present day human by several more thousand years. Even when he's trying to convince Mark to join the Empire, he concedes that this particular part of a Viltrumite's life isn't one he wishes on his son.
• Good Is Not Soft: He invokes this on Mark, sternly urging him he must fight to kill for his own survival and the rest of remaining Thraxans. Nolan himself is fighting for the Thraxans out of newfound, genuine goodwill, and grievously makes the Viltrumites suffer for their rampage against them.
• The Good King: As it appears, he's quite benevolent to the Thraxans and in return they worship him as a new ruler. And to Nolan's surprise he is grief-stricken and pissed over his race's massacre of them.
• Good Parents: Ironically, Nolan had grown to be physically and emotionally supportive of Mark for years before he developed his powers. This unfortunately changes not long after Mark starts to develop his powers and becomes a hero in his own right, as it ends up reminding Nolan of his mission to conquer Earth.
• Greater Need Than Mine: Deconstructed, Omni-Man's excuse for his many, many atrocities is that his oath to Viltrum comes first above all else. You can see that Omni-Man is trying to justify his actions to himself, not to Mark or Cecil, and you can see that killing the Guardians of the Globe was the event horizon for Omni-Man. He now sees that if he stops now, then their deaths will be for nothing and he's killed his own friends for literally no reason.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: He not only intentionally kills hundreds of people to cause Mark anguish, he even uses Mark's body to do so (e.g. throwing him right into the middle of Chicago or plowing through a crowded subway with his son's face as the invulnerable battering ram).
• Guest Fighter: Is a featured DLC fighter on Mortal Kombat 1.
• Hated by All: Months after his massacre of Chicago, Omni-Man is almost universally regarded with a sense of fear, betrayal, hatred, and disgust. The only reason Mark doesn't just leave Thraxa as soon as he sees him is because Nolan points out Mark has no idea how to get back to Earth on his own. Debbie takes in his son by Andressa, but only for Mark's sake. Aside from Andressa, who was never on Earth to begin with, no one in his life wants anything to do with him anymore.
• Heel–Face Turn: After abandoning his mission on Earth, he briefly contemplates suicide before rescuing a Thraxan ship and ultimately becoming their benevolent ruler.
• Heel Realization: As the show adds more layers to Nolan’s conflicted loyalty towards Viltrum and his new life on Earth with Mark and Debbie, his fight against Mark shows much greater inner conflict on Nolan's part. In the final moments of their bout, as Nolan pummels Mark to near-death, he stops midway and calms himself a little, trying to convince Mark through words again, literally saying Mark made him do that, very clearly trying to disassociate himself from the terrible thing he had just done and showing the sheer extent of the emotional and mental turmoil he's going through at that moment. It fully sets in after he flees to space, to the extent that he contemplates suicide. He winds up performing a Heel–Face Turn upon seeing a Thraxan ship about to be sucked into the black hole he was considering falling into.
• Hero Killer: He brutally kills the Guardians of the Globe to ensure that they do not thwart the upcoming Viltrumite Invasion. The Immortal is the only hero who survives thanks to his regenerative powers. He later kills Donald - adding to the latter’s death tally.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Nolan is bad at reading people. He calls Donald a coward, even as Donald is literally sacrificing his life for his underlings to escape Nolan - later events show Donald has died performing heroic actions 39 times. Similarly his attempt to change Mark to his side not only utterly fail, not realizing the offense he made of calling Debbie a “pet” and being completely taken aback by his son still loving him. He thinks showing Mark how fragile humans are by slaughtering them is going to work when Mark repeatedly gotten severely injured trying to save people and shows anguish to Nolan’s rampage.
• Humanity Is Infectious: He came to Earth with the intention of conquering it but his plan had to be delayed because Debbie became pregnant with Mark. Nolan waited 17 years to see if Mark's powers would manifest and Debbie helped him bond with Mark and act human. When Omni-Man decides to finally act on the Viltrumite agenda, he hates how he's grown attached to Debbie and Mark as he is clearly pushing himself forward despite his own internal conflict. He's also furious with Mark for not joining him and can't comprehend why Mark would care about humanity despite being a superior being who will outlive his loved ones. When Mark responds by saying that he'd still have his dad, Nolan is horrified and flies away from Earth without killing Mark.
• Humans Are Insects: When the mask slips, he admits to thinking this. Viltrumites are a race of nigh-invulnerable super-beings who's life-span dwarves human lifetimes a thousand times over, so he thinks that humanity is but a meaningless waste of space compared to himself. As a hero, he prioritizes the "big stuff", fighting monsters, meteors and other aliens both to gain Earth's trust and to make sure that when his people come, they would not need to fight control over the Earth with another species. When he is revealed in-universe to be Evil All Along, he willfully kills humans en masse in an attempt to beat this "weakness" out of him. He even admits to seeing his own wife as more of a "pet" than an equal. The fact that humans aren't that physically or mentally different from Viltrumites doesn't seem to matter, all that matters is longevity.
• Humans Are Special: While not stated outright in either the comic or show, the authors have mentioned that humans and Viltrumites share a common ancestor via unknown means. This is actually why Earth is slated to be conquered. Earth is meant to be a breeding ground to rebuild the Viltrumite race with Mark being the test of how strong Viltrumite/human hybrids can be. While Viltrumites can have children with almost any race, they prefer mates that don't give them Uncanny Valley vibes triggered by their obsession with purity. This somewhat makes sense as their children start off looking alien and then slowly transition into looking like a Viltrumite. While this growth stage is short, by Viltrumite standards anyways, it is probably a little creepy for a culture of racial supremists.
• I Did What I Had to Do:
  • When his murder of the Guardians comes to light for both Debbie and Cecil, this is his excuse. The fact that he doesn't go beyond that is clearly Not Helping Your Case.
  • Similarly, his rehearsal for confessing to Mark has him mentioning it was his 'responsibility' to do it and that he didn't want to do it. He peters out before he can say anything more though.
  • Whenever he is confronted about someone he's killed or allowed to be harmed, his usual response is, "He/she/they was/were weak." This is also an attempt to quash any self-doubts he might have the worthiness of his cause, or human feelings of guilt and remorse arising within himself, by calling back to and reasserting the values of his race, principally a Darwinist and fascist obsession with culling all infirmity from their society in a world where the weak do not deserve to live.
• If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: He appears to be pulling this on himself. Omni-Man is fonder of humanity than he lets on, but he'll slaughter thousands and try to convince his son of their worthlessness just to deny any complicated emotions that conflict with his original mission.
• Ink-Suit Actor: He looks identical to a younger version of his voice actor J. K. Simmons.
• Insane Troll Logic: His belief that humans are meaningless because they don't live nearly as long as Viltrumites is this. While somewhat understandable, the fact that the Immortal (who is just as old or older than Nolan) doesn't share these beliefs in any way, very easily disproves this. To Nolan, and Viltrumite society as a whole, longevity determines whether something is meaningful or not. Justified since it is implied that Nolan understands how ridiculous this concept is after his time spent on Earth, but is desperately trying to rationalize his actions to cope with his guilt.
• Interrupted Suicide: Season 2 reveals that after he left Earth, he decided he couldn't live with the guilt over what he did there and was planning to let himself get pulled in by a black hole. Then he saw a Thraxan ship in danger of falling into the same black hole and decided to save it.
• Irony:
  • For all his chastising of Mark for his empathy and stating his time on Earth has only been an insignificant speck of his lifetime, it becomes clear throughout the season that Earth has legitimately changed him, something he seems to be quite aware of.
  • In Episode 1, Nolan refuses to hit his son upon being asked, despite insisting on it. In Episode 8, he beats his son to near the point of death.
  • During the finale of Season 1, his main argument to Mark about why Earth is beneath them and should be conquered is the fact humans only live a small fraction of the time the people of Viltrum do - any relationships Mark forms will seem infinitesimally small over his comparatively brobdingnagian lifespan. In Season 2, it turns out that Nolan both became the benevolent ruler of a group of insectoid aliens he cares for that rarely live longer than a year, and in fact fathered a child with one he came to love.
• Ironic Name: Omni is Latin for "All" so his hero alias translates as "All-Man", despite being an alien. His name actually refers to the variety and magnitude of powers at his disposal.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: After spending 17 years waiting for Mark to develop his powers, Nolan had unwittingly been assimilated by humanity. When Mark does develop his powers, Nolan forces himself to kill The Guardians of the Globe in order to weaken humanity's defences and he beats his son to near-death so he would join Nolan in serving Viltrum, only getting angrier when Mark keeps refusing.
• Jerkass: As he attempts to disassociate himself from Earth and humanity, he dives into this. Becoming cold and hostile whenever anyone resists him in any way. Even towards his wife, who before he has shown nothing but love and affection, much to her shock and surprise. This sudden change in personality helps serve as evidence to others that it was him who murdered the Guardians of the Globe.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • He's a mass-murdering asshole but he wasn't totally wrong when he told Mark that helping Titan out was beneath him and expressed serious doubt over Mark giving him aid. Even if it was implied that Titan would be a more benevolent crime lord, he still basically took advantage of Mark, left him for dead, and used Invincible to bring down Machine Head so that he could take over his criminal empire. After all that, Nolan's instincts turned out to be more correct than not, even if his overall attitude was callous and uncaring.
  • Nolan calling Debbie a “pet” is definitely not okay to say after 2 decades of marriage. However, it’s somewhat understandable why he would refer to her like this given the fact his lifespan is tremendously longer than hers and the strength difference between them is like a mountain to an insect.
• The Juggernaut: What Nolan is compared to every other Superpowered being on Earth. While he may share the same powers as some of them (Super-Speed like Red Rush, Flying Brick abilities like most of the other Guardians), they are orders of magnitude above anyone or anything the Earth can throw at him and even greater than some of the otherworldly threats that pop up over the course of the series. The only two heroes even remotely close to his level, The Immortal and his own son, are deficient in some other area (The Immortal having similar strength but lacks Super-Toughness while Invincible is tougher than he is strong) which allows Nolan to hold an edge over them in a fight.
  • The even extends to other Viltrumites, despite the entire race being composed of nearly ageless warriors with high-tier Flying Brick abilities. Nolan’s reputation for strength and prowess led them to send three warriors after him, likely because they knew he could kill any less than that.
• Kick the Dog:
  • He refuses to stop a dragon from running rampant in Rome to send Cecil a message, even when his wife is begging him to stop it.
  • Him killing countless civilians just to try to convince Mark that human lives are insignificant definitely counts as this, but personally killing a pilot that Mark just saved to prove a point was extremely petty.
  • Even if there is some potential doubt in his delivery, he still did call his own wife nothing more than a pet aloud knowing both her and Mark could hear him. That and saying that she meant nothing in the grand scheme of things, causing her to break down and cry.
  • His No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Mark, particularly when they were on the mountain. Mark by then has been utterly beaten to the point that he had no chance of getting up, much less fight back, and yet Nolan continues to rail on him. To twist the knife further, he states that he could always make another kid as if to say that Mark is ultimately expendable in the grand scheme of things.
• Knight of Cerebus: Nolan might as well be the embodiement of this trope. Invincible's first episode starts off rather lighthearted, with the premise being Mark manifesting his powers starting his journey to become a superhero like Nolan. Then by the end of it, Nolan slaughters the Guardians in the most gruesome fashion possible, and the following episodes only getting Bloodier and Gorier as they go by.
• Lack of Empathy: Hinting at his true nature, he casually brushes off the lives lost in battles and his loved ones' pained reactions towards them, opting to get something to eat after his recovery and after Mark learned an old woman he saved died from her injuries. It's revealed that his lack of empathy towards humans comes from the fact that Viltrumites can live for thousands of years, and he fully admits to Mark that he thinks he's foolish for having an attachment for a race of fragile beings that won't live for even a fraction of the amount they will. This mindset itself is directly a product of his merciless upbringing in the Viltrumite Empire, as season 2 shows that, when separated from his mission, he's capable of feeling grief for the Thraxians, a species even more short-lived than humans. This natural response actually angers him, because empathy for the weak goes against everything his culture and worldview tells him to think.
  Invincible: You killed him!!
  Omni-Man: Now, or in 50 years when he's old, what difference does it make?
• Legally Dead: At the end of the first season after he left Earth, Cecil informs Debbie that Nolan will be officially recorded as killed in a gas-leak explosion to explain his disappearance and the damage to their neighborhood in a way that doesn't reveal his identity as Omni-Man. Presumably this is also to protect Debbie and Mark from retaliation if people found out they were Omni-Man's family.
• Light Is Not Good: His costume is brightly colored white and he looks the part of a superhero, but that is not telling of his and his people's negative moral alignment.
• Lightning Bruiser: He levels the Flaxans' cities through sheer speed alone.
• Long-Lived: As a Viltrumite, he can live for thousands of years the more he ages. How old he is remains a mystery.
• Mayfly–December Romance: With Debbie Grayson. He explains to Mark that Viltrumites age slower the older they become, and as he already looks middle aged, it's safe to say that he's likely lived a very long time before meeting her. And he outright tells Mark that he is going to outlive everyone on Earth he's ever loved or cared about before he even looks 30.
  • His self-imposed exile takes this to greater extreme as he starts a family with Andressa, a Thraxan whose species' life expectancy is roughly equivalent to a single year on Earth.
• A Million Is a Statistic:
  • During his hero career, he seems more interested in large-scale acts and considers stopping street-level crime to be "beneath" him, something he tries convincing Mark into when he considers going after Machine Head.
  • After the reveal that he was Evil All Along, he tries breaking Invincible of his idealism by causing as many human casualties as possible in their fight, seeing every single one of them as insects that would have died whether it was them or natural causes.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: He is of course loyal to the Viltrum Empire, even if he has to make brutal betrayals and mass-murder to ensure to do so.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • When Mark tells Nolan that he'd still have him in five-hundred years, Nolan's face softens, as Mark's words sink in. Standing up, he sees all the blood on his hands before Mark weakly lets out a "Dad?". Jolting from fatherly instinct and shock, his face twists into one of abject agony before he flies off into space, a few tears trailing behind him, seemingly over the realization of what he's just done to his own family.
  • More subtly so after murdering the Guardians of the Globe. When the adrenaline from the fight wears off, he gains a Thousand-Yard Stare as he looks down at Immortal's severed head. While it was his duty to weaken the planet in preparation for conquering, the Guardians had legitimately been his friends. His reaction serves as foreshadowing for what line he will not cross even for his Empire.
  • When Mark shows just how much his earlier training session with his dad had affected him and asks Nolan to hit him again in an effort to prove himself, Nolan can only let the realization sink in and lament things before giving some words of encouragement and a hug.
  • During the Atom Eve special's closing moments, when Debbie and Mark are out of his sight after hearing her suggest that they will love Mark all the same regardless of whether he develops powers, Nolan has a moment of genuine murderous rage as his mission is being put in jeopardy with the possibility... only to break in horror realizing what he was thinking of doing to his family and wordlessly holds his head in his hands in shame.
  • It's revealed in It's Been a While that after flying away, Nolan spent time aimlessly wandering in space...and resolved to kill himself by getting sucked into a black hole.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Nolan, despite his loyalty to Viltrum, raised Mark with Debbie to live as a human, with human values and paragon ideals. While this may have made Mark into the makings of a great hero, it ultimately conflicted rather harshly with the truth Nolan wanted to tell him. As such, it's by his own actions that his plan to conquer the Earth goes sideways.
  • Him killing Immortal instead of incapacitating him also turned Mark (and the rest of the world) against him in the short term.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Nolan is ridiculously durable, only beings with Super-Strength or Super-Speed are really able to put a dent in him. The most damage he takes in Season 1 is from the combined might of Red Rush, War Woman, and the Immortal, and the latter two only had a chance while Martian Man was restraining him.
  • The GDA's multibillion dollar orbital Kill Sat in Episode 7 reduces a massive area of countryside to a scorched crater, but gives Nolan nothing more than a slight nosebleed after it hits him twice.
• Nightmare Face: Contorts his visage into a terrifying, almost monstrous expression before slamming Mark hard into a mountain. Behold the face of Earth’s “protector”◊
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: Trying to defeat the Guardians, he wastes no time in cold-bloodedly murdering them, exchanging no words, and focusing on killing as many as he can. In the episode after, he commits a total genocide on the Flaxans to eliminate their threat to his plans without wasting any time.
• No-Sell: Unlike Mark, Nolan hardly gets any signs of damage throughout his fights, and even when he does, it doesn't actually hinder him as much as it does slow him down. In Season 1, only Reanimen and the Guardians have been able to do anything meaningful to him. Even The Immortal's dying efforts to gouge his eyes out only left them irritated for the rest of the season, and their fight (amongst everything else thrown at Nolan up to that point) didn't even manage to soften him up for Invincible.
• Not Brainwashed: Immortal, Mark, and Debbie all initially believe that Nolan is being mind-controlled as soon as they discover Omni-Man's seeming Face–Heel Turn. Needless to say, this is very much not the case.
• Not Helping Your Case: Though he has legitimately undergone a Heel–Face Turn by Season 2, he does a really poor job of presenting himself positively to Mark, accidentally coming across as incredibly dismissive of his mass murders on Earth by referring to it as a "mistake". He ends up driving a further rift between him and Mark by revealing that he had another son, leading Mark to believe he and Debbie were replaceable to him.
• Not So Stoic: He's pretty composed even it murdering his closest allies or eradicating an entire planet's worth of life, but his brutal fight with Mark is enough for him to snap, brutally beating his son and angrily shouting at him. When Mark tells him he'd always have him even after a hundred years later, he breaks down and leaves Earth altogether in tears.
  • In the Atom Eve Special, he gives a wrathful look when Debbie and Mark are out of sight, supposedly frustrated that his son hasn't developed his powers so he can't serve Viltrum and take over Earth, but seconds later, he does show an expression of regret and shame possibly because he wants to be a good father to Mark and out of conflicting loyalty to his empire and the human family he's growing to love.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He truly believes that Earth should submit to the Viltrum empire because they can provide technology and resources beyond humanity's current capabilities. However, he massacred the Guardians to both weaken Earth's defences and promote himself as Earth's sole guardian so it would be easier for them to submit to Viltrum. If humanity refuses the offer then Nolan is under oath to commit genocide.
• Never My Fault: Downplayed. He does acknowledge to Mark that he did wrong during his time on Earth, but he almost unconsciously downplays them as a "mistake". Said "mistake" resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people.
• Offing the Offspring: Subverted; Nolan brutally beats Mark into a bloody pulp for persistently opposing him, whilst listing him as a disappointment and how he can "make another kid" after killing him. But he suddenly relents and contemplates on what to do next before ranting at his son for favoring Earth over Viltrum. In spite of his raw brutality, Nolan realizes that he loves Mark too much and can't really go ahead with killing him, choosing to depart Earth in tears when Mark responds that he'll still have his dad a hundreds of years later.
• Older Than They Look: Nolan looks like he’s in his mid-forties, but that’s only because he’s middle aged by Viltrumite standards. He’s actually over 2000 years old.
• One-Man Army: Takes on all members of the previous super-heroic Guardians of the Globe, holds his own and kills them all. Later, he takes it even higher against the Flaxans - he's not just a walking army, he's a walking planet killer.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Rather than kill Mark, Nolan abandons his duty to conquer Earth and leaves the solar system. According to Allen, no Viltrumite has ever abandoned their post and when word gets out it will have major repercussions in galactic politics.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Namely none. The only difference between Nolan Grayson and Omni-Man is that Omni-Man wears tights and a cape, yet nobody connects the dots. "Nolan" isn't even an alias, it's his actual birth name.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: He annihilates the Flaxans and their planet, which is very horrific. However, the Flaxans committed many war crimes and invaded other planets before Earth, so we shouldn't feel that bad that Omni-Man killed so many of them.
• Papa Wolf: When he and Mark fight the Viltrumite soldiers sent to apprehend him, Nolan spends much of his time protecting Mark from them, despite his very complex relationship with his son. He is also fiercely protective of his new-born son Oliver, whom he risks his life and kills his own people to protect.
  Omni-Man: Do you regret attacking my' family now!? DO YOU!?''
• Parents as People: He becomes an incredibly abusive parent based on just his actions after Mark develops his powers, which is in direct contrast to the very supportive, loving father he was for all the years before. But at the same time, it also becomes clear by episode 8 that he takes no pleasure in it and legitimately loves Mark, with his increasingly cold and erratic behavior being a result of his genuine love for his family and life on Earth conflicting with the mission he's been given and the Viltrumite-supremacist ideology he was raised into and has lived by for centuries.
• Person of Mass Destruction: He's basically a living natural disaster when he cuts loose, as he demonstrates when he decimates the Flaxan civilization, destroying their cities just by flying through them fast enough and leaving a trail of destruction visible from orbit.
  • Likewise, when fighting Mark, he obliterates entire city blocks without significant effort. While fighting in a mountain range, he not only pummels his son hard enough to cause a massive avalanche; a literal natural disaster, but also hard enough to cause several massive fissures in the mountain.
• Pet the Dog:
  • In a sense. When he discovers that both Art and Debbie know that he's killed the Guardians, he confronts the former under the pretense of sharing a few beers and a few laughs. While this is then implicitly followed by Nolan not-so-subtly threatening Art to keep quiet about what he learned, it's ultimately far kinder than what he could have done, considering his general lack of empathy, as he demonstrates through mass murder a couple of episodes later.
  • When he confronts William, asking where Mark is. By now those that matter know he was the murderer, Omni-Man could have very easily hurt or killed William (for example, by interrogating him how he showed Mark) without real worry of making his own situation worse. Instead, you can see he is trying very, very hard to keep himself under control around his son's best friend despite his rising stress and anger. The worst he does is dent William's car, but he leaves without harming William at all.
  • Gets a few big ones in his return in Episode 12: he goes through Heel–Face Turn and becomes a very kind ruler of a new planet, while also trying to fix his relationship with Mark. And while it doesn't exactly go as he planned, it's shown he very much cares for him and the Thraxans, swearing to avenge the people killed by the three invading Viltrumites and assisting his son while he struggles against them. He also teaches Mark that he needs to kill Viltrumites, if both of them and the rest of surviving Thraxans want to live.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: He's a fanatical Viltrumite supremacist and eugenicist with a strong belief in Might Makes Right. He thinks his people have the right to subjugate all weaker species such as humans, and must destroy everyone who dares to resist or get in the way of that goal.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Up until Episode 7, Nolan doesn't actually kill anyone he doesn't feel he has to. In particular, he could have killed Cecil rather early on and saved himself a lot of trouble then and there, but it would have cost his true nature coming out to his family earlier than he planned to.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Smiles and smugly states to the Flaxians' that Earth "isn't yours to conquer." (Implying it's the Viltrumites'.) He then proceeds to go ham on the Flaxians' world.
• Razor-Sharp Hand: He especially seems fond of resorting to this ability with his left hand when his opponent has him in a difficult position. He decapitated and bisected The Immortal at the abdomen on two discrete occasions and disemboweled Lucan with a fleeting hand-chop.
• Red Baron: “Omni-Man” is his hero identity on Earth, naturally, but other Viltrumites refer to him as The Great Nolan due to his strength and reputation before he abandoned his post on Earth. All of them but General Kregg say it with reverence, and even when Kregg is facetious about his title, it’s out of frustration rather than disrespect — he simply can’t believe the relatively short time on Earth could’ve changed him that much.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: He is left with red bloodshot eyes after his second fight with The Immortal, which considering he also just split said Immortal in half right before his son's (and everyone who witnessed it) very eyes. Understandably leaves Mark very confused and scared of what his father might actually be.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: He did legitimately pull a Heel–Face Turn and become a benevolent ruler to the Thraxans, but he hasn't completely shaken off his old manipulative personality. He calls Mark to the planet under false pretenses and attempts to emotionally manipulate him into protecting the planet. He also downplays his killing spree on Earth as a "mistake" when trying to explain himself to his son. To his credit, he doesn't seem to be doing any of this consciously and clearly feels guilty when Mark calls him out.
• The Right of a Superior Species: In his view, Viltrum is perfectly justified in conquering Earth because humans are inferior to Viltrumites in every way: they're weaker, have shorter lifespans, and their culture and technology are more primitive. As he says to Mark when Cecil calls in an airstrike:
  Omni-Man: Look what they need to mimic a fraction of our power! It's right to pity them, Mark, but wrong to value them over your own kind.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • During his battle with Mark, his eyes are red and bloodshot, symbolizing how Nolan's inability to see how attached Mark is to humanity. It also represents Omni-Man's deep internal struggle between Viltrum and Earth. In the baseball flashback, Nolan is distant both physically and emotionally from Mark, watching his game with boredom and impatience. When Debbie tells him that it's good to care about humanity, he cheers Mark on and holds him up in the air.
  • He almost crosses the Despair Event Horizon as embodied by him nearly allowing himself to go past the event horizon of the black hole to get sucked in and die. It's only when he notices an endangered ship that he escapes the event horizon of the black hole, before getting consumed by both his despair and the black hole's gravitational pull.
• Running Away to Cry: His face contorts into one of anguish after Mark tells him that he'd still have him as his dad in five hundred years. As he flies away from Earth, a few tears stream out behind him. This is a slight departure from the comic, as he starts shedding a tear the moment Mark drops the "I'd still have you." bomb on him.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: He leaves the Solar System with tears streaming behind him after he realizes that he nearly beat his son to death. This is historically significant as no Viltrumite before has ever abandoned their post.
• Signature Move: Nolan appears to favour hand-chops, using the side of his flat hand like a blade.
• The Social Darwinist: Viltrumites believe they are the strongest beings in the universe and they culled the herd by killing the weakest members of the species. When Cecil asks why Omni-Man killed the Guardians, he simply responds by saying that they were weak.
• The Sociopath: Played with, but ultimately subverted. Nolan checks off a lot of boxes in this regard. Lack of empathy? Check. Little to no remorse for his actions? Check. Lies constantly and puts on a friendly facade? Double check. Has narcissistic tendencies? Oh yeah. However, there are at least some implications that he does legitimately care about his family for as much as he hides from them and has some conflicting emotions over wronging people he personally knows. By Season 2, it's clear that a majority of his sociopathic qualities were programmed into him by the Viltrum Empire, and he ultimately has learned to care for other alien races ultimately showing that where he may have been a sociopath at one point, he most certainly isn't one anymore.
• Stock Superhero Day Jobs: Nolan is a science fiction and travel writer, a career choice that is presumably aided by being an alien and having the ability to fly anywhere on the planet at any time. Though it is a fairly minor part of his life as Debbie seems to be the main breadwinner anyway. Once his civilian identity's declared legally dead on Earth, sales of his books see an immediate spike with Cecil giving Debbie the proceeds to support herself and Mark. As it turns out, his science novels were details of his travels in space that held vital information on the Viltrum Empires' weaknesses. So he's still just a travel writer.
• Straw Nihilist: His attempts to appeal to Mark give him some shades of this, stating that forming attachments to anyone who can't live more than a century is meaningless.
• Superpowerful Genetics: Viltrumites can have children with species that are barely even physically compatible. That includes humans and bipedal insects like the Thraxans. Their offspring will eventually become Viltrumite in appearance and physique. It's assumed they can breed with almost anything including any type of ape and maybe even creatures such as literal dogs. Fortunately, their culture has developed strict standards for who and what they should breed with. Unfortunately, their culture was taken over by a idealogy that believes that every race of equivalent intelligence is still beneath them and, thus, is worthy of scorn. Humans, being their physical equals in appearance, are regarded as barely tolerable by the majority of Viltrumites, though that can change given enough exposure to humanity.
• Super-Speed: By far the fastest hero on the planet. The only heroes who could technically compete with his speed are his son and Red Rush. A prime example of his speed is in the scene where Debbie asks him to get groceries from Europe and she has a map calculating that it takes him only five minutes to travel from the unnamed city where they live in America to Rome, Italy, which is about 4,448 miles away according to that map.
• Super-Strength: Omni-man is the strongest hero in the world and while there are other heroes who have the same power, such as the Immortal, his strength far outclasses all others. Best shown during the brief time when he was trapped on the Flaxan world, and he coerced the survivors into building him a portal home by holding a mountain sized rock above their heads in order to threaten them.
• Superman Substitute: His looks and powers are clearly based on the Man of Tomorrow. He also has a similar origin to the Man of Steel since he is an alien living on Earth, and he has a similar personality too. Although that kind personality turns out to have been nothing more than a facade.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: For all of his talk about the Guardians of the Globe being weak and the show presenting him as a False Friend to the group, Nolan gives off a genuinely disturbed and haunted look after killing them.
• Token Good Teammate: According to what Nolan describes the Viltrumite Empire as, he comes across as one of the nicest Viltrumites despite his atrocities, thanks to humanity being infectious. Season 2 confirms this, since Nolan is shown to feel sorry for what he did (to the point that he contemplated killing himself) and eventually repents by saving the Thraxans and becoming their benevolent emperor. The same definitely cannot be said for his fellow Viltrumites, who are shown to be utterly baffled by Nolan abandoning his post and Kregg puts it bluntly to Mark that the rest of the Viltrumites do not change their minds.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: By all accounts, Nolan was able to give his wife and son his love and be a rather good and supportive husband and parent for 17 years, which is repeatedly hinted to be real rather than the disingenuous camaraderie he had with the Guardians. It's only when Mark develops his powers that they both note Nolan becoming very aggressive, secretive, and selfish. It's suggested this is his Viltrumite mentality coming to the surface.
• Tragic Mistake: Hoo boy, did his murder of the Guardians send his entire life with his family down the drain. He assumed that if he continued showing Mark how pointless humanity really is to him and that Viltrum was meant to have Earth in its hands for a much prosperous society. Then the only thing he's done was ruin the chance to be happy with his family on Earth.
• Tragic Villain: Nolan may be a servant of the Viltrumite empire with a moral code that goes beyond simply warped and straight into horrifically evil, but it's also made clear that he doesn't want to be a monster. In his time on Earth, Nolan has become a genuinely caring man due to the fact that Humanity Is Infectious. He loves his son Mark and slowly but surely is forcing himself to commit atrocity after atrocity, driving everyone away from himself as his true nature is revealed. When he can't even convince his own part-Viltrumite son to join him, Nolan utterly snaps and goes on a massive rampage, slaughtering thousands just to try and prove his point to Mark and thoroughly beating down his own son. When Mark still doesn't give in and Nolan realizes what he's done to his own son, he flies off into space heartbroken, his own conflicted actions having destroyed his life when he could have just stayed happy on Earth.
• Trailers Always Lie: The trailer for the second season of Invincible shows Omni-Man saying to someone that they should have died at birth. From the trailer's point of view, it looks as though Nolan wants Mark to die, but the TV show reveals its actually an alternate dimension Omni-Man telling Robot to die.
• Tranquil Fury: When Debbie finds out about Nolan killing the Guardians of the Globe, Nolan attempts to brush it off as her being drunk, and gets in a small fight before he's told off. Instead of raising his volume or threatening her, he remains deathly silent before punching a hole in the wall, making it clear he was pissed by what transpired.
• Tsundere: An extreme one towards humanity, he initially believed that humanity was insignificant and only good for being crushed under his boot. His relationship with Debbie and Mark though caused him to slowly care enough to have some reservations about conquering it for the Viltrumite empire, not that it completely stops him though. In the end, he decides to "save them" by making sure they are integrated and not destroyed. He justifies it by saying they can end wars, end hunger, and that the medical technology they can bring to the planet will help them. This despite the fact that his Empire takes a lot of resources away from the planets they conquer and that he's willing to turn thousands of people into paste just to make a point. Goes into full Blue-and-Orange Morality.
• Villain Ball: It didn't occur to him that a hero named "Immortal" might not be the type who stays dead just because you decapitated him.
• Villainous Breakdown: In episode 8, he becomes increasingly agitated as his fight with Mark drags on, both from his growing guilt and Mark's own refusal to back down or join him. By the time he's reduced Mark to a bloody pulp, he's outright screaming at him that he'll outlive everyone he ever cared about. Then Mark responds that he'd still have his dad, causing Nolan to abandon the planet and his mission as he tries his hardest (and fails) not to cry over what he's just done.
  Omni-Man: Why did you make me do this?! You're fighting so you can watch everyone around you die! Think, Mark! You'll outlast every fragile, insignificant being on this planet. You'll live to see this world crumble to dust and blow away! Everything and everyone you know will be gone. ... What will you have after five hundred years?
• Villainous Glutton: If there's something Nolan does openly like about Earth, it's the food. While he isn't shown eating like a pig on-screen, he often casually mentions his cravings in even the most inappropriate situations like after a funeral. The same goes for an alternate version of him.
• Villain with Good Publicity: A well respected defender of the planet who delivered the eulogy of the funeral of the Guardians who he himself brutally murdered. After episode 8 however the world knows his true colors.
• Virtue Is Weakness: Since Viltrum's primary creed is Might Makes Right, he believes that humanity — a physically weaker species and a chronologically younger civilization — are inherently lesser and that Mark's willingness to fight on their behalf against him and the Viltrumites is inherently wrong and tries beating the "weakness" out of him.
• Walking Spoiler: From the ending of the first episode onwards, it’s hard to talk about him without going into him murdering the Guardians and being colder to his family as well as not being as heroic as he has made the public think.
• We All Die Someday: He says as much after killing a pilot Mark rescued in cold blood, rhetorically asking what difference in makes whether the man died now or in a few decades, to which Mark responds:
  "HE'D HAVE A LIFE!"
• What Is This Feeling?: Even after the mass casualties he himself caused on Earth before his departure, Nolan is surprised by his own negative reaction to seeing the Viltrumites slaughter the Thraxans, as he had been raised to see no value in so-called lesser species with such short life-spans. Season 2's finale is compounded with Nolan saying how he misses his wife in a dumbfounding manner, as if he can't comprehend this feeling; previously Nolan admitted to missing Mark when they reunited in Thraxa but even that can be attributed to Nolan seeing Mark as his Viltrumite son, Nolan then finding out he actually misses Debbie, someone considered a lesser being by the culture ingrained on him for thousands of years, is a new layer of emotions and attachment for the Viltrumite.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Nolan's beliefs can be summarized as this. Or, in this case, a non-Viltrumite.
• What the Romans Have Done for Us: Discussed and defied, he believes that humanity would prosper under Viltrum domination, he did nearly wipe out the Flaxan dimension, and he's universally praised as a Guardian of the Globe. However, his argument for submitting to Viltrum consists of murdering thousands of strangers, weakening Earth's defences, and traumatising his own son so he would agree with him. These actions only prove that Nolan is a threat and he should be stopped.
• What You Are in the Dark: He contemplates suicide via black hole after abandoning his post on Earth, but after seeing a Thraxan ship about to get sucked into the black hole, he decides to save it and its crew.
• When He Smiles: After finally defeating Vidor and Thula, he gives one an assuring one to Mark asking if he's okay... until Lucan returns and breaks Nolan's back.
• White Man's Burden: Basically what his argument about Viltrum's conquest of the galaxy boils down to. He views Earthlings as primitive and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, a planet of people begging to be improved by Viltrumite intervention... or be wiped out should they show any resistance to the idea.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: He points out to Mark that Viltrumites live for thousands of years, though he views it as a token of the insignificance of human life and as a justification for conquering Earth.
• Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: Screams this at Mark after he pounds him to a bloody pulp at the end of their "fight".
• World's Strongest Man: He's repeatedly called the strongest being on the planet, and there's nothing that's shown to be capable of disputing that claim.
• Would Hit a Girl: Brutally kills War Woman and Green Ghost. Not to mention the female Flaxans that he most likely killed when committing genocide. He also breaks Thula's jaw when she nearly kills Mark.
• Would Hurt a Child: Murders several children during his fight with Mark in the Season 1 finale, as well as all of the Flaxan children he most likely killed during the purge of their planet. He also beats Mark within an inch of his life, his own child and technically a minor at 17 years old by then.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Neither of them. Earth had been his home for a long enough time that was more significant than he realized or was willing to admit until it was too late. He is well aware that Earth’s people will never forgive him for his atrocities. And for abandoning his post, the Viltrum Empire will only take him back as a prisoner for execution.

Debbie Grayson

Deborah "Debbie" Grayson

Voiced By: Sandra Oh

Mark's mother and Omni-Man's wife. Debbie is a realtor who has become quite adjusted to being married to a superhero that the usual adventures don't bother her anymore.

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• Adaptational Intelligence: In the comics, Debbie doesn't realize Nolan is bad news until he attacks Mark. Here, she begins putting together the clues even before Damien Darkblood gives her a push. Eventually she finds out the complete truth with the help of Art and even confronts Nolan about it.
• Adaptational Job Change: In the comics she was a housewife who became a realtor later in the run. Since pure housewives are more uncommon these days, she is now a realtor from the start and seems to be the main breadwinner for the family.
• Adaptational Nice Girl: She never fully descends into becoming an Alcoholic Parent after Nolan's fight with Mark and subsequent departure like her comic counterpart does, nor does she at any point blame Mark for Nolan leaving.
• Adaptational Villainy: Zig Zagged. While Debbie herself in both the show and comics remains just as innocent, Angstrom Levy in the show makes a claim that there are dimensional variants of Debbie that had betrayed her humanity to work with Omni-Man and Invincible to conquer Earth. Contrast to the comic, Angstrom makes no mention of Debbie having evil variants.
• Adaptation Expansion: Her relationship with Nolan is detailed much more throughout season 1 compared to the early issues of the comic, which consequently makes Nolan's later claim that she's a pet to him sound more like something he's trying to convince himself of or something he's confused about rather than something he actually believes.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Debbie is a much mentally tougher and independent woman in the animation; first she is a realtor from the get-go in the show, as such it portrays Debbie as someone who wasn't financially dependant on Nolan, in the comic Debbie only becomes a realtor later in a newfound resolve to become more independent. The way her character in the comics and animation handle the fallout of Omni-Man's reveal as a villainous space conqueror shows the stark contrast in Debbie's character between mediums: in the comic Debbie was so emotionally dependent of Nolan that in a drunken irrational tirade she blames herself then Mark for Nolan leaving their family, something that she immediately apologizes for once she is sober but it shows how much less mental fortitude Debbie had in the comic early on. Meanwhile Debbie in the animation faces this baggage with more endurance, doing all to shield Mark from how much she is suffering, rightfully blaming everything on Nolan and no one else.
• Broken Tears: She cries when Nolan claims she means nothing to his cause. And when she and Mark finally returns home, the first thing she does is return to her room and weep at the circumstances the two had experienced.
• Deuteragonist: She is usually the main focus of each episodes' B Plot, Season 1 focuses on her suspicions and later investigation of Nolan’s role in the Guardians' massacre, and Season 2 focuses on the emotional aftermath of Nolan’s betrayal.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: In episode 6. "Fuck you, Nolan." The next episode has her telling him to get out of their house and he obliges.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • She has always hated Cecil for his Good Is Not Soft approach. Though she later apologizes for her claim.
  • While she may be furious about how Nolan killed the Guardians, she doesn't want him dead and still shows concern for his well being during Cecil's attempts to slow him down.
• Friend Versus Lover: Debbie attempts to support her friend Olga and help her sell her house, following the tragedy with the Guardians. Nolan attempts to keep getting her to postpone it and says demeaning things about Olga. Ultimately, while she temporarily postpones it to go on a vacation with Nolan, she does object to what he says about Olga and still fulfills her friend's request as soon as she's back.
• Good Parents: By all accounts, a caring, loving, supportive mother with a good head on her shoulders, often dispensing advice and comforting Mark when he needs it. And while she initially had some reservations about Oliver, she quickly grows to accept and love him as her own child.
• Guile Hero: How she ultimately has to be with Nolan as her suspicions grow and her attempts to investigate progress.
• Heroes Gone Fishing: It's apparent she's on good terms with the Guardians in some way, and in particular close friends with Red Rush and his fiancee Olga enough outside of heroics. She even calls him by his real name (Josef) when she calls out Nolan for murdering him with the rest of the Guardians.
• Hidden Depths: In episode 6, when she and Art go over the damaged Omni-Man suit from the slaughter of the Guardians, she's able to easily recognize every sign of another Guardian's weaponry or methods inflicted upon Nolan besides Red Rush's inflicted friction burns. It implies that for a mere civilian, she's all too familiar with her husband's colleagues and work enough to recognize their weapons and habits.
• I Need a Freaking Drink:
  • In episode 6, she's clearly drunk by the time Nolan returns after she finds indisputable proof Nolan killed the guardians.
  • In episode 8, she heads to Art and demands he pour a drink for her after Omni-Man nearly kills Mark and flies off.
  • In season 2, she grabs a wine bottle more than once. Considering all she's been through, nobody can blame her.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Debbie is the spitting image of Sandra Oh.
• Mama Bear: She is this with Mark, being distraught when he is seriously hurt and fearful when a busted Omni-Man goes to try find him. But unfortunately she has the added duress of often being powerless to be able to help him against his enemies. She also becomes this for Oliver, especially when Angstrom puts them through hell. Even with a broken arm, Debbie's first priority is to shield the toddler and keep him calm.
• Morality Pet: When Nolan first came to Earth, he was an entitled asshole who thought Debbie should worship the ground he walked on. After they broke up and got back together, Debbie taught him human customs and he became a more considerate, empathetic person. Or so she thought. Granted, it's later implied that Omni-Man does legitimately love her, and notably, even after she found out that he murdered the Guardians of the Globe, he doesn't ever consider murdering or even threatening her.
• Nerves of Steel: She's not afraid to tell off her husband if he steps out of line. Directly confronting Nolan, who can easily break her like a twig, about his murder of the Guardians of the Globe qualifies her as this. She can and will deliver a What the Hell, Hero? to both him and Cecil.
• Parental Substitute: Debbie chooses to raise Mark's half-brother as her foster son, to point of giving him the very personal family name of Oliver.
• Parents as People: She does her best to support her son who she genuinely loves, giving him advice like she once has to her husband. Emphasizing the importance of choice. But her current worries about Nolan leave her distracted sometimes from him.
• Precision F-Strike: When she discovers that Nolan murdered the Guardians and tries to dismiss her confrontation as her being drunk, Debbie gives a pretty good one to him, despite him being the most powerful being on the planet.
  Debbie: Fuck you, Nolan.
• Race Lift: She's Korean, in contrast to her Caucasian comic counterpart.
• Seen It All: She is unfazed when the White House is destroyed and when her husband gets trapped in an alternate dimension. Twenty years with the Earth's premier superhero will do that to you. Harshly subverted when she finds out he killed other heroes he had teamed up with for years.
• Self-Made Woman: Debbie enjoys her realtor work and what she accomplishes there for herself, taking great offense when Nolan implies she doesn't need to do it as his wife.
• Stepford Smiler: Her suspicions of Nolan weigh on her, and Debbie has had to do more than one fake smile. Not quite smiling, but in episode 8 she calmly tells Mark that she needs to go lie down for a bit. When he goes up to find her, he finds she has actually gone to discreetly sob away from him in her room.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Even after everything Nolan has said and done, she admits to Art that there's still a part of her that misses him.

The Baby (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Oliver Grayson

Voiced By: Lincoln Bodin

Nolan's second son and Mark's half-brother, conceived with Nolan's Thraxan second wife.

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• Amazing Technicolor Population: Due to being half-Thraxan, he basically looks like a purple Viltrumite. Nolan wasn't kidding when he noted Viltrumite genes are usually dominant.
• Ancestral Name: Played with. While not related biologically to her or her side of the family, Debbie ends up naming him Oliver after her own father.
• Brainy Baby: Oliver learns incredibly fast for an infant, no doubt another benefit of his Thraxan half. It takes him no time at all to learn how to speak and start tackling more complex lessons for his age.
• Cousin Oliver: Out-of-universe, his name is a snarky reference to the Trope Namer as a way of lampshading how characters like this tend to be received (i.e., not well). He himself is a subversion, as he doesn't fit the trope beyond superficial levels.
• Happily Adopted: Oliver and Debbie quickly come to love each other, and he recognizes her as his "mama".
• Non-Human Humanoid Hybrid: He is half Viltrumite and half Thraxan. Oliver got a colored skin like his mother -though she is rather blue-skinned, while Oliver is purple-skinned- and the human-like anatomy of the Viltrumites.
• Rapid Aging: He inherits the advanced aging of Thraxans, with Mark initially thinking Nolan was cheating on Debbie because Oliver is seemingly older than six months. However, the long-lived nature of his Viltrumite half means that his rapid aging will slow to a crawl as he gets older.

Andressa (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Andressa

Voiced By: Rhea Seehorn

Nolan's second wife from the planet Thraxia, after his exile from Earth, and Oliver’s mother.

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• Blunt Metaphors Trauma: She tries to describe her romance as falling head over feet, which Mark corrects her as head over heels.
• Good Parents: She's clearly a loving, doting parent on her son Oliver, carrying him constantly and showing him constant affection. But she's also aware of how she's a Short-Lived Organism who will be long dead before Oliver can form a sentence and makes the difficult decision to give him to Mark's family, lest Oliver grow up on a world where everyone he knows and loves will be dead.
• Good Stepmother: She's this to Mark, saying that she never intended to replace his mother and fell in love with his father before he told her about his life back on Earth.
• Interspecies Romance: With Nolan, Andressa being a bug-like Thraxan and human-like Vilturmite. This turns out to be a major plot point, with the Viltrum Empire being intolerant of such relationships as the Thraxans are are considered a lesser species, even below humans.
• May–December Romance: Nolan is presumably much older than his physical age suggests, and Andressa was a child/teenaged when he saved her and her people’s ship.
• Mayfly–December Romance: An extreme example, she belongs to a species that lives for about one Earth year, married to a man that can live for thousands.
• Rescue Romance: She was on a ship on a collision course with a black hole but was rescued by Nolan. The two then formed a romance and had a child.
• Short-Lived Organism: Like all Thraxans, Andressa has a maximum lifespan of a year and she’s already lived ten months when she finally meets her “stepson”. In the relatively short time Mark spends on Thraxia (less than a month), we see her go from her prime (roughly the human equivalent of early middle age) to elderly, with a duller carapace and chitin buildup reminiscent of wrinkles on her face. She’s not exaggerating when she tells Mark that entire generations will pass before her son is even capable of speech, which prompts him to take Oliver back to earth.

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