Line #93 ComicBook/Onslaught


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6	->''"Know my name and fear it! I am Onslaught!"''
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8	'''Onslaught''' was a 1996 Creator/MarvelComics CrisisCrossover involving nearly every superhero comic book they published at the time. The ComicBook/XMen, [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]], the ComicBook/FantasticFour and other heroes fight an incredibly powerful OmnicidalManiac which results in the "[[NotQuiteDead deaths]]" of every hero involved (except the mutants, ComicBook/SpiderMan and a Banner-less [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]). Outside of comics, the series is best known for providing the FinalBoss for ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes''.
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10	The X-Men suffer several attacks by minions of the seemingly omnipotent entity known only as "Onslaught", who appears to know them well. He is also the one behind the recent stealing of the [[MechaMooks Sentinel]] fleet from a government base. When Gambit and Jean Grey go undercover to learn more about an unrelated GovernmentConspiracy, they are exposed but get an unexpected help from Onslaught. Later he tries to bring Jean over his side by showing her [[TeacherStudentRomance the dark long-repressed thoughts of her mentor]] [[ComicBook/ProfessorX Charles Xavier]]. She refuses. Juggernaut, who was [[TheWorfEffect attacked by Onslaught as well]], comes to the X-Mansion and asks Jean to look for its true identity [[MindReading inside his head]]. She does and finds out that Onslaught is none other than ComicBook/ProfessorX.
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12	It turns out that when Xavier brainwashed ComicBook/{{Magneto}} several months before (to cause him to stop being a threat after he cruelly stripped the adamantium off ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'s bones), a part of the latter's psyche merged with his own mind. Under the stress of constant failures and new misfortunes the Professor became more and more frustrated, until he developed a split personality, which eventually [[SplitPersonalityTakeover took a life of its own]] and was able to manifest in the corporeal world. Onslaught nearly kills the X-Men before leaving to capture [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Franklin Richards]] and ComicBook/XMan in order to suck out their powers and become [[PhysicalGod a living god]]. That brings him into conflict with both the Avengers, who were approached by X-Man, and Franklin's family, the Fantastic Four. Despite that Onslaught successfully kidnaps both of his targets, encircles Manhattan with Sentinels and prepares to TakeOverTheWorld.
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14	The heroes (and Doctor Doom) eventually manage to defeat him but in order to do that most of them have to enter his non-corporeal form, which the X-Men then have to destroy, making it look like they killed them. Professor X is imprisoned for Onslaught's crimes and the anti-mutant sentiments become stronger than ever.
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16	(Unknown to anyone, the heroes survived as they were recreated by Franklin's powers in another world, with no memory of their previous lives, as seen in the sequel "ComicBook/HeroesReborn".)
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18	After the events of ComicBook/HouseOfM Onslaught came BackFromTheDead in the aptly named ''ComicBook/OnslaughtReborn'' miniseries.
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20	Thanks to the ComicBook/RedSkull's clone grafting Professor X's brain onto his own, and Magneto subsequently crushing his head in, he became Red Onslaught, kicking off the Autumn 2014 event ''ComicBook/{{AXIS}}''.
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22	----
23	!!''Onslaught'' provides examples of:
24	* AllThereInTheManual: ''X-Men: The Road to Onslaught'', a special comic that told [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the backstory of Onslaught]] in chronological order.
25	* AlmostDeadGuy: One of the first hints to the story was the X-Men finding a barely-alive Juggernaut.
26	* AntagonistTitle: The story is named after the BigBad on this arc, a split personality of Charles Xavier.
27	* ArcWelding: The opening of ''Onslaught: X-Men'' does this to the traitor tape that was a part of Bishop's backstory, revealing that Jean sent it after Onslaught attacked X-Men--and hence that the X-traitor was none other than Professor X himself (debunking Bishop's theory that the traitor was Gambit), not that he was the first to die (and while he didn't die, either, Jean believed it was Juggernaut; it was also shown the X-Men managed to keep Onslaught from killing Jean the second the tape ended). The story also had Onslaught use an element from the early comics ([[TeacherStudentRomance Professor Xavier having the hots for Jean]]) to try to lure Jean to his side. Additionally, Onslaught's existence is traced back to Xavier mindwiping Magneto in retaliation for ripping out Wolverine's adamantium in ''ComicBook/FatalAttractionsMarvelComics''.
28	* AreWeGettingThis: Trish Tilby reports on the final battle as the X-Men are forced to attack the Avengers and Fantastic Four to stop Onslaught.
29	* BaitAndSwitch: Onslaught tells Jean he's going to show her the hypocrisy of humanity by having her look into the thoughts of her "one most dear." Jean initially assumes he means Cyclops, but instead Onslaught shows her a scene of [[TeacherStudentRomance Xavier's lust for Jean]] in the early comics to prove his point.
30	* BittersweetEnding: Onslaught is destroyed, but the Fantastic Four and many Avengers are seemingly killed in the process. The public also thinks the X-Men are responsible, triggering severe anti-mutant hysteria and Xavier being taken into government custody. Franklin Richards is orphaned and taken in by Generation X.
31	* BorrowedCatchphrase: Reed Richards pulls this off when leading the Fantastic Four and an army of their allies into the fray;
32	-->'''Reed Richards''': In the words of my dearest friend, It's Clobbering Time.\
33	'''Ben Grimm''': Couldn't have said it better myself.
34	* BroughtDownToNormal:
35	** [[spoiler:Charles Xavier loses his powers until they're restored in the "Hunt for Xavier" arc a few years later.]]
36	** [[spoiler:Also, until his FaceHeelTurn, Phil Urich retires from being a Goblin after his Green Goblin costume is damaged in a fight with one of the Sentinels Onslaught commandeered.]]
37	* TheCavalry: Just when it looks like the X-Men have been defeated, the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and a whole host of other heroes arrive to join the battle.
38	-->'''The Watcher''': And yet... through the haze of dust, Xavier sensed a coming... of hope, of courage, of marvels.
39	* ContinuitySnarl:
40	** Thor sports his shirtless "World Engine" look for the majority of the crossover, but changes into a new black costume in the last issue of his solo series, which takes place just before the final battle with Onslaught. In the actual finale of the crossover, ''Onslaught: Marvel Universe'', Thor is inexplicably back to his shirtless look.
41	** Same thing happened with ComicBook/TheFalcon. He was sporting his armored costume at the time, but is shown wearing his classic 70's uniform during the final battle with no explanation.
42	** Two issues sees the events of ''Uncanny X-Men'', Vol 1. #335 contradicted twice:
43	*** The ''Uncanny'' sees Moira [=MacTaggert=] and ComicBook/{{Excalibur\|MarvelComics}} aware of the crisis and that some of the X-Men were coming for the Xavier Protocols. ''Excalibur'' #100 saw the titular team busy with other matters and Moira surprised by the X-Men's visit. Granted, this one is a double edged sword as said ''Uncanny'' issue itself also that Excalibur was already dealing with the Hellfire Club's London Branch (the "other matters" in question).
44	*** ''Wolverine'', Vol. 2. #104 sees Wolverine claim that Cyclops and Jean told him to meet with Gateway. In said ''Uncanny'' issue, Logan's mission to figure out Onslaught's origin was something he decided on his own and was a bit of a moot point since in the same exact issue, the Avengers and other X-Men already sussed out what Logan was going to learn: [[ComicBook/FatalAttractionsMarvelComics It started with Xavier mindwiping Magneto following the latter ripping out the adamantium from Wolverine]].
45	** The RedSkiesCrossover issues with ComicBook/SpiderMan. While the end of ''Sensational Spider-Man'', Vol. 1 #8 saw [[ComicBook/TheCloneSaga then-current Spider-Man Ben Reilly]] get involved with dealing with Sentinels (seen in ''Amazing Spider-Man'', Vol 1. 415 and ''Spider-Man'', Vol 1. #72), whereas ''Spectacular Spider-Man'', Vol 1. #238 saw Ben chasing the Lizard creature while the invasions of Sentinels going down. For that matter, the end of ''Spider-Man'' #72 saw Ben and Peter resolve to be part of the final battle against Onslaught, but are absent in ''Onslaught: Marvel Universe''.
46	* CostumeCopycat: Shortly before Onslaught finally made his move, Beast's ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' counterpart, the Dark Beast, captured and impersonated him to hide from Mr. Sinister and any further reprisals by him.[[note]]After ''[=AoA=]'' ended and Dark Beast ended up in the main Marvel Universe, it was revealed that Dark Beast, who was a protege of that reality's Sinister, had, as part of a StableTimeLoop, experimented on the Morlocks. The traditional Mr. Sinister recognized his own theories in use and the events of ''Mutant Massacre'' were revealed to be Sinister getting rid of unauthorized use of his work.[[/note]]
47	* CrazyPrepared: Turns out Professor X has made specific plans and instructions on how to deal with any X-Man (including himself), should they ever [[FaceHeelTurn go rogue]].
48	* CrossoverFinale: This story was used to launch the ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'' initiative, with the Avengers and Fantastic Four seemingly falling in battle only to be whisked away to a pocket dimension Franklin Richards created. Its events also saw the retirement of Phil Urich--just in time for ComicBook/NormanOsborn to be revealed as ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga''[='=]s BigBad.
49	* ADarkerMe: What happens when the dark sides of Xavier and Magneto combine.
50	* DarkestHour: Onslaught announces his intention to wipe out ''all'' of humanity and then crushes the X-Men in battle. Fortunately, the Avengers and Fantastic Four arrive during the lull in fighting.
51	* DemonicPossession / GrandTheftMe : How Onslaught took control of the Red Skull.
52	* DenouementEpisode:
53	** ''X-Men'' #57 takes place immediately after the event, with Xavier formally surrendering to the authorities to atone for the whole mess and the team bracing for a new wave of anti-mutant sentiment. The ''Onslaught: Epilogue'' one-shot follows this, showing Xavier's time in custody and helping establish Bastion as a new threat.
54	** ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #417 serves as an epilogue for the wider Marvel Universe. As New York rebuilds, the Ben Reilly Spider-Man reflects on the loss of his colleagues, the impact this tragedy has had on civilians, and how remaining heroes like him will be needed now more than ever.
55	* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The Hulk literally punched Onslaught so hard that he destroyed his physical form.
56	** Onslaught punched him back hard enough to knock Bruce Banner out of the Hulk.
57	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In ''X-Men'' #50, a psionic entity warns the X-Men that Onslaught is coming, Post works for Onslaught and attacks the X-Mansion, and Xavier is almost kidnapped, implying Onslaught is a separate villain and not Xavier being possessed over a period of time. The purpose of the warning, attack and kidnapping attempt is not explained.
58	* EnemyMine:
59	** Doom sides with the heroes and helps them against Onslaught. When he tries to collect an energy sample for his own ends, though, Hawkeye and Iron Man take him down.
60	** ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} does try to help against Onslaught, though Cable and the Invisible Woman stop him from trying to kill the latter's son.
61	* EnemyWithin[=/=]EnemyWithout: Xavier's evil side had already manifested in physical form once before in the ''X-Men vs ComicBook/{{Micronauts\|MarvelComics}}'' series as well as a WholeEpisodeFlashback issue during ''ComicBook/ThePhoenixSaga''.
62	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Despite the fact his methods involve murdering a child, even ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} is horrified by Onslaught's actions.
63	* EvilTowerOfOminousness: Onslaught created one in Central Park.
64	* ExactWords: Apocalypse promised to separate Franklin Richards from Onslaught. He never said anything about the boy surviving the experience. Cable and the Invisible Woman fully anticipated that, though.
65	* FightingFromTheInside: Xavier attempts to do this, but isn't successful. Onslaught later exploits this trope to catch his enemies offguard.
66	* ForgotICouldFly: Magneto has limited telepathic powers of his own, it was likely because of this that the mindwipe backfired. He just rarely uses them these days.
67	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Early on, Ben Grimm's newspaper horoscope says that [[ComicBook/HeroesReborn he and a bunch of his closest friends will soon be going on a long trip]].
68	* GenericDoomsdayVillain: In the proud tradition of previous CrisisCrossover villains, Onslaught is heavy on power and light on personality and motivation. He ''does'' have a motive, at least at first (he initially wants to institute mutant supremacy ala Magneto, but changes his mind and switches to ForTheEvulz after seeing Nate Grey's memories of the ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse''), but due to how lightly this motive is actually referenced and how quickly the character drops it, he's still a case of this.
69	* GenocideFromTheInside: He goes after the X-Men and their assorted mutant subgroups first, and it doesn't take too long for him to decide that mutant are just as deserving of extinction as humans, despite technically being a mutant himself.
70	* AGodAmI: Onslaught at one point actually calls himself a god.
71	* GodzillaThreshold: To gain the necessary strength to truly damage Onslaught, the Hulk (currently in his intelligent "Professor Hulk" incarnation) has Jean Grey shut down the psychic barriers preventing him from becoming truly enraged, sacrificing his current intelligence and control to give the heroes a powerhouse capable of doing ''serious'' damage to Onslaught.
72	* HeroicSacrifice: The heroes. (Doom was dragged along involuntarily by Iron Man.)
73	* HiveMind: Onslaught's ultimate goal is to merge humanity into a collective intelligence, without free will.
74	* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: The Sentinels were designed to protect humanity from mutants. Onslaught enjoyed the irony of reversing that intent.
75	* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: The original motivation of Onslaught was to KillAllHumans for their oppressing of mutants. Then he saw the world [[ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse X-Man came from]] and decided that mutants are bastards too.
76	* LeftHanging:
77	** We never find out how Onslaught punched out Juggernaut, especially if he hadn't formed his physical body by that point and was still messing with Xavier.
78	** We never learn why a psionic entity warns the X-Men about Onslaught, why Post attacks the X-Men and works for Onslaught, and why Xavier is almost kidnapped.
79	** Jean Grey says something important is happening with Spider-Man, but we never find out what that is.
80	* LiteralSplitPersonality: Onslaught and Xavier partway into the story, as well as Hulk and Banner at the end.
81	* LivingMemory: How Xavier became Onslaught: a part of Magneto's attached itself to Xavier when he mindwiped Magneto.
82	* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: Juggernaut is used in a non-lethal version, being decked halfway across North America to show how powerful Onslaught was.
83	* MamaBear: Apocalypse reasons that killing Franklin Richards will deprive Onslaught of substantial power (as well as eliminate a possible future threat to his own agenda). What he didn't expect was being shadowed by someone who would want to teach him a very painful lesson about such an attempt.
84	-->'''Invisible Woman:''' Get away from my son, you butcher!
85	* MechaMooks: Sentinels.
86	* MentalFusion: Onslaught is mostly Xavier at his darkest with an (un)healthy dose of Magneto's more unsavory traits. ''[=AXIS=]'' adds a heap of Red Skull to the mix.
87	* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
88	** Thor separating Xavier from Onslaught. Instead of destroying him, it freed Onslaught from any sense of Xavier's morality and influence.
89	** The existence of Onslaught himself given he was created when [[ComicBook/FatalAttractionsMarvelComics Xavier lashed out at Magneto over the latter's ripping out of Wolverine's adamantium.]] Also, [[ComicBook/ThePhoenixSaga as]] [[ComicBook/TheXMenAndTheMicronauts before]], Xavier's tendency to repress his darker emotions and thoughts just fed Onslaught's creation, including his feelings about failing to save a kid who was killed by an anti-mutant mob just outside the X-Mansion, his failure to reform Sabretooth, and Creed's subsequent near-killing of Psylocke and escape.
90	** The fact that even before Thor tearing Xavier from him, Onslaught could move about independently can be traced back to [[ComicBook/XMan Nate Grey]] pulling Xavier from the astral plane during their first encounter, which gave Onslaught the means to form a psychic body of his own.
91	** The Hulk cutting loose on and destroying Onslaught's physical body was exactly what he wanted from the heroes, becoming a being of PureEnergy. Though this led to...
92	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Turns out, the final form Onslaught desired was a GlassCannon in comparison to his physical form, allowing the heroes to defeat him by forcing him into a state that they can attack directly.
93	* NotSoImaginaryFriend: Franklin's "invisible friend" Charlie. Onslaught did this to ensure he could kidnap Franklin right out from under the FF.
94	* OffWithHisHead: One memorable scene had the Ben Reilly Spider-Man defeat a Sentinel by (with great effort) ripping its head off.
95	* OmnicidalManiac: Onslaught wants to destroy both the human and mutant races because he views them as equally awful.
96	* OnceMoreWithClarity:
97	** As noted under "Arc Welding", we're shown the X-traitor tape in its entirety at the official start of the crossover.
98	** In another example, in ''Wolverine'' #104, Wolverine and Elektra are taken by Gateway to the climax of ''X-Men'' #25 where Magneto tears out the adamantium from Logan's body. Xavier's mindwiping of Magneto is revisited, and it shown that a creepy creature emerged from Magneto's astral body and reached out to Xavier's counterpart, planting the seed that would eventually become Onslaught.
99	* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Doctor Doom's reason for getting involved in the event is an interesting case of this trope. The destruction Onslaught is causing doesn't bother him, but kidnapping Franklin Richards does. Apparently Doom feels that he and he alone is allowed to kidnap Reed's family.
100	* PlotArchaeology: As noted under "Arc Welding", this picked up the X-traitor tape subplot, revealing that despite Bishop thinking ComicBook/ProfessorX was the first to die, Xavier was ironically ([[SplitPersonality and unknowingly]]) the traitor himself. Furthermore his origins are tied to Xavier's mindwipe of Magneto in ''ComicBook/FatalAttractionsMarvelComics''.
101	* PlotHole: In ''X-Men'' #56, Onslaught claims his minions captured Nate, but Onslaught personally captured Nate in ''X-Man'' #19.
102	* RedHerring: The aforementioned "ArcWelding", "OnceMoreWithClarity", and "PlotArchaeology" ultimately made Gambit's role in the X-Traitor subplot this, as again ''Onslaught: X-Men'' opened with the reveal the garbled tape Jean made about the X-Traitor was really about Xavier himself and she'd believed Juggernaut died, debunking Bishop's belief that the Witness, an older Remy, was the traitor and started the massacre of the X-Men by killing Xavier.
103	* RedSkiesCrossover: ''Wolverine'' #103 was labeled as tie-in but had no connection whatsover.
104	** The titles displaying the Crossover's logo were generally separated into two types, with directly affected titles branded "Onslaught: Phase (1, 2, or 3, depending on the month)" while the more Red Sky types were billed as "Onslaught: Impact (1, 2, 3)". Most of the "Impact" issues featured the heroes (e.g. ComicBook/SpiderMan) facing Onslaught-controlled Sentinels. Interestingly enough, there was an issue of ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' that had criminals hiding out inside the remains of a destroyed Sentinel.
105	* ShoutOut:
106	** When Onslaught invades Four Freedoms Plaza in search of Franklin Richards, the boy ([[spoiler:actually Lyja in disguise]]) is seen watching his "favorite video," which appears to be an episode of ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers''.
107	** When Sue is probing Franklin's room with her powers, one thing seen on his wall is ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes.
108	** In the final issue of ''Fantastic Four'', Sue is holding one of Franklin's cherished toys, which appears to be a [[Franchise/DragonBall Goku]] plushy.
109	** In issue #415, Franklin and "Charley" play a card game based on the Amalgam line of comics and the Overpower card line, which was a real Marvel card line in the mid-1990s.
110	* SoProudOfYou: According to the narration during the beginning of the final battle, Xavier "never was prouder of his students."
111	* SplitPersonalityTakeover: What happened to Xavier, as Onslaught had been growing in Charles since mindwiping Magneto in ''ComicBook/FatalAttractionsMarvelComics''.
112	* SpoilerCover: ''X-Men'' volume 2, #54 features the reveal of Onslaught as Professor X and a cover with a silhouette on Onslaught. While the normal cover featured the words "The Secret Revealed" in the silhouette, a variant holograph cover doesn't have those words -- but instead, it features Charles's head front-and-center in the silhouette.
113	* SuperpoweredEvilSide: While Xavier is one of the world's most powerful telepaths, Onslaught also had [[JustForFun/SuperWeight telekinesis and magnetism]]. He grew even more powerful upon capturing Franklin Richards and Nate Grey.
114	* SuperSupremacist: Onslaught inherited this attitude from Magneto and initially sought to bring about Erik's dream of a mutant-ruled Earth. After reading Nate Grey's mind and seeing that a mutant-dominated Earth is still a CrapsackWorld, he drops this mindset in favor of being a straight OmnicidalManiac.
115	* TeacherStudentRomance: An old element from the early ''X-Men'' comics, namely Professor Xavier having feelings for Jean Grey, was used by Onslaught to try to get Jean to join him.
116	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The Heroes Reborn line was advertised on the covers of Onslaught issues.
117	* TwoLinesNoWaiting: The story was split into two major scenarios - titles with "Phase" listed on the covers were directly connected to the storyline while covers with "Impact" listed on them were titles that were affected by the events.
118	* UntouchableUntilTagged: Onslaught was unstoppable until his helmet was cracked.
119	* WhamEpisode: Many of Marvel's major heroes are thought dead (actually sent to a pocket world), all remaining heroes have to pick up the slack (opening the door for the ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}} development), the X-Men are blamed for the whole mess, and Hulk is split from Banner.
120	* WhamShot: The image of Charles Xavier being inside the Onslaught armor after ripping the Gem out of Juggernaut's armor.
121	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In an issue of ''Spider-Man'', Peter Parker and [[ComicBook/ScarletSpider Ben Reilly]] defeat a few Sentinels and run off at the end of the issue to help the other heroes fight Onslaught. They never show up in any of the battles with no explanation (beyond the theory that they just didn't manage to find the battleground in time, given Spider-Man's relatively solo status).
122	* AWizardDidIt: Reed Richards deduces that mutants can't enter Onslaught's field without giving him more power (due to his being a mutant himself). To explain why the Avengers' Scarlet Witch was already shown entering the field, Reed says Wanda "seemed to be protected by her hex."
123	* TheWorfEffect: Early on Juggernaut got beaten up by Onslaught to establish him as a big threat. [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants It was before writers made up their minds about just anything else of him]]. It becomes unintentional FridgeBrilliance after TheReveal of Onslaught's identity: If you become evil and all-powerful, one of your first targets would be the invincible-til-now man who has bullied and tried to kill you from childhood to the present day.
124	* WouldHurtAChild: Apocalypse's idea to end the crisis (and rid himself of a potential rival) was to kill Franklin Richards. Needless to say both Cable and [[MamaBear the]] ComicBook/InvisibleWoman put an end to that plan.

Context ComicBook / Onslaught