The Grayson Family | Superheroes | Supervillains | Viltrumites | Others
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Global Defense Agency
In General
In General
A secretive government agency that helps organize and coordinate the various super heroes around the world. They are located somewhere deep below the Pentagon. There is parking in the rear of the building.
Cecil Stedman
Cecil Stedman
Director of the Global Defense Agency working at the Pentagon, Cecil has employed Mark at various times and oversees the Guardians of the Globe.
- Alas, Poor Villain: For years he has done things that Mark has not agreed with with, and even threatened to kill him. But even he thought he didn't deserve to die the way he did.
- Big Good: Theoretically; Mark and others have considered him evil in the past and his actions can be taken as such — at the very least, he makes a number of very dubious choices.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: He has a tendency to make deals with superhumans deemed as incredibly dangerous or immoral because of their expertise that could provide great assistance and aid to his organization and the country. Unfortunately, this behavior has led him to resurrect Conquest to find more information on the Viltrumites and hide the fact he knew Omni-Man was not loyal to Earth before his infamous betrayal because he wanted to use his services. This was a behavior he inherited from his former boss, whom at first Cecil also disagreed with but later came around to his way of thinking. Both the Immortal and Monster Girl seemingly adopt this policy as well after they are put in charge.
- Cardboard Prison: Cecil genuinely thought that a prison that is four hundred tons is strong enough to keep Conquest locked up until the latter is healed and ready for interrogation to extract information from the Viltrumite Empire. Unfortunately, things have Gone Horribly Wrong for Cecil when Conquest instead regains the strength necessary to immediately break out of the Cardboard Prison.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Has his head crushed by Robot/Rex during his takeover.
- Deal with the Devil: He says it word for word during his conversation with Donald. Cecil is willing to defend the Earth at all cost even if it means having Omni-Man to become its superhero while not being aware of the latter's motives to conquer the planet for the Viltrumite Empire.
- Et Tu, Brute?: He trusted Robot to become the leader of the Guardians of the Globe. Later on, Robot eventually betrays him by killing him in a Cruel and Unusual Death. Robot betrays Cecil before the latter could fully process Robot's desire to turn Earth into a utopia.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Downplayed. Although not evil, Cecil is not able to fully understand as to why Mark hates him for employing D.A. Sinclair and Darkwing as workers of the Global Defense Agency. Although Cecil's reasoning for employing them is to use their skills to benefit the Earth, it also prevents them from facing proper punishments which Mark calls him on.
- Expy: For the first third of the comic he seems like he's Nick Fury if he just barely managed to keep his eye. However, by the time of #50 its pretty clear he's actually a lot more similar to Amanda Waller.
- The Greatest Story Never Told: Cecil had defended Earth from many dangerous threats and had employed former villains to work under him to benefit Earth. Once he actually dies, no one really knows of the heroic actions that he had taken to defend the Earth because of his status of being The Spook.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Back when he was just an agent, he was horrifically injured and lost several of his men to a supervillain duo. Years later, he learnt that rather than being in custody the Global Defense Agency had given them freedom in exchange for their services. He so strongly disagreed with this that he murdered the villains and went to prison. When he was released and rejoined the Agency he ended up becoming the director and employed the very same methods, letting terrible people go unpunished in exchange for their services, which inevitably led to a breakdown in his relationship with Invincible.
- Lonely Funeral: Unlike Black Samson and other super heroes's funerals which were attended by many people, nobody except Mark and Eve was present during Cecil's burial...
- Moral Myopia: Cecil tells Mark that he and Darkwing are the same because they have killed people in the past. However, Cecil's moral high ground crumbles under the circumstances that Mark had killed Angstrom Levy to defend his family while Darkwing had killed people in Disproportionate Retribution for breaking the law.
- My Greatest Failure:
- As Omni-Man's handler, he views not knowing about his true intentions to be this and devotes a lot of time, money, and effort to ensuring Deborah and Mark will be financially stable and guiding Mark so he won't end up like his father. He's one of the Grayson family's most supportive allies... at first.
- His origin story reveals an even bigger one in his early history. He lead seventeen of his men into a trap laid by a supervillain duo and was the Sole Survivor but was so badly injured that he had to have artificial skin grafted to his entire body. The only piece of skin that was salvageable was a horrid twisted mess near his mouth which he deliberately kept as a reminder of his mistake.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Downplayed. Cecil gives D.A. Sinclair an option to work for him and the Global Defense Agency to create powerful Reanimen robots to protect the Earth. If the offer is refused, then Cecil will expose D.A. Sinclair's crimes to the public.
- Slashed Throat: How he meets his end in the hands of Robot. Before getting betrayed, Invincible warns Cecil of Robot's true intention to conquer the Earth and then turn it into his own version of a utopia. Not letting Cecil have the chance to process, Robot swiftly pulls out a knife out of his robotic hand and immediately slashes Cecil on the throat. With Cecil bleeding to death, Robot ends his life by stomping on his head.
- The Spook: As far as the law is concerned he doesn't exist. He claims that he's so high up the chain of command that he doesn't even have a rank and that most of America's governmental officials don't know he's real. Deconstructed. Due to the fact the very few individuals know of his existence, very few people attend his funeral when he actually dies.
- Voice with an Internet Connection: When Mark is working for him, more or less.
- You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: Invoked. He has D.A. Sinclair and Darkwing work for the Global Defense Agency so he can use their skills to better benefit the Earth. Although it stops them from facing proper punishments for their crimes, Cecil is able to put their skills to good use rather than just let it rot in prison.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He prefers to work with heroes and do things aboveboard, when he can. Unfortunately, once he's past the Godzilla Threshold, he stops being picky. At all. He even commits some incredibly unethical and reckless choices like reanimating Conquest to gain answers from him and constantly lying to his subordinates, which begs the question if his intentions justify anything he does.
Donald Ferguson
Donald Ferguson
Cecil's right hand man.
- Number Two: He is this to Cecil, and Cecil absolutely trusts him in return.
- One Degree of Separation: The Brit comics establish that his son attends the same high school as Invincible.
- Robotic Reveal: On a mission to Egypt to stop a Omni-Man level threat, his human body was destroyed while on a mission and replaced with a robotic one. Only 98% of his body is machine.Rex Splode: Donald!! You're a robot?!
Donald: Pretty much. - Tomato in the Mirror: His reveal as a cyborg was as much a surprise for readers as it was for him. It took him years to recover his emotions and reconcile with his ex-wife and son.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: While originally human, he questions if he still has any humanity left.Donald: I didn't have access to my emotions for some time and my memories were doctored so I didn't remember my death. I didn't even know I was an android for years. I lost my wife over it.
D.A. Sinclair
D.A. Sinclair
Originally an enemy of Invincible and creator of the Reanimen. Cecil invites him to join the GDA to continue his work under better conditions.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: After creating zombie cyborgs underneath his university, he is enlisted by Cecil to create the cyborgs for the GDA. Though initially forced to do by Cecil, he accepts as it provides funding for his projects.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: After he's captured, he stops his villainous activities and only works in the confines of the law or what Cecil will allow him. And some of his edges become softened as the story continues and he finds a woman who loves him. He'll also go out of his way to help the heroes sometimes, though it's usually out of self-preservation instincts. However, whether or not he regrets his past actions is never fully explored and it remains unclear just how much he's truly changed or reformed on the inside, despite becoming a more lawful Mad Scientist on the outside. During Robot's takeover, Sinclair works against him on moral grounds, noting that it's something he's had trouble with in the past.
- Karma Houdini: A rather blatantly enforced one. Due to his expertise, he gets a new job working with superheroes and GDA, a new place to work where he can explore all of his ideas, and eventually a new girlfriend to boot. All of this despite being a serial killer and murderer who kidnapped, mutilated, and killed dozens of his fellow students and random homeless people to turn into Reanimen for his experiments.
- Mad Scientist: He was willing to work on hobos and runaways for research. He would cut their vocal cords to stop them from screaming.
- Our Zombies Are Different: His Reanimen are robotic zombie super soldiers created from still living people. Later Reanimen came from the alternate evil Invincible corpses.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Originally created the Reanimen (robotic zombie super soldiers) as a means of research but later decides help defend Earth from threats.
Civilians
William Clockwell
William Francis Clockwell
Mark's best friend and college roommate. Enjoys having a best friend who is a superhero.
- Berserk Button: He's annoyed by people shortening his name.
- Innocently Insensitive: William's commentary is often very rude without him realizing it until it's too late.
- Put on a Bus: After revealing himself to be in a relationship with Rick, neither are seen except for cameo appearances.
- Secret-Keeper: Originally only him and Eve know Mark is Invincible. He became jealous when he found out Eve learned about it too.
- Straight Gay: Revealed with little fanfare as gay and in a relationship with Rick.
Amber Bennett
Amber Justine Bennett
Mark's girlfriend throughout High School and College.
- Alternate Company Equivalent: She's a blonde civilian love interest to the main hero but their relationship doesn't last and later on, Invincible finds his permanent love interest in a redhead girl. With all those traits, Amber could pretty much be considered the Image equivalent of a Gwen Stacy who doesn't die.
- Demoted to Extra: She appears much less frequently after her and Mark's break-up.
- Horrible Judge of Character: After she and Mark break up, she goes out with Gary for a while. During that time, he gave her a black eye but she insisted that she and Gary can still make it work. Thankfully, she grows out of this over time and finds someone else.
- Mistaken for Junkie: Before she figures out Mark's secret identity, she concludes that Mark's odd behaviour must be because he's selling drugs to help support his mother. When she shares her concerns with William and Eve they burst out laughing.
- Romantic False Lead: She is presented as Mark's main love interest for about the first third of the comic's original run. A lot of focus is put on their relationship, their struggles and how they make it work but ultimately Mark ends up with Eve.
- Satellite Love Interest: She is one to Mark initially.
- Secret-Keeper: It takes her awhile but she eventually becomes this to Mark.
- Stockholm Syndrome: Gary, Amber's boyfriend after Mark, leaves her with a black eye, but she insists to Mark that it was a "one-time thing" and she wants to give Gary another chance. Though that’s Mark threatens Gary with violence as Invincible to keep his hands off Amber, he respects her wishes and leaves the couple alone afterward. Many years and issues later, Mark checks in and seems pleased to find Amber dating someone else, evidently having left Gary of her own accord.
B.N. Winslow
B.N. Winslow
Mark and William's principal at Reginald Vel Johnson High School, and later dean at Upstate College.
Arthur "Art" Rosenbaum
Arthur "Art" Rosenbaum
A tailor who makes super hero costumes and family friend of the Graysons.
- Cool Old Guy: Extremely old, makes the coolest superhero costumes.
- Super Costume Clothier: He is a seamster known for having designed the costumes of several superheroes, including Invincible himself. This career path results in him also having to protect his secret identity by posing as a tailor who develops normal clothes.
Rick Sheridan
Rick Sheridan
A former college classmate of Mark and William. Turned into a Reaniman against his will. Partially turned back into a human and later enters a relationship with William.
- And I Must Scream: During the operation to turn him into a Reaniman, DA Sinclair cuts his vocal cords to prevent him from screaming.
- Put on a Bus: After revealing himself to be in a relationship with William, neither are seen except for cameo appearances.
- Shout-Out: Shares his name with the human host of the Marvel Comics character, Sleepwalker who Kirkman would frequently sneak into stories when he wrote for Marvel. Rick even has a reputation for sleeping in for long periods of time.
- Rick’s roommate, Chris Powell, is named after the civilian identity of Darkhawk, another Marvel superhero. Invincible writer Robert Kirkman would later have the two heroes team up in his League of Losers storyline at Marvel.
- Unwilling Roboticisation: He is turned into a Reaniman against his will. He gets better later.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: The process that turned him into a Reaniman is partially reversed (the cybernetic parts are now part of him). He questions that he is less than human until a talk with Donald (he himself a former human in a robot body) convinces him otherwise.
Other Aliens
Battle Beast
Battle Beast (Thokk)
A humanoid lion man named Thokk. He is constantly on the hunt for bigger and more powerful prey.
- Ax-Crazy: He wields a literal battle axe and is murderously insane. It says something when Thragg of all people thinks you're this, the paragon of Viltrumite ideals of combat and purity.
- Somewhat downplayed, though, by the fact that he still looks for a valuable reason to initiate a fight rather than simply attack of his own volition. He also seems to have standard: when he found out that the heroes that attacked Machine-Head weren't as strong as promised he chose to leave, but when going against a dictator he moves to kill regardless of how trivial the fight will be for him.
- A Beast in Name and Nature: Goes by the moniker Battle Beast, is a shameless Blood Knight and has the appearance of a white, lion-like creature. For good measure, while technically on the side of the heroes, Thokk is only working with them to satisfy his own bloodlust.
- Black Sheep: He was the result of a program on his homeworld to produce an ultimate champion to protect his otherwise pacifistic people from an unspecified threat. They don't think highly of what he chose to do after the threat was dealt with.
- Blood Knight: He lives and breaths combat and essentially sees nothing more important to him than finding worthy opponents to fight to the death with. With his only motivation for helping anyone, villain or hero, being that they can promise him a good fight. Interestingly enough, though, he is always shown fight protecting or helping someone (even if it's a villain in the case of Machine-Head).
- Death Seeker: Implied in his search for more dangerous fights. Eventually finds it courtesy of Thragg, with his final words being to thank him for killing him.
- Desecrating the Dead: After Thragg kills him, his hide is skinned and worn by the Grand Regent like a cape.
- Great White Feline: Thokk is an alien with leonine features and white fur. He is also one of the most powerful and dangerous beings in the comic.
- Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Played With. It's rare he's not shown in a very serious light, but when there is comedy involving him it's usually paired with his general indifference to killing and maiming just about anything.
- Honor Before Reason: Him claiming he's seeking a worthy honorable fight isn't just bluster. When he is fighting Thragg, they are gored while dealing with a pair of Rognarr sent to weaken him to help Battle Beast win, so, in response, Thokk takes his blade and gores himself just as badly, refusing to even consider fighting him when not on a even playing field despite him being there to fight him in the first place being less about him getting said fight but killing Thragg.
- In the Blood: His blood knight tendencies are implied to be a blood line curse. Proven true after he is killed by Thragg and his daughter becomes the new Battle Beast.
- Nemean Skinning: Becomes the victim of this after his battle with Thragg, becoming a decorative cape fitting for the leader of the Viltrumites.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Thokk is a tough bastard. His skin is basically impenetrable, even to mere scratches which he mentions off-handedly after intercourse with his girlfriend. He manages to fight it out with Thragg for days and apparently only loses because he tired out and Thragg ripped out his heart from a wound that Thokk himself had self-inflicted.
- Nominal Hero: He only helps the heroes because they're a means to an end for his lust for combat.
- Noodle Incident: He's introduced working on Earth as a two-bit thug for Machine-Head. Cecil can't make heads or tails of how an Earth-based Mob Boss even could have contacted such a heavy hitter in the first place.
- Shout-Out: Likely a reference to the 1980's toyline "Battle Beasts", which were humanoid animal toys in armor and wielding weapons. The connection is furthered by the fact that the flagship character from the line is a white lion.
- Super-Strength: Thokk is one of the strongest characters in the entire story and he shows why in all of his appearances. But no one really understood how strong until he went toe to toe with Thragg and kept up with him, even putting the Viltrumite leader on the defensive multiple times.
- World's Best Warrior: Battle Beast is publically known to be one of the baddest dudes in the universe. He loves to fight strong warriors and never loses. His power and skill were considered to be so reliable and consistent that he was hand picked to be the guy the Coalition trusted to take out Thragg.
Space Racer
Space Racer
An alien vigilante defeated and trapped by Omni-Man years ago. Rode around on a space motorcycle.
- Cool Bike: He rides around in space on a motorcycle.
- Expy: Of Lobo.
- Healing Factor: As long as he is connected with his gun, which he can summon at will, he can survive any wound.
- Ray Gun: His main weapon. Apparently it is so powerful it can fire through anything, including Viltrumites.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: He is not afraid of running away when the fight is not going his way.
- Sealed Good in a Can: Seemingly killed and sealed away by Omni-Man before the series began. Once he is released and summons his gun, he quickly revives.
Universa
Universa
A warrior woman from a dying planet seeking a renewable energy source, nuclear in this case.
- Expy: Of Queen Maxima (from Superman's rogue gallery).
- Glass Cannon: With her staff, she can cause some trouble with her super strength and energy bolts. Without her staff, she goes down easily.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe
- Jerkass: She doesn't care that siphoning energy from a nuclear power plant will cause mass destruction and is willing to kill and maim to get what she wants.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: As she is the leader of her planet, she turns out to be this despite initially fighting and being imprisoned. Invincible compromises with her that instead of draining energy from one entire nuclear plant, she absorbs energy from many plants, thereby preventing any meltdowns from occurring and she still gets what she wants.
- Staff of Authority: Her Staff of Leadership, also her main weapon.
- Stripperiffic: Her royal warrior attire shows off a lot of skin.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: She wants to siphon nuclear energy to save her planet, even though absorbing nuclear energy from a nuclear plant would destabilize it and cause mass destruction. She doesn't really care, though she does happily accept a less destructive alternative when Mark puts it to her.
Reboot? Aliens
Reboot? Aliens
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: While not an enemy, they do appear out of nowhere to give Mark a chance to go back in time and redo his life over.
- Good is Not Nice: They wanted Mark to sacrifice everything, including his daughter Terra, to Set Right What Once Went Wrong. When Mark, against their expectations, rejected their offer and wanted to return, the aliens were so outraged that they sent him five years into the future, leaving him unable to be with Eve and Terra during her early childhood.
- The Needs of the Many: They try to convince Mark to stay in the new timeline, telling him that by changing the past, he'll save countless lives. They hoped that Mark would be selfless enough to agree with them, accept it and move on. They didn't count in the fact that he'd be unable to bear that his life was even worse than in the old timeline and that Terra wouldn't exist in it as Atom Eve never broke up with Rex.
- No Name Given: Their species name is not given.
- Our Time Travel Is Different: The aliens send Mark 5 years back in time through a wormhole. Once he rejects them, they send him 5 years forward.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: The reason they sent Mark back in time was because the sheer amount of death and misery that occured during that time had destabilized the universe. Mark's influence and connections made him their last hope to restore the balance and undo the horrors of the last five years. They also admitted they couldn't force Mark to go through with it and allowed him to choose. Unfortunately for them, Mark refused.
- Starfish Aliens: They speak English mentally, but they have ethereal bluish string-like bodies and seem to not always be physically there.
- What the Hell, Hero?: They give this to Mark after he decides to go back to the future instead of fixing the past. They berate him, saying he could have fixed everything that had gone wrong in his life and by not staying will cause more death and destruction. The aliens are outraged that he'd be willing to let things stay wrong and potentially doom the universe just to ensure Terra wouldn't cease to exist and out of spite, they returned him to his timeline... Five years after they abducted him.Reboot Aliens: It is true that taking our offer would eliminate the existence of your daughter. Knowing that... we only have one question for you. Is there anything we could say to make you reconsider?
Mark: ... No.
Reboot Aliens: Then you have DOOMED this world. YOU ARE A DISGRACE.
Telia
Telia
Allen's girlfriend of unspecified humanoid alien species and sister of Atom Eve's ex-boyfriend, Kubian.
- Bizarre Alien Reproduction: See under Exotic Equipment below.
- Child Hater: Seems to be a trait of her entire species, as she explicitly mentions that her people "have no patience for children" and supported her brother Kubian's intent to have little Terra sent off elsewhere so he and Atom Eve can live together.
- Exotic Equipment: Whenever she is intimate with Allen she wraps tentacles that sprout from her back around his crotch area, which seems to provide her with sexual pleasure.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: She's a fairly attractive looking humanoid alien with blue skin.
- Jerkass: Is a fairly unpleasant person towards Atom Eve and Mark most of the time, and when Mark was missing for five years she supported her brother Kubian's intent to have Terra sent off elsewhere so he can live with Atom Eve.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed as she is usually a very unpleasant person, but it is made clear that she genuinely loves Allen even if she's often being bossy and demanding towards him.
- Tentacle Hair: Again, seemingly a trait for her entire species as her brother has it too.
Kubian
Kubian
Telia's brother, with whom Atom Eve had a brief relationship when Mark went missing for five years.
- Child Hater: Much like his sister (and seemingly the entire species as a whole), he hates children and sought to have Terra sent elsewhere so he can live with Atom Eve.
- Jerkass: Is shown to be incredibly unpleasant and smug, having enough audacity to claim to Eve in front of Mark (who just recently returned from his five-year absence) how he was a much better partner for her than Mark himself. Eve promptly decks him across the jaw for it. While Mark was gone, Kubian also made Eve choose between Terra and himself, which resulted in them breaking up. Although it's shown that he also understands Eve being upset with him and doesn't hold a grudge against her for punching him.
- Tentacle Hair: Much like his sister.
