For a long time, the Marvel universe has been replete with villains that despise the X-Men and have been wishing for their demise. The most formidable of these antagonists are the Sentinels, androids designed with the sole purpose of exterminating the mutant race. Nimrod, a time-traveling Sentinel formed in the future, was one of these Sentinels.
This advanced entity was initially presented as a villain in the Uncanny X-Men comics, created by Chris Claremont. Since then, he’s been traveling through time and making it his life’s purpose to destroy every mutant who crosses his way. Let us delve into his past and follow his mishaps as he chases mutants across time!
Exploring the dark origins of Nimrod
Originally, Sentinels were beings created by Dr.Bolivar Trask, who believed that the increasing number of mutants was a threat to humanity. He created Sentinels and programmed them to eliminate the mutant race on Earth. During the ‘Days of Future Past timeline, Sentinels dominated Earth-818 and overtook the entire place to look for mutants and hunt them down.
All the mutants in this reality, X-Men, and even superheroes such as the Avengers were eradicated, and only the Sentinels held supreme authority in this future timeline. On Earth-818, ‘Project Nimrod’ was an experiment to create an advanced Sentinel with powers beyond one’s imagination. Once the project was completed and Nimrod was activated, he had his first encounter with Rachel Summers.
Summers was on a mission with a fellow mutant, Kate Pryde, and they were sent to sabotage ‘Project Nimrod.’ However, as soon as they traveled to the future, they ended up face to face with the powerful Sentinel. While Rachel Summers traveled back to her present, Nimrod got his hands on Kate Pryde and killed her. He then decided to go after Rachel Summers and kill her, but it took Nimrod a while to figure out how to travel to timelines in the past.
In a different timeline on Earth-616, Dr. Alia Gregor brought Nimrod to life in her attempt to revive her husband. When Erasmus Mendel lost his life during an X-men attack, his wife tried to find a way to resurrect him. Finally, Alia extracted her husband’s consciousness and placed it in Nimrod’s mechanical body. Erasmus’s consciousness started working in the Sentinel’s body, and they soon got wind of the mutant ‘Mystique’ who was lurking on their space station called ‘Orchis Forge.’ Mystique intended to blow the place up with a bomb and destroy all the ongoing projects at the Orchis Forge.
However, Nimrod used his powers to get rid of the bomb and save the place from getting destroyed. In doing so, Nimro.d had to get rid of Erasmus’s consciousness from his body. Now that he had total control over his being, Nimrod hunted Mystique down and banished her to Krakoa. He boasted about being the greatest mutant hunter in the world and vowed to eliminate the entire mutant race.
Nimrod in X-Men: The Animated Series explored
Nimrod’s character was written into a few episodes of ‘X Men: The Animated Series.’ The show followed the original comics’ storyline, where Nimrod is a Sentinel from the future. Nimrod first appeared in the episode titled ‘Days of Future Past,’ where he fought against Wolverine. He then followed Bishop, who was responsible for creating Nimrod in the first place. While following Bishop, Nimrod fought many X-Men, and he was finally defeated by the mutant ‘Storm.’
He also appears in both parts of the episode ‘One Man’s Worth,’ where he works for the supervillain, Master Mold. Acting upon the orders of Master Mold, Nimrod agrees to help Trever Fitzroy and Batman to kill Charles Xavier. Nimrod once again comes across Bishop, Storm, and an alternate version of Wolverine. He fails to defeat them yet again, and Master Mold later hands him the task of killing four time-traveling mutants. Nimrod travels across time to get rid of these mutants, and manages to destroy Shard and Forge. He then returns to the year 1959 to kill Charles Xavier and gets close to him by disguising himself as a friend.
Nimrod also had a cameo in the finale of the ‘X-Men: Evolution’ animated series. In this shot, we get a glimpse into the future where Nimrod is now leading an entire army of Sentinels.
In the ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ storyline, new creatures called ‘Sentinel Hounds’ were introduced. These creatures were inspired by Nimrod, and they were created by Bolivar Trask when he tried to experiment with mutant healing abilities to create a new species of fighters.
Mark-X Sentinels in X-Men Days of Future Past were basically inspired by Nimrod
Mark-X Sentinels were created by Bolivar Trask in the ‘Days of Future Past’ timeline. These Sentinels had many powers, such as the ability to replicate other mutants’ powers. They had supernatural strength and durability and the ability to adapt to an unfamiliar environment. All these abilities possessed by these Sentinels were some variation of Nimrod’s abilities, and it is safe to say that Nimrod basically inspired the Mark-X Sentinels.
Moreover, these Sentinels can produce their own energy beams that are powerful enough to burn or melt through any surface. They even possess super speed and agility and can move as fast as a moving car. In addition to this, the Mark-X sentinels could also fly, shapeshift, and detect the presence of other mutants, among other things. They can transform their limbs such as hands, into claws or blades to attack their opponents. Though these Sentinels’ powers were not on the same level as Nimrod, there are many similarities in their skill sets and abilities.
Some of the most dangerous things done by Nimrod
Nimrod has done many dangerous things in his lifetime and unleashed a lot of chaos in different timelines all over the world. Right from the first time he traveled from the future to the present, Nimrod wreaked havoc and created a lot of confusion for everyone. Since he had an advanced bodysuit, he claimed to be a hero of the people when in reality, he was an advanced Sentinel who killed many mutants.
When he first traveled from the future, Nimrod accidentally landed in an alternate timeline where the mutant ‘Forge’ had settled down with ‘Storm.’ They even had a daughter, ‘ Orora Munroe,’ and a son and they lived peacefully in this alternate world. Since Nimrod needed to get back to the correct place, he devised a plan to get Forge to build the machine. The Sentinel killed Storm and kidnapped Orora, which left Forge with no other option but to create a time machine to prevent his wife’s death.
A few years before the M-Day crisis, Nimrod had stolen the head of ‘Bastion’ from S.H.I.E.L.D. Master Mold had created Bastion by absorbing Nimrod’s prototype into his own system, thereby creating an indestructible mutant. Now that Nimrod had stolen Bastion’s head, he attached the head to his own body, giving Bastion a new life. Bastion had control over his body for a while until Nimrod started asserting more and more power. Around the ‘Second Coming’ arc, Nimrod regained total control over his body, and he fought with Hope Summers, Rogue, and Nightcrawler. Nimrod was responsible for killing the powerful mutant ‘Nightcrawler,’ by passing his arm through his body.
Eventually, Nimrod [as Bastion] released an entire army of Nimrods from a different future. These Nimrods were handed the task of getting rid of all X-Men. After a lot of trouble, the mutants Cable and Cypher managed to control these Nimrods by getting rid of their ‘Master Mold.’ However, as long as there is a single Nimrod, an infinite number of Nimrods can be created in the universe. These Nimrods have taken over various universes and timelines and pose a significant threat to the mutant race.
Nimrod was also responsible for getting rid of the last of the mutants in an alternate future. These Sentinels were created in the future, whose sole mission was to destroy the remaining mutants. After completing their tasks, Nimrods traveled to the present in the ‘Days of Future Past storyline.
What makes Nimrod so powerful?
As a Sentinel, Nimrod has many advanced robotic powers that have been ingrained into his bodily systems. His body has been constructed with the help of materials and armor that is highly durable and cannot be easily damaged. Even when he suffers any damage during a fight, Nimrod’s body can self-repair without difficulty. Moreover, Nimrod can change his appearance from a robot to a human, which helps him stay undetected in the world.
He has total control over his internal systems and can rearrange them to make optimal use of his bodily functions. He has in-built weapons that give him the ability to conjure force fields around him, project energy blasts and even control magnetic energy to levitate metals such as iron and steel. Along with these abilities, Nimrod can also replicate the function of any firearm or weapon and change his molecular structure to copy its powers.
He can travel without much difficulty and has the ability to teleport as well as fly. Nimrod even has sensors that help him detect the powers of any mutants or supernatural beings around him.
Conclusion
To sum it up, Nimrod is an advanced Sentinel from the future with powers beyond one’s imagination. He has an array of weapons and abilities and does not exhibit any weaknesses, making him an undefeatable opponent. He is powerful enough to destroy the strongest of mutants and emerge victorious without any trouble, and it is advisable to stay out of his way!