In the last few decades, the X-Men, particularly Wolverine, have met a number of mutant villains, but only a handful have dealt with them as ruthlessly as the villain we will look at today. The Soviets attempted to build a supersoldier similar to Captain America, but it turned out to be wicked and something that even its designers could not control, culminating in the creation of Omega Red, a dangerous mutant.
Omega Red first appeared in X-Men issue 2 in 1992 and is a relatively new character compared to some of Marvel’s more legendary X-Men enemies. Since 2009, he is been a regular member of the mutant team, making multiple appearances as an incredibly powerful foe. This mutant is not only powerful, but he also has a horrible past that reveals just how vicious Omega Red was. Let us get this party started!
A notorious bloodlust from a young age: disturbing origins explored
Omega Red was originally a man named Arkady Grigorievich Rossovich, who later became known as an infamous Russian mutant. However, what is interesting and quite frankly, terrifying is that even before he developed his mutation, his parents and brother Vassily were terrified of him. He exhibited all signs of being a sociopath with a violent streak as the disfigurement of animals and the disappearance of local beggars became commonplace wherever he went.
These were the first signs of Arkady’s bloodlust. Vassily eventually turned on Arkady and revealed his horrible deeds but that wasn’t enough to put an end to it. We have all watched enough true crime to know what happens when a child kills and tortures animals – they grow up to be violent killers.
After he grew up, he joined the Russian army and was assigned to the GRU Spetsnaz. Despite serving in the armed forces, he continued to commit crimes to satiate his bloodlust, and this time he began to kidnap and murder young children, particularly young girls. His murders flew under the radar for a long time until he was relocated to a Soviet outpost near the Antarctic Circle, where the disappearance and deaths of several children were discovered by other Russian soldiers and he could no longer hide them.
He was sentenced to death by the Red Army after his crimes were discovered, but his dormant mutant abilities saved him, prompting his superiors to recruit him for their super-soldier program however, he did not want anything to do with it.
He managed to escape to Europe before he could be used in the Russian super-soldier program. However, his nature remained the same and he used his newfound powers, his “death factor,” to commit several crimes in Europe as well. Erik Lensher became aware of his crimes and decided to assist Sean Cassidy, a young Interpol agent who went rogue after the Soviet Union coerced Interpol to drop the case on Arkady. Erik wanted Sean to track him down and deal with him once and for all.
Arkady also wanted Sean Cassidy to destroy him before the Russian Army could retrieve him so that he would not have to face consequences at the hands of the Soviets or be forced into the supersoldier program. Despite his initial reluctance, Cassidy was compelled to act when Arkady used his death factor on Cassidy’s partner, Inspector Magritte Devereaux, killing her. After that, Cassidy began firing on the mutant serial killer. However, even though Arkady braved the attack, Cassidy arrested him and handed him over to the officials.
Arkady then ended up in the hands of a “Special Interest Group,” which was of course, the KGB, unbeknownst to the detective who had caught him, who assumed he’d been sentenced to prison. Arkady’s active participation in the Russian super-soldier program began at this point and he had nowhere to run. The outcome of these unethical and excruciating experiments was the enhanced mutant Omega Red.
Comic book characters often have different backstories with variations and changes and Omega Red also has one that is far more sensational than the one I just told you.
Arkady was a Soviet soldier stationed in a modest Siberian town in yet another rendition of Omega Red’s past. He was a serial murderer, and because of the town’s small size and severely restricted range of possible victims, his crimes were easily discovered – so clearly, he wasn’t a very good one and if Ted Bundy was told about this fellow, he would be rolling in his grave.
His fellow soldiers quickly apprehended him and executed him with a gunshot to the back of the head. However, miraculously, Arkady managed to survive the execution that took place at point-blank range. His superiors were astounded by what had transpired and recommended him for the aforementioned Soviet super-soldier project, which is a brutal process.
In fact, it is suggested that Arkady only survived the brutal experimentation because of his violent and disgusting nature. He then joined Soviet intelligence and the KGB as an operative. Omega Red’s arms were then implanted with retractable carbonation tentacles by the Soviet government, and the villain we know was born.
First comic book appearance explored
His first comic book appearance was all the way back in 1992 in X-Men #4. The story begins in a top-secret South Pacific facility where Omega Red’s body was being held in stasis. When the sleeping figure awakens, the men in protective suits who surround him closely monitor his movements, however, all the men die horribly all of a sudden. “Who has brought me back from the dark domain of death?” says the figure, who has white skin and long blond hair. “Why has Omega Red been summoned once again?”
A man then starts speaking to Omega Red from behind a protective window and shows him a photograph of Wolverine. Logan is immediately recognized by Omega Red, sparking anger in his eyes. It is important to note here that Wolverine and Omega Red have history and they have fought each other before Omega Red was imprisoned – he is only just now making his comic book debut, rekindling their rivalry. Turns out that it was The Hand who had freed Omega Red and wanted him to go after Wolverine.
Wolverine and the other X-Men were enjoying their afternoon at the X-Mansion by playing basketball until they were attacked by agents of the Hand and Omega Red. Logan recognized his old foe and called him by his real name, Arkady, before passing out.
However, Omega Red made sure to say that Arkady was dead and all that remained was Omega Red before he knocked out Wolverine. This marked the end of the first issue that Omega Red ever appeared in. However, the story does not end there and the plotline for this particular arc actually spreads across three more issues – #5, #6, and #7 – so sit tight because the story gets even more convoluted.
Wolverine was then taken to a top-secret Berlin facility, where he was made to battle Omega Red for over seventeen hours. Doctor Abraham Cornelius, Matsu’o Tsurayaba, and the Fenris twins kept an eye on the fight to see how long Omega Red could last. Wolverine was finally knocked unconscious by his nemesis’ vicious attacks after being weakened by his battle with Omega Red and, more importantly, his trademark death spores.
Wolverine was then examined by the Fenris twins, Mastsu’o, Omega Red, and Doctor Cornelius. Cornelius attempted several memory reversals in order to locate the Carbonadium Synthesizer, which was the only thing that could keep Omega Red’s powers in check. It turned out that the Fenris twins planned to use Omega Red once his condition had stabilized in hopes of gaining dominance in the Upstarts and obtaining immortality.
Wolverine woke up from the drugs Cornelius had given him, but he was still subdued and was taunted by Omega Red. Maverick was also present and unnoticed by both men, he turned off the lights. When the lights turned back on, Wolverine was able to break free and kill the guards. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to defeat Omega Red in his current state, Wolverine taunted him before fleeing with the help of Maverick, who took him to the German embassy to recover comfortably, in a safe place.
Wolverine was also being tracked by the X-Men Blue Team at the same time. However, Cyclops, Jubilee, and Beast were captured by Omega Red when they showed up at the complex where Wolverine was previously being held captive. The other half of the Blue Team which constituted Rogue, Gambit, and Psylocke went up against the Fenris twins in Berlin. Matsu’o appeared out of nowhere and said prompted Psylocke to attack her teammates which was the result of a posthypnotic suggestion he had managed to place in her mind earlier.
Wolverine awoke due to Psylocke’s behavior, thanks to the psy-link they shared and found a familiar face on one of Maverick’s surveillance computers: Sabretooth. Using the psy-link between Logan and Betsy, Matsu’o and the Fenris twins hired the nasty mutant to track down Logan and retrieve the C-Synthesizer. Psylocke and Sabretooth both tracked down Maverick and Wolverine and apprehended them.
The only way to stabilize Omega Red’s condition was to find the location of the C-Synthesizer, as they were still unable to replicate Wolverine’s healing factor. Because Wolverine was the only one who knew where it was, Matsu’o and Cornelius tortured him once more, forcing him to recall his last mission in Berlin. Despite Cornelius’ apprehensions about continuing the memory extraction because it would destroy Logan, Matsu’o persuaded him to do so.
As a result, Logan began to recall details from the previous mission, which assisted Matsu’o in locating the C-Synthesizer. Cornelius was then ordered to kill Logan by Matsu’o, but Psylocke intervened and disclosed it was all a charade. Wolverine’s near-death experience actually liberated her from Matsu’o’s control, and Sabretooth had been under her command all along. She was just waiting to find out where the C-Synthesizer was.
At the very same time, Maverick got loose from the Hand’s control and joined forces with the mind-controlled Sabretooth to save the X-Men. Psylocke vanquished one of the Fenris twins and held her own against Omega Red until Matsu’o struck her in the back, releasing Sabretooth and causing him to attack Maverick.
Thankfully, Maverick had enough time to free Beast, who was able to take out Sabretooth and free the other X-Men, who easily beat Creed. Wolverine eventually broke free and attacked Omega Red, enraged by everything that had happened to him. The Fenris twins were prevented with the help of the X-Men, but Omega Red, Sabretooth, and Matsu’o managed to flee.
After Matsu’o discovered that Logan had hidden the C-Synthesizer in Janice’s coffin, the Hand and Matsu’o went to a cemetery in Berlin to retrieve it. However, Wolverine was hidden in there when Matsu’o opened it, and he severed Matsu’o’s left hand. Logan was confronted by Cornelius after defeating Matsu’o’s army, who was then shot in the head by Maverick, while Matsu’o managed to flee. Maverick was then given the C-Synthesizer by Logan.
Omega Red later battled the Soul Skinner in Siberia and fell under his mental control. He was then used by the Soul Skinner to fight Wolverine and the X-Men. Omega Red kidnapped Wolverine and Jubilee, but they managed to flee after the Soul Skinner was killed. This marked the end of Omega Red’s first comic book story arc.
Omega Red in X-Men: the animated series
He featured in an interesting story arc called Red Dawn. As the name suggests, it is red dawn indeed with Omega Red brought back from him cryogenic stasis by soldiers so that he can restore the Soviet Union to its old glory. We watch as the Weapon X program is activated in the Kumudski Valley and when raised to its full power, Omega Red emerges with glowing red eyes and snake-like tentacles, poised to take over the world.
Russian Generals hope that this villain would help them untie all the Soviet countries once again and bring them under one rule, forming the Soviet Union once again. However, the Russian Generals were unable to control him once and it is no different this time around as the power goes to his head and he decides that he will restore the Soviet Union but under his Iron Hand.
In the meanwhile. Colossus, a mutant living in one of the recently freed countries of the erstwhile Soviet Union runs into a mutant called Jubilee and explains to her that he is seeking the X-Men’s immediate help because his family has been forced out of their farm by Omega Red’s soldiers and he fears that their newly gained freedom would be forcibly taken away by the villainous mutant, Omega Red.
Upon hearing this, Jubilee immediately departs with Colossus, leaving a note for the remaining members of the team who are not present at the mansion. When Jubilee and Colossus arrive in Russia, they discover that the country’s capital is in ruins, and Colossus fears for his family’s safety.
All the Russian and newly freed leaders all over the newly formed countries were being threatened by Omega Red to concede and step down from power and when they resisted, he would drain their life force – such was his cruel nature. Piotr’s family’s farm was in ruins when they reached the location, but Colossus and Jubilee noticed that his sister, Illyana Rasputina, was still there, hiding from the soldiers, and took her to safety.
In the meantime, Wolverine had returned to the X-Mansion and after seeing Jubilee’s note, he instantly departed for Russia, having identified Omega Red as an old enemy that he had faced off against before.
Omega Red then captures Illyana and threatens to kill her as Jubilee, Colossus, and Illyana attempt to free the Rasputins. Wolverine, on the other hand, arrives and fights Omega Red, who identifies the mutant right away. However, in this round of battle, Wolverine is bested by the red-eyed mutant and Colossus comes to his rescue. The group then fights Omega Red until they can flee safely, and Wolverine tells the others about his previous encounters with the Russians and how he had been a part of a failed Super-Soldier Program that the Russians attempted during the Cold War.
They quickly get back up because Rogue, Storm, and Gambit arrive as a result of finding and reading the note that Jubilee had left behind and Colossus gathers a small army to attack the Soviet soldiers and Omega Red. The former Soviet army, on the other hand, sends tanks to the team’s location and begins firing on them. Darkstar, who had by then switched allegiance because she saw that Omega Red would only bring death and destruction to the people, decided to assist the heroes in rescuing the civilians present.
As fighting broke out once again, Omega Red effortlessly defeats Rogue when she tries to fight him. However, one of them has an ingenious idea when Storm activates her weather summoning powers. Darkstar tells Storm that she should summon a deep cold to place Omega Redback into stasis because the cold was the only thing that had been able to hold him captive for so long. They get to work and put the plan into action and finally, Omega Red is beaten as a result of this strategy, bringing an end to his tyrannical rule.
This episode shows exactly how vile and evil Omega Red actually was – a powerful mutant villain with an insatiable thirst for blood. It also shows that often, physical force was not enough to beat him and he was more than a match for powerful villains like Wolverine, making him a force to be reckoned with.
What makes him so powerful?
Omega Red is a genetically improved mutant, which means he possesses basic abilities that have been enhanced through gruesome experiments. Interestingly, the concepts of the cycle of life and death are at the heart of his early abilities. Omega Red’s body can emit lethal pheromones also known as death spores. Anyone in his vicinity becomes weak or ends up dead as a result of these spores.
The magnitude of the effect is determined by the victims’ stamina, health, and closeness. Normal humans can be killed or rendered unconscious in seconds, whereas a being with extremely rapid healing abilities and physical stamina can withstand exposure for minutes or hours. Arkady’s spores have the potential to blanket the entire planet if he can get to a high enough orbital altitude first.
His body has progressed since then, giving him enhanced abilities such as resilience and sensory perception. The tentacles transplanted in him are used to target his enemies, but they also mean that in order to stay alive, he must continuously drain the life force of others.
As a result, Omega Red has the ability or quite frankly, the need to deplete the life force of other humans in order to maintain his own. He accomplishes this by entangling his victims in his tentacles and using them as a channel for his death factor. He, like many other mutants, possesses a superhuman healing factor that has enabled him to overcome nearly impossible odds. He also has superhuman strength, agility, reflexes, stamina, and durability that add to his unique superpowers.
Omega Red is also a skilled hand-to-hand fighter and military strategist, having defeated Iron Man, Cable, and Wolverine. Both the Soviet government and various organizations in the Japanese underworld trained him in different forms of armed and unarmed combat. He is an incredibly intelligent man who has quickly advanced in the administration of criminal organizations.
Very few villains have come as close to killing Wolverine as Omega Red has. His menacingly striking appearance paired with insane powers and combat skills make him one of the most iconic X-Men villains in the recent past. He definitely deserves far more recognition than he currently gets. Do you think Omega Red can one day take down Wolverine? Let us know in the comments section below!