Annihilus, sometimes called the Living Death That Walks, is a Marvel Comics supervillain. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Fantastic Four Annual #6 (1968).
| Annihilus | |
|---|---|
 Annihilus Gabriele Dell'Otto, Art | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Fantastic Four Annual #6 (1968) |
| Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego |
|
| Place of origin | Negative Zone |
| Team affiliations | Annihilation Wave (Leader) |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength and endurance, Flight, Invulnerability and Energy blasts derived from the Cosmic Control Rod. |
Character biography
Untold millennia ago, the Tyannans, a technologically-advanced semi-humanoid/leonine species of the anti-matter universe the Negative Zone, seeded barren worlds with life spores. A freak meteor collision hurled one of their ships into the volcanic planet Arthros, where the crew released their spores before starving to death. Many generations later, one of those spores evolved into a weak insectoid creature. Significantly intelligent due to a mutation, the creature found the Tyannan starship wreckage and used a knowledge transference helmet to master the advanced Tyannan technology. This enhanced his intelligence and strength, creating a "Cosmic Control Rod" and body armaments. Obsessed with survival, the paranoid creature, who came to be known as Annihilus, set out to destroy any other living being he viewed as a possible threat to his existence. Annihilus used his newly acquired power to dominate other lifeforms that had arisen from the spores on Arthros, and plotted to either conquer or destroy the neighboring worlds in the Negative Zone. He transformed many prisoners via the Tyannans' Gene Transmuter into his servile Scavengers.
Annihilus first encountered the Fantastic Four when Reed, Ben, and Johnny entered the Negative Zone seeking anti-particles needed to treat Sue's cosmic ray-related pregnancy complications. Annihilus' minions captured the heroes, but they escaped, stealing his Control Rod. They returned it after siphoning off the needed anti-particles and returned to Earth. Annihilus next invaded the Microverse, a dimension accessed via the energies of shrinking, sending his Insectivorid drones to conquer worlds in his name. Psycho-Man tried to control the dimensional interface leading to the Microverse, but the Insectovorids, emotionless and immune to his power, overran the entire Sub-Atomica System and forced him to retreat to his worldship. Psycho-Man captured the Silver Surfer and Spider-Man to power his weapons and drive off the invaders, but the heroes escaped, leaving Annihilus and Psycho-Man to battle for control of the worldship. Annihilus' Microverse invasion was presumably repelled.
Shortly thereafter, Doctor Doom stole Annihilus' Rod in a complex scheme to steal Galactus's cosmic power. Almost immediately, Annihilus captured the human Rick Jones, who was often stranded in the Negative Zone through a bond he shared with Kree soldier Captain Mar-Vell. Annihilus released Jones when the Fantastic Four retrieved his Control Rod from Dr. Doom. Later, Annihilus was challenged by Janus the Nega-Man, a research scientist and contemporary of Reed who developed a module capable of harnessing anti-matter energy, within the Negative Zone. Annihilus defeated Janus, forcing the Nega-Man to lead him to Earth, but Janus was instead seemingly killed in the exploding atmosphere where matter meets anti-matter. When Mar-Vell used Reed's technology to free Rick Jones from the Negative Zone, Annihilus nearly crossed over to Earth along with Jones, but was driven back by the Avengers. Jones later returned to the Negative Zone, but his ability to access the Destiny Force--a near-infinite power source inherent in all humanity--protected him from Annihilus. Sensing great power within Franklin Richards, Annihilus once abducted him, amplifying his powers out of control. The Four defeated Annihilus and escaped back to Earth, but Reed was forced to temporarily shut down Franklin's mind to protect Earth's Solar System.
When the Mad Thinker regained control of his "most powerful android," which Annihilus had previously transmuted into one of his Scavenger servants, it stole Annihilus' Control Rod, morphing into monster form. Annihilus was forced to team up with Reed, who had been stranded in the Negative Zone by the Brute (Reed Richards of the High Evolutionary's Counter-Earth), to foil the Mad Thinker's plan to conquer both the Negative Zone and Earth. The monster android was ultimately defeated, and Annihilus regained his Rod. Annihilus next forged the first of many uneasy alliances with Blastaar, another Negative Zone warlord who ruled the planet Baluur. When his monarchy was overthrown, Blastaar offered to serve Annihilus in exchange for assistance in regaining control of Baluur. Although Annihilus viewed Blastaar as emotional and weak, he agreed to Blastaar's proposal, secretly planning to betray his newfound ally.
Annihilus showed Blastaar his new weapon, the Super-Adaptoid — a powerful Advanced Idea Mechanics android which Annihilus "found" and reprogrammed, but when Nyglar, Blastaar's mate, grew suspicious of Annihilus and sent out a distress signal, the Thing and Avengers responded and defeated the villains. Annihilus slew Nyglar, after which Blastaar stole the Control Rod and left Annihilus to weaken and deteriorate rapidly. Dying and desperate, Annihilus slipped through the portal to Earth while the Fantastic Four were in the Negative Zone. Taking Franklin and Alicia Masters hostage, he attempted to merge the Earth universe with the Negative Zone, nearly destroying both in the process. Narrowly surviving the ensuing conflict, Annihilus eventually regained his Control Rod with the unwitting aid of Blastaar.
Annihilus next attacked the dimension of Asgard, home of the Norse Gods, which had partially drifted into the Negative Zone for a time after the Rainbow Bridge was shattered. Annihilus slew several of Asgard's elite guard, the Crimson Hawks, and even defeated the mighty Thor before finally falling in battle to Odin, King of Asgard. Later, when Odin entered a week-long "Odinsleep" to renew his godly energies, Annihilus kidnapped his dormant body and transported it to the Negative Zone. Annihilus was soon located by the god Heimdall and defeated by Thor, who returned Odin to Asgard. Shortly thereafter, the extra-dimensional energy vampire Rune was defeated and cast into the Negative Zone. The weakened Rune attempted to steal the Control Rod, but was defeated by Annihilus and held prisoner within a cosmic singularity until eventually escaping through a portal.
After investigating a strong energy pulse within the Negative Zone, Annihilus and Blastaar were imprisoned alongside the Fantastic Four by the Brute, who had enslaved the Tyannans as his personal army. Annihilus and his fellow captives eventually escaped and defeated the Brute, but Reed helped the Tyannans seal themselves off from the rest of the Negative Zone before a vengeful Annihilus and Blastaar were able to conquer them. Soon after, Annihilus and Blastaar joined forces with fellow Negative Zone warlord Syphonn, who created the Conqueror Wheel to access the Earth universe. During a confrontation with Adam Warlock, Annihilus and Blastaar realized that Syphonn planned to betray them-so they betrayed him first, forcing Syphonn to retreat as his Conqueror Wheel was destroyed by Warlock's allies.
Stranded on the Negative Zone world of Argor by a glitch in Reed's Fold Space Transceptor prototype, the Fantastic Four stowed aboard Annihilus' monstrous spacecraft, but were soon detected and fought a heated battle with Annihilus inside a cargo hold. Seizing the Control Rod, Reed combined its technology with his Fold Space Transceptor and opened an access portal that allowed the Fantastic Four to escape Annihilus' spacecraft. Later, Annihilus faced a major setback when the N-Explorers, a team funded by the Gideon Trust to explore and loot the Negative Zone, stole his Control Rod. While fighting the N-Explorers for possession of his Rod, Annihilus was decapitated and slain by Hellscout, a descendant of 17th-century Puritan setters who had been stranded in the Negative Zone for centuries. Upon Annihilus' death, his body released a pod containing a nymph-like clone possessing his memories. After his new body's maturation, Annihilus awoke from his rebirth, but found the Control Rod missing and his empire in ruins.
When Reed planned a new superhuman prison in the Negative Zone, the Fantastic Four were assaulted by Annihilus, who believed they had stolen his Control Rod. After a brief skirmish, the Fantastic Four subdued him, only to be attacked by a second Annihilus who had apparently also been spawned upon the death of his predecessor. Each believing himself to be the true Annihilus and the other the thief, the two Annihili fought each other, allowing the Fantastic Four to escape.
Annihilation
The conflict between the two, however, seems to have been resolved, as it appears Annihilus is now leading the Annihilation Wave, an enormous fleet of Negative Zone battleships, to conquer the universe, as with the Universe expanding, it's entering areas of the Negative Zone, which makes him consider the Universe now rightfully his territory. His forces have already destroyed the Kyln, an interglactic powerstation and maximum security prison, and the planet Xandar, headquarters of the Nova Corps. He has since gained the aid of Thanos, and two beings there were trapped in the Kyln by Galactus, Tenebrous and Aegis. Tenebrous and Aegis then managed to defeat Galactus and the Silver Surfer, and the two are hooked up into a giant mechanism in Thanos' starship.
He also leads an elite personal guard, The Centurions, 100 super-powered aliens, each from a different Negative Zone world. They are extremely loyal to him and form a devastatingly effective army.
Annihilus and Blink?
In the Blink limited series, Annihilus became involved in a brief romantic relationship with the Age of Apocalypse version of Blink, when he was deposed from power and reverted to a more human-like stage of his being. He eventually mutated back into his customary Annihilus form, but he still retained some memory of Blink, although what effect this has had on him on a long-term basis is not apparent. Annhilus' memories of the Fantastic Four entering the Negative Zone suggest this is not a counterpart, as the Fantastic Four never existed in the Age of Apocalypse, and that there's only one Negative Zone in the Marvel Multiverse.
Powers and abilities
Annihilus is capable of self-propelled flight and can withstand the vacuum of space. He wears 'armor' - actually an insectoid exoskeleton with some armored components - that grants him resistance to most forms of injury (extreme temperatures, ballistic force, bullets, etc.) He is also superhumanly strong; the upward limit of what he can lift is just under 50 tons.
Annihilus wields the Cosmic Control Rod, a weapon of great power. It allows him to manipulate cosmic energy in order to manipulate the molecular structure of matter. The rod is capable of projecting destructive energy of up to 10 megatons of TNT. Continuous exposure to the cosmic energies of the rod has also retarded the aging process of its wielder.
In Annihilation: Nova, Annihilus killed Quasar, and gained his Quantum Bands, adding to Annihilus' power.
Though Annihilus has knowledge of technology centuries beyond what is known on Earth, his intelligence is only above average compared to normal humans; his sole motivation is to conquer and he is not an original thinker. However Annihilus has become a cold, calculating leader and easly able to rally millions to his cause.
Annihilus's victims
- During Annihilation
- the Kyln
- The Nova Corps.
- The Super Skrull
- Quasar.
- 90% of all Skrull Planets
- countless billions of many races.
Alternate versions
Ultimate Annihilus
The Ultimate Fantastic Four encountered an Annihilus-like creature in their first foray into the N-Zone. Translating machines implanted in the Four's space suits dubbed the creature Nihil, though Nihil himself stated this is a caste title and not his proper name. Nihil ruled over a space station composed of the fused remains of several alien space ships. It orbited near a dying red dwarf star for warmth because the whole N-Zone is experiencing entropic decay.
Like Annhilus, Nihil and his caste are from a species that can live over a million years. Not wanting to die before he is supposed to naturally, when Nihil learned that the UFF were from a different dimension he engineered a plan to kill them. Johnny Storm, who for the entire trip had been experiencing discomfort, fell ill and was rushed by Sue back to their ship. Reed Richards and Ben Grimm went along with her but once they returned to tell Nihil of their situation Nihil revealed his intention to steal their ship, named by Johnny as The Awesome, and go to Earth. He exploded his translation devices, thereby rupturing Reed and Ben's space suits and exposing them to the N-Zone's highly acidic atmosphere. Nihil then sent his previously unseen soldiers to kill them but Reed sealed his damaged suit by covering it with his hand and Ben discovered his lungs filter out poisons.
In the ensuing fight, Ben ripped Nihil's right wing off, most of Nihil's soldiers were beaten by the enslaved alien refugees living on the space station, and Ben and Reed escaped to The Awesome. Nihil then launched a ship after the UFF when they were racing back to Earth. Nihil's flagship managed to make it through but both ships crashed on to the Las Vegas Strip.
Another battle started between Nihil and the Fantastic Four. During it, Johnny Storm emerged from The Awesome, discovering that he would periodically enter hibernation so that his powers would regenerate, and then entered the fight. At the climax of the battle, Nihil pinned Reed to the ground and opened his jaws to consume him, but Reed stretched and jammed a plasma emitting rod into Nihil's mouth. Nihil tried to pry the rod out by the trigger and his head was subsequently blown up. Nihil is at this time presumed dead and his body is most likely in government possession. Many of Nihil's soldiers survived and they were presumably captured if not killed. The lasting affect of this battle is that the Fantastic Four's secrecy was blown and the team had to be given a formal introduction to the world.
Appearances in other media
Video games
Annihilus appears in the 2005 Fantastic Four video game as a boss character. He is faced by Mister Fantastic and The Thing in an underground lab mutated by cosmic radiation, which presumably is the explanation for Annihilus' origin within the game. Unlike all other boss characters, Annihilus flies away and disappears before losing all his health.
Quote: "My cosmic powers cannot be defeated!"