Juggernaut (comics)

Juggernaut (Cain Marko) is a Marvel Comics character, associated with the X-Men franchise. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared X-Men #12 (July 1965).

Marko was originally X-Men founder Charles Xavier’s bullying younger step-brother. Granted almost unsurpassed superhuman strength and invulnerability by the mystical Gem of Cyttorak, Juggernaut embarked on a lengthy criminal career, often tangling with his step-brother’s superhero team.

In 2000s issues of X-Men comic books, Juggernaut underwent a crisis of conscience and joined the team. He is currently a member of the European offshoot Excalibur.

A popular character, Juggernaut has fought the X-Men in several animated series and video games. Vinnie Jones played the character in the 2006 film The Last Stand in which he is a mutant member of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants.

Character history

Origin

Cain Marko is the stepbrother of Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men. His father, Kurt Marko married Charles' mother, Sharon, after her husband Brian Xavier died. Kurt neglected Cain and drove Sharon to alcoholism. Anti-social and malicious in general, Cain held a special contempt for his stepbrother Charles Xavier who due to a hidden mutant power of telepathy excelled at all endeavors and cast Cain completely in shadow. One day Cain was further humiliated as Xavier probed his mind and learned of Cain's insecurities toward him and of Kurt Marko's physical abuse. The revelation to Cain that Xavier used a superhuman advantage to surpass him all this time was a major factor in Cain's hatred towards his brother.

Cain was sent to a military boarding school, due to his lack of discipline, and later served in the army. While serving together in the Korean War, Cain and Charles stumbled onto the ancient temple of Cyttorak, lost for centuries. On an altar, Cain saw a huge red gem, the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, and immediately grabbed it. Upon the gem was an inscription, and he spoke it aloud: "Whosoever touches this gem shall be granted the power of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak! Henceforth, you who read these words, shall become ... forevermore ... a human juggernaut!"

The cavern collapsed. Charles was able to escape, but it took Cain years to dig himself out as he underwent the transformation. Cain seethed with rage at his stepbrother and, after finally emerging from the mountains he was buried under, set out to hurt Charles as much as possible.

Criminal Life

Juggernaut first appeared on-panel in Uncanny X-Men #12, although his presence was sensed by Professor X in the previous issue. He has since fought various heroes of the Marvel Universe, primarily the X-Men but also including Spider-Man, the Avengers, Deadpool, and the Incredible Hulk.

Despite his great power and the danger he poses to the X-Men, he has used these abilities not to be a supervillain, but more of a petty thug and career criminal. Unlike Magneto, Mr. Sinister, or Apocalypse, who are devoted to an ideology, Juggernaut's primary motivation is largely greed. During his criminal career the Juggernaut amassed notable wealth and thoroughly enjoyed his work. Often accompanying him was the mutant mercenary known as Black Tom Cassidy, who was his only friend, and with whom he once tried to share his power. Tom did not like the physical effects of the power on his body, however, so it was eventually returned to Cain. As the power is mysteriously divided and diminished when possessed by more than one host, Cain hurled the gem into space to prevent anyone from invoking the power for themselves and weakening him again.

Then, he underwent a brief revision of his powers and origin, and was seen on the run from the psychic entity called Onslaught. Onslaught physically struck the Juggernaut from Canada all the way to New Jersey in the beginning of the Onslaught crossover with a blow that strangely knocked the Juggernaut unconscious. The lapse in portrayal would continue as Onslaught would later imprison the Juggernaut in the Cyttorak dimension by reaching into Cain Marko's chest and pulling out the ruby of Cyttorak, leaving Cain Marko powerless. As the ruby had never physically resided in Cain's body nor does he require physical contact with it to retain his power, this act contradicted all previous depictions of the Juggernaut and the ruby. How or whether this storyline can be reconciled with the rest of the Juggernaut's appearances is unknown. The Juggernaut continued his criminal activities and various adventures, such as becoming the celebrated patron of Sirocco Sprawl, New Mexico.

Later, the Juggernaut was revealed to be a part of 7 others known as The Exemplars, who, like Cain, are living manifestations of the power of various mystical entities. The 8 were entranced and supposed to battle each other to determine which entity was supreme. This battle would result in the destruction of the Earth but was prevented due to the Juggernaut breaking out of the trance with help from Professor Xavier. The Juggernaut then began taking down his fellow Exemplars early, which thwarted the intended plan. For this, the Exemplars later united against the Juggernaut and kidnapped him. The Juggernaut was rescued by the Avengers, who after being defeated by the Exemplars managed to convince them that they were not in their right minds. Released from their trance the Exemplars left peacefully.

As a return for the favor of saving his life, the Juggernaut agreed to go to prison willingly. There the villain was abducted by the sentient Celestial ship, Prosh, and enlisted into a mission to help save man and mutantkind. Once the mission was over, Cain returned to prison where he devised a plan. He would pretend to reform in order to work for the government to gain inside connections to further his criminal activities. To this end, he asked the Commission on Superhuman Activity if he could be their bounty hunter. The CSA was suspicious of the notorious Juggernaut's request but agreed anyway. After presumably gaining all the connections he wanted, the Juggernaut dropped the reform facade and revealed his criminal intentions.

Exiled

During the Onslaught saga a dimensional rift transported Juggernaut into the Ultraverse, along with fellow X-Men villains Siena Blaze and Reaper. There the three joined the Exiles, with the Juggernaut effectively becoming the team's new leader through intimidation. He developed a romantic relationship with pyrokinetic beauty Amber Hunt but unsurprisingly she proved to be the only member the loner Juggernaut truly cared for. The Juggernaut's time in the Ultraverse came to an end as the result of a botched business transaction between fellow villain and Exile, Reaper, and the mysterious alien beings called Tradesmen. In response to one of the Tradesmen being killed as he negotiated with Reaper, a collection of Tradesmen tracked down the Exiles and demanded exact compensation:the termination of an Exile. Reaper agreed to the terms but stepped out of the way of the killing blast so that it would strike the Juggernaut instead. This did not kill Cain, however, because Reaper used his energy scythe at the exact moment of contact to combine with the blast, causing Juggernaut to be sent back to the Marvel Universe.

Redemption

As the result of an undisclosed battle with Cyttorak, his patron deity, Cain lost most of the power of the Juggernaut. Thereafter, Cain reconciled with Xavier and joined the X-Men. In an unusual turn for someone of Cain's personality he immediately befriended several people at the mansion including a young mutant boy named Sammy Pare, a.k.a. Squidboy, who had a positive influence on him. Cain later allowed himself to be taken into custody and then had a one-night stand with She-Hulk, who as Jennifer Walters was representing him in his trial for all the crimes he had committed as a criminal. Amazingly, Cain was exonerated of all his crimes and allowed to go free despite having numerous outstanding felonies both at home and abroad. He and Xavier also finally reconciled around this time as well.

Later, Black Tom Cassidy resurfaced and Juggernaut joined his new Brotherhood of Mutants, with the intention of betraying the group and warning the X-Men when he had the chance. Sammy stumbled upon the Brotherhood having a meeting, and thinking that Juggernaut had betrayed the X-Men he became angry and started yelling. Annoyed, Black Tom killed the boy. Enraged, Juggernaut tried to kill his former friend. When the Brotherhood were sucked into a black hole by the second Xorn, Juggernaut accompanied them to make sure Nocturne (another mole) would be safe if everyone survived and to make sure the Brotherhood didn't try to attack the mansion again.

He ended up in Mojoworld and became the property of Mojo along with Nocturne. To escape, Nocturne took control of Mojo's henchman, Spiral, and opened a portal to the X-Men's Danger Room, where they were reunited with the team. This, however, was a trap set by Spiral, who was in more control of her body than thought, leaving a portal open to allow Mojo to cross over as well. Mojo turned the X-Men into X-Babies, but they managed to overpower his forces anyway. Juggernaut still felt extremely guilty about Sammy's death, and how the boy's last words were that he hated him. He wondered if he should remain a child, this being his chance to start over with a clean slate, but Storm comforted him and convinced him not to. The X-Men were re-aged, and Juggernaut remained with the team.

In the wake of House of M, in which the majority of the mutant population was depowered, Juggernaut has joined the new Excalibur grouping in London. In a recent conflict, Juggernaut came face to face with a depowered and angry Black Tom Cassidy holding a young girl hostage. Flexing his negotiating muscle, Juggernaut talked Cassidy down, making him feel remorse for killing Juggernaut's friend Samuel Pare and turning himself in.

Powers and abilities

Because of his association with the X-Men, Juggernaut is often mistakenly labeled a mutant. Juggernaut traditionally possessed huge power, of mystical origin. He had tremendous physical strength, a total resistance to physical injury due to his mystic spell of invulnerability; an impenetrable force field that he could summon at will (Though this force field was temporarily cancelled out by Thor when he threw his hammer and surrounded the both of them in mystical energies.); and unlimited stamina. His spell also granted him unbreakable skin, therefore making his forcefield an added protection in case he did not wish for a certain attack to touch his physical body. Due to the mystical energies flowing through his body, he did not need to eat, breathe, or drink fluids. As a vessel of mystic energy, he also possessed many abstract powers that had yet to be fully revealed. Finally, while moving, he could, essentially, not be stopped, except in extreme cases such as when he fought the Hulk (whose power level had been enhanced by Celestial technology at the time), by Thor when he united his godly power with his magical hammer and fired a concentrated beam at Juggernaut, and the psychic being Onslaught. The only known person known to acctually push Juggernaut backwars is the Shi'ar being Gladiator (Shi'ar)

To compensate for his most significant vulnerability — to telepathic assault — he also wore a helmet of a mystical alloy, which prevented his mind from being read or attacked.

With his depowerment at the hands of Cyttorak, however, his power levels decreased in almost every respect. He now needed to breathe, and, while still highly super-strong, possessed only a fraction of the strength he once wielded. He also became mortal and could be killed by relatively minor amounts of punishment. Finally, he was no longer an "unstoppable force", and was stripped of his mystical armour and telepathy-shielding helmet (instead wearing "unstable molecule" replicas that did not replicate the telepathic shield). As of New Excalibur issue #3, however, Juggernaut seems to be back at full strength. He easily powered through the combination of the evil version of Jean Grey's telekinetic onslaught and the evil version of Cyclops' full assault optic blast with no ill effects to himself. Juggernaut also easily withstood an ice barrage from the evil version of Iceman, when it was seen that in Uncanny X-men issues #410-411 that he could not then withstand an assault from Iceman. He still, however, does not possess his mystical armor and remains susceptible to attacks on his mind by powerful telepaths.

Juggernaut's past invulnerability sometimes results in comedic levels of violence and destruction being visited upon him, such as having a building dropped on him (X-Men animated series), and surviving a leap from a passenger jet (Deadpool vol.1 #2).

Alternate Versions

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse, Juggernaut got past his violent urges after the death of Xavier. He simply goes by Cain and has become a priest and a total pacifist. He also now lives in Avalon with his "sister" Destiny. When Avalon is attacked, he refuses to fight, as that violates his pacifistic ideals. However, when Mystique urges him to fight, his violent side begins to resurface. In the end, the conflict between Cain's need for peace and his love for violence is too much, and he dies from a brain anyeurism.

Ultimate Juggernaut

In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, not much is known about Cain Marko. What is known is that he grew up in the same trailerpark as Rogue did and does not seem to be related to Xavier in any way. He refers to himself as trailertrash at some point, but also points out that because he grew up in a trailerpark people often underestimate his intelligence. This had led to a belief that he is actually smarter than his 616 counterpart. Ultimate Juggernaut seems to be a regular mutant with super strength, with no mystical background to his powers.

At some point in his life he was incarcerated by Weapon X and forced to act as a living weapon under the direction of Col. John Wraith. Juggernaut was part of the strike force that took out the X-Men, forcing them into Weapon X as well. When The Brotherhood removed the security implants that were prohibiting the mutants from leaving their cells, Juggernaut fought for his freedom. After the entire ordeal, Cain was offered a place with both Xavier's X-Men and The Brotherhood. Cain chose The Brotherhood, but has apparently left the team for parts unknown. In the Ultimate X-Men 2005 annual, Juggernaut was bonded with a gem stolen by Rogue and Gambit called the Cyttorak Gem. Though its full repercussions are unknown, Juggernaut did describe himself as feeling "better than ever". He also revealed that he had a crush on Rogue, whom he grew up with and shared a cell with while in the Weapon X program.

His trademark helmet was made for him by Weapon X. It is able to track anyone who has ever been in the Weapon X program. It was destroyed by Gambit when he battled Juggernaut in Las Vegas.

Appearances in other media

Juggernaut was the villain in the "A Firestar is Born" episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.
Juggernaut appeared in the X-Men animated series, the Pryde of the X-Men pilot, and the more recent Evolution series, which changed him into Xavier's half-brother and made him a mutant whose powers were awakened by a Cyttorak gem, explained to hold special properties that enhanced and evolved mutants.
Juggernaut has also appeared in various X-Men video game spinoffs. He appeared in the X-Men arcade game, the Mutant Apocalypse Super NES game, X2: Wolverine's Revenge, Mutant Academy 2, X-Men Legends, and Rise of Apocalypse (as a boss in Legends and a playable character in Legends 2). He has also appeared in several of Capcom's Marvel-based fighting games, beginning with Children of the Atom (arcade game); his Capcom rendition is notable for being the largest version of him yet, slightly taller than in the comics, and just about as wide.
William H. Marshall voiced Juggernaut in "A Firestar is Born", Rick Bennett in the X-Men animated series, Paul Dobson in X-Men: Evolution, and John DiMaggio in X-Men Legends.
In 2006, a parody video with an episode of X-Men: The Animated Series dubbed with blaxploitation-like dialogue, entitled "The Juggernaut Bitch!!" became an Internet phenomenon.
Vinnie Jones played Juggernaut in X-Men: The Last Stand. He is a trusted lieutenant of Magneto. He faces off against Wolverine in Jean's old neighborhood and he is sent by Magneto himself to kill Leech and is tricked by Kitty Pryde into running into a wall and being knocked unconscious (after unknowingly having his powers neutralized by Leech). He is believed to be deceased after The Phoenix disintegrated everything, but it is not known either way. There is no mention of Juggernaut's relationship with Xavier. His helmet, as opposed to the dome with three holes (one for each eye and another for the mouth), instead seems to be a concrete dome which nonetheless leaves his face completely exposed. Pyro states that if allowed to build any momentum he cannot be stopped.

External links

Juggernaut - Marvel Database Project
A complete Juggernaut Bio
Knightmare6.com; Juggernaut FAQ
UncannyXmen.net, Spotlight feature on Juggernaut
I'm the Juggernaut Bitch! (video)-Adult Language

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