The Juggernaut
From Cassius Comics
| Juggernaut | |
| |
| Real Name | Cain Marko |
| Base | Born in Berkley, California; current whereabouts unknown. |
| Stats | 6'10", 900lbs. / Blue eyes, short red hair. |
| Affiliations | Currently Excalibur. Formerly the X-Men, the Brotherhood of Mutants, the Exemplars (unwilling), the New World Order and the eXiles; Black Tom Cassidy's former partner. |
| First Appearance | X-Men #12 (1965) |
| Created By | {{{creators}}} |
Contents |
Origin
Raised by his abusive father Kurt following the death of his mother, Cain Marko grew to become insanely jealous of his step-brother Charles Xavier, whom he saw as the favorite. Although Charles' emerging telepathic powers caused him to experience the same pain that Cain felt, Marko saw this as another reason to hate his step-sibling, twisting it in his mind into a deliberate betrayal on Charles' part. During an argument with his father, Cain accidentally ignited a fire that soon consumed their home; Kurt saved Charles before going back for Cain, cementing the latter boy's hatred. Kurt Marko soon died from the smoke that he had inhaled, his last words being a warning to Charles that he should beware of Cain Marko.
Years later, Cain and Charles were drafted into the United States Army, where they were eventually placed in the same unit. During a mission in South Korea, Marko deserted and Xavier followed, hoping to convince him to return of his own volition. Marko stumbled across an ancient templt to the mystical entity Cyttorak containing a mysterious crimson gem. As Xavier looked on, Marko touched the gem and was transformed into a human juggernaut, as the temple collapsed. Though both men survived, Xavier presumed his step-brother was dead.
Surviving thanks to his newfound powers, Marko gradually dug himself out over the course of several months and returned to America, where he clashed with the X-Men, a team of mutant heroes formed by Xavier, now going by the name Professor X. As the Juggernaut, and often accompanied by his parter in crime Black Tom Cassidy, Marko did battle with the X-Men countless times over the next few years.
Marko's cycle of crime took an unexpected twist when he was teleported to an alternate universe where he helped to form a team of heroes called the eXiles. Marko began to kindle a romance with his teammate Amber Hunt, but that was cut short when he was returned to his home dimension. Finding himself in the northern wilds of Canada, Marko was attacked by Onslaught, who struck Marko so hard that he landed in downtown Manhattan. Marko was taken to Xavier's mansion to recover, completely unaware that Onslaught was in fact Xavier himself. Onslaught soon attacked and defeated Marko once again, trapping him in a plane of existence within the Ruby of Cyttorak. Marko was eventually freed by Gomurr the Ancient, who fed him enough power to defeat a false Cyttorak within the gem. Gomurr warned Marko that he was fated to destroy everything in his path, but Marko chose to ignore him, returning to a life of crime.
Marko later fell victim to a trap baited with the rumor of a second Ruby of Cyttorak. With help from the X-Men and Black Tom, Marko defeated the cult that had captured him and absorbed the power of the second gem, only to be possessed by an evil spirit that manipulated him into breaking through the barriers between dimension. The spirit used Marko to attack an extradimensional race that it had declared its enmity for, but members of that race managed to exorcise the spirit, returning Marko to normal.
Marko later learned that he had not become the Juggernaut by accident, but had been chosed and compelled to enter the temple by Cyttorak himself, making him one of eight avatars on Earth corresponding to specific mystical gods. The seven other avatars, known as the Exemplars summoned Marko to help create a machine that would subjugate humanity's free will, allowing the octet to divvy up the world's population into armies, in order to fight to prove which of their gods was the most powerful. Marko rebelled, and with help from the Avengers and several other heroes, the Exemplars were defeated.
Marko was forced to act as a hero again when he and a number of others were gathered by the intelligent space ship Frosh, who brought them through time to prevent the Stranger from manipulating the course of human evolution. Returning to his proper time, Cain was briefly drafted by the Commission on Superhuman Affairs to work as a bounty hunter before quickly returning to his old partnership with Black Tom. Tom's powers began to rage out of control and Cain sought the X-Men's help in curing him. It was at this time that Marko revealed that his powers had greatly diminished, much of it having been stripped away by Cyttorak. During a battle with the maddened Tom, Cain was knocked underwater, where he was saved by a young mutant named Sammy "the Fish-Boy" Pare. Afterwards, Marko accepted an offer to stay with Xavier at his mansion, and soon joined the X-Men as a full member.
When Sammy returned home to his home in Canada, Marko went to visit the boy, violating a restraining order. Discovering that Sammy's father was abusing him, Marko attacked the elder Pare, inadvertently hurting Sammy's mother as well. Seeing the terror on the face of young Sammy, Marko surrendered to Alpha Flight, who had arrived to deal with the situation. While imprisoned in a superhuman detainment center, Marko passed up an opportunity to flee in order to stop the Rhino's own escape attempt. This was enough for Marko's lawyer She-Hulk to build a defense to his charges, and the smitten She-Hulk became Marko's lover. Their affair came to an end when a battle with Cyttorak's new chosen Juggernaut avatar caused extensive property damage, prompting She-Hulk to rethink her feelings for Marko. Marko received a reduced sentence of time served thanks to an emotional plea by Sammy's mother on his behalf, and he was extradited back to the United States.
When Black Tom formed a new Brotherhood of Mutants, Marko and Nocturne infiltrated the group as moles. Sammy Pare somehow stumbled across the group and misinterpreted Marco's presence there. Pare began to berate his former friend, declaring that he hated him; those proved to be his final words, as an annoyed Black Tom killed the boy. Marko angrily tried to kill his former friend, but the entire Brotherhood ended up being sucked into a black hole in Xorn's head. Marko followed to ensure Nocturne's safety, and to keep an eye on the group.
Marko and Nocturne somehow ended up on Mojoworld, where Mojo declared them to be his property. Nocturne engineered their escape by taking over Spiral's body and transporting them to the X-Men's Danger Room, but this proved to be a trap planned by Spiral, who transported Mojo along with them. Mojo transformed the X-Men into X-Babies and attacked, but the infant heroes nonetheless triumphed over the mad media mogul. Still feeling incredible guilt over Sammy's death, Marko considered remaining a baby in order to start his life over, but Storm convinced him to face up to his life, and Marko agreed to return to adulthood, rejoining the X-Men.
Following the events of M-Day, Marko joined the reformed Excalibur, to help the diminished mutant population of England deal with having essentially become an endangered species. Marko soon came across Black Tom Cassidy, who was holding a young girl as a hostage. Surprisingly, Marko chose to negotiate with Cassidy rather than simply attack him; their conversation led Cassidy to feel genuine remorse over slaying Pare, and he surrendered himself to the authorities without further conflict.
Seeking to restore his powers to their former levels, Marko took a pilgrimage to the temple of Cyttorak in South Korea where he had been transformed years ago. Cyttorak appeared before him and Marko demanded his full strength be returned to him; the god responded to him with the unsettling bit of information that he had never wanted Marko to become the Juggernaut to begin with, instead having planned to make Xavier his avatar. Marko left the temple with the Gem of Cyttorak in his possession, something he has kept secret from his Excalibur teammates.
Marko has recently shown an attraction to both his teammates Dazzler and Nocturn, but as of yet, nothing has come of these feelings.
Powers
Cain Marko possesses superhuman strength allowing him to lift well over one hundred tons, although up until recently his power levels were drastically lowered, and he may not currently be at peak strength. He also possesses superhuman invulnerability, though once again, he may no longer be as impervious as he once was, back when he was essentially indestructable and could survive any wound, including being reduced to a charred skeleton. Marko was once completely unstoppable by any conventional means, though that power as well has now been brought into question. He was also able to survive without breathing, eating or consuming any liquids, although he likely now needs to breathe at least.
Marko possesses few defenses against powerful magic, and is completely vulnerable to psychic assault. While still in Cyttorak's favor, Marko wore a suit of mystical metal armor that he could summon at will from the deity's home dimension, the Crimson Cosmos. That armor included a skull cap that blocked all forms of telepathy, though he has now replaced the helmet and armor with a suit made of unstable molecules, without any of its predecessor's telepathic defenses.
Affiliations
Cain Marco is a member of Excalibur, and a former member of the X-Men, the Brotherhood (as a mole), the Exemplars (unwillingly), the New World Order, and the eXiles. He is also a former employee of the Commission on Superhuman Affairs. Marko is Professor X's step-brother, Black Tom Cassidy's former teammate and She-Hulk's ex-lover.
Alternate Realities
Age of Apocalypse
Deceased.
Following the accidental murder of Charles Xavier that diverged the Age of Apocalypse from the Earth-616 timeline, Marko became a pacifist and grew increasingly obsessed with his step-brother's death. He moved to Avalon in The Savage and and became a monk, abandoning most vestiges of his former life. Known only as Cain, Marko lived in peace with several other mutants, including Destiny and Doug Ramsey.
Avalon eventually attracted Apocalypse's attention, and he sent his Pale Riders to subjugate its denizens. Though X-Calibre's leader Nightcrawler tried to rally Cain to Avalon's defense, Cain's inner turmoil caused him to suffer a fatal brain aneurysm before he could make a decision.
