Omega Red appeared in the 1991 Marvel Comics called X-Men.
Arkady Grigorievich Rossovich (Russian: Аркадий Григорьевич Россович) was a Russian mutant. His parents and his brother Vassily were scared of him even before he had developed his mutation. Arkady's bloodthirst first manifested with the mutilation of animals and the disappearance of local beggars. Vassily ended up ratting on Arkady.
He later joined the Russian Army where he became part of the GRU Spetsnaz. Despite serving in the army, he also continued his crimes: he started to prey on young children, especially young girls, that he kidnapped and killed. His crimes were for a time left unnoticed until he was transferred to a Soviet Outpost near the Antarctic Circle where the disappearance and deaths of several children were finally noticed by the other Russian soldiers. After discovering the atrocious crimes he committed, he was executed by the Red Army but his latent mutant powers saved him from death which prompted his superiors to use him for their super soldier program.
Before he could be used for the Russian super soldier program, he escaped to Europe where he committed several crimes with the help of his newfound powers, his "death factor". His crimes attracted the attention of Erik Lensher, who decided to help a young Interpol agent, Sean Cassidy, who went rogue after the Soviet Union pressured Interpol to drop the case. Erik wanted Sean to find him and to deal with him permanently.
Arkady's goal was also to have Sean Cassidy kill him before he could be retrieved by the Russian Army. Though the detective initially proved unwilling, Cassidy was goaded into action when Arkady turned his death factor on Cassidy's partner, Inspector Magrite Devereaux, killing her. Cassidy subsequently opened fire on the serial killer. Though Arkady survived the attack, he was still arrested by Cassidy and turned over to the authorities. Unbeknownst to the detective, who thought Arkady had been sent to prison, he'd instead fallen into the hands of a "Special Interest Group" (KGB). This marked the beginning of Arkady's active involvement in the Russian super soldier program.
The end result of the experiments was "Omega Red". The Soviet government implanted several cybernetic enhancements that made him much more powerful, as well as one retractable Carbonadium tentacle within each of his arms. Carbonadium was the Soviets' attempt to recreate the artificial alloy known as adamantium. It was a more malleable form of adamantium. He used the tentacles as weapons and as grappling appendages. He was able to a wrap a victim in his coils to literally drain them of their life energy. This vampiric tendency was once essential to Omega Red's survival; the carbonadium implants, while great offensive weapons, slowly poisoned him and he was required to regularly drain the life energy of a person, or perhaps take small amounts from larger numbers of individuals, in order to temporarily sustain his immune system.
In order to stabilize his condition, Omega Red required the "Carbonadium Synthesizer," a device that was stolen by Wolverine, Maverick, and Sabretooth during their final mission together as "Team X" when this trio was also trying to rescue a double agent named Janice Hollenbeck. Furious, Omega Red went after them, but another member of Team X, Kestrel, stalled him with his gun until the others got away. Unfazed, Omega Red wrapped Kestrel up in his coils and tried to tear him to pieces; however Kestrel managed to teleport away to safety.
It was because of his need for the carbonadium synthesizer that Omega Red continuously sought out Wolverine, Sabretooth and Maverick over the years, believing they may know of its whereabouts.
Powers and Abilities[]
Omega Red possesses various superhuman attributes as a result of being a mutant and after undergoing augmentation procedures at the hands of the Soviet government during the 1960s. He was described by Dazzler to be an Omega Level Mutant.
- Death Factor: Omega Red can emit lethal pheromones (death spores) from his body. These spores result in the weakness or death of anybody in his vicinity. The severity of the effect is based on the endurance, health, and relative proximity of the victims. Normal humans can be killed or incapacitated after a matter of seconds of exposure, while a being with exceptionally accelerated healing powers and physical stamina can sustain exposure for minutes or hours. Omega Red must secrete his pheromones or they will begin to erode his own body. After his most recent resurrection, Arkady was revealed to have stronger and even more potent spores circulating constantly through his tentacles and has stopped emitting it as a pheromone. This generally served as a backup in case of his tentacles ever being cut, which quickly happened.
- Life Force Absorption: Omega Red has the ability, and need, to drain the life force of other humans to sustain his own. He can do this by ensnaring his victims within his tentacles and using them as a conduit for his death factor. At one time the combination of his "death factor" and the presence Carbonadium in his body had the effect of slowly poisoning him which caused him to need to drain life forces frequently. The more life force he drains, the stronger he gets and the faster he heals.
- Superhuman Strength: Omega Red is superhumanly strong and is capable of lifting about 10 tons normally. After his resurrection, Arkady was revealed to have gained some new abilities; namely, the ability to increase his body mass as he absorbed energy. After absorbing the life energy of a powerful unnamed mutant, Arkady was shown to be capable of lifting roughly fifty tons. Theoretically, his full strength is limitless.
- Superhuman Stamina: Omega Red's muscles generate considerably less fatigue toxins than the muscles of an ordinary human. He is capable of exerting himself at peak capacity for about a day before fatigue begins to affect him. However, he can use the energy he drains from others to enhanced his stamina even further.
- Superhuman Durability: Omega Red wears a suit of bright red armor, composed of a material believed to be secondary adamantium. This armor, which covers most of Omega Red's body, renders him highly resistant to injury. He once withstood an energy blast from the mutant Chamber, that propelled him a distance of several miles without sustaining injury. Even without the armor, Omega Red's body is capable of withstanding powerful impact forces and blunt trauma, such as falling from several stories or being repeatedly struck by superhumanly strong opponents, that would severely injure or kill a normal human with little to no discomfort.
- Superhuman Agility: Omega Red's natural agility, body coordination, and balance are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. Absorbing the life force of enemies increases his agility exponentially.
- Superhuman Reflexes: Omega Red's reflexes are similarly enhanced and are superior to those of the finest human athlete. Absorbing the life force of enemies increases his reflexes exponentially.
- Regenerative Healing Factor: Omega Red is capable of healing at much greater speeds than that of an ordinary humans. He has proven capable of healing from deep slashes and puncture wounds within a matter of minutes. However, he is able to use the energy he drains from others to enhances his healing powers to higher levels. After his resurrection, Arkady was shown to be capable of healing from even fatal injuries almost instantly when sufficiently charged. His healing factor appears to focus on his tentacles and armor as well, implying that they have become a part of his body.
Omega Red is also an excellent hand-to-hand combatant and military tactician, having defeated foes such as Iron Man, Cable, and Wolverine. He was trained in various forms of armed and unarmed combat by both the Soviet government and various organizations throughout the Japanese underworld. Highly intelligent, he has quickly become highly skilled in the management of criminal organizations.
Arsenal[]
He also wears a suit of red retro-Russian armor. This armor has withstood assaults from Wolverine's Adamantium claws, though his claws can penetrate the material after repeatedly, powerful strikes.
- Carbonadium Synthesizer: Red had finally obtained that which had eluded him for many decades when he made a deal with the Vampire King; Dracula. But to ensure Mr. Rossovich's compliance in subduing Krakoa, the dark lord tagged the synthesizer with a minibomb to keep him under Vlad's thumb.
- Carbonadium Tentacles: Omega Red possesses Carbonadium tentacles housed within his arms. Carbonadium is an unstable, artificial alloy that is the former Soviet Union's attempt at recreating true adamantium. While the alloy is only slightly less durable and more malleable than adamantium, it is also radioactive. The radioactivity of the metal, when combined with Omega Red's death factor, allows him to literally drain the life force of his victims. Omega Red can also use the tentacles as whips or restraining bonds, restraining most individuals easily due to the durability of the tentacles.