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Nimrod (comics)
Encyclopedia
Nimrod is a fictional character
that appears in comic book
s published by Marvel Comics
. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men
#191 (March 1985), and was created by writer Chris Claremont
and artist John Romita, Jr.
Hailing from the "Days of Future Past
" timeline, Nimrod is a powerful, virtually indestructible descendant of the robot
ic mutant
-hunting Sentinels
. His name is derived from the Nimrod described in Genesis 10:8-9 as "a mighty hunter before the Lord."
Nimrod received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition
#9.
-hunting Sentinel
from an alternate future
who was created by the Sentinels who rule that timeline. When Rachel Summers
travels back in time to the present, he follows her. In the process — due to an altered timeline following Kulan Gath
's occupation of New York — he saves the life of construction worker Jaime Rodriguez, who in gratitude offers him a job and a home with his family, not realizing who or what the shape-shifting Sentinel truly is.
After gathering information about the timeline in which he finds himself, Nimrod eventually changes his prime directive from the extermination of all mutants, having determined that such widespread destruction is not necessary in this era, to only the extermination of mutants who were regarded as outlaws by the Government, such as the X-Men. He fights the Juggernaut
. He hunts Summers and her new teammates, the X-Men, but is defeated by Rogue
when she absorbs the powers of Nightcrawler
, Kitty Pryde
, and Colossus
. Based on a plan that Kitty conceives before she lost consciousness, Rogue uses Nightcrawler's teleportation to teleport part of Nimrod's body away, with her and Colossus' combined invulnerability protecting her from the resulting physical strain in a manner that Nightcrawler could not have handled. Some time after this, Nimrod garners a reputation with the public of New York City as a heroic vigilante
, assuming he is simply a man in powered armor. He also adopts a more human personality as part of a cover alias as a construction worker named Nicholas Hunter.
Nimrod later faces the combined forces of the X-Men and the Hellfire Club
. Nimrod proves himself a powerful threat, killing Black Rook Friedrich Von Roehm
, causing Harry Leland
's fatal heart attack, nearly killing Nightcrawler and badly injuring Rogue and Sebastian Shaw
.
However, when Nimrod comes across a piece of the gigantic Sentinel Master Mold
while working on a construction site his programming was immediately co-opted; Master Mold merges with Nimrod, using its systems to rebuild Nimrod in its own image. The X-Men are hard pressed to defeat the reborn Master Mold at first, but Nimrod comes to their aid, claiming he has evolved as well, and no longer views them or mutants as a threat. Nimrod asserts enough control over Master Mold to render it immobile, and even convinces it that it has become a mutant as well; thus, to fulfill its prime directive to exterminate mutants, it must self-destruct. The remains of both robots are pushed through the Siege Perilous
, a mystical gateway that causes all who passed through it to be reborn with new bodies. Nimrod and Master Mold are merged into one being: Bastion
.
In X-Force
#35, a modern-day version of Nimrod appeared. This Nimrod is created by an offshoot of Project Wideawake
and is based on the technology derived from the Nimrod from the future. It deactivates itself when Cable
convinces it that its existence could cause a paradox
and damage the timestream.
Reverend William Stryker
found a damaged Nimrod as he enters the 616 Marvel timeline from an alternate one. Stryker uses Nimrod's memories to plan an attack on the X-Men and other mutants, but Nimrod alters its memories to facilitate its own escape and Stryker is defeated. During the New X-Men
story arc "Nimrod", Nimrod searches for whom it believes is its creator, Forge
. Nimrod believes Forge can repair its damaged body, but Forge instead transfers Nimrod's programming into a new body which Forge can control. Believing Forge to be in danger, the New X-Men travel to his apartment to help him. This eventually leads to Nimrod gaining control over his body and attacking Forge and the New X-Men. Nimrod is defeated when Surge
overloads Nimrod's temporal unit, blasting Nimrod out of the timestream. Nimrod survives and travels back in time to March 1985 with its memory corrupted, resulting in its existence in the 'true' timeline — with Rachel's history erased — becoming a temporal loop paradox.
The series X-Force
reveals that the Purifiers
held on to most of Nimrod's body and fuse it with Bastion's head to reform Bastion. He then, using the Technarch transmode virus, revives numerous villains that have destroyed many mutants.
During the events of Second Coming, he personally confronts Hope Summers
, Rogue and Nightcrawler, leading to the death of the latter. Bastion appears to be reverting more and more to fully being Nimrod. Some time later, Bastion unleashes an endless horde of Nimrods from an unknown future to destroy the X-Men. However X-Force, Cypher and Cable go to that future and destroy the Master Mold controlling them. At the end of the crossover the original Nimrod (Bastion) takes his original form but is destroyed by Hope. In Uncanny X-Force #8 the chest and head of Nimrod are exhibited in a museum in the World, the home of Fantomex
.
can somehow exist independently of his physical body, at least temporarily. Physically Nimrod is categorized in the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe" as possessing "Class 100" strength because Nimrod could engage the Juggernaut in hand-to-hand combat.
Nimrod contains highly advanced computer systems as well as scanning devices that make it possible for him to determine whether a human being is a superhuman or not; if they are, he can determine the nature of their superhuman abilities. Like present day Sentinels, Nimrod can draw upon devices and systems within his robotic body in order to cope with or neutralize an opponent's superhuman power once he has determined the nature of that power.
Nimrod is capable of projecting energy blasts, magnetic energy to levitate material, create force field
s, and can teleport. Nimrod has a weakness for elemental attacks such as lightning or extreme cold.
, a version of Nimrod is seen. This version chases and successfully takes down Rogue
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
that appears in comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...
#191 (March 1985), and was created by writer Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...
and artist John Romita, Jr.
John Romita, Jr.
John Salvatore Romita, Jr. is an American comic book artist best known for his extensive work for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the 2000s...
Hailing from the "Days of Future Past
Days of Future Past
"Days of Future Past" is a popular storyline in the Marvel Comics comic book The Uncanny X-Men issues #141 and #142, published in 1981. It deals with a dystopian alternate future in which mutants are incarcerated in internment camps...
" timeline, Nimrod is a powerful, virtually indestructible descendant of the robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
ic mutant
Mutant (Marvel Comics)
In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...
-hunting Sentinels
Sentinel (comics)
Sentinels are a fictional variety of mutant-hunting robots, appearing in the Marvel Comics Universe. They are usually portrayed as antagonists to the X-Men. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they first appeared in The X-Men #14 .According to Marvel canon, Sentinels are programmed to locate...
. His name is derived from the Nimrod described in Genesis 10:8-9 as "a mighty hunter before the Lord."
Publication history
The character appears in The Uncanny X-Men #193-194 (May–June 1985), #197 (September 1985), #208-209 (August–September 1986), #246-247 (July–August 1989), X-Force #35 (June 1994), Cable & Machine Man Annual #1 (Annual 1998), Mutant X #10 (July 1999), Weapon X: Days of Future Now #1 (September 2005), #4 (December 2005), New X-Men #22 (March 2006), #25-31 (June–December 2006), #36 (May 2007), New Warriors #3 (October 2007), X-Factor #23 (November 2007), and X-Force #1-2 (April–May 2008).Nimrod received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is an encyclopedic guide which details the fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications...
#9.
Fictional character biography
Nimrod is a mutantMutant (Marvel Comics)
In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...
-hunting Sentinel
Sentinel (comics)
Sentinels are a fictional variety of mutant-hunting robots, appearing in the Marvel Comics Universe. They are usually portrayed as antagonists to the X-Men. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they first appeared in The X-Men #14 .According to Marvel canon, Sentinels are programmed to locate...
from an alternate future
Alternate future
In science fiction stories involving time travel, an alternative future or alternate future is a possible future which never comes to pass, typically because someone travels back into the past and alters it so that the events of the alternative future cannot occur.An alternative future differs from...
who was created by the Sentinels who rule that timeline. When Rachel Summers
Rachel Summers
Rachel Anne Summers is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne for Marvel Comics....
travels back in time to the present, he follows her. In the process — due to an altered timeline following Kulan Gath
Kulan Gath
Kulan Gath is a fictional character, a villainous magician who was created at Marvel Comics as a foe of Conan the Barbarian and who was later fully integrated into the Marvel Universe and in 2006 was used in Dynamite Entertainment's revamped Red Sonja series....
's occupation of New York — he saves the life of construction worker Jaime Rodriguez, who in gratitude offers him a job and a home with his family, not realizing who or what the shape-shifting Sentinel truly is.
After gathering information about the timeline in which he finds himself, Nimrod eventually changes his prime directive from the extermination of all mutants, having determined that such widespread destruction is not necessary in this era, to only the extermination of mutants who were regarded as outlaws by the Government, such as the X-Men. He fights the Juggernaut
Juggernaut (comics)
The Juggernaut is a fictional character that appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Men #12 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby....
. He hunts Summers and her new teammates, the X-Men, but is defeated by Rogue
Rogue (comics)
Rogue was first slated to appear in Ms. Marvel #25 , but the book's abrupt cancellation left her original introduction story unpublished for over a decade, before seeing print in Marvel Super Heroes #11 in 1992. Rogue's first published appearance was in Avengers Annual #10...
when she absorbs the powers of Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler (comics)
Nightcrawler is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. He has been associated with both the X-Men and Excalibur, originally appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1...
, Kitty Pryde
Kitty Pryde
Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 and was created by writer-artist John Byrne....
, and Colossus
Colossus (comics)
Colossus is a fictional character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Len Wein and illustrator Dave Cockrum, he first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1...
. Based on a plan that Kitty conceives before she lost consciousness, Rogue uses Nightcrawler's teleportation to teleport part of Nimrod's body away, with her and Colossus' combined invulnerability protecting her from the resulting physical strain in a manner that Nightcrawler could not have handled. Some time after this, Nimrod garners a reputation with the public of New York City as a heroic vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
, assuming he is simply a man in powered armor. He also adopts a more human personality as part of a cover alias as a construction worker named Nicholas Hunter.
Nimrod later faces the combined forces of the X-Men and the Hellfire Club
Hellfire Club (comics)
The Hellfire Club is a fictional society within the Marvel Comics Universe that often comes into confrontation with the mutant superhero team, the X-Men...
. Nimrod proves himself a powerful threat, killing Black Rook Friedrich Von Roehm
Friedrich Von Roehm
Friedrich Von Roehm, also known as the Black Rook is a Marvel Comics supervillain, and an adversary of the X-Men.Von Roehm possesses a hereditary ability that is likened to lycanthropy. Von Roehm undergoes a transformation from his ordinary human form through a process mentally activated by Selene...
, causing Harry Leland
Harry Leland
Harry Leland, also known as the Black Bishop is a Marvel Comics supervillain, and an adversary of the X-Men.A mutant, Leland possesses the ability to increase the mass of an object or person, making it extremely heavy...
's fatal heart attack, nearly killing Nightcrawler and badly injuring Rogue and Sebastian Shaw
Sebastian Shaw (comics)
Sebastian Hiram Shaw is a fictional comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe, and an adversary of the X-Men.A mutant, Shaw possesses the ability to absorb energy and transform it into raw strength...
.
However, when Nimrod comes across a piece of the gigantic Sentinel Master Mold
Master Mold
Master Mold is a fictional character, a robot supervillain in the Marvel Universe. Since his primary purpose was to act as a portable Sentinel-creating factory, and the Sentinel robots were primarily used to hunt mutants, Master Mold has almost exclusively appeared in the X-Men and related,...
while working on a construction site his programming was immediately co-opted; Master Mold merges with Nimrod, using its systems to rebuild Nimrod in its own image. The X-Men are hard pressed to defeat the reborn Master Mold at first, but Nimrod comes to their aid, claiming he has evolved as well, and no longer views them or mutants as a threat. Nimrod asserts enough control over Master Mold to render it immobile, and even convinces it that it has become a mutant as well; thus, to fulfill its prime directive to exterminate mutants, it must self-destruct. The remains of both robots are pushed through the Siege Perilous
Siege Perilous (comics)
Siege Perilous is the name of two fictional devices appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. The first appeared in books starring Captain Britain, and the second in books featuring the X-Men...
, a mystical gateway that causes all who passed through it to be reborn with new bodies. Nimrod and Master Mold are merged into one being: Bastion
Bastion (comics)
Bastion is a supervillain that appears in the fictional Marvel Universe. The character was created by Scott Lobdell and Pascual Ferry and first made a cameo appearance in X-Men #52 . His first full appearance was Uncanny X-Men #333...
.
In X-Force
X-Force
X-Force is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero team, one of several spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team was formed in New Mutants, vol. 1 #100 and soon afterwards was featured in its own series.The group was a new incarnation of the 1980s...
#35, a modern-day version of Nimrod appeared. This Nimrod is created by an offshoot of Project Wideawake
Project Wideawake
Project: Wideawake is a fictional United States government program in the Marvel Comics universe. Its purpose is detecting and capturing mutants employing the robots known as Sentinels.-History:...
and is based on the technology derived from the Nimrod from the future. It deactivates itself when Cable
Cable (comics)
Cable is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared as an infant in Uncanny X-Men #201...
convinces it that its existence could cause a paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
and damage the timestream.
Reverend William Stryker
William Stryker
Col. William "Bill" Stryker, M.D. is a fictional comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe, and enemy of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Brent Anderson, he first appeared in the 1982 graphic novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills.Rev...
found a damaged Nimrod as he enters the 616 Marvel timeline from an alternate one. Stryker uses Nimrod's memories to plan an attack on the X-Men and other mutants, but Nimrod alters its memories to facilitate its own escape and Stryker is defeated. During the New X-Men
New X-Men
New X-Men was a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics within the X-Men franchise. After the end of Grant Morrison's run on X-Men , titled New X-Men, the title was used for a new series, New X-Men: Academy X, serving as a continuation of the second volume of New Mutants...
story arc "Nimrod", Nimrod searches for whom it believes is its creator, Forge
Forge (comics)
Forge is a fictional character in the , a superhero associated with The X-Men.A mutant with an unsurpassed brilliance in technology, Forge has had a lengthy career as a government weapons contractor. He shared a romantic relationship with Storm, and a brief affair with Mystique which led him to...
. Nimrod believes Forge can repair its damaged body, but Forge instead transfers Nimrod's programming into a new body which Forge can control. Believing Forge to be in danger, the New X-Men travel to his apartment to help him. This eventually leads to Nimrod gaining control over his body and attacking Forge and the New X-Men. Nimrod is defeated when Surge
Surge (comics)
Surge is a fictional character, a mutant in the Marvel Universe, one of the student body in the Xavier Institute, and a member of the former New Mutants squad therein. She maintained her powers post M-Day and was the leader of the New X-Men. She first appeared in New Mutants, vol...
overloads Nimrod's temporal unit, blasting Nimrod out of the timestream. Nimrod survives and travels back in time to March 1985 with its memory corrupted, resulting in its existence in the 'true' timeline — with Rachel's history erased — becoming a temporal loop paradox.
The series X-Force
X-Force
X-Force is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero team, one of several spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team was formed in New Mutants, vol. 1 #100 and soon afterwards was featured in its own series.The group was a new incarnation of the 1980s...
reveals that the Purifiers
Purifiers
The Purifiers, also known as the Stryker Crusade, are a fictional paramilitary/terrorist organization in the Marvel Comics universe and enemies of the X-Men...
held on to most of Nimrod's body and fuse it with Bastion's head to reform Bastion. He then, using the Technarch transmode virus, revives numerous villains that have destroyed many mutants.
During the events of Second Coming, he personally confronts Hope Summers
Hope Summers
Hope Summers was an American character actress known for her work on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD, portraying Clara Edwards.-Career:...
, Rogue and Nightcrawler, leading to the death of the latter. Bastion appears to be reverting more and more to fully being Nimrod. Some time later, Bastion unleashes an endless horde of Nimrods from an unknown future to destroy the X-Men. However X-Force, Cypher and Cable go to that future and destroy the Master Mold controlling them. At the end of the crossover the original Nimrod (Bastion) takes his original form but is destroyed by Hope. In Uncanny X-Force #8 the chest and head of Nimrod are exhibited in a museum in the World, the home of Fantomex
Fantomex
Fantomex is a fictional superhero associated with the X-Men in titles published by Marvel Comics. Fantomex first appeared in New X-Men #128 and was created by Grant Morrison and Igor Kordey....
.
Powers and abilities
Nimrod is the most advanced form of Sentinel robot. Nimrod can convert his outward appearance to resemble that of an ordinary human being. Nimrod can also reconstruct himself so as to make improvements in his robotic form and internal systems that will make him a more formidable opponent. Even when smashed to pieces, Nimrod can reintegrate the portions of his body to become whole again. Apparently Nimrod's electronic consciousnessConsciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
can somehow exist independently of his physical body, at least temporarily. Physically Nimrod is categorized in the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe" as possessing "Class 100" strength because Nimrod could engage the Juggernaut in hand-to-hand combat.
Nimrod contains highly advanced computer systems as well as scanning devices that make it possible for him to determine whether a human being is a superhuman or not; if they are, he can determine the nature of their superhuman abilities. Like present day Sentinels, Nimrod can draw upon devices and systems within his robotic body in order to cope with or neutralize an opponent's superhuman power once he has determined the nature of that power.
Nimrod is capable of projecting energy blasts, magnetic energy to levitate material, create force field
Force field
A force field, sometimes known as an energy shield, force shield, or deflector shield is a concept of a field tightly bounded and of significant magnitude so that objects affected by the particular force relating to the field are unable to pass through the central axis of the field and reach the...
s, and can teleport. Nimrod has a weakness for elemental attacks such as lightning or extreme cold.
Ultimate Universe
In the first issue of Ultimate Comics: X-MenUltimate Comics: X-Men
Ultimate Comics: X-Men is an ongoing monthly comic book series published by Marvel Comics that made its debut in September 2011 as part of the second re-launch of Ultimate Marvel...
, a version of Nimrod is seen. This version chases and successfully takes down Rogue
Rogue (comics)
Rogue was first slated to appear in Ms. Marvel #25 , but the book's abrupt cancellation left her original introduction story unpublished for over a decade, before seeing print in Marvel Super Heroes #11 in 1992. Rogue's first published appearance was in Avengers Annual #10...
.
Television
- Nimrod appears in X-Men: The Animated SeriesX-Men (TV series)X-Men, also known as X-Men: The Animated Series, is an American animated television series which debuted on October 31, 1992, in the United States on the Fox Network as part of its Fox Kids Saturday morning lineup...
. - In the final episode of X-Men Evolution, Professor Xavier's glimpse into the future shows Nimrod briefly.
Video games
- Nimrod appears in the X-MenX-Men (arcade game)X-Men is an arcade game produced by Konami in 1992. It is a side-scrolling beat 'em up based on the characters of the same name under license from Marvel Comics. The animation of the X-Men and the supervillains are based on the 1989 X-Men pilot episode titled X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men...
arcade game as the Stage 4 Boss. It returns in Stage 7, as the fourth boss (of five) after White QueenEmma FrostEmma Grace Frost is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 , and was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne....
and before JuggernautJuggernaut (comics)The Juggernaut is a fictional character that appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Men #12 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby....
, on Magneto's base in Asteroid M.
External links
- Nimrod at Marvel Universe Wiki