Insects are really messed up
looking. Compound eyes, too many legs, their exoskeletons, the fact that they
don’t breathe. Okay, that last one has nothing to do with their appearance, but
I’m 100% serious. They don’t have lungs, and instead absorb oxygen through tiny
tubes along their bodies called tracheae. That’s messed up, right? It’s really
not surprising that so many alien species in fiction are bugs, since Earth bugs
don’t look like they belong here anyway. From the Bugs of Starship Troopers to the Zerg of Starcraft alien bugs are aplenty. Though, none of these creatures
has the same flair as Annihilus, lord of the Negative Zone.
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| He's hungry for Hulk flesh. |
Like many villains, Annihilus’
origins can be traced back to an idea that seemed good at the time. Eons ago,
there was an alien race called the Tyannans. They decided that it was their
mission to seed worlds with life, by covering barren and/or lifeless worlds
with genetically engineered spores. Said spores would kick evolution into
overdrive, allowing complex, multi-cellular life to be created in a fraction of
the usual time. After doing this in the main universe for a bit, the Tyannans
turned their sights to the seemingly lifeless alternate universe, the Negative
Zone. While seeding planets, a freak collision with a meteor caused a Tyannas
ship to crash land on a world called Arthoros. The plant was a volcanic
wasteland, you know, the sort of place that I for one wouldn’t call “conducive
towards life.” The Tyannas’ disagreed, however, and released their payload of
spores as their dying act.
The spores quickly germinated, and
covered Arthoros in new fauna, that somehow survived the burning landscape. Of
the many beasts that now called Arthoros home, the most notable was Annihilus.
The creature was smaller and weaker than most of its kin, and despite this (or
perhaps due to this), was incredibly hostile towards other lifeforms. Annihilus
happened upon the downed Tyannas’ ship, and began exploring. An unforeseen side
effect of the Tyannas’ spore experiments, it seems, was that the resulting
creatures were rather unstable. The mutation that allowed them to grow and develop
as quickly as they do, gave Annihilus the intellectual boost necessary for him
to learn and master the Tyannas technology. From the wreckage of the vessel,
Annihilus fashioned himself a staff, dubbed the Cosmic Control Rod (CCR), which
further mutated him, and gave him command of his insectoid brethren. Being a
paranoid, xenophobic, and aggressive sod (sounds like a certain Presidential Candidate,
now doesn’t he?), Annihilus set out on a centuries long crusade across the
Negative Zone, conquering or destroying any lifeforms he encountered. One of
the CCR’s many abilities was making Annihilus immortal, FYI.
Annihilus had basically conquered
all of known Negative Zone space when he encountered the Fantastic Four. Well,
the Terrific Trio. Reed, Ben, and Johnny had traveled to the alternate dimension
looking for anti-particles, a rare subatomic McGuffin that Sue needed.
Apparently being irradiate by Cosmic Rays, and then being impregnated by
another Cosmic Ray exposed individual leads to pregnancy complications. Who
knew? Unfortunately for our heroes, the only source of anti-particles they
could find was in Annihilus’s CCR. Annihilus’ forces were able to overpower the
three, capturing them…temporarily. They’re able to escape, steal the rod, and
make it back to Earth. They siphoned off some anti-particles, and…then…gave it
back? Why would you give a weapon of such cosmic power back to an obvious
despot? It’s like stealing the nuclear launch codes from North Korea, just to
give it back after tearing off a corner because you needed scratch paper. I
know it’s a weird scenario, but it’s the best I could come up with. I deal with
weird subject matter.
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| He doesn't take kindly to folks coming into his backyard. |
After facing off against the Four,
Annihilus developed an intense obsession with getting to Earth. See? Giving his
best weapon back seems pretty stupid now, doesn’t it? He nearly made it to
Earth the first time because an arrogant scientist named Janus the Nega-Man
came to the Negative Zone to try and harness the Zone’s anti-matter for a power
source. Annihilus easily overpowered the Nega-Man, and tried to force Nega-Man
to take him to Earth. He was foiled, however, when a tear in Nega-Man’s suit
caused him to explode into space dust. For those who don’t remember their theoretical physics, Matter + Anti-Matter = Annihilation. His other attempts to
dimension hop were thwarted by Earth’s various heroes, the Fantastic Four,
Avengers, Spider-Man to name a few. His first successful trip to Earth led to
him kidnapping Reed and Sue Richards’ son, Franklin. The kid has a LOT of
cosmic power locked in his young brain, Annihilus sensed this and tried to get
his hands on said power. He built a machine to force Franklin’s powers to
emerge prematurely, steal them, and transfer them to Annihilus. He’s thwarted
by the Four, and left stranded in the Negative Zone again.
Annihilus’ eventually created a
massive fleet of ships he dubbed the Annihilation Wave. His plan? Take over the
Universe. The bug man dreams big. He invades the main Marvel Universe,
destroying an intergalactic prison called the Kyln, and the planet Xandar,
homeworld of the Nova Corps. He forms an alliance with the mad Titan, Thanos,
and two former Kyln prisoners Tenebrous and Aegis. The four are able to
overpower two of the most powerful beings in creation, Galactus and the Silver
Surfer. The two are then strapped into a weapon in Annihilus’ flagship. He then
reveals his real goal, to use Galactus and Silver Surfer to power a Power
Cosmic bomb and destroy creation. Leaving Annihilus the sole survivor. There’s
wanting to be alone, and then there is Annihilus. The plan is foiled by Nova
and Drax the Destroyer. They’re able to free the Surfer and Galactus. This may
come as a shock to ya’ll, but Galactus doesn’t like being used. He obliterates
the Annihilation Wave, and Nova gets payback for Xandar’s destruction, killing
the alien bug. Unfortunately, a new Annihilus was born in the Negative Zone
after his death, with all the memories of the previous one. Can’t keep a good
bad bug down.
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| Less alien bug, and more alien Iron Man. Just saying. |
Annihilus is able to fly, is super strong,
and highly resistant to injury. He can also survive the vacuum of space…for
reasons. Using Tyannan technology, he fashioned the Cosmic Control Rod. This weapon
could manipulate cosmic energy on a massive scale. He can rearrange matter on
the molecular level. He’s able to release immense destructive and concussive
force. Exposure to the Rod’s energies has greatly reduced the aging process of
Annihilus, effectively making him immortal. If he’s ever actually killed, he’ll
be reincarnated back on his homeworld.
He’s appeared in a few series
outside the comics. Like Deathstroke and Deadshot, he’s actually rarely up
against the hero that he started up against. Weird how that happens, isn’t it?
He appeared in Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes. In the episode “Annihilation,”
he teleports the FF to the Negative Zone and tries to kill them. Why? Dr. Doom
convinced him that the Fantastic Four were planning to steal the Cosmic Control
Rod. This would usually be pretty difficult, but as I’ve mentioned before, Annihilus
is a paranoid SOB. Doom then double crosses Annihilus, and steals the Rod. The
FF and Annihilus fight back against Doom, getting the Rod back and sending
Annihilus home.
Annihilus is basically a horror
movie monster in “Assault on 42,” in The
Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The various prisoners of Prison 42 in
the Negative Zone complain about hearing “something” outside the prison. Their
complaints are sluffed off as “Bad guys being liars.” It’s eventually revealed
that this is Annihilus and his army attacking the “affront” to Negative Zone
purity. The Heroes need to team up with the Villains, and are able to force
Annihilus back. He doesn’t really speak in this version, his motivations and
thoughts are interpreted by an incredibly terrified Leader.
A much more talkative version of
Annihilus appears in Hulk and the Agents
of SMASH. He leads his army on an attack on Vista Verde, the “home town” of
the Incredible Hulk. Hulk, Red Hulk, She-Hulk, and the newly irradiated hero
A-Bomb join forces to stop him. He uses another hulk like being named Skaar as
his attack dog. They team is able to free Skaar of the mind control tech that
Annihilus was using, and force the bug man back. It’s later revealed that he
was in an alliance with the Hulk Villain, The Leader, who supplied him with the
mind control tech. Villains, always finding ways to take away freewill.
Annihilus is a villain that changes
a lot from one series to the next. Some times he’s a snarling savage with a
colossal army of evil bugs, other times he’s your standard monologing villain…with
a colossal army of evil bugs. Okay, so somethings are the same regardless of
the version. He’s an entertaining villain, regardless, and I enjoy watching him
waving his Cosmic Control Rod around. It’s part of the reason why he’s the main
villain of my Possible Plot for a new Fantastic Four movie. He’s the insidious,
insectoid, interdimensional invader, Annihilus. Next time…I’m not sure. We’ll
see what comes to me.
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/0/02/Thanos_vs._Hulk_Vol_1_4_Textless.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141216192327
http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/7/79/AnnihilusEMH1.png/revision/latest?cb=20120607091944
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/hulksmash/images/e/e6/Annihilus01.png/revision/latest?cb=20130805215858
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