The alien menace Oblivion was once Kali'kak, a citizen of the Cooperative, a highly advanced interstellar civilization in the Milky Way Galaxy. Over the millennia, the Cooperative had become a virtual utopia due to amazing scientific advances. This included the realms of genetic engineering and medicine, which greatly extended the lifespans of Cooperative citizens. Moreover, in the event of impending death, a citizen would undergo reconstitution, a process in which his or her mind was uploaded to a freshly cloned body.[1][2] If a citizen's body were completely destroyed, a more advanced form of reconstitution would revive him or her by creating a clone based on mental and genetic records.[1][2] Because of reconstitution, no Cooperative citizen had permanently died in roughly 250,000 years.[3]
Many in the galaxy would relish life without fear of death, but Kali'kak did not share this sentiment. He considered the virtual immortality offered by Cooperative society to be a tedious, pointless existence. This led Kali'kak to research what life in the Cooperative was like prior to reconstitution.[1] His curiosity about permanent death became an intense nihilism that began to affect his sanity.[3]
Concerned about Kali'kak's mental state, his family implored him to seek help, but to no avail. Thus, they sought to have Kali'kak committed and brought their case before the famed mediator, Arnus, who ruled in their favor. Arnus sentenced Kali'kak to isolation on the Prison Planet until he was rehabilitated and could again live among civilized beings. Kali'kak felt betrayed by his family and swore vengeance on Arnus for his imprisonment.[4][3]
Kali'kak's isolation was made as pleasant as possible during his therapy, but this just fueled both his nihilism and desire for vengeance against Arnus. In Earth Year 1839, things came to a head when Kali'kak finally snapped and murdered his therapist. Feeling an intense rush from his first kill, Kali'kak fled the therapist's office and stole a starship to escape the Prison Planet. Now free, Kali'kak renamed himself Oblivion and plotted his revenge against Arnus.[3]
Oblivion got his chance when he discovered Arnus was taking a space liner for an extended vacation on a resort planet. After some research, Oblivion learned which liner Arnus was on and then acquired the vessel's schematics. Disguising himself to evade the authorities, Oblivion boarded the space liner during one of its stopovers and sabotaged its faster-than-light (FTL) drive. He then left the liner and observed from afar to see if his efforts had worked.[4]
Sure enough, the FTL drive's magnetic containment ruptured, releasing superheated plasma that killed all in its path within the space liner. Many passengers survived thanks to the captain getting them onto escape pods before the ship exploded.[5][4] However, Arnus was not among the survivors, leading to an extensive search of interstellar space.[2][4]
After searching for nearly 83 years, Cooperative authorities could find no trace of Arnus and declared him dead. Cooperative doctors soon created a clone of Arnus who assumed the original's life and duties.[1][2]
Kali'kak becomes Oblivion
This did not upset Oblivion, who was pleased that the true Arnus was dead. Oblivion then embarked on a bloody rampage throughout Cooperative space while successfully evading capture by D'amsi police officers. By modern times, he had killed nearly 350 victims, who were reconstituted soon after their deaths. Such was Oblivion's insanity that he was blind to the futility of his actions.[3]
Recently, Oblivion was shocked to learn that a D'amsipatrol had found Arnus alive on the primitive world of Earth and was bringing him back home to the Cooperative.[1] After escaping the doomed space liner, Arnus had crash-landed on Earth, where he assumed human form and eventually became the superhero, Icon.[5] Oblivion's initial rage over Arnus' survival soon turned to delight since he could now kill his foe personally.[6] At the time, Arnus was too distracted by his newfound celebrity to discover Oblivion's escape.[2][3] Oblivion took advantage of this to secretly learn everything about Arnus' life on Earth.[1] Over the following months, Oblivion became fascinated with how Earth's humans died permanently at the end of their relatively short lifespans.[1][2] Hence, Oblivion decided to slaughter all mankind to satisfy his academic curiosity.[1] Naturally, Arnus would return to Earth to stop Oblivion, who could finally and permanently kill his hated enemy.[4][6] To this end, Oblivion acquired and injected himself with Cooperative nano-assemblers, microscopic machines that he reprogrammed to grant him super powers similar to those that Arnus gained on Earth.[4][6] The assemblers could not replicate Icon's power of flight though they did grant Oblivion formidable shapeshifting abilities.[2][4]
His preparations complete, Oblivion traveled to Earth and landed his ship on the outskirts of Arnus' adopted home of Dakota City. Noticing the landing, two joggers soon arrived on the scene and were brutally murdered by Oblivion, who was euphoric over causing permanent death firsthand.[2] Oblivion then used his shapeshifting powers to alter his clothing into a mockery of Icon's costume before attacking Dakota. Due his attire, the news media initially thought Oblivion was Icon as he randomly killed dozens of people in his path.[4]
Oblivion Attacks Dakota City
However, the city was not completely defenseless since Icon and his human partner Rocket had passed on their superhero identities to their allies Buck Wild and Darnice, respectively.[1] Darnice confronted Oblivion during his attack on original Icon's old law firm. Not realizing his foe's real identity, Oblivion was pleased to meet the famed Rocket so early in his massacre. Conversely, Darnice thought Oblivion was a now power mad Buck Wild and tried to reason with him. Oblivion was about to kill the new Rocket, but was interrupted by the arrival of Buck, whom the alien mistook for Arnus. Ignoring Darnice, Oblivion promptly attacked Buck and mortally wounded the hero despite his valiant struggle. From this quick victory, Oblivion realized Buck was an impostor and turned his attention to a traumatized Darnice, who fled in terror.[4]
Oblivion caught up with Darnice at the home of the original Rocket, who had just used a Cooperative communications crystal to contact Icon for help.[4] Oblivion and Rocket then fought while Darnice got Rocket's baby to safety. Soon, Oblivion overpowered Rocket so she engaged in a game of cat and mouse to lure him away from innocent bystanders. Eventually, Oblivion cornered Rocket and began suffocating her until Icon teleported on the scene and demanded her release.[3][6]
Oblivion obliged Icon's demand since he had been looking forward to this confrontation. The pair then engaged in a fierce battle through Dakota's streets. Oblivion finally got the edge in the fight by assuming a liquid state to blind and smother Icon. Gloating, Oblivion partially reverted to his humanoid form to finish off his foe. This proved a mistake since Oblivion was now an easy target for Rocket who struck his head with a hurled brick charged with kinetic energy. Stunned, Oblivion lost control over the nano-assemblers in his body, causing him to collapse into a puddle of organic matter. By now, Icon had recovered from Oblivion's attack and had deduced the source of his opponent's powers. Oblivion soon regained control over his form and charged Icon, who unleashed a blast of positron energy. This energy overloaded the nano-assemblers in Oblivion's body, causing him to painfully revert to his original, powerless form. Icon then entrapped Oblivion in a force field, but was uncertain what to do with him. Just then, a shuttle arrived, bearing two D'amsi officers sent to assist Icon. The D'amsi thanked Icon and Rocket for capturing Oblivion and then took the alien killer into custody.[6]
The D'amsi returned Oblivion to the Prison Planet, where he is again in isolation under heavy guard.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Cybernetic Enhancement: The nano-assemblers in Oblivion's body have endowed him with various super powers.[6]
Superhuman Strength:The density of Oblivion's flesh and bone has been significantly increased, granting him superhuman strength on par with Icon.[4][6]
Regeneration: When Oblivion is injured, the nano-assemblers will quickly regenerate any damaged or missing tissue.[3][6] Oblivion's regenerative powers are such that he can fully recover from dismemberment or complete incineration.[3]
Superhuman Stamina: Oblivion has superhuman stamina due to the nano-assemblers reducing the build-up of fatigue poisons in his body. As a result, he can exert himself at peak levels for hours before needing rest.[3]
Thermal-Blast: Oblivion can also generate high energy plasma that he releases from his hands as destructive beams. The maximum temperature of these beams is unknown though they are capable of vaporizing solid matter.[3]
Metamorphosis: Through an act of will, Oblivion can change his body into any imaginable shape.[3] Hence, he can stretch his limbs over incredible distances or turn them into various melee weapons: hammers, blades, spikes, etc.[2][4][3][6]
Oblivion shapeshifting
Oblivion can also assume complex forms such as turning his body into a battering ram.[3] He can even partly or completely transform into a liquid state in which he is immune to most physical and energy-based attacks.[4][3][6] Offensively, Oblivion can use this form to ooze through the smallest openings in a fortification or to smother an opponent.[4][6]
Decelerated Aging: Oblivion possesses extraordinary longevity, enabling him to age at a vastly slower rate than that of human beings. Hence, though centuries old, he is in the physical prime of his life. Oblivion's lifespan is due to both his alien physiology and advances in Cooperative medicine.[1]
Abilities
Indomitable Will: Oblivion is a cunning, tenacious, and merciless opponent made all the more dangerous by his madness.[1][4][3][6]
Multilingualism He is also fluent in both Galactic Standard (his native tongue) and English.[6]
