Avalanche (character)
| Avalanche | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Uncanny X-Men #141 (January, 1981) |
| Created by | Chris Claremont John Byrne |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Dominikos Ioannis Petrakis [1] |
| Species | Human Mutant |
| Team affiliations | X-Corps Freedom Force Project: Wideawake Brotherhood of Evil Mutants |
| Notable aliases | Dominic Janos Petros, Jon Bloom, Dominic Szilard, Nick [2] |
| Abilities | Geological manipulation via seismic wave generation from his hands. |
Avalanche (Dominikos Ioannis Petrakis [1]) is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an enemy of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne, he first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #141 (January 1981).
A Cretan mutant, Avalanche, possesses the ability to generate seismic waves from his hands that are strong enough to create earthquakes of varying sizes and to disintegrate any substance other than living tissue. He has been a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants and Freedom Force.
The animated series X-Men: Evolution portrays him as a misguided mutant teenager and love interest of the X-Men's Shadowcat.
Fictional character biography
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
Avalanche's past, before Mystique recruited him for the second Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, is almost entirely unknown, except for the fact that he is an immigrant from Crete, in Greece. He operated as a professional criminal, terrorist, and subversive. He first publicly appeared with the Brotherhood when they unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly during his hearings on the menace that mutants allegedly pose to humanity. The X-Men arrived to stop the assassination and battled the new Brotherhood.[3] He next battled the Avengers with the Brotherhood.[4]
Avalanche briefly left the Brotherhood in an attempt to blackmail the state of California into paying him an enormous sum to prevent him from using his power to trigger a major earthquake there. Avalanche fought the Hulk alongside Landslide on this occasion, and suffered broken arms when he attempted to use his powers against the Hulk’s body.[5]
He returned to the Brotherhood, and with them encountered Rom and Hybrid.[6] The team later battled the X-Men as the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants one final time.[7]
Freedom Force
The Brotherhood's leader, Mystique, offered the group's services to the United States government. Their first mission under their new name of Freedom Force was to capture the mutant Magneto on behalf of the federal government.[8] The government then sent Freedom Force to capture the Avengers.[9] While seeking to arrest Rusty Collins, he clashed with X-Factor.[10] Freedom Force then fought the X-Men in Dallas, and was present at the X-Men's apparent demise,[11] and battled the New Mutants in Dallas as well.[12] Freedom Force then battled Cyclops and Marvel Girl.[13] Freedom Force again tried to arrest Rusty Collins and battled the New Mutants,[14] but were able to arrest Rusty and Skids as well.[15] They were also dispatched to rescue Senator Robert Kelly from a South American drug syndicate that had kidnapped him, battling the syndicate's superhuman agents in the process.[16] Freedom Force also had a costly battle with the Reavers on Muir Island where a number of members were killed or seriously injured.[17] During the Acts of Vengeance, Avalanche teamed with Blob and Pyro against the Avengers.[18] Avalanche then joined Freedom Force's effort to stop a prison breakout at the Vault.[19] Avalanche then participated in Freedom Force's final mission in Kuwait. He abandoned Blob and Pyro during the battle with Desert Sword to save the seriously injured Crimson Commando.[20]
Pyro's Death
When Freedom Force was disbanded after the botched mission in the Gulf War, Avalanche continued to work for the government as part of Project: Wideawake,[volume & issue needed] but soon left when he found out that his friend Pyro had contracted the Legacy Virus.[volume & issue needed] Avalanche spent a lot of time afterwards trying to help find a cure for his friend's condition, but he eventually gave up, and Pyro died.[volume & issue needed]
Exodus' Brotherhood
Avalanche later assaulted the center of New York City, but he was taken down quickly and cleanly by the then-powerless Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane) and delivered to the authorities. What he intended to accomplish is unknown.[volume & issue needed] Following that, Avalanche re-appeared in a Brotherhood attack on Philadelphia, where he manifests a newfound ability to affect organic matter by shocking Rogue into submission.[volume & issue needed] He appears again in the attack on the X-Mansion, with the rest of Exodus' Brotherhood.[volume & issue needed] How he escaped the NYPD in the first place is unknown, and his current fate is equally uncertain, as he and the rest of the Brotherhood were sucked into the black hole in Shen Xorn's head.[volume & issue needed]
After M-Day
Avalanche is one of the few mutants to keep his powers during the M-Day.[volume & issue needed] By the time the X-Men establish themselves in San Francisco, Avalanche, going by the alias "Nick", establishes a bar in order to make a living away from crime. When the X-Men moved their headquarters to San Francisco, Petros was frightened that they would eventually come for him for his past crimes. As he was packing in hopes of leaving his new found life, the X-Men popped in with a friendly warning that they have a truce, but they will be back if he ever decides to return to a life of crime. As they leave, with his place of business and apartment trashed, Petros looks around, mumbling to himself; "F@*!ing X-Men..:"[2]
Utopia
He is seen by Gambit during the riots with Erg and when Ares makes himself known, Avalanche attacks him by causing the earth to rise up under him, Ares then knocks him out by chocking him.[21] He is seen one more time, sitting drunk in his own bar together with other mutants. They are angry that humans are trying to prevent new mutant births and Avalanche participates in a riot. He has the unfortunate circumstance of being paired up against Daken, who easily dodges the worried Avalanche's tremor and was about to slice him. He is taken into custody along with several other mutants who participated in the riots.[22] Eventually Avalanche and the other imprisoned mutants are freed by the X-Force and he became a resident of Utopia.[23]
Second Coming
Whilst Utopia and all of San Francisco are trapped in an energy dome created by Bastion, and the mutant race face extermination at the hands of Nimrod Sentinels from the future, Avalanche is among many of Utopia's non-X-Men residents who have now taken up fighting alongside their former rivals. He can be seen fighting alongside the X-Men Sunspot, Husk, and Boom-Boom, defending the passage of the Bart Tunnels.[24]
Powers and abilities
Avalanche is a mutant with the superhuman ability to generate powerful seismic waves from his hands, creating highly destructive effects. The waves can cause an inorganic object to shatter or crumble into dust, and has in recent years been shown to affect organic matter as well. When directed against large objects like buildings or upon the earth itself, the seismic waves can produce effects similar to those of an earthquake or avalanche within limited areas. Avalanche need not touch an object to affect it: he can direct the waves against it from some distance away.
Avalanche himself is immune to the generation of his vibratory waves. However, if the seismic waves were reflected back upon him, he would be injured. Avalanche's power originally had little or no effect on organic tissue, with the reflected vibrations from organic matter ("feedback") injuring him, as when he once tried to attack the Hulk, but lately this has appeared to no longer be the case.
As yet there is no known limit to the amount of area upon which Avalanche can use his powers at one time. There is no evidence yet, however, that he could create an earthquake capable of destroying an entire city.
Avalanche is a fair hand-to-hand combatant, and received unarmed combat training while a member of Freedom Force.
Avalanche wears an armored battle suit that gives him enhanced resistance to injury, up to and including protecting him from a land mine. While a member of Freedom Force, he used a two-way radio device for communication with other Freedom Force members.
Other versions
Age of Apocalypse
In the Age of Apocalypse, Avalanche was one of the select mutants that were approached by Sinister and offered a chance to join his Elite Mutant Force.[volume & issue needed] Avalanche, however, refused Sinister's offer, for which he was captured at the Breeding Pens.[volume & issue needed] During an escape attempt, Avalanche was killed and his corpse turned over to the Dark Beast for experimentation.[volume & issue needed]
House of M
Dominic appears as a member of the NYPD strikeforce known as the Brotherhood.[25]
Marvel Mangaverse
Avalanche is a murderous ninja, part of the 'Shadowcat Clan', under the control of the Hellfire Club. He works with Pyro and Iceman. His form in this reality is more wooden and he can extend his arms to form battering rams.[volume & issue needed]
In other media
Television
- Avalanche appeared in the X-Men animated series voiced by Rod Coneybeare. He was always accompanied by Pyro and later on, the Blob. He is part of the Brotherhood, which is led by Mystique.
- In the X-Men: Evolution cartoon, Avalanche (voiced by Christopher Grey) has been heavily re-imagined. Here, he is a high school student named Lance Alvers, and he is a member of the Brotherhood. This Avalanche comes across as a character who is more of a misfit than a thug, often belligerent and angry, but often also showing a more responsible side. The romantic relationship between Avalanche and Kitty Pryde, which started sometime after he finds out about her powers and reveals his own to her, is a sub plot throughout the run of the series.
- Avalanche appears as a main member of the Brotherhood of Mutants in Wolverine and the X-Men voiced by James Patrick Stuart.[26] Unlike the other televised versions of the character this adaptation has a strong Greek accent.
Video games
- Avalanche appears as a boss character in X-Men Legends voiced by Peter Lurie. He is part of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants and fights the X-Men at The Mount alongside Sabretooth. The Shadow King also had a Dark Avalanche when the X-Men were in the Astral Plane. Avalanche doesn't appear in the sequel.
Bibliography
- Avengers Annual #10, 15
- Avengers vol. 1 #312
- Avengers West Coast #84
- Captain America vol. 1 #333-334, 339, 346
- Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #263
- Marvel Comics Presents #41, 82-84, 86
- Marvel Graphic Novel: Avengers: Deathtrap: the Vault
- Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 3 #10
- New Mutants Annual #7
- New Mutants vol. 1 #65, 78, 80
- New Mutants vol. 2 #9
- Punisher vol. 2 #29
- Quicksilver #6, 8-9
- Rom #31
- Uncanny X-Men #141-142, 177-178, 199, 206, 223-227, 255, 338, 401-406
- Uncanny X-Men Annual #15
- Weapon X vol. 2 #4
- West Coast Avengers Annual #1
- X-Factor Annual #6
- X-Factor vol. 1 #8-10, 30-31, 33, 108-109
- X-Men vol. 2 #161-164
- X-Men: The 198 Files
References
- ^ a b Marvel Atlas #1
- ^ a b X-Men: Manifest Destiny #5
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #141-142
- ^ Avengers Annual #10
- ^ Incredible Hulk #263
- ^ Rom #31-32
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #177-178
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #199
- ^ Avengers Annual #15; West Coast Avengers Annual #1
- ^ X-Factor #8-10
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #223-227
- ^ New Mutants #65
- ^ X-Factor #30-31
- ^ New Mutants #78
- ^ New Mutants #80
- ^ Marvel Comics Presents #41
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #255
- ^ Avengers #312
- ^ Avengers: Deathtrap, the Vault
- ^ New Mutants Annual #7; Uncanny X-Men Annual #15; X-Factor Annual #6
- ^ X-Men: Legacy #226
- ^ Dark Avengers #7
- ^ Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus #1
- ^ New Mutants (vol. 3) #14 (2010)
- ^ House of M: Avengers #2
- ^ Wolverine e os X-Men (Wolverine and the X-Men) Ep. 1 - "Hindsight Pt. I"
