Supervillain Origins: The Juggernaut

Supervillain Origins: The Juggernaut

This unstoppable villain is the evil step-brother of Professor X. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be exploring the comic book origins of Cain Marko, otherwise known as The Juggernaut.

As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginings and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen to primarily follow the storyline that unfolded in 1965’s Uncanny X-Men #12, which was expanded upon in issue 32 and the 1992 animated series.

An unusual character in the X-Men saga, Cain Marko is not a mutant, and is motivated exclusively by hate and a thirst for revenge.

His undying hatred began in his youth, when his opportunistic father, a scientist and colleague of the late Brian Xavier, married Charles’ widowed mother for her wealth following a failed Atom Bomb experiment.

Uprooted by his father, Cain was forced him to live at the Xavier Mansion. There, the already cruel boy began to regularly bully his stepbrother Charles in retaliation for his father’s regular displays of selfishness and cold-heartedness.

This neglect eventually came to a boiling point when Cain started a fire in his father's lab. With the fire raging out of control, he was shocked to witness his father uncharacteristically sacrifice himself to save both children, spurring a belief that he truly loved Charles.

To make matters worse, in the years that followed, Charles’ mental abilities surfaced, helping him excel in school. This ultimately caused Cain to realize that his stepbrother was a mutant capable of reading his personal thoughts. Bursting with paranoia, envy and rage, Cain destroyed Charles’ trophy collection, and began lashing out through violent confrontations.

Eventually, Cain and Charles were both drafted into the US army and made to fight together during the Korean War. However, Cain decided to flee from combat, forcing Charles to chase after him.

Taking cover in a nearby cave, Cain discovered a long lost Temple and a pedestal housing a Crimson Gem. Touching it, Cain surged with energy and was compelled to yell out an ancient evil chant.

Charles then arrived just in time to witness Cain’s transformation. However, this event caused the cave to collapse, giving Charles just enough time to flee.

Having witnessed the devastation, Charles secretly hoped that his half-brother had perished under the rubble. Little did he know that as the armored Juggernaut, Cain was now invulnerable, super strong, and no longer required oxygen or food to survive.

After years trapped tons of rock, Cain eventually managed to dig himself out, having had nothing but thoughts of hatred to sustain him.

Finally returning home, he discovered that Charles had since become the wheelchair bound Professor X, the leader of the X-Men. With his superhuman powers in tow, including his ability to gather momentum, the Juggernaut launched an assault on the mansion with the goal of finally killing his stepbrother.

Easily making his way through its defenses, the Juggernaut overwhelmed the team and even showcased immunity to Charles’ mental influence through his magical helmet. The Juggernaut was finally stopped when his helmet was removed, allowing Charles to act.

In response, Xavier secretly kept the Juggernaut confined in a special chamber in the hopes of finding a way of reversing the transformation. However, when one of his experiments backfired the Juggernaut was released.

Since then, The Juggernaut has continually returned to threaten Charles, the X-Men and their friends, and has even formed several deadly alliances.

A fan favorite, The Juggernaut regularly appears in various forms of media, including comic crossovers, cartoons, videos games and most notably 2006’s film “X-Men: The Last Stand”, albeit as a much more comedic and simplified character.

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