Unus

Unus the Untouchable (also known as Gunther Bain, born Angelo Unuscione) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Unus is a mutant, and is named for his ability to consciously project an invisible force field which protects him from harm.

Publication history

Unus first appeared in ''X-Men'' #8 (November 1964), and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Fictional character biography

Origin

Angelo Unuscione was born in Milan, Italy. After his arrival in the United States, he legally changed his name to Gunther Bain. He became a wrestler, and, when Beast briefly left the X-Men, he was able to defeat him in a wrestling match.''X-Men'' #8 (November 1964) Once in America, he sought out the Brotherhood of Mutants to join them. He turned criminal, and joined with the Brotherhood as they fought the X-Men. During the battle, his powers were enhanced by a shot fired from Beast's gun, increasing his power beyond his ability to control it, and making him unable to touch anything. He promised to reform, and his normal power level was restored by Beast. He became a good friend of the Blob,''X-Men'' #20 (May 1966) and they teamed up together on various schemes, such as posing as the X-Men and framing them for robbery, before both mutants went their separate ways. It was revealed the alien invader Lucifer was behind this, and had made sure Beast's weapon did not work on Unus anymore.

Factor Three/Brotherhood

Unus then joined the villainous organization Factor Three in a conspiracy to conquer Earth. They fought the X-Men, but turned against the Mutant Master when the latter was exposed as an extraterrestrial. Unus later visited Ogre at their Mt. Charteris base. However, shortly after he was captured by Sentinels alongside several others mutants, but was later released, after which he teamed with Blob and Mastermind as agents of the second Secret Empire; they were defeated by Beast, and then held prisoner by the Secret Empire. Unus then joined an incarnation of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. As a member of the Brotherhood, Unus joined in their battle against the X-Men and Kruger. Alongside the Brotherhood, Unus battled the Defenders, but Magneto and the Brotherhood were reduced to infancy by their team member Alpha the Ultimate Mutant. Unus and the others were kept at Muir Island. When the Brotherhood was reverted to adulthood and reorganized, Unus teamed with the Vanisher, Blob, and Mastermind and fought alongside the group against the Champions. However, he left the team disheartened. He came in conflict with Doc Samson, and Power Man, and then embarked on a New York crime spree, but was defeated by Iron Fist and Power Man.

Not long after, Unus decided to retire from the life of the organized supervillain, deciding to use his talents in less "lofty" ways; he was making a living as a wrestler. At some point, he fathered the Canadian mutant Radius. It is also believed that the Acolyte Carmella Unuscione is either his daughter or sister, but no official confirmation of this has ever been given.

Coming out of retirement and teaming with his friend the Blob again, Unus discovered, during a fight against the Hulk, that his powers had become nearly uncontrollable, and his field was smashed by the Hulk.''Marvel Fanfare'' #7 (March 1983) Unus lost control of his powers and his force-field became so thick that it suffocated him, causing him to lose consciousness. Blob, believing Unus to be dead, rampaged through Brooklyn, leading to a fight with both Spider-Man and Black Cat.

Genosha

Years later, Unus reappeared on the decimated island of Genosha, traumatized by the devastation and speaking of "ghosts". Usually arrogant and somewhat fearless, due in no small part to his invulnerable force field, he was shaken by apparent "ghosts" being able to pass through it. At some point, he stopped seeing them, and returned to his former hubris.

Unus later formed his own band of mutant rebels (which included Toad and Paralyzer), trying to survive on the harsh island that Genosha had become. They most commonly had arguments with Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto, and surprisingly never recognized Magneto out of costume. In their first confrontation, the mutant known as Freakshow ends up literally swallowing Unus in order to end the tensions. His powers protected him.

Unus leads Appraiser and Stripmine, two superhuman poachers, to Genosha which caused him to be at odds with all the remaining mutants on Genosha.

House of M and death

Unus stayed on the island until before the House of M, and was depowered after the events of Decimation.

Unus is later found by Quicksilver on Genosha, who restores his powers using Terrigen Mist. The Office of National Emergency soon step in and take the mists from Quicksilver and his daughter Luna. Lockjaw teleports Luna and Pietro away before ONE can capture them, leaving a battle between the Inhumans and the repowered mutants of Genosha. Unus's powers evolve beyond his control, forming a pink force field that suffocates and kills him.

Resurrection

During the "Necrosha" event, Unus is among the many deceased mutants resurrected by Selene and Eli Bard using the Transmode Virus. He becomes a citizen of Krakoa during the Krakoan Age.

Powers and abilities

Unus the Untouchable is a mutant who possesses the power to generate a field of invisible psionic energy around his body. The field acts to deflect objects and even energy beams, and can withstand great concussive force. Normally, Unus can control the force field at will and certain types of radiant energy, such as sunlight, can pass through the field, as do air and sound waves (at least within certain unknown limits). Unus has deflected beams of energy, objects of high mass, objects traveling at high speed and telepathy, including that of Charles Xavier. Unus was at one point vulnerable to Beast's ray gun that augmented his force field power beyond his control; in later years Unus's power again became uncontrollable for unknown reasons, finally repelling air molecules.

Unus's force field was not impenetrable, and could be disrupted by a sufficiently powerful force. The Hulk did this on two occasions, the first time by simply shattering it with a punch enhanced by his anger.

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

An alternate universe variant of Unus the Untouchable from Earth-295 appears in ''Age of Apocalypse''. This version is a servant of Apocalypse who is later killed by Iceman.

House of M

An alternate universe variant of Unus the Untouchable from Earth-58163 appears in ''House of M''. This version is a lieutenant of Exodus, who tasked him with eradicating humanity.

Ultimate Marvel

An alternate universe variant of Unus the Untouchable from Earth-1610 makes minor appearances in the Ultimate Marvel imprint. This version is a member of Magneto's Brotherhood who possesses additional mind-control abilities. In ''The Ultimates 3'', Unus is killed by Thor.

X-Men Noir

An alternate universe variant of Unus the Untouchable from Earth-90214 appears in ''X-Men Noir''. This version is a human mob boss and a rival of the Brotherhood, who later kill him.''X-Men Noir'' #2-4 (March - April 2009)

References

External links

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Unus the Untouchable at Marvel Directory
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{{Stan Lee
Characters created by Jack Kirby
Characters created by Stan Lee
Comics characters introduced in 1964
Fictional characters with energy-manipulation abilities
Fictional immigrants to the United States
Fictional Italian people
Marvel Comics male supervillains
Marvel Comics martial artists
Marvel Comics mutants