Omega Red

Omega Red

(pop culture)

Created by Jim Lee in X-Men vol.2 #4 (1992), Omega Red is Arkady Rossovich, a Russian mutant who served the Soviet government as a “super-soldier” decades ago. Omega Red possesses a “death factor,” a mutant ability to generate “death spores,” which are special pheromones (kinds of chemicals secreted by the body) that will weaken or even kill people in his immediate proximity. He can drain the life forces of his victims into his own body. Omega Red also possesses superhuman strength and resistance to injury. Like Wolverine, Omega Red has a “healing factor” that enables him to heal extraordinarily fast from severe injuries. This factor presumably made it possible for Soviet scientists to bond the metal carbonadium to his skeleton; however, this metal is significantly less resistant to damage than the adamantium bonded to Wolverine's bones. The Soviet scientists implanted long carbonadium coils within Omega Red's arms; he can mentally command the coils to emerge from the undersides of his wrists to ensnare his adversaries. Omega Red's first known clash with Wolverine was in the 1960s. The Soviet government put Omega Red into suspended animation, from which Matsu'o Tsurayaba, a leader of the Hand, revived him many years later. Omega Red has subsequently battled Wolverine, the X-Men, Iron Man, and even Daredevil. Later he became a crime boss in Russia. Omega Red has appeared on television in XMen: The Animated Series (1992–1997) and the cartoon X-Men: Evolution (2000–2003), and has also appeared in Capcom computer arcade games.

The Supervillain Book: The Evil Side of Comics and Hollywood © 2006 Visible Ink Press®. All rights reserved.