The Unstoppable Juggernaut
::Height:: 6 ft. 10 in.
::Weight:: 900 lbs.
::Eyes:: Blue
::Hair:: Red/Brown
::Occupation:: Professional criminal
::Identity:: Secret
::Legal status:: American citizen with no criminal record as of yet.
::Place of birth:: Berkeley, Calif.
::Group affiliation:: Frequent associate of Black Tom Cassidy
::First appearance:: X-Men #12.
::History::
Cain Marko is the stepbrother of Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men. His father, Kurt Marko married Charles' mother, Sharon, after her husband Brian Xavier died. Kurt neglected Cain and drove Sharon to alcoholism. Anti-social and malicious in general, Cain held a special contempt for his stepbrother Charles Xavier who due to a hidden mutant power of telepathy excelled at all endeavors and cast Cain completely in shadow. One day Cain was further humiliated as Xavier probed his mind and learned of Cain's insecurities toward him. The revelation to Cain that Xavier's success that loomed over him was actually gained through a secret superhuman advantage intensified Cain's resentment toward Xavier considerably.
Cain was sent to a military boarding school, due to his lack of discipline, and later served in the army. While serving together in the Korean War, Cain and Charles stumbled onto the ancient temple of Cyttorak, lost for centuries. On an altar, Cain saw a huge red gem, the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, and immediately grabbed it. Upon the gem was an inscription, and he spoke it aloud: "Whosoever touches this gem shall be granted the power of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak! Henceforth, you who read these words, shall become ... forevermore ... a human juggernaut!"
The cavern collapsed. Charles was able to escape, but it took Cain years to dig himself out as he underwent the transformation. Cain seethed with rage at his stepbrother and, after finally emerging from the mountains he was buried under, set out to hurt Charles as much as possible..
More recently the sentient psionic being known as Onslaught, actually an amalgamation of the psyches of Xavier and Magneto, would-be world conqueror and mutant Master of Magnetism, ripped the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak from Juggernaut's body and imprisoned him within. Inside the jewel, Cain learned he was an avatar for Cyttorak. As such, the otherworldly entity sought to assume control of Juggernaut's form. But Cain, through sheer force of will, destroyed the evil god and returned to Earth, stronger than ever, but unable to fully control his amplified abilities.
Cyttorak was merely one of a pantheon of eight gods, all with earthbound avatars. These Exemplars enlisted the Juggernaut's aid in constructing a machine that would enslave the human race. As the Exemplars tended to in their final preparations, Cain withdrew deep into himself, where he clashed with Cytorrak. Charles entered his stepbrother's mind to aid him in the battle, but the Exemplar known as Bedlam sensed his presence and expelled him. Still, Charles' short stay in Juggernaut's head had helped Cain regain control of his psyche. After defeating Cyttorak, Juggernaut destroyed the Exemplars' God Machine. He then turned his attention to the avatars themselves, defeating each in turn.
Juggernaut again was cast as a hero when the sentient spaceship Prosh escaped the confines of a Celestial prison, returned to Earth and dispatched a group of disparate beings on a journey through time to uncover the keys to preserving human evolution. Besides Cain, Prosh's task force included Phoenix and Iceman, members of the X-Men; and Mystique and Toad, mutant terrorists. Their mission: Save the human race from a threat that might not manifest itself for millions of years. Juggernaut was shown that for all his physical strength, he long has lacked strength of character. Despite all his yearning for power, he has squandered his supernaturally enhanced abilities. When Prosh reassembled the members of his team in the present, they fought and defeated the enigmatic alien entity known as the Stranger, who sought to control the natural evolution of humans and mutants. If not acquiring a newfound respect for life and human dignity, at least Juggernaut gained a better sense of understanding for the mutant plight.
::Criminal Life::
Despite his great power and the danger he poses to the X-Men, he has used these abilities not to be a supervillain, but more of a petty thug and career criminal. Unlike Magneto, Mr. Sinister, or Apocalypse, who are devoted to an ideology, Juggernaut's primary motivation is largely greed. During his criminal career the Juggernaut amassed notable wealth and thoroughly enjoyed his work. Often accompanying him was the mutant mercenary known as Black Tom Cassidy, who was his only friend, and with whom he once tried to share his power. Tom did not like the physical effects of the power on his body, however, so it was eventually returned to Cain. As the power is mysteriously divided and diminished when possessed by more than one host, Cain hurled the gem into space to prevent anyone from invoking the power for themselves and weakening him again.
Then, he underwent a brief revision of his powers and origin, and was seen on the run from the psychic entity called Onslaught. Onslaught physically struck the Juggernaut from Canada all the way to New Jersey in the beginning of the Onslaught crossover with a blow that strangely knocked the Juggernaut unconscious. The lapse in portrayal would continue as Onslaught would later imprison the Juggernaut in the Cyttorak dimension by reaching into Cain Marko's chest and pulling out the ruby of Cyttorak, leaving Cain Marko powerless. As the ruby had never physically resided in Cain's body nor does he require physical contact with it to retain his power, this act contradicted all previous depictions of the Juggernaut and the ruby. How or whether this storyline can be reconciled with the rest of the Juggernaut's appearances is unknown. The Juggernaut continued his criminal activities and various adventures, such as becoming the celebrated patron of Sirocco Sprawl, New Mexico.
Later, the Juggernaut was revealed to be a part of 7 others known as The Exemplars, who, like Cain, are living manifestations of the power of various mystical entities. The 8 were entranced and supposed to battle each other to determine which entity was supreme. This battle would result in the destruction of the Earth but was prevented due to the Juggernaut breaking out of the trance with help from Professor Xavier. The Juggernaut then began taking down his fellow Exemplars early, which thwarted the intended plan. For this, the Exemplars later united against the Juggernaut and kidnapped him. The Juggernaut was rescued by the Avengers, who after being defeated by the Exemplars managed to convince them that they were not in their right minds. Released from their trance the Exemplars left peacefully.
As a return for the favor of saving his life, the Juggernaut agreed to go to prison willingly. There the villain was abducted by the sentient Celestial ship, Prosh, and enlisted into a mission to help save man and mutantkind. Once the mission was over, Cain returned to prison where he devised a plan. He would pretend to reform in order to work for the government to gain inside connections to further his criminal activities. To this end, he asked the Commission on Superhuman Activity if he could be their bounty hunter. The CSA was suspicious of the notorious Juggernaut's request but agreed anyway. After presumably gaining all the connections he wanted, the Juggernaut dropped the reform facade and revealed his criminal intentions.
::Known Superhuman Powers::
Because of his association with the X-Men, Juggernaut is often mistakenly labeled a mutant. Juggernaut traditionally possessed huge power, of mystical origin. He had tremendous physical strength, a total resistance to physical injury due to his mystic spell of invulnerability; an impenetrable force field that he could summon at will (Though this force field was temporarily cancelled out by Thor when he threw his hammer and surrounded the both of them in mystical energies.); and unlimited stamina. His spell also granted him unbreakable skin, therefore making his forcefield an added protection in case he did not wish for a certain attack to touch his physical body. Due to the mystical energies flowing through his body, he did not need to eat, breathe, or drink fluids. As a vessel of mystic energy, he also possessed many abstract powers that had yet to be fully revealed. Finally, while moving, he could, essentially, not be stopped, except in extreme cases such as when he fought the Hulk (whose power level had been enhanced by Celestial technology at the time), by Thor when he united his godly power with his magical hammer and fired a concentrated beam at Juggernaut, and the psychic being Onslaught.
To compensate for his most significant vulnerability — to telepathic assault — he also wore a helmet of a mystical alloy, which prevented his mind from being read or attacked. He also has the knack for distributing his weight with the precise accuracy even under the most extreme pressure and in the most extreme situations which helps aid the idea of being unstoppable.
The Juggernaut possesses Class 100 strength, enabling him to lift (press) over 100 tons. The Juggernaut is said to be unstoppable, and the true upper limit to his strength is not known as it has never been truly tested in the field of combat.