Warning: massive spoilers ahead for these Invincible Comic seriesCompared to more traditional superhero fare, Invincible is known for its bloody violence and hard-hitting character deaths. Unlike more mainstream superhero comics, the stakes couldn’t be higher, and the death of a fan-favorite character is always a real threat that has a real impact.
But while the complex relationships of the series mean that each character is impacted by another, no character in the Invincible Universe is more affected by the deaths than his titular hero, Mark Grayson. And there are Some deaths that forever changed Invincible to his heart even more than he could have realized.
10
The death of Atom IV
Invincible #63
While she technically manages to revive herself thanks to her powers over molecular manipulation, Atom IV’s apparent death at the hands of The Wiltrumite warrior known as Conquest was undoubtedly one of the most emotional scenes of the series, and one of the most pivotal moments for Mark Grayson as a person and a hero.
After reeling from the events of the Invincible War, Mark is suddenly up against the most powerful opponent he has ever faced – one who had just seemingly killed the love of his life – and it was Invincible’s desperation to avenge Atom IV That pushed Mark to win against one of the most terrifying Wildrumites in the universe. The dramatic conflict showed fans just how far Mark was willing to go to protect his family even if he almost died in the process, and it wouldn’t have happened without Eve’s apparent death.
9
The death of a robot
Invincible #142
While Robot may have started out as Invincible’s friendHe ends up as one of Mark’s greatest enemies, and it’s his death that finally explains just how much the young Grayson has changed by the end of the series. Unable to be trusted after his attempts at world domination and the extermination of Mark’s family, Robot’s body was physically killed by Invincible himself, only to have his brain preserved under the Pentagon for the betterment of the world.
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Considering everything Robot went through at the end of the series, his “death” was far from surprising, but it was Mark’s killing of Robot and Rudy’s brain’s subsequent revival that demonstrated the line between pragmatism and heroism that Invincible is Finally ready to go – a nice change from his staunch anti-murder policy at the start of his journey.
8
The death of Cecil Steadman
Invincible #111
Cecil Steadman may have butted heads with Mark Grayson potentially more than anyone else in the series, but it was Invincible’s reaction to his former mentor’s death at the hands of Robot that showed just how much Steadman meant to him despite their countless Conflicts and disagreements. Disgusted by Robot’s actions and the lack of justice for the murders of Cecil and Rex’s other victims, it was this bloody tragedy that finally motivated Mark and Eve to leave Earth behind and move to Talescria, far away from Robot’s reach.
Those who knew him best argued that Cecil would have accepted his death as part of the greater good after seeing Robot’s impact on the world, but that good was not big enough for Grayson. This murder Forever Shattered Mark’s relationship with Robot And ultimately reinforced Invincible’s unflappable sense of right and wrong, pitting the former friends against each other for good.
7
The death of Grand Regent Thragg
Invincible #140
As one of the series’ biggest baddies and the murderer of Mark’s brother and father, Grand Regent Thrag irrevocably shaped Mark’s life more directly than many of his other enemies. With all this emotional baggage, it was the brutal death of Thragg that pushed Mark to his physical limits as he tore out Thragg’s throat in one of the series’ most epic moments.
Invincible and Thragg’s final battle to battle it out on the surface of the Sun was a culmination of the series-long struggle between Mark’s Viltrumite and human heritages against a jaw-dropping backdrop of stellar proportions as Invincible went to bat to avenge the family he. D lost to Thragg. And with Thragg finally gone for good, Invincible’s path to reshaping the Wiltrumite Empire into a force for good became all but set in stone.
6
The death of Russ Livingston
Invincible #70
Russ Livingston, an unfortunate astronaut and unwilling host of the squid hivemind, was the first innocent person Mark ever willingly killed. Unable to quickly use non-lethal methods against the Cicids in a short enough time to minimize causalities, Invincible takes it upon himself to permanently separate the Cicids from their host by decapitating him with a single devastating blow.
The unfortunate murder showed how much Mark had hardened over the years, pushing him deeper and deeper into a more pragmatic, cold-blooded Wiltrumiter mindset, mirroring that of his father and younger brother, and causing him to pull away from his brother. More heroic nature. Up until this point, Invincible had always seen human life as precious, and although he ultimately regretted killing an innocent person, it was only the first life he would take on purpose.
5
The death of dinosaur
Invincible #100
Dinosaur has one of the highest body counts of all Invincible Lore, but it was his own death that had a truly profound impact on Mark Grayson. Having already devastated the earth and Killed nearly a million people During “The Death of Everyone” after he was released by Invincible to help save the world, David Anders’ alter ego finally realized the flaws in his logic and requested that Invincible kill him himself.
Mark’s execution of the dinosaur served as a symbolic acknowledgment of his own undeniable mistakes and his part in the dinosaur’s genocidal actions to reshape the Earth, eventually leading to him patching things up with Cecil Steadman and resuming his place in the establishment as A carrot. Traditional hero as opposed to spending the rest of his incredibly long life in prison.
4
The death of Oliver Grayson
Invincible #132
As Nolan’s youngest son, Mark’s younger brother, and a formidable hero in his own right, Oliver Grayson had already survived more than a few close calls in battle before his final, brutal death at the hands of Grand Regent Thrag. The former Kid Omni-Man worked undercover for years to infiltrate Thragg’s forces on behalf of the Coalition of Planets, and ended up sacrificing himself to save his vulnerable niece, Terra, when she was threatened by the Grand Regent himself.
Unable to go toe-to-toe with one of the deadliest and most bloodthirsty warriors in the galaxy, it is Oliver’s sacrifice that motivates Mark to get back in the final war against Thragg’s new Wiltrumite empire and heralds the transition of Invincible from ​The more traditional superhero that fans know and love to an intergalactic warrior out for revenge by any means necessary.
3
The death of Angstrom Levi
Invincible #33
One of the most iconic and shocking moments in the whole Invincible series, Angstrom Levi’s “death” at the hands of Mark Grayson changed the hero for the rest of his life. The first real example of Invincible losing control and giving in to his darker and more violent Wiltrumite urges, Mark Wilde pummeled Angstrom to a pulp, blinded by rage at the thought of Levi’s hurting his family more than he already had.
While Angstrom Levy technically survived to threaten invincible another dayMark’s belief that he killed Levi scars him for quite some time, and this is arguably the first time he at least attempts to take a life – with the ramifications of this brutal and bloody battle leading to the earth-shattering Invincible War years later and cementing . Angstrom Levy as one of Mark Grayson’s ultimate opponents in any universe.
2
The death of the guardians of the globe
Invincible #7
Omni-Man’s shocking killing of the Guardians of the Globe permanently changed not only Mark Grayson, but the entire Invincible Universe For the rest of the series. Arguably the real inciting incident for the series’ 142-issue run, this mass murder shapes both Mark’s journey as Invincible and Nolan’s fan-favorite character arc from a bloodthirsty Wiltrumite soldier into a true hero on the path of redemption.
The “reboot?” Story arc could allow fans a brief glimpse into a world where Nolan never managed to kill the Guardians (And this could not be otherwise), but their canon killing at the hands of Mark Grayson’s once unimpeachable father forced Invincible to step up as one of the world’s premier heroes. And his violent fallout pits Mark against his father in a battle that irrevocably changes the Graysons’ lives.
1
The death of Omni-Man
Invincible #141
No single character shapes Mark Grayson’s journey as Invincible more than his father, Nolan Grayson aka Omni-Man, and no death has a greater effect on Invincible’s future. Mortally wounded in the final battle against the forces of Grand Regent Thragg, a dying Nolan asks his only living son to take up his mantle as the leader of the Wildrumites. Asking Mark to help them grow to be heroes just like him, it was Nolan’s death that forced Mark to step up and lead the Wildrumites in reshaping the universe.
Finally, Mark does everything his father asks, Turn the Wildrumites from a scourge on the universe to its greatest saviors. In so many ways, Mark Grayson is truly his father’s son, and it is because of his father’s death that Invincible managed to permanently change the universe for the better.