Onslaught (comics)

Onslaught is a Marvel Comics supervillain who was the focus of an enormous intra-company crossover in 1996. He was created by writers Scott Lobdell and Mark Waid and designed by artist Andy Kubert with input from dozens of others. He first fully appeared in X-Men (vol. 2) #53 (June 1996).

Although his nature was initially unclear, Onslaught was a composite lifeform made up of Professor Xavier's repressed mental characteristics and influenced by psychic contact with Magneto. Using Xavier’s vast psionic powers and Magneto’s control over the electromagnetic spectrum, he transmuted himself into the physical world and was defeated only through the combined efforts of the entire Marvel superhero community.

"Onslaught" is also a shorthand for the Onslaught Saga, which began shortly before Onslaught: X-Men, ended in Onslaught: Marvel Universe, and led directly into the Heroes Reborn collection of series. The actual beginning of the saga is hard to determine, due to a great deal of foreshadowing and preluding. The story itself was divided into two categories; Phase (comics that tied in directly with the battle against Onslaught), and Impact (comics that were affected by Onslaught, but not tying directly into the struggle against him).