Juggernaut

Track Record
When Worlds Collide tournament - Tag team with Ghost Rider

History
Cain Marko was the son of Dr. Kurt Marko, an atomic researcher. Cain's parents separated and Cain was eventually sent to a boarding school. Kurt Marko's colleague, Dr. Brian Xavier, another atomic researcher, died in an accident, and Kurt Marko eventually married Xavier's widow Sharon for her great wealth. On marrying Sharon, Kurt Marko moved into her large Westchester County mansion, where he lived with her and her young son Charles. Cain, who had become a cruel and spiteful boy, came to live at the mansion as well.

Cain immediately began bullying his new stepbrother Charles. But Cain was often secretly beaten by his abusive father. Charles' vast telepathic powers were beginning to develop, and on one occasion he found himself experiencing the anguished thoughts and emotions of Cain after Cain had been beaten by his father. The inexperienced young Charles could not control or end his contact with Cain's mind at this time. Somehow Cain sensed that Charles was reading his mind and had discovered his secret shame. Cain believed that Charles had invaded his thoughts deliberately, and from then on Cain regarded Charles as his enemy. Cain was abusive to his stepbrother at every opportunity.

Getting into a disagreement with his father over money, Cain accidentally upset some explosive chemicals and caused a fire to engulf his father's home laboratory. Though Kurt Marko managed to rescue both Cain and Charles from the fire, he himself died of smoke inhalation. Sharon Xavier Marko had died sometime before, tormented by her loveless marriage to Marko. Cain Marko continued to live in the Xavier mansion, growing increasingly resentful of his stepbrother's scholastic and athletic achievements as well as his telepathic powers, which Xavier mastered as he grew older.

What happened to Marko after he left home is unclear. However, it is known that he became a mercenary and was eventually imprisoned in a Third World jail when the revolutionary forces he was fighting for were defeated. In the jail he became friends with a fellow mercenary, Black Tom Cassidy, who used his mutant powers to help them escape.



Later, Marko and Xavier found themselves serving together in the same U.S. military unit in Korea. Marko deserted under fire and Xavier went after him to bring him back. Xavier followed Marko into a cave that housed the lost secret temple of Cyttorak, a powerful mystical entity. Marko impulsively grabbed a glowing ruby from the lap of an idol and read the inscription (which mystically appeared to his mind to be in English): "Whosoever touches this gem shall possess the power of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. Henceforth, you who read these words shall become forevermore a human juggernaut." As Xavier watched, the gem's mystical power transformed Marko into a larger, superhuman being. Just then enemy high explosive bombardment caused a cave-in, and Marko was buried under several thousand tons of rock. Xavier survived and returned to his unit.

Marko, now the Juggernaut, eventually dug himself free with his newfound power and made his way to America to use his power to kill Xavier. He was defeated by Xavier and his original team of X-Men with the help of the Human Torch. Over the years the Juggernaut has clashed with Xavier and both the original and new teams of X-Men repeatedly. He has also formed a successful criminal partnership with his old friend Black Tom Cassidy.

Also in intervening years he had clashed several times with Spider-Man, The Hulk (as Merged Hulk and the Horseman War), Spider-Woman and the Avengers.

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 Cyttorak. 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.

As the result of an undisclosed battle with Cyttorak, his patron deity, Cain lost most of the power of the Juggernaut. Thereafter, Cain reconciled with Xavier and joined the X-Men. In an unusual turn for someone of Cain's personality he immediately befriended several people at the mansion including a young mutant boy named Sammy Pare, a.k.a. Squidboy, who had a positive influence on him. Cain later allowed himself to be taken into custody and then had a one-night stand with She-Hulk, who as Jennifer Walters was representing him in his trial for all the crimes he had committed as a criminal. It would turn out later that it was, in fact, an ‘Earth One’ alternate of Ms Walters. Amazingly, Cain was exonerated of all his crimes and allowed to go free despite having numerous outstanding felonies both at home and abroad.

Later, Black Tom Cassidy resurfaced and Juggernaut joined his new Brotherhood of Mutants, with the intention of betraying the group and warning the X-Men when he had the chance. Squidboy stumbled upon the Brotherhood having a meeting, and thinking that Juggernaut had betrayed the X-Men he became angry and started yelling. Annoyed, Black Tom killed the boy. Furious with rage, Juggernaut tried to kill his former friend. When the Brotherhood were sucked into a black hole by the second Xorn, Juggernaut accompanied them to make sure Nocturne (another mole) would be safe if everyone survived and to make sure the Brotherhood didn't try to attack the mansion again.

He ended up in Mojoworld and became the property of Mojo along with Nocturne. To escape, Nocturne took control of Mojo's henchwoman, Spiral, and opened a portal to the X-Men's Danger Room, where they were reunited with the team. This, however, was a trap set by Spiral, who was in more control of her body than thought, leaving a portal open to allow Mojo to cross over as well. Mojo turned the X-Men into X-Babies, but they managed to overpower his forces anyway. Juggernaut still felt extremely guilty about Squidboy's death, and how the boy's last words were that he hated him. He wondered if he should remain a child, this being his chance to start over with a clean slate, but Storm comforted him and convinced him not to. The X-Men were re-aged, and Juggernaut remained with the team.

In the wake of House of M, in which the majority of the mutant population has lost their powers, Juggernaut joined the new Excalibur grouping in London.

More recently, Cain was among the various teams of X-Men attempting to protect Professor Xavier from the wrath of the Incredible Hulk. Though Cain had recently come into possession of the gem of Cyttorak, he was still unable to call forth his full power during his first battle with the Hulk and was quickly defeated. Cyttorak himself appeared before Cain and explained that Cain himself was the cause of his own weakness. Cyttorak intended for Cain to use the powers granted to him to fulfill his own selfish desires and needs and not for heroic purposes. Cain finally accepted his role as Cyttorak's avatar to it's fullest extent and regained his full power. He challenged the Hulk once more and the Hulk was unable to defeat him once again. As Cain continued to push the Hulk back, the Hulk used his cunning to use Cain's own momentum and near-unstoppable movement against him, which briefly removed him from the field of battle long enough for the Hulk to escape.

Shortly afterward, Cain refused all of Xavier's attemps to thank him. Before leaving, he gave Xavier a warning not to send anyone to try to find him.

Powers
Juggernaut possesses overwhelming physical power granted to him by Cytorrak. The Crimson Ruby of Cyttorak has bonded to his soul and altered his being, giving him powers exceeding most of 'Homo Superior', though the ruby is still the root of his power, not genetic evolution.

Superhuman Strength: The Juggernaut possesses vast superhuman strength which limits are unknown. He was able to go toe to toe against an enraged World War Hulk until the moment Cain was outsmarted by him. He is one of the strongest beings to ever walk the planet. His strength possibly equals Thor's strength.

Superhuman Stamina: The mystical energies of Cyttorak that empower his musculature generates no fatigue toxins during physical activity, granting him limitless superhuman stamina in all physical activities.

Superhuman Durability: Cain is virtually impregnable to any and all forms of conventional physical injury regardless of magnitude or intensity.. Although Cain is able to be harmed by exceedingly high levels of mental or mystical attacks, these attacks have rarely been shown to cause any permanent damage.

Regenerative Healing Factor: Despite his extreme resistance to physical damage, Cain can be damaged by sufficiently powerful forces such as mystical forces. If damaged, Cain possesses an accelerated healing factor that enables him to nearly instantly regenerate any damaged or destroyed bodily tissues. For instance, he has been injured by Shatterstar's sword, which is forged from a mixture of extra dimensional technology and magic and healed instantly. The demon being D'Spayre once flayed the Juggernaut down to a skeleton only after absorbing almost all of the Juggernaut's power and even then, the Juggernaut could not be stopped and was able to instantly regenerate all the damage done once he regained his full power. The only other time the Juggernaut has been physically injured is by the likes of Thor in a physical battle, and that was only after Thor used Mjolnir to negate his mystical enchantment.

Immortality: Cain is functionally immortal. His aging process is completely halted and he is immune to the effects of all toxins, poisons and diseases. He is also sustained by the mystical energies flowing through his body and has no need to eat, drink or breathe.

Force Field: The Juggernaut is capable of generating a personal force field around himself, extending to about 1 foot in diameter. He uses this force field to heighten his already impressive resistance to injury. In his earliest appearances, he is able to use this force generating ability to hurl people and objects near him away from him, but though now it seems to only function defensively.

Rampant Charge: Once he begins to advance in a certain direction, it is virtually impossible to halt his movement. Some obstacles such as many tons of rocks and plasma-discharge cannons have slowed his pace but can't stop him. The only known examples of him being stopped involve physical force with mystical involvement which are Juggernaut's weakness. Thor unleashing his power was able to stop him in his tracks but his powers are mystical in origin (It should be noted that Thor was severely hampered at the time as he was extremely weakened because of an extradimensional malady.) and during a battle with War (Hulk), in which the mutant Apocalypse, increased the Hulk's strength and power enormously by grafting Celestial tech to him, which again involved mysticism.

Abilities
Juggernaut is able to summon and remove his mystic armor at will. As a result of his days in the military and his experience as a superhuman criminal and hero, the Juggernaut is a formidable hand to hand combatant preferring to use street fighting and brawling techniques that allow him to make full use of his great strength.

Strength
Class 100+ ; The Juggernaut possesses vast physical strength which exact limit is unknown but he is able to lift far in excess of 100 tons effortlessly. He is one of the strongest beings to ever walk the Earth.

Weaknesses
Cain is susceptable to exceedingly high levels of mental and mystical attack. Both have been shown to be able to at least temporarily defeat him but neither have been shown to cause any type of permanent injury.

Equipment
The Juggernaut wears a helmet fashioned from an unknown mystical metal found in the Crimson Cosmos dimension of Cyttorak. The Juggernaut subsequently fashioned a skullcap from scraps of the metal used to construct the helmet. This skullcap provides him with an complete protecion from telepathic attack, even from the likes of Professor Xavier. The Juggernaut originally wore a suit of armor that he could summon around himself at will from the Crimson Cosmos. After being stripped of his powers, the Juggernaut took to wearing a suit of armor that resembled his original but was fashioned from unstable molecules. However, now that he has access to his full powers once more, he is able to summon forth his mystical helmet and armor.