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Nearly every event in theInvincibleanimated series, good or bad, traces back to Nolan Grayson, better known as Omni-Man, a powerful Viltrumite who came to Earth as a benevolent protector from the Viltrum planet. At first, Nolan describes his homeworld as a glorified utopia free from conflict and disorder, with the Viltrumite species dedicating their lives to nurturing peace in the universe. However, as the story unfolds, so does his brutal nature.
In truth, the Viltrum Empire births conquerors and warriors at the cost of tremendous bloodshed, which explains Omni-Man’s upbringing and his sheer disregard for humanity. Beneath all that disciplined facade lies an unforgiving history of betrayal, domination, and ruthless expansion, and learning about that history is the key to understanding Viltrumite psychology.
This article contains major spoilers from the Invincible comics!
The Viltrum Empire’s Rise To Power
The Viltrumites were a genetically augmented species, capable of flight, immense strength, and, of course, the ability to often overpower a being from another planet after centuries' worth of evolution. As such, you can see why they had a “head start” in developing their society, accessing potential their galaxy could never even fathom.
This developmental phase was led by Argall, the first Emperor of Viltrum. Though he still did a fair bit of colonizing during his rule, it wasn’t nearly the same level as after the civil war.
His methodologies brought forththe planet’s strongest non-conflict era, yet there was still a Viltrumite who saw Argall for the murderous tyrant he was — Thaedus. At a fateful moment,he shoved a knife into Argall’s skulland escaped after killing him, after which Thragg, Argall’s initial right-hand man, took control.
One of Argall’s surviving heirs was Omni-Man himself.
Being Grand Regent, Thragg was a temporary ruler who would abdicate the throne once someone found Argall’s natural heir. However, the longer he ruled,the more Thragg saw himself as Viltrum’s rightful monarch, so he slowly nullified the search to cement his sovereignty.
As for Viltrum, it saw a massive shake after the betrayal, but continued to maintain its power over other species. Alas, it wasn’t enough — while the planet stood far above other colonies in its star system,its people didn’t consider it “perfect”, especially after what happened.
Thus, their power and obsession forced a survival-of-the-fittest philosophy, with the Viltrumitessetting themselves into a civil war and killing the weaker ones among themselves.
The Great Purge
The purge was arguably the biggest turning point in Viltrum’s history, as it would lead tothe Empire’s creation and its current militarist ideology. Sometime after Thragg’s appointment, a bloody civil war ensued where hundreds of thousands of Viltrumites forfeited their lives.
The war lasted centuries, and while the exact number of victims is unknown, it’s estimated to beabout 50 percent of the original population. Regardless, the remaining Viltrumites were the strongest of their race, battle-hardened and ready for triumph.
The Start Of The Intergalactic Conquest
With the new Viltrum Empire finally being accepted by its inhabitants — or what was left of them, at least —they recognized their unstoppable will to conquer other planets, specifically the ones they deemed “inferior.”
The Empire built a fearsome World Conquering Committee solely bent on expanding their technology and rule. After enlistingprime Viltrumite soldiers as colonizers, they followed a simple three-step plan:
From here,the expansion period was seen as Viltrum’s “Golden Age”. They first conquered their entire galaxy, becoming the only thriving regime that would remain uncontested for eons to come.
After that, they set their sights beyond. They began colonizing planets from faraway galaxies, eventually becoming so infamous that it paved the way forthe formation of The Coalition of Planets by Thaedus, who hid his identity from most members at the time.
The Coalition was designedto specifically limit and oppose the Empire’s expansion, so it’s easy to gather just how powerful, successful, and influential the Viltrumites became after the purge.
The Scourge Virus: Viltrum’s Decimation And Present-Day Dilemma
Aware of just how lethal and ruthless his race was,Thaedus was fixated on stopping the Empireby any means necessary. After some trial and error, he finally developed a pathogen using his own blood that could weaken or even outright kill a Viltrumite:the Scourge Virus.
When this virus hit Viltrum, it drove the population to near extinction,killing 99.9 percent, or roughly 50,000, of Viltrumites in the process. This was the Empire’s darkest period, and it’s why they’re so hellbent on procreating — they neither have an empire nor the numbers to expand.
There are conflicting statements about whether the Scourge Virus spread before or after Thragg’s appointment as Grand Regent, but most speculations point to the latter.
Those who survived wereseverely weakened to the point where they would likely lose to alienswho were originally far weaker than them. Almost every expansion plan was immediately stopped, and the remaining Viltrumites were brought back in to regroup.
Knowing this outlying weakness,Thragg kept it as a hidden truth from his enemies and even other Viltrumites. After the virus outbreak, only 50 Viltrumites survived, hence why the Grand Regent forbade Viltrumites from harming each other.
The event completely shifted the Empire’s goal; instead of expanding their territory for the sake of it, they were adamant onfinding a race they could successfully procreate with.
That purpose directed them to discover Earth, where the inhabitants shared 99 percent of Viltrumite genetics. Although they were much weaker and considered inferior under normal circumstances, humanity still met their criteria, and thus began Nolan’s mission.
The Scourge outbreak also marked the end of Viltrum’s search to find Argall’s heir since there simply weren’t enough Viltrumites left to execute the task.
Thragg also assumed any surviving heirs would have been lost to the virus, so it seemed they were pursuing a dead end beyond that point.
Omni-Man’s Role In The Viltrum Empire
Nolan wasone of the most well-respected members of the Empire, contributing to its expansion for hundreds of years. Although he didn’t participate in the purge, he was still given a chance toserve in the World Conquering Committee as an elite soldier.
His royal heritage, however, was a fathomless concept, and it was even hidden by Thragg once he found out Nolan was Argall’s true heir. In fact, Nolan wasn’t even told about the rule before the purge, so he was under the impression that the Empire was in its greatest period.
After performing well as a soldier,Nolan is finally given the chance to become a colonizer, and his first long-term mission is set on the Empire’s most sought-after planet — Earth.
Unlike the Committee’s early days, when they’d send a team of Viltrumites, the Scourge Virus forced them to change their strategy. Now,they would only send a single soldier under false pretenses, and they would be given 500 years to bring their designated planet to heel.
Nolan was given the same directive, and sohe landed on Earth as a “protector”. There, he eventually met Cecil and Debbie andbegan Invincible’s story by fathering Mark Grayson.
