The Viltrumites inInvincibleare incredibly strong, but Mark Grayson’s father, Omni-Man, far exceeds his fellow warriors in strength. While Invincible himself is no slouch, Nolan Grayson is one of the most mighty soldiers the Viltrum Empire has ever produced.But why is Omni-Manso much stronger than most other Viltrumites?
The Official Handbook of the Invincible Universedoes adeep dive intoInvincible’sloreand mythology and has a sizable portion dedicated to Omni-Man. In addition to his history, the handbook also goes into facts about Nolan, including his strength level, which is about as good as any Viltrumite Omni-Man’s age could hope to be (the entry specifically makes it clear Omni-Man is capable of lifting over 100 tons).
The Omni-Man entry also discusses Nolan’s powers, digging into the science behind his flight, healing factor, and durability. This entryalso reveals that Omni-Man has lived for over two thousand years.
Omni-Man is Over 2000 Years Old and a Powerful Viltrumite
Nolan’s Age Rationalizes His Incredible Power
Mark Grayson discovered the most horrifying secret about his father when Omni-Man revealed that he wasn’t a benevolent hero, but rather, an agent of the Viltrum Empire who’d come to discover humans' compatibility with Viltrumites. It was here that Invincible discovered new things about his physiology from his father, namely that, as a Viltrumite, Mark would age slower the older he got, enabling him to live for thousands of years. Mark would go on to meet older Viltrumites such as Anissa, Conquest, and Thraag,all of whom possessed power far beyond what Invincible was capable of(initially, at least).
The idea of Omni-Man and other Viltrumites being incredibly strong due to their ages has come up a few times.Invinciblewriter Robert Kirkmanonce revealed that it was actually a combination of aging and exercising (more than likely by fighting) that allowed them to continuously get stronger the older the Viltrumites got. While Omni-Man’s age isn’t brought up in the show specifically, Nolan being two thousand years old does justify how strong he is. His age plus being the Earth’s greatest defender from monsters and supervillains for so many yearsno doubt helped Omni-Man attain his peak strength level.
Omni-Man is Powerful, But He’s Just One Example of Viltrumite Potential
Nolan Set the Bar for His Son to Surpass
The first several issues ofInvinciblereally do highlight just how strong Omni-Man is, and by comparison, Invincible is nowhere near the level of his father. But Nolan has thousands of years under his belt, plus fighting experience that helped Omni-Man push his strength to its maximum potential. While Nolan was undoubtedly stronger than Mark at the very beginning,Omni-Man’s strength was there to showcase the kind of power Invincible could one day attain.
The Viltrumite aging process brought something unique toInvincible, andit was an interesting way of rationalizing why Mark, his father, and their people were so insanely strong. One can only imagine how much more power a Viltrumite could possess once they’re five or even ten thousand years old. But for someone just over two thousand years old, Omni-Man was able to stand out as one of the strongest Viltrumites inInvincible.
