Amalgam Universe



Sometimes, when a mommy Comics 'Verse and a daddy Comics 'Verse love each other very much, they get together and have a baby Comics 'Verse. It's a special, magical thing, and should only happen within the bonds of holy CrossOvers.

In 1996, Marvel Comics and DC Comics co-created a Limited Series called, oddly enough, Marvel Vs. DC, in which the Superheroes of the two powerhouse Comic Book companies met, fought, and came out friends-- then had their memories of the whole affair erased. Except for a very few, who remembered.

It seems that The Multiverse of each company's main continuity was in fact the creation of two Sufficiently Advanced Aliens known as "The Brothers". For eons, they were ignorant of each other until the first Intercontinuity Crossover brought them to each others' attention. Each wanting to be the singular Anthropomorphic Personification of the Multiverse, they decided that in true Superhero fashion, the matter could only be settled with a Fight Scene. Or rather, a series of one-on-one battles between the most similar heroes. Some of these fights were between characters who would later be Amalgamated, such as Spider Man and Superboy. Some were matched by abilty; the Badass Normal Batman versus the Badass Normal Captain America, for example. The loser's universe would be destroyed, so both sides had plenty of motivation to kill each other. At the same time, a young man named Axel Asher, A.K.A. Access, discovered that he was a shard of the original joined reality. This was apparently a mantle that was passed down from generations (he acquired the abilities from a homeless man who died soon after). Access could only stand by and watch as the two universes did battle. Marvel was ahead six to five, when suddenly...

The Powers That Be named the Living Tribunal and The Spectre try to take the pressure off by merging both universes into an Amalgam where the iconic main characters of each world merge into single being with aspects of each-- Wolverine and Batman become Dark Claw, Superman and Captain America become Super Soldier (He really was one, too). Some were merged because they were similar in powers or purpose, others because their names sounded alike (resulting in some awful punny names) and still others for the heck of it (see the list below). Each had a "remembered" history that splits the difference between the merged characters-- there was a Golden Age Super Soldier who joined the All-Star Winners Squadron, a Wild West team of mutant "malforms" called Generation Hex, etc.

The Brothers quickly pulled themselves apart, thus seperating the Marvel Universe and DC Universe once again. Angered, they decided to forego the contest and simply battle each other. This would've surely resulted in the destruction of both universes.

Access managed to bring Cap and Bats to the interdimensional battlefield between the Brothers, and showed the big boys a first-hand look at the beings whose realities they were planning to eliminate-- and they liked what they saw. Impressed by the iron wills of these two mere mortals, and seeing that they were Not So Different, the Brothers called off their grudge match, the Reset Button was pressed, the limited series ended, and all was good... for a while.

Turns out Access can't stay in one universe too long, or his powers go haywire and begin transposing inhabitants from one universe to another. And in the sequel All Access, it turned out the Amalgam Sorcerer Doctor Strangefate (made from Doctor Fate and... ; who'd have guessed?) had hidden himself in Doctor Strange's mind, and burst out to try to re-create his universe by merging the Big Two. So once again, cue fight music as the JLA and X-Men throw down, only to be saved by the original Doctor Strange creating an independent Amalgam Universe without affecting the original two (though based on the first one). This Amalgamverse was safely tucked away inside Access and again all is well. Except for a few whacky Time Travel adventures in the Unlimited Access miniseries, but those had no plot effects and were apparently just for more money fun.

Several sets of Amalgam comics set in the merged universe have been published jointly by both companies. The titles include Bruce Wayne: Agent of SHIELD, Iron Lantern, Bullets & Bracelets, Justice League Avengers, and many others.

The actual Marvel vs DC fights were determined by fan votes, and can therefore be cited as classic examples of Popularity Power, to a greater or lesser degree. For instance, all but the most narrow-minded X-Men fans agree that Wolverine beating Lobo is pretty damn unlikely (although to be honest, in an issue of Hitman Lobo was easily beaten and mocked by the Badass Normal titular character and his friends, a bunch of parodistic superheroes with the least useful powers in the world - or no real powers at all in some cases). It should also be noted that, in order to win, one of the contestants only needed to stop the other one from moving for a minute, which makes the defeat of powerhouses like Lobo or Namor the Sub-Mariner sound more likely; and that only five of eleven battles were based on fan votes. But that still includes Wolverine against Lobo.

=== Characters in the Amalgam Universe ===


 * Abominite (Hellgrammite + Abomination)
 * All Highfather Odin (Highfather + Odin)
 * Amanda Deathbird (Amanda Waller + Deathbird)
 * Amazon (Wonder Woman + Storm)
 * Ambush the Lunatik (Ambush Bug + Lunatik)
 * Angellhawk/Warren Hall (Hawkman/Carter Hall + Angel/Warren Worthington III)
 * Antimony/Debbie Walker (Platinum of the Metal Men + Scarlet Witch + Hellcat/Patsy Walker).
 * Apollo/Ray Summers (Ray + Cyclops)
 * Aqua-Mariner (Aquaman + Namor)
 * Arrowcaster (Speedy + Nightcaster)
 * Banisher (Bane + The Punisher)
 * Baron Zero/Wolfgang Von Strucker (Mr. Zero + Baron von Strucker)
 * Beastling (Beast Boy + Beast)
 * The Big Question (The Riddler + Kingpin)
 * Big Titania (Big Barda + Titania)
 * Bismuth/Snapper Jones (Tin of the Metal Men + Snapper Carr + Toad/Mortimer Toynbee + Rick Jones)
 * Bizarnage (Bizarro + Carnage)
 * Black Bat/Barbara Gordon Hardy (Batgirl/Barbara Gordon + Black Cat/Felicia Hardy)
 * Black Vulture (Vulture + Black Condor)
 * Blob (Blob + Chunk)
 * Bouncing Ball (Bouncing Boy + Speedball)
 * Bronze Tiger (Bronze Tiger + Black Panther)
 * "Brooklyn" Barnes (Dan Turpin + "Brooklyn" of the Boy Commandos + Bucky Barnes)
 * Canary/Dinah Barton (Black Canary + Mockingbird)
 * Captain Marvel/William Mar-Vell (Captain Marvel + Captain Marvel)
 * Captain Sam Makoa (Sam Makoa).
 * Catsai (Elektra + Catwoman)
 * Chaos (Spitfire + Havok)
 * Circe (Circe + Sersi)
 * Cobalt/Lucius Richmond (Gold of the Metal Men + Lucius Fox + Mastermind/Jason Wyngarde)
 * Colonel Bruce Wayne of SHIELD (Batman + Nick Fury)
 * Dare The Terminator (Deathstroke + Daredevil)
 * Dark Claw (Batman + Wolverine)
 * Deadeye (Deadshot + Bullseye)
 * Deathborg (Cyborg + Deathlok)
 * Deathlok/Jason Todd (Robin/Jason Todd + Deathlok + Midnight/Jeff Wilde)
 * Dial H.U.S.K/Paige Guthrie (Dial H for Hero + Husk/Paige Guthrie).
 * Diana Prince (Wonder Woman). Depicted as adoptive sister of Amazon and ex-wife of the Punisher.
 * Doctor Bongface (Doctor Bong + Scarface)
 * Dr. Curt Connors (Lizard/Curtis Connors). Depicted as a member of Project Cadmus.
 * Dr. Doomsday (Doomsday + Doctor Doom)
 * Dr Strangefate (Doctor Strange + Doctor Fate + )
 * Doomnaut (Doomsday + Juggernaut)
 * Elastigirl (Elasti-girl of Doom Patrol + Domino of X-Force + The Wasp)
 * Ferro Man (Ferro + Colossus)
 * Fin Fang Flame (Fin Fang Foom + Brimstone)
 * Firebird/Beatriz Grey (Fire + Phoenix)
 * "Flash" Thompson (Flash "Thompson). Depicted as a member of the New York Special Crimes Unit.
 * Galactiac (Galactus + Brainiac)
 * Goliath/Oliver Queen (Goliath + Green Arrow)
 * Granny Harkness (Agatha Harkness + Granny Goodness)
 * Green Skull (Lex Luthor + Red Skull)
 * Guardian Angel/Dr. Tom Harper (Guardian/Jim Harper + Angel/Thomas Halloway)
 * Hawkeye/Clint Archer (Green Arrow + Hawkeye)
 * H.E.C.T.O.R. (Hector Hammond + MODOK)
 * Huntress/Carol Danvers (Huntress + Ms. Marvel)
 * The Hyena (The Joker + Sabretooth)
 * Impossible Mod (Mad Mod + Impossible Man)
 * Insect Queen/Mary Jane Watson (Insect Queen/Lana Lang + Mary Jane Watson)
 * Iris Simpson (Iris West + Roxanne Simpson)
 * Iron/John Henry Steel (Steel + Unus the Untouchable)
 * Iron Lantern (Green Lantern + Iron Man)
 * J. Jonah White (J. Jonah Jameson + Perry White)
 * Jade Nova/Frankie Rayner (Nova/Frankie Raye + Green Lantern/Kyle Rayner)
 * Jimmy Urich (Ben Urich + Jimmy Olsen)
 * Jocasta (Platinum of the Metal Men + Jocasta + the Sentinels + Millie the Model)
 * Kid Demon/Wally West (The Flash/Kid Flash/Wally West + Ghost Rider)
 * King Lizard {King Shark + Lizard)
 * Kokoro/Tatsu Braddock (Katana/Tatsu Yamashiro + Psylocke/Betsy Braddock)
 * Kultron (Kobra + Ultron)
 * Lady Talia (Lady Deathstrike + Talia Al Ghul)
 * Lethal/Sergei Minerva (Cheetah/Barbara Ann Minerva + Kraven the Hunter/Sergei Kravinoff).
 * Lobo the Duck (Lobo + Howard the Duck. Seriously.)
 * L'ok D'saad (Loki + Desaad)
 * Madame Cat/Selina Luthor (Madame Hydra/Viper + Catwoman). Mentioned being a daughter of Green Skull and Lois Lane.
 * Madame Sapphire (Madame Masque + Star Sapphire)
 * Madman Jordan (Green Lantern/Hal Jordan + Madman)
 * Magneto (Will Magnus + Magneto). Depicted as the brother and archenemy of Will Magnus.
 * Mercury (Impulse + Quicksilver)
 * Merlin (DC Merlin + Marvel Merlyn).
 * Miss Miracle (Mister Miracle + Crystal of the Inhumans)
 * Mister X (Martian Manhunter + Professor X)
 * Moonwing (Nightwing + Moon Knight)
 * Mystallo (Mysterio + Metallo)
 * Myx (Mr. Mxyzptlk + Wong)
 * Nickel/Lance Vale (Mercury of the Metal Men + Quicksilver)
 * Night Creeper (The Creeper + Nightcrawler)
 * Night Spectre (The Spectre + Nightmare)
 * Niles Cable (The Chief/Niles Caulder of Doom Patrol + Cable)
 * Paste-Eater Pete (Paste-Pot Pete + Matter-Eater Lad)
 * Pepper Ferris (Pepper Potts + Carol Ferris)
 * Professor Kang (Kang the Conqueror + Professor Zoom)
 * Puck (Puck of Alpha Flight + Oberon)
 * Punisher/Trevor Castle (The Punisher/Frank Castle + Steve Trevor)
 * Ras-A-Pocalypse (Ra's Al Ghul + Apocalypse)
 * Roxy Leech (Roxy Leech).
 * Runaway (Gypsy + Rogue)
 * Savage Shaw (Vandal Savage + Sebastian Shaw)
 * Scarecrow (DC Scarecrow + Marvel Scarecrow)
 * Scott Free (Scott Free). Mentioned as the deceased consort of Big Titania.
 * Sgt Rock of SHIELD (Sgt. Rock + SHIELD)
 * Shatterstarfire (Shatterstar + Starfire)
 * Siliconman (Sandman/William Baker + Plastic Man)
 * Silver Racer (Silver Surfer + Black Racer)
 * Skulk (Incredible Hulk + Solomon Grundy)
 * Sparrow (Robin + Jubilee)
 * Speed Demon/Jay Garrick (The Flash/Jay Garrick + Phantom Rider). Briefly seen as a predecessor to the current Speed Demon.
 * Speed Demon/Blaze Allen (The Flash/Barry Allen + Etrigan + Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze + Zarathos)
 * Spider-Boy (Spider-Man + Superboy)
 * Spiral Harley (Harley Quinn + Spiral)
 * Super-Soldier (Superman + Captain America)
 * Terra-X (Terra + Terrax)
 * Thanoseid (Darkseid + Thanos)
 * Thorion, the Hunter (Thor + Orion)
 * Two-Faced Goblin (Two-Face + Green Goblin)
 * Uatu the Guardian (Uatu the Watcher + Guardians of the Universe)
 * Ultra-Metallo (Metallo + Ultron)
 * War Monarch (War Machine + Monarch/Hank Hall)
 * White Witch (Zatanna + Scarlet Witch)
 * Will Magnus (Will Magnus + Bolivar Trask). Depicted as the brother and archenemy of Magneto.
 * Winterstick (Wintergreen + Stick)
 * Wired/Nathan Chase (Manhunter/Chase Lawler + Cable)
 * Wraith (Obsidian + Gambit)

Tropes demonstrated by the Amalgam Universe:

 * Always Someone Better: Quicksilver's problem when fighting The Flash.
 * Badass Normal: Did rather well in the pre merge fights: Of the non-powered combatants only Catwoman lost and she was fighting another Badass Normal (more or less) in Elektra. Robin beat Jubilee and Batman (rather more impressively) beat Captain America.
 * Cliff Hanger: Several of the one-shots had twist endings or left plot points seeking resolution. For example Bruce Wayne Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. has an ending which implied that most of the featured heroes and villains were killed in an explosion. Their fate was never clarified. X-Patrol ended with a major character crippled and the rest of the team reacting to it.
 * Combat Pragmatist: Aquaman beats the Sub Mariner by getting a whale to jump on him. As Arthur puts it: "That's your problem Namor: you're too noble to cheat."
 * Hot Amazon: Both Amazon and her adoptive sister Diana Prince.