Omega the Unknown (from Earth-7190, Omega the Unknown 2007 character)

Occupation: Unemployed derelict;
former adventurer, cook, janitor and warrior

Aliases: The Blue-Guy, Captain Super-Taster, Doc Digestion, Fryer Guy, the Fryer Operator Guy, Mr. Blue, Mr. Eat Better, Mr. Omega-Person

Powers/Abilities: Omega had several superhuman powers, including the ability to attack with short-range orange bolts of destructive energy from the omega-scarred palms of his hands; this power could also be used to burn items on contact (including heavy chains used to bind him). Omega also had superhuman strength and was an accomplished fighter. Omega could fly, but did not use flight for transportation covering a great distance. Although able to survive laser blasts and explosions, Omega was not invulnerable and could be overwhelmed by superior enemies; and he also required sustenance. For reasons unrevealed, Omega refused to eat anything but feathered fowl killed by himself; but this seemed to only be a preference, as in extreme circumstances Omega ate a mammal to avoid starvation.

Omega seemed to be psychically linked to Titus Alexander Island, as the later had seen the former in his dreams even before knowing him.

Although Omega was never heard speaking a word, he could understand the alien language of the nanobot conspiracy and probably English, both spoken and written.

Omega had other skills, including being a good cook, an acceptable sweeper, an engineer who could hack into the systems of alien robots to intercept their communications, a physicist who understood the nature of matter and doesn't-matter and the reaction when they were in contact, a suitable comic-book artist, and a chemist able to generate the substance that immunized Earth-born humans against the nanobot infection. Omega was either naturally immune to the nanobots, or had been immunized at some unrevealed point.

Although he had spent some time on Earth, Omega was unfamiliar with many nuances of American way of life, such as laws forbidding him to hunt eagles in a preserve.

When the Mink obtained a sample of Omega's DNA and included it in a robot's braincase, that robot immediately became the target of two other robots affiliated with the nanobot conspiracy.

Following apparently successfully overcoming the nanobot/robot invaders, Omega lacked purpose and degenerated into alcoholism and eventually required a wheelchair for mobility.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'2")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 220 lbs.); (atrophied form after beating the conspiracy) 120 lbs.
Eyes: Dark
Hair: Black

History: (Omega: The Unknown#7 (fb); Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#2) - In Reality-7190, an alien civilization of nano-robots invaded and laid waste to several planets. A civilized human-like species detected them and tried to fight them with powerful heroes, but those were infected by the nanobots and attacked their own world. The survivors of this last-attacked planet (the Omegas) tried to stop the nanobots on other planets, providing them with people with extraordinary powers and the moral imperative to fight the invaders. On Earth, their first attempt at a hero, Silliman Renfrew, failed due to the meddling of the opportunistic adventurer known as the Mink. Renfrew died in 1993, and the Omegas prepared a second attempt with a Titus Alexander Island.

To watch over Island, the Omegas sent a new super-powered person, a tall humanoid male also nicknamed Omega who wore a blue jumpsuit, to Earth.

(Omega: The Unknown#9 (BTS)) - Omega met the Overthinker in a place called the Planet of the Blind. Omega discovered that the Overthinker dwelled in a different reality and could not interact with the universe without causing an implosion.

(Omega: The Unknown#8 (fb)) - Omega was sent to Earth to guard the next candidate for the role of defender of Earth, young human Titus Alexander Island, who was placed in the care of Rupert and Lydia, two benign androids sent by aliens whom Island believed to be his real parents and who homeschooled him in a chalet in Waldo, New York, for the next fourteen years. Omega secretly watched Alex from the surroundings.

(Omega: The Unknown#5) - There was a uniform similar to Omega's at Island's home, secretly stored by the robots.

(Omega: The Unknown#1 (fb)) - Growing up, Island had frequent nightmares featuring Omega; however, having never met Omega, Island could not identify him. Island woke up in moments of particular stress and violence for Omega.

(Omega: The Unknown#1) - The alien nanobots arrived on Earth, one of their ships landing near the chalet in Waldo. They tracked and attacked Omega, by then living in a cottage and hunting birds to sustain himself. Omega fought the robots, breaking one of them. The robots stunned him with their weapons and chained him in the basement of the chalet; by then, Island and his parents had left for Pennsylvania.

(Omega: The Unknown#1 - BTS) - En route, Alex and his parents had a traffic accident, the robots being destroyed and Island, in a coma, being sent to the Columbia Presybterian Hospital in New York City.

(Omega: The Unknown#1) - Omega used his powers to free himself, in the process fighting the robots and waking up Island due to their psychic connection. Omega trailed Island to the hospital and found him in his room, being attacked by two other robots. Omega tried to rescue Island but, after defeating a robot, was injured himself by the other robot's gun. Island, to his own surprise, used powers to disable that robot, then admitted to have seen Omega in dreams. Without answering, Omega grabbed the robots and fled through the window.

(Omega: The Unknown#2) - Omega moved to live in the subway shed, where he tried to repair the robots' communication system to intercept their messages. Slackers saw him and wrote a graffiti with the text "Omega the Unknown" to christen him. Omega then kept Island's new location (his new guardian Edie Fallinger's home in Washington Heights) under surveillance, noticing that the robots and agents of the Mink were doing the same. The situation escalated and Omega started fighting three robots in the street, with Island seeing them from the window; the Mink waited to act until he'd have news coverage. Once Omega defeated the robots, the Mink revealed his presence, challenging Omega and attacking him in public. Omega fought the Mink using the disabled robots as ad-lib weapons but fled after being injured by the Mink's freezing ray. The Mink convinced the press that he had prevailed against a vigilante, after which he took the robots to his lair.

(Omega: The Unknown#3 (fb)) - The Mink also obtained a DNA sample of Omega and inserted it in the braincase of one of the robots, mutating it to make it more similar to Omega in appearance. The other two robots, once restored, apparently saw the "Omega robot" as a target and chased it through the labyrinthine prison.

(Omega: The Unknown#2) - Omega wandered through the streets until he found Minister Upward T. Bell of Washington Heights Baptist Ministry of Our Savior. Bell offered Omega shelter and soup (although Omega rejected the food) and, during his mass, convinced Omega to sweep up the church. Omega also became Bell's cook in his hamburger mobile shop.

(Omega: The Unknown#3) - While selling food at Sammy Sosa High School, Omega was seen by Island, who told his friend Amandla he knew the man in blue, by sight only. Understanding that Omega ate only fowl killed by himself, Upward bought living chicken for him and let him sleep in Upward's peddling vehicle. Omega, still appearing in Island's increasingly surrealistic nightmares about salt, stole chemicals from a pharmacist. Meanwhile, the Mink decided to capture Omega and, deducing that Island was linked to the later, wooed Island's guardian, Edie Fallinger.

(Omega: The Unknown#4; Omega: The Unknown#8 (BTS); Omega: The Unknown#9 (BTS)) - Omega produced a salt-like edible chemical that immunized humans eating it against being infected and mind-controlled by nanobots, and implemented it in a salt shaker, seasoning friendly Bell's food with it. In contact with common salt, this chemical expanded on its own. Meanwhile, the nanobot conspiracy took over fast-food franchise-based company Butterdog's, aiming to distribute their own infection.

(Omega: The Unknown#4) - Omega hunted a protected eagle from a nearby preserve and, discovering it, Bell kicked Omega away.

(Omega: The Unknown#5) - Island decided to not trust the Mink and, when the Mink questioned Island about "Mr. Omega-Person," refused to answer (although Island knew very little about Omega). Meanwhile, Omega found a job at Butterdog's but, understanding that he was surrounded by infected enemies, tried to escape and had to fight his way in the street. Although able to defeat the infected agents and acclaimed by the bystanders, Omega was then interceted by the Mink's MinkMen, who defeated him and took him to the Mink's interrogation room in his lair. Omega said nothing at all, and the Mink, partially busy with other activities, gave him food and some comic-books detailing the Mink's own (embellished) adventures. At the same time, Island and his friend Amandla found the Omega blue suit in Island's former home.

(Omega: The Unknown#6; Omega: The Unknown#7) - Omega remained in prison, in what was described as "deeper than his usual autistic trance," and he refused eating. The Mink kept Omega isolated. Omega read the comic-book, and started drawing a comic-book story of his own, depicting the origin of his species and the reason he had come to Earth.

(Omega: The Unknown#7) - The Mink read Omega's comic and decided to drop Omega in the labyrinth, to be chased by the robots. Famished, Omega caught and ate a rat; the Overthinker, secretly witnessing this, was disappointed at Omega eating something other than fowl. The Mink, on a date with Fallinger, compared Island's power-caused omega scars with his prisoner, revealing that Omega was his prisoner. With the Mink busy in an unrelated emergency, Island's friend Amandla insisted that she and Island go rescue him, using Amandla's inside knowledge of the Mink's lair; Island recruited his other friend Frances Fenton and they all entered the underground lair, first finding Silliman Renfrew's corpse in a similar blue uniform.

(Omega: The Unknown#8) - Amandla and Fenton found the scruffy, bearded Omega, and took him to Island. Their new would-be ally the Nowhere Man helped them all escape to New York City. Omega's human friends took him to Bell. Omega promptly gave Fenton some vaccine-seasoned chicken, to protect her from the nanobots, and Island understood his reasons, explaining it to all. Island and his friends left Omega with Bell while they went to alert the University, correctly assuming that the robotics department was in league with the conspiracy, and they succeeding in releasing Doctor Greenspun and alerting Dean Quiller, who agreed to help with the salt-like cure.

(Omega: The Unknown#9; Omega: The Unknown#10) - In Bell's food delivery truck, Omega was attacked by three cyborg delivery people, but Omega overpowered them. Omega then left to track Island, finding him on top a building in 207 Street and Dyckman Boulevard, and harassed by a crowd of robots. Going up the stairs to help, Omega found himself surrounded by the robots while Island and his friend Amandla escaped on a helicopter, unaware that they were leaving Omega behind; Fenton reported to Island that Omega was missing. Omega fought to the bitter end, afterward going inside the building and finding the Overthinker. Omega grabbed the Overthinker, made of a substance incompatible with the universe, and caused a huge omega-shaped implosion. The robots were obliterated and several nearby people were killed, but Omega survived, his uniform in tatters.

(Omega: The Unknown#10) - Lacking an obvious purpose, Omega wandered through the streets in underwear and found a panhandler who claimed to be World's Greatest Tap Dancer. The dancer, believing Omega to be his peer, took him to a community of paupers so he'd find a fire to heat himself. Omega began to drink alcohol frequently, remembering his home world, and eventually needing a wheelchair to move. The dancer took Omega with him when begging, and later took him to a makeshift imitation of Mink's former show "Mink of the People," where the participants were all vagrants, including former Minkman Dave Shundler as the mock Mink.

Comments: Created by Jonathan Lethem, Karl Rusnak and Farel Dalrymple, after a character by Steve Gerber, Mary Skrenes and Jim Mooney.

Titus Alexander Island is the protagonist of the 10-issue comic-book series Omega: The Unknown (2007-2008), by novelist Jonatham Lethem and artist Farel Dalrymple. As a child, Lethem had been a fan of the original Marvel series Omega the Unknown (1976-1977), by Steve Gerber, Mary Skrenes and Jim Mooney; after the cancelation of the story, Gerber tried to wrap up loose ends and unfinished plotlines in the Defenders and, once he was fired in 1978, writer Steven Grant officially closed the plots in two issues, to Gerber disatisfaction. Years later, in the 2000s, Lethem had a chance to work for Marvel, and he promptly chose Omega, describing it as "a resource of thwarted possibility, open to speculation, not plumbed-out." Hearing about this project, Gerber was initially enraged at not having been invited to work in this reboot of a character he considered his; however, when Gerber and Skrenes had a chance to talk with Lethem, Gerber admitted to have misunderstood Lethem's motivations.

The two series have similar titles, but the small-fonted indicia in the 1976 series calls it "Omega the Unknown," and the equivalent for the 2007 series calls it "Omega: The Unknown", with a colon, even if the colon cannot be seen in the covers. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#2 identifies the universe this series happens at as Earth-7190, but mentions the series as "Omega the Unknown" without colon. This article uses the name "Omega: The Unknown" for the 2007 series.

Omega never speaks out loud in the series, a fact that is never explained. He may suffer from mutism, does not know how to speak English, or simply believes that he has nothing to say.

Omega does not have a profile, but is mentioned in the one-paragraph profile for his REality-7190 in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#2's Appendix to Alternate Earths.

This profile was completed 06/23/2022 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.

Reverend Upward T. "Old Man" Bell - white-haired and balding, aged and overweight, was a Baptist pastor in charge of Washington Heights Baptits Ministry, a small church with a sign of "all stragglers welcome here." Bell also kept a mobile restaurant business during weekdays, selling hamburgers, hot dogs and other fast food, mostly to schools.

In 2007, Bell noticed the battered man Omega the Unknown, who seemed to be in trouble, and he quickly offered him shelter and food. Bell took the silent man to the Ministry; Omega, who ate only fowl killed by himself, rejected Bell's soup, and the pastor allowed him to sleep. The following day, Omega helped Bell by sweeping the church, and then Omega became the cook in the mobile restaurant, with Bell praising Omega's skill. Upward sold food in front of Sammy Sosa High School, distributing French fries with hot sauces to students Titus Alexander Island and Amandla, the former of whom had briefly seen Omega before and recognized the cook.

As soon as Bell understood Omega's diet, he had the courtesy to buy living chicken for him. Meanwhile, Omega was secretly fighting against a conspiracy of nanobots invading Earth, and he had developed a prophylatic vaccine that immunized humans against the nanobot infectious weapon; Omega used the vaccine to season the food he prepared, as well as Bell's coffee, so as to protect those who ate it while Bell was selling hamburgers to Island and Amandla.

However, Omega also hunted an eagle from a protected reserve, apparently unaware of the blunder. Bell found Omega eating the bird, and kicked him away. Omega eventually was captured and imprisoned for days in a labyrinth, until he was rescued by Island, Amandla and their mutual friend Frances Fenton. Island prompted them to take Omega to Bell's. Seeing Omega in need once more, Bell again accepted and fed him. When Omega insisted that Fenton eat chicken to protect her against the nanobots, Island understood Omega's reasons and explained them. The youngsters left Omega with Bell for recovery, while they went on to recruit more allies and stop enemies. Soon, Island had his other friend Clare Weiss coordinate with Bell and with Dean Quiller. They did, and eventually Fenton joined them, but they were unaware when Omega left without a word.

In Dean Quiller's University's laboratory, Bell and his allies noticed that Omega's salt-like vaccine expanded its own mass, providing a supply. Upward offered to help distributing it, by filling several salt-shakers with it, then delivering those to other restaurant owners in his business network. In this fashion, he immunized a good amount of the population against the nanobot infection, although the nanobot conspiracy continued its attempted invasion.

Bell did not find again Omega, who, believing his mission was finished, had joined an underground community of homeless people.

Silliman "Sil" Renfrew, red-haired, overweight and clumsy, was the first attempt made by an extraterrestrial civilization to create a super-powered hero on Earth, to protect the former planet from a nanobot conspiracy that had laid waste several other worlds and would eventually reach Earth. Renfrew's life was observed by the god-like being known as the Overthinker.

Silliman Renfrew had the power to generate destructive energy bolts from his hands, although he had little control over it until the Mink trained him. Renfrew was far from athletic, bright, or coordinated, and was easily manipulated by several others throughout his life.

In Vermont in 1962, Renfrew was born of human parents who have been "touched by cosmic power"; the parents were in contact with the Omegas and were given a blue uniform to give Renfrew when he grew up and developed his latent superpoers. Nobody told Renfrew about his powers; he discovered those during his childhood when he accidentally shot a bolt from his hands and killed a collie that was chasing a frishbee. Distressed, he buried the dog's body and revealed nothing about the event.

As a teenager, Renfrew, on a phase of rebellion against his parents, was a poor student who socialized with drug consumers. He considered enlisting in the army, also as a way to annoy his parents. His parents revealed then that Renfrew had been chosen as the Earth's protector, but he rejected that job and instead hitched his way to the Alaskan tundra with his friend Buzz, hoping to become adult men while working in the pipelines there; but it was a disappointing experience. One day, the shape of an oil rig reminded delusive Renfrew of the life he had decided to forfeit, and he reacted using his destructive bolts against it, causing an ecological catastrophe as the spilled oil killed one thousand penguins.

Exiled from Alaska, Renfrew returned to his parents' home in Vermont and accepted his mission, then moving to the city. Still, lacking preparation, skills, a focused mind and a present opponent, Renfrew ended up homeless and mendicant, then becoming a minion for small-time crook Martinez. After a failed three-card monte game, Renfrew was imprisoned, but his powers activated in jail, where he killed one officer and destroyed one cell block.

This display of superpower attracted the attention of opportunistic adventurer the Mink, who used his influence to make Renfrew his ward, hoping to use Renfrew's powers for his own ends. The Mink trained Renfrew as a super-powered fighter using robot opponents and rewarded him with simple pleasures such as beer, cannabis and hockey matches, while also trying to steal Renfrew's powers. Failing at that, the Mink changed Renfrew's uniform, renamed him "Mink Jr." and used him as a sidekick in his adventures (including those that were later adapted as comic-books).

Eventually, in an East Bosnian mercenary activity in 1993, the Mink made Renfrew confront a line of tanks in a risky action that cost Renfrew his life, well before the alien threat he was to fight even reached Earth. Renfrew's end was appreciated by his friend Buzz, yet not by Renfrew's peace-loving parents. The Mink took Renfrew's corpse and kept it in encased in a chamber within a drawer in his labyrinthine underground lair for the next fourteen years without any visible decay.

The Omegas then created another super-powered hero to replace Renfrew, Titus Alexander Island, who would be watched by another super-powered humanoid in a blue suit, nicknamed Omega the Unknown. Fourteen years later, in 2007, adolescent Island and his two friends Frances Fenton and Amandla raided the Mink's lair looking for Omega, and they found Renfrew's corpse; they recognized the uniform, but did not know about Renfrew himself.

The tombstone of the Mink's father in Omega: The Unknown#6 names the deceased "Renfrew Kansur"; but in #9, the Mink talks about "the late Dr. Tedward Kansur--Pops", apparently referring to his father. Probably the inscription in the grave is an error, where someone used Mink Jr.'s surname as Mink's father's first name by mistake.

Omega: the Unknown#1 page 22, pan1 (main image)
Omega: the Unknown#1 page 14, pan5 (seen from behind, using his powers)
Omega: the Unknown#2 page 1, pan2 (graffiti with his given alias)
Omega: the Unknown#3 page 10, pan3 (a robot with Omega's DNA added)
Omega: the Unknown#5 page 5, pan7 (working at Butterdog's)
Omega: the Unknown#10 page 22, pan1 (as a paralyzed bum)
Omega: the Unknown#3 page 6, pan1 (Upward Bell main image)
Omega: the Unknown#7 page 22, pan6 (Silliman Renfrew main image)

Appearances:
Omega: the Unknown#1 (December, 2007) –, Jonathan Lethem and Karl Rusnak (writers), Farel Dalrymple (penciler/inker), Tom Brevoort (editor), Aubrey Sitterson, Molly Lazer (as "Sitterson + Lazer", assistant editors)
Omega: the Unknown#2 (January, 2008) –, Jonathan Lethem and Karl Rusnak (writers), Farel Dalrymple (penciler/inker/letterer), Tom Brevoort (editor), Aubrey Sitterson, Molly Lazer (as "Sitterson + Lazer", assistant editors)
Omega: the Unknown#3 (February, 2008) –, Jonathan Lethem and Karl Rusnak (writers), Farel Dalrymple (penciler/inker/letterer), Tom Brevoort (editor), Molly Lazer (assistant editor)
Omega: the Unknown#4 (February, 2008) –, Jonathan Lethem and Karl Rusnak (writers), Farel Dalrymple (penciler/inker/letterer), Tom Brevoort (editor), Molly Lazer (assistant editor)
Omega: the Unknown#5 (April, 2008) –, Jonathan Lethem and Karl Rusnak (writers), Farel Dalrymple (penciler/inker/letterer), Tom Brevoort (editor), Molly Lazer (assistant editor)
Omega: the Unknown#6 (May, 2008) –, Jonathan Lethem and Karl Rusnak (writers), Farel Dalrymple (penciler/inker/letterer), Paul Hornschemeier (penciler of additional panels), Tom Brevoort (editor), Molly Lazer (assistant editor)
Omega: the Unknown#7 (June, 2008) –, Jonathan Lethem and Karl Rusnak (writers), Farel Dalrymple, Gary Panter (pencilers/inkers), Tom Brevoort (editor), Molly Lazer (assistant editor)
Omega: the Unknown#8 (July, 2008) –, Jonathan Lethem and Karl Rusnak (writers), Farel Dalrymple (penciler/inker), Tom Brevoort (editor), Molly Lazer (assistant editor)
Omega: the Unknown#9 (August, 2008) –, Jonathan Lethem and Karl Rusnak (writers), Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes (writers of page eight panel four text), Farel Dalrymple (penciler/inker), Tom Brevoort (editor), Molly Lazer (assistant editor)
Omega: the Unknown#10 (September, 2008) –, Jonathan Lethem and Karl Rusnak (writers), Farel Dalrymple (penciler/inker), Tom Brevoort (editor), Thomas Brennan and Molly Lazer (assistant editors)

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