Armor (Valiant)

The Armor is a weapon that features in Valiant Comics.

History

The Armors were an extraterrestrial flora/fauna hybrid that encased a host in a powerful living weapon system. Its origins were traced to the planet Gennin long ago whose inhabitants suffered from a deadly disease called the Bone Plague. A scientist sought a cure for his daughter Shanhara who suffered from the plague. He created the Armor virus tasked with healing her but it evolved where the previously primitive organisms gained a consciousness. The infected Shanhara thus had her body slowly transform into an Armor with her father forced to abandon Gennin and continue his research to finding a cure for her that took years of study. Ultimately, he was unable to stop the infection as she was slowly subsumed by the Armor with her consciousness becoming a part of it as a new species began to form. To prevent the virus from spreading, Shanhara’s father plotted their ship to Loam whose primitive inhabitants contained a hive mind that would prevent the Armor from bonding with them. Thus, he had hoped that the Armor would be starved of a host and unable to reproduce thus preventing its spread. Upon landing, Shanhara’s father died from old age and she buried him whereupon she followed his last words by surrendering to the metal that had spread through her flesh. It encased her transforming her body into the first Armor which was discovered by the primitive Vine. They had overheard Shanhara’s name in her final moments and after one of their number was slain during a bonding they came to worship the Armor which they called Shanhara. (X-O Manowar: Valiant 25th Anniversary Special v1 #1) After rendering Gennin barren, the Armors were noted to had spread and came upon other worlds where they took hosts after which they ravaged entire worlds. The growing epidemic caused by the Armors led to the formation of the Armor Hunters organization that sought to eliminate them. (X-O Manowar v3 #27) Worlds that were 'decontaminated' of Armors were later 're-contaminated' as they began to replicate leading to the new specimens spreading outward whilst the old ones began doubling back to their homeworld. (X-O Manowar v3 #28)

An Armor was on planet Luno when it was ambushed and killed by Reepo's band of Armor Hunters. (X-O Manowar v3 #27) On Tartus, Primary Reepo encountered an Armor on their 21st Hunt where it mortally wounded Malgam. To save his friend Malgam, Reepo slayed the Armor and bonded it to his comrade. He hid this fact from his fellow Armor Hunters and decided to keep Malgam in stasis. During their journey in space, the Armor awoke Malgam who escaped confinement on their vessel GIN-GR and fled. (X-O Manowar v3 #28) Around this time, the Armors had gathered in number to attack the planet Gennin that was home of the Armor Hunters who were defeated but not before putting their contingency measure that was the Dead Hand. This was a large army of automatons guided by an artificial intelligence tasked with sampling life in the galaxy and then terminating it in an effort to excise the Armor virus infection by preventing it from acquiring new hosts. (X-O Manowar v3 #32)

In the aftermath of the Armor Hunter attack, a corrupted M.E.R.O. officer was sent to attack Malgam and kill him in his cell so that the Armor replication process would fashion a new Manowar orb for use. He was stopped and killed by Colonel Capshaw and Aric thus Malgam's life. Aric of Dacia then helped Malgam gain a measure of control over his Armor by a communique of their respective Manowars. Thus, Malgam was freed from the calling of his Armor to lash out and he was in better control of it. (X-O Manowar v3 #29)

In the wake of the destruction of Loam, Aric of Dacia determined that the threat of the automated weapon of the Armor Hunters known as Dead Hand was heading towards Earth. Thus, he used the mental connection of the Armor to contact other such Armors around the galaxy where he requested their aid. At first, they refused as they believed such combat was unnecessary as they simply needed to avoid the doomsday weapon. However, Aric managed to convince them with the Armors arriving as an army at Loam to be led by him. They arrived near Earth at the same time as the Dead Hand with the two sides ready to begin the battle. (X-O Manowar v3 #36) As the head of the Armors, Aric led his new army against the Dead Hand where together they managed to destroy the automated Armor Hunter weapon whose remnants fell to the surface of Mars. In the aftermath, he disbanded them and bade the Armors to serve as protectors of their respective worlds where he vowed there would be reckoning if they deviated from this new duty. (X-O Manowar v3 #37)

Overview

It was said that the Armor was a perfect blend of plant and machine. (X-O Manowar: Valiant 25th Anniversary Special v1 #1) They were described as being flora based techno-organic hybrids. (X-O Manowar v3 #27) An Armor could manipulate its surface and alter its shape such as manifesting sudden spikes that could pierce through normal armor. They could also absorb large amounts of energy from other sources and channel it through different means. (X-O Manowar v3 #32)

In reality, the Armor did not heal its host but rather replaced their body with its own substance. The repair was simply an entry point for it as it replicated itself and converted the wearer's cells into its own akin to some sort of species of techno-organic virus. Upon being worn, it typically sought to transform its host with this being a gradual process that was accelerated when the wearer experienced additional injuries. One theory was that the Armor was analogous to a highly advanced cocoon that protected its host until the process of transformation was complete. (Armor Hunters v1 #2) Thus, hosts that had their Armor heal them faced the prospect of a part of them being gone forever as the Manowar virus replaced that portion with its own substance. (X-O Manowar v3 #29)

Armors were noted for being sentient and having an intelligence of their own. (X-O Manowar v3 #27) Armors called to their host and typically compelled them to act against their nature. They were even able to speak to one another allowing one host to communicate to another. (X-O Manowar v3 #29) As a living organism, it was capable of reproducing with a single Armor able to produce numerous offspring in its lifespan. In this way, they could reproduce with their offspring similarly able to create more of their kind. (X-O Manowar v3 #28) The replication process resulted in the creation of a new orb that could be used to field a Manowar Armor. (X-O Manowar v3 #29) A typical pattern of behaviour of the Armors was that they only defended themselves. (X-O Manowar v3 #37)

Through a mental connection, an Armor was able to summon a congress of its kind along with their hosts that resided in a mental realm. Thus, a link was maintained with all whereby each Armor spoke in a collective rather than having a defined leader. Alternatively, the Armors can warn each other of dangers to avoid with their primary goal being survival. (X-O Manowar v3 #36)

When facing heavy attack, Armors were known to dig themselves into the surface to evade further damage or simply moved to another world to continue its function. (X-O Manowar v3 #27) It was shown that an Armor was highly durable as one had managed to survive a supernova that scorched all life from a planetary surface. (X-O Manowar v3 #35)

Spears of the Armor Hunters were able to disrupt the functions of an Armor preventing the host form being able to access their abilities for a short length of time to allow the use to eliminate the organism. (Armor Hunters v1 #4) Species with an collective consciousness or hive mind were said to be unable to bond with the Armor. (X-O Manowar: Valiant 25th Anniversary Special v1 #1)

Hosts

• Aric of Dacia :
• Malgam :

Appearances

• X-O Manowar v3:
• Armor Hunters v1:
• X-O Manowar: Valiant 25th Anniversary Special v1:

External Links

• Aliens Wiki Entry

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