Orchis (Marvel)
Orchis is an organization that features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
Orchis was a human organization that was formed on Earth by the modern age. Its initial establishment came as a result of doomsday networks based on evolutionary research regarding the extinction level population density of Homo sapiens superior. This saw recruitment of assets in strategic organisations including; A.I.M., S.H.I.E.L.D., S.T.R.I.K.E., S.W.O.R.D., Alpha Flight, H.A.M.M.E.R., A.R.M.O.R. and even Hydra. (House of X v1 #1) Its origins were traced to a future incarnation of Karima Shapandar who had achieved full Omega Sentinel synthesis leading to the Prime Sentinel programming taking over her body. She then worked for the machines as they waged war against Mutants but the devastating war saw a trickster Titan sending her consciousness back into the past to take over Karima's body in the present. Within Omega Sentinels body, the programming sought to prevent the future and bring about the emergence of a world where the machines wold take over the world. In the present, she came to find a successful scientist named Dr. Killian Devo who was both charismatic and powerful where she convinced him of the threat of Mutants. She then took his eyes and replaced them with cybernetics where she made him experience the future wars against Homo superior. He then worked with Omega Sentinel in founding Orchis and set about in bringing about the destruction of the Mutant race. (Inferno v2 #3) Predictive models then forecast the extent of Professor Xavier's plans which activated the Orchis Protocols that led to the automated refit of a station by the Sun. (House of X v1 #1) Director Devo was noted to had designed the upfit of Sol's Anvil that was based on the pre-existing Stark-Richards model. He had also adapted the Trask Sentinel temple for celestial production with the placement of a Mother Mold on the Forge orbiting the Sun. (X-Men v5 #1) Once construction was complete, the machines were re-tasked for mining duties where thy gathered resources such as heavy metals from Mercury. (House of X v1 #1)
At some point, they came to encounter the second-generation of the Children of the Vault. They then began to study, dissect and re-purpose them as living weapons for use against the nation-state of Krakoa. (X-Men v5 #19)
Storm led a contingent of X-Men in attacking the last known Orchis Hubs on Earth. (X-Men v5 #1)
The Orchis vessel Trident was later attacked by Weapon Plus who dispatched Weapon II Brute Force to then helped pillage it of valuable resources. (Weapon Plus: World War IV v1 #1)
At some point, the organization came to capture a returned Legion where they removed his brain for study. Due to his multiple personalities, they came to use his brain as part of a simulation to showcase the rise of a society and its eventual collapse. This was used to model the potential fall of Krakoa and determined that the introduction of an invasive entity could hasten its collapse. For this task, they had to remove Legion's core personality thus watching the alter personas turning against one another eventually. Orchis then set about introducing an invasive entity into Krakoa with this being Onslaught to trigger the eventual collapse of Krakoan society. Legion despite being reduced to a brain was capable of unleashing his powers where he killed and destroyed the Orchis facility in Saudi Arabia. (Way of X v1 #2)
Orchis was secretly funding the training of missionaries in anti-Mutant sermons and maintained museum highlighting all the 'atrocities' committed by Mutants. Krakoan operatives came to uncover this operation during the Venice Insertion that was headed by Nightcrawler. (Way of X v1 #1) Afterwards, Dr. Alia Gregor continued her research in completing Nimrod where she came to save parts of her recently murdered husband's mind to insert within the Sentinel body. At this time, Mysique had infiltrated the station and had intended to detonate a singularity bomb to destroy the Orchis Forge but she was detected by Nimrod who came to contain the blast. However, the damage dealt to him caused a complete loss of the Erasmus persona within the Sentinel. Despite the loss, the completion of Nimrod led to Orchis continuing their efforts for the eventual war between humans and Mutants. (X-Men v5 #20)
Afterwards, agents of Orchis during their observation of Krakoan activity led to the discovery of Moira X. This led to an operation in capturing her and taking her to the Terra Verde node. In that time, Professor X and Magneto both looked to recover her leading to them confronting Orchis in the country. (Inferno v2 #3)
At some point, Orchis came to help fund the Heritage Initiative which transitioned into fieldwork and genetic research with a focus on setting up an X-Gene harvesting program. With Orchis' backing, the Initiative was able to purchase legal rights to the X-Genes of all the native peoples living at Camp Gazhoo. Their nefarious attempts to collect their new purchases was stopped by a newly-resurrected Thunderbird and his grandmother Lozen. (Giant-Size X-Men: Thunderbird v1 #1)
Overview
In appearance, Orchis was an organization created to be the last grasp of the last generation with it being a doomsday weapon composed of human minds that were the greatest ever assembled. It claimed to be free of the warring ideologies that had paralysed the civilian world with its members coming from various organisations on the planet. The organization was willing to tolerate lesser evils in order to perform their 'greater good' in ensuring the survival of the human race. (X-Men v5 #1) It responded with this threat by combating Mutants in every theatre namely physical, economic and psychological. (Way of X v1 #1)
It was formed when recruits from various organisations around the planet gathered in response to "The Cro-Magnon problem" as posed by Mutants. Orchis also received funding from black budgets and other human-centric financial considerations. The organization operated under three areas of concern namely; Population, Finance and Territorial. In addition, its assets established watchdog programs to maintain undetected observation of Mutant influence. (House of X v1 #1) As a covert organization, it was composed of multiple dynamic enterprises that were collectively dedicated to the prevention of global Mutant primacy. (Way of X v1 #1)
In terms of hierarchy, it was composed of six direct strategic wings that were headed by its central column. (Way of X v1 #1)
It operated the Orchis Corporation that was said to had entered into the private prison business with a focus solely on Mutants as its prison in-mate population. Each of its stations specialised in a different form of resource extraction from its in-mates. (Sabretooth v4 #5)
Their machines were the product of the greatest human minds on the planet. (X-Men v5 #1)
Chief among their creations was the Mother Mold that was a giant factory that took the form of a Sentinel head. (X-Men v5 #1)
The station was noted to had been built on the bones of a planet killer weapon. (House of X v1 #1) The Forge was said to had been built as the last hope for humanity and as a refuge in case Mutantkind had won the evolutionary battle. (X-Men v5 #1)
Among the facilities operated by Orchis included:
- Station One : a prison facility operated by the Orchis Corporation with it being known as the Dungeon. (Sabretooth v4 #5)
- Station Two : a prison facility operated by the Orchis Corporation responsible for the chimera protocols. (Sabretooth v4 #5)
- Station Three : a prison facility operated by the Orchis Corporation responsible for astral plane mining. (Sabretooth v4 #5)
- Station Four : a prison facility operated by the Orchis Corporation responsible for the infernal nursery. (Sabretooth v4 #5)
- Station Five : a prison facility operated by the Orchis Corporation. (Sabretooth v4 #5)
- Station Six : a prison facility operated by the Orchis Corporation responsible for recycling. (Sabretooth v4 #5)
The organization also maintained a site known as Sentinel City that grew through mining of heavy metals and had constructed a subterranean habitat to serve as a bunker for Orchis. (X-Men v5 #6)
It was known that their Hubs were connected to the Forge with a certain degree of redundancy allowing for Orchis's knowledgebase to remain intact. (X-Men v5 #1)
Members
- Killian Devo : a 63 year old male with their prior affiliation was with S.T.R.I.K.E. before becoming the Director of the organisation. (House of X v1 #1)
- Zaha Gehry : a 37 year old whose prior affiliation was with Alpha Flight before becoming the Head of Engineering. (House of X v1 #1)
- Walker Kin : a 49 year old Colonel whose prior affiliation was with S.H.I.E.L.D. before becoming the head of Orchis's Military Command. (House of X v1 #1)
- Alia Gregor : a 32 year old woman whose prior affiliation was with A.I.M. before becoming the head of Orchis's Science Command. (House of X v1 #1)
- Omega Sentinel : a bald headed 28 year old female who was an Omega Sentinel that had sided with Orchis and served as their Machine Liaison. (House of X v1 #1)
- Doctor Stasis :
- Henry Peter Gyrich :
- Erasmus Mendel :
- Doctor Mars : a male scientist who was stationed at a stronghold on Earth. (X-Men v5 #1)
- Doctor Smyth : a scientist who served under Dr. Mars and was stationed at the Orchis stronghold on Earth. (X-Men v5 #1)
- Moira MacTaggert :
- Judas Traveller :
Notes
- Orchis was created by Jonathan Hickman and Pepe Larraz where it made its first appearance in House of X v1 #1 (September, 2019).
Appearances
- House of X v1: (2019)
- X-Men v5:
- Weapon Plus: World War IV v1:
- S.W.O.R.D. v2: (2021)
- Way of X v1: (2021)
- X-Men v6:
- Inferno v2:
- Sabretooth v4:
- Giant-Size X-Men: Thunderbird v1:
External Links
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