Solem (Marvel)
Solem is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
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Biography
Solem was a male Mutant who was a native of the living island of Arakko.
Long ago, he was living in a village in Arakko when it was attacked the Arakkii pirate Sevyr Blackmore and his crew the Boneclutch. They pillaged and plundered the site where they killed most of its inhabitants except for a young Solem. He caught the eye of Blackmore due to his shiny skin and he took the boy hostage where he planned to sell him. However, no cell or chain could hold the boy who always managed to escape forcing Sevyr to put him to work as a crew hand. After learning the workings of the ship, he began to learn the trade where by adulthood he became a member of the crew and a skilled warrior. In time, he was noted for being a seducer who had dangerous appetites where he even came to fool Blackmore into thinking he was a mentor. One day, he had Sevyr tied up by people in his own crew whereupon Solem cut off his nose so that the older pirate would never forget what was taken from him. It was then that he stole Blackmore's ship from him that was his most prized item and embarked on his own career in Arakko. (Wolverine v7 #15)
Some claims were that Solem and Bracken had an intimate relationship until the former grew bored where he broke it off. Bracken was said to had reacted out of pride or anger. The altercation was said to had insulted Bracken's honor and as a result he fought Solem only to die at his hands. As a result, War lost her husband and the Summoner lost his father though Solem felt no guilt over his actions. Being judged guilty, he was sentenced to be locked away in a pit within the Tower of Broken Will though he promised War that she would beg for his help one day as Arakko needed its champion. (Wolverine v7 #6)
Thus, he found himself to be chained away for a century and a season to humble him for his actions. However, according to Solem, he was still loved by the people of Arrako who brought him food, drink and books with this being adequate items to sate his boredom over the years. During this time, the Arraki forces laid siege to Otherworld and intended to claim the it only to be stopped by Saturnyne who suggested a contest between Arakko and the Mutants of Krakoa. Ten champions wielding swords from both sides were chosen by Otherworld with one of the Swordbreakers of Arakko being Solem who had been chosen to participate in the fight. War and Pestilence as a result went to the Tower of Broken Will to free Solem much to their chagrin. He was informed he would need a blade to which he showed the hellblade he had been given but was told that the tournament required a sword and that he needed to find one called Muramasa within 3 days. Easily escaping from the pit, he made his way out to seek the prophecised sword and said that he would meet the others in the upcoming contest. (Wolverine v7 #6) He then began his quest starting by going to the Blind Island to seek out the Oracle of Arakko. He asked the seer on information on where to find the Muramasa blade where he provided payment that was the severed head of her sister who had banished her to the island. She informed him that the object of his quest lay in Hell that he could access with his hellblade and once there he would find a Mutant made of metal who would serve as his guide. Once there, he found the prison cells that contained his Krakoan counterpart who was the Mutant named Wolverine. Together, the pair worked together to acquire the blades of Muramasa the swordsmith who had been consigned to Hell to serve the Hand after they had unified with their master the demonic Beast. The two Mutants came upon an unholy marriage officiated by a demon whereby Muramasa presented his newly forged blades from the Hell Forge. Both Solem and Wolverine battled the Hand in order to claim the blades where the former suffered a cut from the sword thus learning that the Muramasa weapons were able to cut through Adamantium. Wolverine himself was then attacked by the demon for interfering in the unholy wedding with Solem deciding to save him and even giving him the other Muramasa sword as he looked forward to their upcoming fight. (X-Force v6 #13)
He later attended the tournament in Otherworld where he was part of the Arakki delegation. A number of matches were held in this time between the Krakoan swordbearers and the Arakki Swordbreakers. In this time, the enmity between War and Solem led to her challenging her own team mate in order to get her revenge. However, Solem instead requested Saturnyne teleport Wolverine in his place where he called in his favour to Logan to fight in his stead. Thus, Wolverine was forced to battle against War though was in a drunk state after celebrating his victory against the Summoner who he had killed. Solem used this information to divert War's attention to Wolverine with her being enraged at her son having been killed by Wolverine. (Wolverine v7 #7)
The final match in the Contest of Swords was between Genesis and Apocalypse with the latter winning the fight. However, the Helm of Annihilation refused to accept the defeat and called forth an invasion by the demonic hordes of Amenth that stormed Otherworld. Various groups arrived to defend against the invading army but it was Apocalypse who helped end the threat by ripping the Helm of Annihilation from Genesis and donned it himself. Rather than win against the demonic force, he simply had it surrender the tournament leading to the defeat of its forces. This led to Saturnyne removing the Helm and turning it into spear with its influence being reduced with Arakko ceded to Krakoa. In the midst of this, Solem managed to escape and fled through one of the Krakoan gates where he continued to hold the Murmasa blade that wanted to re-unite with its twin. (X of Swords: Destruction v1 #1)
A month ago, Sevyr Blackmore came to track Solem down at a casino in Madripoor where he had been enjoying the pleasures in this world. It as then that he was attacked by Blackmore where the two battled but ultimately Solem escaped after abandoning the Muramasa blade to his opponent. However, he had secretly snuck into the Summers House on the Moon to steal the one held by Wolverine. He then manipulated events to stag a battle between the Krakoans, Blackmore and the Russians as one big diversionary tactic. (Wolverine v7 #15)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Despite capable of fighting with the best of them, Solem was said to prefer the more subtle approach in a battle. (Wolverine v7 #15)
Such was his charm that Solem was said to be capable of making a mountain fall in love with him. Both men and women craved him yet wished to tear him apart in the same impulse. This craving he indulged in excess but those that tried to hurt him he hurt back many times over. (Wolverine v7 #6)
Though called evil, in reality his self-professed agenda was pleasure and gamesmanship. He had no loyalty except to himself where he was always found in places of music, flesh, wine and sometimes blood. (Wolverine v7 #6) It was said that he came to hold dangerous appetites which ended up attracting the enmity of others. (Wolverine v7 #15)
He considered himself a kind-hearted poet yet was still a killing machine. Thus, he did not let his inferiors beat him and instead ruthlessly murdered them in a challenge. (Wolverine v7 #6) It was said that no prison or chain could hold him as he always managed to escape even when he was a child. Blackmore had said that he would rather slip through a person's fingers like water rather than take a punch. Thus, he was perfectly willing to lose a weapon rather than allow himself to be caught by a foe. (Wolverine v7 #15)
Whilst imprisoned, it was believed that either he would die by falling into despair or be humbled by the experience. However, he never felt such feelings and was comfortable within his prison. (Wolverine v7 #6)
It was said that he had many advances to War who had always rejected him. This resulted to some believing that his supposed affair with her husband Bracken was done so to upset her. (Wolverine v7 #6)
Solem was only a young boy when he was abducted by Sevyr Blackmore who came to take the child as a member of his crew. During that time, he came to see him grow into adulthood to be a skilled warrior and thought he was Solem's mentor. However, he came to learn that he had been manipulated by his charge for sometime. In the end, Sevyr was unsure whether he had created Solem or simply unlocked what was already in him when he was a boy. (Wolverine v7 #15)
He and Wolverine could not be more different according to Sevyr Blackmore. (Wolverine v7 #15)
Powers and abilities
His skin was Adamantium-enforced with this consisting of micro-fibrous versions of a chainmail surrounding his body. This meant that he was impervious to harm by edged weapons. However, the mystically created Muramasa blades were one such weapon that could pierce through his skin and injure him. (X-Force v6 #13)
As part of Sevyr Blackmore's crew, he was trained in the workings of a ship before learning to be a killer where was a crook, a smuggler and a raider. (Wolverine v7 #15)
Over a century ago, he was given the Hellblade of War's husband who had been killed by Solem. This was because she had hoped he would kill himself with it during his imprisonment. However, he kept it away as he did not want to damn himself and never felt despair to the point that he would use it. (Wolverine v7 #6) Anyone struck by the blade was said to be consigned straight to Hell and could also be used as a key to open a doorway to Hell. (X-Force v6 #13)
Notes
- Solem was created by Benjamin Percy and Viktor Bogdanovic where he made his first appearance in Wolverine v7 #6 (October, 2020).
- In an interview on Newsarama, writer Benjamin Percy wrote, "Chief among them: a new baddie we're introducing, named Solem. I won't tell you everything about his history, but I will say that coming out of this event, he's going to be a major new player in the mainline. Think of him as a Loki to Wolverine's Thor. He's…delightfully evil, a charming bastard, and impossibly deadly."
Appearances
- Wolverine v7: (2020)
- X-Force v6: (2020)
- X of Swords: Destruction v1: (2020)
External Links
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