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When Conquest came from the skies amid the city’s wreckage, I was curious. When the Viltrumite stated he’d review Earth’s takeover progress, I was… tense. But when he packed the first punch, I was terrified.
This feeling never faded. The more things escalated, the more uneasy I became. I remember being terrified for the characters’ lives and desperate to turn the next page because I knew nothing would stay the same.
I was right.
Conquest was a turning point, a catalyst for the upcoming bloodbath.
So imagine my surprise when I realized the series’ most terrifying villain was only present in 12 of Invincible’s 144 issues.
But that’s the point: the veteran Viltrumite was a presence beyond any number. He transcended rationale because he evoked gut-wrenching reactions – and in this Conquest guide, I’ll show you how.
Sadistic Nature
Conquest impacted me more than any other Invincible villain because his fights had the highest stakes in the series. Not even Thragg, the final boss, impressed me as much.
Besides, until Conquest appeared, I hadn’t seen such a bloodbath in the comic. So, even if Thragg is the big boss, by the time we get to him, we’ve already been traumatized by the older Viltrumite.
Anything after Conquest was less of a shock. I was already scarred.
Invincible?
Imagine being a teenager from an alien race of Supermen with mustaches. Now imagine these aliens want your help to conquer Earth and destroy everything you love. That’s Invincible in a nutshell.
Don’t be naive; this premise doesn’t do the comic justice. Mark Grayson, AKA Invincible, deals with terrible foes non-stop, and when he seems to have reached his lowest point, something worse happens.
Enter Conquest.
Conquest is a vicious Viltrumite who subdued every world he visited. Maybe that’s because he’s willing to do whatever it takes to succeed – the veteran soldier is not diplomatic like Anissa.
No, no.
He barges in and takes what he wants.
There’s no reasoning with him. Mark tried, but Conquest just wanted to kill everyone on sight and take his time enjoying it. Never had I seen such a gory battle. Never had I been so afraid for an outcome in my life.
Conquest marked Invincible’s shift toward extreme brutality and serious subjects. Without this clash, the comic would be a different series. The villain was essential to prepare Mark for more challenging situations.
Physical Appearance
Conquest is a hulking bald man with a mustache. He has a large scar running from the top left of his skull through the right side of his jaw. The veteran lost his right arm, so he replaced it with a robotic one.
The veteran wears the customary Viltrumite white jumpsuit with grey details.
Powers And Abilities
Like all Viltrumitres, Conquest has many superpowers akin to DC’s Superman. He possesses superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and endurance; flight capabilities; hard skin; and healing factor. Viltrumites have decelerated aging and can remain in space without breathing for up to 15 days.
However, there’s a caveat to all this power. Viltrumites have vulnerable ears – a strong frequency can disorient them to paralysis and cause death.
Key Relationships
Mark Grayson, AKA Invincible: Mark is the person with whom Conquest interacts most. The older Viltrumite has one goal: to take over Earth, and Mark is in his way. There’s no compassion or understanding between them like among other enemies. Conquest is pure evil and wants to obliterate Invincible and his loved ones.
Nolan Grayson, AKA Omni- Man: This is another dreadful relationship. Conquest is disgusted at Nolan’s betrayal of the Viltrumites and expresses happiness that he will be killed by trial. After Nolan escapes and they face each other, Conquest is again glad, but this time because he thinks he will get to kill the traitor.
Thragg: Grand Regent Thragg is the only person Conquest respects. There are two occasions when the veteran shows fear: when he’s about to die; and when he begs for Thragg’s forgiveness. This interaction between soldier and regent was crucial because it showed that despite Conquest’s strength, he bowed to another power. He was vulnerable like everyone else.
These are the relationships worth mentioning, and they’re all terrible, which confirms Conquest never cared about forming bonds. He’s too sadic for that.
Personality
Conquest is a highly sadistic individual. He revels in violence and chaos and has no inherent goals besides unleashing his rage to kill everyone in sight. These traits make him almost unstoppable and are one reason he’s the most terrifying villain in Invincible.
However, I’m of two minds about this characterization. On one side, I think making Conquest a chaotic force of evil effectively differentiates him from other villains with supposedly idealistic goals. Conquest is pure chaos; there’s no logic in his actions, but there’s a power in that.
On the other hand, a lack of understanding of his reasoning makes him a bit one-dimensional.
Freak Out Of Leash
“Stand ready for my arrival, worm!” – Conquest.
When Conquest arrives, Mark is struggling with the Invincible war’s aftermath.
After Angstrom Levy summoned parallel reality Invincibles to destroy the Earth, everything went wrong: Rex passed away; the world was destroyed, and Mark’s girlfriend, Eve, was near death.
So when Conquest descends from the sky, Mark isn’t willing to put up with more drama.
The hero is not in the mood to tell the Viltrumites – for the billionth time – they are not conquering Earth. He doesn’t care Conquest has never failed or that the veteran wants to kill him. Mark just feels guilty and frustrated. The only thing he needs right now is a punching bag.
He decides Conquest will do.
Did you think the final fight in Man of Steel was destructive? It’s nothing compared to this.
Conquest and Mark punch each other through buildings as if they were paper, occasionally stopping so Conquest can deliver his villain monologue. The veteran is confident. He believes he can do anything because his opponent isn’t at the same level.
The fight is vicious, so Mark flies out of the planet to avoid destruction.
Several kilometers away, Oliver – Mark’s pre-teen brother – sees the fight on TV and rushes to help. Their mother is desperate, but she can’t do anything to stop him.
But no matter Oliver’s strength, he’s not a match for Conquest. Especially now that he is having the time of his life beating Mark. It’s just the beginning: when Conquest is done with Mark, he will kill everyone else, including Oliver, who just arrived.
Mark urges his brother to fly away, to no avail. Conquest continues to thrash until he’s wrecked and swollen. Then, the villain moves to Oliver.
That’s when I became petrified.
Conquest lifts Oliver into the air and begins to tear him apart, detailing what would happen when he broke the boy.
Do you feel your body starting to rip apart? It starts with your vertebrae separating– then you’ll feel your muscles starting to stretch – if you’re able to focus through the pain, you’ll feel your skin pulled to its breaking point.”
This is it, I thought. This is where Oliver dies.
But Mark wouldn’t have it. He flies desperately to help, and Cecil teleports just in time to save the boy.
I was relieved, but not for long.
Eve wakes up from her coma and flies to help Mark. She’s not even able to walk, but I get her desperation. What wouldn’t you do to save the love of your life?
Still, this was a stupid risk that backfired.
Do Your Worst
Okay, then. Do your worst.” – Conquest.
Conquest keeps beating the hell out of Mark. Never had he taken such a beating, not even in the fight with his father.
Finally, Eve arrives, but Conquest grabs her and punches a hole through her stomach. Mark despairs and begs Eve to conserve her strength and keep breathing.
In ill timing, Conquest starts thanking Mark for the opportunity to unleash his power and destroy everything.
That’s when it hits. That’s too much. The debauchery, Eve’s injuries. So Mark snaps.
When Eve dies before Mark’s eyes, he promises Conquest won’t live to see another day.
Conquest laughs, amused that Mark is still confident to threaten him after everything.
Mark breaks Conquest’s mechanical arm and promises that now he will get to enjoy the fight.
Suddenly, Eve returns to life wholly regenerated, and her transformation launches a powerful laser that burns most of Conquest’s body. But then she passes out.
Conquest gets up and says he’ll make sure Eve is dead this time, but Mark attacks him.
That’s when I witnessed the most brutal punching ever. The following panels were both beautiful and ugly. The rhythm of the repeated rectangles and the page’s composition was stunning, but the massacre was gut-wrenching.
So much so that Mark shatters Conquest’s face into faceless goo.
With a sense of accomplished task, Mark blacks out.
Did You Think I Was Dead?
I underestimated the boy. I toyed with him far too long. I gave him time to gain an advantage” – Conquest.
Mark doesn’t trust Cecil Stedman, the head of a secret organization below the Pentagon. How could he when the man had done terrible experiments that put countless people’s lives in danger? So the young hero asks to see Conquest’s body.
Cecil shows him a disfigured body, seemingly dead. But was it real?
Before we have an answer, we get a flashback.
Nolan reveals the truth about the Viltrumite civilization to Allen, the Alien. There are less than 50 pure-blood Viltrumites, partly because of the Scourge virus. He states that those who survived discovered nasty side effects: their strength and invulnerability were greatly diminished after the virus left their system. Because of that, Conquest lost his arm while fighting monsters.
Two issues later, we learn Conquest is alive as a head without a body. Cecil sent Conquest to The Block, a remote Global Defense Agency outpost in the Mojave desert. After a few weeks, the Viltrumite awakens and flies off the HQ with a regenerated body.
That puzzled me. Did the body grow overnight? Weird.
When Cecil realizes what happened, it’s already too late; he knows he screwed up.
Conquest encounters the Viltrumites in Invincible Returns, a special issue. He falls on his knees, apologizes to Grand Regent Thragg, and begs for another chance. But Thragg is unconvinced that Conquest will be of any service.
Remember, the Viltrumites look down on the weak; when you fail, you are helpless.
Still, he insists, desperate to keep living, and Thragg grants him an opportunity. He sends Conquest on a mission to intercept Mark and his team.
Rematch
Oh, Mark. It’s so good to see you again. And I see you brought friends.” – Conquest.
Invincible, Nolan and Oliver are on a Mission with a space crew that resembles the protagonists from Star Trek: The New Generation. Suddenly, Conquest and two other Viltrumites destroy their ship.
Conquest is thrilled to have another chance to battle Mark, but the hero is furious that the Viltrumite is still alive. The hero is initially confused but soon understands it is all Cecil’s fault.
They fight until Viltrumite’s allies arrive, shifting the odds. Oliver starts having difficulty breathing, and Nolan tells him to fly to the nearest planet. Conquest pursues Oliver, but Mark grabs his foe by the throat.
Still choking the older Viltrumite, Invincible continues to battle him. Conquest punches through Mark’s gut, but the young hero refuses to let go.
Then, something unusual happens: Conquest grows scared.
The old Viltrumite turns purple, and his eyes are yellow and red. Marks keeps squeezing until Conquest suffocates.
Mark pins Conquest to the ground, and the veteran hits Invincible in the stomach. The hero’s guts begin to leak, yet his hands remain firm on his enemy’s throat. The old Viltrumite turns purple, and his eyes are yellow and red. Marks keeps squeezing until Conquest suffocates.
The hero collapses.
This was one of the most unsettling and vivid panels I’ve seen in comics. The sheer detail in the images and the cadence of the sequence; it’s all horrifying. Disgusting and poignant, like only Invincible can do.
In Another Life
Accompany me back to the citadel, or I will kill you both. Please, resist…” – Conquest.
Conquest is dead for good this time, but you know comics… there’s always a way to bring people back.
Mark spends months in a coma to heal after nearly dying with his intestines out. Many issues later, he is stuck in an alternate reality where his counterpart helped the Viltrumites conquer Earth and is now the planet’s ruler.
Once Invisible and Robot arrive at this world, Conquest leads them to Emperor Invincible. While Mark inhabits this reality, we see Conquest a few more times. But we don’t see him do anything significant, so I must admit this was a lame epilogue for the terrifying villain.
Awesome Or Lame?
Conquest is awesome, for sure. Maybe not for intricate writing – he’s not a layered villain – but due to his presence. Conquest arrives at a horrible time and makes things even worse. He provides what is, in my opinion, the best fight in the series, and regarding Invincible, that says a lot.
When he finally leaves the comic, we feel he changed the status quo, and that’s just what I expected from the character when he first appeared. That’s what I expect from any well-crafted narrative conflict.
So, there’s no doubt Conquest serves this purpose well and is one of Invincible’s best villains.
And The Award Of Best Quote Goes To…
The truth is I want you to resist. I’m not here because I want to spread the Viltrum empire. I’m not here because I believe in one cause or the other or that I’m fulfilling some kind of honorable duty.
I’m here because I enjoy this.”
Invincible, issue 62.
I love this quote because it shows Conquest is pure chaos. Most villains have a purpose, an ideal, or a goal. But not Conquest – he just wants to destroy everything in his path, which is why I believe he was so successful in his previous endeavors.
In a way, he reminds me of the Joker. Both characters have this aspect of pure chaos and destruction, which makes them terrifying villains who stick out from the crowd.
FAQs
Question: Can Conquest Beat Thragg?
Answer: I believe Conquest can’t beat Thragg. Although Conquest proved to be quite a challenge to Mark, the hero’s fight with Thragg was much harder. Viltrumites get stronger with age, but with time, even they pass their prime – and that’s Conquest’s case. Besides, the fact that Thragg is Grand Regent makes him more prepared because he has had special training since he was a child.
Question: Will Conquest Be In Invincible Season 2?
Answer: I don’t know if Conquest will be in season 2 of Invincible. Considering where season one’s plot ended, it is still far from Conquest’s appearance. But then again, the series has pushed up later arcs to the beginning, so you never know.
Question: How Old Is Conquest In Invincible?
Answer: Conquest is thousands of years old, although we don’t know how many exactly. But we know he’s one of the oldest Viltrumites in the series, alongside Thaedus.
Question: What Issue Of Invincible Does Conquest Show Up?
Answer: Conquest first appears in Invincible issue 61 and dies in issue 72. However, he last appears in issue 109.
Question: Who’s Stronger, Omni-Man Or Conquest?
Answer: Conquest is more experienced than Omni-Man, but he’s past his prime. The veteran Viltrumite has said Mark is almost as strong as Nolan, so judging from the fact Mark beat Conquest, it is fair to say that Nolan is stronger than the older Viltrumite.
Old Viltrumites Die Hard
After Conquest arrived in Invincible, nothing was the same. He raised the personal stakes and showed how menacing a villain could be. Although he lost in the end, Conquest had an unforgettable farewell with one of the goriest comic scenes ever.
If you want to check out more Invincible, read this Black Samson Invincible Guide but if you want to buy some comic Merch, check out the Invincible Funko Pop guide.
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