NOBILUS

Real Name: Nobilus

Identity/Class: Clone

Occupation: Warrior

Group Membership: New Immortals

Affiliations: Balder, Hercules, High Evolutionary, Luminor, New Men, Sif, Stellaris, Thor, Adam Warlock

Enemies: Ego, God Pack, High Evolutionary, Loki, Man-Beast, They, Thor

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: New Wundagore; later Mount Wundagore; later a base at Orion

First Appearance: (Hand seen) Thor I#420 (August, 1990); (fully) Thor I#423 (September, 1990)

Powers/Abilities: Nobilus is a clone of Thor, cloned from him at a time when Thor was being controlled by Loki. He possesses class 100 strength, and has all the superhuman speed, durability, and agility of Thor. He can also generate lightning from his body, and shield himself with force fields. Due to the corrupt influence of Loki, Nobilus often flies into beserker rages. Nobilus is occasionally armed with a sword or hammer.

History:
(Thor I#408 - BTS) - After Thor shaved his beard off at the High Evolutionary's base at Mount Wundagore, one of the New Men brought the hair and blood from his shaving bowl to Count Tagar, so that it could be used to create a new race of immortals.

(Thor I#420) - Nobilus was created within the laboratory of New Wundagore by the High Evolutionary, using the samples taken from Thor. Count Tagar, observing, wondered if Nobilus would be compassionate or vengeful. Nobilus' closed fist seemed to answer his question.

(Thor I#422) - Nobilus, corrupted by Loki's influence, ran beserk within his cell, attacking even the High Evolutionary. The High Evolutionary still believed that Nobilus was like a child, and the simple-minded godling came to think of him as his father. Later, his cell was opened by Stellaris, who manipulated him into assisting her in her mission against the Celestials.

(Thor I#423) - Nobilus went on another rampage, battling the Knights of Wundagore. He came to blows with Thor in the process, but the battle was cut short when Stellaris grabbed him and flew them out the hull of the ship.

(Thor I#424) - On the planetoid where the Celestials were preparing to create a new Celestial from the Black Galaxy, Nobilus fought Thor alongside his fellow New Immortals, but was defeated by him. The High Evolutionary suffered a mental collapse after realizing he was imperfect, and Nobilus took care of him.

(Thor I#425) - With the Celestials gone, Nobilus returned to New Wundagore with the other New Immortals.

(Warlock and the Infinity Watch#3-4) - The New Wundagore was pursued by survivors of Counter-Earth (They), and crashed upon a planet. Nobilus remained by the High Evolutionary's side to protect him, and with the aid of Adam Warlock, the Man-Beast's agents were all destroyed.

(Thor I#447/2-448/2) - Now wearing a new costume, resembling Thor's, Nobilus and the other New Immortals found Balder and Sif aboard New Wundagore and brought them to Count Tagar. The two Asgardians agreed to help them in their search for the High Evolutionary and Analzyer, whose trail led them to Ego, the Living Planet, being studied by the Celestials.

(Thor I#449/2) - Nobilus led Sif and Balder down to Ego to find the High Evolutionary. Sif had wondered if Nobilus might truly be the then-missing Thor, but after witnessing one of his beserker rages, decided he was not. They found the High Evolutionary with the Analyzer, examining the Celestial created from the Black Galaxy. The High Evolutionary explained to them that Ego was part of a larger entity which was now coming to claim him.

(Thor I#450/2) - Nobilus was unable to convince the High Evolutionary to leave Ego behind, so Sif knocked him out and returned them all to New Wundagore.

(Thor I#473 (fb)) - When the High Evolutionary regained his sanity, he determined that it was time to create yet another new race, this time back on earth. Nobilus led his fellow New Immortals against the High Evolutionary, and he fled.

(Thor I#482) - Nobilus joined the New Immortals in battling the High Evolutionary, Thor, and the God Pack from their base at Orion. When Thor was unable to defeat Nobilus on his own, he recruited Loki, who disguised himself as Thor to trick Nobilus. With the two Asgardians' power united against Nobilus, they were able to defeat him, and thwart the New Immortals' plan to destroy all life on earth.

(Thor I#483-484) - The High Evolutionary placed Nobilus into suspended animation and set him aboard Wundagore III with the other New Immortals. The High Evolutionary hoped to one day awaken Nobilus, once the taint of Loki had been removed from him.

Comments: Created by Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Joe Sinnott.

I stumbled across a good Handbook-style image for Nobilus in Dragon Magazine's Marvel Philes. No art credit I can see - Jeff Grubb was (iirc) usually the artist who handled such things in Dragon Magazine, and it does resemble his style to my untrained eye.
--Loki