THE RUINED

Membership: Armure, B'arr, Casque, C'hin, Exalt, Feuille, Griffe, Katar, Martyr, M'stapha, S'pyke, Stem, Touffe, T'urnaround

Purpose: Supposedly to preserve things of historical and natural importance from being destroyed by technology, but in reality they just wanted to take over our dimension!

Affiliations: The D.R.C. (Deterrence Research Corporation), Mad Thinker, Puppet Master, Threska (see comments)

Enemies: The Fantastic Four, Margali Szardos, Reno

Base of Operations: Their home dimension.

First Appearance: Fantastic Four III#1 (January 1998)

History: (Fantastic Four III#1 (fb)) - For untold centuries the Ruined were trapped in another dimension by parties unknown see comments. From their ethereal prison they observed Yvette Diamonde and realized she would suit their purposes.

(Fantastic Four III#1) - The American company D.R.C. discovered ruins hundreds of feet underneath Paris. Carbon dating revealed the ruins to be in the vicinity of eleven thousand years old. The runes bore only the slightest resemblance to any known system of writing. A group of protesters gathered at the site of the D.R.C. excavation that had uncovered the ruins claiming that the D.R.C. where violating sacred ground. Three of the protesters, Yvette Diamonde, Laurent Levesseur and Herve Dubois, were offered the opportunity to visit the ruins. Escorted by Arron Starr, the D.R.C.'s European counsel, and his workers they were brought to a huge stone doorway. D.R.C. workers were attempting to breach the doorway into the sub-chamber behind the door using a laser. Yvette tried to stop them but the laser struck the door causing a "transpatial anomaly" that breached "the natural barrier between our respective dimensions --- thereby endangering all of 'existence' as it is currently defined" phew that's Reed's way of saying it anyhow! At that moment in Antarctica, Reed Richards Transpatial Breach Early Warning Detection System alerted the Fantastic Four of the anomaly, but back in Paris the energy from the breach had begun transmuting Laurent, Monk, Starr and the others present into the Ruined. Initially Yvette was the only one spared the transformation, but the Ruined approached her to lead them and she became Martyr. The extradimensional energies continued to pour through into the Earth dimension transmuting it into a duplicate of the Ruined's dimension. The Ruined encountered Mr Fantastic and the Invisible Woman as they attempted to sneak into the ruins. Reed summoned the Human Torch and the Thing. The Ruined tried to distract the Fantastic Four with combat while their dimension slowly replaced the Earth dimension. Fortunately the Fantastic Four saw through their ploy and managed to close the energy portal. Paris reverted to normal, and those possessed by the Ruined reverted to human. Martyr, however, retained her abilities and costume.

(Fantastic Four III#20 (fb) - BTS) - The Ruined engineered a temporal anomaly that began to transmute Paris once more. There was time for the citizens of Paris to make an orderly evacuation before being caught up in the transmutation of the city.

(Fantastic Four III#19 - BTS) - The few remaining citizens of Paris where told via radio to stay in their homes, but instead gravitated towards the city's monuments praying for a miracle to save them. They witnessed the Fantastic Four's return to Paris after an inter-dimensional adventure.

(Fantastic Four III#20) - The Fantastic Four investigated the site of the D.R.C.'s initial excavation, which had been taken over by the French government after the initial incursion. They were joined by Reno, an agent of the Deuxieme Bureau (French secret service), and began examining the runes. One of the cartouches amongst the runes began to take on the likeness of Arlise. Meanwhile Arlise was being transformed into Katar. She and the other Ruined captured Margali Szardos. They took Margali into the catacombs below the Cluny museum where they suspended her from the ceiling using mystical creepers that leeched her strength. Johnny Storm arrived to help Arlise, but was rendered immobile by her energy sword instead. Fortunately the rest of the team arrived in time to interrupt the ceremony of the Quintessence. However, this caused their magical energies to build towards detonation. Once Margali and Yvette were safe the Thing plunged the Sword of Sacrifice into a wall, hoping for it to be destroyed in the explosion. The Invisible Woman surrounded everybody in her force field to protect them from the blast. Those possessed by the Ruined reverted to their human forms, and were taken into custody by the French authorities.

(Fantastic Four: Foes#1) - Martyr, Stem, B'arr and Exalt represented the Ruined at a gathering of enemies of the Fantastic Four held by the Puppet Master, who suggested that they combine their forces. The Ruined left with the others, without even acknowledging the Puppet Master's scheme.

(Fantastic Four: Foes#5 (fb) - BTS) -  The Fantastic Four captured  Martyr, Stem, B'arr and Exalt and transferred them to the newly constructed Vault in the Negative Zone.

(Fantastic Four: Foes#5) - Martyr, Stem, B'arr, Exalt, and the rest of the inmates were released from their cells by the Negative Zone sorceress Threska.

(Fantastic Four: Foes#6) - Martyr, Stem, B'arr, Exalt, and most of the other inmates fought the Fantastic Four, and they either voluntarily returned to their cells or were recaptured by force.

COMMENTS: Created by Scott Lobdell, Alan Davis and Mark Farmer

The Celestials may have judged the Ruined as failures, hence their banishment to another dimension.
FF III#25.  The Dreaming Celestial storyline- Reed and Doom are going through the vaults and find glyphs reminiscent of the Ruined, and Reed theorizes...
Mark O'

Laurent LeVasseur, the former host of Exalt, is the name used by Daredevil during the Flying Blind story arc when he was reprogrammed by SHIELD to assume a false identity to try to stop a plot of the Kingpin. One can only speculate whether there are connections between the two.
--Snood.

In his first encounter with the Ruined, Reed mentioned the "Kirby Scale of Refractral Analysis". An obvious tip of the hat to Jack Kirby. Another little 'tribute' in Fantastic Four III#1 was Ben Grimm's encounter with a group of French children. The kids pelted him with vegetables and ran away. As Ben stands there wondering what it was all about, overhead we see the street name: Rue de Yancy! (French for Yancy Street, of course!)

For those characters who didn't receive names initially I have suggested some. Inspired by the Parisian setting I even used a couple of French words! Obviously the French national hero, Le Peregrine, was busy during the Fantastic Fours encounters with the Ruined...

When Chris Claremont brought the Ruined back in issues #19 and #20 there seemed to be some confusion about the number of Ruined. B'arr says to Torch 'You and your comperes were no match for us when we were but two.' In #1 the Ruined have 11 members, though only 9 of those are pictured in their transformed states (Their human forms are pictured prior to transformation) and 7 of those are nameless.

The nameless members had all received names in this profile. These names were confirmed in Marvel Atlas#1.

Profile by Changeling.

CLARIFICATIONS:

Armure has no known connections to:

B'arr, Casque, Feuille, Griffe, Martyr, M'stapha, S'pyke, Stem, Touffe and T'urnaround should be distinguished from:

C'hin should be distinguished from:

Exalt has no known connections to:

Katar has no known connections to:

The Quintessence should be distinguished from:

The Ruined should be distinguished from:

Armure

Protected by body armour, this member of the Ruined was involved in their second incursion into Paris. Armure helped capture Arlise in order to have her possessed by Katar. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, Armure had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension.

--Fantastic Four III#20

 

B'arr

B'arr briefly possessed Herve 'Monk' Dubois. He wore stony armour over his head, shoulders, hands and feet. The stone acts as an ablative coating, providing resistance to fire. B'arr also possessed superhuman strength (Class 50) and durability. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, B'arr had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension.

--Fantastic Four III#1([19],20 Fantastic Four: Foes#1, 5-6

 

 

Casque

Little is known about this member of the Ruined who briefly possessed an unnamed employee of the Deterrence Research Corporation in the Ruined's initial incursion into Paris. He/She was protected by body armour and a spiky helmet that sported a ponytail. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, Casque had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension.

--Fantastic Four III#1

C'hin

Little is known about this member of the Ruined who briefly possessed an unnamed employee of the Detterence Research Corporation in the Ruined's initial incursion into Paris. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, C'hin had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension.

--Fantastic Four III#1

 

Exalt

Exalt briefly possessed Laurent Levesseur, one of Yvette's fellow anti-technology reactionaries. He could generate energy blasts and had superhuman strength (Class 50) and durability. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, Exalt had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension.

--Fantastic Four III#1([19],20, Fantastic Four: Foes#1, 5-6

 

 

Feuille

Feuille's arms were partially covered by leaves. Apart from that little is known about this member of the Ruined, who briefly possessed an unnamed employee of the Deterrence Research Corporation in the Ruined's initial incursion into Paris. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, Feuille had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension.

--Fantastic Four III#1

 

Griffe

Griffe had unusually long arms with three claws on each hand. Apart from that little is known about this member of the Ruined, who briefly possessed an unnamed employee of the Deterrence Research Corporation in the Ruined's initial incursion into Paris. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, Griffe had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension.

---Fantastic Four III#1

 

Katar of the Bloody Blades (Arlise)

Arlise was a wealthy American super-model who was in Paris at the time of the Ruined's initial appearance. There for Fashion Week, she recognised Johnny and introduced herself. Other than that she didn't become involved in events until later. Upon the return of the Ruined, she became involved in the quintessence when possessed by, and transformed into, Katar. As Katar she had blue skin and uses an energy sword that passes through people, weakening them. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, Katar had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension. Arlise was spelt Arlisse in her second appearance but I have used the initial spelling.

-- (Arlise) Fantastic Four III#1, (transformation to Katar)#20 (August, 1999)

 

Martyr (Yvette Diamonde)

Yvette was a farm girl, and an anti-technology reactionary who was duped by the Ruined. Rather than be possessed by one of them, Yvette was empowered by them. She was given superhuman strength (Class 10) and durability, and wielded the Blade of Sacrifice, a mystical sword that tethered the Ruined to their dimension. In order for their plan to work they intended her to become the "Martyr" they needed. Needless to say they didn't tell her that straight away, and when she discovered the truth she wasn't too keen on becoming a Martyr to their cause. She saved the Human Torch from being sucked into the energy portal whilst he was trying to overload it. Unlike the other Ruined, Martyr's power levels didn't appear to increase as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension. Hence, when the portal was closed she was the only one to keep her abilities. She left with her fellow reactionaries to decided what to do with her new abilities. Upon the return of the Ruined she fell under their control briefly and was almost made to kill Margali Szardos.

--Fantastic Four III#1 (20, Fantastic Four: Foes#1, 5-6

 

 

M'stapha

Little is known about M'stapha except that he wields a staff capable of generating an unspecified form of energy. He briefly possessed an unnamed employee of the Deterrence Research Corporation in the Ruined's initial incursion into Paris. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, M'stapha had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension.

--Fantastic Four III#1

 

Quintessence (Barr, Exalt, Katar, Stem and T'urnaround)

A group of the Ruined that sought to merge their dimension with Earth in Paris. Together they were to perform a spell of transformation using Margali Szardos as a sacrifice. They wielded mystical creepers (also referred to as tendrils) that leeched away Margali's strength, but were vulnerable to fire. The creepers were capable of restraining even Reed's extensible body and appeared to be even more pliant themselves. This allowed them to stretch Sue's forcefield to the point where it was too thin to be effective and provided resistance against the Things strength.

--Fantastic Four III#1, 20(named)

 

 

S'pyke

S'pyke's back was covered with spikes. Apart from that little is known about this member of the Ruined, who briefly possessed an unnamed employee of the Deterrence Research Corporation in the Ruined's initial incursion into Paris. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, S'pyke had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension.

---Fantastic Four III#1

 

 

Stem

Stem briefly possessed Aaron Starr. He had an enlarged head and curved cervical spine. Stem walked with the aid of crutches, and could generate brain blasts from the green crystal on his forehead. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, Stem had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension.

--Fantastic Four III#1([19],20, Fantastic Four: Foes#1, 5-6

 

Touffe

This member of the Ruined sported a helmet with decorative plumage. Apart from that little is known about this member of the Ruined, who briefly possessed an unnamed employee of the Deterence Research Corporation during both of the Ruined's incursions into Paris. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, Touffe had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension.

---Fantastic Four III#1([19]), 20)

T'urnaround

This particular member of the Ruined was first seen among the Quintessence. Like all the Ruined, once anchored in a human body, T'urnaround had power levels that gradually increased as the Ruined's dimension continued to expand into the Earth dimension. She is particularly adept at standing with her back to everyone. While this seems to be a common trait of the Ruined, along with only appearing partially in shot, that was the only thing she was seen to do! Hence the name I chose.

--Fantastic Four III#20

Images: not including advertisements

Fantastic Four III#1, p22, pan3
Fantastic Four III#1, p14, pan2
Armure: Fantastic Four III#20, p8, pan3
B'arr: Fantastic Four III#20, p 11, pan 3
Casque: Fantastic Four III#1, p34, pan1
C'hin: Fantastic Four III#1, p22, pan3
Exalt: Fantastic Four III#1, p39, pan1pan3
Feuille: Fantastic Four III#1, p23, pan2
Griffe: Fantastic Four III#1,p23, pan2
Katar: Fantastic Four III#20,p12, pan1pan2
Martyr: Fantastic Four III#1,p33, pan1
M'ustapha: Fantastic Four III#1, p22, pan3an2
Quintessence: Fantastic Four III#20, p12, pan5
S'pyke: Fantastic Four III#1,p23, pan2
Stem: Fantastic Four III#1, p39, pan4
Touffe: Fantastic Four III#1, p39, pan4
T'urnaround: Fantastic Four III#20, p12, pan5

Fantastic Four III#1 (January, 1998) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
Fantastic Four III#19-20 (July-August, 1999) - Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Fantastic Four: Foes#1 (March, 2005)Fantastic Four: Foes#1 (March, 2005) - Robert Kirkman (writer), Cliff Rathburn (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)

Last updated: 06/27/05.

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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