While Apocalypse’s son, Nemesis, decidedly isn't. However, that doesn’t mean the two didn’t cross paths within Marvel Comics on occasion, and when they did, Magneto accidentally gave Nemesis a deadly upgrade–and he did so while trying to kill him.
Erik Magnus Lehnsherr aka Magneto became a villainous mutant extremist after suffering the cruel atrocities of the Nazis in Auschwitz, and he feared the same would happen to mutantkind the second humanity grew fearful of their existence. So, Magneto elected to take the fight to the humans before they came after mutants, but the X-Men were determined to stop him at every turn. In the prime reality of Earth-616, the X-Men were the bane of Magneto’s existence–which makes the fact that Magneto actually led the X-Men against another mutant extremist in a branched timeline hilariously ironic. In the Age of Apocalypse timeline, Magneto formed the X-Men following the timeline-splitting death of Charles Xavier by the hand of his time-traveling son, Legion. In this reality, Apocalypse and his most trusted mutant followers–including his son, who only existed in this timeline–effectively conquered the world in the name of mutant supremacy, and brought nothing but pain and anguish to the lives of those who opposed them. However, after Magneto experienced an unparalleled level of pain due to the actions of Nemesis, he returned the favor in incredibly brutal fashion.
In X-Men Chronicles #1 by Howard Mackie and Terry Dodson, readers are introduced to Magneto’s X-Men within the Age of Apocalypse timeline before Apocalypse actually conquered most of the world. In this issue, the X-Men jet-off on a mission that would decide the fate of the planet as Apocalypse was making his move to take over, and the X-Men were the only ones who could stop him. While most of the team were away from their headquarters, Scarlet Witch and Rogue were left behind to take care of the mutant children who also lived there–which is exactly when Nemesis struck. Nemesis’ surprise-assault resulted in the death of Magneto’s daughter, Scarlet Witch–a tragic event that invoked Magneto’s unequaled rage.
Magneto Accidentally Turned Nemesis into Holocaust
While it isn’t shown on-, X-Men Chronicles #2 reveals that Magneto hunted Nemesis across the globe for what the villain did to Scarlet Witch, and when he caught him, Magneto showed Nemesis no mercy. The specifics are few and far-between, but it’s clear that Magneto tortured Nemesis to the point of near death, leaving practically nothing left of his body. However, since Nemesis was the son of Apocalypse, and therefore had inherent strength and an urge to survive, he held onto life long enough for Dark Beast to build him an exo-suit that not only kept Nemesis alive, but also increased his power exponentially. After this physical metamorphosis, Nemesis changed his name to Holocaust.
Nemesis is a mutant with the powers of energy absorption, super strength, flight, durability, and agility, and his power was proven by the fact that he was able to kill Scarlet Witch who is one of the strongest characters in Marvel Comics. However, when Nemesis became Holocaust, his exo-suit allowed him to add energy projection and invulnerability to his list of abilities. Nemesis was strong to be sure, but Holocaust was unstoppable–proving that Magneto gave Apocalypse’s forgotten son a deadly upgrade.
