| Colossus (Joint Venture) | |
 | |
| Real Name | Piotr Nikolievich Rasputin |
| Current Alias | Colossus |
| Alias(es) | Peter Rasputin, "Peter Nicholas", S'ym (former), "Tall, Dark, and Russian", "Russkie", "Steel Wolf" |
| Relatives | Illyana Nikolovna Rasputina (sister), Mikhail Rasputin (brother), Nicolai Rasputin (father), Alexandra Rasputin (mother) |
| Affiliation | X-Men, Limbo (former) |
| Base Of Operations | 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, New York; Limbo (former) |
| Alignment | Good |
| Universe | Joint Venture Universe |
| Gender | Male |
| Eyes | Blue (silver in steel form) |
| Hair | Black |
| Unusual Features | Can transform his skin into organic steel. |
Colossus is a mutant superhero, a mainstay of the X-Men. This is the Joint Venture Universe version of the character.
History[]
For the first nineteen years of his life, Piotr Rasputin lived quietly on a farm in Siberia, helping his parents with the fields and working odd jobs on the side to save up enough money go to school as an artist.
Shortly after Piotr's nineteenth birthday, his sister Illyana was playing in the field when a neighbor's tractor suddenly went rogue, destroying everything in its path as it barrelled straight for Illyana.
Piotr, without thinking, ran for his sister, grabbing her, hoping to shield her body with his own. Then, two things happened that would alter the course of their lives forever.
The Steel Paladin[]
Almost as soon as he had Illyana in his arms, a transformation came over Piotr; his body turned from flesh and blood to a kind of flexible organic steel. He could still move and act in this form, but he was several times stronger, and his skin was all but impervious to harm. The tractor, rather than mowing them both down, crashed into Piotr's new steel body, smashing itself into so much scrap without doing him, or Illyana, the slightest harm.
However, Piotr barely had time to process this before a circle of light opened up beneath him and his sister, and they fell through it, tumbling through time and space into a realm that existed outside the reach of either.
Piotr and his sister tumbled through the circle of light -- the "stepping-dsc" -- and landed at the feet of the dark sorcerer Belasco, ruler of their surroundings, the eldritch dimension of Limbo. He presented Illyana with a special talisman as a welcoming gift. Suspicious of the demonically-featured stranger, Piotr tried to interpose himself between them, but Belasco simply had his demonic servitor, N'Astirh, fly him away.
Piotr, still in his armored form, fought N'Astirh, heartened to discover that for all the demon's horrifying appearance, neither its magical powers nor its flesh could withstand the touch of Piotr's armored body. He eventually defeated the demon, only to fall through another stepping-disc and find potential friends and allies in the form of the X-Men. Unbeknownst to Piotr, these were actually X-Men from a different timeline than his own, for the dimension of Limbo crossed over not only time and space, but between alternate dimensions as well.
The X-Men rallied to Piotr's side, and together they stormed Belasco's castle through another stepping-disc, which put them in the demon sorcerer's throne room mere moments after Piotr's disappearance. Unfortunately, in the ensuing conflict, things began to go horribly wrong, and did not stop.
Piotr, trapped in the form of S'ym.
The Birth of S'ym[]
In the middle of the fight, Piotr accidentally reverted to his flesh-and-blood form, and so became vulnerable to Belasco's magic. The sorcerer took full advantage of this, using his powers to twist and warp Piotr's physical form into a brutish, demonic parody of himself -- the demon S'ym. Under Belasco's control, S'ym helped Belasco kill or corrupt the remaining X-Men protecting Illyana, until only Storm remained. The weather elemental fled with Piotr's little sister, and S'ym followed, in a chase that would last for seven years.
S'ym's primary rival would be the Fiend With No Name, a creature that had been the X-Men's ally Wolverine before Belasco's corruption. Like most magical creatures, S'ym was vulnerable to metal, and the Fiend's claws (unlike the Wolverine from Piotr Rasputin's home universe) were laced with adamantium. However, S'ym had all of Colossus' brute strength and more besides, and possessed several magical enhancements as well, which turned the fight into a years-long stalemate. The Fiend could not kill S'ym, but neither could S'ym get past the Fiend to slay Storm (now the Silver Witch) or apprehend Illyana for his master.
An Enchantment Broken[]
When Illyana was thirteen, and Piotr would have been twenty-three, she assailed Belasco's castle with help from the Silver Witch and the Fiend. However, this battle fared no better for them than the X-Men's first, and both the Fiend and the Witch were slain. Belasco seemed all but assured of victory as he told S'ym to slay Illyana as well, but S'ym instead took her to a frozen, barren part of Limbo and left her there, in exile. He claimed it was so she could suffer alone, freezing and starving but not dying, but it is possible that Piotr was acting from within S'ym to save his sister's life.
As a result of S'ym's mercy, Illyana survived, discovered new powers within herself, and grew ever stronger, her power combining with the magic of Ororo, and of the Scarlet Witch before her, to make her the most powerful sorceress in the dimension, with her Soulsword being the ultimate expression of that power. In addition, she discovered her mutant ability to open and manipulate Limbo's stepping-discs, enabling her to travel anywhere in the eldritch dimension at any time.
Armed with more power than any sorcerer in Limbo had ever wielded, Illyana summoned another team of X-Men -- this time, the natives of her and Piotr's home dimension -- and attacked Belasco a third and final time. This time, when S'ym rose to defend his master, Illyana slashed him with a single stroke of the Soulsword. He screamed...but did not die. Instead, the enchantment Belasco had placed upon him all those years ago shattered, and Piotr was freed, reverting to the same nineteen-year-old mutant he had been when cursed. Transforming back into his organic steel form practically the moment he was liberated, Piotr aided the X-Men and his sister in slaying the demonic perversions of their previous incarnations -- thus granting them peace and freedom from their own corruption -- and driving Belasco and N'astirh from the palace, and therefore stripping them of their power as rulers of Limbo.
Colossus and Magik[]
Illyana took Belasco's place as ruler and Sorceress Supreme of that dimension, and she and Piotr returned to Earth with the X-Men...only to discover that, while seven years had passed for both of them in Limbo, they had been gone for a mere seven seconds in Earth time.
Piotr eventually suggested to Illyana that, if they could not go home, then they could instead help the world with their new powers. She agreed, and the two became new recruits to the X-Men, with Piotr choosing to go by the name Colossus, and Illyana adopting the moniker of Magik.
Powers[]
Colossus is a mutant with the power to convert his entire body from flesh and blood into an organic, steel-like substance.
Piotr Rasputin in human form
Organic Steel Form: Colossus' primary mutant power. The substance his body converts to is of unknown composition, but appears to be analogous to osmium, or to carbon steel. He can assume this armored state at will; the process is virtually instantaneous. In addition, Colossus can remain in his organic steel form for extended periods of time. After his return from Limbo, he remained fully armored for a period of two weeks out of fear that changing back would turn him back into S'ym. Once in his armored form, Colossus will typically remain so until he consciously wills himself back to normal. If he is rendered unconscious, however, he automatically reverts to normal flesh-and-blood. Colossus retains full mobility in his armored form, though he is slightly slower and less agile due to his additional mass.
Armored Form Augmentation: After transforming into his armored state, Colossus possesses vast superhuman strength, able to easily lift upwards of 2 megatons (2,000 tons, or 2,000,000 pounds). In addition, as his armored form does not produce chemicals in the same manner as his flesh-and-blood body would, Colossus does not produce fatigue toxins within his body, and so can operate at peak efficiency for hours, or even days, without tiring. His steel body is also invulnerable to most forms of bodily harm. He can survive extremes of temperature from 70 degrees above absolute zero (-390 degrees Fahrenheit) to approximately 9000 degrees Fahrenheit. He has also withstood collisions with fast-moving vehicles, explosions of near-nuclear force, and falls from great heights without any significant damage to his armored body.
Magic Resistance: Piotr's organic steel form contains components that qualify it as "cold iron", and is thus immune to most forms of common magic. In addition, supernatural beings cannot stand the touch of his armored skin.
Suspended Animation: Although he can speak, move, and act normally in his armored form, Colossus' flesh and blood body is placed in a kind of suspended animation while he is in armored form. While armored, he does not age, nor does he require rest, food, or even oxygen. He has survived the vacuum of space or the depths of the ocean in his armored body with no ill effect.
Artist: Before getting pulled into Limbo, Piotr wanted to attend art school. He remains a talented artist, able to work with most forms of traditional media, including pencils, charcoal, and most forms of oil-based or acrylic paint.
Former Powers (as S'ym)[]
Protoplasmic Metamorphosis: While he was cursed into the form of S'ym, Piotr gained the ability to morph his demonic body into a host of different shapes, sizes, and volumes at will. He could reach out and extend long prehensile tentacles to use as flails, or grapples to whip people around, or enlarge his limbs, making his attacks hit even harder. He could transform his limbs into blunt or sharp melee wrapons, flatten himself into a puddle, become practically two-dimensional, or grow a pair of demonic bat-wings to fly.
Pyrokinesis: Using an innate magical power born of Belasco's corruption, S'ym could generate and project intense heat and flame from and around his body, or direct it at certain distances. The exact radius was unknown, though it is presumed to be line-of-sight. In addition, he could also manipulate existing flames, alter their shape, magnify their intensity, or snuff them altogether.
Pyromancy: In addition to manipulating fire, S'ym also possessed the ability to psychically communicate through it, with the flames taking on the shape of his face, or indeed any shape he wished. He could also use flames as scrying tools to divine the past or the future, or see across long distances.
Weaknesses[]
Magnetism: The organic steel that makes up Colossus' armored body is able to be magnetized, making him susceptible to magnetic manipulation.
Reversion: Certain events, like being knocked unconscious or falling under the effects of an inhibitor field, will cause Colossus to forcibly revert to human form. In his flesh-and-blood form, he possesses peak human strength, but is otherwise an ordinary human being.
Psychic Vulnerability: Despite his body's incredible resistance to physical harm, Colossus has no special protections against mental attacks. Psychic assaults, hypnotism, multi-sensory illusions, narcotic gases, and other mind-altering assaults will still affect him if he is exposed to them.
Soft Tissue/Inhalation: While his eyes and mouth are coated in the same organic steel as the rest of him, they are slightly more vulnerable than the rest of Colossus' body. Additionally, even though he does not need oxygen to survive, Piotr breathes reflexively in a normal, Earth-like atmosphere. Therefore, he can still be blinded by sufficient concentrations of light and cannot see in total darkness, and conventional gas weapons will affect him unless he can stop breathing before the gas can enter his system.
Past Weaknesses (as S'ym)[]
Cold Iron: Like most magical beings, S'ym was vulnerable to the touch of cold iron, which was also immune to his pyrokinetic effects. The Fiend with No Name, possessed of the adamantium claws he had had as that universe's Wolverine, was able to grievously injure S'ym on more than one occasion.
Concentration: S'ym had to concentrate intensely on using any of his supernatural powers, be they his protoplasmic shape-shifting or his pyrokinesis. Sufficient disruptions rendered these powers useless, forcing him to resort to melee fighting tactics.
Mimicry: S'ym, though he could take any number of forms, could not convincingly mimic another human being, partially due to his lack of ability to change his color.