1960s Cain Marko is the son of Kurt Marko, who becomes Charles Xavier's stepfather when he marries Sharon Xavier after the death of her husband Brian, for which Kurt is partially responsible. Kurt Marko favors Charles and abuses his own son, Cain. Cain resents Charles and bullies him frequently. Cain Marko and his step-brother Charles serve in the
US Army and are stationed in
Korea. Marko finds a hidden temple dedicated to the entity
Cyttorak. On entering, Marko finds and holds a huge
ruby and reads the inscription on the stone aloud: "Whosoever touches this gem shall be granted the power of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak! Henceforth, you who read these words, shall become ... forevermore ... a human juggernaut!" The gem channels Cyttorak's power into Marko. The transformation causes a
cave-in, and Marko is buried and presumably killed, not being heard from again until a sudden assault on the X-Men's headquarters. Xavier recounts Juggernaut's origin to the X-Men, and after shrugging off the mansion's defenses and brushing aside the X-Men, Marko is seen clearly in the final panel as he confronts Xavier. The X-Men regroup and attack, while Xavier summons
Fantastic Four member the
Human Torch to aid the
mutants; the Torch generates 'pulses' of flame that essentially hypnotize Juggernaut, distracting him long enough for
Angel to remove his helmet, making Marko susceptible to a
telepathic attack by Xavier. Juggernaut returns seeking revenge and is delayed by three of the X-Men while
Cyclops and
Marvel Girl, aided by the
astral form of mystic
Doctor Strange, find and use another jewel of Cyttorak, which banishes Juggernaut to the "Crimson Cosmos", the home dimension of Cyttorak. When Juggernaut reappears, he has gained mystical abilities and briefly battles Doctor Strange before being banished to an
alternate universe by the cosmic entity
Eternity.
1970s Juggernaut reappears on Earth through sheer force of will, although the alien dimension caused him to age rapidly. The panicking villain battles former X-Men member
Beast before being drawn back to the same dimension. An entity from his prison dimension reverses the aging process and removes the mystical powers on the proviso that the villain never return. Juggernaut is accidentally pulled back to Earth at the
Hulkbuster base by an interdimensional device designed to banish the Hulk. Hulk aids Juggernaut in escaping from the base but attacks him when Juggernaut threatens a civilian. During the battle, Juggernaut's helmet is removed, and he is surprised and defeated by Professor X, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl. Juggernaut befriends
Black Tom Cassidy, the cousin of X-Man
Banshee, and battles the first generation of new X-Men. When Tom falls off the battlements of Cassidy Keep after a sword duel with Banshee, Juggernaut jumps after him into the sea.
1980s Black Tom uses his niece
Siryn, who possesses the same powers as her father Banshee, to steal a shipment of the metal
vibranium. Juggernaut battles
Spider-Woman and the X-Men and is the only one of the criminal trio to escape capture. After freeing him from prison, Black Tom decides that the
psychic Madame Web could be useful in his criminal pursuits. On arriving in
New York City, Tom sends Juggernaut
to capture Madame Web; Juggernaut destroys several city blocks in the process, and ignores
Spider-Man's best efforts to stop him. He almost kills Web by accident when he removes her from a life support device, and abandons her. A frustrated Spider-Man lures Juggernaut into setting concrete, poured for the foundation of an office high-rise, into which he sinks without a trace; he takes over a month to dig his way out. Juggernaut, in civilian guise, has a bar fight with the X-Man
Colossus, who is at first unaware of the villain's true identity. After another battle against Spider-Man and the X-Men, Juggernaut encounters the futuristic
Sentinel Nimrod, who humiliates and defeats him. Juggernaut battles an all-new generation of X-Men, appears in a flashback story with the original X-Men, and battles
Excalibur during a mass prison breakout.
1990s Juggernaut continues to feature prominently in Marvel titles battling Thor once again and starring opposite other characters such as the mutant team
X-Force, Doctor Strange, the Hulk (allied at the time with the
Red Skull and tricking and capturing the Hulk with the same "civilian" guise used against Colossus),
Deadpool,
Venom, and multiple battles with the X-Men. Briefly, he traveled to the
Ultraverse and joined the superhero team
Exiles. After his return to the Marvel Universe, Juggernaut suffers a major setback during the
Onslaught storyline, being defeated and then humiliated by the entity when imprisoned in the Gem of Cyttorak. Juggernaut, however, escapes. Juggernaut also stars in a solo story and the "Eighth Day" storyline, which introduces the entities the
Exemplars. Juggernaut and seven other humans are revealed to have all been empowered and corrupted by mystical entities, and as
avatars enforce their will on Earth. Juggernaut resists the influence of Cyttorak and when captured by other Exemplars is aided by the superhero team the
Avengers. Leader
Captain America convinces the other Exemplars that they have been manipulated by the mystical entities, who then decide to leave Earth.
2000s Juggernaut, courtesy of a ruse engineered by Black Tom Cassidy, allies with and joins the X-Men; the plan is to destroy the team from within. When Cassidy openly betrays Juggernaut, Marko attempts to change his ways and joins the X-Men. Juggernaut befriends young mutant
Sammy Paré, who helps Marko reform, despite setbacks such as a battle with the Canadian superhero team
Alpha Flight. When Sammy discovers that
Exodus'
Brotherhood of Mutants is preparing to attack the X-Men's headquarters while unaware that Juggernaut is the mole in their group, he is killed by Black Tom Cassidy. An enraged Juggernaut attacks Cassidy and his allies, and the battle strands all participants in the
Mojoverse. Juggernaut reappears and joins the team
New Excalibur for a brief period. One storyline expands on Juggernaut's origin and reveals that he is only the most recent of a series of incarnations of Cyttorak's avatar; each battles a challenger to the death for the right to retain the entity's power. During the
World War Hulk storyline, Juggernaut's power begins to wane, but by shunning his stepbrother Xavier and returning to his villainous nature, he is able to restore the link with Cyttorak, becoming powerful enough to hold his own against the Hulk. Despite an attempt by Xavier to reform Marko, he concedes that redemption is impossible.
2010s While training his son
Skaar,
Bruce Banner bombs Juggernaut's house to initiate a confrontation between Skaar and Juggernaut. Skaar manages to win his first fight by throwing Juggernaut into open space, proving to his father that he has the ability to use cunning and strategy in combat, and not simply physical strength. During
The Gauntlet storyline, Spider-Man finds Juggernaut unconscious. The government comes along and transports Juggernaut to a secure facility. Spider-Man sneaks into the facility to ask Juggernaut who did this to him. Then, a new
Captain Universe breaks into the room and claims he is there to still Juggernaut. Spider-Man learns that Captain Universe is a man named William Nguyen who wants revenge on Juggernaut for ruining his life during
his previous fight with Spider-Man. When he insists on trying to kill Juggernaut instead of fixing the tectonic plates beneath New York City, the Uni-Power leaves Nguyen and enters Juggernaut. Juggernaut, as Captain Universe, repairs the damage to the tectonic plates that was caused by him during the same rampage that ruined Nguyen's life. During the
Fear Itself storyline, one of the seven Hammers of the Worthy that was launched to Earth by
Serpent lands near Juggernaut. Juggernaut lifts it and becomes Kuurth: Breaker of Stone. His transformation is enough to level the Raft, causing a mass prison break. Kuurth makes his way to California and fights the X-Men. Magik, Colossus, and Shadowcat go to Cyttorak's dimension and inform it that the Serpent has control over Juggernaut. Magik strikes a deal with Cyttorak, who chooses her to become the new host of Juggernaut's powers. However, the entity transfers Juggernaut's powers to Colossus instead. Colossus is able to turn the tide on Kuurth before Kuurth is teleported away by the Serpent. During the last battle between the Avengers and the Worthy, Kuurth is defeated by Wolverine using his Uru armor and loses his hammer when the Serpent is killed by Thor. Cyttorak causes the Crimson Gem to reappear in the ancient temple and emit a call for suitable candidates to become a new Juggernaut. Cain Marko, finally having found peace, senses the call and coerces
Vanisher to take him to the Gem's location. He comes into conflict with a team of X-Men, as well as seekers of Juggernaut's power such as
Man-Killer. Marko and Colossus struggle with one another, only to realize that they have the same goal—to destroy the Crimson Gem and prevent another avatar being empowered. Ahmet Adbol, the former
Living Monolith, claims the Gem. As Adbol wreaks havoc in the countryside, Colossus invokes Cyttorak, and the god responds to his former exemplar. Arguing that Abdol will eventually fail Cyttorak, as all his former avatars have done, Colossus challenges him to try something new: empower him enough to kill Cyttorak himself. Apparently daunted by this prospect, Cyttorak withdraws his power from Abdol and returns it to Marko. Following a battle with
Iceman, Juggernaut is apprehended by
S.H.I.E.L.D. and is being flown to a secure location, but gets accidentally summoned by
Doctor Voodoo to the
X-Mansion.
Quicksilver removes Juggernaut's helmet, but learns that he is wearing a secondary protective cap underneath. Juggernaut subsequently attacks
Synapse, almost killing her. Voodoo sends his summoned Cyttorak minions to "fix" Juggernaut's armor, sealing him inside it. The Cyttorak builders carry Juggernaut back into Cyttorak's realm and Doctor Voodoo closes the portal. Juggernaut joins
Magneto's latest incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants and attacks an Air Force base with them. During a fight with the X-Men, Magneto was revealed to actually be his clone
Joseph in disguise. An enraged Juggernaut attacks and restrains Joseph for his treachery and subsequently rejoins the X-Men to help mutantkind. Juggernaut participates in several missions with the X-Men until a confrontation with the
Office of National Emergency. General Callahan forces
Magik to involuntarily transform into her Darkchylde form, who destroys the Gem of Cyttorak and banishes Juggernaut to
Limbo.
2020s In his solo
Juggernaut series, a depowered Cain wanders Limbo until he escapes back to Earth by destroying his armor. While recovering at a hospital, Cain is visited by a telepathic projection of Charles Xavier, who wanted to check on his condition. While Cain had been trapped in Limbo, mutantkind rebranded itself as a sovereign nation on
Krakoa, but Xavier sadly informed him that Cain was denied Krakoan citizenship due to being human. After recovering, Cain sought to regain his powers as Juggernaut and travels the world looking for answers until coming across the Forge of Cyttorak in
North Korea. There, Cain obtains the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak which are then magically bonded onto him, restoring his Juggernaut powers and granting him a new suit of armor that he can now manifest at will. Cyttorak immediately confronts Cain, who tells him that he is no longer linked to the deity due to his armor being made from the Bands, and vows to never work for gods or madmen again. Juggernaut joins
Damage Control for work but finds himself facing mounting legal issues over the damage caused by his public activities. Juggernaut is eventually granted Krakoan citizenship after the
Quiet Council of Krakoa votes to grant citizenship to human relatives of mutants and is appointed to work with
Nightcrawler's Legionnaires. After months of working in service in Krakoa, Juggernaut is nominated by Marvel Girl as a member for the newest iteration of X-Men. Juggernaut is officially elected to the X-Men, much to his surprise and joy, and debuts with the new lineup at the third
Hellfire Gala. The festivities are cut short when
Orchis forces attack the Gala, with many mutants killed in the onslaught. Most of the new X-Men are killed by Nimrod, who beats Juggernaut unconscious. During the "
Fall of X" event, Juggernaut is kept imprisoned at the Henry Gyrich Re-education Center with Cyclops by Orchis, who rigs a bomb to Cyclops that would detonate if Juggernaut attempts to break free.
Kitty Pryde is able to sneak in and disable the bomb, but is forced to abandon Juggernaut and Cyclops after being detected by Nimrod. When
Doctor Stasis attempts to transfer Juggernaut's powers to himself,
Firestar (who is working as a
double agent for the X-Men against Orchis) helps Juggernaut escape without blowing her cover. Juggernaut rejoins the X-Men, who have been driven underground after Orchis spreads propaganda to turn the public against mutants and their sympathizers. Juggernaut works with the team, other mutants and their non-mutant allies in preparing for their counteroffensive against Orchis, with Juggernaut rescuing Krakoa from Orchis after the living island had been reverted to a shriveled avatar upon being deprived of mutant energy. Juggernaut engages Orchis' forces but is nearly overwhelmed by their
Adamantium weaponry until he is backed up by
Apocalypse and
Sunfire. ==Powers and abilities==