Arguably the biggest event in the history of X-Men lore is Age of Apocalypse as it completely refrained the entire franchise by throwing the characters fans knew and loved into an alternate world run by the most diabolical earthbound villain alive–which is why the recent redemption of said villain, Apocalypse, is a complete and utter joke.
En Sabah Nur aka Apocalypse is one of the earliest known mutants on Earth. Raised during the time of Ancient Egypt, Apocalypse learned through first-hand experiences that only the strongest survived–and time and again in any given situation throughout his violent life, Apocalypse himself proved to be the strongest. This finding became even more apparent when Apocalypse came across a Celestial ship and merged his body with the technology within. Apocalypse’s cosmic upgrade is the reason he looks robotic, and it’s also a contributing factor to his desire for world domination. With his newfound enhancement, his inherent mutant powers, and his Darwinistic worldview, Apocalypse set off to create a world where only the fittest would survive–and in one timeline, he succeeds.
In X-Men: Alpha #1 by Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid, Roger Cruz, and Steve Epting, readers are introduced to the world of Age of Apocalypse for the first time, and it’s just as grim as one would think. With the timeline-splitting death of Charles Xavier, Apocalypse was free to rule the world unchallenged. Under his reign, Apocalypse paved the way for mutant supremacy since he saw mutants as the superior species to humans. Apocalypse truly believes mutants are the fittest, therefore they deserve to survive while humans deserve to die–but going even further, Apocalypse sees himself as the most fit of all the mutants, therefore he deserves to rule. It is that added layer of villainous narcissism that makes Apocalypse so evil, and it is present in every classic X-Men story where he’s the main villain. Age of Apocalypse is simply a perfect representation of exactly the kind of person Apocalypse really is at his core based on his character throughout most of his Marvel Comics storylines, including his original origin–which is why his latest X-Men event is just too hard to swallow.
X-Men Turned Apocalypse Into a Savior Rather than a World Conqueror
In the X-Men crossover event X of Swords, Apocalypse is revealed to have been much older than a mutant born in Ancient Egypt, as he was evidently something of a mythic protector of Earth from demonic/otherworldly forces that rose up from the two living islands that used to be one, Krakoa and Arakko. Not only that, but Apocalypse apparently had a wife and children who lived in another dimension, and by the end of the X of Swords event, Apocalypse chose to remain with them to live out the rest of his days as a loving husband and father. On top of that, the other reason he stayed behind was to make sure the Earth and all his friends who lived there were safe from harm–effectively making Apocalypse Earth’s greatest protector.
The shift in Apocalypse’s character is as abrupt as it sounds. During the House of X/Powers of X event (which led directly into X of Swords), Apocalypse was just okay with being a part of a mutant government ruling over a small island and making deals with humans for the right to exist–and that’s all the explanation readers get before Apocalypse essentially sacrifices himself to save the world. There is literally no bridge between the mutant who conquered the planet with an iron fist the first chance he got and the one who apparently was a good guy all along. X of Swords (and X-Men’s entire Dawn of X era) turned Apocalypse into something that he’s not while Age of Apocalypse embraced who he was in the most brutally epic way imaginable–and that’s why his recent redemption is a complete joke.