Editing Age of Apocalypse (section)

==Storyline==
{{Main|Legion Quest}}

[[Legion (Marvel Comics)|Legion]] (David Haller), a psychotic [[Mutant (Marvel Comics)|mutant]] on [[Earth]] and son of [[Professor X|Charles Xavier]], travels back in time with the intention of killing [[Magneto (Marvel Comics)|Magneto]] (Erik Lehnsherr). However, Legion travels to a time when Magneto and Xavier are still friends while in [[Israel]]. As Xavier dies trying to protect Magneto, Legion vanishes, and a new timeline is created. The only person aware of how history has changed is [[Bishop (Marvel Comics)|Lucas Bishop]], a time traveling mutant who followed Legion.

Because of Xavier's sacrifice, Magneto comes to believe in his late friend's dream of a peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. [[Apocalypse (character)|Apocalypse]] (En Sabah Nur), an immortal mutant villain, was monitoring the fight. He chooses this moment as the perfect time to begin his world conquest, which did not happen in the [[Earth-616|mainstream Marvel universe]] for another ten years.

Magneto assembles the X-Men just as Apocalypse begins his war. Despite the X-Men's resistance, Apocalypse conquers all of North America and eventually mutants are considered the ruling class. Apocalypse initiates a genocidal campaign called "cullings," killing millions of humans. To further ensure that no one is left to challenge him or undo the circumstances that led to his reign, he has everyone with telepathic or chronal abilities hunted down. Meanwhile, the changes in the timeline result in a destructive crystallization wave created by the [[M'Kraan Crystal]].

===''X-Men: Alpha''===
''X-Men: Alpha'' was published in January 1995 and launched the "Age of Apocalypse" crossover story. It briefly shows readers how many popular X-Men characters have changed in this new world. Bishop is reunited with Magneto while retaining fragmented memories of the true timeline. Magneto assigns his X-Men and their allies various missions. Some are to gather the forces needed to change history while others will continue resisting Apocalypse. The story continues in eight interlocking miniseries, each focusing on a different team of X-Men or other mutant forces. Each miniseries temporarily replaced one of the monthly X-Men titles being published at the time.

===''X-Calibre''===
X-Calibre is a team built around [[Nightcrawler (character)|Nightcrawler]] (Kurt Wagner), who is sent by Magneto to locate [[Destiny (Irene Adler)|Destiny]] (Irene Adler), a mutant capable of seeing into the future, so that she can verify Bishop's story. Nightcrawler must travel to [[Savage Land#Age of Apocalypse|Avalon]], a secret refuge where mutants and humans live together in peace. Along his journey, he encounters [[Thunderbird (John Proudstar)|John Proudstar]] (Thunderbird), the monk [[Juggernaut (character)|Cain]], the pirate [[Callisto (comics)|Callisto]], and his mother [[Mystique (character)|Mystique]] (Raven Darkholme). The chief antagonists for Nightcrawler's journey consist of the Pale Riders, a trio of Apocalypse's servants made up of [[Danielle Moonstar|Moonstar]] (Danielle Moonstar), [[Emma Steed|Damask]] (Emma Steed), [[Deadpool|Dead Man Wade]] (Wade Wilson) and the [[Shadow King]] (Amahl Farouk). Nightcrawler's team consists of Mystique, [[Switchback (comics)|Switchback]], and later Damask, who joins Nightcrawler after realizing the beauty Avalon has to offer. The ''X-Calibre'' series gets its name from an [[in-joke]] between Nightcrawler and his mother, Mystique, because of the caliber of bullets she uses, simply stamped with an ''X''. This title replaced ''[[Excalibur (comics)|Excalibur]]''.

===''Gambit and the X-Ternals''===
[[Gambit (Marvel Comics)|Gambit]] (Remy LeBeau)'s X-Ternals consist of [[Sunspot (Marvel Comics)|Sunspot]] (Roberto de Costa), [[Jubilee (character)|Jubilee]] (Jubilation Lee), [[Strong Guy]] (Guido Carosella) and [[Lila Cheney]]. They are sent deep into space using Lila's teleportation to retrieve a shard of the M'Kraan Crystal, essential to the verification of Bishop's alternate reality. The X-Ternals are pursued by [[Rictor]], a henchman of Apocalypse desperate to earn his master's praise by killing Gambit. Upon reaching [[Shi'ar]] space, the X-ternals fight the [[Imperial Guard (Marvel Comics)|Imperial Guard]] to retrieve the crystal shard. Upon their return to Earth, Strong Guy betrays the team, not only stealing the Crystal, but also kidnapping Magneto's son [[Magnus Lehnsherr|Charles]]. This title replaced ''[[X-Force (comics)|X-Force]]''.

===''Generation Next''===
Generation Next consists of a young group of mutant students trained by the husband and wife team of [[Colossus (character)|Colossus]] (Piotr "Peter" Rasputin) and [[Kitty Pryde|Shadowcat]] (Katherine Pryde-Rasputin). They consist of [[Chamber (character)|Chamber]] (Jonothan Starsmore), [[Husk (comics)|Husk]] (Paige Guthrie), [[Mondo (comics)|Mondo]], Vincente Cimetta, and [[Skin (Marvel Comics)|Skin]] (Angelo Espinoza). They are sent by Magneto into the Seattle Core to rescue Colossus' sister, [[Magik|Illyana Rasputin]], who is the last surviving transdimensional teleporter. Illyana Rasputin is a slave of the [[Sugar Man (Marvel Comics)|Sugar Man]], one of Apocalypse's prefects and ruler of the Seattle Core. Mondo finds Illyana Rasputin and hides her inside of his body, intending to smuggle her out at shift change. When Mondo is found out, the ensuing fight finds the Sugar Man killing Mondo with a blast from his tongue, exposing the rest of Generation Next. While fighting a near hopeless battle, Generation Next is left for dead by Colossus, who sacrifices them to save his sister. This title replaced ''[[Generation X (comics)|Generation X]]''.

===''Astonishing X-Men''===
The [[Astonishing X-Men#1995 series|Astonishing X-Men]] are led by [[Rogue (Marvel Comics)|Rogue]] (Anna Marie Lehnsherr, Magneto's wife) and consist of [[Sabretooth (character)|Sabretooth]] (Victor Creed), [[Blink (character)|Blink]] (Clarice Ferguson), [[Wild Child (comics)|Wild Child]] (Kyle Gibney), [[Kevin Sydney|Morph]] (Kevin Sydney) and [[Sunfire (comics)|Sunfire]] (Shiro Yoshida). They are sent by Magneto to stop the cullings, which are being undertaken by [[Holocaust (Marvel Comics)|Holocaust]], Apocalypse's son and one of his horsemen. While helping with the evacuation and protection of humans, Sabretooth asks Blink to teleport him to Holocaust's location, which she reluctantly does. Sabretooth and Holocaust fight a vicious duel but Sabretooth is defeated and seemingly killed, horrifying Blink. The team then fights Holocaust and his Infinites, destroying his factory. However, Holocaust manages to escape and the team returns to Xavier's mansion, where Rogue learns that both her son and her husband have been captured. Sabretooth is revealed by [[Iceman (Marvel Comics)|Iceman]] to have survived the battle, to Blink's delight. This title replaced ''[[The Uncanny X-Men]]''.

===''Amazing X-Men''===
The Amazing X-Men consist of team leader [[Quicksilver (Marvel Comics)|Quicksilver]] (Pietro Lehnsherr) and [[Storm (Marvel Comics)|Storm]] (Ororo Munroe), [[Dazzler (Marvel Comics)|Dazzler]] (Alison Blaire), [[Banshee (character)|Banshee]] (Sean Cassidy), [[Iceman (Marvel Comics)|Iceman]] (Robert "Bobby" Drake), and [[Exodus (comics)|Exodus]] (Paris Bennet). The team is sent to [[Maine]] to aid in the evacuation of humanity to [[Europe]]. During this mission, the team fights Apocalypse's [[Brotherhood of Mutants|Brotherhood of Chaos]], as well as the [[Horsemen of Apocalypse|Horseman]] [[Abyss (comics)|Abyss]], who is defeated by Quicksilver. During their absence from the [[Xavier Mansion]], Magneto and Bishop are attacked by Apocalypse himself, who captures them both. Fulfilling their mission, Quicksilver splits up his team to help the other X-Men: sending Iceman to rendezvous with [[Rogue (Marvel Comics)|Rogue]]'s team (the Astonishing X-Men) and Dazzler and Exodus to find Magneto's son, Charles. Finally, Quicksilver, Storm, and Banshee go to rescue Bishop, who is in the hands of the Madri, Apocalypse's priests. This title replaced ''[[X-Men: Legacy|X-Men]]''.

===''Weapon X''===
[[Alternative versions of Wolverine#Age of Apocalypse|Weapon X]] (Logan) and his lover [[Jean Grey]] are depicted in this series carrying out missions for the Human High Council. Jean and Weapon X drift apart, as the Human High Council intends to launch a nuclear strike on the U.S. as Jean is appalled by the loss of life it would cause. After Weapon X concludes a battle with [[Donald Pierce]], Jean leaves to help evacuate the U.S., bidding a tearful farewell to Logan. Weapon X is then sent to recruit [[Gateway (character)|Gateway]], whose teleportation ability is necessary to bring the fleet to America. As the fleet leaves, Weapon X decides to join them, if only to find Jean somewhere in America before the bombs are dropped. This title temporarily replaced ''[[Wolverine (comic book)|Wolverine]]''.

===''Factor X''===
Factor X consists of the Elite Mutant Force (EMF), who serve Apocalypse. They are split into five sibling groups: Cyclops and [[Havok (comics)|Havok]] (Scott Summers and Alex Summers), [[Emplate]] and the Twins (Marius, Nicole, and Claudette St. Croix), [[Cannonball (Marvel Comics)|Cannonball]] and Amazon (Sam and Elizabeth Guthrie), the Bedlam Brothers ([[Bedlam (comics)|Jesse]] and Terrence Aaronson), and [[Aurora (comics)|Aurora]] and [[Northstar (character)|Northstar]] (Jean-Marie and Jean-Paul Beaubier). The EMF is tasked with maintaining control of Apocalypse's breeding pens, where people are imprisoned, tortured, and experimented on by [[Dark Beast (Marvel Comics)|Beast]], also a member of the EMF. Havok, jealous of his brother's leadership role, discovers that Cyclops is a traitor who has been helping people escape the pens; and in one such escape attempt, both Aurora and Northstar are injured. Havok then exposes Cyclops and attempts to kill him, but Cyclops escapes with the aid of Jean Grey, who has arrived to evacuate as many people as she can before the Human High Council's nuclear strike. The Bedlam Brothers also choose to side with Cyclops, and they successfully defeat both Amazon and Cannonball. Cyclops and Jean defeat Havok, and as they lead the freed prisoners out of the pens, Havok is determined to kill his brother. This title replaced ''[[X-Factor (comics)|X-Factor]]''.

===''X-Man''===
The protagonist of ''X-Man'' is [[Nate Grey]], a mutant born of Cyclops' and Jean Grey's [[DNA]], and the most powerful telekinetic in the world. He lives under the guidance of his father figure [[Forge (character)|Forge]], who leads a group of outcasts consisting of [[Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde)|Mastermind]], [[Toad (Marvel Comics)|Toad]], [[Sunder (comics)|Brute]], and [[Sauron (comics)|Sauron]], who attack trains and factories of Apocalypse while masquerading as a theatre troupe. This title replaced ''[[Cable (comic book)|Cable]]''.

===''X-Men: Omega''===
''X-Men: Omega'' was published in June 1995 and concluded the "Age of Apocalypse" crossover story.