When compared to the various heavy hitters that Mark faces in his universe, people don’t often think about the Immortal. It seems like almost every other episode the character gets killed, which has led to a perception that the character might not be as strong as the GDA and the rest of the world gives him credit for. However, this article would like to argue that The Immortal is perceived as weak in none other than The Worf Effect in full force.
The Worf Effect is a term that was named after Worf, A Star Trek character that was introduced in The Next Generation. Usually, when a threat was to be sold to the audience as something that needed to be taken seriously, the creature was unleashed on Worf, who, being a Klingon, was the toughest member of the crew. However, this got done so often that instead of the villain being framed as something dangerous, the fandom began questioning whether Worf was all that he was made up to be at all.
This seems to be the issue that plagues The Immortal, who might not stack up very well to Vilturmites, arguably the strongest characters in the Invincible Universe, but there is no denying that the character is actually a competent hero, someone who has served the planet for quite some time as a hero.
What the Immortal is to Viltrumites, most people are to The Immortal
When Nolan decided to slay the Guardians of the Globe, The Immortal and War Woman were the only two heroes that could even remotely stand up to Nolan in a head-on fight. This was once again shown when The Immortal was fighting against the Alternate Mark that had knocked out most of the Guardians of the Globe.
While the Mark that was monologuing might not have taken it seriously, The Immortal did make him bleed. Given that Immortals are far above human beings, it is obviously the case that The Immortal would find himself largely outclassed.
However, given that The Immortal being brought back to life was something that happened in the show for the first time (given how experimental that seemed to have been for the character), it can be suggested that The Immortal has had a long line of wins even before Nolan arrived, taking on some of the biggest threats to the world, and coming out victorious. The Immortal being slaughtered time and time again by Vilturmites might just be to show audiences how strong the aliens actually are, instead of pointing towards how ‘weak’ the character is.
The Immortal’s death count might also be because of how eager he is to fight
As a character that can literally never be killed, The Immortal might die the amount of times that he does, because he is simply not afraid of dying. The character does not have to fight in a manner in which his vitals are preserved, as he can deliver the killing blow even if it kills him in the process, given that he would just regenerate.
This is shown by how eager he is to fight Allen, who is leagues stronger than he is. The Immortal also goes after Nolan after he is resurrected, knowing full well that he might be able to beat him. Even after dying at the hands of the Viltrumite, the character does not back down from round two. Even in the alternate dimension, where Mark slays The Immortal with Nolan’s assistance, the hero has no problem facing off against two Vilturmites, and holding his own for a considerable time.
When compared to other heroes, The Immortal is the gold standard. One of the strongest that the planet has to offer, the character serves as the benchmark of threats that come Earth’s way. The Worf Effect is something that the Immortal is totally a victim of, thanks to the Viltrumites that he faces, but that does not mean that the average criminal does not tremble in fear when it comes to facing The Immortal.
The character has managed to become a fan favorite for this very reason, as fans have begun to realize that there is more to him than simply being canon fodder for the Vilturmites. The character might definitely get some boost in the coming seasons, given the developments that begin to happen.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
