X-O Manowar

X-O Manowar is one of the main characters in Valiant comics and the flagship mascot.

History
In 402 AD, a barbarian tribe known as The Visgoths are battling The Romans for territory in Italy. Aric of Dacia is a warrior of the Visigoths and the nephew of King Alaric. After being defeated in The Battle of Pollentia, The Visigoths retreat to their camp to find many of their women and children have been captured by the Romans whilst the men where in battle. Aric's wife Deidare and his mother Inga were among those taken. Aric's father Rolf was mortally wounded during the battle and died later that night in camp. Whilst King Alric attempted to negotiate the release of Visigoth captives from the Romans, Aric gathered together a group of warriors including his right hand man Gatfi, to attack the Romans at night. On their way to the Roman stronghold, The Visigoths come across strangely dressed warriors whom they mistook for Romans. Aric led the attack on these warriors who turned out to be an alien species known as The Vine. Using their advanced weapons, The Vine easily defeated the barbarians, killing many of their number. The remaining Visigoths were taken aboard the alien mother-ship to be used as slaves. Whilst being herded on board the alien ship, Aric and Gafti managed to overpower their jailer and escaped to find shelter within another area of the ship. In this room they witnessed a Vine ritual in which a priest presented a chosen soldier with a semi-sentient armour called Shanahara. The armour was initially in the shape of floating orb but adjusted itself to fit the soldier. However it transpired the soldier was not worthy enough to be chosen by the armour which then killed its wearer and returned to its original orb shape. Aric and Gafti were recaptured whilst watching these events in awe. The Visigoths weren't the only humans imprisoned by The Vine as other slaves were also captured from around the world. The enslaved humans were treated savagely by their captor and made to work as farmers in a forested area within the mother ship. During one incident while trying to protect Gafti from a beating, Aric had his left hand cut off by one of the slavers. Slowly the humans started to sneak in tools into their cages and after receiving directions to the Armory by the slave who tends the halls, Aric formed a plan of escape. After a number of years, Aric and the other slaves finally managed to gather enough tools to use as weapons and escaped their cages. The humans made their way to the Armory, killing a number of The Vine on the way. On reaching the Armory, they found themselves trapped by Commander Thall and his soldiers. Sensing imminent death, the humans turned to see that Shahnhara had deemed Aric worthy and he now possessed the power of an army.

powers and ablitlies
Aric was a barbarian around 990 A.D. and was a fierce warrior both armed and unarmed. From an early age Aric was skilled in combat both unarmed and with any weapon. He has years worth of fighting experience. Before coming across the X-O, Aric's preferred weapon of choice was the sword. In the modern time he was brought to, he managed to slay a spider-alien, a very resilient enemy with only a sword. Aric retains his barbaric fighting skills even after learning how to control the X-O. Even unarmed, Aric is formidable. Aric has proven himself a savage fighter even when he is forced to fight weaponless and without the X-O covering him.