When You've Got It, Flaunt It

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

If ever a villain was sure of himself, it's this guy. And why wouldn't he be? He's one of those characters where you can try anything against him, and he isn't fazed. Literally laughs it off. Worse, the writer is never clear on how the hell he can manage to shrug off such attacks. That writer, of course, is Chris Claremont--and Horde is yet another of his invincible villains from his invincible villain grab-bag whom he sics on the X-Men, his arrogant bark matching his bite. You know the drill--the X-Men are humbled for the majority of the story, until they pull a win from certain defeat. It's a Claremont formula through and through.

As to how Horde can just nullify the X-Men's threat, we're apparently meant to take that at face value:

And after a one-page battle that has the X-Men throw everything they have at him, Horde dusts himself off and basically puts the matter to rest:

Ultimately, it was the crystal Horde speaks of that was his downfall, if indirectly. It was far more than a prize--in actuality, it wasn't something that could be taken, by him or anyone. Those who came to steal it were instead tested by it--and the price of failure was steep, so to be on the safe side Horde sent the X-Men in his place.

But before we get to that climax, first we have to dispose of Horde. And now that we're near the end of the story, shock of shocks--we find that he's not so invincible after all. Wolverine simply swipes the crystal shard he's been wearing on his forehead, and voilà:

On a sidenote, the story we learn behind the Citadel of Light and Shadow also sheds some light on a crucial bit of information mentioned in the Kree-Skrull war:

Which the end of Horde's story puts in perspective:

Horde certainly could have used a better publicist.  Most world-conquerors don't keep their light under a bushel--and Horde doesn't seem like the type not to want his reputation to precede him.  You'd also think a concentrated assault by the X-Men would be enough to dislodge a crystal shard you're wearing on your brow.  At any rate, we probably won't be hearing from Horde again.

Somebody should probably pass the word to those conquered worlds.