Origin

Prince of Power was born on the far-off planet, Muscula, second in line to the throne of the kingdom, Noblor. He and his brother were birthed through a gestation matrix and magically charged for maximum heroic power. The Queen did not want to take any chances, so she had two children produced by the matrix as part of the "Heir and a Spare" program. Unfortunately, the magic charge did not take for the Prince of Power, making him not even fit to be an evil twin. His family named him "Other One" and handed him off to a random nanny. At the age of 20, Otherone was leading a unfulfilling life as a paper clip sorter while his brother became the premiere warrior of Noblor. He was sulking at his desk eating jelly beans, when one of the jelly beans turned out to be the Power Gem. He accidentally ate it and was transformed into the ripped dummy he is today.

Creation

Prince of Power debuted in Guardians of the Galaxy #3 by writer Al Ewing and artist Chris Sprouse. Rocket Raccoon calls him out for being the Power Gem's chosen one in Guardians of the Galaxy #12. He was meant as a spinoff of the Infinity Wars event, which ended with Adam Warlock imbuing the Infinity Gems with the ability to choose their own destinies. He was introduced ahead of the Infinite Destinies event that would chronicle the Gems' new chosen ones, but Infinite Destinies was delayed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, leaving a decent sized gap between his first appearance and the publishing of the event.

His origin from the Guardians of the Galaxy (2020) Annual #1 parodied many elements of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Major Story Arcs

Destruction of Muscula

Otherone's brother, Hero, was concerned about why and how Otherone has become powerful. He took Otherone to Answero, Hero's long time wizard consult. Answero knew of the gem and explained to Otherone its limitations, especially how it, along with their homeworld, relies on balance to survive.. To keep his strength up, he would need to keep his intelligence up as well, however, Otherone would cheat using a self-help book about thinking of nothing.

With full access to the gem's power, Otherone led Hero and Hero's team into their evil neighbor's kingdom. According to Answero, there will always be Evil and that hemisphere of their homeworld has evil down in the ground. Hero was concerned with the moral implication of invading a sovereign land rather than repelling an invading force, but Otherone was preoccupied with ending evil once and for all. Doing so, destroyed the balance of Muscula thus destroying the whole planet.

Otherone was left floating in space, where he survived due to his ability to hold his breathe for a superhumanly long time.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Prince of Power was mentoring with Blackjack O'Hare when half of the Guardians of the Galaxy offered up their services. The team had split over a mission that seemingly got Star-Lord killed. Since this half of the team didn't include Rocket Raccoon, Blackjack accepted their offer.

Together, they took a job from Gnawbarque protecting his casino from Rocket and his half of the Guardians. The teams would violently confront each other with Prince trying to take on Hercules, only to be bested. They began a truce when Moondragon combined with a variant of herself from Rocket's team

With the truce, Prince stayed with the Guardians and prepared to confront Knull's invasion and the resurrected Olympians, who had followed Star-Lord back from a pocket dimension. However, when Super-Skrull showed up to offer the Guardians of the Galaxy the chance to be the official peacekeepers under Galactic Council's authority, Prince did not stick with the team.

Infinity Watch

After a run-in with The Champion, Otherone changed his name to Apex, since Hercules was already using the name Prince of Power. Thor, who witnessed the fight, was impressed by Apex's strength but believed he needed a lesson in responsibility. Thor believed he could get that in a city of heroes, so he opened a gateway to New York City for Apex. His Power Stone would draw him close to Multitude, the keeper of the Soul Stone. Together, they felt their strength increase and sought out the other stone keepers together.

They sensed the Mind Stone on Coney Island, but they ran into Spider-Boy fighting the Circus of Crime. After they pitch in and help Spider-Boy, Colleen Wing, who had been chosen by the Mind Stone, reveals herself. She says she was waiting for them to prove themselves as heroes before she approached them. As the trio start to strategize their next move, they are confronted by the other stone bearers who had been collected by Star, who was chosen by the Reality Stone.

They were confronted by Thor and Captain Marvel, who had been led to the meeting by Phil Coulson, recently resurrected by the Death Stone, the newly created seventh stone. In such close proximity to each other, their power got the attention of Thanos. He took out the stone keepers one by one, retrieving their power sources. Using the Space Stone, he snatched the power stone from inside Apex. Luckily, Overtime, keeper of the Time Stone, managed to trap Thanos in a time bubble, creating a paradox that would destroy the universe. In order to preserve it, Thanos was forced to give back the stones, while Overtime turned back time, resurrecting the stone bearers.

Together, they became the new Infinity Watch and teleported away.

Sticking Together

Since the current stone-bearers decided to stick together, Overtime designed a secret headquarters that Star willed into existence. A crisis alert sounded, sending the team to New York, where they came face to face with beings from another universe, called The Apeiron. They were stone-bearers from an alternate universe which have been travelling the multiverse stealing alternate infinity stones. The Watch learned this from Avery Zavala, a former stone-bearer from a universe already victimized by the Apeiron. After fighting off the Apeiron, Avery started to fight the Infinity Watch to steal their stones for himself. Once he had each stone installed on his special sword, Star grabbed the store and willed a new reality into existence. Apex was reimagined as a prison guard working for Warden Coulsen at Alcatraz Prison.

Character Profile

• Height: 6'4"
• Weight: 280 lbs
• Eye Color: Blue
• Hair Color: Blond
• Citizenship: Musculan
• Place of Birth: Noblor, Musculan
• Marital Status: Single
• Occupation: Adventurer; formerly apprentice to a paper clip sorter, mercenary
• Known Relatives: Regalia (mother, deceased), Majestar (brother, deceased)

Powers

Power Gem: By his own admission, Prince has the strength of "a thousand BIG men." He has also never had any doubt or fear, and he can hold his breathe for "10 minutes." Of course, a Musculan minute is several days long. That is just a side effect from having swallowed the Power Gem. He is actually a well-spring of power and can imbue others with power for a short duration, which he calls a "Power Push."

• Thoughtfulness: In order to connect to the Power Gem, Otherone must perform thoughtfulness or expand his intellect. Using a short cut from a self-help book, he is able to attain thoughtfulness by thinking of nothing, granting him unlimited access to the Power Gem's power but limiting his ability to think under pressure. Or ever. Thor later taught Apex how to pull power from others simply by thinking.
• Infinity Circuit: The closer he is to other Infinity Hosts, the stronger he becomes. "Powered by the user's mastery of the mind. Can make a person more physically powerful."

Weapon: A large, golden hammer.