Viltrum Was Always Doomed to Fall

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]One of our greatest strengths.

[00:00:01]>> Our diversity is one of our greatest strengths.

[00:00:04]>> Our great strength lies in OUR DIVERSITY.

[00:00:07]>> I CHOOSE DEATH.

[00:00:11]>> [groaning] >> I DON'T GIVE A [ __ ] ABOUT VILTRUM. NOW THAT SEASON 4 of Invincible is over, I think one of the main takeaways everybody got from the season was that Viltrumites are pretty [ __ ] stupid.

[00:00:25]But of course, this is just the inherent conclusion of their ideology of ethno-space fascism, nationalism with aura characteristics. All jokes aside, I think that Invincible actually does really good commentary on the end game of fascism and other far-right ideologies that depend on might is right and cults of personality. The Viltrumite civilization is built on biological superiority. They are stronger, faster, and longer-lived than virtually every other species in the universe, and they decide that this makes them qualified to rule everything in the universe.

[00:00:55]Resistance is often met with genocide and mass slavery, and compliance is rewarded with the privilege of serving your conquerors. This is of course the basic operating logic of historical fascist states and ethno-states dressed up in superhero capes. No, not not you.

[00:01:10]We're we're not happy with you right now. The Nazis did not merely just want to dominate other people. They built an entire pseudo-scientific apparatus to justify domination as a biological destiny. The Viltrumites do the same thing, but they skip the pseudo-science and just show you mustaches and hype moments.

[00:01:27]One [snorts] of the best earliest examples of this ideology laid bare is Omni-Man's speech against Mark when they're fighting, and he's talking about the superiority of Viltrumites and what they really are compared to humans. I was wrong to raise you as a human. I should have prepared you better, taught [music] you more. Your life has been soft and painless. You're a Viltrumite in blood only. Well, your true education begins >> [music] >> now. Similarly to how Conquest asked Mark if he even has a Viltrumite heart.

[00:01:53]>> Where is your Viltrumite heart? Until I see it beating in my hand, I won't believe you have one.

[00:02:01]>> A major plot point and component of Viltrumite ideology is also purity and population control. As we see in the story, especially now, the Viltrumite population was deliberately culled to weed out the so-called weak and opponents of Thrax/Argall right after a virus wiped out a lot of them, which left them with like 50 Viltrumites. And normally, this is how eugenics ends up, not just selective breeding and a better population, but just mass murder for really no reason.

[00:02:28]impossibility of maintaining racial purity when you are, by design, required to actually live among the people you consider inferior. The Viltrumite strategy for the problem of their catastrophically low population numbers is that they just reproduce their way back to dominance, similar to what Omni-Man did to the Thraxans, which happens a lot in real life. Go on Twitter.

[00:02:48]Thrax is also a pretty big hypocrite when it comes to his own ideology, going from only being a staunch Viltrum defender to starting to race mix, quote-unquote, and just become supportive of anything with Viltrumite blood. And it comes to a point in the greater scheme of the plot that Viltrum doesn't even matter to him anymore. It's about expanding the people. There's no physical planet or government to adhere to, per se, but just about the survival of the Viltrumite people. Also, while we're speaking on sexuality and reproduction, one of the most shocking and controversial moments of the plot is Anissa's treatment of Mark Grayson. Even if you're only show watcher, you probably got this part spoiled by you or edgelords sending it, saying that Mark was lucky, which I have a big video about this. You can watch that after.

[00:03:30]But for Anissa's assault, it wasn't personal, but political. Okay, hear me out. Hear me out, guys. Hear me out. It was a horrible and calculated act that was acted out in service of her horrible ideology. Viltrumites believe that might is right, which affects how she sees the entire world and her social dynamics. To her, it wasn't an assault with no consent. It was just a natural biological process. And due to this, she doesn't care about empathy or the concept of consent, but rather what suits the Viltrumite Empire. He's strong enough to carry on the Viltrumite bloodline with her, so as far as she was concerned, that was the end of the discussion. And as we see later on in the comics that the children that are born from these exchanges aren't seen as people with their own lives, but assets to the Viltrumite Empire. And that's also what makes her such a compelling portrait of far-right ideology along with all the other Viltrumites. She's a true believer of the ideology, carrying out atrocities as if it's just another duty or just natural. Conquest also kind of functions as a kind of representative of how these ideologies affect specifically men. He has no family, no friends, no proper name, and hasn't stayed long enough anywhere to become fond of the locals. And he's also as terrifying, if not more terrifying, than the other Viltrumites because he's also consistent with his ideology. He hasn't been compromised by intimacy or second thoughts. He genuinely believes what he says and does what he says he would do, despite yearning for emotional connection and value. Similar to how a lot of men suffer from gender roles and the ideas of masculinity put upon them.

[00:04:52]Don't show emotion, be tough, always take care of your responsibilities, and always look intimidating and capable to others, especially other men. I am so lonely.

[00:05:02]I am capable of so much more, and no one sees it.

[00:05:07]Not a single person in the entire universe would care. The series uses him to show what the Viltrumite Empire actually looks like when the ideology is followed to the T. A being of pure domination with no mercy, no love, no social life, nothing. Ironically, the Viltrumites like Nolan, Kregg, and Lucan, who actually formed attachments and failed the Empire, are actually more human and became stronger in every sense that matters than the true believer who never compromised. But with all this evil Viltrumite talk, we actually have to talk about Mark Grayson, the exception, the one we all know as Mark Grayson is not a complicated character in the way that Nolan is complicated. He, for most of the series, is a fairly straightforward, {quote} unquote, good kid trying to do the right thing in an increasingly morally gray world. By the internal ideology of Viltrumite supremacy, he is among the chosen, and he wants absolutely nothing to do with it. Not because he lacks ambition or strength, but because the ideology demands that he stop seeing the people around him as people.

[00:06:02]And that's just something he can't compromise on, even when he gets his ass beat. Who's next?

[00:06:09]This is what pushes the plot and separates Mark from other Viltrumites.

[00:06:12]Viltrumite supremacy is a system built on abstraction, civilizations as raw materials, other species as worker slaves, individuals as either assets or obstacles, entire planets as things to conquer. Mark, whether by his personality or from being born human, is incapable of thinking that way. He can't look at the people in front of him and see pets or slaves. He can only see them specifically as the people that he values in his life, friend, girlfriend, mother, father, brother, etc. And this show also shows that redemption and de-radicalization is possible through the character of Nolan, also known as Omni-Man. Nolan held the ideology completely, and what broke it was not a superior argument or getting defeated, it was Mark, or more precisely, it was Mark's refusal to stop loving him after having every reason to hate him.

[00:06:58]>> Aw.

[00:06:59]After going to the Thraxan planet and also being in jail, Nolan is not persuaded out of Viltrumite supremacy or talk no jutsu'd. He's worn down by evidence that his attachment to the people on Earth and others wasn't a weakness, but actually one of the highlights in his long life. And as we see in the recent seasons, his redemption and de-radicalization is slow, it's not very glamorous, and there are still characters that refuse to forgive him, which differs from a lot of mainstream stories where the villain just suddenly turns good or joins the hero's team, and everybody kind of forgives them, or they die tragically.

[00:07:31]And what this current assimilation arc also adds to my argument is that ideologies like these don't just fail because they're evil or because on a simple level they make people feel bad or harm them. It fails because it's inherently fragile. Conquered people or the so-called weaker don't just collapse. They still persist, and in that persisting they make change.

[00:07:50]Invincible is ultimately not a story about whether the good guys win, especially as someone who has read the comics, no spoilers, uh there's a lot of morally gray areas. But it is a story about how the good guys have to keep choosing over and over in order to remain good. And it may not always be the best choice or the easiest choice to make, but their choices be made nonetheless.

[00:08:11]>> [music] >> And Mark Grayson as a character, along with his allies, show that it's not just about strength and hierarchy, but rather how you make bonds and persist even in the face of obstacles. The physical fights are cool, but the concepts such as love, loyalty, and redemption add so much to the story and allows us to learn lessons from it.

[00:08:30]Game.

[00:08:31]If you got this far, thank you for watching. I hope you guys enjoyed the video. Uh comment down below and let me know uh just anything really. You just It's been a while since I did an intro. I just graduated early, but um yeah. See you guys in the next video.

[00:08:46]See you.