Nexus (comics) - The Nexus Universe

The Nexus Universe

• The Merk were a race of titan-like First Ones who established an interstellar civilization thousands or millions of years ago, and created the role of Nexus. Many (or all) Merk possessed powerful fusionkasting. Most of them have departed our galaxy to points unknown; the few who remain (including Ylum's eponymous Merk) may or may not be typical of their race.
• Drizripool is the "original" Merk, the Ylum's eponymous Merk. Left in a slumbering state in Ylum's core, he made contact with Horatio, seemingly creating Alph and Beta from his subconscious mind, to teach and guide him the ways of the Mark, and granting humanity someone able to uphold the ideals of justice common to the Merk. Aside from bestowing his powers to Horatio and, later, to other selected individuals, Drizripool is responsible for keeping Ylum orbit stable and replenishing the healing tank used by Nexus, using a special fluid, who he calls The blood of Merk. Drizripool is also partly insane, his insanity growing with the distance from the Merk continuum.
• GQ, first foreshadowed in dialogues, is the second Merk of Ylum. Originally sent to bring Drizripool back to their people because of his insanity, he elects to stay behind, allowing Ylum and the Nexus to continue their roles in the universe. Despite being saner and more levelheaded than Drizripool, GQ is less powerful than his predecessor, who he calls "gifted", being able to feed Nexus only with the 20% of the energy Drizripool was able to grant him. Also, GQ confesses to Sundra that someday he may fall prey to the same insanity affecting Drizripool: with the story ending, this however has become a moot point.
• Kimbo is a third Merk, apparently stationed on Earth, where he recruited to his cause Plexus. While Drizripool and GQ tasked their Nexus to find and kill criminals, Kimbo believes in rehabilitation and forgiveness, asking Plexus to bring the criminals to him for rehab. Noticeably, GQ and Kimbo refuse to acknowledge each other's existence, each believing the other an Insane superego of the Merk left behind by our people.
• Ylum is Horatio's home, a moon in a distant stellar system with a burgeoning population of immigrants. It has a substantial network of underground tunnels and Merk ruins.
• The Cohesive Web is the largest human government, some form of federation or republic with its capital on Earth. Many of the Web's agencies have used unethical means in their efforts to obtain new energy sources.
• Thunes are an intelligent ape-like race. The Thunes were formerly enslaved by a human dictator called The Manager, who became the target of Horatio's first public execution.
• Quatros are a brutal cyclopean race named for their four arms. They are superhumanly strong and quick. Very few Quatros are sufficiently civilized to live amongst other beings without bloodshed.
• Heads are decapitated sentients who gained limited telekinetic powers in the process. Slavers and unscrupulous governments have created perhaps millions of Heads for use as energy generators. Individual Heads are somewhat more powerful than most humanoid races, and tens of thousands of Heads linked together (voluntarily or otherwise) can reach power levels comparable to Nexus.
• Headworld is Ylum's formerly uninhabited twin, now home to the many Heads who have been freed by Nexus or Judah. It contains ruins almost identical to Ylum, but in a greater state of disrepair.
• The Sov empire is an oppressive communist regime based on the Brezhnev-era Soviet Union.
• The Gucci (etymology unknown but probably related to Gucci fashion) are a multiracial organization of assassins for hire with a strict code of conduct. Their homeworld has a space elevator and a damping field which blocks all forms of power, including fusionkasting.
• Alvinites are followers of a popular religion with rituals similar to those of mainstream Christianity. However, Alvinite tenets are left unspecified in the story.
• Elvonics are followers a neo-luddite religion which is not averse to stealing other people's technology for use in their holy missions. Alvin and Elvon were separate individuals who arose nearly simultaneously; each church believes that the other impugns its good name.