The Juggernaut is one of the most well-known and powerful villains the X-Men have ever faced. Debuting in X-Men #12, the Juggernaut, aka Cain Marko, is Professor Charles Xavier's stepbrother. While he is not a mutant like his most frequent opponents, the Juggernaut gained his superhuman abilities by way of the magical Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, which granted him near-limitless power and durability.
Since he first crashed into the lives of the X-Men, the Juggernaut has faced a number of heroes from other corners of the Marvel Universe. Declaring himself “unstoppable,” the Juggernaut has gone toe-to-toe with the likes of many of Marvel’s strongest heroes, including the Incredible Hulk and the Mighty Thor.
However, the Juggernaut was once stopped dead in his tracks by a very unlikely hero: The original leader of Excalibur, Captain Britain.
Like Juggernaut, Captain Britain is another non-mutant associated with the X-Men. Also like Juggernaut, Britain gained his powers through mystical means by way of the Amulet of Right offered to him by the wizard Merlyn. Captain Britain possesses an array of powers including super strength, flight and durability, although at the time of his meeting with Juggernaut his powers would fluctuate, becoming stronger the closer he was to Great Britain.
The confrontation between the two as depicted in the second issue of the original Excalibur series is played mostly for laughs: The Juggernaut, while in the middle of a rampage, is hit square in the face by Captain Britain. Although Britain possesses nowhere near the strength level required to halt the Juggernaut, the punch is still enough to surprise Juggy out of his rampage.
After Captain Britain introduces himself, he attempts to talk Juggernaut into returning peacefully to the authorities and Juggernaut responds as one would expect -- by giving the Captain a punch of his own that sends him flying. Team member Rachel Grey, aka Phoenix, ultimately is able to defeat the villain by exploiting his weakness to psionic attack when he is not wearing his protective helmet.
Another, far more serious encounter occurred three years later in which the “Unstoppable One” was once again halted at the hands of a foe far less powerful. In the fourth issue X-Force (1991), Shatterstar is thrown at the rampaging Juggernaut by Warpath in a variation of the “fastball special” and plunges both of his swords into the villain’s eyes through the slits in his helmet. In a scene that is as jaw dropping as it sounds, Juggernaut lets out a shriek of pain and is temporarily stopped while Shatterstar arrogantly taunts him.
Earlier that same year, Juggernaut was a participant in an epic clash between himself and one of the most powerful characters in Marvel’s stable of heroes, the mighty Thor. Juggernaut was able to impressively withstand the blows of the Thunder God even after Thor found a way to suppress his mystical force field, although he was eventually bested by the God of Thunder when Thor used his hammer to fling Juggernaut into space.
It should be noted that although Juggernaut has suffered defeat at the hands of several heroes (mostly by exploiting his weakness to mental attack or by outsmarting him), the times that he has been physically beaten by an opponent are few and far between.
In the majority of his battles with another of Marvel’s strongest heroes, the Incredible Hulk, Juggernaut has proven capable of holding his own in what often turns out to be epic slugfests. However, during the time the Hulk was empowered by Apocalypse to become the horseman War, the Green Behemoth was implanted with enhancements that made him too much for Juggernaut to handle. He soundly beat Juggy, stopping him in his tracks and knocking him around like a rag doll before nearly killing him.
Perhaps the most famous example of Juggernaut being manhandled came at the hands of Onslaught, a psionic entity created from the minds of Magneto and Professor X. The dark persona was able to knock Jugs from Canada to New Jersey with the power of a single punch and introduced Juggernaut to a new emotion in the process: Fear.
Juggernaut and Captain Britain have discovered new roles in the X-Men’s current status quo since their initial squabble. The mantle of Captain Britain has been passed on from Brian Braddock to his sister Elizabeth (formerly the mutant Psylocke) who has headed a new Excalibur team backed by Apocalypse. Juggernaut is slated to make an appearance in a new miniseries by Fabian Nicieza and Ron Garney that explores the titan’s role in this new world.