10 Comic Book Villains Whose Origins Are A Mystery
8. The Orb
The Orb was born with a giant eye for a head. His parents didn’t even bother to name him and dropped him off at a circus freak show. He slept in cages, ate cat food, and didn’t speak for a long time. After growing up and escaping, Orb became a mercenary hired by Daniel Ketch to serve the angel Zadkiel, but he was injured quickly because of his deformity and had to recover in a prison hospital.
In Original Sin # 3, The Orb was having dreams of the Watcher’s base. With the help of Dr. Midas, the Exterminatrix, and some Mindless Ones, they invaded the Watcher’s Citadel, stunned him, and cut out The Watcher’s left eye. The Avengers began hunting the ocular villain and in Original Sin #12, the cornered merc unleashes the eye and it reveals the secrets of the Watcher. He was captured and held in Avengers Tower.
Nick Fury took the Orb and tortured him to make him teach Fury how to activate the Watcher’s right eye. The encounter increased the villain’s power and he bonded with the eye in his possession, gaining Watcher-like perception. Despite saying he would follow the Watcher's non-interference credo, he quickly began aiding the lives of terrible people. The Orb was killed by Doom Supreme when he arrived in the 616 universe.