History ComicBook / StrikeforceMorituri

''Strikeforce: Morituri'' was a science-fiction comic book series created by Peter B. Gillis and Brent Anderson. It was published by Creator/MarvelComics from 1986 to 1989.

* DividedStatesOfAmerica: After the fall of the Paideia, the United States is fractured into three countries -- Pan Cal (from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean), Atlantia (everything east of the Mississippi river, and [=AgLand=] (everything else).

Peter B. Gillis and Brent Anderson worked on the first twenty issues of the comic, after which it was written by James Hudnall and drawn by Mark Bagley. The series ended after 31 issues, soon followed by a five-part limited series, ''Strikeforce Morituri: Electric Undertow''; it took place ten years later and served as a cyberpunk-flavored coda to clean up the rushed ending of the regular series.

# The subject ''dies'' within a year, sometimes much less. This was due to the body ultimately rejecting the energy-based metabolism grafted to it. (However, it was learned that younger persons (under the age of twenty-one) would survive the process longer, while older subjects (such as the ''Black Watch'') had a Morituri-augmented lifespan ''that was measured in weeks''.
# Without proper screening, subjects could die during the process.
# The ''Morituri Process'' actually had two phases. The first was remarkably similar to ''[[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Project Rebirth]]'' in that it gave the subjects ''perfect'' physiques and physical attributes. The second phase replaced the subject's metabolic processes with an energy-based one that gave the subject ''actual'' 'super-powers'.
# There was no way to address the issue of power generation. Morituri could end up with any imaginable power (including totally useless powers or powers that had a very specific area of usefulness).

# [[SurprisinglySuddenDeath There is no way to predict when a subject will die.]] This can create problems in running operations, and adds a psychological burden on the subjects themselves. ([[AvertedTrope This was slightly averted]] as the series went on, as it was noted that dying Morituri underwent a power surge, resulting in their powers dramatically increasing right before death.)

* FantasticTerrorists: One of the alien Horde's campaigns involved dropping biological weapons that caused skin to grow over people's faces, suffocating them and leaving creepy blank-faced corpses.

** Revenge had the ability to touch something and make it degrade into energy at varying rates and intensities. When confronted with the SuperSpeed Morituri assassin Wind, he simply allowed Wind to punch him... whereupon he exploded moments later.
** Earlier in the series, as the Morituri become more successful at repelling the Horde, they retaliate with a terror campaign by secretly implanting bombs into humans and detonating them in public.

* BattleTrophy [=/=]CollectorOfTheStrange: Members of the Horde prominently wear souvenirs from their hunts, ranging from bottlecaps, trinkets, and human bones.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/strikeforce-moritur-small_7967.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:The Ultimate Power. The Ultimate Honor. The Ultimate Sacrifice.]]

** In Issue 12, the Morituri reach a Horde treasure ship in orbit around Jupiter. Among the treasures they find are [[Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill Gort the Robot,]] [[Series/DoctorWho a Dalek,]] and [[Film/WarOfTheWorlds a Martian spaceship.]]

* MythologyGag:
** In Issue 2, Dr. Tuolema describes the deathtraps in "the Garden" as being inspired by [[ComicBook/XMen a training room in a comic book he had once read]].
** In Issue 7, Adept gets a vision of some of the alien artifacts collected by the Horde. These include ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's shield, ComicBook/{{Galactus}}' helmet, JustForFun/RobbyTheRobot, and [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} a giant penny]].

* MadDoctor: The Gentle Enquirer, who cheerfully admits that if he weren't torturing humans, he'd be torturing his fellow Horde members. And then he gets to ''lead'' the Horde.
* MadeOfExplodium: This is Revenge's superpower -- he could convert anything to energy by touching it, with the effect of making it explode. He once defeated an opponent with SuperSpeed just by touching him ''once'' during the fight.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: A few occasions, but most notably when the heroes disrupt a duel for position of leader of the Horde, and kill both contendants. [[spoiler:Resulting in [[MadDoctor the Gentle Enquirer]] being put in charge.]]

* BenevolentAI: [[spoiler:The "Will Deguchi" that Dan and Random have been talking to is actually a military A.I. originally developed by the United States government. It's been secretly manipulating world events for decades trying to guide humanity to a better future, but is being stymied by the [=VX199=].]]

* BrainUploading: Inverted; when the "Will" A.I. is being attacked by the [=VX199=], it uploads itself into Random's cybernetically-enhanced brain for safety.