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- "I see mutants as our salvation.”
“A common enemy.”
“A common struggle against the ultimate enemy. Extinction. I believe our new friends are going to help us usher in a new era, Bill. A new era of genuine and long-lasting peace." - ―Bolivar Trask and William Stryker
Bolivar Trask is a weapons tycoon who was responsible for the creation of the Sentinels and the CEO of Trask Industries.
Biography[]
Early Life and Career[]
Even from his early years as a research assistant, Bolivar Trask always maintained a particular interest in the origin and evolution of humanity. Following in the footsteps of Mendel, Watson and Crick, Trask made it his goal to unlock the mysteries of human DNA. What he did not anticipate was the discovery of the X-Gene, a genetic finding that would prove to be the most significant of the 20th century.
In his disdain towards mutant-kind, Trask soon hypothesized the impending extinction of the human race. His early theories were ridiculed by his contemporaries and with no one to fund his research, Trask decided to pursue his ambitions on his own by founding Trask Industries in 1967.[1] By 1973, the company had become the forefront of human progress, having partnered with domestic and international governments since the start of the Nixon administration.[2]
Anti-Mutant Activity[]
During the Vietnam War, Trask tortured and experimented on mutants for their DNA. These experiments eventually enabled him to create technologically advanced robots called Sentinels, whose sole purpose was to carry out his goal of wiping out all mutant-kind. Among those he experimented on and killed were Azazel, Angel Salvadore, Emma Frost, and Banshee. He also attempted to use Havok, Toad, Daniels, and Ink as test subjects as well, but before they could be shipped into his custody, Mystique saved them from Trask's minions and got them to safety. At some point soon after this event, Mystique discovered what Trask had been up to and plotted to assassinate him as revenge for slaughtering her comrades and using their bodies for science.
Failed Assassination[]
In 1973, Trask made several attempts to convince world leaders to fund his Sentinel program, without success. During one such attempt at the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, he was attacked by Mystique, having disguised herself as a Vietnamese general. However, before Mystique could kill Trask, she was interrupted by Professor X, Beast, Magneto, and a time-traveling Wolverine in an attempt to prevent the dystopian future of 2023 from becoming reality.
Unfortunately, it was at that point when Magneto came to believe that killing Mystique would be enough to alter the future, resulting in a battle between him, Beast, and Mystique that publicly exposed the existence of mutants to the world and led President Nixon to finally authorize Trask's Sentinel program. Furthermore, Trask was able to obtain a sample of Mystique's blood from where Magneto wounded her and upon analyzing it, became obsessed with capturing her so that the Sentinels could have her powers.
Imprisonment[]
Trask's imprisonment in the revised timeline.
After saving Nixon from being killed by Magneto, Mystique tried to kill Trask, but Xavier telepathically convinced her to spare him, leading the world to believe that a mutant had saved the president. As a result, Mystique was hailed as a hero, the Sentinel program was shut down, and Trask was later arrested for selling military secrets to foreign nations, altering the timeline and successfully erasing the dark future of 2023 from history. After being convicted, presumably on charges of treason, Trask was imprisoned in the same cell that Magneto was held in for assassinating JFK.
Personality[]
Although Trask presented himself as a benevolent, mind-mannered, and altruistic individual who founded his company to improve the human condition, in reality, he was a ruthless, cold-hearted, arrogant, and genocidal xenophobe who was obsessed with bringing about the extinction of the mutant race. This attitude stemmed from his ideology that mutant-kind would eventually wipe out those who did not have powers like themselves due to their status as the stronger and more evolved species, and as a result, he saw himself as a savior-like figure in his decision to fight against a growing threat to his species that most were oblivious to.
As he saw mutants as humanity's greatest enemy, Trask had no respect for them as people and showed great disdain towards those who did not agree with his views towards mutant-kind. He also had no qualms torturing and experimenting on mutants for his own ambitions, and did not care for his own life as long as it meant that his goals were achieved, as shown when he made no move to run and simply accepted his fate when Mystique attacked him at the Paris Peace Accords in both timelines. His hatred for the mutant race was also so extreme that he was willing to risk it all to ensure that his genocidal plans were carried out, as displayed by how he was content with having people who had the genes to produce mutant offspring to be slaughtered as well and was willing to betray his own country to get his Sentinel Program the funding it needed for its development.
However, despite his unethical actions and his intention to commit genocide against mutant-kind, Trask did have some more positive traits to his personality. He genuinely believed that his actions would save his species from extinction and was appalled by the Vietnam War, viewing it as a meaningless conflict in which millions of people on both sides were brutally slaughtered for no good reason. He also thought that by wiping out mutant-kind, he would be able to unite humanity as a species for the first time in recorded history and bring about a new era of long-lasting peace, thus ending the desire for war as well.
Ironically, what Trask ultimately failed to realize in the end was that even if world leaders were to side with him on his views towards mutants, that did not mean that all of humanity would side with him as well, especially since he had no qualms with killing off humans who had the potential to produce mutant offspring. As a result, even in the timeline where Trask succeeded in his goals, humanity did not unite against mutant-kind as he thought they would; instead, they were only pushed further apart, to the point humans who either sympathized with mutants and or had the dormant X-Gene in their DNA were seen in the same light as mutants themselves.
Abilities[]
- Genius-Level Intellect: Trask was a brilliant scientist whose vast intellect enabled him to create numerous high-tech inventions that were decades, if not centuries, ahead of his time. The best example of this were the Sentinels, which were crafted out of a space-age polymer and were specifically designed to kill mutants.
- Expert Engineer: Trask was capable of creating technology that could easily detect mutants in the vicinity.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
- William Stryker - Subordinate and Ally
Enemies[]
- Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto - Enemy and Attempted Victim
- Mystique - Enemy and Savior
- Hank McCoy/Beast - Enemy
- Charles Xavier/Professor X † - Enemy
- Logan/Wolverine † - Enemy
- Richard Nixon † - Former Ally turned Enemy
Trivia[]
- He shares a last name with Trask from X-Men: The Last Stand.
- Concept art from X-Men: Apocalypse revealed that Bolivar Trask was at one point in consideration to be in the film, but didn't happen.
