The Collective was an immensely powerful being that was formed after the events of M-Day, where 90% of Marvel's mutants became depowered by Scarlet Witch's reality-warp: unable to exist fully without a host body this creature caused havoc in its pursuit of a "perfect" host.
History[]
The Collective was a gestalt being that emerged from the energy mass created by the released energy following the Scarlet Witch's depowering of most of the mutant population. The energy mass arrived on Earth near the North Pole. A SHIELD convoy observed a humanoid form but were unable to make sense of the energy readings. It turned and easily destroyed the convoy. As it approached the Alaskan border, SHIELD went on high alert. Alpha Flight was sent in to stop the being. All members were presumed dead from the resulting confrontation. It continued to head towards the US border.
Despite Maria Hill's reluctance, the New Avengers were dispatched to stop it. Ms. Marvel and the Young Avengers were contacted to help, and Captain America asked that agent Daisy Johnson be notified. Iron Man attempted to make contact with the Collective. It mentioned the name Micheal--records showed a postal worker named Michael Pointer had been caught up in its arrival on US soil.
Ms. Marvel suddenly engaged the being, absorbing massive amounts of energy in the process to the point where she resembled her Binary persona. After continuing to battle the being, she explained it was composed of multiple signatures, all attempting to overwhelm her. The Collective then attacked Iron Man with magnetism. Sentry arrived and was able to knock it into orbit. They continued their battle in space. Iron Man was able to regroup with the help of Captain America and went to assist the Sentry.
Analysis by Spider-Man and Vision determined the energy signatures matched those of mutants depowered by the Scarlet Witch. This revelation came at a cost, as SHIELD was able to learn about the House of M incident due to its Psi-Corps listening in on Spider-Man's conversation to Iron Man. Based on their readings, SHIELD recommended Iron Man and Sentry disengage.
The Collective returned to Earth and landed in Genosha. Upon finding Magneto, it attempted to transfer itself over to him. Magneto addressed it as Xorn. It seemed the gestalt was looking for the proper host body. Several of the victims of the Wild Sentinels attack were reanimated to attack the New Avengers. Magneto was attacked by Daisy Johnson, leaving him in a comatose state. The Sentry, Ms. Marvel, and Iron Man contained the Collective's energies. The energy was dispersed into the sun. Michael and Magnus were placed into SHIELD custody. However, the transport carrying Magneto mysteriously exploded. No signs of his body were found.
Powers and Abilities[]
The Collective possessed pretty much all mutant powers on Earth - making it, for lack of a better word, a god.