When you think of villains, you imagine tyrants, monsters, madmen. But what if I told you one of the greatest threats in Invincible started as a hero? This is the story of how Rudy Connor's robot betrayed his friends, conquered the Earth, and became one of the most terrifying villains in comic book history. You know, I don't think Rudy ever thought of himself as the villain. Not once. He didn't put on a mask. He didn't twirl a mustache. He didn't even raise his voice. He just looked at the world, our broken, messy, violent world, and said, "I can fix this." And that's how it always starts, right? Not with hate, but with logic. When we first meet Robot in the Invincible Comics, he's just a machine, cold, analytical, the leader of the team team. He's not charming. He's not emotional. He's not exactly fun, but he gets results. Turns out the robot isn't the real robot. The real robot is a severely deformed human named Rudy Connors. A boy genius born with a rare condition that left him disfigured, vulnerable, trapped in a life support tank since birth. He couldn't walk, couldn't feel, couldn't interact with the world. So he built machines that could. He created an army of surrogate bodies controlled remotely. machines that could go outside for him, fight for him, live for him. Let that sink in. Rudy's entire life up to this point was lived secondhand. He was a passenger in his own story. And that's important because once you've been powerless for that long, you start craving control, especially when you look like that. In Invincible number 35, Rudy decides that living through a robot just isn't enough. He wants to feel the world, to touch it, taste it, breathe real air. So, he recruits the Mer twins, genius level villains with a knack for cloning. The plan? Simple. Create a healthy cloned version of his body. Transfer his consciousness into it. Start life over, but this time as a real boy. It works. The clone is a perfect replica except it's strong, tall, conventionally attractive, a normal body, a dream come true. And once the transfer is complete, Rudy kills his original body. Yeah. Murders it. He literally euthanizes his old self like an outdated operating system. No hesitation, no tears, just another problem solved. That moment, it's subtle, almost quiet in the comic, but it's the first true crack in Rudy's morality because to him, it's not murder, it's efficiency, it's necessary. If the old you is holding you back, delete it. Now, with his new body, Rudy officially joins the Guardians of the Globe. He's not just the man behind the curtain anymore. He's boots on the ground, and he's good at it. For a while, he's a team player. He builds tech, coordinates missions. He even starts a relationship with Monster Girl. A romance that's complicated to say the least. But behind the scenes, something's brewing. Rudy starts analyzing the world's geopolitical systems, tracking patterns, studying global conflicts, and he reaches a conclusion. Earth's governments are ineffective. Leaders are corrupt. Politicians are irrational. The only way to keep the world safe is to take it from them. And he does. Rudy orchestrates a global coup using drones, androids, and perfect decoys to replace key political figures, presidents, generals, world leaders. All swapped with obedient AI replicas, loyal only to him. Overnight, the world becomes stable, organized, peaceful. No crime, no war, no freedom. It's terrifying because it works. The Guardians eventually figure it out. Eve and Mark, invincible, confront Rudy, but Rudy doesn't back down. He doesn't apologize. He says, "You don't understand. I'm doing what's necessary." When Mark threatens to stop him, Rudy doesn't hesitate. He attacks them. His old teammates, his friends. By now, Rudy's got an entire army of self-replicating drones. His tech is everywhere. His influence is global and there's no turning back. He detains heroes who disagree. Silences dissent. Justifies every action with cold logic. If someone resists peace, they're a threat. If someone questions his rule, they're inefficient. If someone gets in the way, they're expendable. And that's what makes him truly dangerous because he doesn't hate anyone. He just doesn't see them as people anymore. Rudy Connors didn't set out to be the villain. He wanted to protect people. He wanted to build a better future. He just thought the ends would justify the means. But that's the thing about power. Once you start deciding who deserves it, it changes you. Not all at once, but piece by piece. Until one day you look in the mirror and you don't see a hero or a man or even a machine. You see a [ __ ]