Wikipedia
Havok (Alexander "Alex" Summers) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. He first appears in Uncanny X-Men No. 54 (March 1969), and was created by writer Arnold Drake and penciller Don Heck. Havok generates powerful "plasma blasts", an ability he has had difficulty controlling. One of the sons of Corsair, he is the younger brother of the X-Men's Cyclops, and the older brother of Vulcan. He often resents Cyclops' authoritarian attitude and reputation as a model X-Man.
In contrast, Havok and his longtime love interest Polaris have had a love-hate relationship with the team, often finding themselves roped into it. Both were also members of the 1990s-era Pentagon-sponsored mutant team X-Factor. After X-Factor disbanded, Havok starred in Mutant X, a series in which he explored a strange alternate reality. He has since returned to the X-Men, later taking over his father's role as leader of the Starjammers to bring Vulcan's reign over the Shi'ar to an end.
In 2013, ComicsAlliance ranked Havok as #44 on their list of the "50 Sexiest Male Characters in Comics". Lucas Till played Havok, as a member of the X-Men, in 2011's superhero film X-Men: First Class. Till returned as Havok in the 2014 film, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and reprises the role again in 2016 film, X-Men: Apocalypse.
Havok is a middleware software suite developed by the Irish company Havok. Havok provides a physics engine component and related functions to video games.
On September 14, 2007, Intel announced it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Havok Inc. In 2008, Havok was honoured at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for advancing the development of physics engines in electronic entertainment. On October 2, 2015, Microsoft announced it had acquired Havok.
Havok is an Irish computer software company that provides interactive software and services for digital media creators in the video game and movie industries.
Havok works in partnership with many game developers, including Activision, Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, Bethesda Softworks and Ubisoft. Havok’s cross-platform technology is available for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii, GameCube, and PCs. Havok’s technology has been used in more than 150 game titles, including Half-Life 2, Halo 2, Tony Hawk's Project 8, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Age of Empires III, Vanquish, Lost Planet 2, Fallout 3 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Havok products have also been used to drive special effects in movies such as Poseidon, The Matrix, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Havok provides the dynamics driving for Autodesk 3ds Max.
Intel Corporation announced the acquisition of Havok in a press release on September 14, 2007. On October 2, 2015 Intel sold Havok to Microsoft for an undisclosed amount.
Havok was a short-lived wargame created by Bluebird Toys in 1997. It was designed as a cheaper alternative to Warhammer 40,000 and was aimed at a younger audience. The key defining feature of Havok miniatures was the use of soft, flexible plastic in production, the hand pre-painted, pre-assembled models, 35mm plastic bases and decorative sticker for the models and bases, which meant that additional paints and glue was not necessary.
Havok shared many themes with Warhammer 40,000, including the Space-Marine-like Karn Empire, the Nexus Rebellion- who looked like Imperial Guard- and the Pteravore, whose main unit was similar to Tyranid Genestealers. The Karn and Nexus "Battleforms" where giant robots, a staple of miniature wargames of this genre. Giant robots called 'Dreadnoughts' also feature in Warhammer 40,000.
Initially, the game was sold in "Havok Skirmish Battle Sets", which included a small force with equal numbers of Karn and Nexus units. Soon after, expansion blisters were released that included extra units, many of which were not included in the Skirmish Box. However, due to being sold through a catalogue company ( Argos), it became very difficult for collectors to acquire the units they wanted (see below).
The failure of the brand to take off has been attributed to a variety of factors, mainly associated with bad marketing. Considered the main contributing factor was the fact that Havok expansion blisters could only be bought as one item from a catalogue store, which meant that it was impossible for customers to purchase specific units, as all items had the same serial number and so were chosen randomly by the staff. Bluebird Toys also released too early for the Christmas Rush and the company went bankrupt before Christmas Day. A clunky and flawed rules system (which attempted to be simpler than Warhammer) also brought down the quality of the game down, and a few collectors have recently created updated rules based on Warhammer 40,000 rulebooks.
After the company went bankrupt, many toy stores sold the boxes at lower prices, but many collectors did not realise the company had stopped selling the products. Unopened Havok boxes are now very rare.
Units that are of particular collectors value are the Pteravore Hound, Pteravore Screamer and Karn Heavy Weapons, as these appear not to have released to stores in great numbers before Bluebird Toys went bankrupt and so only display models exist.
Havok is an American thrash metal band from Denver, Colorado. Formed in 2004, their members currently consist of David Sanchez (Vocals/guitars), Nick Schendzielos (Bass), Pete Webber (Drums), and Reece Scruggs (Lead guitar). Since signing with England's Candlelight Records, Havok have released three studio albums: 2009's Burn, 2011's critically acclaimed Time Is Up, and 2013's Unnatural Selection. The band is currently working on a new album, which is due for release in late 2016.