The Orb was a mysterious device that was said to contain an unidentified, but immense power.
History
The device was passed down from Archimedes to Leonardo Da Vinci to Isaac Newton to Galileo and countless other artists, poets, scientists, alchemists, and philosophers in between. Each added their genius to the Orb, though the device's true purpose remains unknown. Many assumed it to be a powerful weapon, but Colonel Lloyd Venture believed it to be a powerful engine of endless energy since he was a scientist of hope.
The Orb fell into the possession of The Guild, the predecessor to The Guild of Calamitous Intent, and was ultimately the center of inter-conflict within The Guild over how they should use the device. This contention spiraled into an all out war between The Guild (Colonel Lloyd Venture, Fantômas, Eugen Sandow, Mark Twain, Aleister Crowley, and Oscar Wilde) and Nikola Tesla and the Avon Ladies. During an attack, The Guild argued over using the Orb to win the battle.
The precursor to the O.S.I. tried to prevent the Orb from being activated out of fear and so assigned Eugen Sandow to keep it from happening by any means necessary. When Colonel Venture considered activating the Orb, Sandow broke the device, rendering it useless rather than killing Venture. After Sandow explained this to Venture the two decided to keep the Orb's damage a secret; Venture repaired the Orb's casing, never revealing that it had been internally damaged. The Guild and O.S.I. remained completely unaware of the Orb's irreparable state. The O.S.I. continued to assign a bodyguard to the Venture family to continue their original mandate.
The Orb was eventually passed down to Lloyd Venture's descendant, Jonas Venture Sr., who had it hidden in the Frick Collection, where it was disguised as a paperweight. Jonas' son, Rusty Venture, with the help of Billy Quizboy and The Alchemist managed to track down the Orb through a series of hidden clues in the old Rusty Venture cartoon series. Rusty's bodyguard, Brock Samson, was reluctant to kill his employer when the doctor considered activating the Orb; however, fortunately Rusty decided to carefully study the Orb rather than attempt to activate it as he was reminded of his father's noble views. Rusty then put the Orb inside a safe at the Venture Compound.[1]
Phantom Limb, the grandson of Fantômas, later attempted to retrieve the Orb to use it against The Guild. His attempt was ultimately fruitless when he failed to activate the broken Orb. After Phantom Limb was taken into Guild custody, the Orb was picked up by Red Mantle and Dragoon.[2] At some point after this, it was returned to Rusty's possession, as it was seen among the items Dermott Fictel collected from the ruins of the compound in Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart.
Episode Appearances
Season 3
Season 4
Movie