H'ylthri
H'ylthri are a species that features in Marvel Comics.
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History
The H'ylthri or the People evolved as a sentient plant race on an other-dimensional world which houses K'un-Lun where they had existed in these lands for ten thousand centuries. According to them, upon man's arrival they had warped the land with their hate and scarred it to the point that nothing could grow except for what was planted by humans. The H'ylthri made numerous attempts to communicate with the humans and attempted to understand them. However, the humans burnt down the H'ylthri again and again until they felt nothing but hate at mankind. (Iron Fist v1 #2) According to one account, human presence in the land had so poisoned it that it could no longer support the H'ylthri. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #25) Long ago, when humans settled their lands, the H'ylthri engineered a mystically enhanced fungus as a living weapon for use against mankind. However, the fungi turned on them and nearly wiped out their own population who were only able to contain it by entombing the fungus. It resided in an ancient chamber beneath K'un-Lun where it was to remain trapped for the rest of time. (Contagion v1 #2) At one point, they had crafted a plant being to resemble a human who was sent to infiltrate K'Un-Lun but was stopped by the guards. The construct fought the guards and was killed thus revealing its body being composed of plant matter thus sparking a legend of the H'ylthri's attempting at sending infiltrators into their ranks. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #22) Around 600 years ago, a newly appointed Iron Fist named Zhang Di fought against the H'ylthri two weeks after gaining the title only to die against his foe. (Iron Fist v1 #75)
The actions of Samuel Smithers emitted an energy frequency that drew the attention of the H'ylthri who used it a a means of gaining a beachhead on Earth. Thus, they formed an alliance with the Plantman with the goal of purging the Earth of animals. They then went forth with making careful preparations for their eventual conquest of the Earth. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #24)
After Danny Rand's last visit to K'Un-Lun, he came to be captured by the plant race where they replaced him with a duplicate. This copy of Iron Fist came to believe he was actually Danny Rand with no one aware of his true nature as a H'ylthri agent. The duplicate Iron Fist participated in many adventures with his friends where he encountered a sickly boy named Bobby Wright though he was unaware of it at the time the child was actually the villainous Super-Skrull. The Skrull had allied himself with Master Khan who orchestrated a scheme that involved the murder of the Iron Fist. Upon succeeding in his task, the Super-Skrull was betrayed by Khan and he claimed a victory against his foe whilst being unaware that the Danny Rand he killed was the H'ylthri plant duplicate which deprived them of their operative on Earth. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #25)
After K'Un-Lun was devastated by the dragon Chiantang, the Thunderer Lei Kung sought to rebuild it but came to be disturbed about old legends concerning the H'ylthri after noticing a stark change in his pupil the Iron Fist. He decided to investigate the land outside their city and defied the edict that banned its inhabitants from venturing outside. Whilst travelling, he came to be captured by the H'ylthri and fell under their control where the plant men continued to abduct all the citizens of K'Un-Lun who were trapped in pods that were slowly feeding off them. The Atlantean Namor along with his allies came to K'Un-Lun where they freed the Thunderer and they went to confront the H'ylthri. However, Namor's allies were captured though he himself fled into the waters with the plant men departing after believing he had perished. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #22) Afterwards, the feeding pods of the H'ylthri were discovered by Namor who attempted to free the human trapped within them but the Atlantean was defeated by the plant men. Misty Knight managed to evade them where she found the pod containing the captive Danny Rand where she called out to him. This led to the Iron Fist breaking free from the dream world within the feeder pod where he defeated the H'ylthri around him before collapsing from exhaustion. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #23)
Overview
In appearance, the H'ylthri were a race of humanoid plant-based organisms. (Iron Fist v1 #2) Their bodies were vegetable fiber with few vital organs, making them difficult to injure. (Power Man and Iron Fist v1 #75) They were said to be as strong as the earthly oaks that they had resembled. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #23) Within jungles, they could hide amongst the trees and be indistinguishable from other plant life allowing them to ambush prey. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #22) Individually, the H'ylthri were shown to possess superhuman strength allowing them to battle foes such as Atlanteans. In addition, they could control other plant-life causing it to sprout and attack their enemies. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #22)
H'ylthri preyed on mammals that they used as food for their children with humans being used as fertilizer. It was for this reason that they captured humans and placed them in their nurseries. Once there, they kept a seed pod that began to slowly feast on the flesh of the mammal until only bones were left behind. (Power Man and Iron Fist v1 #75)
They considered themselves the sworn enemies of K'un-Lun and of all those that resided within its walls. As the original inhabitants of the realm, they considered humans and those that resided in the accursed city as being aliens. H'ylthri felt nothing but hate for humans and believed them to be a cancer that had to be destroyed. (Iron Fist v1 #2) The race of plants were said to not be burdened by emotions. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #24)
It was shown that the H'ylthri could grow doppelgangers of flesh based beings. These constructs could resemble humans but when killed their plant-based nature was exposed. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #22)
Among their tools was the use of D'yratha Blossoms that normally could kill a human but some could instead be rendered unconscious. Prisoners could be held inside plant-based pods that were filled with a liquid which kept them pacified. (Iron Fist v1 #2) Another creation of the H'ylthri was a reproductive pollen that could be released as a vast cloud where the grains were so small as to be invisible to human eyes. These pollen were able to latch onto a human and entered the body by inhalation. Once inside the warm moist channels of the human body the pollen then triggered a bio-chemical change within 30 minutes that killed the host. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #25) The H'ylthri also had bred mystically enhanced fungi that could be used as weapons to infect their enemies. It was able to infect hosts and absorb any powers present within them where it sought to expand itself across its environment. (Contagion v1 #2)
Members
- Sssesthugar : a leader of the H'ylthri that was part of a plot to destroy the humans of K'un-Lun leading to a conflict with Iron Fist Daniel Rand. (Iron Fist v1 #2)
- Sssesthanag : a H'ylthri who was part of the group that captured Namor's allies when they travelled to K'Un-Lun to investigate the threat posed by the plant race. (Namor the Sub-Mariner v1 #22)
Notes
- The H'ylthri were created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne where they made their first appearance in Iron Fist v1 #2 (December, 1975).
- They received an entry in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe v1 #5 (2006) who were said to be a sentient plant race that evolved in their other-dimensional world where around two and a half thousand years ago humanoid settlers created the outpost of K'Un-Lun. It was said that Master Khan was responsible for influencing both sides into fighting one another where he prevented either side from destroying the other and used them to punish whichever side that displeased him.
Appearances
- Iron Fist v1: (1975)
- Namor the Sub-Mariner v1:
- Contagion v1:
External Links
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