Krall (Star Trek)
Krall is a male extraterrestrial film villain who features in Star Trek.
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Biography
Balthazar M. Edison was a male human born in Murrysville, Pennsylvania on Earth. Edison came to serve in MACO, a branch of the United Earth Military, in the 22nd century. He began his military service history as a boot camp officer where, as a soldier, he was trained in survival strategies and tactical analysis. After he was promoted to major, he served in force command under Captain T. Ginwald. As an acting colonel, he served as a lieutenant under the command of Captain T. Pine. He fought in both the Xindi and the Romulan wars, during which he witnessed millions of Humans perish by alien hands. Following the founding of the Federation, MACO was dissolved. Edison became a Starfleet officer and was given command of the USS Franklin. However, Edison deeply resented what he saw as being put out to pasture, his perceived calling as a soldier rendered obsolete by the Federation's embrace of diplomacy and tolerance.
In 2164, the Franklin was displaced by a wormhole while inside the Gagarin Radiation Belt. The ship crashed on the distant planet Altamid, with Edison, Anderson Le, and Jessica Wolff as the only survivors. Edison sent out a distress call but, receiving no response, he came to believe that he had been abandoned by the Federation. As his resentment festered into violent hatred, Edison resolved to destroy the Federation and prove that peaceful coexistence led only to weakness. It was not until 2255 that Starfleet had him formally declared missing in action. On Altamid, Edison found technology left behind by a previous civilization, including Swarm ships, a drone workforce, and an energy transference process that allowed him to 'drain' other individuals to prolong his own life. Using their newly-acquired Swarm, Edison, Le, and Wolff captured scores of alien ships and drained their crews to survive, which also mutated their biology to resemble that of their victims. In time, Edison became Krall, suppressing much of his Human identity and ceasing to speak in English. Krall learned that the natives of Altamid once created a super-weapon called the Abronath, which they had split in two and launched into space. He located one piece after decades of work, but not the other.
By 2263, Krall discovered from Starfleet logs, accessed through a captured Magellan probe, that the second piece of the Abronath had been placed into storage on the USS Enterprise. He dispatched Wolff, now 'Kalara', to lure the Enterprise to him. Upon the arrival of the Enterprise at Altamid, Krall attacked with his Swarm. He destroyed the Enterprise, captured most of the crew, and eventually coerced Ensign Syl into relinquishing the second Abronath piece. His weapon complete, Krall departed Altamid with his Swarm to wipe out all life from the nearby Starbase Yorktown, whose multicultural population he saw as the epitome of the Federation's degeneracy. Krall's Swarm overwhelmed Yorktown's defenses and was on the verge of breaking inside when he was engaged by the Franklin, commanded by the Enterprise's former captain, Captain James T. Kirk. The Franklin, and later the starbase, used a VHF radio broadcast to disrupt the Swarm's internal communications network and destroyed most of the craft. Krall managed to enter Yorktown, but the Franklin physically stopped his ship short of his destination. Having drained many Enterprise crew members before and after the battle, Krall had regained much of his Human physiology and was thus able to disguise himself as a Starfleet officer. This allowed him to make his way, unimpeded, to the central atmospheric processor on Yorktown, where the Abronath's effects would be disseminated throughout the station. He was intercepted by Kirk, and the two fought while Montgomery Scott redirected the processor to vent into space; Kirk then ejected both Krall and the Abronath out of Yorktown. Shortly after, Krall was consumed by the Abronath, leaving only the Starfleet insignia from his stolen uniform.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Krall was a towering, muscular humanoid with gray, textured skin and deep ridges running along his head and neck, the result of centuries of transformation through alien energy siphoning. His features were distorted almost beyond recognition, though remnants of his human face occasionally surfaced when his physiology shifted. His eyes were dark and predatory, glowing faintly with the residual energy of the lifeforms he had consumed. Krall’s armor was composed of salvaged technology from multiple species, forming a biomechanical carapace that both protected him and enhanced his strength. In his final moments, as his human identity resurfaced, his appearance shifted between his monstrous and human forms, reflecting the internal conflict that had consumed him. After his transformation, he came to take the name of Krall.
As a human warrior forged in the crucible of interstellar conflict, Edison fought during the Xindi and Romulan Wars, leading troops with distinction and developing a deep distrust of alien powers.
Though promoted, Edison viewed the Federation’s mission of peace and cooperation as a betrayal of everything he had fought for, believing that humanity’s survival depended on strength, not diplomacy. Edison’s distrust of the Federation deepened into resentment, convinced that Starfleet had abandoned them. As Krall, he dedicated himself on destroying the Federation for abandoning him and his crew.
Edison, consumed by bitterness and desperation, used the devices on himself and his surviving crewmates, transforming them into vampiric entities that could prolong their existence indefinitely by consuming the lifeforce of others. The process twisted his body and mind, erasing much of his humanity and leaving behind a grotesque, predatory being who took the name Krall. Over centuries of isolation, Krall’s hatred festered into obsession, and he came to view the Federation as a hypocritical empire whose peace was built on the weakness of its citizens. He resolved to destroy it, believing that only through struggle and conflict could humanity reclaim its true nature.
Powers and abilities
Originally, Balthazar M. Edison was an ordinary human with no special inherent abilities. By adulthood, he came to be a human senior officer within Earth's MACO organization that was a branch of the United Earth Military by the 22nd century.
Krall was once an ordinary human being but was fundamentally altered by alien life-extension technology that rewrote his biological structure. As such, he possessed physical capabilities far beyond those of any unenhanced human. His strength, speed, and endurance were vastly increased, allowing him to overpower multiple opponents at once and survive injuries that would be fatal to an ordinary person. The energy-draining process he employed enabled him to absorb vitality from others, extending his lifespan by centuries while rejuvenating his strength and regenerative abilities. His enhanced physiology also granted him resilience to environmental extremes and improved reflexes, making him a formidable combatant both in close quarters and in zero-gravity conditions. However, the same technology that empowered him also eroded his humanity, leaving him both physically and psychologically dependent on the lifeforce of others to sustain himself.
He began his military service history as a boot camp officer where, as a soldier, he was trained in survival strategies and tactical analysis. It was noted that he later came to be promoted to the rank of major serving under the command of Captain Ginwald. Afterwards, he began acting as an acting colonel where he served as a lieutenant under Captain Pine. After MACO was dissolved, Edison became a member of Starfleet where as an officer he was given command of his own ship which was the USS Franklin.
On Altamid, he came to use alien technology to extend his life with this having the effect of mutating his body. The alien technology belonged to a long-dead civilization that had developed devices capable of extending life by draining the energy of other living beings.
Over time, Krall had built an army from scavenged ships and drones powered by the same alien technology that had sustained him.
Notes
- Krall was portrayed by actor Idris Elba where he featured as an antagonist in the setting of Star Trek Beyond.
Appearances
- Star Trek Beyond:
External Links
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