Martians (Marvel)

The Martians are an alien race that features in Marvel Comics.

History

Origin

The Martians were a race of extraterrestrial beings that inhabited the planet Mars in certain worlds in the Multiverse. (Amazing Adventures v2 #18) It was claimed that the Martians were a dying race with a small dwindling population further divided by politics and religion. (Killraven v2 #1) Over a century ago, it was noted that they had made an invasion of Earth in the year 1901 where their war-machines landed in the fields of England. The mighty Tripods emerged on projectiles that landed on the surface where they terrorised mankind whose technology was ineffective against the invaders. However, the Martians bodies had no defence against the germs and bacteria of the planet which infected them leading to their demise. Thus, the War of the Worlds was thwarted and mankind was spared from destruction from the alien invaders. Despite this victory, not all the Martians were slain and some that remained on their homeworld survived where they plotted a renewed invasion in the future. (Amazing Adventures v2 #18)

Members of the secret group known as the Men on the Wall defended Earth and had earned their stripes against the Martians in 1913. (Original Sin Annual v1 #1)

Modern Age

Throughout the various universes, the Martians faced the threat of Jonathan Raven who arose from the slave ranks to revolt against the Martians. As a result, the power of his bloodline was considered a danger to them in any reality which was why they targeted him for destruction. The Martian Ruling Council would embark on a campaign of conquests of the various Earth's in the multiverse though one of their number decided to lead the first expedition to eliminate the target world's Killraven. (Wisdom v1 #6) One of their number disguised himself as a human being named Kurt Dagmar that sought to acquire robotics technology. Among these included controlling various Deathlok units from various parts in the timeline and other realities. He was killed and unmasked by the Invaders though their plan was uncovered wit the possibility of an upcoming invasion of Earth. (All-New Invaders v1 #9)

Killraven

A century after their defeat, the Martians planned for their renewed attack against Earth where they observed the world. This saw them prepare for infection by germs and bacteria whilst also remotely eliminating mankind's use of hydrogen bombs in order to eliminate their only advantage. Thus, a renewed War of the Worlds began where humanity in desperation launched all its arsenal against the Martians but to no avail. In desperation, Earth's military deployed biological weapons in the hope of defeating their enemy but the Martians had made themselves biologically immune to them. Though they faced a few casualties, the Martians ultimately proved to be the victor in the conflict and came to rule Earth. (Amazing Adventures v2 #18) In one timeline, around 2001, the inhabitants invaded Earth where they decimated Earth's population and even bred its people to be eaten. (Defenders v1 #26)

The action of Killraven and the Freemen would liberate Earth from the Martian invaders by 2075 who were forced to abandon the world (Defenders v1 #26)

Overview

They had the ability of mind-speak that was essentially telepathy. (Killraven v2 #1) A number of Martians had precognitive capabilities allowing hem to see the future. (Wisdom v1 #6) They were immune to a cocktail of Earth-based biological and chemical agents. (Killraven v2 #1) They were shown as being genderless life forms that reproduced asexually through a budding process. During this time, a growth formed on a Martian that grew like a fruit which was severed from the parent in a clinical fashion. (Amazing Adventures v2 #36) On certain occasions, a Martian may desire to personally take part in a battle where they were encased within miniature armored tripod warmachines that moved on three legs and had a tentacle that held an ray projector as its primary weapon though this one was not shielded. (Killraven v2 #1)

Their leadership included a ruling council that managed their campaigns such as invading the various Earth's in the multiverse. (Wisdom v1 #6)

They tended to be referred to as the Martian Masters by their servants. To serve them, they appointed certain humans in the role as Keeper who administered the slaves under a Masters domain. (Amazing Adventures v2 #18) Among those that served to the Keepers became Hunter-Slaves that were sent to track and kill their fellow humans with successful missions leading to them being rewarded with bonuses. These Keeper's men were usually dispatched against soft targets and were not as effective against hardened gladiator warriors. They were never given weapons that could damage the armored hull of their tripods. (Killraven v2 #1) Certain humans were captured for use as translation slaves whereby the Martian inserted their tentacles into the flesh of the individual allowing them to speak through these puppets. (Wisdom v1 #6) Some slaves were unique products of genetic imperatives and psychic augmentation that were Sirens. (Kllraven v2 #2)

There were three schools of fighting in the Martian arena; the first held by the savages consisting of lobotomized wild-men, the second were partly trained brawlers named reavers and third were the Spartans that were harsh, disciplined trained killers (Kllraven v2 #3)

It was shown that they had little regard to human life that they saw as an inconvenient infestation on Earth that needed to be extermination. With regards to conquered populations, the Martians tended to keep the inhabitants ignorant of their history and technology. (Killraven v2 #1)

At times, they could encase their bodies in floating egg-shaped chambers when they interacted with other races. (Amazing Adventures v2 #18)

The Martian method of interplanetary travel was unknown though atmospheric entry that was disguised as a meteor shower. Their tripod warmachines were virtually invulnerable to conventional weapons and made use of an energy weapon designed by their superior intelligence. Another capability available to them was the power to hijack the guidance system of enemy weapons and direct them back at the people that launched them. (Killraven v2 #1)

They were able to implant a Martian brain implant device within a gladiator allowing the Martian spectators to share the warriors sensory experiences and emotions for entertainment. Martian science allowed them to genetic engineer other lifeforms and create hybrids. (Kllraven v2 #2) These included changing human females into a kind of siren that could male humans to their doom with those familiar with them not making eye contact with such creatures in order to avoid falling under their control. (Amazing Adventures v2 #18) An insidious weapon used by them was the black vapor that dissolved all organic matter on contact but left inorganic undamaged. (Killraven v2 #1) On conquered landscapes, they would spread red weed as part of their operations in securing the area. (Wisdom v1 #6)

They had developed dimensional gateway technology that was fused to a host body and so long as they lived ten the doorway would remain open for their forces. (Wisdom v1 #6)

Members

•  :

Notes

• The Martians were created by Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, Gerry Conway, Neal Adams and Howard Chaykin where they made their first appearance in Amazing Adventures v2 #18 (May, 1973).
• Sometimes, they have been referred to as the Martian Masters and were based on the aliens from H.G. Wells War of the Worlds.

Alternate Versions

• In Killraven v2 #1 (2002), an alternate version of the Martians appeared in the new Killraven reality designated as Earth-2120 in the Multiverse.The Martian Masters are an ancient race, millions of years old, before life emerged on Earth. They lived in an aquatic world, where both the water and their civilization was under ice, but it was a dying, and there was no hope for them in the near future. Some of the Martians found Earth and wanted to migrate to the newly discovered planet, but the majority refused to harm humanity and steal its future. As countless years passed and conditions on their own planet worsened, the Martians saw how Earth itself was being destroyed from pollution, and decided to rescue the valuable planet before mankind destroyed its potential, with it they began their relocation to Earth. The Martians disguised their atmosphere entry as a shower of meteors which contained tripods that were nearly invulnerable to conventional weapons, and soon entered a war against humanity that lasted for years. Prior to the invasion the Martians weren't a united race, though they joined forces in their conquest of Earth, and never attempted to communicate with the humans. Despite the Martians themselves being a dying race which were fewer when compared to humans and Earth's military deploying nuclear weapons, nukes, chemical and biological agents against them, Earth's population was decimated, and eventually all organized resistance was crushed by the Martians. Earth was successfully conquered, but afterwards the Martians broke up into independent groups, each with their own agenda. They began operate from multi-story mobile amphibious citadels and had almost no contact with each other. Under their rule, humans became their slaves and those who evaded struggled to find shelter and/or food. The Martians deployed Hunter-Slaves, known as Keeper's Men, who were equipped with energy weapons, implanted tracking devices and breathing mask/helmets, and moved around in smaller versions of the armored tripods. The Martians spoke to their Keepers through human intermediaries known as Speakers that communicated telepathically.
• In Infinity Wars: Ghost Panther v1 (2018), an alternate world was created when Gamora using the Infinity Stones used its powers to merge various individuals with one another leading to the future of Killraven being merged with the lore of Black Panther. In this merged setting, the Martians invaded Earth and conquered much of the planet with the exception of Wakanda. From their conquered territory, they conducted experiments on humans and forced them to fight one another in gladiatorial combat. A band of gladiatorial slaves arose in this world to oppose the Martians with these being the Freemen.

Appearances

• Amazing Adventures v2: (1973)
• Defenders v1:
• Killraven v2:
• All-New Invaders v1:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry

This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.