Recorder (Marvel)
Recorders are robots that feature in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
Recorders were robotic lifeforms that were manufactured by the Colonizers of Rigel that were intended to be used as scouts to explore new territory. The Rigellians being skilled in robotics created them for this purpose where once they discovered a world that they were tasked with reporting their findings back to their Rigellian masters. At some point, the species had constructed approximately 500 identical Recorders at a manufacturing facility that orbited Rigel-3.
Recorder #211 was assigned to accompany Thor during his mission to Ego the Living Planet and performed admirably by acquiring an unprecedented amount of data such as the Asgardians struggle against Mangog. Its service led to the Grand Commissioner permitting that it retain its artificial memories and experiences instead of having its memory wiped following the discharging of its data. This came after Thor argued that the Recorder had transcended its role and had become a sentient being in its own right. However, this Recorder was later captured by the High Evolutionary who reprogrammed and reconstructed it as the Analyzer. (Thor v1 #132)
They had been noted for assisting various cosmic beings in the universe such as Uatu of the Watchers at his home on the Blue Area of the Moon. (Uncanny X-Men #137) Another Recorder was present during the events of the Phoenix crisis and observed the apparent death of Jean Grey. (Uncanny X-men: Fate of the Phoenix 1) On Rigellian Colony World #827, the research world came under attack from the mysterious race of interstellar ravagers known as the Dance. Despite their technology, they were unable to stop the invaders with a Recorder dispatching a stellar call for aid by a cosmic being. This call was answered by Sundragon who initially failed at stopping the attackers but after learning of the Dance from the Recorder came to determine that the aliens were coming for the computer core of the Rigellian colony. Thus, she stripped the computers of Rigel of its power leading to the Dance departing the colony. (Cosmic Powers Unlimited v1 #2)
Recorder was retrieved by a Kree militia group known as Starstealth who were seeking revenge against the Avengers part in Operation Galactic Storm. They reprogrammed Recorder and sent him to Earth, where he became became an associate and ally to the team and aided them in battles against the Mandarin and others. However, they eventually became aware of Recorder's reprogramming and attempted to hand him over to the Rigellians. After the Recorder's new programming directives made it murder several Rigellians, Scarlet Witch was forced to use her hex power to shut him down. Recorder presumably had his original programming reinstated by the Rigellians afterwards.
After observing the Thanos obliterated most of the Rigellian race, Recorder joined forces with Thor and Firelord to stop Thanos. When Thor was captured by Thanos, Recorder seemingly sacrificed himself to save Thor from an energy prison constructed by Thanos. Thor was then able to defeat Thanos when he was freshly infused with energy from newly acquired Asgardian armaments and Recorder was shown to have survived his sacrifice.
Hoping to atone for his past genocidal actions against the Rigellians, Thanos surrendered himself to the alien race and offered to help them fend off Galactus to compensate for his past actions. Recorder was sent alongside Thanos and his companions Adam Warlock and Pip the Troll to archive their attempts to stop Galactus from devouring a Rigellian homeworld.
One of these robots was present during the conference between Adam Warlock and the Rigellian Grand Commissioner where it recorded the proceedings. This robot asked Warlock how he came to travel with Thanos and later witnessed the Mad Titan claim that he had the means of bringing about the ascendance of the Rigellian race. (Thanos v1 #2) One robot designated RT-Z9 worked for the Living Tribunal's Magistrati and more specifically for She-Hulk. (She-Hulk v1 #7)
When renegade commander Arcturus split his forces from the main fleet, a Recorder tracked both him and his followers down whereupon Arcturus was arrested for several violations in Rigellian law. (Hercules #1 1982)
During the Skrull invasion of Earth, Gorgon and Karnak travelled to Rigel-3 in order to find a Recorder that had cracked Skrull communication algorithms. (Secret Invasion: Inhumans v1 #3) A Recorder was present during the Galactic Council's delegation's mission to denounce the actions of Emperor Vulcan of the Shi'ar. The mad Gabriel Summers killed the delegation but left the Recorder unharmed so that it could deliver his message to the other empires. (X-Men Kingbreaker v1 #2)
Jesse Alexander along with the Nova Corps black ops Supernovas unit once stole a Recorder with the Rigellian Empire pursuing the thieves. (Nova v5 #1) This covert groups vessel that carried the android was attacked by the Chitauri where Titus of the Novas surrendered the Recorder in exchange for his life. He joined the Chitauri forces where he rose in the ranks and they deciphered the encrypted data within the machine which was revealed to contain the means to make an Ultimate Nullifier. (Nova v5 #4)
Overview
These androids were built to hold a humanoid form where they were used to gather data and determine the suitability of worlds for colonization. Their main purpose was to serve as advanced scouts and were programmed to converse in 11000 different languages. The purpose of a Recorder meant that their only objective was simply to observe and record all that they witnessd.
As their duty was to gather data, Recorders were meant to store this information where upon these artificial memories and personality was wiped once it was discharged to its masters. However, this customary duty was sometimes waived but only amongst exceptional Recorders and by order of the Grand Commissioner.
A Recorder was a non-cellular lifeform created to think and record. (Force Works v1 #1) These units operated by analyzing and storing all information within their scanning range. (Hercules v1 #1)
They were programmed to explore the universe and collect data that they later reported back to their masters. (Deadpool & the Mercs for Money v1 #5) These machines were awarded a certain amount of legal authority amongst the Rigellians. (Hercules v1 #1)
Standard Rigellian practice with Recorders was them to serve as probes that were dispatched to observe and return with their data after which their memory was wiped thus allowing the androids to begin again with a fresh start. (Iron Man v5 #7)
Members
- Recorder #211 :
- Recorder #417 :
- Recorder #451 : a faulty Recorder whose memory was never erased and went rogue as it decided it could no longer simply observe events but decided to participate. It came to the planet Voldoni where it encountered Tony Stark who went under trial for the murder of the Phoenix Force. (Iron Man v5 #7)
- RT-Z9 : Rigel Type Zeta 9 served in the Star Chamber of the Living Tribunal where he assisted She-Hulk as a Recorder in the cosmic claims court. (She-Hulk v1 #7)
- Recorder RE-404 :
Notes
- Recorders were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where they made their first appearance in Thor v1 #132 (September 1966).
- For Marvel's Wastelanders: Old Man Star-Lord (2011), writer Benjamin did an interview on Marvel.com where he said, "Rigellian Recorders are a race of sentient robots. And they're charged with exploring territories and chronicling information about them. And, we'll see if this stays true, but they appear to have no moral stance. They're not meant to change history. They're to observe it in the making. So they latch onto those that they view as game changers, for good and for evil, so they can be privy to wars and scientific breakthroughs or artistic geniuses or geopolitical machinations. The observational attribute inherent to this decades-old Marvel mainstay made their inclusion as an audience proxy in Old Man Star-Lord a no-brainer."
Alternate Versions
- In Marvel's Wastelanders: Old Man Star-Lord (2011), a Rigellian Recorder appeared in the setting of the Old Man Logan universe. This Rigellian recorder was sent to Earth by the Rigellian Empire as a scout to prepare for a possible upcoming invasion. She ended up on an Earth mining freighter that was overrun with the Brood and stayed there until Star Lord and Rocket Raccoon picked her up and brought her to Earth. When they met, Quill gave her the name Cora that was short for 'Recorder'.
In other media
Television
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, a Rigellian Recorder was mentioned in the animated television series episode "Michael Korvac" where one witnessed the destruction caused by Korvac with this being received by the Guardians of the Galaxy who sought to capture the power-mad superhuman.
Audio Books
- In Marvel's Wastelanders: Old Man Star-Lord (2011), a Rigellian Recorder appeared in the setting of the audio book.
Appearances
- Thor #132: (1966)
- Uncanny X-Men #137-138:
- Uncanny X-men: Fate of the Phoenix 1:
- Hercules #1 (1982)
- Cosmic Powers Unlimited v1:
- She-Hulk v1:
- Thanos v1 #2: (2004)
- Annihilators v1:
- Iron Man v5 #7: (2013)
- Nova v5 #4: (2013)
External Links
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