Imperial Guard (Marvel)
The Imperial Guard are a team that feature in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
The Imperial Guard was an elite unit of superpowered beings that served the Emperor of the Shi'ar Empire. Centuries ago, a decree was made that allowed for the formation of the Imperial Guard during the reign of Majestor T'Korr. (War of Kings: Warriors v1 #1) It was first formed by the Shi'ar to stop the renegade Rook'Shir who had the power of the Phoenix Force and prevent him from destroying the empire. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #479)
One of their achievements was the razing of the Anti-Heaven of Adun. (New X-Men v1 #124)
Deathbird lead a small group of the Guard into Kree space to track down a Brood ship. Guard members in this mission included; Fang, Oracle, Smasher, and Starbolt. (Untold Tales of Captain Marvel v1 #2) The Guard's ship was attacked by dozens of Skrulls, and they fought them off, protecting Deathbird. Some Kree which included Captain Mar-Vell aided them. Fang was shocked when a massive gunblock went off, and he emphasized to Captain Marvel that Deathbird must be protected. (Untold Tales of Captain Marvel v1 #1) The Guard, contained by the Kree, sought to fight their way free in order to be at Deathbird's side, Fang leaping on Marvel and getting knocked aside, but Deathbird ordered them to stand down. They revealed the nature of their mission to the Kree. (Untold Tales of Captain Marvel v1 #2) Weeks later, they saved a few surviving Kree (Mar-Vell, Una, and Yon-Rogg) after the Kree had fought the Brood. (Untold Tales of Captain Marvel v1 #3)
Phoenix Saga
D'Ken dispatched the Imperial Guard to apprehend his sister Lilandra who was deemed a traitor to the empire. (X-Men v1 #107)
Lilandra ordered the Imperial Guard to stand down, as D'Ken had been driven incurably insane. (X-Men v1 #109)
Lilandra sent the Imperial Guard against the X-Men including Angel Warren Worthington, Beast, Colossus, Cyclops, Phoenix, Storm, Wolverine) on the moon to give the Shi'ar rights to slay the Phoenix. If the X-Men won, the Shi'ar would leave the Phoenix to them. A massive battle broke out and the Imperial Guard soon won. Guard members in this mission: Earthquake, Gladiator, Hussar, Manta, Oracle, Smasher, Starbolt, and Warstar. (X-Men v1 #137)
New X-Men
When Lilandra Neramani fell under the control of Cassandra Nova, she had the Imperial Guard dispatched to Earth to eliminate the world after first targeting the Xavier Institute to attack the X-Men under the belief that they were eliminating a mind-plague. (New X-Men v1 #124)
The Imperial Guard received a distress call from the Eru 7 colony with Gladiator leading a team to investigate the world. Upon arriving, they discovered that all 64,000 inhabitants were killed by the sentient Cosmic Cube called the Maker. The being had fallen into madness as a result of the influence of the Beyonder that resided within her and fell unconscious with the telepathic probing of Oracle. The Maker was then found guilty under Shi’ar law and sentenced to imprisonment at the Kyln prison creche. Gladiator was unaware of the Beyonders madness spreading where this drove Oracle insane and left her unconscious. (Thanos v1 #10)
Emperor Vulcan
Vulcan and the Imperial Guard later travelled to the prison world of Kr'kn where they broke into the Hole facility to confront the Starjammers. During this time, the Guardsmen were separated as Gladiator battled his mad cousin Xenith who had been working for the emperor and Vulcan's Praetorian cadre saw the Hodinn among them go rogue. To stop the Hodinn from exploding, Havok absorbed its power and channelled this energy to attack Vulcan directly thus badly injuring the Shi'ar Emperor. Meanwhile, Deathbird attacked her sister Lilandra and came to be impaled by a spear from some debris. The Starjammer were forced to flee whilst the Imperial Guard departed with their leaders. In the aftermath, Deathbird was unconscious as she was badly wounded and left in a medical tank to recover with Emperor Vulcan deciding on his next course of action. During this time, the Strontian Xenith was placed at the forefront of Vulcan's attackers whilst the Guardsmen rallied under their leader. (X-Men: Kingbreaker v1 #4)
In an effort to end the war, the Guardians of the Galaxy sought to meet with the Kree and Shi'ar to bring about a stop to hostilities. Adam Warlock attempted to meet with Emperor Vulcan only for the pair to battle one another with the Imperial Guard moving to stop the intruder. As Warlock was a quantum magician, they called in Magique to use magic against the attacker. (Guardians of the Galaxy v2 #14) With the witch-mark on their quarry, they pursued him to Knowhere where they came into conflict with the Inhuman Elite who had similarly arrived for their own motivations. The Inhumans later fled after achieving their target with the Imperial Guard decided to pursue their original objective of hunting Adam Warlock with Mentor deciding to claim Knowhere for the Imperium. Before they could fortify it, the remaining Guardians of the Galaxy returned forcing the Shi'ar to retreat back to their territory. (Guardians of the Galaxy v2 #15)
During the Builder Crisis, the Imperial Guard including its Subguardian units were deployed to fight the foe. (Wolverine and the X-Men Annual v1 #1) After the conflict, Gladiator vowed to expand the Imperial Guard in order for it to rise up and fill the vacuum of fallen warriors and heroes. (Infinity v1 #6)
They were later deployed to a research facility to subdue Thanos where they managed to capture him due to the Mad Titan dying. (Thanos v2 #3)
The Imperial Guard were later sent on an assignment to find and capture the new Thor and bring her to the Shi'ar gods Sharra ad K'ythri. This saw Gladiator leading them in a surprise attack against Asgardia were they ambushed the Asgardians and retrieved their quarry. With their target, the Imperial Guard then travelled to the M'Kraan Palace where they presented Thor to the Shi'ar gods. (Mighty Thor v2 #15) Sharra and K'ythri had grown angered at the new Thor's actions and sought to punish her with Gladiator attempting to stand in her defence but he was humbled by the two gods after they were angered at his actions. (Mighty Thor v2 #16) They later responded to a counterattack from the Asgardians where the Imperial Guard came to be beaten back when the Destroyer entered into the field. (Mighty Thor v2 #17) During the battle of the gods, Gladiator came to have the Imperial Guard stand on the sidelines as they watched the fight amongst the deities. (Mighty Thor v2 #18)
Afterwards, Chandilar came under attack from Nebula who wielded the Naglfar Beacon allowing her to command fleets of undead gods including past incarnations of Asgardians that were sent to battle the Imperial Guard to test her new power. (Asgardians of the Galaxy v1 #2)
Gladiator eventually decided to step down as Majestor in favour of Princess Xandra who was the daughter of the former empress Lilandra. However, the young girl was not old enough for the position and thus it was decided to bring her aunt Deathbird back from her exile to teach her niece. Thus, Smasher was dispatched with the assignment of recovering Deathbird to serve as Xandra's regent and advisor. Unknown to anyone, Oracle believed that the young princess was not a fit ruler and that Gladiator should remain as Majestor. This led to her secretly contacting the Shi'ar Death Commandos and dispatching them with a mission to eliminate Deathbird. Her plans were thwarted by the New Mutants who escorted the regent back to Chandilar. It was there that the treachery of Oracle was exposed but Xandra decided to appoint the guardsmen as her mentor and to teach her to be a better soldier as her part of her punishment. (New Mutants v4 #7)
Overview
It was deemed as a company of elites with each race sending to the Shi'ar empire only their finest warriors. (War of Kings: Warriors v1 #1)
A trained Superguardian was capable of sterilising an entire city. The greatest of their number were known as the Superguardian Elite. (New X-Men v1 #124) Among the Subguardians, there was a numerical classification system with there being Class 6 and above. (Wolverine and the X-Men Annual v1 #1) In times of extreme danger, the Imperial Subguardian’s could be placed on active status thereby allowing for replacement for fallen Guardsmen. This was only done so in times when there was expected heavy losses. (Infinity v1 #1) Leadership of the Guard was headed by an individual that assumed the rank of Praetor. (X-Men v1 #107)
The Imperial Guard Training Academy was the Shi'ar school for the training of Superguardians and was situated on the throneworld of Chandilar. Within the academy, there were students from thousands of different worlds who were trained to become the Imperial Guard of the future. There were dozens of Guardsmen that fit into set roles such as Smashers, Starbolts, Mantas and Plutonias. (Wolverine and the X-Men Annual v1 #1)
An item provided to Guardsmen were Imperial Flight Patch's that allowed the user to fly. Another piece of equipment available to them was Mind-Armor that made their wearers immune to telekinesis. (New X-Men v1 #124)
Members
- Gladiator :
- Mentor :
- Hussar :
- Smasher :
- Titan :
- Magique :
- Hobgoblin :
- Oracle :
- Firebolt :
- Electron :
- Flashfire :
- Nightside :
- Warstar :
- Commando : a Kree conscript who served in the guard in the wake of the Kree/Shi'ar War. (Imperial Guard v1 #1)
- G-Type : a Hodinn who was raised in the stellar nurseries of his kind and raised to be part of the Imperial Guard. (New X-Men v1 #125)
Notes
- The Imperial Guard were created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum where they made their first appearance in X-Men v1 #107 (October, 1977).
- The team and its members were originally designed as analogs of DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes.
- According to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Teams 2005 v1 #1 (2005), the Imperial Guard had an entry into the reference book. Certain members of the Guard were appointed to protect and served the Shi'ar ruler in the Superguardians. Factions of the Guard enforced law on the fringe worlds, and were called Borderers. Each division of the Guard was led by a praetor, and all Guard members that cannot flew under their own power were equipped with anti-gravity devices. Guard members who perished were often replaced by another member of their race of origin.
Alternate Versions
- In Heroes Reborn: Hyperion & the Imperial Guard v1 #1 (2021), a version of the Imperial Guard were shown in the alternate reality of the new Heroes Reborn. These continued being the premiere superpowered heroes of the Shi'ar empire where they continued to serve under Majestor D'Ken. Under Praeter Gladiator, they came to encounter the superpowered Hyperion who impressed them so much that he was invited as a member of the Imperial Guard. In this time, he had many adventures with them whilst in space where he had a romance with Guard member Oracle. Eventually, Hyperion's time with the Guard came to a close and he was set to return to Earth after he helped them defeat the renegade Deathbird. It was then that he was convinced to join them on a final mission which was to find Deathbird's Hidden Keep. This was a treasure world located in a bubble reality of the Negative Zone where the Guard were ambushed by Brood who infected most of the group. Gladiator then had Hyperion break the fail safe to kill the Brood and prevent their escape but this came at the death of the entire Imperial Guard leaving Hyperion the only survivor.
In other media
Television
- In X-Men, the Shi'ar Imperial Guard made an appearance in the 1990s animated series where they first appeared in the episodes "Phoenix Saga". They were shown as the praetorian guard of Shi'ar Emperor D'Ken with them being led by Gladiator. The Imperial Guard accompanied him when his flagship came to Earth's solar system as he sought the M'Kraan Crystal and were later deployed to eliminate Corsair. They later battled the X-Men whilst D'Ken acquired the Crystal only for his mad scheme to destroy all of creation leading to the Imperial Guard siding with Lilandra. Inside the Crystal, they worked alongside the X-Men to battle D'Ken but were ineffective against his god-like power but the Phoenix managed to trap him inside after she took the Imperial Guard and X-Men to safety.
Video games
- In Marvel Ultimate Alliance, the Imperial Guard featured as characters in the video game with some being antagonists to the player.
Books
- In X-Men: Watchers on the Walls, the Imperial Guard appeared in the non-canon Pocket Star novel written by Christopher L. Bennett.
Appearances
- X-Men v1: (1977)
- Uncanny X-Men v1:
- X-Men v2:
- Imperial Guard v1:
- New X-Men v1:
- X-Men: Kingbreaker v1:
- Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard v1:
- Wolverine and the X-Men v1:
- Infinity v1:
- Thanos:
- Asgardians of the Galaxy v1:
- New Mutants v4:
External Links
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