NUWALINUWALI
Classification: Extra-terrestrial
Location/Base of Operations: Planet Tomriv, Lenra galaxy
Known Members: Balvo, Giam, Pro-Kopeo
Affiliations: Former agents of the Beyonders
Enemies: Beyonders, Comet Man, Fantastic Four (Crystal, Human Torch, Ms. Marvel/She-Thing, Thing), Fortisquians, Ka-Zar, the Karem tribe of the Savage Land, Max, Schoed, Shanna the She-Devil, Smoot, Zabu
First Appearance: Ka-Zar the Savage#34 (October, 1984)
Powers/Abilities: The Nuwali are
approximately ten feet tall, but they are not built for combat,
nor are they particularly willing to attempt physical struggle.
They do possess a Vulcan-like nerve touch, that can render a foe
insensate on contact.
Beyond what you can obviously see, they have
forked tongues.
Traits: The Nuwali are said to have made
no notable accomplishments on their own; they are distinguished
solely for their ability to follow orders. The Nuwali possess
highly advanced technology, including space warps, energy
blasters, adrenalin draining devices, and the Savage Land.
They consider gold to be highly valuable. They
also will hold a grudge for literally thousands, if not hundreds
of thousands of years. They are also willing to manipulate or
even killing others for their own ends.
History: The Nuwali are a very old race, having achieved intelligence and galactic renown hundreds of millions of years ago.
(Ka-Zar#34(fb)/Fantastic Four I#317(fb)/Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Update'89 (fb)) - Approximately 250 million years ago, the enigmatic extra-dimensional beings known as the Beyonders contacted the Nuwali via an unusual artifact. The Beyonders offered to pay the Nuwali gold if they would create game preserves on Earth and other planets, stocked with flora and fauna from different periods of that planet's history. Agreeing to the contract, the Nuwali created the Savage Land on Earth, a tropical area circled by volcanoes within Antarctica. As time progressed, the Nuwali continued to stock the Savage Land, so that dinosaurs and other life forms from the entire span of the Mesozoic era have co-existed with the various life forms that evolved in the later Cenozoic Era, the Age of Mammals, and even with human beings. For tens of millions of years the Nuwali stocked the Savage Land and watched over it. They apparently created similar preserves on an unspecified number of planets.
At some point, the Nuwali's contact with the Beyonders came to an end, and the Nuwali eventually were replaced by the Fortisque, an artificial race created by the Beyonders to do their bidding. The Nuwali had received "squendags of gold" for millions of years, but when the Beyonders ceased contact with them, they ceased payment as well.
(Ka-Zar#34 (fb)) - Vengeful for their apparent betrayal, the Nuwali eventually learned--though they had never actually seen or met their employers--that the Beyonders were susceptible to adrenalin (epinephrine), which was poisonous to them. Though they themselves did not secrete adrenalin, the Nuwali learned that humans did secrete the chemical. Disguising an intra-dimensional transporter as a fossilized bone, the Nuwali began to collect the humans that touched the fossil and were transported to their world. The fossil was located in a region close to the Savage Land's Karem tribe, and the superstitious Karem came to believe that the fossil--or Motyka Bone, as they called it--would send those who touched it to Heaven. The Nuwali then imprisoned those sent to them, and began to drain their adrenalin.
(Ka-Zar#34 (fb) - BTS) - Over forty years ago, one of the Karem, Schoed, was taken by the Motyka Bone, in full view of his son, Beel.
(Fantastic Four I#317 (fb)) - AIM technicians discovered the space warp transporter in the Savage Land. Traveling to Tomriv, they encountered the Nuwali and learned of their technology in exchange for their assistance in unlocking the secret of the Beyonders' artifact.
(Ka-Zar#33 - BTS, 34) - Shanna the She-Devil found the Motyka Bone, picked it up, and was transported to Tomriv. In an effort to follow Shanna, Ka-Zar put his hand on his saber-toothed tiger, grabbed the Bone, and was transported as well. After observing Ka-Zar's high adrenalin levels in a simulated attack by a giant serpent, Pro-Kopeo, followed by Giam and Balvo, used their nerve touch to stun, and then imprison their new subjects. Upon recovering, Ka-Zar met two other prisoners, Schoed and Smoot, then broke out and freed Zabu. He observed the Nuwali working on Shanna, but when he ran in to free her, they zapped his unconscious. Ka-Zar awakened to find himself the next subject, while Pro-Kopeo explained their purpose to him. However, no sooner had they started, when Shanna, freed by Zabu, burst in and destroyed the machine and freed Ka-Zar. Shanna was joined by Schoed, who had been inspired by Ka-Zar to fight back, and he used the nerve touch he had learned to drop Pro-Kopeo so Shanna could work unmolested. Pro-Kopeo recovered quickly, but Ka-Zar punched him out.
With the Nuwali hot on their trails, Ka-Zar and Shanna followed Schoed to a Nuwali shipyard. They had to fight their way past several Nuwali, and Ka-Zar physically forced another Nuwali to pilot one of their ships off of Tomriv. Some of the Nuwali pursued in other ships and fired upon them, but Schoed held them off with their ship's blaster, while Beel activated the Motyka Bone at the same time on Earth. Ka-Zar, Shanna, Zabu, Schoed, Smoot, and all of the former prisoners of the Nuwali were returned to Earth.
(Fantastic Four I#317) <Six years after AIM
had met with the Beyonders> - Seeking to learn more about the
Beyonders, Max and the Comet Men led the Fantastic Four to Tomriv
to question the Nuwali. However, a member of AIM had traveled to
Tomriv to warn the Nuwali of their approach, and to pay the
Nuwali gold to kill the Fantastic Four.
One of Nuwali explained to their visitors
their past dealings with the Beyonders, and Ka-Zar had told them
all of his encounter with the Nuwali. They showed their visitors
the artifact with which they had spoken to the Beyonders. Ben
thought the device was similar to the Radical Cube that Reed had
built in the past, but when he tinkered with the artifact, it
released an energy burst. Confirming his suspicion on the
similarities of the two devices, Ben announced that the artifact
was a portal to the Negative Zone.
With the secret unlocked, the Nuwali had no
further use for the Earth heroes (or Max), and so they prepared
to kill them for AIM. However, the combined powers of the heroes,
especially the two Comet Men, overcame the Nuwali, and they left
to continue their quest for the Beyonders.
Comments: Created by Mike Carlin and Paul Neary.
These guys are U-G-L-Y.
Despite their close ties to the Savage Land
and Beyonders, I'd imagine that the Nuwali remain relatively
unknown...until NOW!!!!!
Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Clarifications:
No known connection to:
The Beyonders--a vastly powerful extradimensional race about which very little is known, first mentioned @ Marvel Two-In-One#63, should be distinguished from:
The Artifact
Designed by the Beyonders, it was apparently a portal to the Negative Zone, through which the realm of the Beyonders could be accessed.
--Fantastic Four I#317
Motyka Bone
It was designed by the Nuwali and placed around the land of the Karem tribe in the Savage Land. Disguised as a fossilized bone, it transported the unwary to Tomriv for decades.
--Ka-Zar the Savage#34 (34(fb), 34
The homeworld of the Nuwali, it exists in the Lenra galaxy (so distant as to be invisible from Earth), and is technologically highly advanced. It is apparently a breathable atmosphere.
--Ka-Zar the Savage#34
Appearances:
Ka-Zar the Savage#34 (October, 1984) - Mike Carlin (writer), Paul Neary (pencils), Carlos Garzon (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Fantastic Four I#317 (February, 1988) - Steve Englehart (writer), Keith Pollard (pencils), Romeo Tanghal (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Last updated: 05/02/10
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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