D'Bari (Avengers, Nova, She-Hulk, Wolverine, X-Men characters)

D'Bari race

Classification: Extraterrestrial semi-humanoids;
virtually extinct

Location/Base of Operations: The few remaining natives are scattered throughout the known universe;
formerly the planet D'Bari IV, Shiar Galaxy

Known Members: Bzztl, Tas’wzta, Vuk (aka. Starhammer) (see comments).
apparently G'aspix, K'hari (see comments)

Affiliations: Formerly part of the Shi'ar Empire;
see individual members

Enemies: Tyrus Kril, Phoenix (the Phoenix Force in the form of Jean Grey)
see individual members

Aliases: The Asparagus People

First Appearance: Avengers I#4 (March, 1964)

Powers/Abilities: One D'Bari was present on Earth for approximately 2500 years, suggesting perhaps a lifespan measured in centuries, rather than years.
They could reproduce sexually, as well as asexually by budding, but can only do so every thousand years. They appear to have gills and may be amphibious. They were averse to physical contact with others.

They have access to interstellar starship and weapons such as the "Petrifactor."

Traits: The D'Bari are apparently peaceful by nature, though the destruction of their planet has driven the survivors towards vengeance against Phoenix, and hatred towards humanity in general.

The D'Bari encountered believe themselves to be the last survivors of their race, and appear unaware of the existence of the others (see comments).

History:
(Uncanny X-Men#387 (fb)) - The D'Bari existed as a both ancient and thriving peaceful culture within the sphere of influence of the Shi'ar Empire.

(Avengers I#4 (fb)) - Approximately 500 BC, a D'Bari crash-landed on Earth, his appearance and petrifactor weapon causing him to be mistaken for the gorgon Medusa.

(Avengers I#4 (fb) - BTS/Saga of the Sub-Mariner#8) - In the modern era, Namor made an alliance with the "Medusa" D'Bari against the Avengers.

(Avengers I#4) - The "Medusa" D'Bari turned the Avengers to stone, but was discovered and exposed by Captain America, who forced him to restore the Avengers to normal. The Avengers helped him repair his ship and he left Earth.

(Classic X-Men#43/2 (fb) ) - After the Phoenix died on the moon and found herself with Death, she found herself at one point reliving the life of a woman on D'Bari IV just before she destroyed it as Dark Phoenix. As Gvyn, Phoenix was walking with two other D'Bari women who were trying to fix her up with a boy Gvyn met at school, and Phoenix protested that she didn't need a mate-maker.

(X-Men I#135) - A ravenous Phoenix consumed the sun of D'Bari, killing everyone on the planet. A few off-planet natives survived, though apparently unaware of the existence of each other.
These actions were observed by a Shi'ar imperial battle cruiser, whose crew included Eluke and Juber. They engaged Phoenix and were similarly destroyed, but not before sending a message to Lilanda, Majestrix Shi'ar.

(She-Hulk II#43-46) - The "Medusa" D'Bari encountered a group of Xartans (Carbon Copy Men), who invited him into their midst and took the form of D'Bari to escape the Skrulls. The "Medusa" D'Bari and the false D'Bari encountered Louise "Weezi" Mason, Taryn O'Connell, Razorback, Rocket Raccoon, and She-Hulk. When the Skrulls attacked, the "Medusa" D'Bari overloaded his petrifactor, turning the whole planet and everything within 100,000 miles to stone. The above heroes escaped petrifaction (and those who had been petrified were cured).

(Nova II#1 (fb)- Tas'wzta became a Centurion in the Xandarian StarCorp.

(Nova II#15) - Tas'wzta was one of the members of the Nova Corps slaughtered by the Luphomoid Kraa.

(Wolverine II#136-138) - A D'Bari father and son were part of the Collector's "Prisonworld," which served as a hideout, cloaked from Galactus. The planet was eventually consumed by Galactus due to the interference of Wolverine and Aria. The youth was seen to escape, though the father was not seen during the destruction.

(Wolverine Annual 2000) - The bounty hunter Tyrus Krill hunted down a member of the D'Bari (apparently K'hari; see comments) at some point, and kept its body aboard his ship in a storage tank.

(Uncanny X-Men#387) - During the events of "Maximum Security," a D'Bari, wearing a suit of armor and calling himself Starhammer, assaulted Phoenix (Jean Grey). She managed to telepathically make him believe he had slain her, and he went into an inert state after being overwhelmed by his apparent success.

Comments: Created by Stan "The Man" Lee and Jack "King" Kirby.

Who is Starhammer?

When I originally wrote this profile, I had forgotten about the Wolverine and Nova issues. It seemed quite clear that as there was only one surviving D'Bari, and that as both Starhammer and the "Medusa" D'Bari were referred to as the last D'Bari that they were one and the same. In addition, both referenced losing their wife and children to Phoenix. After posting the profile there was an uproar (well, two of the Masters of the Obscure questioned it anyway). The profile was supplemented with info from Wolverine and it progressed towards chaotic from. In an effort to be complete and unbiased, I reformatted this to be a group entry, and to cover all of their appearance.
The D'Bari in the She-Hulk issues was definitely the same one who encountered the Avengers, unless he was just lying pass himself off as that being, but he did recall the events with the Avengers. Similarly, it could have been a Xartan posing as the "Medusa" D'Bari, and he might have given them his petrifactor (or had it stolen or reproduced).
The "Medusa" D'Bari did not necessarily die at the end of She-Hulk II#46. As the D'Bari had previously stated that the petrifaction effect only lasted 100 Earth hours, one might guess that the same was true of the effect caused by its overload. So, while the Xartans and the "Medusa" D'Bari may well have been returned to normal, the Skrulls's star-ships had shattered doing to their stone forms being unable to handle their acceleration as they attempted to flee. They might have returned to normal, too, but would have soon died in the vacuum of space.
My guess would be that Tas'wzta, the D'Bari seen as part of the Nova Corps, was not the "Medusa" D'Bari. However, if it was, then he most likely would have died in that issue...unless he's got some weirdo healing ability, or the D'Bari can bud off parts of themselves to reform, etc. All speculative.
Similarly, my guess would be that the D'Bari in the Wolverine issues was not the same, mostly due to the existence of his son. However, Madison Carter speculated that due to the D'Bari's plant-like appearance, they may not necessarily require the same things needed to produce an offspring as mammals do. Meaning he could have reproduced asexually after his planet's destruction (and even after the She-Hulk issues).
Starhammer could be a new D'Bari altogether.
He could be the "Medusa" D'Bari (my opinion).
He could be the father or the son from the Wolverine issues.
He's probably not Tas'wzta.
Based on the above, there were as few as one (more likely two), and as many as five KNOWN to survive the destruction of D'Bari IV.
Anyone want to contact Chris Claremont and see what his intent was? I'll alter the profile accordingly based on his response.

In OHotMU 2006#3 it was revealed that Starhammer was the "Medusa" D'Bari and also the D'Bari that appeared in Wolverine II. He also got a name: Vux. His son from the Wolverine issues was given the name Bzztl. Further information was added to the profile from the OHotMU entry like the D'Bari's reproduction process and the inclusion of the Classic X-Men story.

As originally written, Avengers I#4 made it appear that there never was a Medusa of Greek myth, but rather the D'Bari inspired the legend.

It's pretty hard to tell which appearances in the She-Hulk contain the actual "Medusa" D'Bari, so I'm listing him as BTS unless it's clearly him, either by speech of by carrying the Petrifactor.

Pretty much all of the aliens active on Earth during Maximum Security were inmates from interstellar prisons banished there by the Intergalactic Council. The specifics of how the D'Bari ended up in prison and how he got the armor are both unknown. It is also possible that he came to Earth during that time coincidentally.

Some other guy made his first modern appearance in Avengers I#4...can't seem to remember who that was...

Thanks to Madison Carter for reminding me about the Wolverine appearances, and to Prime Eternal for reminding me about the Nova Corps member and the Classic X-Men story.

When the Dark Phoenix Saga was adapted to the 1990's X-Men cartoon, the Dark Phoenix destroyed the D'Bari star system, but dialogue indicated that there were no lifeforms there. The episode should have had a disclaimer: "No Asparagus People were annihilated in the making of this cartoon. --Prime Eternal

The D'bari seen in Tyrus Krill's collection is K'hari, the lifemate of G'aspix. The British Marvel Heroes#33 (2011) features the D'bari hiring Death's Head (FPA) as part of an attack on Earth, and the leader of the D'bari, angry that his people hired a bounty hunter, reminds them that another bounty hunter took his lifemate from him, with an editorial note identifying the bounty hunter in question to be Tyrus Krill. Though the story is set in an alternate reality, I can't see the reference being anything except deliberate. And though alternate reality, in the absence of counter evidence, there's no reason to believe the 616 victim of Krill would have a different name.
--Loki

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:

The "Medusa" D'Bari was mistaken for:

Medusa - gorgon, slain by old one of the Argonauts. turn others to stone with looks, serpents for hair.
--Tales to Astonish I#32, Marvel Preview#10/2

but was otherwise unconnected to:
MEDUSA (Medusalith Amaquelin Boltagon) - Inhuman Royal Family--Fantastic Four I#36
Medusa - Menagerie of Myth--Marvel Team-Up II#2
MEDUSA MOONRIDER of Earth-Amalgam - Medusa + Mark Moonrider, Un-People --Challengers of the Fantastic#1
Medusae (Lhasa) - friendly alien race, aided Seeker 3000 against the Hkkkt--Seeker 3000#2
GORGONS - other aliens who were mistaken for the Medusa of myth--Journey Into Mystery I#96
MEDUSA WEB of Earth-NU (Babel, Backfire, Electrique, Gatto di Sangue, Imprint, Potiphar, Relampago, Skybreaker, Thunderhead, Toocheetsca, Troublemaker)
- international mercenary organization
--Psi-Force(nu)#17,18

It is uncertain whether Starhammer is one of the previously seen D'Bari (see comments), or another D'Bari altogether.
Regardless, he has no known connection to

other "Star" or Hammer" characters

VUK

Real Name: Vuk

Identity/Class: extraterrestrial (D'Bari) weapons user

Occupation: former vengeance seeker;
former explorer

Group Membership: none

Affiliations: Hussar, Neutron, Warstar, Webwing, Xartan race;
formerly Namor

Enemies: Avengers, Jean Grey, Louise "Weezi" Mason, Taryn O'Connell, Phoenix (Phoenix Force), Razorback, Rocket Raccoon, She-Hulk

Known Relatives: Bzztl (offspring), see comments

Aliases: Medusa, the D'Bari, Starhammer

First Appearance: Avengers I#4 (March, 1964)

Base of Operations: currently unknown;
    formerly Dandesh IV, in the outer regions of the Coal Sack nebula)
    formerly mobile in space aboard his starship;
    formerly a Greek isle;
    formerly the planet D'Bari IV, in another galaxy

Powers/Abilities: His chief weapon was the "petrifactor," able to turn anything into stone for 100 hours. When set to overload, its power pack can affect everything within one hundred thousand miles. The energies of petrifaction and de-petrifaction are the same, and thus a second exposure will revert a previously petrified victim to normal.

Height: 5' 4"
Weight: 130 lbs.
Eyes: White (no visible iris)
Skin: Green

History:
(Avengers I#4 (fb)) - Centuries ago (@ 500 BC), the D'Bari's ship suffered engine failure and he crashed to Earth, embedding itself as the bottom of the Sea. Meaning no harm, he roamed Earth, hoping to find someone to help free his ship. However, he was mistaken as a monster by Roman? soldiers encountering him, and when they attacked, he was forced to use his Petrifactor on them. Due to his appearance and his weapon, he was believed to be the gorgon Medusa.

(Avengers I#4 (fb) - BTS/Saga of the Sub-Mariner#8) - In the modern era, Namor, fleeing after his battle with the Avengers (per Avengers I#3) stopped off at a looming island. Sighting some human figures, he went to investigate, and was shocked to discover that they were made of stone. The statues resembled human fishermen.
Vuk caught Namor by surprise and blasted him, but the ray had an attenuated effect on Namor. Namor made an alliance with Vuk against the Avengers, promising to free his ship if he would turn the Avengers into stone.

(Avengers I#4) - Disguised as a photographer, the D'Bari petrified the Avengers--Giant-Man (Pym), Iron Man (Stark), Thor, and the Wasp--as they returned to New York. The newly revived Captain America had lagged behind them and was thus spared. Joining forces with Rick Jones, Cap managed to identify the likely culprit by his weapon in an enlarged photograph, and they tracked down the D'Bari. Cap dodged his petrifaction blast and disarmed him, at which point the D'Bari surrendered and explained himself. Cap forced him to restore the Avengers to normal, after which they brought his ship to the surface of the Sea. As the D'Bari repaired his ship, Namor led an Atlantean attack on the Avengers. However, when the D'Bari took off, Namor and the Atlanteans mistook the lift off for a sea quake and fled.

(X-Men I#135 - BTS) - Vuk had not yet reached home when Phoenix, hungry for power, consumed the D'Bari sun, destroying D'Bari IV and all of its inhabitants.

(She-Hulk II#46 (fb) - BTS) - Vuk happened upon a group of Xartans (the Carbon Copy Men), they all adopted the D'Bari form, pretending to be a D'Bari outpost (on Dandesh IV, in the outer regions of the Coal Sack nebula). They did this hoping to elude the wrath of the Skrulls, who sought vengeance on them for..."infringin' on their franchise."

(She-Hulk II#46 (fb) - BTS) - Rocket Raccon landed on the outpost, and after he saw one of the "D'Bari" relax his form for a second, the D'Bari and the Xartans knew they had to stop him.

(She-Hulk II#43 (fb) - BTS/ 45(fb)) - Razorback and Taryn "Down the Highway" O'Connell followed a distress signal to the planet of the "D'Bari," arriving just in time to see Rocket Raccoon get petrified. Razorback and Taryn tried to rescue Rocket Raccoon, but they were captured.

(She-Hulk II#44 - BTS) - She-Hulk allowed herself to be captured by the "D'Bari," and she was brought to the same cell as Razorback and Taryn, as intended.

(She-Hulk II#45) - As She-Hulk and Razorback compared notes, Razorback prepared to state that the "D'Bari" were imposters, but the real D'Bari turned him to stone before he could get the words out. Vuk intended to intimidate the She-Hulk and Taryn into explaining why they were there, but the She-Hulk tried to use an Ovoid mind-transfer technique to contact her ally Weezi Mason aboard an orbiting Skrull ship. This backfired, swapping instead the build and powers of the two women.

(She-Hulk II#46) - Weezi and the Skrulls--who recognized the Xartans' ruse--beamed down to Dandesh IV, where Weezi freed the She-Hulk and her allies. Unwilling to see "his people" (the Xartans, his replacement family) destroyed again, the D'Bari set the power pack on his Petrifactor to overload. She-Hulk and her allies successfully escaped the petrifaction effect, returning after it had subsided to recover Razorback and Rocket Raccoon. The Skrulls, the Xartans, and Vuk were all petrified.

(Wolverine II#136/OHotMU 2006#3 (fb) - BTS) - Vuk came to the Collector's "Prisonworld". He sought companionshp and budded off a son named Bzztl.

(Wolverine II#136) - Vuk and Bzztl were being held on Prisonworld when Wolverine arrived. Vuk recognized Wolverine as being one of the X-Men, and in his rage over Phoenix destroying their planet, attacked him. Wolverine easily threw him to the side. Wolverine then explained that he was there to help them break out, and Vuk accepted an invitation to join him.

(Wolverine II#137) - The cell Vuk and Bzztl were residing in was inspected by some of the Collector's agents while searching for Wolverine.

(Wolverine II#138 - BTS) - Vuk went missing during Galactus's consumption of Prisonworld and was not among the escapees.

(Uncanny X-Men#387) - During the events of Maximum Security, the D'Bari, now wearing powerful armor and calling himself Starhammer, joined a few expatriate Imperial Guardsmen (and Borderers) in ambushing the X-Men. Starhammer confronted Phoenix (Jean Grey), recognizing her as being different than the Phoenix Force which had destroyed his planet, but blaming her nonetheless as she had summoned the Phoenix Force and her personality had shaped its form as Phoenix. Resisting her power, Starhammer tossed Jean to the ground and prepared to kill her. However, in desperation, she managed to pierce his shields, reach his mind, and deceive him into thinking he had succeeded in killing her. His vengeance seemingly achieved, he dropped to the ground, overwhelmed by the shock.
The X-Men planned to remove and destroy the Starhammer armor.

(Maximum Security#3 - BTS?) - The D'Bari may have been one of the many aliens on Earth released when the heroes of Earth defeated Ronan and the Ru'ul.

Tas'wzta

First appearance: Nova II#1 (January, 1994)

He was a member of the Xandarian Star-Corps, containing members from dozens of worlds and systems which had been ravaged by acts of war or piracy. He was slain by the Luphomoid Kraa, who sought vengeance for the death of his brother, Zorr. He was injured alongside several other Corpsmen, and his surviving ship mates left for a neighboring planet to lie in ambush for Kraa. He was found dying aboard his ship by the Skrull Corpsman Muraitak, another Corpsman named Grot, and Nova (Richard Rider). Nova blasted Kraa's ship, but the resulting explosion destroyed the Nova-Ship as well, and Tas'wzta presumably perished with it.

He presumably had some degree of Nova power, including flight, superhuman strength (enhanced human to Class 10) and durability, etc.

--Nova II#1 (1(fb), 15

Bzztl

First appearance: Wolverine II#136 (March, 1995)

(Wolverine II#136/OHotMU 2006#3 - BTS) - Vuk budded off Bzztl on the Collector's "Prisonworld".

(Wolverine II#136) - Bzztl and his father Vuk were being held on Prisonworld when Wolverine arrived.

(Wolverine II#137) - Bzztl and Vuk's cell was inspected by some of the Collector's agents while searching for Wolverine.

(Wolverine II#138) - Bzttl, Wolverine, and many others managed to escape.

D'Bari IV

First Appearance: X-Men I#135 (July, 1980)

In the Shi'ar galaxy, within the domain of the Shi'ar empire, it was one of eleven worlds orbiting the star D'Bari. Though only inhabited planet, it was destroyed when Phoenix consumed its star.

The star D'Bari was a G-Type (similar to Earth's sun), with a diameter of one million miles, a surface temperature of 6,000 degrees Centigrade, with a core temperature of 14 million degrees. It took about ten minutes from the time that Phoenix consumed the star to the time the D'Bari saw the effects, and shortly thereafter they felt the heat flare, which boiled away the planet's atmosphere and oceans. The planet was quickly consumed in the resultant super-nova explosion.

--Uncanny X-Men#135 (135/Uncanny X-Men#387

images:
Uncanny X-Men#387, p1, panel 3;
Avengers I#4 (Vuk)
        ("Medusa")
        (his starship)
        (petrifactor)
Nova II#15, p15, panel 3 (Tas'wzta)
Wolverine II#136, p12, panel 4 (D'Bari son)
        p20, panel 5 (father)
Uncanny X-Men#387, p17 (w/o ads), panel 1 (Starhammer)
    p21, panel 2 (Starhammer unmasked)
    p1, panel 1 + 2 (D'Bari)

Appearances:
Avengers I#4 (March, 1964) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), George Roussos (inks)
Uncanny X-Men#135 (July, 1980) - John Byrne & Chris Claremont (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Jim Novak (editor)
Classix X-Men#43 (January, 1990) - Chris Claremont & John Byrne (writers), John Byrne (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
She-Hulk II#43-46 (September-December, 1992) - John Byrne (writer/artist), Renee Witterstaetter (editor)
Nova II#1 (January, 1994) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Chris Marrinan (pencils), Mark Stegbauer (inks), Rob Tokar (editor)
Nova II#15 (March, 1995) - Chris Marrinan (writer), Mike Harris (pencils), Mark Stegbauer (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Wolverine II#136-138 (March-May, 1999) - Erik Larsen & Eric Stephenson (#136) (writer), Jeff Matsuda, Steve Scott (#138) & Yancey Labat (#138) (pencils), Jonathan Sibal, Scott Elmer (#138) & Scott Koblish (#138) (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
Wolverine 2000 Annual (2000) - Frank Tieri (writer), Jorge Santamaria (penciler), Nathan Messingill (inker)
Uncanny X-Men#387 (December, 2000) - Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils), Tim Townsend (inks), Mark Powers (editor)

Last updated: 01/04/13

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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