MARTYR
Real Name: Phyla-Vell
Identity/Class: Genetically engineered extraterrestrial (Kree/Eternal of Titan hybrid)
Occupation: Warrior, adventurer;
former Avatar of Death, Protector of the Universe
Group Membership: None;
formerly Guardians of the Galaxy (Bug, Drax, Gamora, Groot, Jack Flag/Jack Harrison, Major Victory/Vance Astro of Earth-691, Mantis, Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord/Peter Quill, Adam Warlock)
Affiliations: Cammi Benally, Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell), Collector (Taneleer Tivan), Cosmo, Death, Eros (Starfox), Eternals of Titan, Gorr the God Butcher, Inhumans (Black Bolt, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Medusa), Jazinda, Marlo Jones, Rick Jones, Lady Liberators (Invisible Woman/Susan Storm-Richards, She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Thundra, Valkyrie/Brunnhilde), Lyja Lazerfist, Major Victory (Vance Astrovik; presumably from Earth-691), Moondragon (Heather Douglas), Morag IV citizens (including Dejann), Nova (Richard Rider), Priests of Pama, Ra-Venn, Ronan, Sentry (Robert Reynolds), She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), Stargod (John Jameson), Super-Skrull, Warlock (Technarch), Wraith (Zak-Del);
formerly ISAAC, Mentor, Oblivion
Enemies: Annihilation Wave, Annihilus, Brood, Cancerverse (Reality-91017), Doctor Voodoo (Jericho Drumm), Dragon of the Moon, Enmity, Gamora, High Evolutionary, Imperial Guard (Fang, Hussar, Magique, Mentor, Oracle, Scintilla, Voyager), ISAAC, Marlo Jones of Earth-Songbird, Knowhere Council (Gorani & others), Korath the Pursuer, Kree Empire, Luminals (Cynosure & others), Magus, Maelstrom, Mentor, Phalanx, Sentry (Phalanx controlled, identification number unrevealed), Shatterax, Shi'ar Imperium, Skreet, Skrull saboteurs, Super-Adaptoid, Thanos, Thanos clone, Ultron, unidentfied group of scavengers, Universal Church of Truth (Flensse and others), Unum, Xemnu the Titan
Known Relatives: Elysius (mother), Genis-Vell (brother), Mar-Vell (father), Mar-Vell's parents (grandparents), Teddy Altman/Dorrek VIII (Hulkling, half-brother)
Aliases: Avatar of Death, Quasar, Captain Marvel (held the title very briefly)
Base of Operations: Realm of Death;
formerly mobile across the galaxy;
formerly the moon of Titan
First Appearance: Captain Marvel VI#16 (December, 2003)
Powers/Abilities: Phyla has superhuman strength (class 5-15). She can fire energy blasts and fly. She also acts like an "energy sponge," absorbing any energy attacks directed at her and returning them as energy blasts. She has cosmic awareness and is a proficient fighter.
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 103 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: White
History:
(Captain Marvel VI#18 (fb)) - When Captain Marvel was manipulated by the
cosmic entities known as Entropy and Epiphany and helped them recreate the
universe, the universe was remade with several differences. When the universe
was recreated, so was everybody in it, including Captain Marvel himself. The
Captain Marvel of this universe was the hero that the true Captain Marvel had
always wanted to be, and his creation was such a success, that his mother,
Elysius, created another genetically engineered offspring, Phyla.
(Captain Marvel VI#16) - As the insane Captain Marvel was headed for Titan, with Elysius and Eros on his trail, Elysius sent a message to Phyla telling her that her brother was coming and to be ready to fight him when he arrived on Titan. Phyla assured her mother that she could handle her brother. Elysius told Phyla that her brother had betrayed his responsibilities as Captain Marvel, and the title now belonged to Phyla.
(Captain Marvel VI#17) - Phyla watched when Captain
Marvel (Genis, not Phyla) arrived on Titan and saw that all the other Titans
were out of phase, and existed a few seconds in the past or future. Captain
Marvel reasoned that the Titans were afraid to face him. As Captain Marvel began
to doubt his own perceptions of reality, Phyla made her presence known to her
brother, whom became incredibly confused at her existence, remembering her, but
feeling as if he shouldn't. Phyla began to bicker with her older brother,
flaunting the fact that their mother had given her the title of Captain Marvel,
and filling her brother's head with doubt. Captain Marvel then attacked Phyla,
and the two began to fight. Phyla hit Captain Marvel with a couple of energy
blasts. However, he seemed more annoyed by them than anything else. Phyla
claimed to her older brother; that he was the first draft and he was a fluke, the
one that made all the mistakes. Phyla claimed that she was the one with which
their mother got it right. Captain Marvel then continued fighting with Phyla and
eventually gained the upper hand. However, before Captain Marvel could badly
injure his sister, several Titans, including Elysius and Eros intervened. In
response, Captain Marvel opened a portal and Phyla, Eros, and Elysius were
sucked into it. But at the last second, Phyla formed an energy lasso and pulled
Captain Marvel into the portal with them.
(Captain Marvel VI#18) - Now in a realm that had different physical laws and was truly not of this universe, the minds of Eros, and Elysius were able to overcome the less experienced mind of Captain Marvel and expel his insanity. Phyla was there as well and helped defeat Captain Marvel as well, even though she did not contribute as much to Captain Marvel's defeat as Eros and Elysius.
(Captain Marvel VI#19) - Phyla met with Rick Jones, who was molecularly bonded to Captain Marvel, in an office that Captain Marvel had set up for himself so that if anybody needed help they could call him. Phyla explained to Rick Jones and Captain Marvel that nobody was going to come to them for help because now the universe was terrified of Captain Marvel for the atrocities that he committed while he was insane. She also suggested that Captain Marvel cede the title to her, which Captain Marvel was not willing to do. Before the conversation could continue, they were interrupted by the arrival of an alternate super powered version of Marlo Jones, whom attacked Rick. Phyla attacked this alternate Marlo, and kicked her in the face, but was then promptly punched into orbit. Later on, while Captain Marvel was fighting the alternate Marlo, Phyla returned and fired an energy blast at her, but by that time, the alternate Marlo had deteriorated into nothing.
(Captain Marvel VI#20) - While Captain Marvel traveled to the future to resolve the conflict with the future Marlo, he sent Phyla to the apartment of the Marlo Jones of Earth-616 and Moondragon to make sure they were safe in the present as well. Phyla introduced herself and explained why she was there in very little detail.
(Captain Marvel VI#21) - Phyla inquired to Moondragon as
to whether or not her and Marlo were "together." Moondragon responded
that it was none of Phyla's business. Meanwhile, Marlo was attacked by the Magus
in the bathroom and was being pulled through a portal in the mirror when Phyla
burst in and shattered the mirror with an energy blast, saving Marlo.
(Captain Marvel VI#22) - Phyla insisted that Marlo accompany her to Titan where she would be able to protect Marlo far better and more efficiently with Titanian science at her disposal. Marlo hesitantly agreed and left with Phyla for Titan.
(Captain Marvel VI#23) - Phyla led Marlo into the main monitor room of their base on Titan, explaining what had happened with the alternate Marlo along the way, causing a great deal of shock and some mild fear in Marlo of Earth-616, as well as bickering with Marlo a bit. Phyla explained that from the monitor room, they would know if the Magus approached. Phyla used the technology of the monitor room to discover that the Magus was on Earth. She then observed the Magus attacking and badly injuring Moondragon through a view screen. Phyla tried to hold back Marlo, who was thrown into a fit of rage upon seeing Magus injure Moondragon.
(Captain Marvel VI#24) - As Captain Marvel reentered the present day through a time portal, Phyla and Marlo assumed it would be the Magus coming through the portal, and Phyla prepared to fight and held the still enraged Marlo back. When Captain Marvel entered through the portal, Phyla noticed he was in great pain, and tried to get him to confide in her what was weighing so heavily on his mind. He refused to tell her.
(Captain Marvel VI#25) - After Moondragon lied about her affection for Marlo to make it easier for Marlo to leave her for Rick Jones, Phyla confronted Moondragon and told her that she could tell that Moondragon was making that up. She also told Moondragon she found that very attractive. She then invited Moondragon to go and see the spiral nebula near Renault VII with her. However, before anything more could happen, a portal opened which the curious Phyla and Moondragon wandered through. Unbeknownst to them the portal had been opened by Eulogy, who was striking the set of the universe of Captain Marvel. (SEE COMMENTS)
(She-Hulk II#12) - Phyla placed Starfox on the Judgment Chair on Titan. She stood by when the trial was supposed to begin, but the Magistrati appeared and demanded to bring their agent from Earth, She-Hulk to the trial because Starfox broke Earth's law. When She-Hulk arrived on Titan she called Phyla by her name, but Phyla wanted to be called Captain Marvel by She-Hulk. She stayed to observe the trial and together with Moondragon held back She-Hulk when she tried to attack Starfox and fought her until the unexpected arrival of Thanos. Phyla couldn't believe that he wasn't there to fight, but he didn't even know her and Phyla had to tell him that she was Captain Marvel. The trial continued and Phyla observed.
(She-Hulk II#13) - Phyla and Moondragon had to hold back Mentor when he tried to attack Thanos after he revealed that Starfox made him love Death. Thanos was then placed on the Judgment Chair by Phyla to enable him to proof this claim and the trial continued. Phyla saw Thanos struggle, the arrival of Stargod and had to fight against Thanos once again before the trial ended with the revelation that this Thanos was just a clone and that the real Thanos had tempered with Starfox's mind. She was present when Starfox decided to give up his powers.
(Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar#1 (fb)) - On Titan Phyla ran an obstacle course faster than anyone before her, except her father. She proudly told it her mother, who had bad news for her -- Genis was killed because he wasn't as good as his father. Elysius told Phyla to run the obstacle course again because otherwise the same fate would await Phyla.
(Annihilation#2 (fb)) - Phyla visited alongside Moondragon the graves of Mar and Genis-Vell. There they were surprised by Thanos and Skreet. Thanos knocked Phyla out with an electrical blast, gave her Moondragon's ear and told her to give it Drax and tell him that Thanos had his daughter.
(Annihilation#2) - Phyla traveled to Daedalus 3 to tell Drax that his daughter Moondragon was abducted by Thanos. She gave Moondragon's ear and earring to Drax. Phyla wanted to free Moondragon, but Drax wanted to do it himself.
(Annihilation#3) - Phyla escaped along with Nova and other warriors from Daedalus 3 when the Annihilation Wave attacked.
(Annihilation#4) - Gamora brought Phyla, Nova, and Quill to the Xandar Cluster from where Nova teleported them to the Annihilation Wave's current location.
(Annihilation#5) - On Canticus Prime Phyla, Nova and Quill met with Blastarr and the Spaceknights. Blastaar recognized Phyla as Mar-Vell's daughter when he gave Nova's team coordinates that would send them withing striking distance of Annihilus' flagship. Nova then teleported with Phyla and Quill away.
(Annihilation#6) - Nova, Phyla and Quill rematerialized near Annihilus' flagship and witnessed Galactus' attack on Annihilus' fleet. Nova created a force bubble around himself and his mates to protect them from the force that tore apart Annihilus' ships. Trapped within the bubble Phyla and Quill then watched Nova fight Annihilus alone. Phyla broke free when Nova was near defeat and tackled Annihilus. She touched the Quantum Bands Annihilus had taken from Quasar and they left Annihilus for Phyla. She attacked Annihilus, but he was still too powerful for her. Seconds after she was blasted by Annihilus he was killed by Nova. Phyla and Quill then brought Nova, who was seriously injured, to safety.
The following weeks Phyla began to think about becoming the new Quasar although Moondragon was against it.
(Annihilation: Conquest - Prologue (fb) - BTS) - With Moondragon at her side Phyla began her career as Quasar.
(Annihilation: Conquest - Prologue) - Quasar and Moondragon protected Priests of Pama from scavengers on the Lamentis Outworld at the edge of Kree space. During the fight Phyla was distracted by a voice and Moondragon had to save her from an axe wielding villain. After the fight Phyla asked the Priest Om-Fad to give the scavengers what they wanted to show them that violence is no solution. Inside the devastated temple Phyla told Moondragon that she didn't feel to be good enough to be Quasar.
That night inside the temple Phyla heard the voice talking to her again and realized that the voice came from the Quantum Bands. It warned her from a coming disaster and told her to find the savior of the Kree. When Moondragon informed Phyla about strange reports from Hala and other Kree heartworlds, Phyla told her about the warning. The next moment they were attacked by a Kree Sentry already under Phalanx control. Phyla blew it up and the voice from the Quantum Bands told her that time was running out. A short time later Phyla and Moondragon saw the sky lighted up by a massive energy pulse coming from Hala. Phyla flew to Hala and on her way there she found a destroyed superlight liner and after that a barrier formed by the energy pulse. She tried to get through the barrier, but soon felt that Kree space was shifted out of phase by with the rest of the galaxy and that she couldn't get in. Again the voice talked to her and told her to find the savior and she promised that she would.
(Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar#1) - At the fringe of the Kree Empire the ship of Quasar and Moondragon was attacked by Phalanx warriors. Quasar defeated them and was then attacked by the Phalanx select Super-Adaptoid. She was able to escape him, but during the fight one of the Quantum Band jewels went dark. Quasar contacted Moondragon mentally and then met her and a group of Priest of Pama on a nearby planet. A priest, a Cotati and Moondragon helped Phyla find the savior of the Kree. Phyla and Moondragon rested together that night, but in the morning the planet was attacked by the Phalanx and the Super-Adaptoid. Quasar and Moondragon fought them, but couldn't save any of the Priests of Pama.
(Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar#2) - On their way to the savior, Quasar and Moondragon were attacked by a Brood above the planet Dlaw-Neurg. During the fight Quasar lost control over herself again for a few seconds. Down on the planet they followed the savior's energy signature and found a ship. In short manner Quasar got rid of a giant insectoid inside the ship, but they soon had other problems. Super-Adaptoid and the Phalanx had found them. The Super-Adaptoid copied Phyla's Quantum Bands and then followed the savior's energy signature himself. Meanwhile Quasar and Moondragon fought the Phalanx warriors. Quasar saw Moondragon overpowered, but before she could aid her, Moondragon released the power of the Dragon of the Moon inside her and became a dragon herself.
(Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar#3) - They defeated the Phalanx warriors and then, following the savior's energy signature, flew to the planet Morag IV (Terma). In front of a citadel the Super-Adaptoid knocked them out. Quasar reawakened in a primitive village, whose people had found her and Moondragon. Quasar told the people to leave this place before she left the village. Quasar flew on Moondragon's back to the citadel. They killed another monstrous guardian before finding the cocoon with the savior. Super-Adaptoid was already there and had infected the cocoon with the transmode virus, but Quasar and Moondragon still fought him until he told them that the Phalanx were going to kill all people on the planet because they had helped Quasar. Moondragon and Quasar left the citadel to help the people of Morag IV and Quasar used up all the Quantum Band energy she had left to destroy countless Phalanx warriors with one single attack.
(Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar#4) - Quasar and Moondragon were joined by Dejann and his warriors against more Phalanx warriors on their way to the citadel. Inside the citadel she attacked Super-Adaptoid, who used Quasar's own quantum energy against her. She absorbed it to reload the Quantum Bands a little bit and then defeated Super-Adaptoid. After absorbing more quantum energy from the fallen Super-Adaptoid, Phyla entered the evil left in the Quantum Bands by Annihilus with the help of the Wendell Vaughn's spirit. When the evil was gone, Quasar returned to the fight outside, trapped all Phalanx warriors on the planet in an energy bubble and tossed them into the local sun. Moondragon and Quasar freed the cocoon of the Phalanx machinery. The Supreme Intelligence appeared to reveal that it had led Quasar to this place (the voice in Phyla's head) to help him reawaken the savior because they couldn't wait until he woke up on his own. Quasar, Moondragon and the Supreme Intelligence opened the cocoon and inside was Adam Warlock.
(Annihilation: Conquest#1) - Quasar explained to Adam how the Phalanx had conquered Kree space and that they needed his help against them, but Warlock couldn't even remember who he was. While Adam transformed himself using his new powers, the trio was surrounded by Phalanx warriors and the Select Korath, Xemnu and Shatterax. Adam trapped himself, Quasar and Moondragon inside an energy globe and fled the fight. He brought them to his father, the High Evolutionary, who had a refuge in the nearby sun.
(Annihilation: Conquest#2) - Quasar explained the whole situation with the Phalanx and how the Supreme Intelligence sent her to free Adam Warlock, who was the supposed savior of the Kree empire. The High Evolutionary in return told her that he was in Kree space because the Supreme Intelligence had hired him to remake the Kree race. He was now able to create warriors able to resist the Phalanx, but before he could talk more about it, the refuge was attacked by the Phalanx and their new leader Ultron, who immediately killed Moondragon when she tried to protect her beloved Phyla.
(Annihilation: Conquest#3) - Quasar left the fight to Adam and brought the dying Moondragon to safety. She returned to the fight after Moondragon's death and drained once again all the energy of the Quantum Bands. Meanwhile the High Evolutionary had initiated a terminal reaction in the star surrounding the refuge to stop Ultron. The star and the refuge exploded.
(Annihilation: Conquest#4) - Adam Warlock had saved the High Evolutionary and Quasar inside an energy bubble and brought them to Hala, but before they arrived Adam Warlock lost control of his powers. The energy bubble vanished and the trio dropped helplessly down towards the planet. Adam saved Quasar from the deadly fall. On the planet's surface they were soon detected by the Phalanx, who couldn't stop them from finding the bunker, where the Supreme Intelligence's Nu-Kree warriors were created. The High Evolutionary was already there, but he betrayed them to the Phalanx.
(Annihilation: Conquest#5) - As a Phalanx captive, Quasar watched at High Evolutionary's side the memories of Ultron, which led to him becoming the Phalanx leader. Quasar couldn't believe that the High Evolutionary had killed Adam, but he corrected her on this because Adam wasn't dead. Quasar helplessly watched as Ultron's mind was transferred into the body of Adam Warlock. Ultron reawakened in his new body and immediately shot Quasar.
(Annihilation: Conquest#6) - When Quasar regained consciousness she saw the spirit of Moondragon (it was just what Phyla wanted to see) in front of her. It explained to her that Adam's soul had fled into the Quantum Bands and that Quasar had to help the Kree and Adam now. Quasar returned Adam's soul to his body, when Ultron had left it because the alien Warlock was going to infect him with his mutated version of the transmode virus. Quasar joined Adam, Nova and the Technarch Warlock in their fight against the Phalanx. When Ultron built him a giant body with Kree Sentries, Quasar absorbed Adam Warlock's energy with the Quantum Bands. Wraith trapped Ultron's mind in his giant form and Quasar used her energy sword to destroy Ultron. Without Ultron's mind the Phalanx was deactivated.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#1 (fb)) - One day after the end of the Phalanx conquest Quasar met with Nova and Quill to talk about future plans. Quill suggested to create a proactive team to prevent future attacks on the galaxy.
(Annihilation: Conquest#6) - After the end of the Phalanx conquest Quasar stayed with her new allies. She wrote a letter to her dead girlfriend Moondragon about what had happened since the end of the conquest. Adam entered her room to tell her that Peter Quill wanted to see them both. Adam also revealed to Phyla that he finally knew why he had been given his new powers. Before the meeting Phyla finished the letter and delivered it to Moondragon's grave.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#1 (fb)) - Quasar met Drax at Moondragon's grave and she offered him a new purpose in his life (to join Quill's team).
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#1) - The Guardians of the Galaxy attacked the Universal Church of Truth's templeship Tancred to stop them from entering a fissure. The Guardians were shocked when the Church's higher-ups teleported to safety, leaving their followers behind to die. After entering the fissure the Guardians were attacked by an extradimensional monster, but they were able to hold it back until Rocket Raccoon blew up the ship's font. The team then teleported back to their base on Knowhere. Adam Warlock found another fissure.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#2) - The Guardians teleported onto an icy landmass that came through a disturbance near the star SG Hydronis. They encountered monstrous beings and Major Victory from the future. He joined them in fighting the monsters. They took Major Victory with them to Knowhere after blowing up the monsters and the icy landmass from the future. After the mission Phyla went shopping on Knowhere.
The Guardians later teleported to another fissure at Binary Stasis Twelve Dyson Sphere where Cardinals of the Universal Church of Truth attacked them.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#3) - The Guardians fought the Cardinals until they were overrun by a biomass consisting of the former residents of the Dyson Sphere. They had been fused into this being after their experiments had opened a fissure in their DNA. Phyla protected the team after Star-Lord had opened the habitable zone's sun-shield to let the sun burn the biomass. Afterwards the team returned to Knowhere.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#4) - Quasar and Adam Warlock arrived at Knowhere's sickbay to learn that some of the victims of the explosion that nearly killed their teammates where Skrulls. Before the team could begin their search for more Skrull infiltrators, the Guardians were confronted by Gorani and Cynosure, who weren't happy about the Guardians of the Galaxy making Knowhere their base of operations or that they acted like they ran Knowhere. The Guardians were put under house arrest by Cosmo after a fight between Major Victory and a few aliens. Star-Lord and Phyla were later interrogated by Knowhere's council about their teammates and they had to defend Drax.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#5) - Quasar couldn't believe that the council thought Drax was a Skrull saboteur. After Drax had defeated a team of Luminals Quasar left the Guardians' quarters to search for him. She found him placing synaptic disruptor charges on Knowhere. When she realized that he wanted to kill everybody on Knowhere to learn who were Skrulls it was too late to stop him.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#6) - Quasar was temporarily killed by Drax's synaptic disruptor charges. Alive again after Drax had deactivated the charges she angrily attacked him until he showed her that he had found the Skrulls. Quasar and Drax went to the Skrulls, who were protected by Cosmo and Adam Warlock because they were not the saboteurs, but the ones that were hunted by the Skrull saboteurs. The rest of the Guardians soon joined Quasar to fight off the Luminals, who tried to kill the Skrulls as well. While Star-Lord had to justify his teams' actions, Drax told the other Guardians that Star-Lord made Mantis manipulate them to join the Guardians of the Galaxy. The team broke apart and Quasar left with Drax.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#7) - Quasar joined Drax on his search for Cammi. On a distant planet a fortune-teller told them that they had to go on a painful quest to find -- Heather (Moondragon). Quasar and Drax were surprised.
(She-Hulk: Cosmic Collision#1) - The Collector abducted heroes from Earth and beyond to protect them from Enmity's warrior Unum. The women warriors included Gamora, Invisible Woman, Jazinda, Mantis, Quasar, She-Hulk, Storm, Thundra and Valkyrie. Unum still found them and went through the Collector to get to the women warriors. Phyla was the only one among them that knew of Unum's mistress Enmity. Quasar stabbed her sword through She-Hulk, Mantis and Unum to get them to the cosmic being Enmity. Unum turned on Enmity and the Collector returned all the warriors, including Quasar, to where they belonged.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#9) - Quasar and Drax went to Titan to tell Mentor what they had learned about Moondragon. He killed them.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#11) - Phyla woke up in Oblivion's realm and was abandoned by the Quantum Bands. Drax saved her from manifestations of her fears and doubts and then wandered with her through the realm until they were attacked by Maelstrom. They defeated him and learned that he had lured them to Oblivion with Moondragon's life essence. He led them to the Dragon of the Moon wherein Moondragon was imprisoned. Suddenly Maelstrom was in possession of the Quantum Bands and overpowered Phyla and Drax. He offered them to the Dragon if the Dragon in return used its powers to get Maelstrom out of Oblivion's realm.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#12) - Maelstrom dropped Phyla into the Dragon's mouth. Inside the Dragon Phyla made a deal to become Oblivion's new avatar of Death. With her new powers as Martyr she burst with Moondragon in her arm through the Dragon's gut. Moments later she awoke on Titan at Drax's side. Though she was angry at Mentor, she was happy to be reunited with Moondragon, who had been reborn into a Titan-cloned body. Phyla didn't tell Moondragon what she had done to save her.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#13) - The Guardians celebrated the return of Drax, Phyla and Moondragon at Starlin's on Knowhere. They were glad that Phyla and Drax had somehow returned Moondragon from the dead, but Mantis was highly suspicious of Phyla's new name Martyr, lack of Quantum Bands and the fact that she couldn't read her future anymore. The team got into a massive bar fight with Shi'ar and other aliens until Adam Warlock used magic to end it.
Adam Warlock then explained to the rest of the team that they had to stop the war between the Kree and Shi'ar because it could cause irreparable harm to the universe. Phyla lacked the confidence that they could just convince the the Shi'ar, led by the insane Vulcan (Gabriel Summers), and the Kree, led by Black Bolt of the Inhumans, to stop the war. Despite that she joined a team consisting of Star-Lord, Jack Flag, Mantis and Bug on a mission to meet with Black Bolt in the Royal City of Attilan above Hala and just ask him to stop the war against the Shi'ar. Star-Lord was surprised when Medusa denied their request without hesitation.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#14) - Medusa made it clear that the Inhumans and Kree didn't recognize the Guardians' authority and tried to kick them out of Attilan, but the situation escalated when Martyr drew her sword against Medusa and then attacked Gorgon, who tried to defend his queen. Kree soldiers surrounded the Guardians, but Crystal of the Inhumans' Royal Family protected them from repercussions. Medusa had the Guardians escorted and made it clear that they were not welcome anymore. To the shock of her teammates, Phyla took Crystal hostage and threatened her life to force the Royal Family to talk to them. Star-Lord apologized to Black Bolt and then contacted Cosmo to teleport them back to Knowhere. Cosmo was forced to teleport Phyla with her hostage Crystal back to Knowhere, but Star-Lord was mad at Phyla for her behavior and even madder that she had not released Crystal. Phyla was sure that they could force the Inhumans into negotiations that way. Moments later the Inhuman Royal Family, a contingent of Kree soldiers, Shi'ar soldiers and members of the Imperial Guard teleported in to take on the Guardians.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#15) - While the other Guardians were attacked, Crystal broke free from Phyla's grip. Star-Lord apologized to Crystal for Phyla's actions and the Inhumans teleported away with her after Black Bolt used a scream to escape from the Imperial Guard. Gamora and Martyr hacked their way through Shi'ar soldiers in Knowhere's sublevel nine and then went into the central vent system to reunite with the rest of the team in the Continuum Vortex to drive out the Imperial Guard from Knowhere. Back in the Guardians Control Center Phyla was shocked to learn that Moondragon had lost contact because her mind had been invaded by the extratemporal prisoner Starhawk from Reality-669116.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#17) - The Guardians (Drax, Gamora, Groot, Martyr, Major Victory, Rocket Raccoon and Adam Warlock) received through Knowhere a message from the future by their teammates Star-Lord to warn them of the Inhumans' Terrigen-Bomb, but it was already too late to stop its detonation in the present on the Kree-Shi'ar border and prevent the hole (later dubbed the Fault) it had ripped into reality. Martyr and her teammates teleported to Attilan to confront the Inhumans about the incident. Medusa revealed that Black Bolt had died in the explosion and didn't take too kindly to Martyr mocking his death. When Attilan was attacked by tentacled creatures from another reality coming through the Fault the Guardians stood with the Inhumans against the threat. Everyone was surprised when templeships of the Universal Church of Truth arrived at the Fault. Martyr scoped them out and saw their Cardinals with Adam Warlock and Gamora, who explained to Martyr that Warlock worked with the U.C.T. to prevent the Fault's expansion by connecting their present to an unused future (the future where he became the Magus). The plan worked, but Martyr realized that Adam Warlock was the Avatar of Life she was supposed to kill as part of her pact with Oblivion...
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#19) - ...and tried to stab him through the back, but Star-Lord and his part of the team (Bug, Cosmo Mantis and Jack Flag) returned just in time from the future to prevent it. Gamora was shocked, but Martyr tried to explain her actions by warning everyone that Adam would become a greater threat. Mantis learned of Martyr's pact with Oblivion by probing her mind while Star-Lord walked over to Adam because he knew that Martyr was right and asked Adam to fight off the Magus' influence, but it was already too late.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#23 (fb)) - Weakened by stopping the Fault's expansion, Magus wasn't ready to fight all the Guardians of the Galaxy. Star-Lord activated a Cosmic Cube and inadvertently gave Magus a way out of the situation. Magus used the Cube's power to transmute reality and the others' perception of it to trick Star-Lord and his friends.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#19) - Magus slew Cosmo and Mantis before Martyr could reach him and cut into him with her sword, but Magus just teleported her sword into his own hands and killed her by stabbing her through the chest.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#23 (fb)) - Martyr bled out and her ghost left her body. She witnessed Magus slay Gamora with her Quantum Sword and Major Victory with Captain America's shield. She was soon joined by the ghosts of Mantis, Cosmo, Gamora and Major Victory. Mantis assured her that they were not actually dead yet and Magus was just trying to hide that he was too weak to fight all Guardians and was tricking Star-Lord and their teammates into leaving.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#19 / Guardians of the Galaxy II#23 (fb)) - Star-Lord shot Magus in the head. Magus' plan worked and Star-Lord left with the surviving Guardians seconds before the Church blew up their templeships in grief over the Magus' death. In reality Magus survived, orchestrated the templeships' explosion and took Martyr, Major Victory, Mantis, Cosmo and Gamora as prisoners.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#23) - Martyr, Mantis, Gamora, Major Victory and Cosmo were imprisoned in the catacombs of Sacrosanct, the Universal Church of Truth's homeworld. They were tortured and Phyla often blacked out. Magus had the Church's best interrogator Flensse concentrate on torturing Phyla because he wanted her to eventually worship and serve him. Flensse believed that some sort of psychic shield was protecting the prisoners because none of their torture methods had worked, but he assured Magus that they would break them. Magus revealed to Phyla that the Fault had opened the way to another reality (Cancerverse) where life had won and death didn't exist. He planned to bring eternal life to this reality by petitioning with the many-angled dark gods.
Flensse used a mnemonic flail on Phyla to strip away her memories one by one and she blacked out. Phyla's spirit left her body and met up with the spirits of her fellow prisoners, who told her that the psychics among them were unable to get a message out because they couldn't overcome the prison's psi-shielding. They hoped Phyla would be able to get a message out due to her connection to Death and her psionic bond to Moondragon. Phyla psychically contacted Moondragon as soon as she woke up to warn her that the Magus was still alive. She then broke free of her restraints and fought her way through the guards in the catacombs before freeing her friends.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#24) - Martyr and her allies fought through the Church's troops in the catacombs. While Phyla still hoped that Moondragon had heard her psychic warning, she was psychically approached by Oblivion's servant Maelstrom, who chewed her up for failing her job to kill Magus, the Avatar of Life. He offered her a chance to redeem herself and led her to a cocoon the Church had been hiding. He asked her to release who was inside the cocoon to return the balance between life and death and Phyla believed it was Adam Warlock she was going to release and Maelstrom didn't contradict her. Phyla cut open the cocoon and to her surprise released Thanos of Titan. Maelstrom told her that she was fired from her job before Thanos killed Martyr with a deadly energy blast.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(Deadpool vs. Thanos#3) - Phyla was one of the countless souls in Hell that sought to get revenge on Thanos when he entered the realm with Deadpool and Black Talon. Mephisto took the trio from the battlefield to have a talk with them.
(Storm V#12) - Gorr, Sentry and Phyla picked up Doctor Voodoo at the Night and Daye Hospital for the Extramundane in Arkansas because Death had summoned him to her realm.
Comments: Created by Peter David, Paul Azaceta, and Chris Sotomoyer.
In case you didn't get Peter David's little
joke, Phyla was a play on Genis' name.
Kingdom-->Phylum-->Class-->Order-->Family-->Genus-->Species
Playing on the name Genis' similarity to Genus, he used the
feminine version of Phylum.
--Snood
The end of issue #25 may be out of continuity as the universe obviously wasn't destroyed, Captain Marvel isn't dead, and neither are Rick, Marlo etc. To see comments on the purpose of issue #25, see the comments of the profile Seven Friendless
Not out of continuity, but just subject to artistic license--SnoodIn Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar#3 the planet where Adam Warlock was later reawakened was called Morag IV. In Annihilation: Conquest#1 it was called Terma. It seems like one hand wasn't talking with the other. Despite this snafu Annihilation: Conquest still rocked!
In Guardians of the Galaxy II#17 Martyr actually killed Magus, but this was averted the next issue due to time travel shenanigans, leaving Magus' death from the previous issue in an altered timeline. The deaths in #19 were just an illusion created by Magus to get out of the fight with the Guardians.
Phyla-Vell is still around to this day, but not the original version this profile is about. Phyla's Earth-18897 counterpart first appeared in Infinity Countdown#4 (August, 2018) and is now a regular citizen of the main Marvel Universe. Poor Phyla-616 is still dead, but occasionally appears with other dead characters in the underworld or Death's realm when a writer remembers that she was a thing.
Profile by Profile by Stunner. Updated by Markus Raymond (2006-2025).
Clarifications:
Phyla should not
be confused with:
images:
Guardians of the Galaxy II#12, Cover (main, Martyr)
Captain Marvel VI#16, p21 pan2 (Phyla-Vell)
Captain Marvel VI#17, p15, pan1 (Captain Marvel, energy blast)
Captain Marvel VI#17, p16, pan3 (upper body)
Annihilation#2, p3, pan1 (during Annihilation War)
Annihilation Conquest: Prologue, Cover (Quasar)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#23, p2, pan1 (seemingly killed by Magus)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#24, p22-23 (killed by Thanos)
Storm V#12, p2, pan1 (serving Death)
Appearances:
Captain Marvel VI#16 (December, 2003) - Peter David (writer), Paul Azaceta (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Captain Marvel VI#17-18 (January-February, 2004) - Peter David (writer), Paul Azaceta (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Captain Marvel VI#19-22 (March-June, 2004) - Peter David (writer), Aaron Lopresti (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Captain Marvel VI#23-24 (July, 2004) - Peter David (writer), Pat Quinn (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Captain Marvel VI#25 (September, 2004) - Peter David (writer), Keith Giffen (pencils), Alan Gordon (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
She-Hulk II#12-13 (November-December, 2006) - Dan Slott (writer), Rich Burchett (pencils), Cliff Rathburn (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Annihilation#2-6 (November, 2006 - March, 2007) - Keith Giffen (writer), Andrea Divito (artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Annihilation: Conquest - Prologue#1 (August, 2007) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Mike Perkins (artist), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar#1-4 (September-December, 2007) - Chrisos N. Gage (writer), Mike Lilly (pencils), Bob Almond & Scott Hanna (#2-3) (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Annihilation: Conquest#1-6 (January-June, 2008) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Tom Raney (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#1-7 (July, 2008 - January, 2009) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Paul Pelletier (pencils), Rick Magyar (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
She-Hulk: Cosmic Collision#1 (February, 2009) - Peter David (writer), Muhmud A. Asrar (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#9 (March, 2009) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Brad Walker & Carlos Magno (pencils), Victor Olazaba & Jack Purcell (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#11-12 (May, 2009) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Wes Craig (artist), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#13-14 (June-July, 2009) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Brad Walker (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#15 (August, 2009) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Brad Walker (pencils), Victor Olazaba & John Livesay (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#17 (October, 2009) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Brad Walker (pencils), Victor Olazaba & Scott Hanna (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#19 (December, 2009) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Wes Craig (artist), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#20 (January, 2010) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Brad Walker (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#23-24 (April-May, 2010) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Wes Craig (pencils), Serge LaPointe (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Deadpool vs. Thanos#3 (December, 2015) - Tim Seeley (writer), Elmo Bondoc (artist), Jordan D. White (editor)
Storm V#12 (November, 2025) - Murewa Ayodele (writer), Mario Santoro (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 10/17/2004
Last updated: 12/01/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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