N'rill'irēē

Real Name: N'rill'irēē

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (unidentified race)

Occupation: Imperial Guardsman of the Shi'ar, warrior

Group Membership: Shi'ar Imperial Guard/Superguardians

Affiliations: Araki, Gladiator (Kallark), K'rk N'Kzaii, Lilandra, Nightcrawler, Oracle, Kitty Pryde, Starbolt, X-Men

Enemies: Blackthorn, Fang, Hussar, Quasar (later Neutron), Lord Samédŕr, Warstar, Webwing, several other unidentified Imperial Guardsmen and/or Borderers

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Currently unrevealed;
    formerly aboard the Shi'ar Imperial Dreadnought

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men#155 (March, 1982)

 

 

 

Powers/Abilities: N'rill'irēē is at least 8' tall and presumably possessed of superhuman strength and durability. He has sharp claws and teeth, may have enhanced senses, speed, etc., and his webbed ears MIGHT indicate some sort of aquatic abilities...or not. Any other abilities are unrevealed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

History:
(Uncanny X-Men#155) - N'rill'irēē was aboard the Shi'ar dreadnought that transported the X-Men to their ship to investigate any connection to the kidnapping of Majestrix Lilandra who had been taken to Earth (by the Brood and Deathbird via a secret alliance with Lord Samédŕr). N'rill'irēē stood beside Gladiator and Starbolt as the X-Men were introduced and subsequently given 24 hours to recover Lilandra or Shi'ar forces would invade Earth to recover her.

(Uncanny X-Men#157) - While the X-Men and Starjammers had successfully recovered Lilandra, they were cut off from communications from the Shi'ar and the traitorous Lord Samédŕr plotted Earth's destruction anyway, slaying Lilandra's chamberlain, Araki, when he opposed this action.
    N'rill'irēē, Gladiator, Oracle, and Starbolt were present on the bridge as Samédŕr prepared to launch the assault, at which point the X-Man Kitty Pryde --using a Shi'ar costume device and the implosions of Nightcrawler's teleportation -- impersonated Phoenix and delivered a warning that Earth was under her protection and that they should attack Earth at their peril. Nightcrawler then teleported the Imperial Guardsman Oracle away and let her read their minds to learn of Xavier's message. Oracle then summoned Gladiator, Starbolt, and N'rill'irēē to her side and shared the information with them. However, Warstar and a group of Guardsmen and Borderers loyal to Samédŕr and Deathbird-- including Fang, Hussar, Quasar (later Neutron), and Webwing -- then broke in and announced that a new order was about to embrace the Shi'ar and that those who had no place in it would be eliminated. N'rill'irēē noted that Warstar had allies, but proudly proclaimed "No matter the odds, we shall prevail!" The two sides battled, but then Samédŕr used a Brood weapon to incapacitate everyone in the room, after which the X-Men and loyal Guardsmen were bound in power-neutralizing bonds.
    The Starjammers ultimately foiled Samédŕr's assault, Lilandra was returned to the Shi'ar, Araki was arrested, and the loyal Guardsmen were freed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(New X-Men#133) - N'rill'irēē was present along with other Superguardians as Araki announced that Earth's mutant species had registered toxic levels of aggression and that the Phoenix had hatched to deal with it. Araki further announced the annulment of Xavier's marriage to Lilandra, and the Shi'ar's separation from Earthly affairs.

 

 

 

 

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, and Bob Wiacek.

    N'rill'irēē was not listed amongst the characters in Uncanny X-Men#155 or 157 in the Official Marvel Index to the X-Men. The first and only time he was ever reference outside of those two issues is in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Teams 2005. Not sure why he got left out in the cold.

    Thanks to Morrison and van Scriver for giving him a cameo 20 years later! And thanks to Grendel Prime for pointing out that appearance to me!

    You've probably received plenty of e-mails on this, but I figured I'd take a stab at Internet nerd glory by pointing out that N'rill'irēē closely resembled a member of the Kzin species found in Larry Niven's Known Space series of novels and stories (and the odd episode of the Star Trek cartoon). See here for more: http://www.larryniven.org/kzin/. It wouldn't be Claremont's first Known Space reference; during her first visit to Belasco's Limbo, Kitty Pryde remarked that the portal that brought her there reminded her of a stepping disk, the teleportation technology used by Niven's Puppeteers, another Known Space species.
Thanks for your wonderful site!
- Zack Dunham
    Glad you like it. Looking at the link you sent, I see the feline resemblance, but not much else. The webbed ears in particular are a striking feature of N'rill'irēē, and they appear absent in your picture. I agree that Claremont has certainly referenced other stuff left and right. Modt and Jahf...Mutt and Jeff...he does it all the time. In this case, I'd need more supportive evidence, b/c they just look like straight forward cat people to me.
    Just a quick mention re: the webbed ears and all. The novel covers are not accurate representations of the Kzinti as described in the stories. Niven repeatedly mentions ears like webbed parasols and in the out-of-print "Guide to Ringworld" they have more story-accurate pictures.  In fact, the cover to the collection "Cathouse" shows more errors (marketing matters, after all) in that it shows a female Kzinti being almost as large as a male,
when the titular story in "Cathouse" describes them as being a highly dimorphic species, with males being upwards of eight feet in some cases and females being somewhat smaller than a human male.
    --Coeloptera
    Ah...that sounds more promising. Perhaps N'rill'irēē is one of the Larniv? Nivenlar? Itnizk?

    I think N'rill'iree is a mutated/mutant (or immature/mature?) member of Ch'od's race. Aside from the coloration and the scales/fur difference, they're built nearly the same in body, face type, etc.
Maybe Ch'od's race is divided into water-dwellers/land-dwellers and Ch'od is the former and N'rill'iree the latter.
--Ronald Byrd

N'rill'iree was pictured in OHotMU Deluxe Edition#6 along with the other Borderers of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:

images: (without ads)
Uncanny X-Men#157, p13, panel 5 (full body)
        p16, panel 5 (upper torso close-up)
        p17, panel 4 (side view face)
New X-Men#133, last page

Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men#155 (March, 1982) - by Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Wiacek (ink), Louise Jones (editor)
Uncanny X-Men#157 (May, 1982) - by Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Wiacek (ink), Louise Jones (editor)
X-Men II/New X-Men#133 (December, 2002) - by Grant Morrison (writer), Ethan van Sciver (penciler), Norm Rapmund (inker), Mike Marts (editor)

Last updated: 10/01/06

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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