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

Enemies: Blackthorn, Chlorites, Fang, Hussar, Quasar (later Neutron), Lord Samédàr, Sea Spine, Sp'yxx, Trypthe, 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 I#155 (March, 1982)

History:
(Uncanny X-Men I#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 Samédàr). 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 I#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 Samédàr 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 Samédàr 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 Samédàr 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 Samédàr 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 Samédàr's assault, Lilandra was returned to the Shi'ar, Araki was arrested, and the loyal Guardsmen were freed.

(New X-Men I#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.

(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 4: Exodus) - The Imperial Guard allied with the Diascar race, and pursued Chlorite refugees to Earth, with the intent of killing them. The X-Men (Professor X, Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Lockheed) stood against the Guard (Smasher (Vrill Rokk), Manta, Blackthorn, N'rill'irēē, Flashfire, Magique, Nightside). During the fight, Manta engulfed Wolverine in burning light, and later hit Jean Grey. Blackthorn animated corn to fight for him until Lockheed set him on fire, and Astra, who had been holding Shadowcat phased, had to rescue him. Magique used illusions to defeat Cyclops. Nightside engulfed some of the mutants in Darkforce until Wolverine slashed at her, pulling his blows. Smasher defeated Kitty before Nightcrawler stole his specs and Lockheed hit him with fire, but he managed to punch Rogue down. Before the fight could escalate further, Dr. Valerie Cooper arrived to break up the fight, having talked about the threat of the Chlorites with the Diascar, and the Imperial Guard and X-Men stood down.

(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 8: Exclosure) - The Diascar placed a forcefield over a mutant community in Brazil. When the X-Men investigated, the Imperial Guard attacked, making sure to keep the X-Men out of the enclosure. Smasher burst into the ship, throwing devices to contain some of the team. When Kitty Pryde tried phasing into a team member to hide, Astra unphased her and Blackthorn poisoned her with a thorn. Smasher realized that all those under the dome would be dead within days.

(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 17: Extraterritorial) - The Imperial Guard helped the Sentinels secure Madripoor.

(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 21: Extermination) - The Imperial Guard (Smasher, Manta, N'rill'irēē, Flashfire) worked with the Diascar and Sentinels to take down the X-Men when they learned they were harboring a Chlorite refugee. When the Sentinels began using lethal force against mutants, the Imperial Guard was furious and joined the mutants in protecting their students until all of the Sentinels were defeated.

(X-Men: Watchers on the Walls: Chapter 23: Exeunt Omnes - BTS) - The X-Men found a way to send all Chlorites into a different dimension where they could survive. The Imperial Guard and the Diascar left peacefully.

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

    N'rill'irēē was not listed amongst the characters in Uncanny X-Men I#155 or 157 in the 1994 Official Marvel Index to the X-Men. The first time he was ever referenced outside of those two issues is in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Teams 2005, with another reference in the 2009 Indicies. 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?   In reference to the discussion about N'rill'irēē being a homage to Larry Niven's Kzinti, here's an image of Kzinti from the Ringworld RPG, which was based on Niven's novels, and from the RPG magazine Different Worlds when it was covering that same game. N'rill'irēē is definitely a Kzinti. Note not just the catlike body, but the rat-tail and parasol ears, and the way his ears fold down to protect them when he prepares for battle.   It's also worth knowing that this also means N'rill'irēē is a high-ranking Kzinti who has distinguished himself via his service to the Empire or some acts of bravery, since Kzinti have to earn their names. Prior to doing so, they get named based on their professions - Pilot, Engineer, Speaker-to-Animals (i.e. Translator to Humans - the version the Kzinti use shows how they generally view other species); partial names can be earned - e.g. Chuft-Captain - but to earn multiple syllables signifies extraordinary feats. --Loki

    I think N'rill'irēē 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'irēē the latter.
--Ronald Byrd

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

Main image and images of the Kzinti provided by Loki, who stumbled across the current main on the internet. Looks like N'rill'irēē was considered for a sub-entry in the handbooks alongside the other Imperial Guard members, but instead the art got used in the Borderers montage, tiny and partially obscured. I've taken the liberty of colorizing that black and white image to show how it might have looked - Loki

Profile by Snood. Image updates by Loki

CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:

• other cat-fish characters

images: (without ads)
Black & White unused handbook image (main)
Uncanny X-Men I#157, p13, pan5 (full body)
Uncanny X-Men I#157, p16, pan5 (upper torso close-up)
Uncanny X-Men I#157, p17, pan4 (side view face)
New X-Men#133, last page (head shot)
Different Worlds#37, p25, pan1 (standing Kzinti)
Different Worlds#37 cover (Kzinti pilot)
Ringworld Explorer Book p46-47 (Kzinti headshot, showing how ears pull down when Kzinti goes into attack mode)
Uncanny X-Men I#155, p4, pan 3 (standing behind Gladiator, displaying claws)
Colorized unused handbook image

Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men I#155 (March, 1982) - by Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Wiacek (ink), Louise Jones (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#157 (May, 1982) - by Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Wiacek (ink), Louise Jones (editor)
New X-Men I#133 (December, 2002) - by Grant Morrison (writer), Ethan van Sciver (penciler), Norm Rapmund (inker), Mike Marts (editor)
X-Men: Watchers on the Walls (May, 2006) - Christopher L. Bennett (writer)

First Posted: 09/23/2006
Last updated: 05/20/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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