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GENERAL KALAMARI

Real Name: Kalamari

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Skrull) deviant

Occupation: General

Group Membership:  Skrull Empire's military high command

Affiliations: Devos the Devastator, Lyja the Lazerfist, Paibok the Power Skrull, Skrull Emperor (see comments), Skrull Empress (see comments)

Enemies: Devos the Devastator, Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Susan Richards-Storm, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile, formerly the Skrull's Imperial Throneworld and the War World military installation

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#358 (November, 1991)

Powers/Abilities: Kalamari possesses the standard shapeshifting abilities common to most Skrulls. He was considered a brilliant campaigner and intelligence officer.

History:

(Fantastic Four I#358 (fb) ) - Working for the Skrull Emperor General Kalamari reviewed tapes of the Fantastic Four at the Skrullian High Command and fumed at the notion that the Fantastic Four had repeatedly interfered with the Skrulls' righteous desire to establish lasting universal peace by conquering and enslaving every other inhabited world. He was intrigued when one of his underlings, captain Paibok, suggested the FF's downfall might be orchestrated by replacing the Thing's girlfriend Alicia Masters with a Skrull operative. Kalamari was intrigued by this proposal and gave Paibok permission to proceed. Paibok selected Lyja, a liaison officer and ex-lover, for the job. After a rigorous training period, she succesfully took Alicia's place.

(Fantastic Four I#358 - BTS) - After Lyja revealed herself to the Fantastic Four, they decided to retrieve the real Alicia from the Skrulls' heavily fortified asteroid base War World. Paibok, now known as the genetically enhanced Power Skrull, engaged Lyja and the FF, but the team still managed to liberate Alicia Masters. Reed Richards even overloaded the base's nuclear power core, destroying War World in the process.

(Fantastic Four I#382) - Paibok and Devos the Devastator managed to kidnap the Fantastic Four and brought them to the imperial Throneworld of the Skull Empire. An overjoyed General Kalamari was on hand to thank Paibok for his services, awarding him the sacred order of the scarlet star as a symbol of the Skrull Empress' eternal gratitude. However, Paibok's associate Devos soon reverted to character and decided he should resume his mission of bringing about galactic peace by wiping out any and all possible threats. Figuring the Skrull Imperial Throneworld to be a prime target, he summoned his massive Death Cruiser and started to annihilate the Throneworld.

(Fantastic Four I#383) - As Throneworld found itself under heavy, constant assault from Devos' Death Cruiser, general Kalamari was summoned before the outraged Skrull empress. She wanted to know how a single ship could threaten the entire world and why he didn't simply blast it from the skies. Kalamari swore that squadrons of his bravest star pilots had already tried to take it down, but their attempts at piercing the planetary cruiser's forcefield had failed. Kalamari then suggested Devos' craft might be vulnerable to a full nuclear or sub-harmonic quantum assault. The incensed Skrull empress pointed out that such weaponry would render the entire world uninhabitable and dismissed Kalamari's suggestion outright. Instead, she opted for unleashing the Skrull's secret weapon: the Stealth-Hawk, much to Kalamari's astonishment considering it was still an untested prototype. Kalamari ordered the ship readied for launch, but it was never used to fight Devos. The Fantastic Four used the Stealth-Hawk as their escape vessel, just as Paibok saved the ravaged Throneworld from total destruction by  causing Devos' craft to catapult itself into sub-space.

(Secret Invasion: Skrulls!#1) - When Skrull Chancellor Kal'Du wrote Kalamari's Skrull Warbook entry by order of Queen Veranke, he praised the general's impressive military achievements. But Kal'Du also noted with great sadness that Kalamari had caused the loss of both War World and the near decimation of Throneworld, deeming both events to be irrecoverable career blunder, even if Kalamari had tried to blame Paibok.

Comments: Created by Tom DeFalco, Paul Ryan, Danny Bulanadi

While Kalamari might be a perfectly acceptable name in Skrull, a supreme military commander named after a squid you can order breaded and fried in most restaurants isn't exactly dignified. Having the general wear a fin on his head doesn't really play down the seafood motif either. Still, it's a great name...Pass the barbecue sauce, please?

The Skrull Emperor mentioned was most likely Dorrek VII. The Skrull Empress mentioned was very likely S'byll.



Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
General Kalamari has no known connections to


images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#383, p8, pan2 (main image)
Fantastic Four I#382, p25, pan4 (giving Paibok a medal)


Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#358 (November, 1991) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Fantastic Four I#382 (November, 1993) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Fantastic Four I#383 (December, 1993) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Secret Invasion: Skrulls!#1 (2008) - Ronald Byrd, Michael Hoskin, Gabriel Schechter, John Rhett Thomas, Stuart Vandal, Jeph York (writers), John Rhett Thomas (editor)


Last updated: 09/23/13

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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