insectoidinsectoid
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (race unidentified; see comments) warrior
Occupation: Warrior
Group Membership: Shi'ar Imperial Guard
Affiliations: Served D'ken Neramani
Enemies: Lilandra Neramani, Soul-Drinker
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed
First Appearance: X-Men I#107 (October, 1977)
Powers/Abilities: Unrevealed. The insectoid carried a sword-like weapon with which it was presumably proficient.
It likely possesses a chitinous exoskeleton, and it's tail may have some use as a weapon.
Anything else is purely speculative.
Height: Unrevealed (its posture and/or
relative position to anyone of known height prohibits any real
estimation, but it appeared to be roughly human in size)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Two (on head; yellow, composite)
Hair: None
Skin color: Apparently orange carapace (in the single panel in which it was clearly seen)
History:
(X-Men I#107 (fb) -
BTS) - Shi'ar Majestor D'Ken and the Shi'ar
Imperial Guard (including the insectoid) arrived on the World, just
outside the M'kraan Crystal, the power of which the mad D'ken sought
for himself.
(X-Men I#107) - As the X-Men arrived on the World, the insectoid brandished a sword as it stood at the base of the M'kraan Crystal next to Eric the Red (who held Lilandra), D'ken, and a tentacled cyclopean (also a member of the Imperial Guard). A fight swiftly broke about between the Imperial Guard and the X-Men, who sought to recover the captured Lilandra and to take custody of Eric the Red. The insectoid remained alongside Eric and D'ken.
Bound to the base of the Crystal by chains, Lilandra begged her brother
to stop the madness before it was too late, but the insectoid ordered
her silence, warning that she would meet worse-than-death.
After D'ken summoned the Soul-Drinker demon to consume Lilandra's soul, the X-Men's Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) broke Lilandra free from her chains. D'ken ordered the insectoid and the tentacled cyclopean to ensure the Soul-Drinker took Lilandra's soul and no other.
As the insectoid and tentacled cyclopean approached Nightcrawler and Lilandra from the front, and the Soul-Drinker approached from the rear, Nightcrawler teleported Lilandra away, and the Soul-Drinker skewered and consumed the soul of the tentacled cyclopean, who screamed in agony as it perished.
(X-Men I#107 (fb) - BTS) - The Starjammers (Ch'od, Corsair, Hepzibah, Raza) arrived to assist the X-Men in defeating the Imperial Guard, but D'ken announced they were all too late: As the nine Death-Stars entered into alignment, they shot a blinding blue-white light that poured into the M'kraan Crystal, causing it to pulse as its power began to build geometrically and it began to glow like a star. Its energies erupted outward, causing all of reality to briefly blink from existence.
(X-Men I#108 - BTS) - The Imperial Guard lay unconscious.
(X-Men I#108 - BTS / X-Men I#109 (fb) - BTS) - D'ken was driven insane by his experiences after having been pulled into the M'kraan Crystal, and Lilandra succeeded him as ruler of the Shi'ar. She ordered the Imperial Guard to stand down, and they departed with her.
Comments: Created by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, and Dan Green.
Uncanny X-Men: The Official Index of the Marvel Universe entry for X-Men#107 listed all of those present opposing the X-Men in front of the M'kraan Crystal (excluding D'ken and Eric the Red) as members of the Imperial Guard, and also listed "two unidentified" with one dying in this issue. The only ones unidentified are the insectoid and the tentacled cyclopean, the latter of whom would be the other member who died, at the hands of the Soul-Drinker.
The insectoid was only seen in those few panels. It is unrevealed whether the Soul-Drinker got it, too, or if it survived and left the World of the M'kraan Crystal with the rest of the Imperial Guard. It has not been seen since.
MarvelousLuke pointed this guy out as a member of the insectoids of Ch"rp. He was also kind enough to provide the scans, which I cropped to include here.
I think the resemblance is strong, and it may well be one of the Ch"rp.
However, I don't think there's enough evidence to confirm that.
PRO
On superficial inspection, they are both insectoid bipeds of some association to the Shi'ar
They have two composite eyes
They have similar mouths
They have horizontal lines running over their bodies
spikey projections
generally similar appearance.
Both the Imperial Guardsman and the Hivehead of the insectoids of Ch"rp have a vertical stripe running down the front of their heads.
Uncanny X-Men: The Official Index of the Marvel Universe entry for X-Men#107 describes the insectoid as a member of the Imperial Guard
Per War of Kings: Warriors#1, when the Imperial Guard was first formed, each of the worlds in the Empire could send a member
CON
Appearance
The Ch"rp have two sets of arms.
The Imperial Guardsman has one set of arms.
The Ch"rp have green exoskeletons.
The Imperial Guardsman's is orange.
The Ch"rp's composite eyes are green.
The Imperial Guardsman's are yellow.
The Ch"rp have a short, taper to their exoskeleton
dipping down like a tail (or almost the back of a tunic) behind what
would otherwise be the buttocks of a biped.
The Imperial Guardsman has a long tail.
The Ch"rp drones have spiny projections over what would be the thoracic spine in a
humanoid
The
Imperial Guardsman's back was not seen, so we can't comment on the
presence or lack of thoracic spines. It also has prominent shoulder
spikes lacked by the Ch"rp drones, although the Hivehead has similar
spines.
The spiking on the antebrachia and crura are more prominent in the Ch"rp than the Imperial Guardsman.
The Ch"rp have two fingers and a thumb on each hand.
In the full body image, the Imperial Guardsman appears to have more
digits on its hand. It looks like four fingers.
The Ch"rp
maxilla (upper jaw) has two prominent, squared-off "teeth," and their
mandible (lower jaw, joined like most vertebrates) has a single
squared-off "tooth" that fit between the two upper "teeth."
The Imperial Guardsman has more "teeth": at least three in the maxilla and at least two in the mandible
The Ch"rp elbow, shoulder, knee, and possibly hip joints were somewhat thickened in spherical fashion.
The Imperial Guardsman's limbs are similar, but only the shoulder appear to be spherical
The Imperial Guardsman has a pair of antennae-like projections medial to each eye that is lacked by both the Ch"rp drones and Hivehead.
The Imperial Guardsman speaks while the Ch"rp drones only produce a
buzz; the Hivehead projects telepathic signals, but was not observed to
speak.
Then again, I think the
Guard wear translators or something to make their languages understood
among each other and by strangers.
The shape and patterns of the Imperial Guardsman's head differ from those of the drones and Hivehead of the insectoids of Ch"rp.
None of the other map pods for the Phalkon traveled to worlds of Imperial Guardsmen.
DISCUSSION
The similarities between the appearances of the Imperial Guardsman and the insectoids of Ch"rp could be explained by the fact that they were drawn by the same artist, Dave Cockrum. Maybe that's how he draws insectoids.
The differences in appearances could be explained by failure to recall and/or scrutinize the appearances from the earlier issues.
You could ask Chris Claremont if the insectoids of Ch"rp were meant to be the race of the Imperial Guardsman from X-Men#107 (1977). Sadly, Dave Cockrum died in 2006.
It is quite possible that there are different hives/tribes on Ch"rp, and each may be somewhat different. They may manifest their ethnicities in the differences described above.
It is also quite possible that while on Ch"rp we only the Hivehead and drones, that there is another warrior class, perhaps composed of females. I think the Imperial Guardsman resembles the Hivehead more than the drones...perhaps when a Hivehead dies, another warrior/female becomes the new Hivehead.
Anyway, at this point, I don't think we have enough to confirm one way or the other, but I like the latter two explanations I offered. Other input is welcome!Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
This insectoid should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads)
X-Men I#107, pg. 3 (with the collective Imperial Guard);
pg. 8, panel 1 (upper body, detailed, properly colored, oblique);
pg. 9. panel 5 (upper body, distant, straight-on, partially obscurred)
Appearances:
X-Men I#107 (October 1977) - by Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum
(penciler), Dan Green (inker), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Last updated: 02/26/15
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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