K'RK

Real Name: K'rk N'kzaii

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Shi'ar)

Occupation: Starship captain

Group Membership: His own starship crew (Mr. S'lar, others)

AffiliationsAraki, Emperor D'ken, Imperial Guard (Blackthorn, Fang, Gladiator/Kallark, Hussar, Neutron/Quasar, N'rill'iree, Oracle/Sybil, Starbolt, Warstar/B'nee & C'cil), Mr. S'lar;
formerly Samedar

EnemiesSamedar, X-Men (Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Sprite/Kitty Pryde)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed location within the Shi'ar galaxy

First Appearance: (behind-the-scenes, K'rk's ship seen): X-Men I#97 (February, 1976); (seen): X-Men I#105 (June, 1977)

Powers/Abilities: K'rk had the standard abilities of the Shi'ar race.

History: (Classic X-Men I#13 (fb) - BTS) - Trained by Emperor D'ken's sister Lilandra herself, K'rk soon learned all of Lilandra's tricks.

(X-Men I#97 - BTS/Classic X-Men I#14/2 - BTS) - Much later, Captain K'rk and his crew pursued the escaping rebel Lilandra, who had tried to kill and usurp the now-mad Emperor D'ken, across the Shi'ar empire alongside other Shi'ar ships serving D'ken.

(X-Men I#105 (fb) - BTS) - K'rk and his crew were tasked with destroying Lilandra once they caught up to her.

(X-Men I#104 - BTS) - As Lilandra neared Earth, Captain K'rk's Imperial Cruiser caught up to Lilandra and fired photon torpedoes with the intent to kill.

(Classic X-Men I#13 - BTS) - K'rk's ship fired a second volley of photon torpedoes that hit very close to Lilandra's ship. Recalling how she had trained K'rk, Lilandra realized he knew all of her tricks and that she couldn't lose him.

(X-Men I#105) - Making a ship's log about recent events involving his ship's pursuit of the escaped Lilandra, K'rk ordered his science officer to provide him with a status report. The officer reported back that Earth was a Class M planet with sentient, hominid life forms and that it was a 4.7 on the Verakis Scale. Watching Lilandra as she grew closer to Earth, K'rk ordered his crew member S'lar to maintain firing distance from Lilandra until K'rk's science officer reported that Earth had encountered Galactus four times in recent history and beaten the cosmic being back each time. Shocked, K'rk ordered his ship to do a hard u-turn and retreat from Earth, asking his science officer to do a full sensor scan of Earth while all other stations go to battle alert. K'rk then suggested that if Earth could drive off Galactus, its power might rival that of the Shi'ar empire itself.

(Uncanny X-Men I#156 - BTS) - K'rk captained a starship assigned by the Shi'ar to obtain Lilandra from Earth, and to issue an attack on Earth if Lilandra was not procured.

(Uncanny X-Men I#157) - When Samedar ordered the attack to proceed, K'rk questioned this order, wanting to hear it from Araki (not knowing Araki had been murdered). Captive X-Men Nightcrawler and Sprite caused the Shi'ar to believe Dark Phoenix was attacking the ship to stall them, and a large fight broke out between members of the Imperial Guard. Samedar was soon stopped by Lilandra before the attack could be initiated.

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

I'm pretty sure that K'rk has no connection to a certain Star Trek character. An utter coincidence, obviously.
For the two people out there, who don't get what Chadman is talking about (I mean you over there under the stone). The captain of the Enterprise in the Sci-Fi series Star Trek was named James Tiberius Kirk. The character was played by William Shatner.
--Markus Raymond

Captain K'rk's ship appears behind-the-scenes in the new art provided for the X-Men I#105 story in Classic X-Men I#13 (we don't see the ship but Lilandra remarks on her ship nearly being hit by the ship's photon torpedoes). This new art was provided by Bob Layton.

Thanks to Donald Campbell for noticing the mix-ups originally in this profile regarding K'rk's "appearance" in Classic X-Men I#14/2 (he & his crew didn't actually appear & this profile previously confused the ship that DID appear with K'rk's ship) and S'lar who, in this profile, was previously ASSumed to be a character on the ship that DID appear in Classic X-Men I#14/2 despite X-Men I#105 clearly showing S'lar to be a red-skinned alien with large insectoid eyes. Donald's comments are as follows:
"Captain K'rk, his crew and his ship did not actually appear in Classic X-Men I#14/2. The Shi'ar vessel on which Lilandra was being held captive was the Imperial Dreadnought "Pride of Tjun" and it was the flagship of a small fleet of Imperial Dreadnoughts. When the Pathfinder fleet loyal to Lilandra launched a surprise attack, Pride of Tjun was severely damaged in the first attack and soon exploded, with Lilandra having barely escaped in a stolen scouter. The two fleets then fought to their mutual destruction, leaving Lilandra as the only survivor. So, if K'rk and the crew of his Imperial Cruiser had been there, then they would have died as well.

He (S'lar) was a red-skinned being with a dragonish-looking head who was seated at what would have been the helm on the Starship Enterprise. If K'rk was Kirk, then S'lar was Sulu.
--Donald Campbell
"

Profile by Chadman and Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
K'rk has no known connections to

Mr. S'lar has no known connections to


Mr. S'lar

S'lar was one of the helmsman aboard K'rk's ship. He informed K'rk when Lilandra's ship was entering Earth's orbit and reminded him of the Shi'ar's prime directive.

--X-Men I#105 (presumably BTS in all other appearances of K'rk's ship)
The Official Index to the X-Men confirms that S'lar was indeed present BTS in all other appearances of K'rk's ship, meaning that S'lar's total "appearances" are as follows:
(X-Men I#97 - BTS/Classic X-Men I#14/2 - BTS, X-Men I#105 (fb) - BTS, X-Men I#104 - BTS, Classic X-Men I#13 - BTS, X-Men I#105, Uncanny X-Men I#156-157 - BTS,


images: (without ads)
Uncanny X-Men I#157, front cover (K'rk, fullbody image, main image)
X-Men I#105, p7, pan6 (K'rk, headshot)
X-Men I#105, p7, pan3 (K'rk, sitting on his ship's bridge)
Uncanny X-Men I#157, p13, pan5 (K'rk questioning Samédŕr)
X-Men I#105, p7, pan4 (Mr. S'lar)


Appearances:
X-Men I#97 (February, 1976) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Sam Grainger (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
X-Men I#104 (April, 1977) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Sam Grainger (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
X-Men I#105 (June, 1977) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Layton (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#156 (April, 1982) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#157 (May, 1982) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Classic X-Men I#10 (June, 1987) - "Who Will Stop the Juggernaut?" story - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum, John Romita Sr. (pencils), Sam Grainger (inks), Ann Nocenti (editor)
Classic X-Men I#13 (September, 1987) - "Phoenix Unleashed!" story - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Layton (pencils, inks), Ann Nocenti (editor)
Classic X-Men I#14 (October, 1987) - "What Stuff Our Dreams are Made Of..." story - Chris Claremont (writer), John Bolton (art), Ann Nocenti (editor)


First Posted: 12/24/2016
Last updated: 10/15/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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