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XERONIAN race

Classification: Extraterrestrial semi-humanoid technology-users

Location/Base of Operations: Xeron, second planet out from (one of) the suns (Aerim, Honj and Verserin) in an unspecified trinary star system in the Milky Way galaxy

Habitat: Mostly semi-arid, 71% covered by water
Gravity: 120% Earth
Atmosphere: 74% nitrogen, 20% oxygen

Known Members: Randau (a.k.a. the Space Parasite, deceased), delegates to the Intergalactic Council (names unrevealed), monarch of Xeron (name unrevealed), monarch's advisor (name unrevealed), Nebula's minion (name unrevealed; see comments), Thanos-thralls (names unrevealed; see comments);
Estimated population: 3.8 million

Affiliations: Inhabitants of neighboring planet (race name unrevealed, may now be extinct); other members of the Intergalactic Council

Enemies: Alien invaders (race name unrevealed)

First Appearance: Incredible Hulk II#103 (February, 1975)

Powers/Abilities: None (unless mutated by solar radiation).

   Although the lifespan of a typical Xeronian has not been revealed, it is known that Xeronians could still be alive and active even "many years" after they had reached an age when they were considered to be old.

Cultural Traits: Humane, peace-loving

Type: Semi-humanoid
Eyes: One (centrally in face below prominent brow; Randau is a mutate, and there is an extensive discussion in the comments in this regard)

Fingers: Two (plus opposable thumb)
Toes: Two
Skin color: Orange or brown or grey
Hair: Brown or white (only beards and/or mustaches)
Average height: 6' 8"

Type of government: Planetwide monarchy

Level of technology: High tech, with warp-drive starships and teleportation. Xeronians had scanners that could remotely monitor events that were taking place in real-time many light-years away from Xeron. Similarly, they could also transmit signals that traveled across such vast distances in a microsecond but only if they had been sent to a specific single location.

   Xeronian scientists created a Solar Chamber that could mutate members of their race and endow them with abilities not possessed by other Xeronians.

   Xeronian scientists also created the sword-like "Solar Scepter" weapon that Randau used to sap the strength from his prey via the "solar blasts" that it fired.

History:
(Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb) - BTS / The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#12: Xeronians entry) - The Xeronians evolved on a planet they called "Xeron" which was "second from sun" in a triple star system whose suns were known as Aerim, Honj and Verserin. The Earth designation for this trinary star system has not been revealed.

(Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb) - BTS) - The Xeronians worshipped a number of "gods" whose identities have never been revealed.

(Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb) - BTS / The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#12: Xeronians entry) - On their homeworld, the Xeronians developed a perfect society that was humane and peaceful. The people of Xeron despised hate, war and death.

(Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Xeronian scientists detected "mysterious rays" emanating from Xeron's third sun.

(Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, a male Xeronian named Randau became king. Randau was a man of peace and he proved himself to be a just monarch during his rule over the perfect Xeronian society.

(Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb) - BTS) - It was presumably during Randau's reign that Xeronian scientists created a device called the Solar Chamber that could bathe subjects in the mysterious rays from the third sun. However, the chamber was not immediately tested.

(Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb)) - "Many years" ago, after Randau had ruled for an unspecified number of years, the perfect Xeronian society over which he ruled was threatened by the approach of alien invaders. Randau's two advisors showed him real-time images of the alien ships as they attacked a neighboring planet "a mere million miles away" from Xeron. One of the advisors asked the king if they allowed the invaders to so overrun their neighbors, then would they not soon come to believe that they could also overrun the Xeronians? Randau acknowledged the truth of what his advisors were telling him and stated that, although he was a man of peace, he could not stand idly by and see the security of his people threatened.

    The king then ordered that the Solar Chamber should be prepared. His older advisor reminded him that the chamber was as yet untested and that they didn't know what effects it might have upon a living body, but Randau, although fully aware of the grave risk, entered the Solar Chamber and allowed his body to be bathed in the mysterious rays of Xeron's third sun. Upon emerging from the chamber, Randau announced that they had succeeded because he could feel the total energy of the universe coursing through his body and demanded that he be taken to the enemies of Xeron so that he might crush them!

    While the younger of his advisors observed that Randau appeared to have become a living weapon, the older advisor thought to himself that Randau had likewise been converted from a just monarch of peace to a hate-filled conqueror.

(Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb)) - In the wake of their ruler's transformation, the Xeronians allegedly allowed themselves to be filled with the all-consuming lust for war and death. Before he boarded his starship, Randau addressed his people, telling them to have no fear because on that day he would strike for Xeron so that it might never know the fear of invasion again! After boarding his starship, Randau sought out and destroyed the enemy that had attacked Xeron's neighbor, and with every victory his strength seemed to increase a thousandfold. Eventually, the final battle ended, and the Xeronian people had been saved. However, instead of returning home, Randau sent a message to his people, telling them that he was going to continue on into the unknown because space was filled with menaces to their planet and he would not rest until they had all been stamped out!

(Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb) - BTS) - Most Xeronians found Randau's final message to be unacceptable. They came to believe (correctly) that the reason Randau was roaming the universe and conquering new foes at every stop was not to protect Xeron but to satisfy his own thirst for battle.

(Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Xeronians realized that a new leader was needed to replace their absent king. The Xeronian who had been the younger of Randau's two advisors was somehow chosen to be the new ruler of Xeron, and Randau's older advisor became the new king's chief advisor..

(Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb) - BTS) - For "many years" the Xeronians used their advanced technology to search for Randau but, although they found enough evidence of his conquests to make them suspect and fear that he still lived, they were never able to actually find their former king. However, by tracing his activities, the Xeronians finally came to realize that Randau was fighting and killing these foes because he needed to absorb fresh strength from others into his body at frequent intervals in order to survive. This realization caused the Xeronians to believe that the person who had once saved them had now become the personification of the hate, war and death that they despised, and they decided that their course was clear: Randau must die!

(Incredible Hulk II#103) - Eventually, after "countless" years, the Xeronians were finally able to locate Randau in close proximity to the planet Earth, and the king's advisor urged him to destroy Randau. The king was initially reluctant to kill the being who had once ruled them because he remembered who Randau had been before his transformation but, by recalling how he had changed, the king and his advisor reaffirmed their belief that Randau must die! Monitoring the battle on Earth, the advisor told the king that Randau was about to slay yet another foe (the Hulk) and reminded him that the self-destruct mechanism on Randau's ship could now be detonated by them and that it should be done as soon as Randau returned to his ship. Although still troubled by the idea of killing Randau, the monarch was able to do what needed to be done and pressed the detonator to destroy the ship and Randau, asking the gods to forgive him as he did so. The advisor assured the king that he could be sure that the gods would forgive him for doing what had to be done, and then Randau's starship exploded.

(Incredible Hulk II#103 - BTS) - Unbeknownst to the Xeronians, the king had actually activated the starship's self-destruct mechanism a few seconds too early because Randau had been teleporting back to his ship at that moment and thus was not on it when it exploded. As a result, Randau was not killed by the explosion but, weakened and dying due to his failure to vanquish the Hulk and drain his life energy, he chose to lie down on a flat piece of debris and wait for death so that he could once again know the meaning of peace.

Years passed.

(Captain Marvel I#27) - A Xeronian (see comments) was among the "intergalactic hordes" who attacked Mentor and Eros on Titan as one of the minions of Thanos.

(Captain Marvel I#31) - Later, after Thanos had acquired the Cosmic Cube and used it to capture Mentor, Eros, Iron Man, Captain Mar-Vell, Moondragon and Drax the Destroyer, the mad Titan could not resist bragging about what he had accomplished and what he was going to do. As part of this boasting, Thanos showed his captives his fleet of space raiders that were ready to plunder Earth and were crewed by his personal horde of outcasts and criminals collected from throughout the galaxy. A Xeronian (see comments) was shown to be part of this horde.

(Avengers Spotlight I#25/2) - One of the would-be bidders at the intergalactic auction that was held to purchase the autobiography of Rick Jones had features similar to a Xeronian (see comments).

(Nova III#1) - A being who looked like a grey-skinned and one-eyed Xeronian (see comments) was one of the eight minions that the space pirate Nebula gathered to accompany her to Earth and help her to kill the being she called Nova-Prime (a.k.a. Earthling Richard Rider) to avenge the death of her father, Zorr. Nebula and her team attacked Nova in New York City and caused a lot of damage before Nova was able to unleash an energy pulse that dealt with most of them and motivated Nebula to abandon her team and escape to save herself.

   This grey-skinned alien with one eye only appeared in a single panel, and he was not among any of the minions that Nova was shown battling or defeating. He and the other surviving minions were presumably taken into custody after Nebula abandoned them and fled.



(Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1) - At least two Xeronian delegates (one bearded and one beardless) were present on the "intergalactically-renowned council planet Selandiar" to attend a council that had been convened by Shi'ar Majestrix Lilandra Neramni to welcome a new race, the Ruul, to the other civilized cultures of known space from no less than eight galaxies. The bearded Xeronian was one of those in the council chamber who was surprised when Skrull Ambassador Kreddik demanded that the question of the threat that humanity posed to the civilized races of the universe be raised and that the matter be judged by M'Ndavian justice. This Xeronian was also present when a recording of the planet Krylor's destruction by the insane Ego the Living Planet was played and was as aghast as the other delegates upon hearing that Ego planned to continue his attempts to awaken other planets to self-awareness and to destroy those who would not awaken (i.e., all of them).

(Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1) - "Weeks" later, the bearded Xeronian delegate was still on Selandiar while the rampaging Ego continued to destroy planets.

(Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1) - "Days" later, when Ego was attacking Selandiar, the beardless Xeronian (and maybe the bearded one as well) were among the thousands of sentients from whom the Earth mutant Charles Xavier harvested "psychic power" to be used to shut down Ego's insane mind. However, Ego was instead defeated by Ruul technology.

(Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1) - A day later, both Xeronian delegates were present when the intergalactic council addressed the question of humanity. The beardless Xeronian was among those delegates who had no answer to the question of what reprisals the galactic powers would face if they moved against Earth and failed. Later, the bearded Xeronian was among the delegates who were not impressed by the Skrull mutant Zcann's testimony about Charles Xavier and his dream. It was soon afterwards that the last of the M'Ndavian Judgment Gems turned black, indicating that all of the members of the council had reached a guilty verdict against the human race.

(Maximum Security#3 - BTS) - One (at least) of the Xeronian delegates was still on Selandiar when the Kree Supreme Intelligence appeared to the Intergalactic Council in the Council Chamber and revealed how it and the Kree (as the Ruul) had manipulated them and had already begun to take back their interstellar empire.

Comments: Created by Gary Friedrich, Marie Severin and Frank Giacoia.

    Quarter-page profiles on the Xeronian race have appeared in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#12 (December, 1983) and The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15 (March, 1987). However, both of these profiles are flawed. First, both profiles state that Xeronians have three toes on each foot even though the images show Xeronians with only two toes per foot. This inconsistency was resolved in the first story in Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus#1 when the Space Parasite's boots were burnt off of him, revealing feet that each had only two toes. Then again, Randau had been mutated by solar radiation so maybe non-mutated Xeronians do have three toes per foot?

 

   The second problem has to do with the eyes of the Xeronian models. The image to the far left is of the head of the Xeronian who appeared in the first profile. Two eyes are visible, one in the center of his face, above his mouth, and the second on the right side of his head. That profile's text states that Xeronians have five eyes but that "only two adjacent eyes are used at a time." The locations of the two eyes that can be seen makes it plausible that this being could have another three eyes on its head that were in locations where they could not been seen.

   The near left image is of the head of the "Xeronian" who appeared in the second profile and its facial features are significantly different. Not only does this face have a nose, something which the Xeronians absolutely do not have, but the two visible eyes, the nose and the mouth are situated in the same configuration as they would be on a human face. 

    All of this raises the question,
How many eyes should a Xeronian actually have anyway?

   As it turns out, there isn't an easy answer to that question. The Official Handbooks state that all Xeronians have five eyes that are distributed radially around their heads but the in-story evidence does not support this ocular configuration. With the exception of Randau, the confirmed Xeronians pictured have only had a single eye situated in the center of their face mid-way between where the eyes would be on a human face. Although the Xeronian fondness for wearing clothing with high collars makes it difficult to get unobstructed views of the sides of their heads, there has never been even a hint of any other Xeronians having eyes on the sides of their heads.

   So, if the visual evidence shows that normal Xeronians only have a single eye, where did the Official Handbooks get the idea that they actually had five eyes, only two of which were used at any time? The answer lies with Randau the Space Parasite and how he was depicted in the issue where be made his debut. If one examines Incredible Hulk II#103 closely, one notices that almost all of the panels in which Randau's face is visible shows him with only a single eye, just like all the other Xeronians in that issue. However, there are only two panels in which he is clearly depicted as having more than one eye.

   The far left image is from the fourth panel on page 5 of Incredible Hulk #103. This is the first image (aside from the cover) of the Space Parasite and it clearly shows him with two eyes, one in the center of his face above his mouth and one on the left side of his head. And then there's the near left image which is from the sixth panel on page 6. In that image, two eyes are clearly visible, the one above his mouth and one on the right side of his head, but there is also what looks like part of still another eye, set further back on the right side of his head. If one assumes that there really are three eyes in that panel and further assumes that the Xeronian body is bilaterally symmetrical, then it is only logical to conclude that Xeronians must have a total of five eyes, one in the center of their faces, and two each on the left and right sides of their heads. And so that's what the Official Handbook recorded, with the bit about only two adjacent eyes being used at a time being added to perhaps explain why the other Xeronians in the story only appeared to have one eye.

   However, when Xeronians appeared in subsequent stories, usually as part of alien crowd scenes, they continued to be depicted as single-eyed, and even Randau has never been shown with five eyes. In Wolverine II#136, only the two eyes on the front and left side of Randau's head were shown but a bump on the right side of his head suggested that there was an eye there as well. And then, in his final (so far) appearance in Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus#1, the near right image (from panel four on page 15) shows the forward-facing eye above his mouth) and a single eye on the right side of his head while the far right image (from panel three on page 18) shows a single eye on the left side of his head and confirms that there was no eye on the back of his head. This would seem to conclusively establish that Randau had a total of only three eyes, not four or five.
    Or that the eyes on the back of his neck are closed. I don't think we can say for certain that the creases/folds on the back of his neck do not represent closed eyes.
    I don't think we can so easily discount the one image above that clearly shows that there IS another eye on the back of his head.
    Randau has been shown with at least four eyes, although, as noted above, they may not always be visible. I think he has five eyes.
    But, I do agree that this feature is characteristic of Randau only.
    I'll further suggest that it is possible that Randau, at least, has five eyes but that for whatever reason, certain energy level cause the eyes to be exposed vs. covered by thin opaque membranes. Perhaps that's even true of Xeronians in general. However, I certainly concede that this is purely speculative, with no in-story (or handbook) support.
--Snood

   Based on this visual evidence, we can reasonably conclude that normal Xeronians (including the pre-transformation Randau) actually should have only one eye (on the fronts of their heads and above their mouths) . As for the origin of Randau's extra eyes, the obvious explanation is that they were part of the mutation that his body underwent after being exposed to the rays from the third sun. Presumably they did not appear until some time after Randau left Xeron but before he battled the Hulk. Maybe it was the repeated infusions of alien life-energy that triggered their manifestation?

   In retrospect, I'm a bit sorry that the claim that Xeronians all had five eyes was this easy to disprove. The idea that beings with five eyes that were equally spaced around their heads would not have to be using all of them all of the time was an interesting one and it made some sense. After all, constantly seeing everything that was going on around one all the time could lead to sensory overload so using only two adjacent eyes at a time in order to limit sensory input would be a natural way to avoid such an overload. Of course, the fact that Xeronians seemed to like to wear clothing with high collars that would obstruct the fields of vision of all eyes except the front-facing one does seem to count against the whole five-eyed concept.

    So, Donald Campbell and I (Snood) have at least three conflicting opinions on this matter. We both agree that normal Xeronians have a single, cyclopean eye.

Which brings us to the third point of disagreement between Donald and I:

In Avengers Spotlight I#25/2, one of the would-be bidders at the intergalactic auction that was held to purchase the autobiography of Rick Jones in Avengers Spotlight#25/2 looks very much like the character depicted in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Editon#15: Appendix to Alien Races: Xeronians profile.

What is the deal with their mouths?

   Aside from the question of how many eyes the Xeronians actually had, the story that introduced their race was pretty good. The whole idea of a noble ruler who saves his people but becomes corrupted in the process is not a new one but it was handled well. However, the story did have a few weaknesses. First, there's the idea that the Xeronians possessed technology that enabled them to monitor events many light-years away as they were happening in real-time. While some alien races from various fictional continuities do possess such technology, it's usually associated with races that are very advanced. So, while the Watchers (obviously) possess such technology and the Kree and Skrulls probably do as well, it's a bit odd to find that a seemingly less advanced race has such tech as well.

   Second, there's the question of why the Xeronians didn't just activate the self-destruct device on Randau's ship as soon as they realized he had become corrupted and evil. The most obvious reason would be that their transmitter that could beam signals across space almost instantaneously (i.e., "within a microsecond") could only function if the signal was directed to a single precise location and an omni-directional signal, one that could be received EVERYWHERE in the universe at the same time, was simply beyond their capability. Additionally, even if the Xeronians had been able to detonate Randau's starship by remote control at any time, they would have had no way of knowing if that vessel was still actually being piloted by Randau. They may have viewed destroying Randau as a necessary evil but taking the chance of killing some alien who might have somehow gained control of Randau's starship would probably be something they would have considered as abhorrent as the killings that Randau was committing to survive.

   Third, there's the odd nature of the flashback to Randau's past. Consisting of 12 panels spread over two consecutive pages, it begins with the current ruler of Xeron recalling "the day when Randau ruled over the perfect Xeronian society" but by the fifth panel that flashback included the remembered thoughts of the old advisor and it is he who ends the flashback by announcing that his remembrances have provided them with the answer they sought. So, basically, the point-of-view character having the flashback switched from being the ruler to being the advisor midway but without any acknowledgement of the switch. This is a peculiar and confusing way in which to write a flashback. It should have been either the ruler or the advisor having the full flashback or a clear break should have been included between the ruler's flashback and the advisor's flashback.

   Fourth, the biggest problem with the story is how the writer twice MASSIVELY understated distances. The first time was when the Omniscient Narrative on page 11 stated that the planet Xeron was "millions of miles away" from Earth. Since the distance to even the closest star system, Alpha Centauri, is about 25.67 TRILLION miles, that is a massive understatement. It's like measuring the depth of an ocean in inches. The second time was on page 12 when one of Randau's advisors showed him an ongoing attack against "a neighboring planet a mere million miles away!" Now, this may not necessarily be a mistake, depending on whether or not the writer intended for this other planet to be part of the same planetary system as Xeron. If he did, then the orbits of two adjacent planets could bring them as close as one million miles. Although no two planets in Earth's solar system get any closer than 25.7 million miles, MUCH smaller distances are possible, as can be seen in the TRAPPIST-1 system. However, if the writer meant to refer to a planet in a neighboring system, as I believe would be more plausible, then having a distance of only one million miles between them would be impossibly small.
    Unfortunately, writers do this all the time. They say "millennia ago" when it was actually hundreds of thousands, or millions, or even billions of year ago. Maybe not every writer understands the concepts/realiteis of time and distance, but the editors should, I think.
--Snood

Profile by Donald Campbell.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Xeronians and their homeworld Xeron have no known connections to:


alien invaders

   A race (or group) of aliens who attacked Xeron's neighboring planet "many years" ago.

    Believing that these alien invaders would next try to overrun Xeron, the Xeronian king Randau mutated himself into a living weapon and then left Xeron in his starship to defend his world.

    Randau met the enemy and destroyed them and was victorious in every encounter until the final battle was ended and the people of Xeron were safe.

--Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb)

Note: And that's all that is known about these "alien invaders."

Their identity, their physical appearance, their reason for attacking Xeron's neighbor and their plans for Xeron were never actually revealed so they remain an almost complete mystery.

 


delegates

   Xeronians who were present on the "intergalactically-renowned council planet Selandiar" during the period when it was attacked by Ego the Living Planet. Like the other delegates, these two Xeronians had come there to attend a council that had been convened by Shi'ar Majestrix Lilandra Neramni to welcome a new race, the Ruul, to the other civilized cultures of known space from no less than eight galaxies. Neither of these delegates were named nor were they given any dialogue so the only way to distinguish between them is by the presence or absence of their beard.

   The bearded Xeronian was in the galleries of the grand Council chamber, along with more than ten thousand others, when Skrull Ambassador Kreddik demanded that the question of the threat that humanity posed to the civilized races of the universe be raised and that the matter be judged by M'ndavian justice. This Xeronian was one of the delegates in the Council Chamber who later watched as a visual recording of the planet Krylor's destruction by the insane Ego the Living Planet was played.

   "Weeks" later, when Ego was attacking Selandiar, the beardless Xeronian delegate was among the thousands of sentients from whom the Earth mutant Charles Xavier harvested "psychic strength" without their consent. This gathered psychic power was soon afterwards used in an attempt to shut down Ego's insane mind but the Living Planet was instead defeated by Ruul technology.

   A day later, both the bearded and the beardless Xeronians were present when the intergalactic council addressed the question of humanity. The beardless one was among those delegates who had no answer to the question of what reprisals the galactic powers would face if they moved against Earth and failed. Later, the bearded Xeronian was among the delegates who were not impressed by the Skrull mutant Zcann's testimony about Charles Xavier and his dream. It was soon afterwards that the last of the M'ndavian Judgment Gems turned black, indicating that all of the members of the council had reached a guilty verdict against the human race.

   The beardless Xeronian delegate was still on Selandiar when the Kree Supreme Intelligence appeared to the Intergalactic Council in the Council Chamber and revealed how it and the Kree (as the Ruul) had manipulated them and had already begun to take back their interstellar empire.

--Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1, Maximum Security#3


monarch of Xeron

   Randau's successor as ruler of Xeron was a male Xeronian whose name has never been revealed. He could be distinguished from other Xeronians by his small white goatee (or "chin puff") style of beard and his fondness for wearing purple robes. Unlike Randau, this ruler has never been depicted wearing a crown which may indicate that, although he was a monarch, he did not actually hold the title of "king." Why this might be has not been revealed but it could be that Xeronian custom forbade any ruler from claiming the title of "king" and/or wearing the crown while the previous king was still alive.

   Judging by the fact that he had personal memories of Randau's words and actions, this Xeronian may have been one of the two advisors who "many years" ago warned King Randau about the alien invaders who were then attacking a neighboring planet and the potential threat that they posed to Xeron. Later, after Randau had emerged from the Solar Chamber and stated that he had been empowered, this Xeronian was presumably the purple-clad advisor who brought the Solar Scepter to his king while exclaiming that Randau appeared to have become a living weapon. He was also presumably among the many Xeronians who allowed themselves to be filled with the all-consuming lust for war and death after Randau's transformation.

   At some point in the "countless years" since Randau left Xeron, this Xeronian was chosen to replace him as the monarch of Xeron but exactly how and when this choice was made has not been revealed.

   Like the rest of his people, this ruler slowly came to realize that Randau was not fighting and killing aliens to protect Xeron but for his own survival. Although the Xeronians apparently did not know for certain that Randau was alive, they feared that he might still live and it was presumably the monarch who authorized the continuing search for the former king.

   After many years, Xeronian technology was finally able to locate Randau while he was in close proximity to the planet Earth, and the monarch was informed that Randau had at last been found and was still alive. However, the monarch experienced doubt as to what they could do about it now that he had been found. Although his chief advisor was emphatic that Randau must be destroyed, the monarch was reluctant because he well remembered when Randau had ruled over the perfect Xeronian society and how he had changed himself in order to save his people. It took being reminded that Randau had become the personification of the hate, war and death that their people despised before the monarch could agree that Randau had to die.

   Only minutes later, after changing his clothes, the monarch was told that Randau was about to slay yet another foe and that the self-destruct mechanism on his ship could now be detonated by them and should be as soon as he returned to it. However, the troubled monarch remained silent, prompting his advisor to ask if he had heard him. Soon afterwards, the monarch was finally prepared to act. As he declared that the moment was at hand and pressed the detonator that would destroy both Randau and his ship, the monarch asked the gods to forgive him. His advisor assured him that they would because he had done what had to be done.

   However, despite the emotional turmoil he had experienced about pressing the button, the monarch had actually acted just seconds too soon and the Space Parasite was not yet on his starship when it exploded. It has not been revealed if he ever learned that Randau had survived and gone on to kill millions of other sentient beings before finally being slain by Terrax.

--Incredible Hulk II#103 (Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb), Incredible Hulk II#103


monarch's advisor

   One of King Randau's advisor, this male Xeronian whose name has never been revealed later served as an advisor to Randau's successor. He could be distinguished from other Xeronians by his larger white beard, his white mustache and the green robe with yellow designs that he wore.

   Long ago, this Xeronian and his purple-clad colleague were the advisors who warned King Randau about the alien invaders who were then attacking a neighboring planet and the potential threat that they posed to Xeron. When Randau decided to enter the Solar Chamber in order to gain super-Xeronian powers, it was this advisor who reminded him that the chamber had never been tested and that they did not know what effects it might have upon a living body. However, the king chose to proceed despite the grave risk and later emerged from the Solar Chamber and stated that he had been empowered. As the purple-clad advisor remarked that Randau had become a living weapon, this Xeronian remained silent and thought to himself that the others were fools because they seemingly had not realized that Randau had likewise been converted from a just monarch of peace to a hate-filled conqueror. This advisor later spoke of his concerns but no Xeronian would listen to the words of a "dove-like old man."

   Later, Randau had left Xeron and the Xeronian who had been Randau's purple-clad advisor was chosen to replace him as the monarch of Xeron, this elderly Xeronian became an advisor to the new monarch as well. Over time, the rest of the Xeronian people slowly came to share the old advisor's concerns as they realized Randau was not fighting and killing aliens to protect Xeron, but rather for his own survival. When a long-term search for their former king was undertaken, the old advisor monitored it on behalf of the monarch.

   After many years, Xeronian technology was finally able to locate Randau while he was in close proximity to the planet Earth, and the advisor informed the monarch that Randau had at last been found and was still alive. When the monarch then asked what they could do about it, the advisor emphatically stated that it was obvious that Randau must be destroyed! As the monarch recalled how Randau had been, the advisor experienced his own remembrances that strengthened his conviction that Randau had become the personification of the hate, war and death that their people despised, and he again insisted that Randau had to die.

   Only minutes later, the advisor informed the monarch that Randau was about to slay yet another foe and that the self-destruct mechanism on his ship could now be detonated by them and should be as soon as he returned to it. Concerned when the monarch didn't answer, the advisor asked if he had not heard him. Soon afterwards, the monarch declared that the moment was at hand and pressed the detonator that would destroy both Randau and his ship. As he did so, the monarch said, "May the gods forgive me!" The advisor assured the monarch that they would because he had done what had to be done.

--Incredible Hulk II#103 (Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb), Incredible Hulk II#103


Nebula's minion

   A being who looked like a grey-skinned and one-eyed Xeronian was one of the eight minions that the space pirate Nebula gathered to accompany her to Earth and help her to kill the being she called Nova-Prime (a.k.a. Earthling Richard Rider) to avenge the death of her father, Zorr. Nebula and her team attacked Nova in New York City and caused a lot of damage before Nova was able to unleash an energy pulse that dealt with most of them and motivated Nebula to abandon her team and escape to save herself.

   This grey-skinned alien with one eye only appeared in a single panel, and he was not among any of the minions that Nova was shown battling or defeating. He and the other surviving minions were presumably taken into custody after Nebula abandoned them and fled.

 --Nova III#1

Notes: The Marvel Database wiki considers this grey-skinned minion to be a member of an "Unidentified one-eyed species" and not a Xeronian. However, his appearance in Nova III#1 is mentioned in the comments section of the Space Parasite profile so maybe they're wrong? You decide.
    I decide that his appearance is unquestionably characteristic and almost certainly intended to be a Xeronian. Plus, this image makes it pretty clearly that the Xeronians' weird open-mouth appearance is shows it to be some sort of profuse/tenaceous saliva...
--Snood
    In the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#10's Space Parasite profile, this being is confirmed to be Randau himself.
    While I was the head writer of this handbook, consulted with editorial, and participated in the decision to note this being to be Randau, I will note that my personal preference, about a decade later, is that this is another Xeronian. I think it was the fact that only Randau was supposed to be violent/corrupt that influenced this decision back in the day.

    However, I do think that the Xeronian seen in Nova III#1 is the same as the Thanos-Thrall in Captain Marvel I#27 and/or #31. Regardless of the skin color being gray.

   Additionally, the whole idea that Nebula destroyed Xandar to avenge the death of her father Zorr is a retcon. In her first storyline, Nebula was a space pirate and would-be conqueror who claimed to be the granddaughter of Thanos and who had destroyed Xandar just because they were "in her way." As far as I know, this retconned "daughter of Zorr" origin has never been officially confirmed or denied.

   Finally, six of the eight minions resemble some of the Thanos-thralls who appeared in a symbolic group shot from Captain Marvel I#31 (see below). Those six were a Badoon, a Skrull, a Xeronian, a bald humanoid with a clear helmet around his head, an armored humanoid (presumably a divergent Reality-616 version of one of the Emissaries of the Overlord) and a yellow-skinned minion who looked like a member of the semi-humanoid race that resembled costumes once worn by the Tinkerer and his men. The two minions who did not appear in CM#31 were a Monster of Badoon (named Joonvit) and a Shi'ar.

 


neighboring planet

   A planet that existed in close proximity to the planet Xeron. Said at one point to be "a mere million miles away" from Xeron, this planet presumably was part of the same planetary system as Xeron and both planets may have been in orbit around the same star. If so, then this planet would have been either the first or the third planet from that sun. However, it's also possible that this planet and Xeron were actually orbiting different stars in this trinary system and only rarely came close to each other.

   "Many years" ago this planet was attacked by a race (or group) of alien invaders whose identity has never been revealed. These invaders fired on this planet in an apparent attempt to overrun it, presumably to conquer its population. These invaders were later destroyed by the Xeronian king Randau who had mutated himself into a living weapon in order to prevent his own world from being invaded by the aliens that had attacked Xeron's neighbor.

--Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb)

Note: That's all that is known about Xeron's "neighboring planet." The fact that it was attacked by alien invaders indicates that it must have been inhabited but absolutely nothing has been revealed about whatever life existed on it. In the absence of ANY data, all that is left are questions that have never been answered:


Solar Chamber

   A device built by Xeronian scientists for the purpose of bathing Xeronian subjects in the mysterious rays of Xeron's third sun. In order to perform its function, this chamber must have been able to somehow filter these "mysterious rays" out from all of the radiation being emitted by the three stars known as Aerim, Honj and Verserin. The device may have also acted to concentrate those rays upon the Xeronian within the chamber. However, exactly which of these three stars was considered by the Xeronians to be the "third sun" has never been revealed.

   As for the "mysterious rays" emitted by the third sun, nothing has been revealed about whatever made them mysterious, aside from the fact that exposure to them could apparently cause Xeronians to mutate and gain enormous power. It has not been revealed how these rays could cause body-wide mutations in adult Xeronians or if all members of that species would gain the same energy-absorbing powers as Randau did when he was bathed in them.

   The Solar Chamber was built "many years" ago. The fact that the chamber was as yet untested and nothing was known about what effects it might have upon a living body when Randau used it indicates that it must have been built during his reign. However, Xeronian scientists presumably must have discovered the mysterious rays long before they built the chamber.

Note: The reference to "Randau's third sun" is a mistake made by either the writer or the letterer of the original story. The correct term was obviously meant to "Xeron's third sun" and so that is the term I have used throughout this profile.

 

--Incredible Hulk II#103 (fb)


Thanos-thralls

(Captain Marvel I#27) - A Xeronian was among the "intergalactic hordes" who attacked Mentor and Eros on Titan as one of the minions of Thanos.

(Captain Marvel I#31) - Later, after Thanos had acquired the Cosmic Cube and used it to capture Mentor, Eros, Iron Man, Captain Mar-Vell, Moondragon and Drax the Destroyer, the mad Titan could not resist bragging about what he had accomplished and what he was going to do.

    As part of this boasting, Thanos showed his captives his fleet of space raiders that were ready to plunder Earth and were crewed by his personal horde of outcasts and criminals collected from throughout the galaxy. A Xeronian was shown to be part of this horde.

--Captain Marvel I#27, Captain Marvel I#31

Note: Although it's possible that this is the same Xeronian in both images, given the large number of followers that Thanos must have had to crew his fleet, it seems likely that there was more than one Xeronian amongst them and these images could have been of two different Xeronians. Or not.

   Also, a Xeronian was depicted on the cover of Captain Marvel I#27 but I didn't include that image because he was colored green which is not consistent with what "really" happened on Titan.

      In the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z hardcover#10's Space Parasite profile, this being is confirmed to be Randau himself.
    While I was the head writer of this handbook, consulted with editorial, and participated in the decision to note this being to be Randau, I will note that my personal preference, about a decade later, is that this is another Xeronian. I think it was the fact that only Randau was supposed to be violent/corrupt that influenced this decision back in the day.

    However, I do think that the Xeronian seen in Nova III#1 is the same as the Thanos-Thrall in Captain Marvel I#27 and/or #31. Regardless of the skin color being gray.


images: (without ads)
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#12, page 30, panel 3 (main image)
Incredible Hulk II#103, page 12, panel 2 (Randau as king of Xeron)
      page 12, panel 6 (Randau emerging from the Solar Chamber)
Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1, page 13, panel 5 (bearded delegate socializing after work)
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#12, page 30, panel 3 (close-up of head)
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15, page 63, panel 4 (close-up of NOT-Xeronian's head)
Avengers Spotlight#25, page 20, panel 2 (the NOT-Xeronian at the auction)
Incredible Hulk II#103, page 5, panel 4 (Space Parasite with front and left eyes visible)
      page 6, panel 6 (Space Parasite with front and right eyes visible)
Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus#1, page 15, panel 4 (another view of the right side of Randau's head)
      page 18, panel 3 (the left and back sides of Randau's head)
Incredible Hulk II#103, page 12, panel 3 (alien invaders attacking neighboring planet)
      page 13, panel 2 (alien invaders being destroyed by Randau)
Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1, page 7, panel 2 (bearded delegate is surprised)
      page 12, panel 3 (bearded delegate is aghast)
      page 36, panel 3 (beardless delegate is silent)
Incredible Hulk II#103, page 12, panel 1 (Randau's successor as ruler of Xeron and his advisors)
      page 19, panel 1 (Randau's successor pressing the detonator)
      page 12, panel 4 (old advisor warning Randau about the Solar Chamber)
      page 11, panel 6 (old advisor reporting that Randau had been found)
Nova III#1, pages 28-29, panel 1 (Nebula's grey-skinned minion)
Incredible Hulk II#103, page 12, panel 5 (Randau in the Solar Chamber)
Captain Marvel I#27, page 14, panel 2 (Thanos-thrall)
Captain Marvel I#31, page 9, panel 4 (more Thanos-thralls)


Appearances: (excluding those which feature only the Space Parasite)
Incredible Hulk II#103 (July, 1968) - Gary Friedrich (scripter), Marie Severin (artist), Frank Giacoia (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
Captain Marvel I#27 July, 1973) - Mike Friedrich (script), Jim Starlin (plot/art), Pablo Marcos (inks), Roy Thomas (editing)
Captain Marvel I#31 (March, 1974) - Jim Starlin (story & art), Green & Milgrom (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#12 (December, 1983)
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15 (March, 1987)
Nova III#1 (May, 1999) - Erik Larsen (writer), Joe Bennett (penciler), Armando Durruthy (inker), Ruben Diaz (editor)
Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1 (October, 2000) - Kurt Busiek & Jerry Ordway, Will Blyberg & Paul Ryan (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Maximum Security#3 (January, 2001) - Kurt Busiek & Jerry Ordway (storytellers), Will Blyberg, Mark McKenna & Paul Ryan (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)


First Posted: 11/06/2020
Last updated: 11/06/2020

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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