ARACHT'YR

Real Name: Aracht'yr

Identity/Class: Saurian

Occupation: Patriarch of the High Council of the People

Group Membership: The People (B'ok, C'Rel, Faelar, Guardian, Haemon, Khadar, M'Dhar, Mirielle, Tak)

Affiliations: Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers)

Enemies: Dire Wraiths;
   formerly Sharon Cole, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Jim Whitmore, humans in general

Known Relatives: Mirielle (wife, deceased), C'Rel (daughter), unidentified child (gender and name unrevealed, deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unidentified underground city near the San Andres Mountains, New Mexico Badlands

First Appearance: Ms. Marvel I#20 (October 1978)

Powers/Abilities: Aracht'yr was a wise and thoughtful leader. As a Saurian he likely possessed superhuman strength in comparison to humans, but as the Patriarch never had to display this as he had guards to handle the physical stuff.

Height: 8' (by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Red
Hair: None

History:
(Ms. Marvel I#20 (fb) - BTS) - Aracht'yr was a Saurian, a reptilian race who called themselves the People.

(Ms. Marvel I#21 (fb)) - The Saurians had been spawned in the New Mexico desert by man's first nuclear bomb tests. Radiation interacted with the unique mineral structure of a local mesa, somehow causing evolutionary acceleration in many local lizard species. In a few short generations, less than a decade, the People went from walking erect to having their own culture and the beginnings of a written language. Initially they hunted humans, "Soft Skins," for food, but they soon realized that while on an individual basis they could defeat most humans, as a species they could not match man's numbers or technology. They hid underground, building a city beneath a mesa in Trinity Canyon in the St. Andres Mountains, venturing out at night, and the ruling High Council issued an edict that no humans who discovered them should be allowed to escape to inform their fellows of the People's existence.

(Ms. Marvel I#21 (fb) - BTS) - Aracht'yr was happily mated to Mirielle, with whom he had at least two children,...

(X-Treme X-Men Savage Land#1 (fb) - BTS) - one of whom was his daughter C'Rel.

(Ms. Marvel I#20 (fb) - BTS) - Aracht'yr was elected as the Patriarch of the High Council. Under his rule the People captured rather than slew most humans who discovered them, but eventually the increasing number of disappearances, so close to Alamogordo and White Sands Missile Range, drew the attention of the US military, as well as the Daily Bugle, which sent out reporter Sharon Cole to investigate. Checking out where most disappearances had occurred, she chanced to witness the
Saurians capture a group of ranchers; she fled back to her jeep and got out a short distress call before she too was captured. Sharon's kidnapping brought her friend Ms. Marvel hunting for her. Acting on the High Council's orders, Saurian warriors attacked an armored column sent from Fort Stark to investigate, destroying the vehicles and taking the soldiers. Ms. Marvel and local sheriff Jim Whitmore discovered the wrecked tanks but Whitmore too was captured; however the superhero put up more of a fight.

(Ms. Marvel I#20) - Arriving to witness battle raging between Ms. Marvel and the Saurians, Aracht'yr called for the fight to stop, identifying himself and demanding to know the human's name. Introducing herself, she explained that she had come seeking a lost friend when the Saurian warriors had attacked her unprovoked, adding that she would prefer to talk peacefully rather than fight. Aracht'yr admitted he sensed truth in her words and would like to trust her, but since he was responsible for the safety of his people he could afford neither mercy nor trust. With dawn fast approaching he ordered his subordinate Haemon to deal with Ms. Marvel, and before Ms. Marvel could react Haemon stunned her with a telepathic attack. One of the warriors queried whether they should slay their unconscious foe, but Aracht'yr chastised him, informing the warrior that those days were gone forever, and instead they transported the slumbering heroine to their hidden city.

(Ms. Marvel I#21) - Aracht'yr held a council meeting to discuss what to do with Ms. Marvel, whose incredible strength made her a far more risky captive to try and hold than her fellow humans. While Aracht'yr wanted to avoid bloodshed, many in the council considered her a deadly threat that should be eliminated. Marvel's attempts to argue her case angered the warrior Faelar, who struck her in defiance of Aracht'yr's orders to refrain from violence, which in turn triggered a fresh battle between the human superhero and the People's warriors. This ended with the partial collapse of the chamber, with the Saurians erroneously believing the human woman crushed under the rubble.

   Leaving Haemon to handle the clearing up, a heavy-hearted Aracht'yr returned home, concerned that his race's luck in evading detection by humanity was running out. Moments after he got home to greet Mirielle and the hatchlings he heard a commotion outside. Suspecting (correctly) that this might be Ms. Marvel, he hastily instructed Mirielle to take the children to safety at a neighbors and went outside his dwelling to find his security guards had been knocked out. When Ms. Marvel confronted him, Aracht'yr asked if it was his time to die, but she reiterated her desire to seek a peaceful solution. Aracht'yr pointed out that humans even slaughtered their own kind, so he didn't expect them to treat the Saurians any better, noting that while the Saurians were individually more powerful than humans, they could not match humanity's numbers or technology. Explaining the origins of his people, Aracht'yr told Ms. Marvel that all he wanted was for the People to live in peace, but if humanity were to discover them then it would be the end of them. Stating that his race could only survive if they remained a secret, he regretfully informed her that he could not let either her or the other human captives go free. The heroine asked how he thought he was going to stop her, and Aracht'yr, believing that despite her might she would prove no match for the People's Guardian, a giant cobra, said there was a way and wished her a painless death as she flew off.

(Ms. Marvel I#21 - BTS) - Knowing the heroine would attempt to free the other captive humans, Aracht'yr ordered the Guardian to find and slay her...

(Ms. Marvel I#21) - but Ms. Marvel prevailed, unintentionally destroying a portion of the People's city and killing the Guardian during the fight. Confronting Aracht'yr, Ms. Marvel warned him that the Saurians could not stop her if she decided to destroy the rest of the city, then offered him a deal: If he released the captives and promised to never take any further human prisoner, she would keep his race's existence a secret. Aracht'yr responded that he trusted her to keep her word, but asked what would prevent the others from talking, and she suggested that Haemon telepathically scramble their memories. Reluctantly Aracht'yr agreed, and the humans were released soon thereafter.

(Rom#9 (fb) - BTS) - Unfortunately, among the human prisoners was a disguised Dire Wraith. The shapeshifting extraterrestrial was not affected by Haemon's telepathic hypnotism and reported the People's existence back to his masters, who decided the People's caverns would be a perfect base for their covert invasion of Earth. A Dire Wraith horde descended on the People's city and slaughtered most of the population, including apparently Aracht'yr.

(X-Treme X-Men Savage Land#1) - C'Rel led what was left of the People to a new home in the Savage Land. She tried to honor her father's memory by continuing to pursue his dream of peace, that the world was big enough to share with humanity, rather than embrace the desire to fight back that some of the survivors, such as Aracht'yr's friend Khadar, felt.

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

   This profile was completed 09/14/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary's celebratory event.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Aracht'yr has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Ms. Marvel I#21, p13, pan3 (main image)
Ms. Marvel I#20, p16, pan1 (headshot)
Ms. Marvel I#21, p11, pan5 (with wife and children)
Ms. Marvel I#20, p15, pan4 (riding bearer lizard).

Appearances:
Ms. Marvel I#20 (October 1978) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Roger Stern (editor)
Ms. Marvel I#21 (December 1978) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Roger Stern (editor)

First Posted: 09/15/2021
Last updated: 09/14/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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