NEREEL

Real Name: Nereel

Identity/Class: Human "Hidden race" (Savage Land) member

Occupation: Chief of the United Tribes

Group Membership: Member of the Fall People tribe

Enemies: Garokk the Petrified Man, Hauk'ka, Sauron (Karl Lykos), Savage Land Mutates (Amphibius, Barbarus, Brainchild, Gaza, Leash, Lupo/Timberius, Vertigo, Whiteout, Worm), Terminus (Jorro), Sun People, Zaladane (Zala Dane)

Known Relatives: Peter (son), Chief Tongah (ancestor, deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Fall People village, Savage Land, Antarctica

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men I#114 (October, 1978)

Powers/Abilities: Nereel possesses no known superhuman abilities.

    A born leader with a gift for diplomacy, Nereel commands respect among many of the various Savage Land and Pangean communities. She has extensive knowledge of the Savage Land and its indigenous population and creatures.

    Nereel is proficient in unarmed combat and is trained to fight with spears. She speaks fluent English.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'9")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 130 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black

History:
(Uncanny X-Men I#114 (fb)  - BTS) - Born and raised among the Fall People of the Savage Land, Nereel found her place among her fellow tribesmen.

(Uncanny X-Men I#114) - When Ka-Zar brought the X-Men to the Fall People tribe, Colossus immediately caught Nereels' eye.

(Classic X-Men I#21/2) - Colossus spent his time among the Fall People sketching, but was alarmed when he heard a nearby yell. Running out to check what was going on, he found Nereel and her friends Shakani and Fahé under attack by a tyrannosaur. Unable to change into his armored form due to heat exhaustion, Peter fought off the apex predator by hitting its eyes until it retreated. Nereel was grateful for his assistance, but gladness turned to grief when Shakani died from her injuries. Nereel and the other Fall People buried their friend with the X-Men in attendance. Later that night, Nereel and Fahé approached Colossus and asked him to accompany them to their special island as part of Shakani's memorial.

(Uncanny X-Men I#114) - Nereel and Fahé watched as Peter asked Wolverine to join them, but his teammate gave a knowing smile and refused.

(Classic X-Men I#21/21) - Still unsure of Nereel and Fahé's intentions, Peter joined them on their boat towards the island. Peter was shocked when Nereel and Fahé tried to make love with him. The women explained this was their way to honor the fallen: by trying to create new life. Their encounter was cut short by the return of the tyrannosaur. This time, Peter was able to armor up and easily defeat the dinosaur singlehandedly. He was surprised to find Nereel and Fahé were not repulsed by his mutant form. The trio then spent the night together.

(Uncanny X-Men I#115) - Nereel saw Colossus and the other X-Men off as they headed for the underground tunnel leading out of the Savage Land.

(Uncanny X-Men Annual I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Nereel's one night stand with Colossus left her pregnant. Not informing the X-Men of this development, she eventually gave birth to a boy she named Peter. Nereel raised the child by herself among the Fall People, even after she became their leader following the death of her relative, Chief Tongah.

(Uncanny X-Men Annual I#12) - Nereel and Peter would have died along with the other Fall People when the gigantic alien scavenger Terminus tore apart Antarctica, killing thousands. However, they were saved by the outerdimensional warrior queen M'rin, who sensed the massive destruction in the Savage Land and rescued many of its native peoples by opening a portal to her realm.

(Uncanny X-Men Annual I#12 - BTS) - Because of the dimensional time difference, years passed on M'rin's world while only a few months went by on Earth. Nereel's son was already around ten years old by the time the X-Men visited the Savage Land to discover the destruction. Longshot and Wolverine happened to pass through to M'rin's realm, where they encountered Nereel and Peter. Nereel told Longshot that Colossus was Peter's father but at the same time swore the X-Man to secrecy. After the X-Men, M'rin and her giant flying dog C'jime had helped defeat the newly revived Terminus (actually Garokk the Petrified Man trapped inside Terminus' armor).

(Uncanny X-Men Annual I#12) - Nereel reconnected with Colossus, but kept quiet about Peter being his son. Instead, she explained what had happened to her following the destruction of the Savage Land. Though she appreciated M'rin's hospitality, she admitted to missing home. Her musings were interrupted by the arrival of the High Evolutionary who offered to combine his technology with the transfiguration powers of the newly freed Garokk to restore the Savage Land. Nereel then watched as the destroyed Savage Land returned to its former glory.

(Uncanny X-Men Annual I#12 - BTS) - The X-Men helped the Fall People rebuild their village. After they parted company, the team left behind their signature calling card: a multi-starred symbol mounted on an obelisk. In the months that followed, the surviving races of the Savage Land and Pangea came together as the United Tribes with Nereel as their leader.

(Uncanny X-Men Annual I#12) - When Ka-Zar and Shanna visited the newly reconstructed Fall People settlement and wondered about the curious obelisk, Nereel explained that the multistar symbol was a tribute to legends that aided them in their greatest hour of need. 

(Uncanny X-Men I#250 - BTS) - When Zaladane, empowered after stealing Polaris' mutant powers, took over the Savage Land, she was opposed by the X-Men. However, they were all quickly defeated and mind controlled by Worm, Zaladane's Savage Land Mutate follower. She sent the X-Men to capture Ka-Zar, Shanna, their son, Matthew, Nereel and Peter to emphasize she was now truly in control of the Savage Land. They were all brought to Zaladane's throne room.

(Uncanny X-Men I#250) - Nereel watched helplessly as the sadistic Zaladane amused herself by magnetically forcing Colossus to crush Peter and Matthew. Before he could harm the children, he was stopped by the arrival of the newly-empowered (now superstrong) Polaris. The confusion allowed Peter to reach for a ray gun laying on the floor. He grabbed it, planning to use the weapon to protect his mother. Instead, Psylocke contacted him telepathically and told Peter to aim for Worm, who was still using his powers to control everyone from a distance. Without him, the X-Men and all those under his command would be free. Peter's aim was poor and he missed, hitting the throne the villain was sitting on instead. The impact nonetheless knocked out Worm, giving the X-Men the opportunity they needed to free themselves and fight back. In the end, as Zaladane's citadel began to collapse in on itself, the X-Men led Nereel, Peter and the others to one of the facility's skysleds and flew to freedom. Noticing the grave concern in Colossus' demeanor, Nereel wistfully wished she could somehow ease her love's torment. Moments later, Gateway teleported the X-Men away.

(Uncanny X-Men I#274) - Nereel and warriors of the Fall People joined Ka-Zar, Zabu and Rogue in fighting off Zaladane's forces out to conquer Magneto's Savage Land citadel.

(Uncanny X-Men I#274 - BTS) - Nereel and Shanna fell prey to Zaladane's forces and were brought back to her base where they were subjected to Worm's mind control mucus.

(Uncanny X-Men I#275) - Mind controlled and helpless, Nereel and Shanna were handed to their new master Brainchild, who forced them to watch as he guided the power transfer process between Zaladane and the recently captured Magneto. Nereel was later forced to defend Brainchild and Zaladane when Ka-Zar, Rogue and Nick Fury attacked the citadel to free Magneto and stop Zaladane. Nereel was seen struggling with Nick Fury, but was freed once Rogue took over Worm and released his mind-controlled victims.

(X-Men Unlimited I#6 - BTS) - Sauron resurfaced in the Savage Land, taking over an abandoned Pangean station and assuming command over the Savage Land mutates. He ordered them to raid nearby villages to bring him suitable people to feed on. Worried about her village's safety, Nereel had walls erected to guard against attacks even as she and the warrior chief Torgah prepared to storm Sauron's base.

(X-Men Unlimited I#6) - When Havok was kidnapped by Sauron, his fellow X-Men Cyclops, Jean Grey and Polaris traveled to the Savage Land to find him. As they arrived in the Fall People village, Nereel welcomed her old friends and filled them in on the current situation. Nereel agreed to postpone their attack on Sauron's aerie by a day to allow the X-Men to get Havok out.

(Uncanny X-Men I#457 - BTS) - Faced with the rising threat of the conquering saurid warrior race the Hau'ka, Nereel and her fellow United Tribes leader C'rel tried to establish peaceful relations through diplomacy. When their attempts failed, they tried to reach the X-Men or other outside forces for help, but their calls for help were left unanswered. The Hauk'ka captured and imprisoned many members of the Fall People and the other Savage Land tribes.

(Uncanny X-Men I#459) - With the world on the brink of devastation due to a global weather event caused by the Hauk'ka conflict, Nereel watched as the X-Men dealt with the saurids. Once the weather was restored to normal, Nereel was present when Nightcrawler spoke before the Hauk'ka council to establish diplomatic relations.

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin.

    Just why Nereel never told Colossus they have a son is not explained and a little hard to swallow given the fact she clearly has feelings for Colossus.

    Maybe she didn't want to make both the boy and the Fall People a target for the X-Men's many enemies. After all, having the son of an X-Man running around the Savage Land would certainly interest the team's many enemies. Especially Brainchild who basically lives next door. In the Chris Claremont penned GeNext mini, the Peter of Earth-41001 is revealed to be a mutant with similar powers as his dad.

    The circumstances under which Nereel learned to speak fluid English have not been revealed.

    This profile was completed 4/11/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20^th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Norvo

CLARIFICATIONS:
Nereel should not be confused with

• Any other "Nereel" characters

images: (without ads)
Classic X-Men I#21/2 p7, pan2 (main image)
Uncanny X-Men I#114 p8, pan3 (meets Colossus)
Uncanny X-Men Annual I#12 p38, pans4&5 (gets help from the High Evolutionary)
Uncanny X-Men I#275 p25, pan1 (commanded by Brainchild)
X-Men Unlimited I#6 p11, pan2 (with Torga)

Appearances:

Uncanny X-Men I#114 (October, 1978) - Chris Claremont (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Roger Stern (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#115 (November, 1978) - Chris Claremont (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Roger Stern (editor)
X-Men Annual I#12 (October, 1988) - Chris Claremont (writer), Art Adams (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#250 (October, 1989) - Chris Claremont (writer), Marc Silvestri (pencils), Steve Leialoha (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#274 (March, 1991) - Chris Claremont (writer), Jim Lee (pencils), Scott Williams (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#275 (April, 1991) - Chris Claremont (writer), Jim Lee (pencils), Scott Williams (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Men Unlimited I#6 (September, 1994) - John Francis Moore (writer), Mandel Alves Flor, Fabio Laguna, Al Rio, Eddie Wagner (pencils), Ralph Cabrera, Keith Champagne, John Lowe, Mark McKenna, Al Milgrom, Joe Rubinstein, Tim Townsend (inks), Bob Harras & Kelly Corvese (editors)
Uncanny X-Men I#457 (May, 2005) - Chris Claremont (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#459 (July, 2005) - Chris Claremont (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Mike Marts (editor)

First Posted: 09/24/2021
Last Updated: 09/23/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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