Alien Races: Shi'Ar

The Shi’Ar are an avian race of bird people. They have light hollow bones, and on their forearms there are still some feathers left of wings that were lost over centuries of evolution. The “hair“ too is made of feathers. There seem to be two different styles. Most Shi’Ar have feathers sprouting in a triangular shape away from the face, one peek on the top of the head and one peek on each side slightly over the shoulder. Empress Lilandra for example has always been portrayed with this triangular feather-head. The other hairstyle is bushy on both sides and very flat on the top; Cerise and Deathbird are prominent examples.

Apparently the baseline Shi’Ar has no special powers, however sometimes genetic setbacks like Deathbird occur. They have wings giving them the natural ability to fly and in Lilandra’s sister’s case a very ferocious nature. Deathbird’s wings have even grown back after they had been ripped off by Gladiator of the Imperial Guard.

Most Imperial Guard members seem to stem from the many alien races that belong to the Shi’Ar empire, but some of them (Electron, Gladiator or Astra) seem to be Shi’Ar or hybrids. If their powers are result of mutant genes or artificial is unknown.

The Shi’Ar still conceive their offspring in eggs. They are nurtured in special chambers on “The Aerie“, another name for their native planet Chandilar and the children are refered to as Hatchlings. Obviously Shi’Ar genes allow crossbreeding; Adam-X seems to be the child of a D’Ken and a human mother, and in an alternate future there also appeared a daughter of Lilandra and Xavier (Team X 2000). In the timeline known as “Age of Apocalypse“, there was a hybrid of Shi’Ar and Mephistoid parents, and judging the appearances of Black Light and White Noise, Deathbird too seems to have produced offspring with a mate outside of her species.

The Shi’Ar Empire is currently the biggest in the known universe, but they it took them many centuries to rise to power. The earliest known battle with another race dates 1200 years back. The Shi’Ar empire was still young, and they encountered the Mephistoids, a rivaling race of white furred felines with enhanced agility. At first they were evenly matched, but slowly the Mephistoids were winning the war as the males of their race emit certain mindcontrolling pheromones. After almost the whole Shi’Ar fleet was decimated, a few Shi’Ar had crashlanded on a small world that had earlier been colonized by the Mephistoids. The groups highest ranking officer was named T’Kyll Alabar, and he led his people to the nearest building. Prepared to fight their last battle, the Shi’Ar soldiers were surprised to be greeted by female Mephistois belonging to a peace loving abbey. They welcomed the Shi’Ar and nursed them back to health. During this time T’Kyll learned that the females too emit the pheromone, but only while breeding.

A cruel plan formed in Alabar’s head; at night he killed all the Mephistoid women in the abbey and extracted their genetic material to destille the pheromone, which he used to inspire his scattered people again. The Shi’Ar fanatically followed Alabar and fought ruthlessly like never before till the Mephistoids were defeated. Their colonies were occupied by the Shi’Ar and the Mephistoids, especially the males, were strictly quarantined to their native planet, as the Shi’Ar fear their phermones. Like after any war, history books are written by the victorious party. Shi’Ar legends and history praise T’Kyll Alabar as their greatest hero, for inspiring his fellow soldiers in the time of their greatest despair, while ignoring the slaughtering of innocents. The Mephistoids on the other hand are perceived as barbaric, cruel people, but in fact they are not any worse than the Shi’Ar themselves. [Avengers (1st series) #378-379]

Back to more recent history, it was ca. 20 years in the past, when Shi’Ar troops discovered earth. Because of the planets strategic importance (set between the bigger empires of Skrulls, Kree and Shi’Ar) then Emperor D’Ken placed an agent named Davan Shakari on the planet to spy on humanity’s development, also he ordered zoological specimen to be taken and thus Christopher and Katherine Anne Summers (parents of Cyclops and Havok) were kidnapped while returning from a holiday trip to Alaska. D’Ken took great intrest in the female and sent her husband to the mines, but he later escaped and attempted to kill the Shi’Ar Emperor. To punish Christopher Summers, D’Ken killed his wife right in front of him. [Uncanny X-Men #156]

The cruel Emperor continued his forceful reign for many years, and finally he got too power-hungry after hearing rumours about an ancient power source called M’Kraan crystal. When his younger sister Lilandra, serving as a Grand Admiral, opposed him, thinking the mission too dangerous, D`Ken framed her for treason and condemned her to death, but she escaped and made her way to Charles Xavier on Earth. D`Ken contacted Shakari, one of the Empire`s agents on Earth, and posing as Eric the Red, he kidnapped Lilandra and took her back into space only to be followed by the X-Men. They emerged right in front of the huge M’Kraan crystal and in a last minute rescue they save the princess from certain death. They even dealt with the threat from within crystal’s energy sphere. Only D’Ken was left catatonic and insane after an encounter to the M’Kraan’s nightmare field, and shortly afterwards Lilandra became official Empress in his place. [Uncanny X-Men #107-109, 118]

During a meeting of the Shi`ar great council, Lilandra was kidnapped. Lilandra`s older sister Deathbird, long ago banned from the Empire for her crimes had allied with Lord Samédàr of Lilandra`s staff and the alien Brood to reclaim the Shi`ar throne. Even though the X-Men saved Lilandra from her captors it was a phyrric victory. Deathbird managed to subdue Lilandra and the X-Men with a stun-bomb, and delivered them all to the Brood. The way to Chandilar, the throne-world of the Shi`ar Empire, was now open to her. Even though Lilandra did not die on the Brood world, she was kept busy long enough until Deathbird had usurped the throne. As new Empress, even the Imperial Guard were loyal to her, although some - like the Guard`s Praetor Gladiator - were not without their doubts. [Uncanny X-Men # 155-157,161,166]

Lilandra joined the Starjammers to rebel against Deathbird’s forceful rule of the empire, but it was only much later, and under unexpected circumstances, that she could recleim the throne. A group of Warskrulls using power-mimicking devices replaced the Starjammers, including Xavier. After the faux Starjammers and the X-Men, who had been teleported to Chandilar by Lila Cheney, defeated Deathbird and her Imperial Guard, Lilandra was put back on the throne. The Warskrulls used the faux Xavier to keep the the Shi`ar Empress under mental control. After the ruse was discovered and all the Warskrull impostors were exposed, Lilandra settled matters with Deathbird, discovering her sister did not want the throne anymore. During her time as ruling Shi`ar Empress, Deathbird had come to hate the responsibilities of maintaining the needs of the Empire. [Uncanny X-Men #274-277]

During the crisis known as Operation: Galactic Storm, the Shi`ar Empire went to war with the Kree Empire. Surprisingly, Deathbird offered her assistance in this time of need. While she assasinated the Kree leaders, Lilandra ordered her scientists to create a Nega-Bomb based upon the Kree Omni-Wave Projector. The Avengers made Lilandra change her mind, but it was too late as the bomb had been hijacked by Skrulls, who were really the driving force for the war, as they had infiltrated the high councils of both empires. The blast killed 90% of the Kree population, a guilt which lies heavily on Lilandra`s mind to this day, but as victorious party she had to absorb the remnants of the Kree space into the Shi’Ar Empire. Lilandra then appointed Deathbird as vher iceroy and ruler of Hala, the Kree homeworld, to reward her for her assistance and also to keep an eye on her. [Captain America (1st series) #398-400, Avengers West Coast #80-82, Quasar #32-35, Wonder Man #7-9, Avengers (1st series) #345-347, Iron Man (1st series) #278-279, Thor (1st series) #445-446] On the eve of the official ceremony incorporating the Kree into the Empire, Lilandra had Xavier and some of the X-Men teleported to Hala, the Kree homeworld. There they uncovered a rebellion, but although the dissident`s leader helped them defuse a sun-killer bomb, Lilandra was still forced to arrest him, and the tension between legality and morality drove a wedge between her and Xavier. [X-Men Unlimited #5]

Ever since the Shi’Ar are the biggest empire in the known universe, but despite their advantage in numbers, the Empire nearly perished twice. At first the Uncreated, a race of violent atheists, attacked, attempting to destroy every race that practises any worshipping religion. Thanks to their superior weapons and their ruthlessness, they would have fulfilled their crusade, but the tricky Starjammers were able to drive them off, by creating a holographic image of the Uncreated’s own god and creator, whom they had believed slain. [Starjammers #1-4]

The techno-organic Phalanx posed an even more fatal threat. Some of them had made their way to the throneworld Chandilar and tried to infect the Shi’Ar breeding chamber, where all their eggs are nurtured, with their techno-organic virus. Had they succeeded the entire next generation of Shi’Ar would have been part of the Phalanx collective. Again Lilandra had to rely on outside help, this time it was the scientific genius of Hank McCoy, who developed a device, based on Professor X’s Cerebro, that was able to emit a certain frequency to separate the organic from the technological parts of their opponents. Finally the Phalanx dissolved, earning the X-Men again a honorful Shi’Ar ceromony of celebration. [Uncanny X-Men #342-345]

The Shi’Ar Empire is a monarchy. The title “Emperor“ or “Empress“ is passed down through genetic lineage to the first born child, or to the closest relative if the ruling person is without offspring. This actually would make Deathbird the rightful Shi’Ar Empress, however she was exiled from the empire for having ferociously slaughtered both her mother and an unnamed younger sister. [revealed in Ms. Marvel #10, Uncanny X-Men #156]

D‘Ken
When the former Shi’Ar Emperor passed away, his son D’Ken, the second hatchling, was named ruler and led the Shi’Ar with a forceful hand. It is unknown when his rulership began; his earliest documented appearance are flashbacks of ca. twenty years in the past, when Shi’Ar troops captured Christopher and Katherine Anne Summers as earth specimen. [Uncanny X-Men #156]

Later D`Ken thought to explore the power of the M’Kraan Crystal, but his younger sister Lilandra, serving as a Grand Admiral, opposed him. He framed Lilandra for treason and condemned her to death, but she escaped and made her way to earth, where she enlisted the help of the X-Men. They made their way to the crystal just in time to repair it before it would have erased the entire universe, but after D’Ken was exposed to it’s nightmare field, he went insane and fell into a catatonic state. [Uncanny X-Men #107-109]

Lilandra
It took some time for the council of ministers to decide, but with D’Ken incapable, Lilandra was cleared of her charges and became the next Shi’Ar Empress. [Uncanny X-Men #109, 118]

A few months later, the exiled Deathbird allied up with the Brood, and she arranged that her sister and the X-Men were kidnapped and taken away to Brood space, intended to become the insectoids new host bodies. Even though they managed to escape, Lilandra chose to stay on earth at Professor Xavier’s side to watch over her lover‘s recovery from being Brood infected as well; fully aware that this would provide the ursurper Deathbird with enough time to strengthen her claim on the Shi`ar throne. [Uncanny X-Men #167] By the time she and the Starjammers departed to space it was already too late and now she herself was considered the rebel. [Uncanny X-Men #177]

Deathbird
Deathbird succesfully wrested control over the Shi’Ar Empire, after Lilandra was kept busy fighting the Brood along the X-Men and watching over Professor Xavier’s recovery from being infected with one of their eggs. [Uncanny X-Men #161 ] She ruled the Empire very forcefully and was forced to battle Lilandra and Xavier among the Starjammers various times.

When she at a later point discovered that the Starjammers had been replaced by a group of Wareskrulls intending to take over the Shi’Ar empire through Lilandra, she alerted the X-Men. After the Warskrulls were defeated and the Starjammers released, Deathbird gave up the throne to Lilandra, for during her time as ruling Shi`ar Empress, she had come to hate the responsibilities of maintaining the needs of the Empire. [Uncanny X-Men #274-277]

Lilandra
Ever since Lilandra is Shi’Ar Empress again. After the Operation : Galactic Storm crossover, Lilandra named Deathbird her viceroy to honor that she aided the Empire during the war with the Kree, a rivaling alien race.

Lilandra’s duties as Empress have conflicted many times with the ideals and morals of the X-Men, placing the relationship between her and Xavier under a strain.

Next Monarchs ?
The appearance of the hybrid Adam-X, the X-Treme, might end Lilandra’s tenure as Shi’Ar majestrix. At first he believed to be a famer’s son, but on earth, Adam-X learned from Eric the Red, that he was actually the son of D’Ken, deliberatly bred with a specific genetic potential. Speculation is that he is a product of D’Ken raping Katherine Anne Summers, making him the rumoured, so called “third Summers“ brother. [Captain Marvel (2nd series) #3] Back then when Lilandra inherited the throne from her insane brother, the existence of a son was unknown.

Also the two Imperial Guardsmen Black Light and White Noise may hold a right to the throne, since in their only appearance to date [X-Men Spotlight on ... Starjammers #2], they claimed that Deathbird is their mother. Apparently they were conceived during her exile from the empire, but if Deathbird's exclusion from the royal family involved possible offspring is unrevealed.

Religion
Religion is very important for the Shi’Ar. Their believes are based on the marriage of Sharra and K’ythri, two gods who didn’t want to be married but were forced into it. In marriage they found strength and in that strength they found love. Finally both gods benefited from their forced union.

The theme of this legend has become a central concept of Shi’Ar politics. They encounter other races in space and force them into "marriage", into joining the Empire, wether they want to or not. The Shi’Ar believe the process to be justified, as they have become the biggest Empire in the known universe and the various alien races are provided with anything that they need. However these oppressed races loose their individuality and freedom as their cultures and governments are adapted to Shi’Ar structures.

Crystal Claws
The Crystal Claws are a religious sect that expects the Forsaken One (Adam-X, the secret son of former Emperor D’Ken) to take over the Shi’Ar Empire one day. They even temporarily allied themselves with Kree radicals to instigate discontent with Lilandra’s rule.

Legends
Within the vast Shi'Ar empire, there are many tales and rumors that are passed down from one generation to the next. Following these old stories, former Emperor D’ken discovered the location of the legendary M’Kraan Crystal, often described as the “end of all there is“. If not for the X-Men, D’Ken’s tampering would have unleashed the crystal’s destructive energies.

Another time Deathbird solved the mystery of an old rumour regarding a power source called Phalkon. Actually it was nothing else than the birdshaped Phoenix Force, that had been seen soaring through the universe centuries ago.

Initially there was three different empires that ruled the most parts of the known universe. These were the Kree, the Skrulls and the Shi'Ar. Each of these empires had their own galaxies which they commanded and Earth was at the crossroads of the three expanding territories.

In time, the Skrulls and the Kree, who were almost constantly at war with each other, both lost. The Skrull homeworld was consumed by Galactus, leaving the remaining worlds with no official rulers. Quickly high ranking officers claimed certain planets for themselves, each convinved to be the rightful monarch of all Skrulls. Knowing that they were no longer a match for the Kree, some Skrulls manipulated the Kree into war with the Shi'Ar. A Nega-bomb explosion killed 90% of the Kree population, the remainders of the empire were absorbed into the Shi'Ar Empire.

Ever since the earliest known records of the the Shi'Ar Empire, they have forced other alien races in space into joining them, whether they wanted to or not. The Shi’Ar believe this process to be justified by their religion, and as time has passed it has been proven as they have become the biggest Empire in the known universe. This process of expanding has meant that the Shi'Ar Galaxy has also increased over time. Now the Shi'ar empire encompasses easily over a million worlds however only a select few have appeared within the pages of any Marvel comicbook. Here you will find details about all these known planets that reside within the Shi'Ar Empire.

Throne World (Chandilar)
At the very center of the Shi'Ar Empire is the Imperial Throneworld, Chandilar. It is an artificial planet that is the Administritive Hub of the empire and from where the Majestrix rules from.

Aerie
The Shi'ar race themselves originate from a planet called Aerie. The exact location of Aerie or if it still exists has not been revealed as yet. The term "Aerie" has since then made it into Shi'Ar language and is used synonymously for home / nest / empire.

M'Kraan world
Ever since it's discovery on an unmaned planet, the M'Kraan Crystal has been under Shi'Ar protection. The guards of the crystal seem to acknoledge this, as Jahf has been seen reporting to Lilandra various times.

Clench Worlds
The Clench are planets near the Shi'Ar Empire, that banded together out of fear of getting forced to merge into the Empire. The most prominent planet of the Clench is called Standing Still. This is also where one time Starjammers member Keeyah originates from. Currently The Clench planets are save, as Lilandra promised to not attack any of them, in exchange for the Starjammers' help against an attack of the Uncreated.

Kree Galaxy
The Kree Galaxy is made up of many planets with the Kree's Homeworld - Hala, being ruling planet. According to Kree sources, the original Kree empire was composed of about 10.000 planets.(This number may have been exaggerated). However since the explosion of the Nega-Bomb, most organic things have been destroyed. Some planets have been totally stripped of life, while others only harbour a few survivors. The Shi'Ar assumed control of the Kree Galaxy, and Lilandra appointed Deathbird Viceroy to the once Kree Empire. [aftermath of Operation Galactic Storm] However Deathbird later abandoned her post. [Deathbird became Apocalypse's Horseman War]

The Kree race originated from the planet Hala, which is the 4th planet of the Pama system, Greater Magellanic Cloud. Hala's atmosphere has a higher nitrogen content than that of Earth and also has a much stronger gravitational force.

Hala and a number of other Kree planets have been totally stripped of vegetation and even the oceans have been covered by a plastic canopy so that every available space could be used for cities and roads. Hala is comprised of a few hundreds city-states of which the largest, Kree-Lar, is the capital. Another important city-state is the largest industrial state Harfax which is located about 1000 miles from Kree-Lar.

With the surviving Kree now being evolved into the shapechanging Ruul, the Kree space might not be much longer under Shi'Ar rule.

D'Bari Homeworld
The D'Bari Homeworld was in a solar system of eleven planets. It was the 4th closest to the systems star. However the entire system was destroyed when Dark Phoenix consumed the star's energies causing it to go Super-Nova.

Mephistod's Homeworld
Not much is known about the Mephistod's Homeworld. Its location is believed to be within the Shi'Ar empire, however the exact location is a guarded secret and is Shi’Ar classified information, since the males of the race secret a will-bending pheromone.

P!ndyr Homeworld
The home planet of the P!ndyr is Epsilon Seikosha IX. This planet has a rocky terrain, with deep canyon's and high Mountians. The X-Men were transported here by Lila Cheney and Deathbird so that they could learn the truth about Xavier (Xavier was actually a War Skrull in disguise) before fighting the Starjammers (again War Skrull's in Disguise) in the planets Orbit. [Uncanny X-Men #276]

Maul
A Ring of Asterodial Rocks, literally floating islands about a large gas planet with breathable atmosphere. The real Xavier, Psylocke, Jubilee, Wolverine and Starjammers were held here, whilst the War Skrulls had taken their place. [Uncanny X-Men #277]

Timorians Homeworld
The Timorians Homeworld is the planet Timor which is located in the Varanus IV system somewhere within the Shi’Ar Empire.

Zhylian Cascadhel
This is a Fringe System on the outer most Rim of the Shi'Ar Imperium. The X-Men were teleported into a Shi'Ar ship in this system by Lila Cheney. The X-Men fought alongside the Starjammers(or so they believed) against the Imperial Guard. [Uncanny X-Men #275]

Due to the sheer size and vastness of the Shi'Ar galaxy, the Shi'Ar have utilized some very advanced technology to create "Stargates" to help them fly from one place to another within Shiar space.

These stargates are heavily guarded so that they could not be used by enemies of the Shi'Ar and are dispersed through out the Shi'Ar galaxy at suitable junctions so that space travel time can be greatly reduced. Once a ship has entered into a star gate it will enter some form of hyperspace to emerge at the target Stargate a short while later. It is not known precisley how stargate navigation is achieved, however the stargates have pre-defined routes that will send a ship to a specific exit stargate. It is common knowledge amongst the Shi'Ar as to where in the known universe each stargate will take them to. Having said this, it is possible for a starship to alter the destination stargate they will be sent to but it requires some time to re-calibrate the gate to do this. [as shown in Uncanny X-Men #200-201 when the Starjammers rescued the dying Xavier from Earth]

Besides these large stargates for use by starships in outer space, the Shi'Ar have also adapted the technology to create portable stargates to transport people from one place to another. These can be used virtually anywhere, but need to be calibrated for an exit point. [first shown in Uncanny X-Men 105]