I know everything about you! I know you play like you're the meanest and the hardest but actually you're the most scared of all! [...] I know you steal batteries you don't need and you push away anyone who's willing to put up with you because just a little bit of love reminds you of how big and empty that hole inside you actually is. [...] I know them scientists what made you never gave a rat's ass about you! Just like my own damn parents who sold me, their own little baby into slavery! I know who you are, boy, because you're me. 
- —Yondu Udonta[src]
History
Early Life[]
Yondu and his Ravager clan
Yondu Udonta was a Centaurian sold into slavery by his parents as a child, growing up to be a Kree battle slave. He was eventually freed by the strict but honorable Ravager captain Stakar Ogord, who offered him a place in the outlaw group if he followed the code. Yondu agreed, and by the time he was an adult, he came to lead a faction run from his own ship, the Eclector, and gained Stakar's respect, becoming a part of the Ravager elite. Yondu's harsh upbringing and experiences made him a cold, callous man, but he still maintained a bit of compassion within him. He was feared throughout the galaxy for using a special yaka arrow controlled by a cybernetic fin on his head to stab and rip apart his enemies and their ships within seconds.
Raising Peter Quill
At some point, Yondu formed an alliance with Ego, a powerful Celestial inhabiting a planetoid body, and began bringing to him children that he had fathered on various planets. When Yondu discovered he had been killing the children since they didn't carry the proper Celestial genes to grant him ultimate power, he took the next child he promised to deliver, a human hybrid from Earth named Peter Quill, in as his own, and raised him with the other Ravagers, with particular help from his loyal first mate Kraglin, to be a member of their clan. Yondu was tough on Quill, and it strained their relationship, but he did care for Peter, and made him an expert thief and combatant even though the other Ravagers cast out Yondu and his clan for breaking the Ravager code by trafficking children.[2][3][4]
Conflict with Ronan[]
Threatening Quill for his betrayal
In 2014, Yondu sent Quill to acquire an orb containing the Power Stone on Morag, and sell it to a broker on Xandar, but when he discovered he hadn't actually sold it and instead intended to take the money for himself, Yondu began chasing him across the galaxy. On his journey, Quill amassed a small group of fellow mercenaries as situational allies who later became his friends. By the time Yondu caught up with and captured Quill and one of the mercenaries, Gamora, Quill revealed the Kree fanatic Ronan had the Stone, and planned to use it to destroy Xandar.
After they came to an agreement, Quill and his friends, all of whom had come together to help, convinced Yondu and his clan to help fight Ronan and his forces, in exchange for Quill giving Yondu and the Ravagers the Stone. They then traveled to Xandar where, using their fighter craft, the Ravagers slowed Ronan's ship, and nearly stopped it from reaching the planet's surface, but were unsuccessful, and Quill and his friends were forced to stop Ronan on the ground, using the Power Stone itself to kill him. When Yondu met up with Quill, he insisted Quill give him the orb with the Stone, but Quill gave him a different orb, amusing Yondu and coaxing him into deciding to let Quill's mercenary group, now an official team known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, off easy.[3]
Facing Ego[]
A few months later, Yondu and his clan were hired by the Sovereign to capture the Guardians and bring them to them in retaliation of one of their members, the jaded and sarcastic intelligent raccoon Rocket, stole some of their powerful anulax batteries. They eventually located their crashed ship with Rocket, Groot, and a captive Nebula on board, the others nowhere to be seen. When they had Rocket at gunpoint, Yondu suggested taking the batteries and selling them instead, not wanting any harm to come to his adoptive son, but his crew turned on him, rallying behind a Ravager named Taserface and, with the help of the disgruntled Nebula, capturing Yondu, Groot, and Rocket.
Escaping with Rocket and Groot
While Groot was forced to be the Ravagers' plaything, Rocket and Yondu were incarcerated on the Eclector's brig, where Rocket explained that Quill and the others had gone off with Ego, who had finally located Quill after so many years. Knowing Quill was in danger, Yondu quickly devised a plan of escape, and with the help of Groot and Kraglin, acquired his prototype control fin and slaughtered all the traitorous Ravagers, destroying the majority of the Eclector as he and his allies flew away to Ego's planet in a quadrant that detached from the main ship.
When they arrived in orbit of Ego, Yondu, Rocket, and Groot took a construction pod armed with lasers down to the planet's surface, while Kraglin stayed behind to man the Eclector. They arrived to find Ego attempting to drain Peter's Celestial energy to power his plans of mass genocide, and so they crashed into his human avatar to distract him. Quill, along with his allies, got on the pod, but instead of escaping, Quill used the pod's lasers to drill to the center of the planet, explaining that they had to destroy Ego's core and kill him before he wiped out the universe.
Yondu attempted to use the lasers to drill through the metal core to Ego's astral brain, but he was intercepted by a Sovereign fleet, who had followed the pod down the hole it created. They began a dogfight at the center of the planet, and Yondu eventually used the lasers to destroy the fleet, while the rest of the Guardians, along with their new allies Mantis and Nebula, who had arrived on the planet earlier and they had called a truce with, began a massive battle against Ego. Yondu came to join the fight himself, and through his encouragement, Peter was able to truly tap into his Celestial powers and truly go toe-to-toe with Ego's human avatar.
The ultimate sacrifice
Eventually, Groot managed to set the makeshift bomb Rocket had constructed on Ego's brain and, mere minutes before detonation, Yondu convinced Rocket to give him the last of his aerorigs and forcefield spacesuits so he could save Quill after he was done distracting his father. Soon enough, just as the other Guardians made it to the Eclector, the bomb went off, killing Ego, and Yondu used the aerorig to fly Peter away from the destruction. As they flew out of Ego's atmosphere, Yondu put the spacesuit on Quill, allowing him to breathe and stay warm as Yondu suffocated and froze to death in Peter's arms, sacrificing himself to save his adoptive son.[2]
Legacy[]
Yondu Udonta was given a grand Ravager funeral, with even Stakar and the other Ravager elite coming to pay their respects to him for saving the universe. The Guardians acknowledged Yondu as an honorary member of the team, and Peter Quill finally realized that Yondu was a much better father than he had any right to be, and certainly a much better father than Ego. Kraglin honored his memory by taking his yaka arrow and control fin into battle, eventually becoming a Guardian himself, and through their discussions, Rocket realized he had a true family within the Guardians, and that he was deserving of love and care.
Out of humiliation from his defeat of them, the Sovereign created Adam Warlock, a superbeing designed to destroy the Guardians, but even he ended up joining the team. Altogether, Yondu would be remembered as a tough but fair man with a big heart under an aggressive surface, and left a positive impact on the lives of most that he met.[2][5]Attributes
Powers
- Superhuman Durability: Yondu was inside a ship while it exploded and he survived without injury.
- Enhanced Vision: Centaurians naturally have a great vision.
Abilities
Leadership: Yondu has led an unruly group of criminals for decades, through strength of will, guile, and deadly force.
Pilot: Aside from commanding a colossal carrier ship, Yondu's skills as a pilot allow him to effectively pilot armed scout ships into combat.
Arrow Mastery: Yondu's primary sidearm is a Yaka arrow that he can expertly control the velocity and direction of with a series of high pitched whistles, conveyed to the Yaka arrow via a head-mounted controller. His control, and the responsiveness of this weapon, is such that he can command it to pierce dozens of individual targets in seconds.Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Prototype Control Fin
- Yaka Arrow Controller (Formerly)
Weapons
Notes
- Michael Rooker portrayed Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, as well as a hallucination in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
- Guardians writer and director James Gunn wrote the role of Yondu specifically for Rooker, but Rooker still had to audition to persuade Marvel Studios.
See Also
- 6 appearance(s) of Yondu Udonta (Earth-199999)
- 3 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Yondu Udonta (Earth-199999)
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Yondu Udonta (Earth-199999)
- 3 mention(s) of Yondu Udonta (Earth-199999)
- 23 image(s) of Yondu Udonta (Earth-199999)
- 1 quotation(s) by or about Yondu Udonta (Earth-199999)
- 7 victim(s) killed by Yondu Udonta (Earth-199999)
- 3 item(s) used/owned by Yondu Udonta (Earth-199999)
Links and References
- Yondu Udonta (Earth-199999) on the
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