Lilandra Neramani was the Majestrix of the Shi'ar Empire and a long-time ally to Charles Xavier and his X-Men.
History
Early Life[]
Lilandra was born on Aerie, the Throneworld and central capital of the Shi'ar Empire. She emerged into the esteemed royal lineage that governed the vast expanse of the Shi'ar Empire, a dominion extending its influence over countless inhabited planets throughout the Shi'ar Galaxy. This extraterrestrial race, known as the Shi'ar, exerted control over these planets under the governance of the imperial family, to which Lilandra belonged. Lilandra is the younger sibling of Cal'syee and the younger sister of D'ken. Despite Cal'syee being the rightful heir to the Shi'ar Throne, her claim was nullified when she committed regicide against her mother and elder sister. As a result, D'ken ascended to the position of Magestor. Due to her crimes, Cal'syee, also known as Deathbird, was banished into the depths of space. Lilandra, was appointed Grand Admiral of the Imperial Guard, the legion of superhuman champions who enforce Shi'ar law throughout the empire.[7]
Quest for the M'Kraan Crystal[]
Lilandra uncovered both the existence and whereabouts of the M'kraan Crystal.[8] Viewing the Crystal as the ultimate weapon, D'ken coveted its power for himself, blinded to the peril it posed. Firmly believing he could control its unleashed energies for his own gain, D'ken pressed forward with his dangerous ambition. When Lilandra voiced her opposition to his scheme within the Shi'ar High Council, D'ken responded by having her detained. Subsequently, rumors surfaced alleging Lilandra's attempt to assassinate D'ken and seize the throne. This revelation fractured the Imperial Fleet, igniting a civil conflict that culminated in a decisive showdown above "the World," the planet housing the M'kraan Crystal. Holding Lilandra captive aboard the Imperial Flagship, dubbed the Pride of Tjun, D'ken orchestrated her impending execution, relishing the notion of her final gaze witnessing his supposed triumph.[9]
Lilandra needed help to stop her brother from destroying the universe. Then she mentally saw the image of the Earth telepath Charles Xavier, who at that time had used his powers to unite much of the collective will of Earth humanity to create enough psychic force to drive off the invading alien Z'nox. Knowing of Earth and its large number of superhuman beings, Lilandra traveled there for help. She finally met Xavier but was soon captured by the Shi'ar agent Erik the Red, who transported her through an artificially created stargate through hyperspace to the world where the M'kraan Crystal stood. Xavier's team of superhuman mutant champions, the X-Men, followed through the stargate to the same world. There the power of the Crystal began to be unleashed, but the universe was saved from annihilation by the being known as Phoenix, who had taken on the form and persona of Jean Grey.[10]
D'ken went incurably insane and nearly catatonic as a result of a psychic attack on him within the Crystal. Xavier returned to Earth and Lilandra joined him there, to await the decision of the Shi'ar High Council as to whether she should now become empress despite her having rebelled against D'ken, the former emperor. Lilandra and Xavier became lovers, and, when the Council decided in Lilandra's favor (and when Xavier mistakenly came to believe the X-Men had died in battle), they left for the Shi'ar Throneworld.[11]
Majestrix[]
Lilandra became Majestrix (empress) and Xavier became her consort. Xavier returned to Earth on realizing the danger that Phoenix presented to it. After Phoenix went insane and destroyed both a Shi'ar starship and an inhabited world allied with the Shi'ar, Lilandra demanded that the menace of Phoenix be ended forever to safeguard the cosmos. Xavier demanded a trial by combat to decide the fate of Phoenix, whom he believed to be the real Jean Grey, but during this trial by combat, Phoenix committed suicide to prevent herself from wreaking further destruction.[12]
Deathbird allied herself with the alien Badoon and Brood, and finally succeeded in leading a coup d'état in which she seized the throne of the Shi'ar Empire.[13] Lilandra again found herself forced to flee Shi'ar imperial forces. However, she still retained a great deal of respect from other starfaring races, and thus was able to become the principal organizer of the trial of Reed Richards for saving the planet-destroyer Galactus from death.[14]
Starjammers[]
During her second exile, Lilandra allied herself with the Starjammers, a group of interstellar adventurers who had aided her in the past. Sensing telepathically that her lover Xavier was dying, Lilandra and the Starjammers' leader, Corsair, journeyed through an artificially created stargate from the Shi'ar Galaxy to Earth and back, taking Xavier with them. The advanced medical technology of the Starjammers fully healed Xavier's injuries, but they were unable to return him to Earth since their own ship's special hyperspace drive for intergalactic travel was damaged, and the Shi'ar stargates were all now heavily defended against Starjammer intrusions. Lilandra, Xavier, and the Starjammers traveled through space as exiles and rebels.[15]
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At one point, the heroes found themselves racing against Deathbird and her allies to find the mystical power called "Phalkon." The power turned out to be the Phoenix Force, at the time being used by Phoenix, Rachel Summers. Allied with Excalibur, Lilandra and the Starjammers defeated Deathbird and the Imperial Guard.[16]
Later still, a group of alien Skrulls used their shape-shifting powers and power-mimicking devices to replace the Starjammers and Xavier. Then, using the X-Men as allies, the Skrulls staged a coup to restore Lilandra to her throne. Lilandra nevertheless remained in the Skrull's thrall until the X-Men and Deathbird discovered the Skrull's plan and defeated them. Deathbird upheld her concession to the throne, relinquishing her duties after coming to hate them.[17]
After some time, the Kree Supreme Intelligence masterminded a war between the Kree Empire and the Shi'ar Empire. Lilandra readied a so-called Nega-Bomb to be used as a final weapon of mass destruction against the Kree, but later agreed not to use it after intercession by the Earth heroes, the Avengers. However, the bomb was hijacked by the Skrulls and detonated in heart of the Kree Empire. Decimated, the Kree Empire was annexed by the Shi'ar, and Lilandra appointed Deathbird as viceroy and ruler of Hala, the Kree homeworld, in return for Deathbird's assistance during the war.[18]
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. While there, they uncovered a rebellion, and, although the dissident's leader helped them defuse a sun-killer bomb, Lilandra was still forced to arrest him. The tension between legality and morality drove a wedge between her and Xavier.[19]
Onslaught Aftermath[]
Later, when Lilandra heard about the many heroes of Earth that sacrificed themselves to the psychic villain Onslaught, she dispatched eight members of the Imperial Guard to protect Earth, even though her own Empire was under attack by the techno-organic Phalanx at the time. Fortunately, the Guard's leader Gladiator sent the X-Men to help defeat the Phalanx before the entity could assimilate the entire planet.[20][21]
Afterward, the Kree known as Ronan the Accuser put the community known as the Inhumans under his control and used them in an assassination attempt on Lilandra. With the help of the Imperial Guard, Lilandra was forewarned of the attack, and the shape-shifting Guardsman known as Hobgoblin, posing as the Shi'ar Empress, was killed instead.[22]
Soon after, Lilandra presided over a meeting of the intergalactic council, where, despite her efforts to the contrary, Earth was determined as a threat to the entire cosmos and was to be regarded as an intergalactic penal colony. Lilandra was able to dispatch former X-associate Cerise to Earth to warn the X-Men.[23]
While Lilandra was successful at regaining the throne, a greater threat loomed: Cassandra Nova. Cassandra took possession of Lilandra's mind and body to force the Shi'ar Imperial Guard to annihilate the X-Men. The damage to Lilandra's mind was so great that she later attempted to assassinate Xavier, whom she believed was Cassandra. Members of Professor X's X-Corporation foiled the plot, but Lilandra's marriage to Xavier was annulled, and she returned to her people to recover.[24][1]
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Lilandra's death
Lilandra again lost the throne during her recuperation from Cassandra Nova's attack when a group of D'ken loyalists arranged for her mad brother to emerge from his coma after years of inactivity. None expected the turn of events that followed, however, as Deathbird's newly recognized mutant human husband Vulcan killed D'ken and claimed the throne by right of conquest and his new ties to the royal lineage. Lilandra was once again forced to go on the run with the Starjammers.[25]
Lilandra was slain by Darkhawk, who was possessed by a Raptor loyal to Emperor Vulcan.[5] Following her death, the Shi'ar Empire used her genetic material and combined it with Xavier's to birth their daughter, a mutant/Shi'ar hybrid who took the name Xandra,[2] and later succeeded her mother as Majestrix.[26]
Return[]
During the rise of the mutant nation of Krakoa, Xavier secretly had the Five create an egg containing Lilandra's resurrected body, but refrained from hatching it and stored the egg inside of Utopia.[6] That was until Xandra's life was being threatened by the rebellious Secret Alliance, forcing Xavier to escape from the Graymalkin Prison and properly resurrect Lilandra to help their daughter.[27]
He managed to retrieve the egg, and with the help of Sage and John Wraith he escaped from the X-Men, who were now after him due to the crimes he had committed. They arrived to the Mad Thinker's Toybox 27 in Colonia Doctores where Xavier finally hatched the Krakoan egg, allowing Lilandra to walk on the land of the living once again. He embraced his lover and used his telepathy to update Lilandra's mind on the current events. Learning of their daughter and that she was in danger, Lilandra agreed to help rescue Xandra, and together the couple boarded one of the Toybox's VTOL vehicles to go to their next destination, while still on the run from the X-Men.[6]
Lilandra and Xavier arrived to Reynisfjara, Iceland where a couple of Shi'ar ships were stationed, and inside a Apocalypse-Class Behemoth Lilandra began performing a brain surgery on Xavier to remove a dangerous tumor due to him being an Avian. As Cyclops' X-Men were about to track them down, Lilandra activated a Shi'ar Dreadnought to lift off as a distraction to buy her more time. After the Dreadnought was destroyed by Magik, the Behemoth soon lifted as well, and as she was about to attack again using a giant demon, Wraith came to the couple's aid riding a mecha. Both giants destroyed each other, while Lilandra was able to successfully remove the tumor from Xavier, which reverted his personality and powers to normal.
Cyclops, determined to bring Xavier to justice, landed on the ship thanks to Magik's teleportation, but as he was about to damage it, he was confronted by Xavier's astral form who revealed to him that he hadn't actually committed any atrocity and made himself appear like a monster to unify human and mutantkind in hating him. Cyclops was then shot down by Storm's lightning, allowing the couple to finally leave Earth safely. However, Xavier refused to leave his students in such circumstances and landed back to Iceland to properly depart with them. Once he bid his X-Men farewell, Xavier and Lilandra finally left Earth to go save Xandra.[28]
Lilandra and Charles quickly made their way to Chandilar, finding it taken completely over by the Secret Alliance. They arrived to the planet's sky slums where the Alliance's leader, the newly crowned Electron, planned to conduct a public execution of Xandra and Deathbird. Xavier prevent that from occurring by using his powers to mentally freeze everyone present in place. The Warstars were the only ones unaffected and attempted to kill the intruders. Lilandra quickly freed Deathbird and the two sister managed to destroy them.
Xavier then brainwashed Hobgoblin into believing he was the former Majestrix so Deathbird would take him to distract the Alliance, allowing Xavier and Lilandra to take Xandra with them on their ship. As planned, the Alliance went after Deathbird's ship, giving the family of three the chance to escape without being detected. Lilandra and Xavier comforted their daughter, and assured her that they would eventually take the empire back by assembling a team of fellow exiles to help them out.[29]Attributes
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Powers
- Superhuman Strength: As a Shi'ar, Lilandra possesses enough strength to lift 1 ton in Earth-like gravity.[30]
- Superhuman Stamina: As a Shi'ar, Lilandra possesses 20 times greater stamina than a human.[30]
- Telepathy: Lilandra possesses limited telepathic abilities (especially with Professor Charles Xavier, but it is unclear if this was intrinsic or due to her affiliation and psychic bond with Prof. Xavier's telepathy) whose extent has yet to be clearly defined.[30]
Abilities
- Leadership & Political Aptitude: Lilandra is an experienced leader and politician. She was highly trained in warfare tactics and sword fighting and had exceptional abilities in diplomacy, mediating, and governing.[30]
- Markswoman: She is adept at handling Shi'ar energy weapons. She was trained in the use of most Shi'ar weaponry.[30]
- Hand-to-hand Combatant: She was an excellent hand-to-hand combatant.[30]
- Aviation: She is also an expert aircraft flier (of at least Shi'ar ships) because she was once a Grand Admiral of the Shi'ar Imperial Fleet.[31]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
Transportation
See Also
- 160 appearance(s) of Lilandra Neramani (Earth-616)
- 12 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Lilandra Neramani (Earth-616)
- 22 minor appearance(s) of Lilandra Neramani (Earth-616)
- 52 mention(s) of Lilandra Neramani (Earth-616)
- 8 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Lilandra Neramani (Earth-616)
- 1 invocation(s) of Lilandra Neramani (Earth-616)
- 72 image(s) of Lilandra Neramani (Earth-616)
- 9 quotation(s) by or about Lilandra Neramani (Earth-616)
- 1 victim(s) killed by Lilandra Neramani (Earth-616)
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Lilandra Neramani (Earth-616)
Links and References
- Lilandra Neramani on Marvel.com
- Lilandra Neramani on Wikipedia.org
- Lilandra Neramani at Uncanny X-Men.net
- Marvel Directory
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 New X-Men #133
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mr. and Mrs. X #3
- ↑ Deathbird says "I am of the Aerie, the royal nest of Shi'ar" in Uncanny X-Men #157. This suggests that Aerie might be the capital building or even some section of that building (royal family creche?).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Uncanny X-Men #203
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 War of Kings #4
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 X-Force (Vol. 7) #9
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #4
- ↑ Classic X-Men #14
- ↑ X-Men #107
- ↑ X-Men #107–109
- ↑ X-Men #110–114
- ↑ X-Men #137
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #162
- ↑ Fantastic Four #262
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #200
- ↑ X-Men: Spotlight on...Starjammers #1
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #275–277
- ↑ Operation Galactic Storm crossover.
- ↑ X-Men Unlimited #5
- ↑ Imperial Guard #1
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #341
- ↑ Inhumans (Vol. 3) #4
- ↑ Maximum Security crossover.
- ↑ New X-Men #122–126
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #486
- ↑ New Mutants (Vol. 4) #2
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 6) #11
- ↑ X-Manhunt Omega #1
- ↑ Imperial War: Exiles #1
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 30.6 X-Men: Phoenix Force Handbook #1
- ↑ X-Men #105
- ↑ X-Men: Phoenix Force Handbook #1
- ↑ X-Men: Phoenix Force Handbook Vol 1 1