History
The Mekkans are a race of semi-humanoid sentient robots who originated on Maarin, the second planet from the sun in the Kirthom System of the Milky Way galaxy. Their creators were the Maarin,[1] an organic race of humanoids who appeared outwardly identical to pale-skinned humans from Earth. Once their technology had become sufficiently advanced, the Maarin chose to use it to create mechanical servants for themselves. The first of these "Mekkans" that they created was Torgo but, after building him, they modified their design so that all later Mekkans would be smaller than him.[2]
The Maarin built a facility (later called the Tower of Life by the Mekkans) that would generate and broadcast the energy that the Mekkans needed to function. The Maarin also instilled in their creations a primal directive that prevented them from taking any human life.[2]
When these "metallics" proved to be very efficient, the Maarin decided to extend their "mekkanization" to encompass their entire world. In time, all of their planet's surface was overlaid with metal, artificial plants had been developed and all true plant-life had been allowed to die off. Unfortunately, this proved to be a fatal mistake because these artificial plants were especially vulnerable to a certain type of spore-virus that drifted in from space. When oxidized by those plants into the atmosphere, this alien virus infected and killed the entire Maarin population. It was Torgo who buried the last of the dead and renamed the planet Mekka.[2]
At some point, Torgo was altered by electronic means so that he alone could disobey the primal directive and take a human life.[2]
For centuries, the Mekkans lived their lives in tranquil sterility, never birthing or dying. During this period, the planet's atmosphere mostly cleansed itself of the virus until it was no longer lethal to organic beings.[2]
In recent years, Torgo was abducted by Skrull slavers and brought to the planet Kral IV where he was sold to a Kralian known as Lippy Louie who used him as a gladiator in the Great Games.[3] Like all the other enslaved aliens, Torgo was forced to fight and kill in the arena because those Skrulls possessed a Sonic Disruptor that could be used to destroy the home planets of any slaves who rebelled.[4] Eventually, Torgo was scheduled to face Ben Grimm who had recently been abducted from Earth. However, during their battle, there was a moment when Grimm could have killed Torgo but chose not to do so. As a result, when Torgo later managed to turn the tables on Grimm, he refused to murder someone who had shown him mercy. Angered by this defiance, the Skrulls prepared to destroy both of their home planets but were prevented from doing so by the arrival of Crystal, one of three of Grimm's Fantastic Four teammates who had come to Kral IV to rescue their kidnapped friend, who hurled shock waves that destroyed the Sonic Disruptor. With the safety of their home planets no longer threatened, Torgo freed the other enslaved gladiators and led a rebellion against their Skrull masters.[5]
The revolt that Torgo led against the Skrulls succeeded and he returned home to Mekka where he was hailed as a hero and named "First among equals." Accordingly, his word was law as long as it did not violate their primal directive.[6]
Some months later, Ben Grimm and Reed Richards were sent by the High Evolutionary to a planet to see if it was one whose inhabitants would be willing to sacrifice themselves to the cosmic hunger of Galactus in place of Counter-Earth. After arriving on the planet, the duo learned that it was called Mekka and were soon greeted by Torgo who revealed that he was his planet's leader. After Grimm and Richards revealed why they had come, Torgo denied their request and, when they were preparing to leave, he ordered that they be detained so that they could not reveal Mekka's location to Galactus. The two Earthlings were soon subdued by Torgo and some other Mekkans, restrained by elektro-clamps and sentenced by Torgo to face the Ultimate Resolution.[6]
After revealing the origin of his race, Torgo then left to go to the Tower of Life to make preparations for the Ultimate Resolution that could transform the humans into true Mekkans. In his absence, the Earthlings freed themselves and hurried to the Tower of Life. While Grimm battled Torgo, Richards managed to reach the lever that controlled the planetary energy levels and pulled it, turning off the entire Mekkan race. Unwilling to leave them like that or to sacrifice their planet to save Counter-Earth, Grimm turned the power back on and prepared to resume his battle with the revived Torgo, However, Torgo had been able to sense their deeds even while he had been inanimate and, feeling shame that he had misjudged them, was now willing to accept their word that they would keep Mekka's location a secret.[2]
Wanting to cause universe-wide chaos, the Reckoning provided the Mekkans with the Watchers' technology to attack other alien civilizations. The Mekkans went to attack the Kree/Skrull Alliance. Fortunately, the Human Torch and his cosmic allies arrived to the Alliance's rescue, repelling the Mekkans.[7]Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Superhuman strength
- Superhuman durability
- Universal Translation: All Mekkans can speak any verbal or mental language once they have heard a mere syllable of it.[6]
Abilities
- Mekkans can communicate with each other by using high-frequency sounds that humans cannot hear[2]
Weaknesses
- All Mekkans on Mekka are powered by energy broadcast to them from the Tower of Life and will become inanimate whenever that power is turned off.
- Due to a primal directive instilled in them by their creators, no Mekkan (except Torgo) is able to terminate the life of any human. Torgo is now able to disobey this primal directive only because he was later altered by electronic means to have that capability.
Habitat
Habitat
Gravity
Atmosphere
Population
Miscellaneous
Type of Government
Level of Technology
Cultural Traits
Representatives
Notes
- Although Torgo's skin is blue-black, every other Mekkan that has been depicted so far has had skin that was silver instead.
- The name of Torgo's home planet was listed as "Maarin" on a Skrull Slave Price List that was depicted in Fantastic Four #91 but was revealed to be "Mekka" in Fantastic Four #173, the same issue which established that "Mekkans" was the name of his race.
- So far, Torgo is the only Mekkan who has been shown being active in locations that are not on Mekka. Whether he is the only Mekkan who has ever left his home planet or the only one who is capable of doing so has not been established.
- The fact that Torgo continued to function while he was on Kral IV has some interesting implications. Either the energy broadcast by the Tower of Life was able to reach him even when he was more than 2 million light-years away from Mekka or he possessed some type of internal energy source, one capable of keeping him supplied with power even when he wasn't on Mekka. Of course, if he did have an internal power generator, then why would he have been affected when the power from the Tower of Life was turned off?
See Also
- 26 appearance(s) of Mekkans
- 2 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Mekkans
- 6 minor appearance(s) of Mekkans
- 3 image(s) of Mekkans
- 4 representative(s) of Mekkans