History
The events of Raker's past remain ambiguous. It was established that he was a high ranking Cardinal of the mighty Universal Church of Truth. The Cardinals were more than just religious officials, they acted as a highly skilled strike force for to the Church. While attempting to prevent the collapse of a fissure anomaly in the fabric of reality, the Guardians of the Galaxy destroyed a Templeship belonging to the Church of Truth. The Guardians' act was considered blasphemous by the Matriarch. She summoned Raker and the Cardinals to mete out retribution and penance, and to verify the identity of one of the Guardians members.
Later on Binary Stasis Twelve Dyson Sphere, an artificial habitat shell with a caged sun at its heart. Raker and the Cardinal engaged the Guardians in combat. Raker and his religious comrades revealed the power of the belief-batter (a fundamental power of the mind allowing them to achieve all that they believed), allowing them to withstand any form of assault that the Guardians unleashed upon them. While in a direct struggle with Adam Warlock, Raker exclaimed that Warlock's new powers were nothing more than malevolent witchcraft, before releasing a ferocious blast of energy from his midsection dispelling the threat of the golden hero. Another Cardinal revealed that the power of belief could also regenerate severed limbs, during his confrontation with Drax the Destroyer. At the height of this battle two of Raker's Cardinal was engulfed by the biomass of the Dyson Sphere. All fifty-two hundred of the sphere's inhabitants had been fused into one dreadful biomass. Raker believed Warlock to be the culprit behind the demonic biomass that consumed his faithful brethren. Raker assaulted Star-Lord as a ploy to distract Warlock so that he could stab him and get the DNA evidence needed to reveal if the Matriarch's assumption was correct.
Raker reported that the tissue samples were positive and it was truly Warlock in the presence of the Guardians, although this information created a new query: Just who was within the cocoon within the Church?[citation needed]
Seeking their new messiah which had been captured within the body of the telepath Moondragon, Raker and several high members of the Universal Church of Truth, stormed the Guardians base of Knowhere and abducted Moondragon and Cynosure of the Luminals. They made their escape to the surface of Orison, a planet converted to their shining faith eight cycles ago. Their plan was to use the prayers of the planet's inhabitants to energize the belief fonts, so that they could release their messiah from Moondragon's body. The Guardians led a rescue effort to free Moondragon and Cynosure, which led to Raker, while protecting the Matriarch, losing his life while engaged in battle with Drax the Destroyer.[1]Attributes
Powers
- Faith Empowerment: As a member of the Universal Church of Truth, Raker possessed the power to access the belief-battery, which allowed Raker to do anything that he believed he could do.[2] This granted him:
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Stamina
- Superhuman Reflexes
- Superhuman Durability
- Energy Projection: Raker could also project powerful bolts of force capable of stunning Adam Warlock from his hands or chest[2]
- Flight
- Teleportation: Riker could teleport over galactic distances.[2]
- Energy Construct Creation: Riker could generate energy blades that turned his small dagger into a massive sword.[2]
See Also
Links and References
- Raker on Marvel.com