Marvel Database
Register
Advertisement

Quote1 For the greater good of the empire, beloved -- sacrifices must be made! Quote2
Lilandra[src]

History

Princess-Majestrix Lilandra Neramani was a member of the royal family of the Shi'ar Empire, which was governed by the extraterrestrial Shi'ar race and controlled all known inhabited planets in the galaxy in which the Shi'ar dwelled. Lilandra was born on the world called the Aerie, the planet on which the Shi'ar race originated. The Empire was ruled from an artificial planet called Chandilar, the Imperial Throneworld.[citation needed]

The eldest heir to the Shi'ar throne was Lilandra's older sister, known as Deathbird. However, after murdering her father and one of her sisters, Deathbird was denied her birthright to be heir to the throne, and her younger brother D'ken became emperor instead. For crimes against the state, Deathbird was exiled into space.[6]

Lilandra, D'ken's younger sister, served as Grand Admiral of the Imperial Guard, the legion of superhuman champions who enforce Shi'ar law throughout the empire. D'ken was insane, and Lilandra learned that he intended to make use of the incredible power trapped within the M'kraan Crystal.[7]

The insane D'ken was blind to the true danger that the Crystal presented, and believed he could control its unleashed power and use it for his own ends. Lilandra opposed his plans in the Shi'ar High Council, and D'ken had her arrested, he then had word leaked that she had tried to kill D'ken and usurp the throne. Civil war broke out in the empire as a result. D'ken had Lilandra held captive aboard the imperial flagship before she was to be executed, but Lilandra escaped in a small starship.[8][7]

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.[9]

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.[10]

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.[11]

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.[12] 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.[13]

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.[14]

Lilandra Neramani (Earth-616) from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Vol 2 7 0001

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.[15]

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.[16]

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.[17]

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.[18]

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.[19][20]

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.[21]

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.[22]

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.[23][1]

Lilandra Neramani (Earth-616) and Kallark (Earth-616) from War of Kings Vol 1 4 001

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.[24]

Lilandra was slain by Darkhawk, who was possessed by a Raptor loyal to Emperor Vulcan.[5]

Attributes

Power Grid[27]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Experienced Fighter:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/None:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (800 lbs-25 ton):Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Learned

Powers

  • Superhuman Strength: As a Shi'ar, Lilandra possesses enough strength to lift 1 ton in Earth-like gravity.[25]
  • Superhuman Stamina: As a Shi'ar, Lilandra possesses 20 times greater stamina than a human.[25]
  • 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.[25]

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.[25]
  • Markswoman: She is adept at handling Shi'ar energy weapons. She was trained in the use of most Shi'ar weaponry.[25]
  • Hand-to-hand Combatant: She was an excellent hand-to-hand combatant.[25]
  • 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.[7]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Often wore a form-fitting battle armor and carried an energy sword. As Majestrix, Lilandra carried a multi-pronged staff, but it was unclear if this staff was a weapon or purely ornamental.[25]

Weapons

Various Shi'ar energy weapons and laser swords.

Transportation

Shi'ar starships, intergalactic-range Stargates, formerly Starjammer.

See Also

Links and References

References

Advertisement