PRINCE DEZAN

Real Name: Dezan

Identity/Class: Extra-terrestrial (Skrull) technology user

Occupation: Outcast

Group Membership: Skrull Royal Family (legal heir to the throne)

Affiliations: Avengers (Black Knight/Dane Whitman, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Captain Marvel/Monica Rambeau, Hercules/Heracles, Starfox/Eros, Wasp/Janet Van Dyne), Baryn, Floyd Donahue, "Malugin", Raksor;
   former ally of Myrn and Zabyk

Enemies: Most of the Skrull Empire, the Kree, Zabyk

Known Relatives: Emperor Dorrek VII (older brother, deceased), Empress R'Klll (sister-in-law, deceased), Princess Anelle (niece, deceased), Dorrek VIII (Hulkling, aka Theodore "Teddy" Altman, great-nephew), William "Billy" Kaplan-Altman (Wiccan, great-nephew-in-law), S'Byll, Talos (distant relatives), Dorrek I (ancestor, deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
   formerly Klarr (prison planet); Kral IV

 

First Appearance: Avengers Annual#14 (1985)

Powers/Abilities: Like all Skrulls throughout the universe, Prince Dezan possesses the ability to change his shape and form, to anything he may desire; he also has a long lifespan as other Skrulls-- a Skrull can be around 210 years old. Unlike most other Skrulls, Prince Dezan is a non-militaristic Skrull, wanting peace instead of war.

 

Height: Variable; (natural form) 6' (by approximation)
Weight: Variable; (natural form) 165 lbs. (by estimation)
Eyes: Variable; (nartual form) blue (see comments)
Hair: Variable; (natural form) green

 

History:
(Avengers Annual#14 (fb) - BTS) - Dezan was born as the younger brother of the later emperor of the Skrullian empire, Dorrek.

(Avengers Annual#14 (fb)) - Prince Dezan was inseparable from his friends Zabyk and Myrn, all three brash youths, and together they plotted ways to change the flaws they perceived in the Skrull Imperial society. Eventually Zabyk and Dezan's activities drew public notice, around the same time that the pair fell out. Prince Dezan was incarcerated on the prison planet Klarr for his radical ties, his face was hidden in an inhibitor mask which also made sure his shape-changing powers were held in check. Zabyk escaped to the nether reaches of the galaxy and eventually formed a radical organization, while Myrn, whose part in Dezan and Zabyk's activities remained secret, became disillusioned and threw himself into study, becoming one of the Skrull Empire's greatest scientists.

(Fantastic Four I#257 - BTS) - After Galactus came to the "throneworld", killing Empress R'Klll and Princess Anelle, Prince Dezan was now believed to be the only living member of the original royal family (see comments), but since he was still considered a traitor to the Skrullian race, he wasn't named as the new emperor.

(Avengers Annual#14 (fb)) - Stationed on an orbiting power asteroid, Myrn had witnessed throneworld's destruction and been driven made. Chance reunited him with his old friend Zabyk when the latter's forces seized control of the asteroid, and hearing Zabyk's plans to use seize control of and re-shape the currently fragmented and disorganized Skrull Empire, Myrn informed his compatriot that he had a design for an ultimate weapon they could use to achieve this goal. However, the Skrull warrior Raksor was nearby, and overheard their entire discussion. The presence of Zabyk's guards meant Raksor could not risk trying to stop the conspirators then and there, and he was forced to flee the asteroid before he could be discovered. Aware he needed allies to stop the plotters, Raksor realized that any full-frontal assault on the asteroid could be held off by its defenses long enough for Myrn's weapon to be activated, and the best chance of re-entering the asteroid in time was through deception; believing that Dezan was the one Skrull who might know how to deal with Zabyk and Myrn, Raksor decided to break the imprisoned prince out of Klarr.

(Avengers Annual#14) - Raksor and two Skrull warrior allies, Baryn and an unidentified Skrull ("Malugin"), raided Klarr to free Prince Dezan. Raksor's two allies were killed in the rescue operation, but Raksor managed to free the prince.

(Avengers Annual#14 - BTS) - Dezan believed that Zabyk would be too power-hungry to reason with, but hoped he might be able to talk sense into Myrn. Hoping that Zabyk's people would be maintaining the facade of all being normal on the power asteroid until their weapon was ready, Raksor took Dezan to Kral IV, a Skrullian colony whose inhabitants had taken forms resembling human beings from the 1930s, and there they secured passage on the Big Casino, a gigantic interstellar gambling establishment owned by Floyd Donahue, which was scheduled to visit the power asteroid for supplies.

(Avengers Annual#14) - When Major Syrro and the Avengers arrived at Kral IV, Donahue introduced them to Prince Dezan and Raksor, who told them the reason why he had freed the infamous prince, and enlisted their aid against Zabyk and Myrn. Using the ruse of delivering power stones for recharging, Dezan and the Avengers boarded the asteroid disguised as Kralian gangsters, but their deception was swiftly uncovered, forcing them to battle their way out from the docking bay and across the complex searching for Zabyk and Myrn. En route they encountered another group of Earth heroes, the Fantastic Four, who had been coincidentally in the area and boarded the asteroid unaware of the conspirators' plans. However, these intrusions had pushed Zabyk into action; informed by Myrn that his Hyper-Wave Bomb was ready, Zabyk fatally wounded his old friend to ensure he did not regain his sanity and turn against him, then contacted the invaders over a viewscreen, gloating that they had come too late. Revealing his identity to Zabyk, Dezan tried to reason with him, but Zabyk refused to listen and detonated the bomb. Just before he did so, Dezan decided he wanted to die with his true face, and resumed his real form. However, Myrn had not told Zabyk the Hyper-Wave Bomb's true purpose; instead of killing those in the detonation area, it instead stabilized the Deviant-genetic code of all Skrulls everywhere, stripping them of their shapeshifting powers. Now trapped in an armor that had failed to shield him from the bomb's effects, Zabyk was defeated, while Dezan was now free to pursue the goal of convincing his people to embrace liberty and peace.

(Avengers Annual#14 - BTS) - Before the Avengers set off back to Earth, a curious Captain America had a private chat with Dezan, and asked why he had been considered terrible a threat to the Skrull Empire. Dezan explained that he had wanted to reverse millennia of warfare and subjugation, but in the Skrull's militaristic regime, anybody wanting peace was a traitor to the cause.

 

(Guardians of the Galaxy Annual III#1 (fb) - BTS) - Dezan took refuge in the Kral system, and when the Skrull High Command eventually destroyed the system by turning its sun into a supernova he was among the comparatively small number of Kral system residents to evacuate in time.

 

Comments: Created by Roger Stern, John Byrne, and Kyle Baker.

   At the time of Dezan's appearance, and even the original publication of this profile, Dezan was the only surviving member of the Skrull Royal Family; however, it was revealed a few years later that his niece Anelle had a half-Kree son, Dorrek VIII, who as of this update has ascended the throne to rule both Kree and Skrull empires. - Loki

   Several people have written me to tell me that Dezan also appears in F4 An19. It's worth a mention, I guess, but his appearances in F4 An19 are panel for panel, image for image, word for word duplicates of those from AvAn14, so it's almost like a reprint.
   That's true, but there are some fascinating differences, considering that the penciler in both instances is John Byrne, but that the issues have different inkers, and more importantly different colorists. And these differences are very noticeable for Dezan:


Is his hair red (Avengers) or black (FF)? Is his suit purple or gray? Is that bow-tie striped or not?


The suit that was purple is now blue, while the gray one is now purple.


Both suits are purple, but now he's wearing different colored gloves.



Blue eyes and channeling the Joker, or red eyes and a less insane grin?

   For my money, I prefer the blue eyes being his natural color - it just adds to the human resemblance that made him an outcast in Skrull society. - Loki

   I always loved the Skrulls, and "The Man In The Iron Mask" so what better than to do a "The Skrull In The Iron Mask"...

by The Beetle ...original images by Proto-Man, upgraded images by Loki

CLARIFICATIONS:
Prince Dezan should not be confused with:

images: (without ads)
Avengers Annual I#14, p39, pan2 (true form)
Avengers Annual I#14, p37, pan5 (true face)
Avengers Annual I#14, p3, pan1 (wearing inhibitor mask)
Avengers Annual I#14, p3, pan2 (in prison inhibitor restraints)
Avengers Annual I#14, p29, pan2 (Kral gangster disguise)
Avengers Annual I#14, p32, pan1 (red hair, purple suit)
Fantastic Four Annual I#19, p34, pan1 (black hair, gray suit)
Avengers Annual I#14, p37, pan5 (blue suit, all green eyes)
Fantastic Four Annual I#19, p37, pan5 (purple suit, white in the eyes)
Avengers Annual I#14, p39, pan2 (purple gloves, blue tie)
Fantastic Four Annual I#19, p39, pan2 (white gloves, striped tie)
Avengers Annual I#14, p39, pan4 (Why so serious?, blue eyes)
Fantastic Four Annual I#19, p39, pan4 (friendly grin, pink eyes) 

Appearances:
Avengers Annual#14 (1985) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Kyle Baker (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Fantastic Four Annual#19 (1985) - John Byrne (writer/artist), Michael Carlin (editor)

First Posted: 11/09/2002
Last updated: 03/05/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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