SOUL SURVIVORS

Classification: Extraterrestrial (Deonists race)

Location/Base of Operations: Currently unknown;
    formerly the Doomsday Star (aka Templeworld);
    formerly the planet Deo, fifth from the star Denebola, in the Milky Way Galaxy

Known Members: K'Rill, N'Gll

Affiliations: Odin, One Above All, and numerous other former objects of worship

Enemies: Odin, Soul-Eater/K'Rill, Recorder#211, Sif, Thor, Warriors Three (Fandrall, Hogun, Volstagg);
    an unnamed armada composed of a union of warriors from multiple races, including the Aakon, Badoon, Kree, and Skrulls.

First Appearance: Thor I#261 (July, 1977)

Powers/Abilities: The Soul Survivors have access to immense quantities of advanced technology. Their require the power of a virtually omnipotent being to maintain their system. In addition to the external defenses of their world, the Doomsday Star, they have access to powerful suits of armor, various war weapons, and seemingly limitless automated defense mechanisms.

Traits: The Soul Survivors live for the worship of god-like beings. Their worship includes enslaving these beings and siphoning their power, to provide the energy to operate and defend their world. They drain their god's power until they exhaust it and it dies. They then seek out a new god to replace their old one, and repeat the process.

History: (Thor I#262(fb)) - The Deonists originally ruled a confederation of planets, of which Templeworld was was the most prominent. It was known as Templeworld for it was there that the greatest treasures of the confederation were held. Their greatest treasure was an immensely powerful being known as the One Above All. They worshipped him as their god, and he willingly supplied the energy necessary to sustain their world's fragile biosphere in exchange for feeding off the psionic energy generated by the Deonists' worship.

 

When a powerful space armada attacked their system, all of the worlds except Templeworld fell before them. Their god repulsed the invaders, but at the cost of its own life. With its last energy, it erected a wall over Templeworld to protect them from further invaders. Fearing for both their future defense, and the survival of their planet's biosphere, the surviving Deonists, calling themselves the Soul Survivors, captured another being of great power. They used his energy to sustain their world (now known as the Doomsday Star) until he died after exhausting his energy. They repeated the practice for an unknown length of time.

 

(Thor I#261-263) - When they captured the Asgardian God Odin (who was captured in mid-transit between worlds), his son Thor and several other Norse gods journeyed to find him. Initially, the defenses, powered by the Odinforce, succeeded in capturing the majority of the group. However, the immense energy drain apparently pushed Odin past his limits, and he died soon after. Thor managed to break his restraints, which were no longer receiving renewed power from Odin. Thor broke his allies free as well, and they overcame the less powerful defenses. When confronted by the group of powerful gods, one of the Deonists, K'rll, entered the "spirit mold" and animated a construct of psionic energy empowered by the last stored portions of Odin's life force. Thor and his allies managed to conquer the construct and free Odin. Without a godly life force to sustain it, the Doomsday Star became uninhabitable and the Soul Survivors were forced to evacuate it.

This was not their end, however...
Soul-Eater.

Comments: Created by Len Wein and Walt Simonson.

This is one of my favorite storylines in Thor, right up there with Simonson's run about 100 issues later. The fact that Gruenwald picked up on this storyline and ran with it nearly 15 years later escalates it to a whole new level of cool (in that nerdy Marvel Zombie sort of way).

Clarifications:
No known connection to:

The planetary wall should not be confused for:

The One Above All has no known connections to:

K'Rill and N'Gll were the only two named members of the Soul Survivors, so it may be that they were the leaders. N'Gll was more passive and less desiring of conflict. K'Rill was much more of the obsessive-compulsive type. He was unwilling to give up, and chose to exhaust their remaining stored Odinpower in an effort to subdue or kill the Asgardians, rather than cut their losses and start anew. Once they were completely defeated, N'Gll accepted this, while K'Rill wept in front of the statue of one of their gods, clutching the now useless energy siphon in his hand.

 

 

 

 

 

The Doomsday Star, formerly known as Templeworld, is the planet Deo. It served as the religious center of the Deonists confederation, and the home to the One Above All. It was the only world in the confederation to survive the onslaught, but it occurred at the expense of their god's life. With the last of its energies, it provided a continual defense around the planet. The northern pole was protected by perpetual meteor showers, while the southern pole blocked by seething stellar maelstroms. Between these two defenses, the middle was entirely surrounded and covered by an immense wall, which proved virtually impregnable. As the Deonists began to run through a series of "gods", Templeworld became more popularly known as the Doomsday Star.

Even calling on his full power, neither Thor nor any of the Asgardians could breech these defenses. However, the Soul Survivors themselves teleported them to the planet's surface, hoping to use them as power sources as well. The surface of the Doomsday Star was not without its defenses. The Deonists themselves wore powerful suits of armor. They used energy cannons and rode war wagons--all of their weapons were similarly powered by the life force of their god. While tapping the power of a virtually omnipotent god, the defenses of the Doomsday Star were exceedingly formidable. However, maintaining such a level of power would quickly drain their gods' resources. With the death of their god, their power would rapidly fall to much lower levels.

 

 

 

The One Above All is of unknown origin (You can make up whatever you like. I'd guess he could be a Celestial, who got tired of all the judging, etc. and decided to settle down). It dwelled on Templeworld, and it was immensely powerful, and provided lifegiving energies to several planets for an unknown length of time. It eventually sacrificed its life to provide for long term defenses for Templeworld. While the One Above All gave his power willingly, all other "gods" of the Soul Survivors were captured and used against their wills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Spirit Mold was a device who allowed one of the Soul Survivors to directly tap into the power of their god, and animate a powerful construct , usually for combat purposes. This form was directly linked to the power of their god, as were all other weapons and devices on the Doomsday Star. The Spirit Mold, animated by R'Kill went on to become the Soul-Eater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

images: (without ads)

Other appearances:
Thor I#262-263 (August-September, 1977) - Len Wein (writer/editor), Walt Simonson (pencils), Tony DeZuniga (inks)

Last updated: 11/07/06

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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