The FLOCKThe FLOCK
Classification: Draconiform extraterrestrial race
Location/Base of Operations: Unidentified/unseen home planet in unrevealed star system and galaxy
Known Members: Lockheed;
"Bailiff," Casemaker & daughter (Lockheed's fiancée), Sacred Arbitrator, guards, pilot & crew;
possibly Lockheed's wife/spouse/girlfriend; even if she is
not one of the Flock, their offspring would be hybrid/half Flock
possibly others (speculative, see comments)
Affiliations: The Flock are highly loyal to one another
Enemies: The Brood
First Appearance: (Lockheed) Uncanny X-Men I#166 (1983);
(Flock race) Excalibur I#40 (August, 1991)
Powers/Abilities: The Flock are draconiform creatures, presumably reptilian in nature.
Slightly larger than a terrestrial house cat, they have longer hind legs and shorter forelimbs (arms), and they both stand on their hind legs and walk as quadrupeds.
Additionally, they have wings that grant them the ability of flight (see comments), despite relatively small wings in comparison with
their body mass (although this varies significantly amongst
appearances).
Lockheed can carry aloft some weight, apparently up to his own body weight, in his mouth.
Their leathery, somewhat scalloped wings arise
dorsomedially from their shoulders, perhaps articulating with scapulae
(shoulder blades) and/or clavicles (collarbones).
They have extended, beak-like
jaws, typically with some prognathism (mandible/lower jaw longer than
maxilla/upper jaw), varying amongst members (and between appearances of
the same character).
They do have at least a few teeth, notably one large tooth on either side of the mandible, although this seems to vary significantly between appearances (most likely due to artistic license), sometimes appearing as teeth vs. sharp projections from the beak/jaw.
They have paired horns of various size and orientation (varying between appearances) arising from the caudodorsal aspect of their craniums.
They have scutes on their underbelly extending from neck to tail (although some images show more human-like pectorals with the scutes starting caudal/inferior to that). The scutes have been occasionally shown as a light yellow color, but are most commonly similarly colored to the rest of the body.
The Flock, presumably (like Lockheed), possess five lungs (this may mean that each of the five lungs branches directly off trachea, as opposed to terrestrial mammals, who have two lungs branching off their trachea's mainstem bronchi, with but then a number of bronchi and lung lobes branching off from the mainstem bronchi).
The Flock are empaths, allowing
them to sense the emotions of others without being able and/or having
to communicate verbally.
Lockheed's mind is capable of
resisting telepathic probes from even the most powerful telepaths (such
as Charles Xavier); it is unrevealed whether the rest of the Flock's
minds are similarly resistant to telepathic probes.
They use an astral space ship
into which they can project their astral selves, travel through the
astral plane to approach the regions paralleling other worlds in the
physical plane, and then interact with the spirits of others they can
bring to the astral plane.
They utilize astral leg irons to restrain the astral form of a prisoner.
At least aboard their astral ship, they utilize some form of painting tech,
which appears to use a computer screen and a brush held by the user,
allowing the brush holder to almost instantly produce images from their
memories, even if these memories are from second-hand tellings.
Lockheed can breathe fire,
projecting high-temperature flames several feet from his mouth and
incinerating even the armored scales of the Brood, leaving behind only
bones. Lockheed is additionally resistant to the heat of not only the
flames he generates, but from external sources as well, enabling him to
survive immersion in molten lava.
There is no evidence to support whether the rest of
the Flock has fire-breathing capabilities and heat resistance, but
there also is not evidence to contradict it.
Traits: Founded on community, the Flock consider abandonment of the society to be a crime punishable by death.
Marriage was also sacred, and
abandoning a fiancée (and presumably a wife) was also a crime punishable
by death.
Minimalizing individuality and
communicating empathically and apparently telepathically as well, the
members of the Flock may not have had names (perhaps because they could
communicate who they were and about whom they were thinking mentally).
They have a court system with
casemakers (prosecutors) and sacred arbitrators (judges), although the
offendant (accused/defendant) serves as his own council. Offendants
could argue their case via science or art at their preference.
They do have their own language (which, when loosely translated into English appears in a rhyming from with "Old English" style (see comments).
Interestingly, their rhyming pattern involves sometimes completing a
rhyme by rhyming with what a person says before them (which means the
person starting the rhyme did not rhyme in their own speech pattern).
Most of the Flock did not wear clothing, although certain officials wore decorate head dresses and perhaps sashes or some other decorative wear around the torso.
Type: Bilaterally symmetric winged draconiform creatures (presumably reptilian)
Eyes: Two
(on head; generally solid yellow white, although sometimes a small
pupil (presumably indicating a solid white iris) is visible)
Fingers: Three (plus opposing thumb)
Toes: Three
Skin color: Varying shades of purple
Average height: Approximately 15" at the shoulder
Average weight: Approximately 20 lbs.
Other distinguishing features:
Somewhat reptilian, the Flock lack major sexual dimorphism and/or
secondary sex characteristics (which are more prominent in mammals).
It
is unrevealed whether they possess cloacae, but they don't have grossly
obvious external genitalia.
History:
(Excalibur I#40 (fb) - BTS) -
Apparently as long as far back as records report, the Flock was founded
on community, and the members of the Flock were raised to service the
Flock itself.
(Excalibur I#40 (fb) - BTS) - The insectoid alien Brood sought to feed on (and/or use as hosts) the Flock.
(Excalibur I#40 (fb) - BTS) - One of the Flock's greatest warriors -- who would later become known as Lockheed -- fought the Brood (perhaps those invading the world of the Flock or otherwise assaulting the Flock; or perhaps this only refers to his assault on Broodworld) and "reduced their ranks to near zero."
(Excalibur I#40 (fb) - BTS) - "Lockheed" was engaged to marry an unidentified female member of the Flock.
(Uncanny X-Men I#166 / Excalibur I#40 (fb) - BTS) - On Broodworld (aka Sleazeworld), "Lockheed" incinerated a number of Brood with his flame-breath, leaving behind only skeletons; and he destroyed a number of Brood eggs.
(Uncanny X-Men I#166) - After X-Man Kitty Pryde encountered
"Lockheed"'s Brood victims, she fled from a number of Brood until
"Lockheed" incinerated them as well and then befriended Kitty.
(Uncanny X-Men I#167 (fb) - BTS / Uncanny X-Men I#168 (fb) - BTS / Excalibur I#40 (fb) - BTS) - Empathically bonding with Kitty and considering her a kindred spirit and true love, "Lockheed" secretly accompanied the X-Men when they returned to Earth.
(Excalibur I#40 (fb) - BTS) - As their wedding had
been planned for the following day, the fiancée of "Lockheed" was left
standing, hurt and embarrassed at the altar.
(Uncanny X-Men I#168) - Kitty named the Flock member who came to Earth with the X-Men "Lockheed," and he was her companion and ally with the X-Men and Excalibur.
(Excalibur I#40 (fb) / Marvel Pets Handbook) - While Lockheed was receiving surgery for injuries at the hands of Dr. Doom, his astral form was transported -- via an "astral tractor beam" -- aboard a spaceship in the astral plane that carried the collective transient souls of his space-faring race.
(Excalibur I#40) - There,
Lockheed was constrained by an "astral leg iron" and placed on trial
for abandoning not only his people, but also his intended bride on
their wedding day. 
The father of his former fiancée served as the
Casemaker (prosecutor), with the Sacred Arbitrator overseeing/judging
the case.
Given the choice of defending himself with science or art, Lockheed chose painting, so he could speak from his heart. Lockheed subsequently defended his decision to leave, noting his bond with Kitty and the heroic actions of the X-Men and Excalibur. He further noted how humans revered individuality.
(Excalibur I#40 - BTS) - Meanwhile, back on Earth,
Lockheed's Excalibur teammate Rachel Summers manifested her
Phoenix-power in expressing what she would do if Dr. Doom ever attacked
her again.
(Excalibur I#40) - Sensing this Phoenix flare,
the Flock were further concerned with Lockheed's turning his back on
his own people for such beings as this.
As Lockheed related the events of the lengthy and
convoluted Cross-Time Caper, much of the Flock fell asleep despite the
protestations of the Casemaker.
However, with the pilot and crew slumbering, their astral ship began to lose power. After the Casemaker related that if their ship lost all power this far from their home planet and their physical bodies, their souls would be severed from their bodies, apparently fatally; only Lockheed, still so relatively close to his own body would survive.
Somehow escaping the astral leg iron, Lockheed
flew to the ship's controls where he compensated for "astral g-force"
and reset "stellartude" (see comments). As the pilot awakened, Lockheed returned to his trial, surprising those present when he could have escaped.
The Flock unanimously voted Lockheed guilty of the accused crimes, but the Sacred Arbitrator acted on his people's collective desire to commute his death sentence.
Lockheed was allowed
to depart but informed that upon doing so he would be forever exiled
from the Flock.
Accepting this, Lockheed's spirit returned to his body, still in critical condition.
(X-Men Gold II#30) - At a gathering at Harry's
Hideaway for the rehearsal dinner for the wedding of Kitty Pryde and
Colossus (which ended up with Kitty deciding against marriage),
Lockheed arrived and introduced Kitty to his apparent wife and two
children. 
Comments: Lockheed created by Chris Claremont, Paul Smith, and Bob Wiacek.
The Flock race created by Scott Lobdell, Dave Hoover, Harry Candelario and Tim Dzon.
Lockheed is obviously a major
character and, as May 2, 2023, he had 294 appearances. Lockheed has his
own OHotMU profiles, but this profile focuses on the Flock as a race,
and everything else Lockheed has done on his own is beyond the scope of this profile.
That being said, there may be
discussions of Lockheed's abilities in some of those appearances as
well as notations of any other abilities, traits, etc. of the Flock.
I'm not going to go through all of those, but if you are aware of
stories that define these, please let me know.
The Flock's wings and flight
I am not a specialist in physics nor in ornithology, but Lockheed's and the rest of the Flocks' wings don't seem large enough to lift them into the air. Perhaps their bone structure is lighter, perhaps the have hot air pockets or something else that allows them to otherwise fly with ease. That being said, we don't know for sure that the rest of the Flock can fly. I would ASSume they could, but I don't think they were shown to fly in their one appearance, although that one was only of their astral selves. They neither noted any such ability nor the lack of such an ability.
Perhaps they can all generate some sort of heated
air in their lungs or stomachs, and the gas is flammable, at least in
the case of Lockheed, who can ignite it. However, breathing out the
fire does not seem to inhibit his ability to stay aloft, so maybe that
theory's just a bunch of hot air.
Maybe they can generate anti-gravitons or they have some subconscious telekinesis that facilitates flight.
Fire-breathing
Lockheed can obvously breathe fire, and while I don't think we know
exactly how he can do that, we also don't know whether that ability is
native to their race. Despite any clear discussion or proof one way or
the other in their sole appearance, I would tend to think that they
cannot, which is why Lockheed was their greatest warrior.
As I mentioned above, they may be able to generate some sort of heated, flammable gas from their lungs or stomach (improving their ability to fly), which Lockheed expel and ignite at will.
Perhaps he has some organ at the back of his throat that allows him to generate and project flames.
First Appearance
Yes, Lockheed was a bit of a follow-up to the giant dragon Lockheed of Reality-5311 (which paralleled the world featured in Kitty's Fairy Tale).
And that dragon was something of a play on the X-Men's SR-71 Lockheed Blackbird jet which was based on a design from the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. The X-Men's Strato-Jet first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men I#1 (May, 1975) and was first identified as a modified SR-71 Blackbird in X-Men I#94 (August, 1975).
However, these beings and items are just the namesakes for Lockheed, and have nothing to do with the Flock.
Language
In Excalibur I#40, the "loosely-translated dragonspeak" (not to be confused with Dragonspeak voice-to-text software, which apparently got its start way back in 1975) was all rhyming prose. His translated speech also resembled Old English, with words like "afore" (for before), "shouldst" (for should), "wouldst" (for would), "hast" (for has), "can'tst" (for can't), "e'en" (for even), etc.; however, they did tend to say "you" instead "though" and "your "instead of "thy."
Lockheed's true speech/language is demonstrated here.
In the reference to an "astral leg iron" being placed on Lockheed, it was specifically noted that the language of the Flock was "loosely-translated." I think that like applies to terms like "astral g-force" and "stellartude."
We don't know what Lockheed's name was before Kitty dubbed him "Lockheed." In Excalibur I#40, the Flock's Sacred Arbitrator referred to him as "Young dragling,"
The "Sacred Arbitrator" referred to the Flock as "our age-old race" when he noted that they were founded in community, possibly indicating that they are relatively old compared to other races in the universe...or perhaps he was just noting that they had been founded on community way back in the Flock's earliest days.
Lockheed's
appearance varies tremendously between appearance, mostly due to
artistic license (compare these two images to the right and below that
of Lockheed in the main image as well as from Lockheed's earliest appearance).
It's kind of unfortunate that only story featuring the Flock had a more cartoonish sort of art than many of Lockheed's appearance and that it was really somewhat of a silly story. I try to think that the dragonspeak translation was a little faulty.
Additionally, we note a height
at shoulder, but how tall is Lockheed when standing on his back legs? Or how
tall he had over his lumbosacral region (his back legs are a lot longer than
his front legs)?
If he is 15” at his shoulders, do we think he is more like 20” (or 25”) at the
lumbosacral region when standing on all fours?
And perhaps 3’ tall when standing on his back legs?
The size of wings vary dramatically…they are crazy tiny in his first
appearance…way too small to carry him aloft unless he’s either using heated air
in his belly to make him lighter or some other property.
Looking at the cartoony
version of Locheed in Excalibur I#40, his wings look to be at least 5X the size they were
in his first appearance. I had actually forgotten how tiny Lockheed was in his earliest
appearances…
.
.
.
.
Flock or not?
Some have speculated that the green dragon (aka "Puff") is one of the Flock, but I don't think there's anything to confirm that:
green dragon - transported to Battleworld, briefly transformed into giant
size and rampaged through Japan, later located and studied by Japanese
Department of Supernatural Sciences, captured by Path of Destiny, allied with
Nao until struck by her, then burned down the Path's base
"Puff"--Uncanny X-Men#181 (Secret Wars I#12, UX181, [X-Men: Kitty Pryde:
Shadow & Flame#1 (fb)], 3-5
Puff has an OHotMU profile in Secret
Wars - Multiverse Handbook:
Similarly, we don't know for certain whether
Lockheed's mate is a member of the Flock, or just some other dragon
with which Lockheed was compatible. This is discussed further in the sub-profile for Lockheed's family.
Other stuff
While discussing the Brood, Lockheed's painting program instead showed the Sidri, whom Lockheed battled alongside Kitty in his first issue on Earth.
I can't get through this profile without saying "What the Flock?" ...so now I've done it, and it is over.
Thanks to OHotMU head writer/coordinator Mike O'Sullivan for having exhaustively read all of Kitty Pryde and Lockheed's appearances and providing a list of confirmed and potential Flock appearances; for providing the OHotMU profile on "Puff" (the green dragon); and for his knowledge and support/guidance in general!
Thanks to Loki and David Zuckerman for helping fill out the list of rhyming characters. They're the best, and they did it with zest at my behest, rather than just leaving it for the rest. We'll have a fest because they more than passed the test!
Thanks to Proto-Man
for grabbing the digitally remastered Lockhed OHotMU DE image from the
Omnibus, and thanks to Roger Ott for cleaning it up (removing the text,
entending the green box, etc.)
And thanks again to Loki for cleaning the text and redline off the Marvel Pets image and for reminding me of the original source of that image.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Flock should be distinguished from:
  The Sacred Arbitrator played the role of judge in Lockheed's trial.He wore an ornate headdress, some sort of chest/shoulder dressing, and a belt. . --Excalibur I#40 . Note: I do not think his right eye is opaque/missing a pupil. The original image in the comic was split between the pages on the spine, and his right eye was right on the spine. There are a couple other images that show him with two normal /symmetric pupils. The Sacred Arbitrator also is pictured nicely in the main image, as well as one of the images of the Casemaker. ...and the cover image below... |
  The Casemaker was the equivalent of a prosecuting attorney.He was also the father of Lockheed's former fiancée. He generally stood and/or walked with a cane. --Excalibur I#40 Note: I would think that being the father of the woman Lockheed left waiting at the altar would be a conflict of interest, but apparently not in the case of the Flock. He certainly wished to punish Lockheed, but he conceded to his daughter's wishes to withdraw an objection to Lockheed's testimony. |
  She was the daughter of the Casemaker, who also referred to her as "love-life."She was engaged to marry the young dragling that would later become known as Lockheed, but he instead followed Kitty Pryde to Earth. He apparently had no way to contact her, and she was left waiting at the altar. Her spirit was aboard the Flock's Astral Ship when they captured Lockheed's astral spirit and put him on trial for abandoning both her and his people in general. Despite having been rejected by Lockheed, she continued to look at him with undying affection, and when her father objected to Lockheed's discussion of friendship amongst humanity, she asked her father to let it go as he spoke with such passion and obvious pride. Having a soft spot for his daughter, the Casemaker conceded. After Lockheed was found guilty but his sentence commuted, as he prepared to accept permanent exile and depart, his former fiancée tearfully told him that she harbored him no ill feelings and that she would have been proud to be his wife. --Excalibur I#40 Note: She is the confirmation that there are females among the Flock, and she is the only confirmed female shown. More distant full body images are shown twice in the main profile. |
 .. . . . . Although not identified in the story, this member of the Flock played the role of the bailiff, calling out that court was in session and stating the accused's crimes. . --Excalibur I#40 |
 .. . . . . . . . . . They wear helmets with large anterior-to-posterior running crests, chest bands, bracelets, and knee protectors, and they wield some some of pole arm weapons (similar to a voulge). A pair (at least) of guards were present on the astral ship, and they placed the "astral leg irons" on Lockheed. . --Excalibur I#40 . Note: They are also seen in the astral leg iron(s) sub-profile image. |
   The
pilot (and presumably the co-pilot) of the astral ship fell asleep when
Lockheed related the lengthy Cross-Time Caper adventures, and the ship
nearly lost power, which would have fatally severed the Flock's souls
from their bodies.The pilot woke up as Lockheed saved the day. --Excalibur I#40 |
  The
astral ship existed on the astral plane, and it allowed the souls of
the Flock to travel to distant worlds while their bodies remained on
their homeworld. The ship can project a tractor beam to pull a spirit from the physical plane into the astral plane and into their ship. When the pilot (and presumably the co-pilot) fell asleep, the ship nearly lost power; if this occurred so far from their home planet and their physical bodies, their souls reportedly would have been fatally severed from their bodies. Lockheed flew to the ship's controls where he compensated for "astral g-force" and reset "stellartude" (see comments). --Excalibur I#40Note: Apparently, despite being in a different dimension, the astral plane, the ship was still in relative proximity to real world locations. Notably, when they abducted Lockheed from Earth, they were in relative proximity to Earth and distant from their native planet. The ship interior is shown in the main image, as well as those for the pilot...and, I guess almost every image is the interior. |
 After Lockheed's spirit was brought aboard the astral ship, the "Bailiff" instructed the placing of the "astral leg iron" (see note).Although their nature is unrevealed, they presumably served to prevent an astral being from fleeing the ship. --Excalibur I#40 Note: The narrative text specifically notes in regard to "astral leg iron" that the dragon language was "loosely translated." By the time Lockheed had selected painting as his method of defense, he was no longer wearing any visible leg irons, and nothing restricted him from flying to the cockpit to save the ship. The leg irons were also shown in the profile image of the Sacred Arbitrator. |
  .Given the choice of defending himself with science or art, Lockheed chose painting, so he could speak from his heart. . Using a large paint-brush like tool, Lockheed was able to create/project/whatever images of not only memories but of events of which he had learned from his friends. . --Excalibur I#40 |
  (X-Men
Gold II#30) - At a gathering at Harry's Hideaway
for the rehearsal dinner for the wedding of Kitty Pryde and Colossus
(which ended up with Kitty deciding against marriage), Lockheed arrived
and announced to Kitty that he had a "plus one." He then introduced
Kitty to his apparent wife and two children, after which they flew off,
apparently to join the dinner celebration.Lockheed and his family were presumably present at the wedding when Kitty phased to avoid the ring being placed on her finger and then noted that she could not go through with it and departed. --X-Men Gold II#30 Note: We have no information on Lockheed's family, other than that he showed up with them at Kitty and Peter's rehearsal dinner, noted that he had a "plus one," and then revealed a female dragon and two apparently young draglings. She COULD be a member of the Flock, although she was green, when all the others we've seen were purple. She could even be the fiancée that Lockheed had previously left behind, although she was purple, but perhaps changing colors is possible amongst the Flock. Or, she could be the "green dragon" (aka Puff) whom Lockheed first encountered on Battleworld. There has been speculation on whether the green dragon was a member of the Flock, but that is certainly unconfirmed, and I prefer to think otherwise. If Lockheed's "wife" is a member of the Flock, then obviously so are their children, but even if she is not, then their offspring are at least 50% hybrids. It is also possible that the children are the female dragon's children but that Lockheed is not their father...seems less likely, but it's all really just speculation. Additionally, Lockheed demonstrates what his apparently his native, untranslated speech in the front-facing image, and Kitty apparently understands his language. |
images: (without ads)
Uncanny X-Men I#166, pg. 28, panel 3-4 (breathing flame, incinerating Brood);
pg. 29, panel 1 (Lockheed in profile, flying);
Official Handbook of
the Marvel Universe II (Deluxe Edition) #7: Lockheed main image
Excalibur I#40, cover
pg. 4, panel 7 (Lockheed's spirit pulled to his people's astral starship);
pg. 5-6, panel 1 (Lockheed
brought before the Flock, including ship interior, Sacred Arbitrator,
Casemaker and daughter/former fiancée, and guards);
pg. 5, panel 2 (astral leg irons & bailiff);
panel 3 (Lockheed with leg irons conversing with Sacred Arbitrator in profile)
pg. 6 (and a little bit of pg. 5), panel 2 (Sacred Arbitrator, face);
pg. 6, panel 3 (Sacred Arbitrator on perch);
pg. 7, panel 6 (Lockheed's fiancée left at altar);
panel 9 (Casemaker);
pg. 8, panel 1 (Lockheed using painting tech to picture Excalibur);
pg. 11, panel 6 (courtroom, from above, with pilots);
panel 7 (Casemaker with daughter);
pg. 18, panel 6 (pilot and crew asleep);
pg. 19, panel 2-3 (Lockheed approaching and working ship control panel);
pg. 20, panel 2-3 (Lockheed's former fiancée; fullish and upper/tearful departure);
panel 3 (Lockheed departing ship);
Marvel Pets Handbook: Lockheed main image - originally from the back cover of Excalibur I#2
X-Men Gold II#30, pg. 4, panel 3 (Lockheed with apparent wife and two children);
panel 5 (Lockheed and family departing in shadow)
Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men I#166 (February, 1983) - Chris
Claremont (writer), Paul Smith (penciler), Bob Wiacek (inker), Louise
Jones & Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II (Deluxe Edition) #7 (June, 1986) - Mark Gruenwald (writer/producer), Peter Sanderson (writer/researcher), Paul Smith (penciler, Lockheed image), Josef Rubinstein (inker), David Wohl (editorial assistant), Howard Mackie (assistant editor)
Excalibur I#40 (August, 1991) -
Scott Lobdell (writer), Dave Hoover (penciler), Harry Candelario &
Tim Dzon (inkers), Terry Kavanaugh (editor)
Marvel Pets Handbook (2009) - Michael
Hoskin (head writer/coordinator), Madison Carter, Sean McQuaid, Stuart
Vandal, Gabriel Shechter, David Wiltfong, Ronald Byrd, Eric J. Moreels,
Jacob Rougemont, Markus Raymond, Jeff Christiansen, Mark O'English,
Mike O'Sullivan, Chris Biggs & Rob London (writers), Alan Davis (Lockheed art), Brian Overton
(copy editor), Alex Starbuck (editorial assistant), John Denning & Cory Levine (assistant editors), Mark D. Beazley & Jennifer Grunwald (editors, special projects), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
X-Men Gold II#30 (August, 2018) - Marc Guggenheim
(writer), David Marquez (artist), Chris Robinson (assistant editor),
Darren Shan (editor)
First posted: 08/14/2023
Last updated: 08/14/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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