nopictureavailable ODUS HANXCHAMP

Real Name: Odus Hanxchamp

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (unidentified race) - see comments

Occupation: Junior Associate Under Supervisor in the 4006th-floor mail room, Timely, Incorporated;
    former Senior Vice Executive President (Special Projects) of Timely, Incorporated

Group Membership: Timely, Incorporated;
    formerly Timely, Incorporated executive board (notably Senior Vice Development Executive Arnok Gruntgrill, Sledly Rarnak (in charge of corporate pamphlets), Chief Finance Officer of Special Projects Pama Harnon (an alias for Una Ren), Homus Staplebunt, head of legal Blint Wivvers, head of Corporate Security (Special Projects) Xorb Xorbux, head of the Executive Executization Department Alandra Meramati (an alias of Zania Orbal)),

Affiliations: None, beyond Mrs. Mantlestreek and his business associates who worked with or under him (and, even less after his demotion); there is not any real evidence that anyone liked him, besides himself, of course...;
    formerly Roamer; a number of Recorders under Timely's control, notably Recorder #127

Enemies: Badoon (notably Commander Droook), Gamora, Groot, Imperial Guard (Arach, Crusher, Dragoon, Ebon, Warstar 34), Kree (notably Captain Yon-Dar, Sharnor the Accuser), Kree Sentry#212, Nova Corps (notably Centurions Lolet Clawdi, Grekan Yaer and Corpsmen Starkross and Valis), Recorders (notably 127, 336, & 489), Rigellians (for his manipulation of their Recorders), Roamer, Rocket (Raccoon), Sharnon the Accuser, Shi'ar Metal wing warriors, Una-Ren, Universal Church of Truth (notably Cardinal Navorth, Zania Orbal, and various Black Knights, Cardinals and Crusaders);

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: 4006th-floor mail room, Timely, Incorporated. corporate headquarters on the principal continental landmass of Alpha Centauri (see comments);
    formerly his opulent and styilized inner office on the 8001st floor the Timely Inc. corporate headquarters on the principal continental landmass of Alpha Centauri

First Appearance: Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy (2017)

Powers/Abilities: Odus Hanxchamp was not clearly humanoid, and he was described as having tentacles; however, description of the rest of his conformation is lacking.

    Odus Hanxchamp had some experience as an executive, running board room meetings and giving out orders, as well as negotiating with other parties.

    His executive boardroom could show various images from throughout the universe, and it had a clandestine field that could be activated to prevent outside parties from listening in or otherwise spying on what was going on within.

    He was good at smoking expensive cigars, putting things on expense accounts, shouting at people, "solutionizing," initiating preposterously expensive corporate projects, having ambitions way above his abilities, and talking the talk to well and so confidently that everyone, including the board of Senior Senior High Executives, believed without a doubt that he was the right being for the job.

    However, he did not appear to be particularly intelligent, nor did he demonstrate any special talents beyond those listed above. Patience was not among his strengths.

    He fairly consistently spoke in redundant fashion, either reiterating an obvious point (unless he failed to understand it) and/or adding extra syllables to words unnecessarily, such as "solutionoid," "solutionize," "needage," "redactify," etc.

Height: Unrevealed (neither pictured nor clearly described)
Weight: Unrevealed (neither pictured nor clearly described)
Eyes: Unrevealed (neither pictured nor clearly described)
Hair: Unrevealed (neither pictured nor clearly described)

History:
(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile (fb) - BTS / Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Nine: Project 616 (fb) - BTS / Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-One: Truth or Dare) - Timely, Incorporated, a corporation based on Alpha Centauri, conceived Project-616, in which they would gather all information on the universe, specifically the universe of the Reality-616: This datamap of all creation would allow them to understand the fundamental nature of everything and comprehend the known galaxy (see comments) down to a pico-molecular level, granting them virtual omnipotence and the ability to manipulate reality. 

    However, those involved were told that the Project would just enable them to precision-market and audience-tailor their billions of products like never before. They would know and understand everything, and they would dominate the galaxy and secure their position for eternity as an entity more powerful than any species.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile (fb) - BTS) - Initial speculations to gather the needed information was three millennia. 

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Nine: Project 616 (fb) - BTS) - After decades of work and little progress...

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile (fb) - BTS) - Timely, Inc. agents subsequently conceived the Rigellian solution, gathering Rigellian Recorders and using the vast amount of data they had collected to expedite the data gathering, which resulted in a new speculation of six years being needed.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Nine: Project 616 (fb) - BTS) - Agents associated with Project 616 abducted as many Recorders as they could find, copied their memories, and then sent them out again, reprogrammed.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Odus Hanxcamp became Senior Vice Executive President (Special Projects).

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile (fb) - BTS) - Rigellian Recorder unit 127 observed the totality of the datacore of Project-616, which caused a data overload, making him unable to remember the project or what he had learned from the project.  

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile (fb) - BTS) - Recorder 127 escaped Alpha Centauri and fled.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile) - Three hours into a boardroom meeting with Timely's executives, Hanxchamp decided that the kilometer square window/viewscreens showing the Kree planet Hala's Gon-Ket Glacier was making him chilly; aroun the immense table, the one hundred-plus executive officers, department heads, vice presidents, and senior vice department officers nodded and made a show of shivering to appear to be in agreement with Hanxchamp. In response, Hanxchamp's personal assistant, Mrs. Mantlestreak changed the view to that of the Temporal Mausoleums of Calofxus in the deserts of the fifth moon of Spartax, washed by the baleful red light of an ancient sun.

    Pleased with this, Hanxchamp moved onto item 162, product development update, at which point Kaliklak-born Senior Vice Developer Executive Arnok Gruntgrill discussed the thermally awkward problem with beverages making their container too hot, a problem his department had "solutionized" with the Manual Easification Curve, which they could implement for only 210 trillion <unspecified monetary units>. Hanxchamp loved the idea -- "I want to marry it and have offspring with it" -- and the other board members all echoed his sentiments. Homus Staplebunt was concerned about use for left-handed individuals and disliked the idea of having to rotate the beverage container 180 degrees and suggested a second handle, but as that would double the costs, Hanxchamp axed that suggestion.

    Hanxchamp then cleared the room to only Senior Special Projects members and had the clandestine fields -- a cone of silence generated by a miniature black hole in the building's basement -- and they reviewed Project-616. Allandra Meramati -- secretly the Sirusite Zania Orbal of the Universal Church of Truth posing as a Shi'ar noblewoman and who headed up the Executive Executization Department -- explained that the datamap was stuck at 87% of all existential truth. Hanxchamp instructed her to avoid discussing "truth," as it made her sound like "one of those happy-clappy, killy-silly freaks" from the Universal Church of Truth. She further explained that they needed at least 96% to implement the program, which would require that they recover the escaped Recorder#127 or at least to destroy him, so that no others could gain the totality of their project from him.

    To clandestinely recover Recorder#127,  the Z'Nox Xorb Xorbux, head of Corporate Security (Special Projects) advised they enlist Roamer, a retired Galadorian Spaceknight. To aid him in is mission, they supplied him with an experimental Interpolation Inserter, which would insert him at the right place in time and space to effect the greatest dramatic consequences. Appreciating the dire need to complete Project 616 as swiftly as possible, Hanxchamp approved using Roamer...after which he began to feel hot from the viewscreens.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Sixteen: Meanwhile (20 minutes earlier on Alpha Centauri) - BTS) - Hanxxhamp was in a Senior Special Projects meeting, with the windows showing rainbow streams of annihilated planetary material circling the event horizon of the Procyon black hole in majestic candy-cane spirals.

    Roamer materialized in his outer office, demanding to see Hanxchamp and ignoring Mrs. Mantlestreek's insistence that he was in a meeting. After Xorb Xorbux calmed the security guards, Mrs. Mantlestreek called Hanxchamp.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Sixteen) - Hanxchamp approved Roamer's entry, greeted him, and then had Mrs. Mantlestreek activate the clandestine fields. He asked if Roamer was going to make his diurnal period and then -- while rapping on his head with a curled tentacle -- clarified that he was asking if Roamer had located Recorder 127. Roamer reported that there had been altercations but allayed Hanxchamp's initial concerns about liability, assuring him that there was nothing that could be traced back to Timely.

    Roamer then informed Hanxchamp that the Badoon and Nova Corps were also seeking Recorder 127, and the executive board correctly suspected that they had a corporate spy within the Senior Special Projects group. Xorbux assured Hanxchamp that if there was a spy, he would identify him or her.

    Roamer also identified the involved Rocket and Groot, about whom, Hanxchamp neither knew nor cared. Roamer further expressed concerns about the Interpolation Inserter delivering him at times of peak conflict.

    When the frustrated Roamer discussed his planned violent resolution, Hanxchamp sought other options, but after "Mermati" confirmed that the datamap was stuck at 87%, he sent Roamer on his way, ordered Xorbux to find the spy, grumpily adjourned the meeting, and sat down in his chair with his tentacles folded.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Three: Just Another Day on Alpha Centauri - BTS) - Via Rynebian tech-cloaker/Slig disguiser device, causing those who observed them to see what they expected to see, the Recorder's allies -- Rocket, Groot and Gamora -- brought him into the headquarters of Timely, Inc.

    Via disguising as themselves as a janitorial crew, the group progressively investigated Timely's facilities

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Five: You've Got Mail - BTS) - After Roamer arrived and engaged the group in the 4006th floor's mail room, Rocket used the tag of the Recorder parcel to override security blockades, and the group dove down the mailchute to the parcel's intended destination.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Six: Meanwhile (3,995 floors higher up) (fb) - BTS) - Hanxchamp had been enjoying a quiet moment in his inner office on the 8001st floor, taking in the holographic view of the window, which that day was an emerald vista of the steaming rainforests of Huj, ringing with birdsong and reptilian choruses as the magnificent sunrise burst across the breathless canopy.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter 36 (fb) - BTS) - A Shi'ar warcruiser appeared outside Timely Inc.'s corporate office in pursuit of the group (Gamora, Groot, Recorder 127, Rocket) they had recently encountered on Adjufar.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter 36) - Hanxchamp saw an alert of the security breach on 4006.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter 36) - Xorb Xorbux called Hanxchamp, attempting to warn him of the Shi'ar ship. Hanxchamp assumed Xorbus was calling about the breach on 4006; although ambient-energy readings apparently identified Roamer's involvement, Xorb chose to withhold this information until he was certain.

    Xorb then clarified that there was a more major security breach, and he advised Hanxchamp to look out of the window. After Hanxchamp noted the rain forests and mists, Xorb reminded him that he was viewing the window's vista settings, and Hanxchamp reached out with another tentacle, grabbed his actuator wand, and waved it at the window. As he waited impatiently, a huge starship -- which he appreciated to tbe a Strikebird Class warcruiser of the Shi'ar Empre -- appeared outside his window, with its weapon batteries aimed directly at the Timely Inc. building.

    Xorb confirmed the ship to be the Conscience of Sharra, under the authority of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, who wished to meet with him. Although Hanxchamp told Xorb to tell the Shi'ar to go through the appropriate channels and to contact the Alpha Centauri Embassy, Xorb informed him that the Shi'ar had made it clear that they were there in pursuit of dangerous galactic fugitives and that the terms of the Intergalactic Non-Aggression Pact permitted them to intervene directly.

    Xorb further advised Hanxchamp that he had directed the Shi'ar to him rather than the board so he could discretely protect Project 616 and that he would look like the hero if he handled the situation. Appreciating both the situation and the opportunity, Hanxchamp contacted Mrs. Mantlestreek and instructed her to summon the Senior Special Projects executives to his office, and he became insulting with her when she failed to appreciate the urgency of the situation.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter 36 (fb) - BTS) - A group of Imperial Guardsmen (Arach, Dragoon, Ebon, Warstar 34), joined by 40 Metal Wing warriors, transported into Hanxchamp's office.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter 36) - Hanxchamp then told Xorb to tell the Shi'ar Imperial Guard that he would take their meeting in an half an hour in Executive Boardroom sixty-eight.

    Hearing Hanxchamp's instruction, Ebon countered, "How about now instead?"

    After being introduced to the Guardsmen and expressing his sympathies for the injuries to their former commander, Crusher, Hanxchamp attempted to retake control of the situation, offering drinks and snacks. When Dragoon replied that they did not drink on duty, Hanxchamp slowly poured himself a large glass of vintage Spartoi liquor from the drink trolley and then asked how he could help his guests.

    Containing the urge to wince at Arach's "fingers-on-wet-glass" squeak of a voice, Hanxchamp listened to the details of their previous encounter and attempted to dismiss their concerns. When they noted that the Recorder unit had apparently returned there, Hanxchamp offered to run a full search of the building. At Hanxchamp's insistence, Arach agreed to allow Hanxchamp's team to perform the initial search. After his Senior Special Projects executives arrived, Hanxchamp apprised them of the situation, instructing "Meramati" to "mingle and do her Shi'ar thing" and instructing Mrs. Mantlestreek to fetch food and drinks.

    After instructing Xorb to find the Recorder and get it to the Datacore, Hanxchamp returned to Arach, who transported forty Metal Wing officers into his office, advising him, "Just to be sure we're on the same page."

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Seven: Meanwhile (8,087 floors lower down) - BTS) - After the group landed roughly in sub-basement 86, Arnok Gruntgrill came down to check on the project, and the Recorder's allies coerced Gruntgrill to grant them access to the secure room containing Project 616.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Eight: Meanwhile (8,087 floors higher up)) - Hanxchamp futilely instructed the Shi'ar to put their guns away, as this was "no way to behave in my flarking office." Arach insisted that he comply, and he began to retort, "Listen to me, spider-queen..." but he was interrupted as an immense Nova Corps heavy cruiser arrived outside of Timely Inc. Hanxchamp impotently proclaimed this to be out of order just before the windows exploded inwardly, and Centurions Yaer and Clowdi entered alongside Corpsmen Starkross and Valis.  They initially provoked a confrontation with the Imperial Guardsmen present, but Hanxchamp told them "No shooting in my office. Stop the confrontationalization at once!"

    As both sides stood down, Hanxchamp asked "Mr. Nova person" (Yaer) what this was about and informed him that he was paying for the shattered window. After an argument of jurisdiction ensued, Hanxchamp again tried to calm all involved, asking "Nova guy" to "specificigate" a little more. Yaer showed Hanxchamp his orders and jurisdiction, noting the interest in Recorder unit 127, and stating that galactic treaty gave them a permit to search the premises. Although acknowledging the legal coverage, Arach nonetheless insisted that they would claim the Recorder and had her Metal Wing troops level their weapons at the Nova Corpsmen. Hanxchamp repeatedly diffused the hostilities, complaining that it was giving him a tension migraine and telling the "super-mortal folk" of both sides to "calm the holy flark down and stop being so aggresivized." Urging peaceful discussion to solutionate the situation, he instructed Mrs. Mantlestreek to bring biscuits and juice.

     The Xandarians ultimately agreed to let the Shi'ar take the Recorder and they would take the fugitives Gamora, Groot, and Rocket. Clapping his tentacles, Hanxchamp expressed pride in their efforts, which gave him a tingly feeling.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Eight  - BTS) - Meanwhile Pama Harnon -- secretly the Kree spy Una-Ren fired an omni-wave beacon to bring the Kree there to recover the Recorder.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty: Danger in the Workplace (fb)) - Hanxchamp was pleased with having led the various parties down to the Executive Boardroom, where many of them enjoyed the snacks and hot beverages and where some opposing parties engaged in casual conversation.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Nine: Project 616) - Seeing the near infinite data within Project 616, the Recorder realized he was needed to complete it. After confirming the extent of Project 616, the Recorder asked Rocket to destroy him, but Rocket refused to murder his friend. Roamer then appeared, and as Gamora battled him, security chief Xorb Xorbux arrived and subdued Gamora and took custody of the Recorder, but then the Kree arrived...

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty: Danger in the Workplace) - Teleporting into the boardroom from the nearby Pride of Pama and accompanied by 100 armed Kree warriors and three Sentries, Sharnor the Accuser insisted that the Recorder was hers (and the Kree's). As she discussed the threat with the Shi'ar and Xandarians, Hanxchamp interrupted, stating, "...what Timely Inc. does is entirely Timely Inc. business. We inventize, we designerate, and we developmentalize. Then we benefit from the investmentage. You can't come in here and tell us to stop developing a project just because you don't like it."

    Sharnon retorted, "Do I not appear to be exactly the sort of person who could do that? Bring the Recorder unit to me."

    When Hanxchamp attempted to argue that they did not even know if the Recorder was on the premises, Pama Harnon confirmed the Recorder's presence to Sharnor, who revealed "Pama" to be Kree spy Una-Ren.

    The Badoon then arrived, and Commander Droook demanded the delivery of the Recorder or they would obliterate the entire landmass on which the building stood.

    At that point, Allandra Meramati revealed herself to be the Sirusite Zania Orbal. And then forty immense Templeships of the Universal Church of Truth (UCT) arrived and teleported in hosts of Crusaders, led by Cardinals, to assault the facility and everyone in it.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-One: Truth or Dare (fb) - BTS) - Gruntgrill heard Hanxchamp scream that they needed to complete the Datacore.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-One: Truth or Dare) - Realizing that completing Project 616 would allow its controller to eliminate all of the gathered threats, Gruntgrill instructed Roamer to connect the Recorder to the Datacore.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-Two: This is What the -Tik!- Flark is Going on Up There - BTS) - As, the battles in the upper floors escalated, various factions made their way down toward Project 616.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-Two: This is What the -Tik!- Flark is Going on Up There) - Hanxchamp (who kept saying to himself, "This isn't happening"), Rarnak and Wivvers made it to the elevator banks, and Hanxchamp exhorted his associates, "In the name of Timely, someone solutionize this for me!" As they entered the Muzak-playing elevator car, Hanxchamp punched in his security codes, after which Una-Ren slipped into the car with them, aimed her pistol at them, and slew Wivvers when he threw himself at her. Hanxchamp and Rarnak complied peacefully.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-Three: One with Everything) - With Hanxchamp at gunpoint, Una forced Gruntgrill to confirm Project 616's imminent completion, after which she was slain by a UCT Black Knight alongside seven other Black Knights, Cardinal Navorth and Zania Orbal. In the ensuing conflict, Hanxchamp shrieked like a small child.

    Meanwhile, the Recorder was then lowered into the Datacore, which then began to steadily raise, approaching 100%.

    Stabbed in the chest by Zania Orbal, whom Rocket then shot, Groot fell forward, into the Datacore. 

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-Four: Watched - BTS/ Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-Five: Great Power, Great Responsibility - BTS) - Feeling his databanks exploding and melting, the Recorder realized that his form could not handle this level of knowledge and power, and he deposed the power to Groot.

    Groot transported away all of those who had invaded the Timely, Inc. building, after which he restored the damaged building, restored all those slain in the recent conflict, and then not only dispersed the Datacore but made it so that no one could ever re-create it again (if anyone ever thought of trying to recreate the datamap in pursuit of power, they would instantly forget how to do it).

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-Five) - Hanxchamp stood by Gruntgrill as Roamer rescued those in the cage hovering above the datacore.

    Proclaiming that the Guardians had just destroyed the biggest Timely project ever, costing them more money that he could imagine -- and he could imagine a lot -- and ruined their corporate future, Hanxchamp instructed Roamer to take them into custody. Roamer, however, interrupted, informing Hanxchamp that he no longer worked for him; Roamer further noted that the Interpolator device had shown him that he had not been working for Hanxchamp all along.

    Frustrated, Hanxchamp squealed, "Someone do something!" And Rocket replied, "We are...we're leaving."

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-Six: Tails to Astonish) - The Recorder then flashed forward, having recorded and now detailing what happened to most of the participants of the Project 616 adventure in the many years since its conclusion; all of these events occurred in the alternate Reality-17721; many of them may have also occurred in Reality-616, but that would have to be decided on a case by case basis (see comments).

    Blint Wivvers took Timely Inc. to tribunal and won eighty-six trillion units for damages for "unexpected death in the workplace." Following said legal battle, Odus Hanxchamp was demoted to Junior Associate Under Supervisor in the 4006th-floor mail room.

Comments: Created by Dan Abnett.
    In the Acknowledgments section, Dan thanked Stuart Moore, Jeff Youngquist, Axel Alonso, Dan Buckley, Sarah Brunstad, and James Gunn for their support in this project.
    He also noted "fist-bumps to <the Appendix's own> Ronald Byrd for continuity-fu."

    The follow-up information from the final, Tails to Astonish, chapter for Hanxchamp seems likely to have occurred very soon after the conclusion of the story, so I think it is likely that is Hanxchamp, not just a potential future.

    In-continuity?

    People question whether novels should be in-continuity. There is a mindset that they should arbitrarily and automatically excluded. I don't get that at all. If the stories fit seamlessly in-continuity and they add to the rich texture of the "Marvel Universe," why exclude them? In any case, characters in such stories as novels, games, etc. that don't contradict -616 continuity are considered "fringe characters." They fit into existing continuity, but are not definitively part of it until they are confirmed to be so in a story, handbook, etc.
    There is one significant continuity glitch, but it has been referenced in other stories confirmed to take place in Reality-616 (see Donald's discussion below)
    They sure fit in better than a lot of stuff by certain writers...you know who you are...and we know who you are...
    Not only that, but the story specifically references the universe in which they dwelled to be Reality-616...however, the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies refer to their mainstream reality as -616 also...

Counterpoint by Donald Campbell:

    As much as I liked this novel, there were some elements that bothered me.

Alpha Centauri

    Alpha Centauri is described as a "cosmic hubworld (that governs) almost thirty systems and trillions of lives." This definitely does NOT sound the like 616 Alpha Centauri system where the Centaurians are usually depicted as only having a "bow-and-arrow" level technology, the Alpha Centaurians (assuming they are not nearly extinct) are focused on desperately trying to keep their homeworld habitable, and the Centurii from Centuri-Six (which may or may not actually be part of the Alpha Centauri system) were all kidnapped by slavers. And yes, I hold this opinion despite the fact that, in Annihilators#1/2, Abnett and Lanning established that Rocket Raccoon had worked for six months as a mail clerk at the Alpha Centauri offices of the Customer Services Division of Timely Inc. Also, while the Timely offices were aboard an orbiting ship in that comic, in this novel they are on the planet Alpha Centauri...which is also wrong/inconsistent with the Marvel Comics universe.

Nova Corps.

As you know, all the members of the Nova Corps, except for Richard Rider, were killed by the Annihilation Wave in Annihilation: Prologue#1 and, during the second Guardians of the Galaxy series, during which the events of the novel seem to take place, the Nova Corps had not yet been reestablished. In fact, it could be argued that the Nova Corps has never regained the status that it had before being almost totally wiped out. In any event, the novel's portrayal of the Nova Corps as a powerful interstellar organization with many veteran members is massively inconsistent with the known state of the 616 Nova Corps at that time. Plus, even if the Nova Corps had somehow managed to reconstitute itself in time for the events of the novel, the fact that something as incredibly important as its RECENT NEAR-TOTAL DESTRUCTION wasn't mentioned or referenced in any way is a huge red flag with regards to its canonicity. At least, that's my opinion, and I think it's a reasonable one.

The presence of the planet Xandar.

Chapters Ten ("Xandar"), Twelve and Fourteen take place on the planet Xandar, which is also mentioned in Chapter Forty-Six. This is problematic because the planet Xandar had an unfortunate tendency to get destroyed. The first time was sometime before Nova I#1, when the invader Zorr blasted it to pieces. Thanks to secret intervention on the part of Uatu, four sections of the planet survived, surrounded by spherical forcefields, and the surviving Xandarians connected the spheres to form a new world.

This four-sectioned world barely survived a Skrull invasion, only for the entire population to later be wiped out by Nebula. Thanks to the Nova Force and their advanced cloning technology, all the dead Xandarians were resurrected.

At some point, the the globes that made up Xandar were transformed into a group of spheres that were connected more loosely than before that was known as the Xandar Cluster.

The Xandar Cluster and (almost) all of the Nova Corps were wiped out by the same Annihilation Wave attack in Annihilation: Prologue #1, and the planet has never been restored. Plus, since the Xandarian race was almost completely exterminated (again) in the attack, there hasn't been anybody around to colonize a new  planet and rename it Xandar.

So, if a fully-functional Nova Corps and an intact planet named Xandar both exist within the continuity of that prose novel, then it cannot actually take place within Reality-616.

Also, the novel mentions the Hall of Justice complex on Xandar. I may be wrong about this, but I don't remember such a structure ever being mentioned in any of the comics stories set on Xandar. On the other hand, it does sound like something that might have existed on the planet Xandar seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

    In conclusion, I really enjoyed the novel but I don't think it was meant to be canon and I don't think that it should be treated as being "in continuity." And I would REALLY like some writer to finally get around to explaining the current status quo in the 616 Alpha Centauri star system. I mean, what level of technology do the Centaurians actually possess? What do the Centaurians actually call their race? What is their name for the planet known to Terrans as Centauri-IV? Can Alpha Centaurians still live on Arima or was the planet left too dehydrated after Sub-Mariner I#18? Is Centuri-Six actually in orbit around Proxima Centauri? 

     Personally, due to the Alpha Centauri discontinuity, I would prefer it if Recorder #127 were as incorrect in his statement that he existed in "Universe 616" as some characters from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness were when they assigned the number "616" to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Reality-199999). However, that's just my opinion.

 Me again:
    Valid point on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the difference is that the novel  is not clearly a different reality or part of a different Multiverse than the comics Reality-616 as the cosmic hierarchy, (Uatu the Watcher, Galactus, etc.) etc., is the same. Additionally, this story goes to great lengths to fit solidly with Reality-616's continuity, alien races, etc.
           On that note, the movies call this reality Earth-616, but the comics call this reality Earth-199999.
           Clearly, the MCU's main reality, which they call Earth-616, is not the same as the comic books' Earth-616, no matter what Kevin Feige or anyone else says.
           The only possibilities I see is that they are:

      1. From the same Multiverse but using a different system of designations beyond the Core Continuum Designations. Some Time Variance Authority appearances have used different numbering systems, for example.
      2. From two different Multiverses.
      3. From two different sub-sections of reality / local groups, somewhere between a universe and a multiverse. Perhaps a Polyverse? A Vicinus? A Local Group?
      4. Regardless, they are using a different numbering system.
      5. The Stan Lee-created, long-standing, No-Prize solution that makes both situations correct would be to use the -199999 designation for the local group of universes associatied with the MCU and then call that Earth-616 within that reality.   

    Regardless, the Alpha Centauri discrepancies certainly significant, but bigger issues than that happened consistently in Bendis' and other writers' stories that are considered Reality-616.

    As you note, -616 stories have contradictions within the Alpha Centauri system, but they're not excluded...as well as there having been relatively recent -616 continuity comics that reference Rocket's past with the Alpha Centauri offices of Timely Inc.
    Timely Incorporated may have offices on an orbiting ship, but the office on Alpha Centauri is presumably the main office. Maybe they moved portions or entire buildings. They have the technology...they can rebuild it...
  

    Anyway...the bottom line is that this story and all the characters in it are fringe characters until confirmed one way or another.
    At minimum, the story occurred in Reality-17721.
    Did the same or similar events occur in Reality-616?
    Who knows?
    --Snood

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Odus Hanxchamp should be distinguished from:


images: (without ads)
No images were included in this text novel

Appearances:
Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy prose novel (2017) - by Dan Abnett (see comments)

First posted: 09/13/2024
Last updated: 11/108/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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