TAKERS

Classification: Alternate Reality (Earth-928) semi-humanoid reptilian extraterrestrial race;
    active circa 2099 A.D.

Location/Base of Operations: A citadel on Mars of Reality-928

Known Members: None identified by name (in the end only seven remained)

Affiliations: Father Jennifer D'Angelo, Dr. Angelique Isaacs, X-Nation (December Frost, Metalsmith/Shane Lee, Twilight/Aminah Ferrara)

Enemies: Kree, Phalanx, Project: Ares Colonial Settlement (Hoon, Hayes Isaacs clone, Captain Pike, others including a series of cloned children), Shi'ar, Skrulls, Thing (Ben Grimm; trans-temporal duplicate);
    formerly Dr. Angelique Isaacs

First Appearance: 2099: World of Tomorrow#1 (September, 1996)

Powers/Abilities: The Takers presumably possessed superhuman strength and were formidable warriors trained in bladed weapons and hand-to-hand combat. They wore armor to protect their chest and loin. Their eye color could change from red to yellow for some reason. They used warcries, but it is otherwise unrevealed how they communicate with each other.

    The Takers possessed highly advanced technology including flying skimmers, spaceships (probably only capable of interplanetary flight), holographic videos, suspended animation technology, Tek and special handcuffs that caused power feedbacks. Some of their modern day technology, including terraforming equipment, hydroponics replicators and a large amount of the technolog used to use their modern spaceship, were stolen from Project: Ares.

Traits: They were a race peaceful at heart, but also very proud and territorial. They were highly xenophobic and lived in complete isolation from other extraterrestrial races. In times of war against other races, all members of their species were willing to fight for their planet, including children.

Type: Bilaterally symmetric semi-humanoid reptilian bipeds
Eyes: Two (on head; solid yellow or red depending on the colorist)
Fingers: Three
Toes: Three
Skin color: Green
Average height: Approximately 7'




History:
(2099: World of Tomorrow#5 (fb) - BTS) - Many millennia ago Mars was a paradise inhabited by an intelligent race that remained in relative isolation by defending their world successfully against invasion attempts by races like the Kree, Skrull and Shi'ar.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#5 (fb)) - One day Mars was attacked by the Phalanx and the entire race worked together to defend Mars against these invaders as well. They won the battle against the Phalanx, but the planet's eco-system was destroyed in the process by the departing Phalanx. If not for the foresight of a few scientists all life on Mars would've been wiped out almost instantly, but they had already created underground facilities that almost recreated their former lifestyle, but they lacked the technology and knowledge to make the planet inhabitable again and without the planet's natural resources many fell ill and died. Against the military's wishes, a spaceship was secretly launched to find a new home for the species, but it was sabotaged because some of them were too proud to give up on Mars and considered it a disgrace to abandon the planet.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#2 (fb) / 5 (fb)) - The sabotaged spaceship crashed in the Savage Land on Earth.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#5 (fb)) - The few remaining survivors attempted to elongate their lives by extended periods in suspended animation, but of the original 200 survivors only 7 survived...

(2099: World of Tomorrow#7 (fb) - BTS) - ..their 10,000 year slumber.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#5 (fb)) - Three awakened in the year 2099 A.D. and they were not happy when they found another race had claimed their planet. To reclaim Mars, they declared guerilla warfare against the colonists from Earth.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#2 (fb) - BTS) - The natives began stealing ships, food, terraforming equipment and eventually kidnapped the cloned children from Alchemax's newly formed Project: Ares colony on Mars. The colonists began to call them Takers.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#6 (fb) - BTS) - They needed the cloned children because they didn't understand Project: Ares' technology and needed someone to operate the terraforming equipment for them. Most of the children died of cellular decay over time. They eventually used the technology to build another spaceship.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#1) - After the Fantastic Four's Thing crashed a ship from Earth on Mars, one of the Takers entered the vessel, examined the four stasis chambers, put "Tek" on each of them (presumably to activate the damaged chambers again) and then dragged the Thing from the wreckage. The Taker watched from a distance as December, Metalsmith, Twilight and Father D'Angelo left the wreckage after they awakened from stasis (it didn't go smoothly, and they actually blamed the "Tek" when Metalsmith nearly died because the chamber wouldn't open and overheated).

(2099: World of Tomorrow#2) - On Earth, the ship that had crashed thousands of years ago in the Savage Land was discovered. The mutant Willow discovered the remains of a Taker in the ship.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#2 - BTS) - On Mars, Father D'Angelo, December, Metalsmith and Twilight arrived at Project: Ares and were met with a lot of suspicion because the colonists were not sure if they were aliens. They gained the trust of Dr. Isaacs and mentioned that their pilot was missing, which led to security officer Hoon assuming that he had become a victim of the Takers. Dr. Isaacs explained who the Takers were to the new arrivals and what they had done to them since setting up the colony on Mars.

   Later that night, Twilight was kidnapped by a Taker right outside the colony's airlock 7 only moments after a conversation with Metalsmith, who was shocked when she was suddenly gone after he had just turned around for a moment to head back inside.

   On Earth, the mutants and humans still trapped in the Martian vessel saw a holographic image that looked like the corpse they had found. Willow decided to use her powers to psychometrically transform into a copy of the ancient alien to trick the ship to stop the auto-destruct sequence. The plan worked, but Willow became stuck in the alien form.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#3 - BTS) - Deep under the Savage Land on Earth, Willow was still stuck in the alien form. Willow lost control and savagely attacked Winn because she instinctively feared he would infect her (it made sense by issue #4 when it turned out that Winn was a member of the Phalanx). Hodge shot her, which only angered her further. Lunatica tackled her and got punched in the face. Bloodhawk tossed her through the vessel's window into the water outside, and Nostromo then used his technopathy to successfully remove the alien presence from Willow while he transformed into his true Phalanx form (and was claimed by Winn as the Phalanx's key to Earth's invasion over the next two issues).

(2099: World of Tomorrow#3) - On Mars, Metalsmith informed Captain Pike and his team that Twilight had been taken. Pike called it bad luck and forbade Metalsmith and December from looking for Twilight. He warned them that if they tried, they would get killed by the colony's Wetware Droids guarding the perimeter. They ignored the warning and nearly died when they tried to get through the security perimeter, but Dr. Isaacs saved them and then took them on an air cycle to the Martian desert. They were soon shot out of the sky and taken captive by three Takers.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#4) - The Takers took December, Metalsmith and Dr. Hayes to their citadel. December and Metalsmith both attempted to fight back when they recognized the Takers' "Tek" as the same technology that they blamed for nearly killing Metalsmith in his stasis chamber, but the Takers' handcuffs caused a painful feedback when they tried using their powers.

    Inside the citadel, Dr. Isaacs was quiet impressed by the Takers' advanced technology. She saw some of the stolen technology the Takers had stolen from the Ares colony, including hydroponics replicators, and she wondered what the Takers used it for. One of the Takers showed her topographical schematics of Mars, and she realized that the Takers were stealing their technology because, like Project: Ares, the Takers were trying to terraform Mars. December, Metalsmith and Hayes were shocked when they saw one of the cloned children in a cave degenerating and dying. Metalsmith used his enhanced powers to break December's cuffs (no clue why that suddenly worked) and they were going to attack the Takers to learn where Twilight was, but one of the Takers took Dr. Isaacs hostage and threatened to cut her throat. Twilight suddenly appeared and told her friends to stand down because the Takers were their allies.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#5) - Twilight revealed to her friends that the Takers need their help and told them about their history she had learned from holo-vids, including their failed attempt to stop the Phalanx in the past and how the last seven survivors of this race survived to that day. According to Twilight, they only tried to reclaim their planet, but Dr. Isaacs was interested in their history and only wanted to know why they took the children, where they were. Twilight revealed that most of them had died, but that didn't matter at that moment because the Phalanx were headed to Earth and that the Takers wanted to stop them with the help of the young mutants. Twilight used her reality-altering powers to awaken the four Takers still in suspended animation and, with the last seven Takers reunited, they roared in unison because they were ready to take revenge on the Phalanx.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#6 - BTS) - Willow once again took the form of a Taker in battle against a Phalanx Dreadnode.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#6) - Twilight and Metalsmith joined the Takers on their spaceship to Earth to stop the Phalanx.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#7) - The Takers, Twilight and Metalsmith were on their way to Earth in the Takers' spaceship. The Takers avoided the Phalanx's weapons long enough for Twilight to rip a hole into the Phalanx sphere's defenses. The Takers then crashed their ship into the sphere and boarded the Phalanx vessel and, with a final warcry, destroyed as many Phalanx as possible even though they outnumbered them ten to one. While the Takers fought the Phalanx, Reed Richards creation Richard hacked the Phalanx sphere's system and activated the self-destruct system.

    In the end the Takers stood victorious over the destroyed remains of hundreds of Phalanx, but apparently still died when the sphere blew up.

Comments: Created by Ben Raab, Joe Kelly & Pascual Ferry.

    The Martians seen in 2099: World of Tomorrow never received an actual name in the story. They were only ever referred to as the Takers because that was the moniker given to them by the scared Earthlings from the Project: Ares colony.

    The Takers apparently didn't make it, but their citadel should still be around on Mars and some of their technology as well. Was this ever followed up on? Not really because the title ended and these days writers at Marvel are either only interested in Spider-Man (Miguel O'Hara) or in creating an alternate timeline set in 2099 A.D. because reasons.

    Hayes Isaac is likely an homage to singer, songwriter & actor Isaac Hayes (you may know him from the theme song for the original Shaft and/or from the movie I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, but most likely as the voice of Chef from South Park).
    Captain Pike may be an homage to Captain Christopher Pike from Star Trek.
    --Snood

    This profile was completed 02/18/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the March, 2025 Mars event.

Profile by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Takers have no known connections to:

Citadel

(2099: World of Tomorrow#6 (fb) - BTS) - The Takers brought the kidnapped clone children to the citadel where they needed them to help use Project: Ares' terraforming equipment.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#5 (fb) - BTS) - Twilight was taken to the citadel and studied holo-vids to learn about the Takers' history.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#4) - Three Takers took Dr. Angelique Isaacs and the mutants Metalsmith and December Frost to their citadel on Mars. Inside the citadel Dr. Isaacs was impressed by the advanced technology, including suspended animation chambers. She also recognized some of the stolen hydroponics replicators from her colony. One of the Takers showed her topographical schematics of the planet to make her understand that they were trying to terraform Mars with the stolen technology. A fight between the Takers and the mutants about the whereabouts of Twilight ended when Twilight turned up and told her mutant friends to stand down because the Takers were their allies.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#5) - At the citadel Twilight told her friends the history of the Takers. She then awakened the remaining Takers, who were all ready to go to war with the Phalanx.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#6) - At the citadel Dr. Isaacs found the clone children in suspended animation. Most of them had already died of cellular decay, but the newer the batch of clones the more had apparently survived. She was happy to see that the clone of her son Hayes was among those that had not decayed.

   Somewhere else at the citadel Metalsmith discussed Twilight's new alliance with the Takers. Neither December nor Metalsmith trusted the Takers. December questioned why they would build a spaceship if they were so devoted to their world and believed that they were actually the creators of the sphere heading for Earth. Metalsmith was on his way to destroy the Takers' spaceship, but Twilight instead convinced him to join her and the Takers on their mission to stop the Phalanx's invasion of Earth. On a monitor at the citadel December was shocked to see the spaceship launch with Metalsmith and Twilight aboard.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#7) - From the citadel December tried, but failed to contact Metalsmith. Several levels beneath Dr. Isaacs released her son's clone from suspended animation and he died in decayed in her arms. December called her to the citadel's common rooms to inform Isaacs that Twilight and Metalsmith had joined the Takers on their flight to Earth. December finally managed to uplink to the Taker spaceship's comm-signal again only to see it get destroyed during the explosion of the Phalanx sphere, killing her friends in the process.

--2099: World of Tomorrow#4 (4-7

spaceship

(2099: World of Tomorrow#1) - Meanwhile deep under the Savage Land on Earth an ancient vessel from Mars was discovered by Drew Hodge and Bloodhawk after an earthquake.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#2) - Bloodhawk, Hodge, La Lunatica, Nostromo, Jade Ryuteki, Mr. Winn and Willow entered the old spaceship. Hodge hoped it could provide them with technology that could help humans make the Savage Land inhabitable for them. Winn assumed that the ship crashed due to sabotage because the internal control panels were charred while the other hull was not breached. Willow discovered the remains of one of the Takers. Winn examined the ship further and recognized the bulkhead's metallurgical composition as Martian in origin, which meant that the technology was thousands of years old because according to Alchemax's Ares Project no intelligent life had existed on Mars for millennia. Hodge touched a panel, which closed the doors and trapped the Earthlings inside the vessel, which began it's auto-destruct sequence. Willow used her powers to psychometrically transform into the alien they had discovered and trick the ship to abort the auto-destruct sequence.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#3) - Willow lost control in the vessel under the Savage Land and attacked Winn, Hodge and Lunatica. Bloodhawk tossed her through the vessel's window into the water outside and everyone escaped the vessel. Nostromo then used his technopathy to remove the alien's presence from Willow.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#6 (fb) - BTS) - Three of the last survivors of the Mars natives known only as Takers to the colonialists of Project: Ares, built another spaceship with stolen technology from the colony.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#6) - The last seven survivors were joined by the Earth mutants Twilight and Metalsmith on their final journey to revenge on the Phalanx and stop them from invading Earth.

(2099: World of Tomorrow#7) - The Takers flew their spaceship to Earth and avoided the Phalanx sphere's weapons long enough for Twilight to rip a hole in the sphere's defenses. The Takers then crashed their spaceship into the Phalanx sphere and boarded the vessel. The spaceship was destroyed along with the Phalanx sphere when the self-destruct sequence, activated by Reed Richards' creation Franklin, got activated.

--2099: World of Tomorrow#1 (1-3, 6-7

"Tek"

"Tek" was some kind of technology that interacted with other technology. The true purpose is unknown, but it seems to be able to fix problems in damaged tech or activate deactivated functions or something like that.

Note: I call it Tek because it is the sound it makes.

--2099: World of Tomorrow#1 (1, 4

images: (without ads)
2099: World of Tomorrow#6, p8, pan1 (main)
2099: World of Tomorrow#4, p9, pan2 (head shot)
2099: World of Tomorrow#4, p10, pan4 (head shot, side view)
2099: World of Tomorrow#5, p21, pan5 (millennia ago)
2099: World of Tomorrow#1, p4, pan2 (upper body, in shadows)
2099: World of Tomorrow#5, p25, pan3 (reunited)
2099: World of Tomorrow#4, p8, pan1 (citadel)
2099: World of Tomorrow#4, p10, pan1 (citadel inside, suspended animation chambers)
2099: World of Tomorrow#6, p6, pan4 (spaceship)
2099: World of Tomorrow#1, p4, pan6 ("Tek")

Appearances:
2099: World of Tomorrow#1 (September, 1996) - Ben Raab & Joe Kelly (writers), Pascual Ferry (pencils), Art Thibert, Jaime Mendoza, Al Milgrom, Pasqual Ferry & Bill Reinhold (inks), James Felder & Mark Powers (editors)
2099: World of Tomorrow#2 (October, 1996) - Ben Raab & Joe Kelly (writers), Jason Armstrong (pencils), Art Thibert & Jaime Mendoza (inks), James Felder (editor)
2099: World of Tomorrow#3 (November, 1996) - Ben Raab & Joe Kelly (writers), Karl Moline & David Brewer (pencils), John Lowe, Jaime Mendoza & Hack Shack Studios (inks), James Felder (editor)
2099: World of Tomorrow#4 (December, 1996) - Ben Raab & Joe Kelly (writers), Jason Armstrong, Karl Moline & Yancey Labat (pencils), Jaime Mendoza, Hack Shack Studios, John Lowe & P-Scum (inkers), James Felder (editor)
2099: World of Tomorrow#5 (January, 1997) - Ben Raab & Joe Kelly (writers), David Brewer & Jason Armstrong (pencils), Rob Hunter, Jaime Mendoza, Alan Martinez & Hack Shack Studios (inks), James Felder (editor)
2099: World of Tomorrow#6 (February, 1997) - Ben Raab & Joe Kelly (writers), David Brewer & Jason Armstrong (pencils), Alan Martinez, Hack Shack Studios, Rob Hunter & Al Milgrom (inks), James Felder (editor)
2099: World of Tomorrow#7 (March, 1997) - Ben Raab & Joe Kelly (writers), David Brewer & Jason Armstrong (pencils), Art Thibert & Hack Shack Studios (inks), James Felder (editor)

First posted: 03/28/2025
Last updated: 03/28/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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