Purpose: Destruction of the human race (and specifically the Avengers) for their role in the defeat of the Kree Empire, the explosion of the Nega-Bomb, and the seeming death of the Supreme Intelligence.

Affiliations: Collector, Dekker, Falkon, Garrote, Hepzibah, Kree revolutionaries, Mephitisoid, PowerSource, Inc., Quarrel, Raza, numerous Sentries, Skulker, Victoria Snow, Supreme Intelligence, Tazer, Thunder, Yeti, more unnamed prisoners

Enemies: Avengers (Black Knight (Whitman), Black Widow (Romanova), Captain America (Rogers), Crystal, Deathcry, Firestar, Giant-Man, Hawkeye, Hercules, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Justice, Magdalene, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Sersi, Swordsman (Jarvert), Thor, Vision, Warbird, Wonder Man), Charlie & Mike, humanity, Deathbird, Hulk, Imperial Guard (especially Gladiator and Starbolt), Lockjaw, Lilandra Neramani, Pantheon (especially Hector and Ulysses) Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Starforce (Korath the Pursuer, Ultimus, Shatterax, Supremor), X-Men (Archangel, Cyclops, Gambit, Iceman, Jubilee, Wolverine);
    Supreme Intelligence (without their knowledge)

Aliases: Last Kree Imperial Fleet

Base of Operations: Currently unknown;
    formerly the Blue Area of the Moon, Earth's moon;
    formerly an abandoned missile silo in Cape Canaveral;
    formerly an island in the South Pacific;
    formerly near Owl's Head (upstate New York);
    formerly mobile throughout space;
    formerly Hala

First Appearance:
(Galen Kor) Avengers I#350 (Early August, 1992)
(Last Kree Imperial Fleet) Avengers I#364 (July, 1993);
(Lunatic Legion) Iron Man III#7 (August, 1998)

Powers/Weapons: Pre-Ruul Blue Kree (purebreds) have roughly twice human strength and endurance, with relatively more dense bodies. They cannot breathe Earth's atmosphere without a special apparatus or chemical. White Kree (hybrids with other humanoid races) may vary somewhat in their physical abilities. All have military training in armed and unarmed combat and have access to advanced transportation and weaponry.

History:
(Avengers I#350 / 351(fb)) -  On Seti Tatola IV, a planetoid in the Shi'ar Empire, Admiral Galen Kor met with Hepzibah and Raza of the Starjammers, hiring them to kill the Black Knight (Dane Whitman) for his seeming destruction of the Supreme Intelligence. Kor denied their statements that the Intelligence was the one who had engineered the explosion of the Nega-Bomb that had devastated Hala. Hepzibah took the offer for money, while Raza conceded when Kor offered him information on the location of his lost son. Unbeknownst to Raza, the device Kor gave him that would lead him to his son was actually a memory inducer, which amplified his anguish over his lost son, virtually forcing him to agree to Kor's deal.
    Posing as allies, the pair gained entry into Avengers Mansion, where Raza stabbed Kor in the stomach.

(Avengers I#351 - BTS) - Learning of his teammates' treachery, Corsair lent the Starjammers' advanced doctor, Sikorsky, to save the Black Knight, while Hepzibah and Raza repented for their actions.

(Avengers Strikefile#1) - The Lunatic Legion was stationed in their hidden complex in the blue area of the moon. They detected an impact near their location, and went out to see what had impacted with the lunar surface. They found a "record sphere" from the planet Cyllandra that was designed to seek out Kree lifeforms and convey the details of the Kree/Shi'ar War (Operation: Galactic Storm). After receiving the message (delivered by a visual recording by Sallen Bei), they vowed to get revenge on the Avengers.

Late at night, Crystal found Vision on the roof of Avengers Mansion. Vision had just completed a defensive sweep of the solar system (?), and registered a Kree energy pattern, that quickly disappeared. Vision said that if there are Kree in the solar system, then the Avengers should beware.

(Avengers I#366 (fb) - BTS) - Kor negotiated with the Collector, gaining an Omni-Wave Projector and Nega-Bomb in exchange for the promise of turning over the Avengers to him after their defeat.

(Avengers I#364 (fb) - BTS) - Deathcry was sent to Earth to help fight off an assault by Galen Kor's crew.

(Avengers I#364 (fb) - BTS) - Galen Kor's crew set up a group of Sentries in the Andes. They then formed a covert base in upstate New York.

(Avengers I#364) - Cir, Kor, and Lor slew two hunters (Charlie and Mike) who stumbled across their upstate New York base.
    Shortly after the destruction of Proctor's Andes base, the Avengers (Black Knight, Black Widow, Captain America, Crystal, Hercules, Vision) and Magdalene encountered Deathcry, who warned them of an impending assault seconds before a squadron of Kree Sentries approached them. Working with Deathcry, the heroes managed to demolish those Sentries, as well as a second, larger contingent. Galen Kor then appeared to them by hologram, telling them that within two days their world would die for the crimes committed against his people. 

(Avengers I#365) - Kor's crew unleashed attacks across the world, slaughtering people in the Shanxi province of the People's Republic of China and at least 4 other places over a period of 12 hours, causing a death toll in the thousands. Meanwhile they prepared to use an Omni-Wave Projector and a miniature Nega-Bomb to destroy Earth. The Vision traced the Omni-Wave energy back to upstate New York, but as they approached Kor's base, the Kree struck the Vision down via an Electro-Magnetic Pulse, and then Kor used a Universal Weapon to subdue the remainder of the group: Black Knight, Crystal, Deathcry, and Hercules.

(Avengers I#366 (fb)) - As the Vision recovered, Kor's crew took off in a starship, taking the other defeated Avengers with them.

(Avengers I#366) - From their South Pacific base, Kor's crew tortured the Avengers and Deathcry. However, the Black Knight managed to contact Sersi via their psychic link, and Sersi led the other Avengers (Black Widow, Captain America, Giant-Man (Pym)) and Magdalene to the rescue. The Avengers destroyed the Sentries sent against them, while Kor faced resistance from his crew for refusing to slay the Avengers (due to his obligation with the Collector). He planned to palliate them by letting them kill the Shi'ar Deathcry, but Hercules broke free and stopped them just as the other Avengers broke into the facility. However, the Nega-Bomb began the final stages of its arming and Kor and his crew teleported away, intending to leave the Avengers to die. Sersi transmuted the bomb into a form that they could survive, and Kor, frustrated by his dual failures, promised to one day pay back the Collector.

(Avengers I#379 (fb) - BTS) - Kor's crew arranged the release of the Mephitisoid, intending to use his mind-controlling pheromone powers to conquer Earth.

(Avengers I#378 - BTS) - The Mephitisoid and his servants captured Magdalene, the Swordsman (Jarvert), and the Vision, though Deathcry and the Shi'ar T'kyll Alabar escaped.

(Avengers I#379) - Galen Kor's crew met with the Mephitisoid, but Alabar and Deathcry captured Dylon Cir, and Alabar used Mephitisoid pheromones to control Cir, forcing him to lead him and Deathcry to rescue the Vision. However, the Mephitisoid slew Alabar, and Deathcry in turn slew the Mephitisoid, depriving the Kree of their chief weapon in this mission. Kor and his crew teleported away.

(Spider-Man Drakes Cakes Mini Comics Series II#1) - Setting: the planet Hala, which was once a stronghold of the Kree Empire before being devastated in the interplanetary war called 'Galactic Storm.' Now under the benevolent leadership of the Shi'ar Empire, the people of Hala are putting the past behind them and rebuilding towards a brighter future under the rulership of the reformed Deathbird. However, there were war criminals that refused to let their tyrannical ways die. . . . who despite being locked up in a maximum security prison, plan. . . and strike!

The prison breakout -- led by Admiral Galen-Kor and his three criminal cohorts Dylon Cir, Kona-Lor, and Tallun, with help from Kor's underground revolutionaries -- freed the other prisoners as well as themselves, gaining the attention of Deathbird and her guards Starforce (Korath the Pusuer, Ultimus, Shatterax, Supremor). While Ultimus and Supremor attempted to put down the revolt, Galen-Kor's allies took one starship apiece and fled the planet's atmosphere, with Deathbird, Korath, and Shatterax in hot pursuit. The battle was joined by the Silver Surfer, who had heard rumors of Hala's prison population overrunning the planet (!?! I've heard bad news travels fast, but still. . . !?! Was the InterGalacic News Broadcasting Network broadcasting live from Hala when the story broke, or what?) and came to put it down if true. He disabled one craft (the one piloted by Rojett and Jordann), but the other three -- one piloted by Dylon Cir and his allies Taser and Dekker, another by Kona-Lor and her allies Skreamer and Yeti, the third by Tallun and his allies Skulker, Garrote, and Hunter -- escaped into 'hyperspace'. Deathbird desperately tried to get information from Rojett before word of the breakout reached her sister Empress Lilandra, only for the Surfer to point out it was a little late for that, since Lilandra had just arrived on the scene. Lilandra ordered Deathbird and the Starforce back to Hala to quell the revolt there while the Imperial Guard pursued the other escapees. The Surfer offered his aid in restoring the peace on Hala, which Lilandra accepted. Meanwhile, the ships arrived at their destination, a planet that housed weapons of unbelievable destruction that the Kree revolutionaries planned to use to rid Hala of the Shi'ar Empire. A planet named Earth. . . . .

(Spider-Man Drakes Cakes Mini Comics Series II#1 - BTS) - Imperial Guardsmen Gladiator and Starbolt are sent after the fugitives. Meanwhile Galen-Kor and his fellow prisoners take over the Imperial Palace.

(Spider-Man Drakes Cakes Mini Comics Series II#2) - After the three fugitive ships hit Earth's atmosphere they broke formation to separately pursue three identified sites of extremely destructive weapons to take back to Hala. Dylon-Cir's ship landed on a rooftop in New York City, where they encountered Spider-Man (who was having a slow night on the crime-fighting front and was hoping to get back home for some quality time with Mary Jane when the aliens showed up). Dylon-Cir told Spider-Man that his beloved homeworld was under attack and he and his companions Tazer (a Kree? cyborg) and Dekker (a giant guy looking like a yellow Green Goblin) were trying to contact the Avengers to seek their help in their fight (though Cir was actually secretly planning to force the Avengers to do his bidding instead of asking them for their help). Spider-Man distrusted the story, but before he could do anything Gladiator and Starbolt arrived to bring Dylon-Cir's crew back into custody. Caught between Gladiator's warning/threat to leave and Dekker's plea to not allow the Guardsmen to take them (Dekker said they'd be killed if Gladiator took them into custody), Spidey tried to get everyone to sit down and talk it out. When Gladiator refused and realized that Spidey was not going to leave, Gladiator attacked Spidey, much to the amusement of the watching criminals. After throwing Spidey hard through a nearby building Gladiator turned his attention to the three criminals, with Tazer using his cybernetic coils and his bio-electricity to ensnare and fry Starbolt in an attempt to get Gladiator to surrender and leave them alone. While Gladiator was refusing Spidey returned to the scene. Realizing that innocents would suffer if the battle continued on, Spidey used his webs to blind Tazer long enough for him to drop Starbolt, who then used his powers to knock Tazer down. When Dylon-Cir and Dekker drew their guns to fire on the two Guardsmen, Spidey used his webbing to clog up the guns, effectively disarming the two criminals and ending the battle. Gladiator apologized to Spidey for attacking him, calling him a true warrior, while all Spidey wanted right then was an aspirin for his aching head. Meanwhile another of the fugitive ships lands in plains of New Mexico, seeking another cache of weapons hidden there.

(Spider-Man Drakes Cakes Mini Comics Series II#2 - BTS) - Gladiator and Starbolt take Dylon-Cir, Tazer, and Dekker back to Hala as prisoners. (hey, don't look at me like that, that's what the captions said at the end of #2!) The two Guardsmen then return to Earth to catch the other fugitives.

(Spider-Man Drakes Cakes Mini Comics Series II#3) - While the Hulk and his wife Betty were having a private cookout on one of the buttes surrounding the Mount (headquarters of the Pantheon organization) the ship containing Kona-Lor and her two allies Yeti (the feline-ish feral guy) and Skreamer (a Kree with 'sonic' energy bolts) land on another nearby butte overlooking The Mount, where they hoped to gain access to their weapons and super-computers to use in overthrowing the Shi'ar Empire off their homeworld. They pinpointed the Mount's weapons room and began blasting through the rock wall to get there when Hulk arrived with Pantheon members Ulysses and Hector to find out what they were up too. Kona-Lor told the Hulk that her planet was under siege and that they needed the Pantheon's technology to win the battle, and that they didn't think to ring the 'front doorbell' because asking for help was not their way. When a suspicious Hulk refused to aid them until he checked out their story Kona-Lor ordered the others to kill the Hulk and his accomplices. Ulysess and Hector were able to keep Kona-Lor and Skreamer at bay while Yeti was unable to even scratch the Hulk, who then knocked Yeti out. After Hulk knocked out the other two criminals, Gladiator and Starbolt arrived to bring the prisoners back to Hala. Hulk and Gladiator exchanged a few blows until Starbolt informed Gladiator that the Empress Lilandra had ordered them back to Hala immediately. The two Guardsmen left with the prisoners, leaving the Hulk to decide that the next time Betty wanted a night out under the stars they were going to have it in the planetarium.

(Spider-Man Drakes Cakes Mini Comics Series II#4) - While on a vacation near the Canadian/Anchorage (don't look at me like that, that's what the caption said!) border, Wolverine came across an Army base being jointly used by the United States, Canada, and Russia as a nuclear missile decommission center. Wolverine's suspicions were aroused by four intruders to the base: Tallun and his allies Skulker (who had a 'tendril mist' power he used to tie people up with), Garrote (a purple strongman who had a garrote made of a metal cable), and Hunter (a Kree who could fire plasma bolts from his hands), who were wanting the nukes to use against the Shi'ar, and decided there were more than enough missiles at the base to accomplish their goals. Quickly taking over the base the foursome forced the techies and the guards present to load the various missiles and related pieces onto some skids for transportation to their ship. When Garrote pushed one of the techies around for not moving fast enough Wolverine attacked, throwing Garrote into Hunter (knocking both out), then punching out Skulker and Tallun. At that point the X-Men (Cyclops, Archangel, Iceman, Gambit, and Jubilee) arrived to collect Wolverine for a trip to Hala. The Empress Lilandra had contacted Professor Xavier to request the X-Men's aid to quell the growing uprising on Hala.

(Spider-Man Drakes Cakes Mini Comics Series II#4) - Arriving on Hala, the X-Men rendezvous with Empress Lilandra to get an update on the situation. They learned that Galen-Kor and his followers had barricaded themselves in the main Imperial Palace, where they had been for the last four days. One of Kor's followers, Thunder (who wields a bio-electricized chain), began questioning him about the weapons he had promised them not appearing in a timely manner, correctly assuming that the ones sent to Earth had failed their respective missions. Galen-Kor began berating Thunder, only to be interrupted by the attacking X-Men and the Silver Surfer. While several of the normal Kree revolutionaries fled after a few minutes a few other Kree didn't: Thunder, Quarrel (a super-strong giant), the winged Falkon, and Kor himself. All were quickly subdued, with Kor encased in an ice prison before he could bash Cyclop's head in from behind. Afterwards, Lilandra congratulated the X-Man on their victory and asked how she could repay them. When Wolverine mentioned being hungry, Lilandra ordered a hero's feast prepared in the X-Men's honor.

(Iron Man III#7 (fb) - BTS) - Kor's crew relocated to the former Blue Area of the Moon, taking with them the Supreme Intelligence, who's computerized form had been found beneath the surface of Earth.

(Captain America III#5(fb), 4-8 - BTS) - The Supreme Intelligence manipulated the skrull known as the Sensational Hydra, in an effort to create an atmosphere of xenophobia on Earth that would foil Kor's goal of transforming humanity.

(Iron Man III#7 (fb)) - Kor's crew formed an alliance with the Western US company PowerSource Inc, run by Victoria Snow, offering her funding (as the company was on the verge of bankruptcy) in exchange for the use of their plant.

(Iron Man III#7) - Kor re-named his crew the Lunatic Legion, after the former group formed by Fer-Porr, Sro-Himm, Zarek, etc. They continued their plans to transform humanity into genetic duplicates of the Kree, unaware that this plan was at odds with the Supreme Intelligence's plan for the Kree, which involved evolving them beyond their current stagnant form. Later, as Tony Stark investigated PowerSource for unrelated reasons, he was assaulted by a drunken Warbird, which led Dylon Cir to declare their security to be compromised and to try to contain the discovery. Stark became Iron Man, but Cir unleashed Sentry #571 to hold off the two Avengers while he and the other Kree agents present escaped, taking with them the experimental energy generator they had sought.
    After Iron Man and Warbird had destroyed the Senry, Warbird pursued the Kree ship.

(Quicksilver I#10) -  The Talla Ron, Dylon Cir, and the bald twins assaulted Attilan, stealing a sample of Terrigen Mist from the Inhumans.

(Captain America III#8 (fb) - BTS) -  Establishing another base in an abandoned missile silo in Cape Canaveral, the Kree captured a number of humans and began testing the Terrigen Mist on them, hoping to use it to transform humans into Kree genetic duplicates that they could then use as slave labor.

(Captain America III#8 (fb) - BTS) -  Warbird pursued the Lunatic Legion to their Cape Canaveral base.

(Captain America III#8) -  Warbird summoned Captain America for help against the Lunatic Legion, but lied to him, telling she had already called in other reinforcements as she was hoping to impress him due to her recent failings. The Legion subdued Warbird and experimented on her form, searching for the key (via her human-Kree hybrid physiology) to mutate humanity as per their goal. Captain America arrived and freed Warbird, but when she tried to capture the escaping Kree, she was instead captured by them and brought to the moon.

(Quicksilver I#10 (fb)) - Kor tormented Warbird as the Kree completed their study of her, learning how to successfully accomplish the intended mutation of humanity.

(Quicksilver I#10) - Quicksilver, Hawkeye, and the Scarlet Witch (who could also summon Wonder Man's energy form) traveled to the moon via Lockjaw. Upon their arrival, the Supreme Intelligence revealed to them the Lunatic Legion's ultimate goal, explaining the use of PowerSource's generator to fuel the Omni-Wave projector, whose output would be filtered through the Terrigen Mists, transforming humanity. Quicksilver rescued Warbird, who consumed a large quantity of Kree alcohol to help steady herself (from her withdrawal symptoms). After Lockjaw took the Kree's Terrigen supply, the drunken Warbird flew in, destroying the generator, but wounding Lockjaw and nearly killing everyone via explosive decompression when she shattered the Kree building. The Avengers escaped, assuming the threat to be over, but the Kree restored the atmosphere of their building, and Galen Kor revealed that they would use their own lives as power...and "The Human race will live Kree...or die."

(Avengers III#7) - Kor announced the imminent success of the Lunatic Legion's plans to the Supreme Intelligence, who was greatly displeased. The Intelligence thus sent a transmission to Avengers Mansion, informing them of the persistence of the threat. The Avengers (Captain America, Firestar, Hawkeye, Justice, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Thor, Wonder Man) traveled to the moon, battling the Kree there. Kor activated the Omni-Wave projector; he and the rest of the Lunatic Legion were transformed into energy in order to power the device. However, Thor opened a dimensional portal to re-direct the Omni-Wave's mutagentic energy and despite Lor's distracting assault on Thor, Firestar held the portal open with her own energies and Justice re-directed the Omni-Wave into the portal.

(Fantastic Four III#13-14) - Three survivors (Cha-Mont, Clar-Roc, Dor-Art) of the Lunatic Legion were brought to the abandoned Four Freedoms Plaza to be deported to Hala for trial.  When Ronan the Accuser instead seemed to give the three their freedom the SHIELD agents and federal authorities present opened fire on him.  After the Fantastic Four joined the fight Ronan teleported the Plaza to the Blue Area of the Moon.  Ronan then gave the three Legionaries both armor and Universal Weapons and charged them to hunt down and kill the fugitive members of the FF, but the three were instead quickly defeated by the FF.  Unknown to the Legionnaires, they were being used to distract the FF while Ronan used the enslaved Invisible Woman to break into the Watcher's dome and steal the power core of the Psyche-Magnitron from Uatu the Watcher.

COMMENTS: Galen Kor and his crew were created by Bob Harras, Steve Epting, and Tom Palmer.

    A lunatic is a pejorative term for one who is mentally ill, dangerous, foolish or unpredictable. It gains its stem from the Latin "luna" for moon, which denotes the traditional link made in folklore between madness and the phases of the moon. While Kor and his group may have been crazy, they were capitalizing on their moon base by the use of the name, as were their predecessors.

    As pointed out by Gauntlet, Dark Rider, while several nameless soldiers are converted to energy along with Galen Kor, none of the others, such as Bron Char, Cylon Dir, Kona Lor, or Talla Ron are seen dying, so they could have escaped some time prior to that. Particularly Cylon Dir and Talla Ron, as they were often seen questioning Kor's plans several times before.

Thanks to Brian Cook for reminding me of the missing Strikefile appearance, and to Elf with a Gun for pointing out the missing Fantastic Four appearance.
    While the captions to #13 say these three are the sole survivors of the LL it could just as easily be that they are just the ones whom the Avengers caught after the disappearance of Kor and his gang and are thus assumed to be the only survivors.
    Minor nitpick:  I think the original name for this version of the Lunatic Legion was the Kree Strikeforce.  I don't recall if they were ever called that in an actual story but I believe various promotional materials did refer to them by that name.
    Another point in favor of Kor and Co. surviving the end of Avengers III #7:  if the Supremor _really_  wanted to stop Kor's plans why didn't he just tell Kor outright not to do it?  The SI is the Legion's ultimate leader;  a word from it should have been sufficient to keep the Legion from going forward with its plans.  My guess is that the SI's real ulterior motive in this storyline is that it was attempting to create another group of super-powered Kree for its own purposes, and had decided to see what powers (if any) would be gained by taking a group who had been exposed to the Terrigen Mists and tossing them all into an Omni-Wave projector.  Which should make their next appearance (if it ever occurs) interesting, to say the least. . . . .
    Just some thoughts from a sleep-deprived brain.  :)
        --Elf

    I had questioned Elf's information on the Psyche-Magnitron from FF III#13, but she confirmed:
The tinker-toy Ronan was after was called the Universal Power Core of a Psyche-Magnitron unit.  Based on what was shown, how some of the characters were reacting to it, and the fact that it was in the Watcher's dome to begin with, I would hazard a guess that the difference between what it could power compared to what the P-M unit that gave Warbird her original abilities could power is roughly the difference of what a shuttle booster rocket could power compared to what an ultralight plane engine could power.  Give/take a bit.

Though thinking about what this little toy can do, I do have to wonder just what the side-effects of using this thing are in  order for the Kree to outlaw this thing to begin with. . . . . . .