Enemies: The Acroyears, the Black Fleet, Ecbatani rebels, Lady Illyrie, Polibos, Prince Acroyear

Known Relatives: Polibos (father/son), Unnamed mother/daughter-in-law

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The tri-planet of Ecbatan (Microverse)

First Appearance: Micronauts II#7 (April, 1985)

Powers/Abilities: Polibos' son was a normal human boy of about 10 years old with a taste for intrigue and power. Once his brain was grafted to his grandfather's body, and with augmented body parts and tissue from Ecbatan's Body Banks, he became a healthy and fit man (aged about 50) comparable to someone at least 10 years his junior. Having a child's mind, he was still quite impulsive, unruly and demanding. In his grandfather's body, he was almost 6' tall, with a full head of black hair (whitening at the temples), plus sideburns and a moustache, as well as brown eyes.

History: (Micronauts II#7 (fb)) - Polibos' son developed precocious, devious and destructive behaviour, encouraged through royal court intrigues.

(Micronauts II#7 (fb) - BTS) - Polibos' son engineered the accident of a spacecraft in which he and his father and mother were travelling. His mother was killed in the accident, and the boy had his brain secretly grafted to the hopelessly damaged nervous system of his grandfather, Laios, the Regent of Ecbatan. He also put forward the lie that Polibos' son had died in the spacecraft accident. With Laios' miraculous "recovery", the boy in his grandfather's body abused his position as if he were playing with toys. He later had his father imprisoned, but Polibos was able to escape and advanced the rebellion against Laios.

(Micronauts II#7 (fb) - BTS) - Polibos hired the Black Fleet to blockade Ecbatan and destroy Ecbatani ships in order to weaken Laios' grip on power. However, Laios instead called in the peacekeeping Acroyears, who dispatched a taskforce headed by Prince Acroyear and Lady Illyrie.

(Micronauts II#7 (fb)) - After destroying the Black Fleet, Prince Acroyear and Lady Illyrie landed their personal shuttles to determine the reason for the Black Fleet's attack. They found the spaceport almost deserted, excepting an honor guard, with no cheering support from the locals, just the Regent Laios, who explained the absence due to Ecbatanis being "simple folk" (despite their space and biotechnology capabilities) who were easily frightened from the fiery sky that resulted from the Acroyears' defense of the tri-planet.

The Regent then drove the two Acroyear warriors in a large six-wheeled vehicle with an open top through empty streets. Two apparently rebel skimmers then appeared firing spears that ripped at the vehicle. Laios threw himself between a spear aimed at Illyrie, but both were severely injured. This resulted in Illyrie acknowledging a blood honor debt to Laios, despite the attack being staged by Laios to encourage the involvement of the Acroyears to quell the rebellion. Two security cruisers then appeared, driving off the would-be rebels, using tractor beams to carry the damaged vehicle to the Medical Center.

Laios used the Body Banks to heal his injuries and encouraged the Acroyears to attend a small formal banquet to elaborate on the rebellion. Laios then instructed his Seneschal to show the Acroyears to their quarters. Once in her room, Polibos appeared to Illyrie, revealing the truth, and requested her aid in exposing Laios.

(Micronauts II#7 (fb) - BTS) - Illyrie consulted Prince Acroyear on the matter and they laid a trap for Laios to determine his true biological heritage, organizing a complete bio-scan unit be brought to her quarters.

(Micronauts II#7 (fb)) - Illyrie sent a message to Laios via a purple-robed servant that she wished to thank him and he responded quickly, hastening to her quarters. They both sat together on the bio-scan unit, which was disguised as a bed, complimenting each other on their strength. The scan was evidently fast and Illyrie withdrew and called Laios an abomination. The Regent discovered the trap and Illyrie confronted him with the truth. He angrily confessed and denied any regrets. Laios wanted to bed her, but she stated her blood debt did not extend to sleeping with children. Enraged, Laios pulled out his handgun, but Illyrie still rejected him. And so he killed her, the blood debt cancelled. It was then that Prince Acroyear appeared from behind some curtains with several Acroyear warriors; all fired at Laios, killing the child in the body of a man.

Comments: Created by Peter B. Gillis (story), Rod Whigham (pencils), and Akin & Garvey (inks).

The overthrow of Laios was told as a flashback by Acroyear.

It is likely that Polibos became the ruler of Ecbatan after Laios' death.

Profile by Grendel Prime

Clarifications:

Laios has no known connections to:

• Lailah - seraph of the night, with Stoker, parent of Sybil, @ Gambit II#2
• L'ai Sau - Priests of Pama, directed training of Mantis, @ Fantastic Four I#325
• or any other "Lai-" characters

Seneschal was one of Laios' aides and was a normal human. He organized the accommodation for Prince Acroyear and Lady Illyrie and showed them to their quarters. He incorrectly thought that the two Acroyear warriors were lovers. Upon realizing his mistake, he quickly organized another room for Illyrie. He later acted as messenger for Illyrie, requesting Laios go to Illyire so that she might properly display her gratitude; however, it was a trap set by Illyrie that the Seneschal was unaware of.

He had brown hair and wore the long purple robes of a royal attendant on Ecbatan.

Seneschal is the character's title and is an archaic term that actually means "old or senior servant" and is the official equivalent to "steward".

--Micronauts II#7

Polibos was a normal human of the royal court of Ecbatan who enjoyed support on Ecbatan. He was likely in line for the throne once his father passed away from a damaged nervous system. Polibos deplored his son's precocious, devious and destructive behaviour. His son engineered the death of Polibos' wife in a spacecraft accident, and then kept Polibos prisoner, until he was able to escape. Polibos soon commanded the rebellion that grew like flames against Laios. He knew how to handle a gun and developed some stealth capabilities, probably after joining the rebellion. Polibos organized the blockade of Ecbatan using the mercenary force of the Black Fleet.

The Acroyears, acting as a peacekeeping force, engaged and destroyed the Black Fleet, with Prince Acroyear and Lady Illyrie then descending to the planet. That night after a banquet, Polibos surprised Illyrie in her room and relayed his version of events to her, explaining the bizarre story and why he had rebelled. He then asked for her help in overthrowing Laios, but Illyrie explained that she had a blood debt of honor to Laios, and then tied him up before seeking counsel on the matter with Prince Acroyear. Polibos then escaped.

Polibos' escape may have resulted from him being accompanied by someone who remained hidden while he spoke to Illyrie, or he was able to escape by skill or technology.

--Micronauts II#7

images:
Micronauts II#7, p13, panel 2 (main)

Micronauts II#7 (April, 1985) - Peter B. Gillis (writer), Rod Whigham (pencils), Akin & Garvey (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)

Last updated: 01/27/06

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