QUAN-ZARR
Real Name: Quan-Zarr
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial humanoid (race unidentified)
Occupation: Ruler of Redstone; formerly held position of power in "the Twelve Worlds"
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Commanded soldiers, etc.
Enemies: Beastmen, his own son
Known Relatives: Unidentified son (deceased)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: A citadel
on Planet Redstone;
formerly "the Twelve Worlds"
First Appearance: Marvel Preview#18 (Spring, 1979)
Powers/Abilities: Quan-Zarr had no superhuman powers, though he appeared to age at a slower-than-human rate. He was backed by his military, remote-automatic fighter starships, and other forces, and he and his troops were the only ones on Redstone (with the exception of the ports) with access to any power source. He lived within a highly guarded fortress, and he employed a number of scientists. He briefly held the Power-Rod, which could be used to destroy an entire planetoid (and allegedly could destroy an entire planet), but he only held it in his hand and never was seen to use it.
History:
(Marvel Preview#18 (fb) - BTS) - The original inhabitants of Redstone were dedicated to peace, and they had no means of defense against assault.
(Marvel Preview#18 (fb) - BTS) - Quan-Zarr once held the position of power among "the Twelve Worlds," a position achieved with the aid of his son's genius, but he lost the position under unspecified circumstances. Slinking away in defeat, he sought a new base from which to rebuild his power.
(Marvel Preview#18 (fb)) - Finding an easy target in the planet Redstone, Quan-Zarr's forces used their starships to destroy the world's gleaming cities, shatter its people's culture, slaughter their population, and steal the planet for his own. Quan-Zarr allowed a handful of the people of Redstone to survive for his scientists to experiment on. After sufficient genetic manipulation, the subjects were bred like animals, and the results were the Beastmen.
(Marvel Preview#18 (fb) - BTS) - <Some sixty cycles before the main story> Quan-Zarr subsequently claimed to have discovered Redstone as an unoccupied planet, and he set himself up as its founder and ruler, establishing Redstone as a haven for colonizers wishing to enjoy the simple life: the world was kept without mechanical or other power sources, save for the port in each city and in his own fortress. Taxing the new inhabitants who flocked to Redstone, Quan-Zarr became wealthy.
(Marvel Preview#18 (fb)) - <Some thirty cycles before the main story> The Beastmen -- numbering around 500 -- matured, and they escaped Quan-Zarr's zoo-like captivity aided by Quan-Zarr's son. Some went berserk, killing in the streets, and most were themselves killed. Quan-Zarr's son saved the last 27 survivors, helping them escape Redstone completely to live on a miserable planetoid two star-leagues away. Quan-Zarr alleged that the Beastmen were of unknown origin and had attacked without provocation.
(Marvel Preview#18 (fb) - BTS) - Recognizing his father's evil, Quan-Zarr's son sought to assuage his guilt by helping the Beastmen destroy Quan-Zarr. He provided them with six fighter ships and worked on a weapon for them. They made their home on another planetoid.
(Marvel Preview#18) - Aboard a starship, the Beastmen tested
Quan-Zarr's son's weapon, the Power-Rod, using it to destroy the planetoid on
which they had dwelled. As they prepared to gather the other fighters
and return to Redstone to overthrow Quan-Zarr, they were ambushed by agents by
Quan-Zarr who blew up their ship, killing all aboard. One of the Beastmen
relayed a transmission to his brethren before dying.
Quan-Zarr's agents reported their success as they claimed the
Power-Rod, and Quan-Zarr stated that while he had lost his son, he now had the
means to return to power and conquer all.
(Marvel Preview#18 - BTS) - Quan-Zarr's soldiers delivered to him the Power-Rod.
(Marvel Preview#18) - The Power-Rod's energies were detected by Ship who sent Star-Lord (Peter Quill) to investigate. Upon landing, Star-Lord was forced to surrender his weapon, the Element Gun (which he did, knowing that none but he could activate the gun), after which he checked out a local bar. As Star-Lord learned of Redstone's history (as Quan-Zarr had fabricated it), Quan-Zarr's soldiers detected Ship in orbit, and Quan-Zarr -- wary after the near disaster with the development of the Power-Rod -- ordered the ship to be destroyed by the remote-automatic fighters. A pair of Beastmen assaulted the tavern and slew Quan-Zarr's couriers, hoping to claim the Power-Rod and unaware they were too late. When the native Sylvana drew her sword and approached the Beastmen, Star-Lord took the sword from her and flattened both Beastmen without killing them, then grabbed the courier pouch and took off. Within the pouch, Star-Lord found a tape containing information on the location of the Power-Rod, and he and Sylvana fled as the two Beastmen recovered and chased them in an air-skimmer, using its blaster to fire at them. When the Beastmen wounded Sylvana, Star-Lord surrendered the tape to them, and they told him of their true origins before vowing to slay Quan-Zarr and his people as they had slain his people.
The Beastmen contacted their brethren, and they all converged on Quan-Zarr's tower, assaulting it and slaying hundreds before the fortress' defenses fell before them. The remaining Beastmen invaded the fortress, with a sole survivor making it to and slaying Quan-Zarr. Star-Lord had made his way into the fortress as well, and he watched Quan-Zarr's death in silence. Unwilling to allow the Beastman to destroy the entire city's population, Star-Lord faced in a swordfight and was forced to kill him. Star-Lord shattered the Power-Rod and buried it with the last Beastman.
Comments: Created by Doug Moench, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Bob McLeod.
There seemed a lot of backstory that was just never dealt with...
The name "Solan" seems as good as any for Quan-Zarr's son.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:
The Power-Rod, aka Ultimate Weapon, has no known connections to:
Power-Rod
Also known as the Ultimate Weapon, it was designed by Quan-Zarr's son to give the Beastmen the power to avenge themselves on Quan-Zarr. Upon its completion, it was tested on the planetoid that had been the former home to the Beastmen, utterly destroying the planetoid. Before the Beastmen could begin their assault on Quan-Zarr, they were ambushed by Quan-Zarr's soldiers, who blew a hole in their ship, and they died swiftly. The soldiers brought the Power-Rod to Quan-Zarr, who intended to use it to retake his former position of power in "the Twelve Worlds." The Beast-Men tracked down Quan-Zarr and slew him before he could use the Power-Rod; the last surviving Beastman intended to use the Power-Rod to slay the people of Redstone, just as Quan-Zarr had slaughtered his people, and Star-Lord was forced to kill him to prevent this. Star-Lord then broke the Power-Rod and buried it alongside the last of the Beastmen.
The Power-Rod could unleash an energy blast able to destroy an entire planet. It would seem likely that it could not be finely controlled for lesser tasks, because Quan-Zarr -- who held the Power-Rod -- seemed quite helpless to stop the Beastmen from overrunning his citadel and then stabbing him to death. Similarly, Quan-Zarr's son and the Beastmen couldn't stop Quan-Zarr's soldiers from destroying their ship, slaying them, and stealing the Power-Rod. It's also possible that the Power-Rod required time to recharge between blasts, or simply that in both cases the holders were caught off guard and/or panicked and just didn't react in time.
--Marvel Preview#18 (18 (fb) - BTS, 18
Quan-Zarr's
citadel
Quan-Zarr's fortress was some distance from any of the cities, and kept him isolated from all others, save the soldiers and servants present. Its defenses fell before the assault of the Beastmen's starships and was then overrun by the Beastmen, and Quan-Zarr himself was slain. The fortress itself remained standing, though abandoned.
--Marvel Preview#18
Quan-Zarr's
remote-automatic fighters
Defense drones serving Quan-Zarr's wishes, a quartet of them were dispatched to destroy or drive off Ship as soon as she was detected in orbit. Ship was initially forced to flee, preventing her from aiding Star-Lord in his mission on Redstone, thought she did dispatch a pair of Widgets to the surface, and they escaped the fighters' detection. Ultimately, Ship led the four fighters to surround her, and she then evaded them with her cloaking mechanism; the fighters fired on wear she had been, and their blasts destroyed the other fighters.
--Marvel Preview#18 (18 (fb) - BTS, 18
Quan-Zarr's
soldiers
A group of soldiers remained loyal to Quan-Zarr even after he fell from his position of power in "the Twelve Worlds," and they used their starships to destroy the Redstone's gleaming cities, shatter its people's culture, slaughter their population, and steal the planet for Quan-Zarr. A number of them remained in his fortress/citadel while the others were stationed in the cities, enforcing his rule and ensuring that none but they carried weapons.
Under Quan-Zarr's orders, they piloted
star-fighters to ambush his son and the Beastmen, slaying them and claiming the
Power-Rod. A pair of soldiers confronted Star-Lord upon his arrival on Redstone,
commanding him to surrender his Element Gun, which he did willingly since he
knew none of them could use it. Another soldier reported the detection of Ship
in Redstone's atmosphere and then followed Quan-Zarr's order to dispatch some
remote-automatic fighters against it. The soldiers in Quan-Zarr's fortress fell
before the onslaught of the Beastmen's starship and then to the Beastmen
themselves, though they did take several Beastmen with them.
Other soldiers presumably had remained stationed in the city,
thus surviving the assault.
They had access to star-fighters, and on
the surface they used air-skimmers that hovered a few feet off the ground and
could fly at relatively low speeds (maybe 20 mph) and were armed with an energy
blaster. The guards wore light armor with air-tight helmets and an internal air
supply, and they carried energy pistols.
The skimmers were apparently also used by couriers, who wore
variant costumes.
--Marvel Preview#18 (18 (fb) - BTS, 18
Quan-Zarr's
son
His mother unidentified, he was active over 60 cycles before the main story, as his genius had allowed his father to achieve a position of power within "the Twelve Planets." Thirty cycles before the main story, he had recognized his father's evil and had aided the Beastmen who escaped captivity. He provided them with six fighter ships and worked on a weapon for them. They made their home on a "miserable planetoid two star-leagues away." Thirty cycles later, he completed the Power-Rod and tested its power with some of the Beastmen, destroying the planetoid on which they had dwelt. Almost immediately, however, they were ambushed and slain by Quan-Zarr's soldier; Quan-Zarr noted his son's death with minimal regret at what the gaining of the means to retake his lost power had cost him.
--Marvel Preview#18 (18 (fb) - BTS, 18
images: (without ads)
Marvel Preview#18, p6 (soldiers on air-skimmer)
p9, panel 3-5 (Quan-Zarr's citadel,
seated body, and face)
p12, panel 2 (remote-automatic
fighters)
p18, panel 8 (Quan-Zarr's son)
p24, panel 7 (Power-Rod)
Other Appearances:
Last updated: 08/03/06
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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