THEY
THEY
MEMBERSHIP: Twelve members, none named
PURPOSE: Destruction of the High Evolutionary
AFFILIATIONS: Man-Beast
ENEMIES: High Evolutionary, Nobilus, New Men, Adam Warlock
BASE of OPERATIONS: Currently unknown;
formerly mobile;
formerly the High Evolutionary's Counter-Earth (formerly
within the Beyonders' museum and previously located opposite Earth around the
sun)
FIRST APPEARANCE: Warlock and the Infinity Watch#3 (April, 1992)
POWERS: They were powerful cyborgs, able to project powerful force fields, scan for energy signatures, lock onto targets, and fire destructive projectiles.
HISTORY:
(Marvel Two-In-One#63 - BTS / Warlock and the Infinity Watch#4 (fb)) - The High
Evolutionary's Counter-Earth by the enigmatic Beyonders for their museum of
oddities.
(Warlock and the Infinity Watch#4 (fb)) - Counter-Earth and its populace was bathed in and changed by the weird powers of the Beyonders, though its inhabitants were unaware of their new status and the changes it wrought in them.
(Infinity Gauntlet#1 - BTS / Warlock and the Infinity Watch#4 (fb)) - When Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half of the population of the universe, a carefully set cosmic balance was disrupted. The actuality ripple eventually reached the home of the Beyonders, and Counter-Earth was caught in the rift. The astral turmoil tore Counter-Earth, slaying its inhabitants.
(Warlock and the Infinity Watch#4 (fb)) - As the Omega, the Man-Beast seized this moment, somehow braving the devastation and saving twelve doomed souls for his own purposes. These twelve were easily molded by the Omega, who chose to turn them into the embodiment of pure hatred, poisoning their hearts against their creator, the High Evolutionary. The Omega convinced these twelve that every tragedy that had endured was their maker's doing. He then converted them into cyborg form and gave them the power to quench the seething fires in their twisted souls and sent them out to destroy the High Evolutionary.
(Warlock and the Infinity Watch#3 (fb) - BTS) - Having recently witnessed the birth of a Celestial, the High Evolutionary had been driven mad, retreating deep within himself and barely interacting with the outside world. When "They" came after the HE, he was protected by Nobilus and several New Men. "They" attacked without provocation and refused to confer. "They" ruthlessly pursued the HE and his allies across half a galaxy, and many of the HE's warriors fell before their technological might. Attempts to lose their attackers proved futile, but the HE's ship was severely damaged, and Nobilus brought the HE and his warriors to a long abandoned planetoid laboratory.
(Warlock and the Infinity Watch#3) - "They" arrived on the planetoid shortly after Adam Warlock had traveled there. Wishing to observe the attackers in battle, Warlock had Nobilus send the New Men against them. Protected by force fields, "They" quickly identified and slaughtered their attackers. Their scanners located the HE and Nobilus within the planetoid, and "They" entered its caverns.
(Warlock and the Infinity Watch#4) - Adam Warlock ambushed and overpowered the final member of They in line as they passed down the caverns. He attempted to do the same to another warrior, but was instead outmaneuvered and cast to the ground. To save his own life, Warlock's Soul Gem lashed out, dropping the warrior with a karmic blast. Warlock, having recently returned to mortal form, was overwhelmed by the influx of memories and emotions, and he passed out. The remaining members of They judged his threat to be neutralized and continued apace to the HE. While They encountered and defeated Nobilus, Warlock revived and probed the fallen warrior's memories, learning the origins of They. As They prepared to slay the marginally coherent HE, Warlock again confronted them, forcing them to recall who he was and how they once worshipped him as a man who had died for their sins. Warlock told them that they must not slay the HE, denouncing the Omega as a false god since he had ordered them to kill. Torn between the Omega's reprogramming and their own beliefs, They overloaded their armors, killing them all.
COMMENTS: Created by Jim Starlin, Rick Leonardi, and Terry Austin.
The group of warriors did not have a name. Nobilus referred to them only as "They," and that name was both on the cover of #4 and used as the title of that issue.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS: Counter-Earth
images:
Warlock and the Infinity Watch#4, p1 (main picture)
p16, panel 3 (harvested by the Omega)
p17, panel 1 (full body image)
Warlock and the Infinity Watch#4 (May, 1992) - by Jim Starlin (writer), Rick Leonardi (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Craig Anderson (editor)
Last updated: 01/10/06.
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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