KA'ARDUM
Real Name: Ka'ardum
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Shi'ar)
Occupation: Major-General in Shi'ar military
Group Membership: Shi'ar military
Affiliations: Araki, Corsair, Deathbird, Emperor Neramani (deceased), Fe'eyht, Hepzibah, Imperial Guard (Arc, Black Light, Commando, Electron, Flashfire, Fang, G-Type, Gladiator, Hussar, Manta, Mentor, Moondancer, Nightside, Oracle, Plutonia, Scintilla, Starbolt, Strontian (Xenith), Titan, Voyager, Warstar, White Noise), Jahf, Rigellians, Shi'ar Death Commandos (Blackcloak, Colony, Devo, Flaw, Hypernova, Krait, Offset, Sega, Shell, Warshot), Vulcan, X-Men
(Darwin, Nightcrawler, Professor X, Warpath);
Formerly Lilandra, Starjammers (Ch'od, Cr+eee, Havok, Korvus, Marvel Girl (Rachel Grey), Polaris, Raza)
Enemies: D'ken, Inhumans (especially Black Bolt), Kree, Lilandra Neramani, Scy'ar Tal, Starjammers (Ch'od, Cr+eee, Havok, Korvus, Marvel Girl (Rachel Grey), Polaris, Raza);
Formerly Araki, Deathbird, Imperial Guard (Electron, Flashfire, Gladiator, Manta, Mentor, Nightside, Oracle, Plutonia, Scintilla, Titan, Warstar), Vulcan, Z'nox
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unknown;
Formerly Archipelago asteroid
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men#484 (May, 2007)
Powers/Abilities: Ka'ardum is a trained military commander and possesses the standard abilities of the Shi'ar.
History:
(Uncanny X-Men#484 (fb) - BTS) - The emperor of the Shi’ar Empire, last name of Neramani, was focused primarily on expansion of the Empire. He had three children, D’Ken, Cal’syee, and Lilandra. His closest ally was Major-General Ka’ardum, who lead the Shi’ar forces and who was like an uncle to Lilandra. D’Ken later became ruler until he went insane, then Lilandra took over.
Ka’ardum led many of the Shi’ar forces against Lilandra, seeking to dethrone her and give the Shi’ar Empire glory again. He was defeated however and believed dead by many. Lilandra placed him in a heavily guarded estate-prison on the asteroid Archipelago, where he remained for many years.
(Uncanny X-Men#484 (fb)) - Lilandra convinced Corsair to help her liberate Major-General Ka’ardum from his prison, assuming his aid would convince other Shi’ar to join her against D’Ken.
(Uncanny X-Men#484) - The Starjammers, the X-Men, Lilandra, and Korvus stormed the Asteroid Archipelago, savagely attacking the forces there. Lilandra approached Ka’ardum in the prison and he treated her with disdain, disgusted at her choice of allies. Lilandra implored him to join her against D’Ken, to become a soldier once more and restore his lost honor, and Ka’ardum agreed.
(Uncanny X-Men#485) - Ka’ardum released a media message to the entire empire asking for the Shi’ar to join him in aiding Lilandra, and a third of D’Ken’s forces abandoned D’Ken and did so. Ka'ardum and his allies attacked D'Ken's forces at the M'krann Crystal just as the wedding of Deathbird and Vulcan finished, the Starjammers, X-Men, and Ka’ardum’s forces attacked and a savage battle ensued. The Imperial Guard launched to the defense of the planet. Shockingly, Vulcan burned away D’Ken’s flesh in an energy blast, finally having his revenge, then Vulcan declared himself emperor.
(Uncanny X-Men#486) - The battle continued raging until Deathbird, Vulcan, and their forces retreated. Lilandra reunited with Ka’ardum, and they both realized this was only the first of many battles. Havok, Polaris, Korvus, and Marvel Girl joined the Starjammers, planning revenge on Vulcan, while the other X-Men returned to Earth.
(X-Men: Emperor Vulcan#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Starjammers, Ka'ardum, and Lilandra waged war on the forces loyal to Vulcan, using Lilandra's expertise and Ka'ardum's forces and military strategy. They were successfully able to recruit many of Vulcan's loyalists over to their side, and set their home base up on the Clench world, Standing Still.
(X-Men: Emperor Vulcan#1) - Cutting off a Shi'ar supply line, the Starjammers tried convincing the captain to surrender, but he refused. The captain finally surrendered when he learned that Korvus and Lilandra were present. They continued strategizing and Havok determined that if they could cut off Vulcan's forces at Feather's Edge, they could finally take the fight to Chandilar. The Starjammers and Ka'ardum were impressed with Havok's strategy, but he had little faith in himself. The Starjammers lead their forces against Feather's Edge before realizing it was a trap. As they considered retreat, they were surrounded by a new force, the Scy'ar Tal, who shockingly destroyed Vulcan's ship. Korvus intuited that the name Scy'ar Tal meant "death to the Shi'ar." Ka'ardum and Lilandra remained aboard his ship, the Wing of K'ythri.
(X-Men: Emperor Vulcan#2) - Lilandra, Ka'ardum, and the rebels fled the area and soon learned that Feather's Edge had been destroyed by the Scy'ar Tal, killing billions. Lilandra explained to the Starjammers that the Scy'ar Tal, who claimed to be the original inhabitants of the M'kraan homeworld, must be lying as the Shi'ar were believed to have originated on that world.
(X-Men: Emperor Vulcan#3) - Lilandra and Ka'ardum learned that Vulcan, Deathbird, and the Imperial Guard had offered an alliance against the Scy'ar Tal, which Ka'ardum thought was an act of weakness. They discussed plans with the Starjammers, feeling that it would only be a matter of time before Vulcan betrayed them, and Havok and Marvel Girl wondered if the Scy'ar Tal had a valid claim on the M'kraan world, though Lilandra was adamant they did not. Despite all their reservations, Havok decided the Starjammers would ally with Vulcan. They went to Vulcan's ship, where Araki entered with his private guard, the Shi'ar Death Commandos (Blackcloak, Colony, Devo, Flaw, Hypernova, Krait, Offset, Sega, Shell, Warshot). Marvel Girl grew furious and lashed out in a powerful attack, sending the Commandos scattering and threatening Araki's life, even accusing him of running the secret order of the Shi'ar and ordering the death of her family, until Polaris stopped her. After the Commandos left, they started a planning session and Havok insisted they destroy the Finality weapon, which had destroyed Feather's Edge, first. Vulcan ordered the Starjammers and Imperial Guard (joined by Scintilla) to go after the weapon while Ka'ardum lead the fleet to defend the M'kraan Crystal.
(X-Men: Emperor Vulcan#4) - Lilandra joined Ka'ardum on his ship, with Araki there as well. She argued with him over his betrayal of her and argued that the Scy'ar Tal should not be exterminated. After Araki called Lilandra a weak empress, Ka'ardum silenced them and ordered his ships to fire. The Shi'ar were losing the battle until Vulcan managed to cut off all Scy'ar Tal communications, then the Shi'ar started winning.
(X-Men: Emperor Vulcan#5) - Lilandra and Araki watched as the Scy'ar retreated, then Lilandra realized that Vulcan intended to use the Finality weapon against the remaining Scy'ar Tal. They watched as Marvel Girl and Korvus tried stopping the weapon, but Gladiator attacked them to stop them. Korvus nearly stopped the weapon, but Ka'ardum switched allegiances and fired on Korvus to stop him. Lilandra was horrified, but Ka'ardum would not be swayed. He teleported away before the star exploded, then allowed Lilandra to escape in a separate vessel, claiming he recognized that Vulcan had the best interests of the Shi'ar in mind now. Days later, Araki, Ka'ardum, Deathbird, and the Imperial Guard (Electron, Flashfire, Gladiator, Manta, Mentor, Nightside, Oracle, Plutonia, Scintilla, Titan, Warstar) stood by as the Shi'ar cheered on Vulcan. The Starjammers (Ch'od, Havok, Polaris, Raza) lay captive.
(X-Men: Kingbreaker#1 (fb) - BTS) - As Vulcan worked to expand the borders and conquests of the Shi'ar Empire, he had the Imperial Guard head up the war efforts on the Empire's fringes.
(X-Men: Kingbreaker#1) - Ka'ardum stood by Deathbird as she made the announcement of the conquest of the Z'nox by Vulcan and the Imperial Guard.
(X-Men: Kingbreaker#3) - Ka'ardum and Deathbird continued sharing their concerns about the Shi'ar expansion efforts. Vulcan, however, felt that this was the best time for Shi'ar expansion and announced his intentions to go after the Kree.
(X-Men: Kingbreaker#4) - Oracle, Mentor, and the Strontian stood by Ka'ardum and Vulcan later as Deathbird received medical treatment. Vulcan ordered the Strontian and Ka'ardum to oversee the expansion efforts and the Imperial Guard to join Vulcan himself.
(War of Kings#1) - Ka'ardum reported to Vulcan about the war front against the Kree, with the Imperial Guard attacking the Inhumans. Despite Ka'ardum's reservations about Fe'eyht's idea to use Nega Bombs, Vulcan approved.
(War of Kings#2) - Ka'ardum stood by with Gladiator and Mentor when Vulcan confronted the captured Lilandra. Ka'ardum soon reported to Vulcan that a fleet had been destroyed. Vulcan furiously promised to kill every enemy, starting with Lilandra.
(War of Kings#3) - Ka'ardum, with Gladiator's help, narrowly convinced Vulcan not to make Lilandra a martyr, but to hold a trial for her instead.
(War of Kings#4) - Ka'ardum shared his concerns with Vulcan that the Empire was overextending itself in the war and that the Shi'ar spirit was failing. As Titan, Mentor, Fang, and Hussar stood by, Vulcan tried checking in with Araki, but communications continued failing after the recent Nega-bomb usage. As Ka'ardum suggested calling a cease-fire with the Kree, a Sentry attacked their ship, but it was stopped by Talon, one of the Fraternity of Raptors who sought an alliance with Vulcan. They later successfully assassinated Lilandra.
(War of Kings#5) - With Talon standing by, Ka'ardum expressed his regrets that Lilandra had been killed, knowing it would plunge the Shi'ar empire into civil war and that there was no way to fight the war on both fronts. Risking Vulcan's wrath, Ka'ardum suggested suing for peace with the Kree. Talon infuriated Vulcan by suggesting he was only on the throne by their consent. When he heard that Black Bolt had launched a massive weapon against them, Vulcan ignored all counsel and took off to fight Black Bolt himself.
(War of Kings#6) - When Black Bolt and Vulcan seemingly killed each other in battle, a resulting explosion opened up a fracture in the space/time continuum called the Fault. Ka'ardum, horrified, authorized the Shi'ar to surrender to the Kree.
(Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard#3) - Ka'ardum and Araki stood by while Gladiator, bored, attended a council proposing the reformation of the Intergalactic Council that Vulcan had destroyed. At the meeting were Karnak of the Inhumans and Rigellian representatives.
(Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard#5 (fb)) - A furious Gladiator ordered Ka'ardum to assemble the imperial fleet at the frontier of the Fault. Araki, the Imperial Guard (Arc, Black Light, Commando, Electron, G-Type, Moondancer, Titan, Voyager, White Noise), and Jahf stood by. The conflict was later successfully resolved.
Comments: Created by Ed Brubaker, Billy Tan, Danny Miki, and Allen Martinez.
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Ka'ardum
has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Uncanny X-Men#485, p2, pan1
(main)
p15, pan1 (2nd)
Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men#484-485 (May-June, 2007) -
Ed Brubaker (writer), Billy Tan (penciler), Danny Miki, Allen Martinez (inkers),
Nick Lowe (editor)
Uncanny X-Men#486 (July, 2007) - Ed Brubaker (writer), Billy
Tan (penciler), Danny Miki (inker), Nick Lowe (editor)
X-Men: Emperor Vulcan#1-5 (November, 2007-March, 2008) - Christopher Yost (writer), Paco Diaz Luque (penciler), Vicente Cifuentes (inker), Nick Lowe (editor)
X-Men: Kingbreaker#1 (February, 2009) - Christopher Yost (writer), Dustin Weaver (penciler), Jaime Mendoza (inker), Nick Lowe (editor)
X-Men: Kingbreaker#3-4 (April-May, 2009) - Christopher Yost (writer), Paco Diaz Luque & Dustin Weaver (penciler), Vicente Cifuentes & Jaime Mendoza (inker), Nick Lowe (editor)
War of Kings#1-6 (May-October, 2009) - Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning (writers), Paul Pelletier (penciler), Rick Magyar (inker), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #3 (March, 2010) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Kevin Walker (artist), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #5 (May, 2010) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Kevin Walker (artist), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Last updated: 04/11/10
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters
mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All
Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com