ARIGUANS race
ARIGUANS race
Classification: Semi-humanoid extraterrestrial race (reality-791)
Location/Base of Operations: R'ralmis, possibly in the
outlying systems of the Greater Magellanic Cloud;
it is uncertain whether R'ralmis is their home planet, part
of an empire, or just a colony world
Known Members: Aristo, Rruothk'ar (also pictured in main image); apparently Ragnar (Master of the Sun - see comments)
Affiliations: In
Starlord (Peter
Quill)'s time, the Ariguans were allied with Prince Gareth and Kyras Shakati;
by
Starlord (Sinjin Quarrell)'s time, the Ariguans, at least lose of
R'Ralmis,
considered Starlord (Peter Quill) an ally (or at least someone they'd want to
save them from danger), and Starlord (Sinjin Quarrell) and
Ship saved the
people of R'Ralmis
Enemies: Meredith Quill, Spartoi Empire (Eson, Jason), Starlord (Peter Quill)
First Appearance: (Unidentified; partially seen) Marvel Preview#4 (January, 1976); (fully seen & identified) Marvel Preview#11 (Summer 1977)
Powers/Abilities: Ariguans have tails that can be used as weapons, strangling a foe. It is unrevealed whether they are poikilotherms (body temperature and metabolic rate significantly affected by their surroundings, like most terrestrial reptiles) or homeotherms (able to maintain their own body temperature). Ariguans have warp-drive star ships and various weapons which allowed the Ariguan Confederacy (presumably including unspecified allies) to threaten the Spartoi Empire, which allegedly hosted 10,000 worlds.
Traits: Many Ariguans seem prone to violence, though those of R'ralmis appear benevolent and science-oriented.
Type: Bilaterally symmetric semi-humanoid reptilian bipeds
Eyes: Two (on head; solid red color seen)
Fingers: Five (including opposing thumb)
Toes: Unrevealed
Skin color: Green scales
Average height: Approximately 5'10"?
History:
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - While the young Jason of Sparta explored space,
war broke out between the Spartoi Empire and the Ariguans, and Jason's father,
Emperor Eson, summoned him home. However, Jason's scoutship blew a converter en
route, and he narrowly survived crashing on Earth. He remained there a year,
during which time he fell in love with and impregnated Meredith Quill.
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - Jason made it home without incident, but the war was going badly when he arrived, and it was years before the balance tipped in the Spartoi's favor.
(Marvel Preview#11) - After a few
years, Jason felt it to be safe to bring Meredith and their son
to Sparta. However, as Prince, he was too involved in the war and
could not leave, so he requested aid from his uncle, Gareth.
Seeking to potentially gain the throne himself one day, Gareth
decided to eliminate anyone else who would stand in his way, and
so he hired Kyras Shakati of Cinnibar to kill Meredith and Peter.
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS/Marvel Spotlight II#6) - Shakati sent Rruothk'ar, Sith-Lord of the Ariguan Confederacy, to do the deed.
(Marvel Preview#4) <August 11, 1973> - Rruothk'ar and a band of Ariguans traveled to Earth. However, their understanding of their mission was incomplete. They killed Meredith Quill, but left her 11 year old son, Peter, alive, kneeling by her corpse. Their ship swiftly departed Earth.
(Marvel Preview#11 - BTS) - Jason of Sparta had a holo-painting done to commemorate his victory over the Ariguan Confederacy.
(Marvel Spotlight II#6 (fb) - BTS) - Ragnar was allegedly the Ariguans' greatest scientist until he had abused his privileges and interfered with their war because he disagreed with it. Since then, Ragnar, as the Master of the Sun, had apparently used his renegade science to elude them for a long time through trickery and disguise.
(Marvel Preview#15 (fb)) - After the destruction of the sentient star that would become "Ship," the Master of the Sun brought her energy form to his realm.
(Marvel Preview#4) <January 26, 1990> - The Master of the Sun sent the image of Star-Lord to the Space Station Eve, telling them that in 14 days, one of the crew would assume the destiny of the Star-Lord.
(Marvel Preview#4) <February 9, 1990> - The Master of the Sun brought Peter Quill to his realm, and outfitted him with the costume and Element Gun to become Star-Lord. The Master of the Sun then sent him to gain his vengeance on the aliens who had killed his mother. He soon encountered an Ariguan ship and slew everyone aboard, after which he immediately returned to the Master of the Sun's realm. Quill was unsure whether he had actually ever left the realm, but the Master told him that he had experienced his vengeance and was now free of his past life--"free to form a new life...Then come, Star-Lord. Leave your madness behind and walk with me."
(Marvel Preview#4) <February 9, 1990> - Quill was transported into a city in space (apparently on or orbiting the planet R'ralmis,), where the Master of the Sun transformed Quill into Starlord. The Master of the Sun then sent Quill to gain his vengeance on the aliens who had killed his mother. He soon encountered an Ariguan ship and slew everyone aboard, after which he immediately returned to the Master of the Sun's realm. Quill was unsure whether he had actually ever left the realm, but the Master told him that he had experienced his vengeance and was now free of his past life--"free to form a new life...Then come, Star-Lord. Leave your madness behind and walk with me." (see comments)
(Marvel Spotlight II#6(fb)) - The Master of the Sun introduced Star-Lord to a sentient energy being that had once been a star. The energy being reformed itself to become his ally, "Ship."
(Marvel Preview#11 (fb) - BTS) - Rruothk'ar was a champion warrior amongst the Ariguans, and Prince Gareth was one of the only ones (at least that Gareth knew of) who could defeat him in single combat.
(Marvel Preview#11) - Rruothk'ar accompanied Spartoi prince Gareth in confronting Starlord (the now adult Peter Quill) as he arrived in the Imperial Chalet in Marathon, Sparta. Recognizing as his mother's murderer, Starlord rushed forward and assaulted the Ariguan (both were limited to hand-held bladed weapons by local law). Deftly using his tail as a third arm, Rruothk'ar attempted to choke Starlord (or snap his neck), but Starlord sliced the tail off. Rruothk'ar cursed in his native language and raised his own weapon to strike, but Starlord struck first, stabbing him through the chest and killing him.
(Marvel Preview#11 - BTS) - After Starlord slew Gareth and then encountered his father, Jason, Imperial Guards moved against Gareth's mercenaries, while the Imperial fleet took up positions along the truce line, in case the Ariguans were tempted to try some mischief.
(Marvel Spotlight II#6) - The Master of the Sun apparently planned to have built a legion of Star-Lords, patrolling and protecting the galaxy, with Quill having been just the first.
(Marvel Spotlight
II#6) - A group of Ariguan space warriors invaded the space base of the Master of the Sun,
identifying him as having been their greatest scientist, Ragnar until he had
abused his privileges and interfered with their war because he disagreed with
it. Since then, Ragnar had apparently used his renegade science to elude them
for a long time through trickery and disguise, and his greatest sin had been the
creation of Starlord.
The Master of the Sun countered that their senseless strife
had created from Quill a human monster of vengeance, but that he (Master of the
Sun) had given Quill peace and, as Starlord, the means to avert other senseless
strife wherever it may be found.
Meanwhile, Starlord, aboard the sentient Ship, entered the
Master of the Sun's base to rescue the Master of the Sun. The Ariguans fired on
Starlord, hoping to slay both of their enemies, but Starlord blasted them with
rock and water from his element gun, dropping the lizard men.
Quill prepared to
take the Master away in Ship, but the Master instead explained that he had once
chosen to live by the Ariguans' rules and now, if necessary, he must die by
them. He admitted that he had entrusted with the ultimate secrets of science,
but that in focusing on Starlord he had neglected other areas of responsibility;
and because of this neglect, innocent beings had suffered.
The Master then willfully surrendered to the reviving
Ariguans and returned to the form of "Ragnar, the true being I am. The being who
sought to accomplish good works by sending his son in his place." Ragnar
departed as a prisoner of the Ariguans, and Starlord respected his wishes.
(Starlord#2 (fb) - BTS) - The planet R'Ralmis' Mount Vr'k'lv'b
began a terrifying eruption (unknown at the time, as a result of Sinjin Quarrell,
who had taken the form of the missing-in-action Starlord, using Starlord's
element gun to form a massive of meteor of stone and ice, which had depleted the
rock overlying Mount Vr'k'lv'b's molten core. The subsequent volcanic eruptions
killed hundreds of Ariguans.
(Starlord#2) - As Sinjin Quarrell and 'Rora (Ship)
approached R'Ralmis (a planet the Master of the Sun formerly dwelled
upon -- or his base orbited there), they announced their presence to
the spaceport controller and requested permission to land at the
Cl'mv'pvr spaceport. Aristo, the Ariguan port communicator responded,
thankful of the presence of Starlord after all these years, in the time
of their deepest need. She announced Mount Vr'k'lv'b's eruption, noting
the many deaths it had caused and how a new lava surge was threatening
the entire coastal plane. She asked Starlord's help, and he agreed to
do whatever he could.
In the process of stopping the volcano, 'Rora realized that
the element gun had been drawing from the volcano. Afterwards, still unaware of
Quarrell's role in inadvertently causing the eruption, Aristo sent numerous
messages of thanks from the people of R'Ralmis.
Comments: Created to some degree by Steve Englehart, but identified and nature defined by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin.
To me, there's reasonable doubt as to whether the Master of the Sun was simply an Ariguan or not. I discuss the matter further in the Master of the Sun's profile's comments.
In a flashback in Starlord#1, Ship mentioned "the death of the Master of the Sun" while reviewing the events of Marvel Spotlight II#6. He could well have been executed for his crimes after that issue. She also could have been speaking figuratively, referring to the death of that identity or persona. Or she could have mis-remembered events as her memory was pretty spotty at that point.
The Marvel Preview#4 encounter where the newly empowered Starlord slew the Ariguans "who slew his mother," was mostly likely an illusion created by the Master of the Sun to allow Starlord to experience seeming vengeance so he could then get past it and move on with his life.
I've yet to see a story that explains how
the timeline of Starlord (Peter Quill) fits in with the Marvel Universe,
particularly with his father Jason being seen (apparently before fathering
Peter) in the Inhumans IV mini-series, as well as with Shakati being seen in the
modern era in Uncanny X-Men. OR exactly what happened that led to Sinjin
Quarrell becoming Starlord...but Quill hasn't had his element gun or Ship since
he began showing up in the mainstream Marvel Universe in the last few years, so
an explanation seems doable.
The Annihilation: Nova Files Appendix to Alien Races entry on
the Spartoi notes the Empire to be in the outlying systems of the Greater
Magellanic Cloud, and further references a prolonged war with the Ariguans to
have occurred subsequent to the events of Inhumans IV
I fear greatly for Starlord's continuity with the coming of the new Guardians of the Galaxy series, but one can always hope. Here's the information as it originally existed, P.B., anyway...
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Ariguans have no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Marvel Preview#4, story page 6, panel 2 (Ariguan exiting ship);
panel 4 (Ariguans
blasting Meredith Quill);
#11, pg. 40, panel 1 (Rruothk'ar with Prince Gareth);
pg. 41, panel 4 (Rruothk'ar face);
Marvel Spotlight II#6, pg. 13, panel 4 (Ariguans confront Master of the Sun);
pg. 15, panel 3 (Starlord blasting
Ariguans);
pg. 17, panel 3-5 (Master of
the Sun becoming Ragnar);
Starlord#2, pg. 13, panel 2 (Aristo)
Appearances:
Marvel Preview#4 (January, 1976) - Steve Englehart (writer), Steve Gan & Bob McLeod (artists), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Marvel Preview#11 (Summer 1977) - Chris Claremont (writer), John Byrne
(pencils), Terry Austin (inks), John Warner & Ralph Macchio
(editors)
Marvel Spotlight II#6 (May, 1980) - Doug Moench (writer), Tom Sutton (artist), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Starlord#2 (January, 1997) - Timothy Zahn (writer), Dan Lawlis (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 02/12/2013
Last updated: 03/10/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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