KORYA
Real Name: Korya
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Skrull Deviant (pre-modern era))
Occupation: Member of the Skrull military; spy
Group Membership: Imperial Skrull forces
Affiliations: Emperor Dorrek VII, Yeti, Captain Zankor
Enemies: First Line, mankind in general
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Yeti's
Himalayan temple;
formerly mobile throughout Earth and the Andromeda galaxy
First Appearance: Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12 (March 2000)
Powers/Abilities: Like all Skrulls, Korya could change her shape to duplicate the appearance of any person or object roughly the same volume as herself (at least some Skrulls can take forms far outside of their baseline volume +/- mass). She received extensive training in infiltration and espionage and was considered a loyal and capable soldier who was regarded well enough to have direct contact with emperor Dorrek VII himself. She was especially talented in using her beauty and charm to entice people into doing her bidding. Korya was licensed to operate Skrull spacecraft.
Height: 5'4" (by approximation)
Weight: 120 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Purple
Hair: Green
History:
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11 (fb) -
BTS) - Skrull Emperor Dorrek VII had been planning an invasion of the
planet Earth for quite some time. However, concerned about reports of mankind's early experiments with atomic fission, he
was hesitant to launch the attack without sufficient information on
the potential threat. Therefore, he dispatched a number of
intelligence gathering missions to Earth. Only one of those
expeditions reported back and even retrieved some humans for
questioning. Based on information retrieved from their minds by Skrull
scientists, Dorrek decided to send another team of infiltrators to
Earth to see if there was any reason to cancel the planned invasion.
He selected captain Zankor and (unbeknownst to Zankor) the female
agent Korya to carry out this reconnaissance. Korya would serve as
Zankor's backup and learned of Yeti, the First Line's wayward,
mentally unstable member.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11) - While Zankor got caught after he
inadvertently revealed his true identity, Korya managed to locate Yeti
who was hiding in a temple in the Himalayas. She piloted her small
craft to his abode and managed to befriend the lonely creature,
claiming she felt he was in need of love and understanding (see
comments).
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Over time, Korya succeeded in winning Yeti's trust, even making him fall in love with her to the point he became obsessed with her. Willing to do anything for his lover, Yeti betrayed his former teammates. Yeti, spurred on by Korya, was presumably pivotal in an unrevealed incident involving the First Line that would become known throughout the centuries the Rapunzel Tragedy. All the while, Korya kept reporting back to her superiors, assuring them the invasion could proceed according to plan. When the armada approached Earth, Korya took Yeti with her to the flagship of the fleet. Some time later, the First Line attacked the fleet and Korya was fatally wounded under unrevealed circumstances.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12) - Dr. Cassandra Locke, a time traveling historian from Reality-700's 22nd century, appeared on the Skrull ship during the First Line's last stand. She spotted Korya's lifeless form and went to check on her, only to get swatted aside by a battle mad Yeti who wanted to protect his lover. Cradling her in his arms, he ran off with his lover, assuring her she would be fine, despite the fact Cassandra Locke had just confirmed Korya was already dead.
(X-Men: The Hidden Years I#16 (fb) - BTS) - Escaping the destruction of the Skrull invasion fleet via an escape pod (or possibly Korya's ship), Yeti returned to his Himalayan temple where he propped up the dead Skrull female on a makeshift throne. So consumed with grief and loss, he grew even more unstable and violently lashed out at anyone who was unlucky enough to come near his temple. Yeti was eventually located by his old First Line teammate Pixie and the Inhuman royal family, who discovered Korya's corpse and realized the Skrull was the reason Yeti acted up.
(X-Men: The Hidden Years I#16) - The X-Men (Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Havok, Iceman, Marvel Girl and Polaris) discovered Korya inside Yeti's temple after the insane Inhuman had downed their passing aircraft with a giant boulder. After Pixie and the Inhumans (Black Bolt, Gorgon, Karnak and Medusa) helped calm Yeti down, they discussed the events that had led to this current situation. With Yeti unwilling to part with Korya's desiccated corpse, they left her alone with him.
Comments: Created by Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks)
There's a little bit of confusion about just when and where the "Rapunzel tragedy" took place and if Korya played a part in it. In X-Men: The Hidden Years, it's suggested that it was the Rapunzel tragedy that led Yeti to quit the team in disgrace, allowing Korya the opportunity to recruit him. However, in M:TLG I#11, Rapunzel is seen alive and well at the same time Korya showed up at Yeti's Himalayan temple. This suggests the supposed tragedy had yet to befall her. Of course, because we don't know just what happened during the alleged tragedy, it's possible she lived through it and continued to serve. When asked for details about the "Rapunzel tragedy", M:TLG writer Roger Stern kindly declined to answer, preferring to let other writers fill in the blanks should they feel so inclined.
For my money, Korya messed with Yeti's mind, pumping him for information on the First Line and turning him against his old team sometime in between issues 11 and 12 of M:TLG. Given that Rapunzel was shown to be overly confident about the way her shiny hair could calm Yeti down, you can imagine what happened when she tried that trick and the blood thirsty Inhuman didn't fall for it. That would also explain why she wasn't seen in the final battle against the Skrulls (though she could have been aboard one of the First Line ships that were shot down by the armada and crashed on the Moon). Long story short: we may never know for sure.
As for Korya herself, leave it to John Byrne to come up with a creepy ending like that for the character. Guarded over by a madman who is obsessed with you even in death. That whole situation has just the right kind of implied necrophilia that makes you glad most of the events in those years stayed hidden.
Korya was first identified in 2004's Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four's Yeti entry.
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Korya has no KNOWN connections to:
images: (without ads)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#11, p22, pan5 (main image)
Marvel The Lost Generation I#12, p5, pan1 (confirmed dead)
X-Men: The Hidden Years I#16, cover (corpse)
Appearances:
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12 (March 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al
Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11 (April 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al
Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
X-Men: The Hidden Years I#16 (March 2001) - John Byrne
(writer/pencils/inks), Lysa Hawkins (editor)
Last updated: 05/03/14
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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