PYO
Real Name: Pyo (see comments)
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Rigellian) semi-humanoid technology-user, empowered by the Nova Force
Occupation: Centurion in the Nova Corps
Group Membership: Nova Corps
Affiliations: Richard Rider, Samaya (deceased), Xandarian Worldmind
Enemies: Annihilation Wave forces (though Pyo never learned their identity before they killed her)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies
First Appearance: Annihilation: Prologue#1 (May, 2006)
Powers/Abilities: Prior to joining the Nova Corps, Pyo was presumably a normal adult female Rigellian and, as such, possessed a psionic ability called a "mind thrust" which allowed her to seize control over another individual's mind. Pyo presumably also had the Rigellian ability to mentally change her physical density at the speed of thought which would have enabled her to make herself stronger (to a "superhuman" strength level) and more resistant to physical injury.
After joining the Nova Corps, Pyo was imbued with a portion of the Nova Force by the Worldmind. This energy force provided her with the abilities of flight, super-strength, and a connection to the Worldmind itself.
As a Centurion, Pyo was able to access more of the Nova Force than lower-ranked Novas. Accordingly, she may have been able to tap into greater powers (including the opening of Stargates, energy blasts, and the release of a brief electromagnetic static burst).
Uniform: Pyo wore the standard uniform for a Nova Corps Centurion. It protected her from the vacuum of space as well as intense heat, and also provided her with up to six hours of breathable air. Her uniform could also prevent her from being fatally injured by impacts, within certain unknown limits, but her helmet was less resistant to such damage.
History: Little has been revealed about Pyo's life before her final hours but the fact that she had achieved the rank of Centurion indicates that she had served well for some time. She appeared to be good friends with a female Centaurian Centurion named Samaya.
(Annihilation: Prologue#1) <Annihilation Day, plus 7> - Arriving at Xandar Spaceport in response to a Nova Corps crisis alert, Pyo and Samaya reported for duty right behind the Terran Nova, Richard Rider. Pyo said, "Nice look" to Rider which caused him to ask what was wrong with the way he looked; so Samaya told him, "Ignore her, Rider. We all do." Pyo responded, "To your detriment, Sam." Pyo then observed that it was a full system lockdown and said, "This one's growing hair. Count on it." Rider's unfamiliarity with that term caused Pyo to ask Sam if they were "stuck with another Terran dink." After finding out from Samaya that "dink" meant "rookie," Rider protested, asking how his five years of service could make him a rookie but Pyo said that Terran years didn't count. She then introduced herself and Samaya.
Later, after taking drop shuttles to travel down to Nova Corps Central on the Xandar Cluster, the trio were among the full muster present for a briefing about the current situation. As they waited, they discussed why they didn't just phase down to Central. Pyo informed Rider that phasing (teleportation) required a phase tube (that couldn't be seen or felt) because there had to be a path to which each traveler was bonded. Samaya then pointed out that crossed phase tubes scrambled the signals of the travelers, resulting in "all kinds of delightfully melded oddities," and that the reason why phasing hadn't replaced star drive was that too many active tubes would have greatly increased the potential for disaster.
As the briefing began and the destruction of the primary Kyln array was confirmed, the Centurions were reminded that Kyln were death penalty exclusive, maximum security prisons housing lost-cause criminal deviants, causing Pyo to remark, "Told you - - Growing hair nonsense!" The briefing continued to its ending but as the gathered Novas were being dismissed the Xandar Cluster was struck by a massive surprise attack by the unknown hostiles who were supposed to still be two star systems away. With so many already dead in the first seconds, the Corps was ordered to scramble, and Samaya told Rider that he was with her. Rider asked Pyo if Samaya ever struck her as grim and Pyo replied, "No, just experienced, dink."
Pyo was never seen again.
(Annihilation: Nova#1 - BTS) <Annihilation Day, plus 11> - Four days later, on the Orienta Main Shard (part of the ruins of Xandar), the Worldmind informed the just-revived Richard Rider that everyone else was dead and that he was the last functional Nova Corps operative, the last Nova.
Comments: Created by Keith Giffen, and Scott Kolins with Ariel Olivetti.
In Nova IV it was revealed that the Worldmind has stored records of all deceased Centurions, records that include personality-templates which appear to have all the memories of the people upon which they are based. With these records as part of the Worldmind gestalt, it would seem to be theoretically possible for Pyo (or any other Centurion) to be reborn in a cloned body. After all, using Xandarian technology, Queen Adora was "reborn" in just such a procedure.
It has been established that Rigellians typically have
two names, a personal name and a family name (e.g., Tana Nile, Irani Rael). Since it has
been shown that Nova Corps members were usually addressed by their last name, it must be
presumed that "Pyo" is this character's family name and that her personal name has not yet
been revealed (and now probably never will be).
To clarify, SOME Rigellians have two names; of the 12
Rigellians identified by name (rather than title) in the most recent Rigellians
entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (and I'm not aware of
other Rigellians not included at the time of that entry's publication), three
had both a first name and last name. It may well be that all have two such
names, but I'd say that's far from confirmed. For the record, Nelet Pa is the
third listed with two names; those with a single name given are Arcturus, Bolaa,
Cordon, Gunthar, Jukka, Mari, Pyo, Tryx, Zygo. Two are listed by title only:
Grand Commissioner and Scientist Supreme.
--Snood.
Although Pyo was the first Rigellian ever seen as a Nova Corps member, she was not the only one. Another female Rigellian, Irani Rael, first appeared as a Nova Centurion in Nova IV#18 (December, 2008). She was one of the first five new Nova Corps members secretly recruited by the Worldmind. Although many of the hundreds of new Novas died when the unstable Worldmind involved the new corps in the "War of Kings" between the Shi'ar and the Kree, Irani was one of the seven whom Nova Prime Rider agreed could stay on as probationary members. Unfortunately, her time as a Nova soon ended when Rider absorbed the entire Nova Force into himself in order to enter the Cancerverse.
A minor (but puzzling) continuity question
Pyo's reference to her and Samaya being "stuck with another Terran dink" is somewhat intriguing for two reasons. First, since Rich Rider was supposedly the FIRST and ONLY Terran to ever have been a member of the Nova Corps, who could Pyo have been talking about?
Second, the idea that Samaya and Pyo would consider Rider (with his "five years in") to be a rookie is somewhat implausible. The only two ways in which they could have seniority over Rider would be if they were members of the original Nova Corps (the one destroyed by Nebula) or if they had joined the second Nova Corps (a.k.a. the StarCorp) before Rider. Unfortunately, both of these options have problems.
1. The original Nova Corps was founded on Xandar millennia ago and survived the destruction of the planet by Zorr but was finally destroyed when Nebula killed all of the Xandarians. The idea that Samaya might have been a member of this incarnation of the Nova Corps has two problems. First, this Corps was (according to the Worldmind's Nova Corps Database) made up exclusively of Xandarians and so Pyo, as a Rigellian, would not have been recruited. Second, when Nebula destroyed the Xandarian Cluster, the portions of the Nova Force which had been bestowed upon all Nova Corps members were released by their deaths and, as part of a plan put in place by Queen Adora, were transferred into the sole survuiving Xandarian, Garthan Saal. However, in order for this failsafe to be activated, the entire Nova Force had to be on a synchronous plane of reality, something which only happened after Rider's dormant powers were reawakened and Saal returned from the timestream. The fact that the ENTIRE Nova Force was required for the failsafe to be activated means that there could not have been any other living beings possessing portions of the Nova Force in existence at that time (aside from Saal and Rider).
2. Once Xandar had been resurrected, Queen Adora announced the establishment of the new Xandarian StarCorp. While the earlier Nova Corps had been primarily concerned with defending the Xandarian civilization, the StarCorp was dedicated to providing protection for all sentient beings thoughout the Andromeda and Milky Way Galaxies, and many non-Xandarians were recruited into its ranks. Under circumstances which have never been revealed, this StarCorp was restructured and became an intergalactic law enforcement group, and it may have been at this time that the organization renamed itself the Nova Corps. Although Pyo was definitely a member, the idea that she was so for longer than Rider's "five years" has two problems. First, since Rider was the very first person recruited into the new StarCorp, it would seem to be impossible for Pyo to have seniority over him (unless she was recruited during the brief period when Rider had been relieved of his duties for refusing to follow orders). Second, although Annililation: Prologue#1 was published over 12 years after New Warriors I#42, thanks to Marvel Time (which flows between one-third and one-quarter as fast as "real world" time) the destruction of Xandar by the Annihilation Wave only took place about 3 or 4 years after the formation of the StarCorp. So, once again, this doesn't seem to leave enough time for Pyo to have become a Nova Corps member before Rider.
Having said all that, there have been certain revelations made about the Nova Corps since the Annihilation storyline took place which have added new data that changes what we readers know about the Nova Corps. First, Nova IV#29 introduced Zan Philo, a non-Xandarian Nova Centurion who had been missing and presumed dead since a stargate accident thirty-five years earlier had thrown him and his patrol cruiser out of Reality-616. Philo retained his Nova powers throughout the whole time he was in those other realities and after he finally returned to Reality-616 through the Fault but he is presumed to have lost them during The Thanos Imperative #6.
A second set of revelations came with the introduction of Sam Alexander as the new Nova. Sam is a fifteen year-old whose alcoholic father Jesse liked to tell his children stories about adventures he had had in outer space (before Sam was born) as a member of the Black Novas (an elite group within the Nova Corps) and about some of his alien friends. Sam never believed his father's stories but after Jesse disappeared Sam was confronted by Gamora and Rocket Raccoon, who revealed that Jesse had actually been a Black Nova. Sam gains Nova powers when he puts on his father's helmet.
In summary, here's a list of the new information that has
been revealed by the introduction of these two new characters:
1. The fact that Zan Philo and several of Jesse Alexander's comrades in the Black Novas were
non-Xandarians indicates that the Nova Corps was not composed exclusively of Xandarians, and
that this was true even before the planet Xandar was shattered by Zorr.
2. The fact that Zan Philo and the Black Novas retained their powers during the period when
Xandar was resurrected means that the entire Nova Force was not needed to perform that task.
Of course, since Philo had been lost outside of reality for years, the failsafe was probably
designed so that his already-absent portion would not be needed. Also, since the powers of
the Black Novas were contained within their helmets instead of within their bodies, their
portions of the Nova Force may have been somehow inaccessible.
3. The fact that Jesse Alexander was a Black Nova even before Xandar was shattered means that
Richard Rider was neither the first nor the only human to be a member of the Nova Corps. Why
this fact wasn't generally known has not been explained but it could be that all records of
him being a Nova were expunged when he became part of the covert Black Nova group.
Taking into account all that we now know about the Nova
Corps, how can Pyo and Samaya's claim of seniority be explained?
1. Pyo and Samaya did not actually have seniority over Rider. Instead, they were just teasing
him because they knew that he wouldn't know that they were lying.
2. Pyo and Samaya were recruited into the StarCorp during the time when Rider had been
relieved of duty, thus they technically had been serving continuously for a longer period
than he had. Plus, writer Keith Giffen doesn't care about Marvel Time.
3. Pyo and Samaya were actually members of the original Nova Corps but they had left the
Corps sometime before Nebula's attack. Then, after Xander's resurrection, they (re)joined
the StarCorp. As a result, their total time in service did exceed Rider's five (Terran)
years.
So, which of these three explanations best fits the claims made by Pyo and Samaya? The first is the easiest (they never knew a human Nova and did not have seniority over Rider) but it makes them liars. The second explains their belief in their seniority but not their comments about having previously been stuck with a Terran rookie. And the third makes it possible that they had seniority and that they could have known Jesse Alexander as a rookie before he joined the Black Novas but it is only speculation with no actual in-story evidence to support it.
In the end, unless some future writer decides that these
comments made by Pyo and Samaya must absolutely be explained, any of these three options is
possible. Personally, I'd prefer the third choice but I doubt that anyone is going to bother
to provide a retcon explanation for such a minor continuity question.
They didn't specifically
discuss being stuck with another Terran dink/rookie in the Nova Corps, so could
they just have worked with another Terran they considered inexperienced before?
Further, Pyo first called him a dink just because he didn't understand one of
her slang terms -- "This one's growing hair. Count on it." -- so she
could have just assumed he was rookie because he wasn't familiar with the term
and then continued to do it to tease him (possibly because she saw that it
bothered him). Or, despite knowing the truth, she just felt like teasing
him...because people do that sometimes.
--Snood
A note about phasing
The "phasing" that Pyo, Samaya and Rich Rider discuss in Annihilation: Prologue#1 is a method of faster-then-light interstellar travel which involves teleportation. Phasing is faster than using stargates but also more dangerous. Aside from the risk of travelers being melded if their phase tubes happen to cross, phase ports usually have to be present at the destination or else a traveler who phased out will have no place to phase back in. However, limited-range phase tubes can apparently be used without needing phase ports. Although this tech has been proven unreliable in the best of circumstances and the resistance forces currently had a 60-40 success rate, Rider, Phyla-Vell and Peter Quill later used phasing to get to Annihilus.
Profile by Donald Campbell.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Pyo has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Annihilation: Prologue#1, page 10, panel 2 (main image)
page 11, panel 3 (making introductions)
page 18, panel 4 (last image)
Only Appearance:
Annihilation: Prologue#1 (May, 2006) - Keith Giffen (writer), Scott Kolins with Ariel
Olivetti (art), Andy Schmidt (editor).
First Posted: 02/18/2015
Last updated: 02/18/2015
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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