XIRDAL
XIRDAL
Real Name: Xirdal
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (race unidentified)
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: None known
Affiliations: Ai Apaec, June Covington (aka the Toxic
Doxie), Kingmaker (Pryor Cashman), Carl "Carny" Rives;
formerly/briefly (by convenience only...she never liked him)
Norman Osborn (aka Green Goblin) and to some degree Father Coulmier (though she
never liked him, either)
Enemies: Father Coulmier, Norman Osborn, US government, guards at the Special Containment Center (especially Peter Martin), humanity
Known Relatives: Unspecified children (presumed deceased)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly the Special Containment Center, a sub-sea base,
somewhere below the surface of the water in some vicinity of the Hudson River
around Manhattan, New York's Pier 84 (close enough to be within the US borders);
previously a starship in Earth's general vicinity;
name and location of planet of origin unrevealed
First Appearance: Osborn#1 (February, 2011)
Powers/Abilities:
Although not really shown doing anything, Xirdal's size would imply possible
superhuman strength; and her sharp teeth (and comments from Kingmaker) implied
that she could (and did) devour human flesh. It appeared as if she generated and
slept in some sort of web-like material (see comments).
She apparently could not breathe
underwater. She breathed in Earth's atmosphere without difficulty, and she spoke
in what sounded like screeches. She could understand English, and Cashman, at
least could translate her speech (possibly via some telepathy?).
She is clearly referred to as reptilian,
though at least one image made her appear to have mammary glands (or a similarly
shaped structures in her pectoral region). According to Cashman, she was a
poikilotherm (cold-blooded, meaning her body temperature and metabolic rate were
directly proportional to ambient temperature). She appeared to be very sensitive
to loud noises.
She was biped with a long, thin tail. She had some sort of
fin around her head that laid down at rest and stood up in the air when she was
angry, frightened, etc. (sympathetic stimulation/fight or flight response).
She felt human beings posed a threat to her species and vowed to wipe them out.
Height: Approximately 7'
Weight: Approximately 260 lbs.
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: None
Scales: Green
History:
(Osborn#1 (fb) - BTS) - Xirdal is a native of an unidentified reptilian
extraterrestrial race.
(Osborn#1 (fb) - BTS) - Xirdal was aboard a space ship apparently in Earth's vicinity in the early 1950's (according to the Gregorian Calendar)
(Osborn#1 (fb) - BTS) - One of the USA's first top-secret exploratory space probes crashed into Xirdal's ship in or before 1950, causing the death of everyone aboard (see comments)
(Osborn#1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point (see comments), Xirdal came to believe that humanity posed a threat to her species, and she vowed to wipe them out.
(Osborn#2 (fb) - BTS) - Xirdal slew one or more people in defense of her children (or, at least she believed her children's lives were at risk; see comments).
(Osborn#1 (fb) - BTS) - Xirdal was held in protective custody since 1952.
(Osborn#1 (fb) - BTS) - Xirdal was held in the Special Containment Center, a sub-sea base, somewhere below the surface of the water in some vicinity of the Hudson River around Manhattan, New York's Pier 84 (see comments).
(Osborn#1 (fb) - BTS) - Xirdal was held in special prison section (5 circularly adjacent cells surrounding a central section for guards and visitors who could enter and leave via an entrance between the first and fifth cells) along with Ai Apaec, June Covington (aka the Toxic Doxie), Kingmaker (Pryor Cashman), and Carl "Carny" Rives. They were supervised by Officer Peter Martin, who hated them (and all of the other prisoners), having only agreed to work that section for the extra pay.
(Osborn#1 (fb) - BTS) - Xirdal and her cellmates were visited by Father Coulmier, secretly a member of the Order of the Goblin.
(Osborn#1) - Father Coulmier visited Xirdal, Ai Apaec, June Covington, and Pryor Cashman, informing them "We did our best, but Mr. Rives will not be returning to your company." He offered to assist Xirdal in her grief, but she rushed the bars, screeching at him. Cashman taunted Coulmier to go one step closer, as Xirdal liked to start with the fleshing bits.
Xirdal and the others were present as Norman Osborn later arrived to fill Rives' former cell.
(Osborn#2)
- Members of the Order of the Goblin began to manipulate events to arrange the
release of Norman Osborn; one phase involved setting off a deafening alarm in
the section containing Xirdal an the others' cells. Xirdal dropped to the
ground, covered her ears, and screeched in pain. Meanwhile, Cashman taunted
Officer Martin -- including suggesting a carnal relationship with Xirdal --
which, combined with the maddening alarm, caused Martin to back within range of
Ai Aipec, who restrained him and subsequently bit off his head.
Aided by Father Coulmier, Osborn subsequently freed Xirdal
and the others in exchange for agreeing to follow his orders or risk death
(specifically, he offered his terms and asked if anyone wanted to stay in their
cells, and no one spoke up; he took this as assent). Upon seeing a guard Osborn
had murdered, Xirdal covered her face an screeched again, which Cashman
translated as her saying she was out, because he was a murderer. Osborn retorted
that they were all murderers. Xirdal angrily screeched in response, and Cashman
translated that she had only killed in defense of her young; she was not like
the rest of them, and she would not follow a murderer into battle. Osborn told
Xirdal which way they were going and suggested she find an alternate route.
Screeching again, she headed towards a door with a valve opened by a wheel. As
she began opening the valve, Osborn sealed her chamber. When the door opened,
ocean water rushed in and swiftly flooded the chamber. Xirdal clawed at the
window to the door Osborn had sealed, and Osborn noted that she had chosen
poorly, using her apparent death as an example to the rest.
Comments: Created by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios.
After seeing the back-up feature/origin
story on June Covington in Osborn#1, and noting that 5 super-villain prisoners
we met in #1 and that the Osborn series would have five issues, I eagerly
awaited back-ups on each of them...sadly, there were not such stories on any of
the other characters. Xirdal seemed pretty cool and to have a good back story,
only to apparently die after probably a dozen or so panels total. She sure
looked like something that could breathe underwater...maybe she could, and maybe
she just took off to figure out her plans...returning home vs. plotting
humanity's destruction. I'd actually like to see her take down Osborn out of the
blue...he's been played out, IMO...
Ai Apaec, my personal favorite, got fleshed out a bit more,
but I was disappointed when he was transformed into a mostly bipedal humanoid
and reduced to a Spider-Man doppelganger in Thunderbolts. And, his end in the
Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts was less than fitting for someone of his nature.
Still, as a god, maybe he'll get a comeback.
A few history questions...answered courtesy
of Kelly Sue DeConnick herself in personal communication and added here with her
permission. Big thanks!!
While these have not been shown in-story, you can consider them as "Secrets of
the Marvel Universe" for now.
The crash involved her ship sometime between 1950 and 1952; Xirdal was not on board.
The event that crystallized Xirdal’s belief that humanity was a threat to her species was the aforementioned crash, which took out an entire crew of her offspring (see below).
The SCC was built in 1951 as an early response to contain superhuman threats.
Xirdal’s society is traditionally arranged into matriarchal prides — such that mothers govern both their large families and their respective arenas of responsibility. An entire crew of a ship (or farming operations on one sector of a planet, or a ship-building company, etc.) would consist of the offspring of one mother. Her young would have composed the crew on board the ship involved in the crash.
Xirdal’s people are related to those of Eleanides, leader of the resettled refugees on the planet Torfa. Though culturally distinct from each other, the two species maintain the same basic societal structure; the home planets of both seem to have been destroyed in the Builder Wars. There has been some speculation that the two peoples may be a distant offshoot of the Saurid race; if this is the case, Xirdal’s species must have lost their Saurid ancestors’ amphibious abilities at some point along the way.
Anyone else want to profile the other 4 super-villain prisoners from the Special Containment Center? June got a profile in the recent Avengers Now, so she's least critical. Ai Apaec got one, too, but really, both were compressed more than I'd like to see. And what about Carny Rivers and Kingmaker? If not, I'll probably profile those last two
Didn't the Sleestaks from Land of the Lost make and/or sleep in webbing?
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Xirdal should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads)
Osborn#1, pg. 10, bottom left sector (nestled in "webbing")
pg. 12, panel 5 (frontal face
screaming through bars);
pg. 13, panel 1 (side face through
bars)
#2, pg. 21 (full frontal)
pg. 22, panels 1-5 death (shows body
from behind; the fin-like webbing on her head that apparently raised when she
was angry, scared, etc.; and the back of her throat
Appearances:
Osborn#1-2 (February, 2011) - Kelly Sue DeConnick (writer), Emma Rios (artist),
Alejandro Arbona (editor), Stephen Wacker (senior editor)
Last updated: 03/12/15
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
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!