LORQ race
Classification: Extradimensional (Reality-791) extraterrestrial semi-humanoids
Location/Base of Operations: An unspecified part of "the galaxy" (presumably the Milky Way galaxy but this has not yet been confirmed); Reality-791
Known Members: Lord-Commander D'reel, Jubda'ar, Commander (name unrevealed , deceased)
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Star-Lord (Peter Quill), Ship, Trinity-That-Is-One, "Dune Devils"
First Appearance: Marvel Preview#14 (Spring, 1978)
Powers/Abilities: None known
Type: Aquatic(?) bipeds
Eyes: Two
Fingers: Three (plus opposable thumb)
Toes: Three (two?)
Skin color: Light in color and scaled
Hair: None
Average height: 6' (estimated)
Type of government: Unrevealed (but presumably militarisic)
Level of technology: Superior to Earth, with starships capable of
faster-than-light travel.
The Lorq also have advanced weaponry which they use to arm their
short-range Starfighters and their much larger and more powerful
Dreadnoughts.
Cultural traits: Warlike, willing to exterminate any living beings who get in the way of their achieving their goals.
History:
(Marvel Preview#14 (fb) - BTS) - The Lorq are a warlike alien race from somewhere in "the" galaxy. Their dreadnoughts are interstellar battleships known as the "finest war-machines ever seen in this part of the galaxy."
At one time, for reasons which have never been revealed, some Lorq decided to try and capture a powerful alien life-form known as the Trinity that existed on the desert planet of Ferrol. Somehow knowing that a Trinity was soon to be born, a Lorq strike force of three dreadnoughts under the command of Lord-Commander D'reel traveled to Ferrol to search the planet for the Trinity's nesting place. When an alien starship (Star-Lord's Ship) was detected in Ferrol's atmosphere, a squadron of Starfighters was sent after it.
(Marvel Preview#14) - The Lorq Starfighters dropped in on the alien starship from a low orbit and immediately attacked. Ship withstood their first attack and then transformed into a Sikh'aar Gunship and opened fire. In less than a minute, the Starfighter squadron had been routed. However, as Ship tried to get far enough away from Ferrol's gravity well to shift into warp drive, the three dreadnoughts came around the horizon and struck it with three massive energy beams, sending Ship crashing down to the planet where it hit with an impact that lit up the night sky for half a hemisphere.
As the Lorq strike force resumed its search for the Trinity, blasting the planet's surface with their laser cannons as they did so, a Lorq commander who had survived the crash of his Starfighter found the still-living "mammal" (Star-Lord) whose "demon-ship" had slain a half-dozen of his clan-brothers. Although tempted to use his blazer to kill the helpless alien, the Lorq decided instead to let him be killed by the planet's environment. Seconds later, the Lorq himself was attacked and kllled by one of the deadly native creatures known to the Lorq as "Dune Devils." The creature then attacked Star-Lord, but before it could kill him it was itself killed by Ship.
Eventually, the sensors of the Lorq strike force were able to find the Trinity's nesting place, located three "ship-lengths" beneath a large mesa, and their bio-scanners indicated that the Trinity itself was still locked in birth-stasis. Pleased, Lord-Commander D'reel then ordered all ships to open fire and excavate a path down to their destination. D'reel also ordered that the Trinity was to be spared but that all other life-contacts were to be expunged.
Soon, the energy beams from the Lorq starships had destroyed the mesa and burnt a monstrous "hellpit" into the ground. After waiting for the pit to cool, the Lorq dreadnoughts started their final assault. Spotting Star-Lord, they blasted him but were then attacked by Ship, which soon managed to cripple the main drive of one of the dreadnoughts, forcing it to withdraw from combat and boost into orbit. The two remaining starships were soon able to catch Ship in a crossfire, and the damaged Ship barely managed to get out of the hellpit before crashing. Star-Lord then somehow appeared (in a flash of light) on the bridge of one of the dreadnoughts, destroyed her warp drive and command systems, and sent it on a full power dive down towards the rising flagship. The two ships collided but both managed to land safely about fifty miles away.
On the flagship, D'reel was confronted by Star-Lord who identified himself to them (while speaking D'reel's language). Once D'reel had introduced himself, Star-Lord proceeded to inform the Lorq that his task force was beaten, with only one ship retaining orbital capacity and the others being megatons of junk, that all his computer, power and weaponry systems had been neutralized, and that he and his people were helpless. D'reel protested that they were on "state business" and asked what gave the alien the right to interfere. Star-Lord replied with a question of his own, asking D'reel what gave the Lorq the right to exterminate a sentient life-form like the Trinity, which was no threat to them and had done them no harm. Star-Lord then stated that he hoped they hadn't destroyed the Trinity because, until they could summon rescue, their survival could well depend on their making peace with it.
(Marvel Preview#14 - BTS) - After some consideration, D'reel decided that, although the Lorq could still win, victory wouldn't be worth the cost.
(Conjecture) - Presumably, at some point, Lord-Commander D'reel and the other surviving crew from the task force were eventually rescued by other Lorq starships and left the planet which they considered to be a "dustball hellworld."
Comments: Created by Chris Claremont, Carmine Infantino and Bob Wiacek.
The story in Marvel Preview#14 is drawn in black-and-white so there is no way to tell what color skin the Lorq are supposed to have. The fact that they are not depicted as grey suggests that their skin color is lighter rather than darker but that could range from pink (like Star-Lord) to pale yellow or even bone white.
The exact class of life-form to which the Lorq belong is also undetermined. The fact that Star-Lord called one of them "fish-face" could indicate that they are aquatic in nature. On the other hand, Caryth (Ship's humanoid form) made a mental reference to "the reptile starships" which could mean that the Lorq are reptilian.
Inconsistent depiction of the Lorq
Members of the Lorq race are depicted on only 4 of the 37 pages of the story in Marvel Preview#14 but the Lorq who appears on page 7 is drawn somewhat differently than the Lorq who appear on pages 26, 33 and 34. While I don't know if this was a deliberate choice or an artistic error by the penciler and/or inker, the fact that the first Lorq is a "warrior-prime" while all the other Lorq were members of the "command cadre" leaves open the possibility that they were always meant to look slightly different. One possible explanation is that the Lorq "race" is actually made up of two (or more) sub-species and that warriors-prime generally come from one sub-species while the command cadre usually come from another sub-species. Alternatively, it could be that there is only one Lorq species and all young Lorq are similar but certain external factors (like diet?) can cause individuals to mature into slightly different adult forms. For example, young Lorq who consumed more meat could tend to become warriors while those who ate less meat could more likely become command cadre members. Of course, both of these explanations are mere speculation, and are pointless if the differing appearances were actually due to artistic errors.
Despite their differences, all Lorq seen so far have the
following characteristics in common:
1. They are two-armed bilaterally symmetric bipeds with heads located atop the center of
their shoulders.
2. Their shoulders and chests are significantly wider than their abdomens and hips. D'reel
is an exception in that his abdomen and hips are as wide as his upper body. Perhaps he's
just unusually stocky for a Lorq?
3. They have scaly skin on their arms, legs, heads and faces.
4. They have two nostrils (located in the center of their faces and slightly below the
mid-point of their eyes) but no external noses.
5. They have fins on both sides of their heads at the approximate location where humans
have their ears. The commander's fins were mostly obscured by his collar and the bandage
on his head.
The following differences were observed between the
various Lorq depicted in Marvel Preview#14:
1. The commander had scales on his hands while other Lorq have smooth skin.
2. The commander appeared to have four fingers but no thumb on his left hand while other
Lorq had three fingers plus a thumb on their hands. It's possible that the commander was
a mutant born with an extra finger on his left hand instead of a thumb or that warriors
naturally have four fingers plus a thumb but that the commander lost his left thumb when
he crashed. It could also be that the commander's left hand was depicted from a point of
view at which his thumb was consistently hidden behind the rest of his hand. However, it
should be noted that one image of D'reel seems to show him with only two fingers plus a
thumb on his left hand while another image clearly shows him with three fingers plus a
thumb on both hands. This strongly suggests artistic error is the cause of this digital
discrepancy.
3. One image of Jubda'ar seems to depict him with two toes on his right foot while another
image (look to the right) shows another Lorq as having three toes (with webs between them)
on his right foot. Of course, it's possible that Jubda'ar was wearing two-toed boots while
the other crewman was barefoot.
4. The commander has what appears to be a tail hanging down behind him to his left. No
other Lorq show any signs of having tails. (see below for more)
5. The commander has what look like two fangs protruding down from his upper jaw. The fact
that they are still visible on his skull (after his flesh has crumbled away) indicates that
they are part of his skeleton (although they could be a VERY durable "Fu Manchu" mustache).
No other Lorq has these "fangs."
6. The commander has a number of small spikes protruding from his skull along the sagittal
plane. Although these spikes can seemingly shift their orientation (from facing forwards
to pointing backwards) the fact that they remain after the skin has crumbled away suggests
that they are bony in nature. Other Lorq (like D'reel) have what look like multi-pronged
fins that begin on their upper foreheads and lead back over their heads to the bases of
their skulls.
7. The Lorq aboard the dreadnoughts have large eyes and thick lips (which presumably is why
Star-Lord called one of them "fish-face"). The commander did not appear to share these
features (although he could just have been squinting because of the wind) and his lips
could have shrunken due to dehydration.
More about the tail
In the second panel on the seventh page of the story
in Marvel Preview#14, a Lorq is shown with what appears to be a tail
hanging down behind him to his left. However, none of the other Lorq depicted in this
story seem to have tails. So, why does this one Lorq apparently have a tail? Here are
three possible explanations:
1. It's an artistic error that should either be ignored or "explained away" as perhaps being
a loose part of the Lorq's uniform that happens to be dragging behind him.
2. There are actually two (or more) different sub-species of Lorq and they have slight
differences in their physiologies. The "warriors-prime" (like the Lorq who was killed by
the Dune Devil) have tails while the "command cadre" (all the other Lorq seen in this
story) don't have tails. The two groups also speak slightly different languages.
3. All Lorq are born with tails but, by tradition, the tails of Lorq who are (or who
become) members of the command cadre are amputated, either at birth or when they join the
command cadre.
Okay, although I bothered to write them out, I honestly have no preference among these explanations. Any of them could be the "correct" one, so I leave it to you to decide for yourself.
The Lorq race has not yet appeared in Reality-616. They may indeed
exist in that reality, or perhaps they were a race that had succumbed
to the likes of the the Brethren, Celestials, Galactus, the Ebon-Seeker, Terminus; for a while, Ego the Living Planet killed worlds he couldn't "wake" to sentience.
--Snood. Thanks to Norvo for adding a number to the above list.
Profile by Donald Campbell.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Lorq have no known connections to
The Lorq Dreadnoughts have no known connections to
Lord-Commander D'reel has no known connections to
Jubda'ar has no known connections to
The Lorq Starfighters have no known connections to
One of the Starfighter pilots who crashed on Ferrol after having been shot down by the alien intruder starship. After that ship itself was shot down, the commander happened across Star-Lord whose "demon-ship" had killed a half-dozen of his clan-brothers, "the finest warriors-prime in the Lorq fleet." Initially planning to use his blazer to kill the alien, the Lorq changed his mind, feeling that that was too quick a death for his foe. Instead, the commander decided that:
Thou shalt die as my brothers died, consumed by this dustball hellworld. The sun will be up soon, mammal, and when its rays touch thee, thy blood will boil and thy flesh wither into...
The vengeful Lorq's speech was cut short when he was attacked by one of the creatures known to his race as "Dune Devils." He barely had time to mutter "By the Great Nest - - N-no...! P-please" before he suffered the same fate that he had wished upon the alien. As all the moisture in his body was drained away, his skin was drawn drumhead tight over his bones and then began to crumble like brittle parchment until there was nothing left but the skeleton and the clothing. The Lorq was conscious almost to the end, totally aware of what was happening to him but helpless to stop it.
Once the Lorq's skeleton had fallen to the sand, the Dune Devil began moving among the desicated bones, cracking them apart and sucking every last bit of moisture from the marrow. Then, after having finished with the Lorq's remains, the creature turned to the fallen Star-Lord and attacked but was blasted apart by Ship before it could kill its new victim.
Note: As can be seen in the image to the left, this Lorq has what appears to be a tail hanging down behind him to his left. This is noteworthy because none of the other Lorq seen in this story seem to have tails.
Also, the commander's left hand (the only one clearly visible) seemingly has four fingers but no thumb. Later, after his flesh has crumbled away, four metacarpal bones plus four sets of three phalanges are seen on his skeletonized remains. If his left hand had a thumb, it was never depicted, not even as part of his skeleton, but it could be that all those images happened to be from a point of view at which his thumb was hidden behind the rest of his hand (even after it had been reduced to bones).
--Marvel Preview#14
The leader of the Lorq task force sent to the planet Ferrol to capture the powerful native life-form known as the Trinity, D'reel commanded his small fleet from the dreadnought which served as his flagship. It was presumably he who ordered that the alien starship (Ship) detected within Ferrol's atmosphere be attacked, first by Starfighters and then by the dreadnoughts.
Later, after the fleet had used their laser cannons to narrow their search for the Trinity to a certain mesa, D'reel and the rest of the command cadre waited impatiently for the sensor report. When Jubda'ar finally approached with a copy, D'reel asked if they would have to "quarter this hellworld yet another time?" When Jubda'ar reported that they had found the Trinity's nesting place and that it was still locked in birth-stasis, D'reel was pleased, considering it to be "excellent" that "after all this time and money...and lives, the prize [was] finally within [their] grasp." D'reel then ordered that the other ships be signalled to commence fire in order to level the mesa and excavate a path to their destination. D'reel specifically ordered Jubda'ar that only the Trinity was to be spared and "all other life-contacts [were] to be expunged."
D'reel was aboard his flagship while the Lorq fleet blasted Star-Lord and then fought and defeated Ship. Later, after Star-Lord had commandeered the remaining dreadnought and set it on a collision course that left both it and the flagship damaged and forced to land miles from the hellpit, D'reel directed Jubda'ar to implement Damage Control and called for "full reports, all sections, immediately!" To his surprise, D'reel was answered (in his own language) by the alien pilot, who identified himself as "Star-Lord" and asked the Lorq for his name. Once "Lord-Commander D'reel" had introduced himself, Star-Lord informed him that his task force was beaten, with only one ship retaining orbital capacity and the others being megatons of junk, that all his computer, power and weaponry systems had been neutralized, and that he and his people were helpless. D'reel sputtered "How - - DARE you?!?" and protested that they were on "state business" and then asked what gave the alien the right to interfere. Star-Lord replied with a question of his own, asking D'reel what gave the Lorq the right to exterminate a sentient life-form like the Trinity, which was no threat to them and had done them no harm. Star-Lord then stated that he hoped they hadn't destroyed the Trinity because, until they could summon rescue, their survival could well depend on their making peace with it.
Later, Star-Lord informed his companion that the Lorq could still win but D'reel had decided that victory wouldn't be worth the cost.
--Marvel Preview#14
A Lorq who apparently served as Lord-Commander D'reel's second-in-command aboard his flagship.
During their search for the Trinity, Jubda'ar waited until the sensor report was ready and then took a copy to D'reel. Jubda'ar reported that the Trinity's nesting place had been found and that it lay "three ship-lengths" beneath a large nearby rock formation. When he then stated that their bio-scanners indicated that the Trinity itself was still locked in birth-stasis, D'reel said, "Excellent, Jubda'ar" and ordered that the other ships be signalled to commence fire. D'reel also gave Jubda'ar orders that only the Trinity was to be spared and that all other life-contacts were to be expunged.
Later, after the alien Star-Lord had caused the flagship and another dreadnought to collide and sustain damage that forced them to land, D'reel shouted, "Damage control, Jubda'ar" and ordered full reports from all sections immediately. However, it was Star-Lord who responded so it is not known what Jubda'ar would have reported (assuming that he had survived the forced landing).
Note: Although I wrote this profile assuming that a Lorq named "Jubda'ar" served as D'reel's second-in-command, it's possible that "Jubda'ar" is actually not a name but a Lorq title which means "second-in-command." Unfortunately, only Chris Claremont knows for sure if "Jubda'ar" is a name or a title.
--Marvel Preview#14
Lorq dreadnoughts are known as the "finest war-machines ever seen in this part of the galaxy." They are battleships, each at least two kilometers in length and equipped with warp drive for interstellar travel. They are powered by matter/anti-matter reactors which can become powerless if their fuel elements degenerate into inert matter. Capable of firing blaster beams and nuclear missiles, and armed with laser cannons, each ship can, when using the full power of their reactors, fire massive energy beams that are several dozen feet wide. They can also serve as mother ships for squadrons of short-range Lorq Starfighters which they carry within them.
A Lorq strike force made up of three dreadnoughts once traveled to the planet Ferrol and began to thoroughly search it, seeking the nesting place of a powerful native life-form known as the Trinity. When an alien vessel (Star-Lord's Ship) arrived, the dreadnoughts launched their Starfighters against it, but the alien managed to rout them. As Ship attempted to escape Ferrol's gravity well so that it could shift into its warp drive, the dreadnoughts, which had previously been masked from its sensors behind the horizon, rose into view and each fired a massive energy beam. All three beams struck Ship and sent her crashing down to the planet where she hit with an impact that lit up the night sky for half a hemisphere.
With the alien starship presumed to have been destroyed, the task force resumed its search for the Trinity, with the dreadnoughts blasting the planet's surface with their laser cannons. Eventually, after vaporizing the top thousand feet of a massive rock formation that was more than three kilometers in height, sensors on the flagship located the nesting place of the Trinity "three ship-lengths" beneath what remained of the mesa. All three ships then commenced firing their energy beams to level the rest of the mesa and excavate a path down to their destination. Soon, after having burned a monstrous "hellpit" out of the landscape, the dreadnoughts briefly ceased fire to allow the pit to cool, then they started their final assault. After detecting the alien (Star-Lord) within the pit, the dreadnoughts fired upon him (with some of their lesser weapons) and blasted him to the base of the pit. Attacked in turn by Ship, the dreadnoughts had trouble hitting the faster craft which quickly managed to cripple the main drives of one of the dreadnoughts, forcing it to break off from combat and climb into orbit. Not long afterwards, the Lorq vessels were able to get above Ship and fire on her from two directions, badly damaging her and forcing her to flee out of the pit with them in pursuit. Ship soon crashed and died, but then Star-Lord, who had survived, somehow appeared on the bridge of one of the dreadnoughts, destroyed her warp drive and command systems, and sent it on a full power dive down towards the rising flagship. The two ships collided but managed to land safely about fifty miles away. Once there, the flagship was boarded by the alien who identified himself as "Star-Lord" and, in a very forceful manner, informed Lord-Commander D'reel that his task force was beaten, with only one ship retaining orbital capacity and the others being megatons of junk, that all his computer, power and weaponry systems had been neutralized, and that he and his people were helpless.
--Marvel Preview#14
Small fighter craft which can fly through either space or planetary atmospheres, each ship seems to be manned by a single Lorq who acts as both pilot and gunner. These Starfighters are armed with basic energy blasters and nuclear missiles and, since they are short-range craft, can only operate near a ground base or a mother ship.
A Lorq task force on a mission to the planet Ferrol included three dreadnoughts, which carried a number of Starfighters with them. When an alien starship (Star-Lord's Ship) entered Ferrol's atmosphere a squadron of (at least) twelve Starfighters dropped in on it from a low orbit and attacked. Ship's shields handled the initial attack, and then the alien vessel stopped dead in space, transformed into a Sikh'aar Gunship and opened fire on her attackers. The Starfighter squadron tried to regroup, but the gunship's energy cannons fired swiftly and with perfect accuracy, and in less than a minute the Starfighters had been routed. Although some of the squadron may have been able to retreat and thus survived, most of them were either destroyed in space or damaged badly enough that they had to land on the planet below where their pilots, allegedly the finest warriors-prime in the Lorq fleet, were soon killed by Ferrol's hostile environment and/or its deadly native creatures. The last known survivor was killed by a Dune Devil soon after stumbling across the barely-alive body of the "mammal" who had piloted the "demon-ship" which had killed a half-dozen of his clan-brothers.
During their subsequent encounter with the alien starship and its alien pilot, the Lorq task force did not send out any of its Starfighters. Either none of them had survived their earlier battle or it had been recognized that they were no match for the alien vessel (or there just wasn't enough time to deploy them).
--Marvel Preview#14
images: (without ads)
Star-Lord: Worlds On the Brink#1, page 28, panel 2 (group)
page 33, panel 4 (foot)
page 9, panel 2 (commander)
page 9, panel 6 (skeletal commander)
page 36, panel 6 (D'reel)
page 28, panel 4 (Jubda'ar)
page 28, panel 5 (dreadnoughts)
page 5 (Starfighter)
Appearances:
Marvel Preview#14 (Spring, 1978) - Chris Claremont (writer), Carmine Infantino (penciler),
Bob Wiacek (inker), Rick Marschall (editor)
First Posted: 9/15/2015
Last updated: 9/15/2015
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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