ELAN race

Classification: Extraterrestrial semi-humanoid technology-users

Location/Base of Operations: Elanis, fifth planet from the sun in the Beta Scorpii (Earth designation) star system of the Milky Way galaxy (see comments)

Habitat: Dense jungle throughout equatorial region
Gravity: 210% Earth
Atmosphere: Density 185% that of Earth but of similar composition

Known Members: The Delinquent (formerly known as the Infant Terrible and the Elan, real name unrevealed), the parents of the Infant Terrible (real names unrevealed, deceased), Beyond Corporation defenders, bidder, delegate, Mourners, observers, Protector, Runestaff prisoner
Estimated population: 2.7 million

Affiliations: Fantastic Four, Power Pack

Enemies: Maelstrom; Thanos; the Keeper of the Great Truth (Shalla Bal)
   (Infant/Delinquent) Big Joe and his gang; the Star-Stalker (Biawak); the Annihilation Wave; Drax the Destroyer and the United Front forces; the Space Parasite (Randau)

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#24 (March, 1964)

Powers/Abilities: Elan can project virtually limitless psionic energy from the two antennae atop their heads, primarily to rearrange or transmute atoms and molecules, or to attract or repel objects. According to official texts, the Elan's ability to psionically manipulate energy in the electromagnetic spectrum is on the same basic level as the alien Watchers or Earth gods like Odin and Zeus. The Xandarian Worldmind classified the Elan as being capable of "reality manipulation" on a planetary or even universal scale.

   Elan can completely reshape matter as they see fit and, since this psionic ability extends to the atomic level, they can also transmute elements into other elements at will. These abilities enable the Elan to perform a wide variety of transformations, from simple things, like building sand castles, enlarging diamonds or changing stacks of paper money into mud, to more complex feats, like transforming metal lampposts into living plants bearing edible berries, changing a chunk of rock into a functioning spacecraft capable of interstellar travel, or causing the physical bodies of living beings to change their genders. 

    The Elan have also used this power to assemble creatures made of boulders or wood and then animate them so that they can battle opponents, something which may indicate that the Elan can somehow endow their creations with enough sentience to enable them to carry out simple tasks. Some of these feats seem to involve changing inanimate matter into living creatures, like changing a sack of money into a pig or giving sacks of money wings that enable them to fly around or a turning a giant diamond into an egg from which a bird hatches, but it has not been established if such creations are truly "alive" or if they are just being animated telekinetically by the mind of the Elan who created them.

   Elan can use their transformative abilities to destroy as well as create, and have been observed using their rays to tear an armored car apart, turn a helicopter into ashes and dissolve walls.

   Elan have also been observed discharging energy in the form of lightning-like bolts or energy-spheres that explode on contact.

   Elan can seemingly create material objects out of thin air, including things like a giant milk bottle floating in the sky, a giant spinning top or a small army of identical 10-foot-tall "toy soldiers" that marched on their own. However, since actually creating solid matter by transmuting atmospheric gases would have its own difficulties, it's possible that such objects are actually "solid" three-dimensional energy constructs similar to those that could be created by using the Quantum-Bands. This might explain why such objects sometimes just vanish into nothingness once the Elan who had created them was startled and lost his concentration.

   Elan can teleport objects and living beings over short distances, as from one floor of a building to its roof. This teleportational ability can also be used to assemble the components of an advanced technological device (like a Kymellian Smartship) into its completed form, a feat that would obviously require an incredible amount of precision in order to avoid malfunctions that would be caused by ANY inaccuracies in where the components ended up.

   Elan can create "energy-cocoons" around themselves that can protect them from harm (within certain unspecified limits). These psionic force fields can be large enough to also protect beings who are in close proximity to the Elan who are creating them.

   Elan can communicate telepathically, but they also possess their own spoken language. Elan, even young ones, can assimilate alien languages (like English) by listening to them being spoken by others for a sufficient length of time. However, if they don't have the time, they can use their universal translator technology instead.

   Elan can telepathically sense the consciousnesses of inorganic beings, like Kymellian Smartships, if they have their own life-forces. It's unclear if they could sense the presence of other types of sentient machines.

   Elan can endow other living beings with "magical" powers that include telekinesis and matter transmutation. Exactly how this process works is unclear but appears to involve a transfer of psionic energy from the donor Elan to the non-Elan recipient. However, the transfer can only be temporary if the recipient is a member of a species that is less advanced than the Elan. Additionally, the recipient can, either knowingly or subconsciously, neutralize the powers that they received and reverse any changes that they had made using those powers.

   Elan seem to have a limited ability to alter the shape of their bodies, as when the feet of the Infant Terrible and his parents had three toes each (instead of being hoof-like) during their vacation in Karunda. However, more extensive examples of shape-shifting, as when the young Elan made himself look like James Power, may be the result of telepathically projecting an illusion into the minds of local observers. If so, then in these cases no actual physical changes occur and the altered Elan will appear to revert to their true forms as soon as they lose consciousness or their concentrations are broken.

Limitations: Despite their vast psionic abilities, Elan were still physical beings with bodies composed of organic matter and have not demonstrated any unusual durability. For example, the Delinquent only survived Drax's merciless knife attack because the Negative Zone parasites that had infested him also healed his injuries and kept him alive.

   Aside from having organs that were as vulnerable as those of other species, damage to their antennae could be fatal since the injured Elan would lose control of their powers and begin emitting dangerous energy bursts. Exactly how this could cause them to die has not been specified but it seems likely that such uncontrolled releases of psionic energy would be a drain on the afflicted Elan's life forces, eventually leading to death by energy loss. While the only known treatment for this condition is the amputation of the damaged antennae, it's possible that other Elan could use less drastic measures to prevent death.

   Elan are also vulnerable to beings who can drain life-energy from them (like the Space Parasite).

   According to some accounts, Elan cannot actually use their psionic powers to transform unliving matter into living creatures and any instance in which the Infant appeared to be doing so he was actually just animating the "creatures" like a puppeteer. However, the fact that the Infant was able to transform a lamppost into a giant plant from which he plucked berries that he then ate suggests he actually could create edible organic matter out of inorganic material.

   Although many of the transformations that Elan can enact are permanent, some only last as long as the Elan who caused them continues to consciously will them to remain in effect. While objects that were created by the rearrangement of solid matter seem to remain in their new form, objects that were seemingly created out of thin air often just fade away if the concentrations of the Elan who created them were disrupted. However, since the only objects that have been observed to vanish were the giant marching soldiers that the Infant Terrible created, it's possible that their transitory nature was due to his youth and inexperience and not an innate property of the toy soldiers. However, there may be another explanation (see comments).

Cultural Traits: Peaceful and dedicated to their own arts, science, and philosophy. Although not known to be xenophobic, they avoid contact with other cultures.

   Claims that the Elan were so peace-loving and tranquil that they had no comprehension of war and could not use their powers against other living beings even in self-defence were part of a Skrull deception and have no basis in reality.

Type: Semi-humanoid
Eyes: Two (red or dark green or black or orange; multifaceted)
Fingers: Two (plus opposable thumb)
Toes: Two (cloven hoof-like)
Skin color: Light green, yellow or light orange
Hair: None
Average height: 10' (as adults); 6' (when young)

Type of government: Planetwide union of democratic nations

Level of technology: Elan have built advanced interstellar ships with warp-drive. Their technology is superior to that of Earth, but the Elan rarely utilize technology since fully developing their psionic abilities.

History:
(The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#3: Alien Races: Elan entry) - The Elan originated on Elanis, the fifth planet out from the star known on Earth as Beta Scorpi.

(Annihilation #2 (fb) - BTS) - The Elan race was also sometimes known as the "Elanian" race.

(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#2 (fb) - BTS) - Long ago, a certain (unspecified) power was "given" to the Elan. Other races who were given that power, either before or after the Elan received it, were the Hagathri, the Kk'kwathi, the Great Many and mankind (i.e., the humans of Earth).

(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#2 (fb) - BTS) - As the result (or the cause) of this power that had been given to the Elan, Elanis is believed to have become a Nexus of Power, just as Earth would eventually become one. However, it has not been confirmed that Elanis ever became such a nexus or, if it did, how long it remained one.

(Quasar I#2 (fb) - BTS) - At some unspecified time in the past, an Elan was chosen by the Time Being Eon to serve as life's champion against an unspecified "cosmic evil" that had arisen. Eon awarded this Elan with the Quantum-Bands that were both an instrument of power and a symbol of his/her station as Protector of the Universe.

(Thor I#335 (fb) - BTS) - Long ago, a yellow-skinned Elan visited the interstellar academy on the planet Rus, then located in a far distant galaxy. Unfortunately, the Elan was still on Rus when Kamo Tharnn's reckless experimentation with the mystic Runestaff caused the faculty of his academy (and maybe all other living sentient beings on Rus) to be absorbed into the Runestaff where they were trapped in the limbo-like pocket dimension within it. It is not known if the Elan was one of the faculty or a student.

(Fantastic Four I#24 (fb) - BTS) - An Elan child got separated from his parents and somehow ended up on the planet Earth. Exactly how they became separated and how he traveled to Earth remains unrevealed.

(Fantastic Four I#24 - BTS) - After arriving on Earth in the vicinity of New York City, the Elan child began to use his powers to "play" with his new surroundings. Reports of fantastic things happening in Times Square attracted the attention of the Fantastic Four who quickly boarded the Fantasti-Car to fly from the Baxter Building to Times Square.

(Fantastic Four I#24) - As the Fantastic Four approached their destination, they suddenly found themselves flying into a giant milk bottle that had appeared out of nowhere, floating in their path. Once inside the bottle, the Thing set the Fantasti-Car to fly itself out and back to the Baxter Building, but when the FF then tried to get out themselves they found that the bottle had been sealed shut, forcing the Human Torch to burn a hole in the side so that they could escape. Now on ground, the FF proceeded to Times Square where they found that walls had been erected in the street, trapping pedestrians and motorists in a maze. When a giant spinning top appeared and headed at a crowd, the Human Torch hit it with a white-hot fireball, seemingly causing the top to blow up and shatter itself into nothingness, only to be replaced by a ten-foot tall armored figure. The Thing landed a haymaker on the figure but, instead of being damaged, another figure, identical to the first, appeared out of nowhere. A second punch from the Thing caused a third figure to appear and then, within seconds, there were almost a hundred of the figures marching in the street, completely ignoring the Thing and any other onlookers. Acting on a hunch, Mister Fantastic had the police chief order his men to turn on every siren in the area and all of the marching figures just faded away when the sudden ear-shattering wail disrupted the Elan child's concentration.

(Fantastic Four I#24) - Seconds later, the Elan was spotted by the Invisible Girl as he made his way through a crowd of humans who quickly drew back from him. As the crowd watched, the Elan directed a ray from his antennae at a lamppost, transforming it into a giant plant from which he plucked a large berry for a snack. The Elan then used his powers to transform part of a brick wall into a faucet from which soda poured into a large glass that he had materialized. Ignoring those around him, the Elan calmly sat down and began sipping his ice cream soda, unaware of the Invisible Girl who had turned invisible to get closer to him. This calmness soon ended when the Elan was startled by sudden flashes of light as a group of news photographers set off multiple flash bulbs in his face as they tried to get their pictures. Reacting instinctively, the Elan used his powers to levitate part of the street on which the photographers were standing and used it to move them away from him and onto the roof of a building across the street. Shocked by this display of power, the Invisible Girl inadvertently became visible even as she moved forward to grab the Elan so that she could reason with him before he did any real harm. However, the Elan perceived her rushing towards him as a threat and he reacted by reaching into space to pull a meteor swarm down at her. Although most of them were small enough that friction with Earth's atmosphere burned them to cinders before they could reach the surface, some were large enough that remnants did reach the ground, forcing the FF to deal with them. While the FF were thus occupied, the human onlookers and the Elan all left the scene. Mister Fantastic then wondered aloud about how the alien's actions "were as irrational as an infant's" which caused him to realize that the Elan actually was an infant.

(Fantastic Four I#24 - BTS) - After learning of Mister Fantastic's theory, the human authorities warned the public that the alien, although considered to be too young to understand his own actions, was still very dangerous and that they should stay out of his way and not antagonize him. However, a human criminal named Big Joe believed that "that nutty freak with those magic powers" could be useful to him.

(Fantastic Four I#24) - After wandering around the city for hours, the Elan child was attracted to a crowd of humans who were standing in front of a radio-TV store listening to the latest news bulletin about the "strange creature." The crowd fled in a panic when they noticed the Elan, leaving the bewildered child alone, enabling four criminals working for Big Joe to approach and offer him candy. Thinking these humans were friendly, the Elan child accepted the candy and accompanied them in their car.

(Fantastic Four I#24 (fb) - BTS) - The Elan child was brought to Big Joe who, by drawing simple pictures, was able to communicate what he wanted the alien to do for him.

(Fantastic Four I#24) - From a few miles beyond the city limits, the Elan child was able to send his beams into the city to lift an armored car into the air and pull it through the air to him. Once the armored car was close by, the Elan child held it upside down in the air and ripped its roof apart, causing all the bags of money contained within to fall down and out. As the criminals gathered up the money, the Elan child began to amuse himself, transforming one sack into a large pig, causing other bags of money and stacks of bills to sprout wings and fly away, and changing a pile of C-Notes into mud. Thinking what he was doing was funny, the Elan child began laughing, unaware that the criminals were not amused. Big Joe then managed to convince the Elan to transform a small diamond into a much larger one. However, as Big Joe then plotted to "get rid" of the alien, the Elan child transformed the large diamond into an egg from which a bird hatched. A very unhappy Big Joe then threatened the Elan child but three members of the Fantastic Four showed up before he could act on his threat and swiftly used their super-powers to defeat and capture all of the criminals.

(Fantastic Four I#24) - The Elan child's experience with Big Joe and his gang had caused him to hate and mistrust the whole human race so, when the fantastic trio moved towards him, he reacted by using his powers to assemble a group of boulders into a giant rock man who began to battle the three super-heroes.

(Fantastic Four I#24 - BTS) - Somewhere in space, the parents of the lost child began receiving the signals that Mister Fantastic had been beaming into deepest space using the most powerful ultra-sonic radio transmitter on Earth. Guided by those ultra-sonic radio beams, the spaceship carrying the child's parents soon entered Earth's atmosphere, with Mister Fantastic observing their approach with his ultra-powerful electron telescope.

(Fantastic Four I#24) - When the fantastic trio eventually managed to immobilize the rock man, the Elan child had a temper tantrum and trapped the threesome within a pliable and fireproof transparent sphere. Leaving them behind, the Elan child then created a whirlwind that swiftly transported him back to New York City where he landed on the roof of a building. As the Elan child experienced anger, frustration and an uncomprehending bewilderment, a small helicopter approached and tried to grab him but he saw it in time and turned the helicopter (but not its two occupants) into ashes. Now feeling that he was surrounded on all sides by enemies who would attack, exploit or destroy him and unable to understand the situation or communicate, the Elan child succumbed to an unstoppable rage and lashed out with his powers, sending powerful bolts of energy down to the street. Fearing that the humans below might have weapons, the Elan child then caused everything that they were carrying to levitate up out of their grasps.

(Fantastic Four I#24) - As the humans panicked, the Elan ship approached New York City from the east, drawn to the radio signal that Mister Fantastic had been transmitting. When they got close enough, Mister Fantastic stretched up and got their attention.

(Fantastic Four I#24 - BTS) - When the Elan parents emerged from the hatch of their spaceship, Mister Fantastic was somehow able to direct them towards where their child was.

(Fantastic Four I#24) - Still overcome by his rage, the Elan child transformed clouds into semi-solid masses which drifted down to the streets and blocked traffic. With the clouds gone, the Elan child now noticed the Sun shining in the sky and prepared to use his powers on it. However, before the child could tamper with the Sun, he was confronted by one of his parents who grabbed his arms and told him, "Stop!! You must do no more! You must come with me!" The next second, everything that the Elan child had done was undone.

(Fantastic Four I#24) - Walking on air with the child between his parents, holding their hands, the Elan family returned to the Baxter Building where, apparently at the instigation of his parents, the child shook hands with Mister Fantastic. The Elan family then levitated themselves up the their hovering spaceship which then soared up into the sky.

(Spécial-Zembla#153 (fb) - BTS) - As punishment for the trouble he had recently caused, the parents absolutely forbade their child from using his power to mentally create things. However, they did not count on his resourcefulness.

(Spécial-Zembla#152/Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook) - Instead of going directly home, the Infant Terrible and his parents traveled to the African Republic of Karunda. After landing their ship in the jungle, the family disembarked and went for a stroll. The two adults were soon spotted by stage magician Rasmus who, relieved that they hadn't seen him, decided to go and warn his friend, the Jungle Lord Zembla. However, before he could do so, Rasmus was surprised to find the Elan child beside him. When Rasmus greeted him by extending his hand, the child responded by extending his antennae until they touched the human's head and delivered a burst of energy. Initially afraid that the alien was trying to siphon off his brain, Rasmus was relieved when he realized that he hadn't been harmed and instead felt much better than he had. Spotting a snake behind the child that was about to strike, Rasmus saved him by transforming the snake into a string of sausages. Surprised by what had happened, Rasmus realized that he now had real magic powers and tested them by transforming the sausages into a magic wand. Noticing that the child had gone, Rasmus decided to go show his powers to Zembla and the others, unaware that the Elan child was hiding behind a tree, with his hand over his mouth. Unfortunately, when Rasmus found his friends who had been searching for him, their meeting did not go well as Rasmus became increasingly irrational and declared that he would be the king of the jungle and they would be his subjects.

(Spécial-Zembla#153/Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook) - Later, after Rasmus had used his powers to convince the local Wokanda tribe that he had been sent by their god T'Challak to lead them in their prophesied conquest of the jungle, Zembla and his friends tried to stop them so Rasmus created a giant man of wood out of a tree and sent it to aid the Wokandas. However, when the Man of Wood was about to kill him, Zembla cried out, "Ungh! Impossible de lui faire lâcher prise! Cette fois, c'est la fin!" and hearing those words caused Rasmus to realize what was about to happen. Suddenly, the wooden monster disappeared and Rasmus, who had been floating in the air, fell to the ground, with his wand changing back into the snake. When Rasmus stated that he had no memory of what had been happening, the Elan family made their presence known, with the father declaring that they had been the victims of mischief from their naughty son. After the arrival of these "demons" had caused the Wokandas to flee, the Elan father explained the situation, speaking in French via the universal translator incorporated into his tunic. Stating that his people came from a distant galaxy and all possessed a mastery of mental energy that allowed them to instantly create anything, the father admitted that (some of) their children were incapable of evaluating the consequences of their creations. He then described his son, who was now crying a bit, as a "terrible sacripant" (terrible bastard?) who only made trouble and had been forbidden to use his powers after a recent major incident. However, the child had proven more resourceful than expected and, after sensing that Rasmus had a deep desire to be a real magician with real powers, had transmitted some of his power to Rasmus so that he could "fasse des bêtisises" (make trouble) in his place. The father added that being given power that primitive races could not possibly control had driven Rasmus temporarily crazy. When Zembla asked if they had remotely removed the power from Rasmus, the father replied that in his opinion it was seeing his friend in mortal peril that had given Rasmus a shock that had instantly neutralized his abilities. The father then reassured the humans that the effects of a power transferral to a primitive species were only temporary and that their son would be well punished. When the teenager Yéyé asked about Tic-Tac, the alarm clock that he wore on a string around his neck but had been forced to smash after Rasmus had transformed it, the Elan father instantly restored it. The Elan family then departed in their starship to continue their crossing of the galaxy.

(Thor I#235) - The Runestaff was taken from Kamo Tharnn by the Asgardian goddess Sif and the Olympian demigod Hercules who brought it to Earth.

(Thor I#335 (fb) - BTS) - Months later, Kamo Tharnn reclaimed the Runestaff and again attempted to master its powers. However, he only succeeded in transferring the souls trapped within it (including that of the Elan) into his own immortal body.

(Thor I#335) - Years later, the Lady Sif used the Runestaff on Kamo Tharnn and released all of the beings who had been trapped within his body. The yellow-skinned Elan was among the many who were restored to life in the physical world.

(Fantastic Four Annual#19 (fb) - BTS) - Skrulls from an unspecified outpost ruled by a queen learned of the Fantastic Four's encounter with the people of the Elan.

(Fantastic Four Annual#19 (fb) - BTS) - Later, after the destruction of the Skrull Throneworld by Galactus led to a civil war that split the Skrull Empire, this queen plotted to prove her superiority and her "divine right to rule" by destroying the Fantastic Four. One of her minions proposed a scheme that involved having one of her agents pose as the Infant Terrible in order to lure the Fantastic Four into a trap.

(Fantastic Four Annual#19 - BTS) - This queen's agent successfully met with the Fantastic Four. However, the humans quickly realized that the "Infant Terrible" was an imposter because the story that he communicated was inconsistent with what Mister Fantastic knew of Elan culture and he had forgotten to adjust his course to make it appear that he had traveled from the Beta Scorpi sector. The Fantastic Four hid the fact that they had not been deceived and played along until Mister Fantastic was able to hypnotize the fake Elan into assuming his form, then the entire team used the fake Elan starship to travel to the supposed "planet of the Elan" (actually, the Skrull outpost). Upon their arrival, the Fantastic Four were greeted by three Skrull warriors posing as Elan but things quickly went wrong when the sight of his fellow Skrulls caused "Mister Fantastic" to break out of his post-hypnotic state and order the Skrull forces hiding nearby to attack. Despite this, the FF quickly defeated the attacking Skrulls and their queen.

(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#2 - BTS) - Concurrent with the "Inferno" event, Dormammu took possession of Doctor Strange's body and prepared to conquer Earth's universe. At one point, Dormammu summoned the Dark Sorcerers from the Worlds of Infinite Space to appear before him. The great alien black magicians obeyed but did so reluctantly since, as the Dire Wraith among them mentioned, they had all shunned Earth since it had become clear that it was the next planet to become a Nexus of Power. Dormammu reassured them that things had changed because "that power" that had been given to mankind, even as it had been given to the Hagathri, the Kk'kwathi, the Great Many, and the Elan before them, was now under his control! The alien sorcerers agreed to follow Dormammu, but Dormammu was soon defeated by Doctor Strange, Clea and the empathic healer Topaz.

(Avengers Spotlight#25/2 (fb) - BTS) - A number of alien races somehow learned that Earthman Rick Jones was going to write a book about his exploits involving some of the superhumans with whom he had been associated. Many of these races, including the Elan, came to believe that this autobiography would contain information about how Jones had once been able to single-handedly defeat the Kree and Skrull armadas. An intergalactic auction was arranged so that any sentient race who was interested could have an equal opportunity to bid on the manuscript.

(Avengers Spotlight#25/2) - An Elan was among the large number of bidders present when Rick Jones, Betty Ross and Rick's date/would-be agent Veronica were teleported aboard an intergalactic auction cruiser. When the auctioneer, a R'malk'i named Beppe III, explained the situation, including the fact that "Veronica" was actually a female Pink Kree espionage agent named Major Vron-Ikka, Jones surrendered his manuscript, and Beppe III placed it within the universal translator so that all present could observe the salient chapter on the defeat of the Kree and Skrull armadas. However, by the time the bidding was to begin, all of the assembled bidders had discovered that Jones had ended the Kree-Skrull War through a fluke and that he had no real knowledge as to how he had accomplished it. Determining the memoirs to be worthless, the auctioneer teleported Jones and Ross back to the condo from which they had been taken.

(Power Pack I#59 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the parents of the Infant Terrible died. Their bodies were buried on a planet whose location has not been revealed.

(Power Pack I#56 (fb) - BTS) - The Elan child either stayed on that planet and created an amusement park or he traveled to another planet and created an amusement park there. Whichever planet he was on was soon attacked by the Star-Stalker. (Biawak, son of Varanus the Star-Stalker) The Elan child ended up receiving some severe injuries, including damage to his left antenna.

(Power Pack I#56) - While searching for suitable planets for Galactus to consume, Nova (Frankie Raye) discovered a number of planets that had already been entirely drained of their energies, leaving them completely barren and devoid of life. Eventually she came across a world that had not been entirely obliterated. Upon inspection, Nova discovered what looked like an amusement park and an injured alien who she believed to be an Elan child. Nova sought to aid the child but was soon confronted by the Star-Stalker and decided to lead the fight way from the injured Elan. Unfortunately, as she fled, the Star-Stalker's first strike at her hit one of the structures instead, causing the Elan to be buried in debris. Soon afterwards, Power Pack and Tattletale (Franklin Richards) arrived in the Kymellian smartship Friday. They found the Elan child, rescued him from under the debris, and "Alex Power" (actually a pseudoplasm copy of the real Alex Power who was unaware of its true nature and identity) inadvertently used his power to partially heal the Elan, restoring him to consciousness. The children got the Elan aboard Friday and rescued Nova (whose power had been drained) but their attempt to overload the then-sleeping Star-Stalker instead caused the alien to teleport to Earth.

(Power Pack I#57) - Aboard Friday as she traveled towards Earth, the Elan child was lying unconscious in the sickbay when his damaged left antenna began to emit energy bursts that threatened the Smartship and injured Franklin, putting him into an odd coma. Friday realized that the Elan's injuries were even more serious than she had thought and she was forced to cauterize the wound to prevent any further damage.
   On Earth, the Star-Stalker appeared in New York City's Central Park and the Smartship managed to trace its location soon afterwards. Once at the park, most of the humans disembarked to battle the alien menace. After being convinced by the comatose Franklin that the Ultimate Nullifier would be needed to stop the threat that Nova would inadvertently become once she had destroyed the Star-Stalker, Friday left for space, taking the Elan, Franklin and a homeless man with her. Friday then revealed that the Elan's condition had taken a dramatic turn for the worse and that she would have to amputate the damaged antenna before his powers erupted out of control again.

(Power Pack I#58) - The Elan remained unconscious in Friday's sickbay while the Smartship traveled to the homeship of Galactus, and the amputation of his antenna was performed without complications. Later, after Galactus had given Franklin the Elemental Obliterator to use on the maddened Nova, the Smartship headed back towards Earth and Franklin was there to comfort the Elan when he woke up.

   Back on Earth, Franklin prepared to use the Elemental Obliterator on Nova even though Galactus had warned him that he would die if he used it. However, before Franklin could fire the weapon, the Elan took it from him and used it on Nova himself. As the Elan began to suffer the lethal effects, the "Alex Power" duplicate tried to save him and inadvertently linked the powers of the five children together, enabling him to transport the Elan to safety before the weapon exploded. As a result, the Elan suffered only a slight injury to his left arm and watched with the others as Nova left for space.

(Power Pack I#59) - Mister Fantastic and Friday agreed that it was best that the Elan child should return home to his own kind, and Raymond (the homeless "flame guy") went with them. However, when they arrived at the planet to which the Elan had directed them, Friday realized that she had been mistaken in her belief that they would find the Elan's parents alive because they had been dead even before she and Power Pack had first met the Elan child. Instead, the reason that they had traveled to that planet was so that the Elan could pay his final respects to his parents at their graves. The Elan child then revealed that he could now speak English and that he wanted to return to Earth and become a member of Power Pack.

(Power Pack I#61-62) - As Friday returned to Earth and approached the NYC building where the Powers lived, she was struck by a burst of destructive energy that caused her to crash into the Power family`s apartment. The Elan child and Raymond were both knocked out by the impact but, by the time the Fantastic Four arrived to aid the Powers, the duo had regained consciousness inside the ruins of the Smartship. Although Raymond believed that Friday had died, the Elan sensed an intelligence and located some circuitry that contained Friday`s life force. The Elan then accompanied the others when they went to Four Freedoms Plaza.
   Later, after the Red Ghost (the person who had shot down Friday) and his Super Apes had invaded the FF headquarters and attacked the heroes, causing Mrs. Margaret Power to become agitated, the Elan somehow made himself look like James Power  husband in order to calm her down and then went to confront the villain. Appearing as a super-powered Mister Power, the Elan was only able to hold off the Red Ghost and his allies for a while before getting shot but that was long enough for "Alex Power" to heal the other heroes who soon defeated the four villains and rescued Friday.

(Power Pack I#62) - Sometime later, the Elan watched as the Human Torch completed the last of the components needed for Friday's new body. The Elan then used his powers to instantly assemble the Smartship while simultaneously transporting everybody up to the roof. The Elan chose to go with the Powers when they left to seek medical help for Mrs. Power.

(Excalibur I#29 (fb)) - The Elan and Franklin accompanied the Powers aboard Friday when they went to London to see if the Institute for Psychic Research could help Mrs. Power. The Elan (now nicknamed "Marty") remained on the Smartship while the Powers visited the clinic but it turned out to be a trap from which only "Alex Power" managed to escape and return to Friday and the Elan.

(Excalibur I#29) - Seeking help from Excalibur, Friday traveled to their lighthouse headquarters. When Nightcrawler teleported inside the Smartship, found the now Kymellian-headed "Alex Power" and didn't recognize him, the Elan approached and offered to explain the situation since "Alex" was still weak. Excalibur investigated and were also trapped by the villain responsible, Nightmare, but Franklin and Phoenix (Rachel Summers) somehow defeated him. Afterwards, all of Nightmare's victims (somehow) came to believe that what they had experienced was nothing more than a strange dream that they had (somehow) all shared.

(Power Pack I#62) - Weeks later, when Power Pack and their parents decided to go to the new Kymellian homeworld to get help from Lord Yrik, the Elan child revealed that he would accompany them only part of the way because he had decided that it was time to return to his region of space.

(Quasar#25) - After Maelstrom created an immense and rapidly-expanding black hole in order to destroy the universe, multiple Watchers came to observe the spatial collapse that would result in the end of all existence. The Watchers were soon joined by other spectators, including the Prime Host of the Celestials, Galactus and his herald Nova, two Rigellians and a Recorder, and three of the Elan. While they all watched without taking any action, Quasar, who had entered the black hole and been transported to the realm of Oblivion, became the avatar of Infinity and defeated Maelstrom, who was then the avatar of Oblivion. Quasar's victory acted to reverse the flow of matter and energy in the universe, turning the black hole inside out and transforming it into a white hole that began to expel all of the matter that had recently been sucked into it.

(Infinity Gauntlet#1 - BTS) - The Elan, like every other species living in Reality-616, were presumably affected when Thanos the Mad Titan used the Infinity Gauntlet to cause the death of half of all living things in the universe.

(Infinity Gauntlet#6 - BTS) - All of the Elan who had presumably been wiped out of existence by Thanos were presumably resurrected mere moments after their deaths when Nebula used the Infinity Gauntlet to reset the universe in order to undo the halving of the universe's population.

(Quasar#35) - Two (or more) Elan were present on The Mourning Star, the cathedral-starship of the multi-species religious order known as the Mourners at the time they first attempted to hold a memorial service for the billions of Kree who had recently been killed by the Nega-Bomb.

(Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1) - An Elan delegate was present at a meeting of the Intergalactic Council held on the planet Selandiar at which Skrull Ambassador Kreddik demanded that the question of the threat that humanity posed to the civilized races of the universe be raised and the matter judged by M'ndavian justice. This Elan was presumably still present in the Council Chamber when a recording of the planet Krylor's destruction by the insane Ego the Living Planet was played.

(Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1) - "Weeks" later, when Ego was attacking Selandiar, an Elan delegate was among the thousands of sentients from whom the Earth mutant Charles Xavier harvested "psychic power" to be used to shut down Ego's insane mind. However, Ego was instead defeated by Ruul technology.
   A day later, an Elan was present when the intergalactic council addressed the question of humanity. The Elan was among the delegates who were not impressed by the Skrull mutant Zcann's testimony about Charles Xavier and his dream. It was soon afterwards that the last of the M'ndavian Judgment Gems turned black, indicating that all of the members of the council had reached a guilty verdict against the human race.

(Maximum Security#3 - BTS) - The Elan delegate was presumably still there on Selandiar when the Kree Supreme Intelligence appeared to the Intergalactic Council in the Council Chamber and revealed how it and the Kree (as the Ruul) had manipulated them and had already begun to take back their interstellar empire.

(Annihilation#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Nova Corps Xandar Worldmind Database updated its profile of "The Delinquent" (a.k.a. the "Infant Terrible"). According to this profile, the Worldmind considered the Delinquent's Threat Level to be "Planetary" and he had been indicted for "reality-tampering on a universal scale." However, his sentence was pending due to his relative infancy at the time he committed those crimes and the Worldmind would not condone lethal force being used against him unless his reality-manipulation threatened a planet's existence.

(Annihilation#2 (fb) - BTS/Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus#1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Delinquent was captured by the forces of the Annihilation Wave and he was infested with parasitic bugs that compelled him to obey Annihilus.

(Annihilation#2-Annihilation#3 (fb)) <Annihilation Day, plus 212> - Led by Ravenous, a group composed of the Delinquent, Paibok and Terrax (and a giant Mad Thinker robot) attacked the United Front forces on Daedalus 5, a Kree system periphery. The Delinquent concentrated on using his powers to breach the perimeter wall of the UF compound (by transmuting it into gas) until Drax attacked him and slashed open his chest, releasing a swarm of bugs. Drax then proceeded to stab the Delinquent "about three dozen times" but he impossibly remained alive. Along with Paibok and Terrax, the Delinquent was able to escape before the planet was destroyed by the Annihilus-controlled Galactus.

(Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Delinquent's injuries were healed by the parasites within him.

(Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus#1) <Annihilation Day, plus 222> - The Delinquent, Paibok and Terrax were aboard the Annihilation Wave battle cruiser Ch'trrr when the parasites stopped functioning following the death of Annihilus. Terrax swiftly used his Power Cosmic to destroy the battle cruiser but the trio survived and the section of the starship they were on soon crashed on the nearby planet of "New Xeron." The trio survived the crash landing with the help of Chandra, a female Centaurian who pulled them from the burning wreckage. As one of the many aliens who had been brought to the planet and enslaved by its conqueror, Randau the Space Parasite, Chandra sought their aid in overthrowing Randau. As Chandra appealed to Paibok and Terrax, the Delinquent occupied himself by using his powers to create sand castles which he then destroyed by stomping on them. Paibok observed that the Delinquent's mind had reacted to his ordeal by retreating into madness and that he was now in an infantile state in which he would not hear them or respond to any instructions they might give him. Terrax suggested that they might use his instinct for self-preservation by putting him in harm's way when they attacked Randau.

   The next day, when the aliens attacked the palace of Randau, the Delinquent was present, riding alongside Terrax on the latter's levitated boulder. However, Terrax's initial attacks did no significant damage to Randau who soon disrupted his concentration, causing the boulder to fall. Upon seeing the Delinquent, Randau exclaimed, "Moons of Xeron, is that an Elanian?" and grabbed the stunned Elan child. After absorbing enough power to confirm that the Delinquent was an Elanian, Randau began to feed on the rest of his life energy, claiming that doing so would enable him to begin to expand his empire, but an attack by Paibok distracted him from draining the child and he was soon killed by Terrax. Unfortunately, Terrax was later offended by the servile attitude of the newly-freed slaves and used his Cosmic Axe to destroy the planet. Acting instinctively, the Delinquent created a spherical force field around himself and Paibok that enabled them to survive, floating in space amongst the rubble. Once Terrax had departed, Paibok asked the Delinquent to transform the chunk of rock they were on into a spacecraft and the Elan child began to do so, stating that he remembered spacecraft. Once the starship was complete, the Delinquent and Paibok left the area as well.

(Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.#11) - After locating State 51, the Beyond Corporation's terror factory floating two miles above Nevada, the Nextwave Squad decided to go to its control center in order to end their terrorist activities. Along the way the squad had to fight their way through at least six waves of defenders, the last of which included what appeared to be three members of the Elan race.

(FF I#20 - BTS) - Aboard the Future Foundation's space station, Reed Richards taught a class about various alien races, beginning with the Type II civilizations that they knew existed within the Milky Way galaxy and then expanding outward. Richards chose to start with the Badoon but one of the thirteen other holographic images of planets that were projected upon the star field was labelled "Elan." The class soon ended prematurely when the light from the stars was blocked by the newly-arrived Attilan.

THE SIXTH MULTIVERSE WAS DESTROYED BY THE BEYONDERS, THEN (RE)CREATED AS THE SEVENTH MULTIVERSE BY FRANKLIN RICHARDS

 

(Silver Surfer VIII#1) - On the planet Elanis, now located "One star system away" from Earth, the Elan were attacked by invaders who were using the Zenn-Lavian "magi-tech" device known as the Illuminatrix against them and their world. "One of (their) world's dearest friends," Benjamin J. Grimm, arrived in a one-person starship and attempted to repel the attackers but was swiftly downed. Once on the planet, Grimm realized that the attack wasn't "zappin' the Elans to bits," it was actually converting them and their world into an "elevated" form. Grimm was then transformed himself and confronted by the leader of the alien attackers, the Keeper of the Great Truth, who chose Grimm to be her herald who would lead them to the next world to be converted, Earth.

 

(Silver Surfer VIII#3 - BTS) - When the Silver Surfer destroyed the Illuminatrix, all of the planets that it had been used to convert were restored to their original, pre-converted state. Elanis and the Elan were presumably among all those who were restored.

 

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Geo: Bell.
   Elan race named by the staff of the first edition of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (led by Head Writer Mark Gruenwald).

    Thanks to Snood for sending me scans of several pages from Fantastic Four I#24, a scan of a very important page from Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1, and pdf copies of the relevant stories from Spécial-Zembla#152-153. Without his help, I would not have been able to make this profile as complete as I wanted it to be.

    Quarter-page profiles on the Elan race have appeared in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#3 (March, 1983) and The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15 (March, 1987).

Profiles on the Infant Terrible/Delinquent have appeared in:
   •The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#6 (June, 1983) - An appendix listing that just says "See Alien Race: Elan"
   •Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook #1 (February, 2006)
   •Annihilation#2 (November, 2006) - Xandar Worldmind Nova Corps Database profile
   •Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Vol. 1 (hardcover) #3 (July, 2008)

    According to the Xandar Worldmind Nova Corps Database profile on "The Delinquent" (a.k.a. the "Infant Terrible"), "the Elan have rarely been seen in the universe" and they "were first sighted on the planet Earth." These "facts" seem inconsistent with the data provided by the Official Handbooks of the Marvel Universe and, well, common sense.

Elan from alternate realities who have appeared in other Marvel stories
   •In Avengers: Forever#8 (July, 1999), the Elan were shown to have been "pacified" by a Galactic Avenger Battalion, suggesting that this event occurred in Reality-9812.
   •In Fantastic Four: The End#2 (January, 2007), decades in the future, two Elan attended a meeting of the Parliament for Galactic Unity that existed in Reality-71166.
   •In Fantastic Four: Grand Design#1 (December, 2019), an other-dimensional counterpart of the Infant Terrible interacted with the Fantastic Four native to that as-yet-unnumbered reality.

Where in the Marvel Universe is the planet Elanis located?
   According to the quarter-page profiles on the Elan that were presented in the first two volumes of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Elanis is the fifth planet from the sun in the Beta Scorpi star system. So far, so good. However, two issues of Quasar revealed that the library-planet Rus was also located in that solar system and was the fourth planet from the sun. This could have been a problem except for the fact that it has been established that Rus can be (and has been) moved through space by its most significant resident, Kamo Tharnn, the Elder of the Universe known as the Possessor. Still good.

   Then there's the first actual appearance of the planet Elanis (in Silver Surfer VIII#1) in which the Omniscient Narrative states that it is "One star system away" from Earth. This IS a problem because there's no way that Beta Scorpii could ever be described as being that close to Earth. This is clearly a massive continuity error on the part of the writer but it could be explained away...if Elanis was also a planet that could be moved when its inhabitants wished. Given how immensely powerful the Elan are supposed to be, it seems quite plausible that they could have moved their homeworld. Maybe they didn't like it when Kamo Tharnn parked his planet in their solar system and decided to leave the neighborhood?

   Of course, there is one question left unanswered: Where exactly was Elanis when it was converted by the Keeper of the Great Truth? "One star system away" is an extremely UNscientific way of describing a planet's location because it can be interpreted in many different ways. At a distance of 4.3 light-years, Alpha Centauri is the star system that is the closest to Earth. However, that is only true if one considers the entire universe and does not place any limit on the directionality of the distances. For example, depending on the direction(s) one chooses, there are many stars that could be described as being "one star system away" from the Sun, including Barnard's Star, Wolf 359, Sirius and Procyon. So, when trying to establish closeness without specifying any distances, directionality matters.

Beta Scorpii in the real world
   Beta Scorpii is usually the second brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. However, Beta Scorpii is actually a sextuple star system with two components that are each made up of three sub-components. Essentially, it is two trinary star systems orbiting each other. Beta Scorpii is about 470 light-years distant from Earth and is believed to be less than 12 million years old. No planets have yet been detected in orbit around any of the stars in that system and, even if there were some planets, the system is too young for any of them to be habitable. For that reason, there can be no lifeforms, sentient or otherwise, who are native to that system.

Beta Scorpi/Scorpii in the Marvel Universe
The following is a list of all references to the Beta Scorpi star system that exists in the Marvel Universe, listed in order of publication.
1. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#3 (March, 1983) - The "Alien Races" pages contain a quarter-page profile on the Elan which identifies their homeworld as Elanis, the fifth planet from the star Beta Scorpi (Earth designation) in the Milky Way Galaxy.
2. Fantastic Four Annual#19 (1985) - Mister Fantastic confirms that the planet of the Elan is in the Beta Scorpi sector of the Milky Way Galaxy. He also mentions knowing of at least three Skrull outposts within a hundred cubic parsecs of it. On the other hand, he also describes the Skrull home galaxy as "M-61 in Andromeda" which is half wrong. The Skrull Galaxy is actually M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, located in the constellation of the same name. In contrast, M61 (also known as Messier 61 or NGC 4303) is an intermediate barred spiral galaxy that is one of the largest members of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, visible from Earth in the constellation of Virgo, and is over 52 million light-years distant from Earth.
3. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15 (March, 1987) - The Appendix for Alien Races in this issue contains a quarter-page profile on the Elan race that just repeats most of the same information from the earlier profile.
4. Quasar#39 (October, 1992) - Quasar and Epoch quantum-jump to the Beta Scorpii system to visit the planet Rus, the "Tri-Galaxy area's academic center."
5. Quasar#49 (August, 1993) - Seeking a cure for his mother's cancer, Quasar visits Epoch on that same library-world which is now described as the fourth planet in the Beta Scorpi system.

What was "that power" that was given to the Elan?
   In Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#2 (January, 1989), Dormammu told a group of alien dark sorcerers that "That power that was given to mankind -- even as it was given to the Hagathri, the Kk'kwathi, the Great Many, and the Elan before them -- that power has come under my control!" As soon as I read this statement I immediately thought that it was a reference to the mysterious powers that Rick Jones had manifested in Avengers I#97 (March, 1972), powers that the Kree Supreme Intelligence claimed were dormant within all humans. Since the Infant Terrible and the Omniwave-stimulated Rick were both so powerful, and the Elan and mankind had both supposedly been "given" power, it just seemed to make sense that "that power" was what was later named the Destiny Force. Additionally, the idea that Earth had become a "Nexus of Power" because of this gift appealed to me since it seemed to help explain why Earth had become important to so many alien races.

   As far as I know, this idea of mine is just speculation which makes it similar to the online theory/retcon that the powers possessed by Leonard Tippet were also a manifestation of the Destiny Force. However, as I learned from that profile, editor Tom Brevoort has apparently stated that a reader's suggestion that Tippit was linked to the Destiny Force could be possible. There's a slight problem with this theory in that another explanation for Tippet's powers has already been presented. In What If...? II#35 (March, 1992), Uatu the Watcher stated that Leonard Tippit had been "an out-of-control Nexus whose unconscious influence on probabilities threatened to unleash a nuclear holocaust on (Earth)." Uatu had previously described Nexi as "those rare individual entities with the power to affect probabilities -- and thus the future. Such entities are like boulders and dams, altering the very flow of the timestream itself. Each of them is called a Nexus. These Nexi are the very keystones of the multiverse -- and are crucial to its ultimate coherence." Of course, there's nothing to say that a Nexus couldn't also be someone capable of wielding the Destiny Force. Or maybe it was the fact that Tippet could (somehow) wield the Destiny Force that might have made him a Nexus?

   Another human who might have inadvertantly had "that power" activated within himself was the main character in the story titled "the MAN with the POWER!" that appeared in Fantastic Four I#234: L.R. "Skip" Collins who "may (have been) the most powerful man who ever lived!" Without even being aware of the power that he possessed, Collins was able to reverse the worldwide destruction caused by Ego the Living Planet.

   On the other hand, maybe this nameless "power" that was given to mankind, the Elan and the Great Many is something else entirely. In Avengers: Forever#8, a Space Phantom revealed that the Time-Keepers had showed Immortus various alternate futures in which versions of mankind in whom the Destiny Force had awakened brought destruction to all other life forms in their respective universes as they spread through space, even if they were peaceful explorers and not aggressive conquerors. However, since neither the Elan nor the Great Many ever posed such a threat, maybe that means that this power that was "given" to them and mankind was NOT the Destiny Force after all? Or maybe the Elan and the Great Many and those other races just didn't have the same ruthless drive to overcome all obstacles that makes humanity "the most dangerous beast in the multiverse?"

How do some of the Elan powers really work?
   Although more recent profiles describe the powers of the Elan simply as the ability to alter reality as they see fit, early volumes of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe provided more specific descriptions of some of what they could do. Examining some of these (out-dated) claims might help to determine how (in)accurate they actually were. Aside from their ability to rearrange or transmute atoms and molecules, the powers most in need of explanation are their abilities to repel objects, to attract objects and to create solid objects out of thin air.
   1. The Infant Terrible demonstrated his ability to repel objects when, after being startled by five news photographers who set off flash bulbs quite close to him, red rays projected from his antennae lifted the men (and some of the street on which they had been standing) into the air and deposited them safely on the roof of a building across the street. Since this ability was described as repelling objects, one would assume that these rays were repulsor beams but that would not adequately describe how they functioned since beams fired by the alien could not have had enough of an upwards angle to propel the men up high enough to reach the roof of that other building. Also, if they were simply repulsor beams, then the force that they applied to the men must have been carefully calculated, being strong enough to push them that high up but not so strong that they would have overshot the roof and continued into the air or past the back edge of the roof. Considering that the photographers were shown clutching at the segment of the street that was being lifted into the air, it seems more likely that the Infant was actually using telekinesis to lift them up and carry them through the air to the opposite roof, and that the rays were not repulsor rays at all but merely a manifestation of how he was directing his powers.
   2. The Infant Terrible twice demonstrated his ability to pull objects towards him, first by pulling a passing meteor swarm down to Earth's surface from space and later by lifting an armored car into the air and pulling it to a location several miles away. Reed Richards also theorized that the child might have been powerful enough to move the Sun itself closer to Earth. However, as with his ability to repel objects, his power of attract objects does not seem to function like a tractor beam would. For one thing, in order for the meteors to travel over 100 miles in (let's say) about 30 seconds, they would have had to instantly be accelerated to a speed of over 12,000 m.p.h. As for the armored car, it seems safe to assume that the Infant could not have had direct line-of-sight to the vehicle and that the beams that he used to lift it could not have been projected in a straight line due to the NYC buildings that must have been in the way. So, this again suggests that the Infant was actually using telekinesis and not some form of tractor beams emitted by his antennae.
   3. The Infant Terrible demonstrated the ability to make solid objects appear out of nowhere on several occasions. It has been suggested that he formed these objects by transmuting the air at the locations into the solid matter he needed to reshape into the desired forms. However, since air is significantly less dense than solid matter, a massive volume of air would be required to supply enough mass to be transmuted into a relatively tiny amount of solid matter. For example, it would take tens of thousands of cubic feet of air to provide enough mass to reshape into a 10-foot-tall toy soldier. If such a massive displacement of the local atmosphere had taken place in the vicinity of the "creation" of those figures, then it surely would have been noticed, as would have been the displacement that occurred when they were converted from solids back into air. Since the objects appeared and vanished without being accompanied by hurricane-force winds, a different explanation for how they were created would seem to be required. One strong possibility is that they were actually "solid" energy-constructs composed of psionic energy instead of physical matter. This would mean that they were similar to the energy-constructs created by Doctor Spectrum's Power Prism and Quasar's Quantum-Bands.

Are the Elan actually...Inhumans?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!
   Back in 2010, Fantastic Four writer Jonathan Hickman revealed that Earth's Inhumans weren't the only race that had been created by Kree genetic experiments conducted thousands of years ago. Hickman's stories introduced the Universal Inhumans, a group made up of the Inhumans from four different alien races who had joined together to live on an enormous city-ship. These four other Universal Inhuman races were based on four Marvel Universe species who had been around for a while: the Badoon, the Centaurians, the Dire Wraiths and the Kymellians. Those stories also made it VERY clear that only five such Inhuman races had survived a later Kree attempt to wipe out all of the species upon which they had experimented.

   Of those four alien races, only the Dire Wraiths had not been created solely by Marvel Comics. Back in 1979, Parker Brothers was releasing an electronic action figure called "ROM." In order to promote the toy, Parker Brothers licensed the character to Marvel Comics who then created the Rom comic book series. A TV advertisement for the action figure identified Rom the Space Knight as being a member of the Solstar Order, defenders of justice and truth from another galaxy who had been "ambushed by the evil magicians, the Dire Wraiths..(who) can assume any form they wish." According the a reply from Bill Mantlo in the letters page of Rom#7, "Marvel sort of (had) an agreement with Parker Brothers...that they (would) design the Dire Wraiths as well." However, when the ROM toy failed to sell well, Parker Brothers lost interest and never bothered to design the Dire Wraiths. This is the reason why early issues of the comic never showed Dire Wraiths in their real form, only in their transitory form or their assumed forms.

   Anyway, Marvel's license to use the ROM property ran out in 1986 and Rom himself hasn't been seen in the MU since then, but the Dire Wraiths did show up in a number of Marvel comics over the years. Unfortunately, this became problematic in 2016 when Hasbro, which had bought Parker Brothers in 1991, decided to register the term "Dire Wraiths" as a trademark for comic books. In 2017, Marvel Comics decided to legally oppose Hasbro's attempt to trademark "Dire Wraiths" and were reported to have had a very strong case, given that they had used Dire Wraith characters and the Dire Wraith name for 38 years. However, less than two months later, Marvel officially withdrew their opposition to Hasbro registering the trademark. There have been no significant Dire Wraith appearances in comics published by Marvel since then (although they have been mentioned in Handbook-style comics like Empyre Handbook#1).

   In 2019, Marvel Comics published the six-issue History of the Marvel Universe limited series and in the first issue Galactus recounted how the Kree had once "mutated various races across the universe to serve as soldiers" and that one such group had been drawn from the human race. The image to the left appeared as part of that recounting, beside the recap image of the Inhumans and their island city of Attilan. The obvious implication is that the four races from that image were some of those experimental subjects, and three of them had previously been established as such during that Universal Inhumans storyline. However, the fourth headshot was that of an Elan and not that of a Dire (or Direst) Wraith. I can only assume that the reason was because Marvel Comics doesn't own that trademark and somebody decided to just swap in an Elan to replace a Dire Wraith.

   I ABSOLUTELY HATE THIS IDEA! Aside from the way in which it trivializes Marvel continuity, it's just such a ham-handed way to address a situation that could just as easily have been avoided completely. A good example of how it should have been handled can be found in that issue's Annotations section which instead stated that the Kree plan to create a super-army involved "experimenting on sentient species around the universe, including the Badoon, Centaurians and Kymellians." While they deliberately did not mention the Dire Wraiths, they also did not try to rewrite history by stating that the Elan were one of the races upon whom the Kree scientists experimented.

   Plus, as I understand it, while Hasbro now owns the "Dire Wraith" name, Marvel Comics still owns certain aspects (i.e., the appearance and the backstory) of the evil aliens that were developed for the Rom comic series. Does this mean that Marvel can still use the Dire Wraiths as long as they call them by another name?

When the Elan met Zembla
   Three aliens who are meant to be the Infant Terrible and his parents appear in issues #152-153 (Janvier-Mars 2000) of the French comic book series Spécial-Zembla. The fact that the first part was presented as being 'En hommage á Jack "King" Kirby' pretty much confirmed that the aliens are the Elan from Fantastic Four I#24. However, aside from the lack of color, there are some differences:
  • First, the eyes of the aliens were a shiny black color and not multifaceted. Also, their feet were not hoof-like and each foot had three toes instead of two.
  • Second, while the Infant Terrible had previously been presented as a bewildered and innocent child who had lashed out because he felt threatened, in this story he was more of a malicious/mischievous prankster who deliberately caused trouble for his own amusement.
  • Third, although the Official Handbook had established that the Elan homeworld was in the Milky Way galaxy, in this story the father Elan told Zembla that they were from a distant galaxy.
  • Fourth, in this story the aliens came equipped with a universal translator, something that has not been seen in ANY of their other appearances.
  • Fifth, although the parents were responsible for undoing everything their son had done in New York City, in this story they don't seem to have to do much. The alterations in reality being maintained by Rasmus apparently reversed themselves once his abilities were neutralized by the emotional shock he experienced: The Man of Wood warrior disappeared, Rasmus could no longer levitate, his crown turned back into his top hat and his wand turned back into the living snake. While it's possible that the adult Elan were secretly responsible for these restorations, the story doesn't show them repairing anything except for the alarm clock, Tic-Tac, that Yéyé had damaged after Rasmus had transformed it. Everything else that Rasmus had transformed had been restored by him before the final confrontation that led to him losing his powers.

   Although this Zembla story is not horrible, I'm not that happy about it being made canon. As a crossover story featuring characters from two different continuities, it doesn't really fit in the Marvel Universe and I can't imagine that Zembla, his friends and the African nation of Karunda will ever appear in any future Marvel comic story. A better explanation might be that the Elan family, after leaving New York, had actually travelled to an Alternate Earth where Zembla lived. This would allow this adventure to be part of the Infant Terrible's history without imposing the Zembla continuity upon the Marvel Universe. However, this is just my opinion.

Aliens from another storyline who MIGHT be Elan (but probably aren't)

   In the "Great Escape" storyline in Wolverine II#133-138, Wolverine travelled to the Collector's artificial "Prison World" where he encountered a large number of aliens from multiple species. Although a few of the aliens were from previously-seen races, like the D'Bari or the Mekkans or the Solon, most of the others were not. Among them were two green-skinned aliens who had what might be antennae on their heads and thus they somewhat resembled Elan. I considered including them in their own subprofile but, in my opinion, their antennae are significantly different from those of confirmed Elan so I decided to only show them here in the Comments section.

   The figure in the image to the left appeared in Wolverine II#l36 (but a character who resembled him but was lit in a way that made him appear to be pink-skinned appeared in Wolverine II#135). This character was one of the Collector's minions who monitored any vessel that approached the planet. Unlike the Elan, whose antennae are thin and attached to the tops of their heads, this alien's "antennae" are thick and look like hollow tubes that are attached to the back of his head and curve up over the top. Also, there are teeth visible within his partly-open mouth, something that does not appear in ANY image of an actual Elan.

   The figure in the image to the right only appeared in Wolverine II#l37 as one of the aliens caught up in the violence that ensued once the prisoners realized that their cells were open. Also unlike the Elan, this character has five digits on his hand and his eyes are not multifaceted.

   Anyway, because of the differences mentioned above, I stand by my opinion that these two characters were not actually members of the Elan race. Maybe they were meant to be Elan and maybe the penciller and inker let their "artistic license" influence them too much, but the end result is that they do not look like Elan to me and I do not want to ASSume that they were. Besides, given how many aliens in the Marvel Universe look so much like humans from Earth without actually being related to Homo sapiens, surely there must be room for any number of races who somewhat resemble each other but are similarly from different species?
    I would say that the Elan are the closest possible known alien race fit for this one, but I agree that the differences are significant enough that it is not a clear-cut decision, and the characters in these issues remain unidentified at this time.
--Snood

Although at least 12 different Elan have appeared in various Marvel comics over the past 58 years, none of them have ever been given a name! Of course, 9 of those 12 were nothing more than faces in alien crowd scenes but surely the Infant Terrible/Delinquent, who has appeared in at least 12 different Marvel comics, deserves to finally have an actual name. Frankly, I was somewhat irritated when I had to type "the Infant Terrible" and "the parents of the Infant Terrible" over and over again while working on this profile. I can only hope that the writer of some future Marvel comic will eventually give him and his late parents their own names.
    Agreed...but maybe they don't have names and just recognize each other by psychic energy or something--Snood

Thanks to Ron Fredricks for cleaning up the main image.

Profile by Donald Campbell.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Elan (or Elanian) race has no known connections to

• Queen Elanna of the Western Sea, a Homo mermani woman with precognitive abilities from the Post-Hyborian Era who led her tribe in claiming the sunken ruins of Atlantis and arranged her daughter Zartra's union with Kamuu, heir to King Tanas of the Eastern Sea tribe--Sub-Mariner I#64/2
• or any other people, races, items or locations whose names begin with ""Elan-"

---

Beyond Corporation defenders

   Some time ago, a group of vastly-powerful entities from Outside the Marvel Multiverse decided to have some fun by playing with some of the "little nothing people" who existed inside reality. For one of their amusements, the Beyond Corporation (as they called themselves) selected five beings with superhuman abilities from Earth-616 (Monica Rambeau, Elsa Bloodstone, Tabitha Smith, Aaron Stack and the Captain) and overlapped their reality with that of alternate Earth-63163 while somehow preventing them from realizing that they were no longer in their home reality. Recruited by the anti-terrorism organization known H.A.T.E. (Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort), these five superhumans joined together as an elite anti-terrorist strikeforce called the Nextwave Squad. However, after battling a number of terrorist threats, Nextwave discovered that H.A.T.E. was getting their funding and technology from the Beyond Corporation who had previously been the terrorist cell S.I.L.E.N.T. and that the Beyond Corporation was using H.A.T.E. and their own resources to product-test Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction on the American public. The members of Nextwave immediately went rogue and set out to intercept and take down the various threats outlined in the Beyond Corporation's marketing plan that Tabitha Smith had stolen.

   After neutralizing a number of these weapons, the members of Nextwave decided that they had REALLY had enough and that it was time to put an end to the Beyond Corporation. To accomplish this, they travelled to State 51, the Beyond Corporation's hidden terror factory floating in the sky two miles above the Nevada desert. After being forced to crash-land on State 51, Nextwave headed towards its control center but were opposed by (at least six) waves of REALLY bizarre defenders trying to stop them. The final wave included a giant robot, some purple-clad ninja-type warriors, walking trees with faces, two large albino cyborg sabre-toothed cats wearing helmets, three members of the extradimensional race known as the Possessors and three Elan. Exactly how these Elan fought the intruders has not been revealed, but Nextwave was able to get past that group without suffering any injuries. Given the amount of violence and lethal force that Nextwave used in fighting their way through all those defenders, it seems unlikely that those Elan were similarly unscathed.

 

   These three Elan had light green skin but their eyes were orange. They were also no more than 6 feet tall, suggesting that they were immature. Furthermore, since most of the Beyond Corporation's minions seemed to be bizarre and artificial creations, there's a good chance that these Elan were actually clones or some other type of duplicate of actual Elan.

 

Note: As residents of an Alternate Earth, these orange-eyed Elan technically shouldn't have their own subprofile since the main profile is about the Elan race that exists on the Prime Earth. However, seeing as they fought characters from Earth-616 in their one-and-only appearance, I decided that that was reason enough to make them a part of this profile (at least until someone does a profile on Earth-63163).

    These Elan associated with the Beyond Corporation were described as artificially-created Elan in the Delinquent's OHotMU profile. However, subsequent stories have further clarified the nature of the Nextwave stories as being overlapped with Reality-63163--Snood.

   Additionally, although the Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. miniseries was initially considered to be non-canonical, the story in Captain America and the Mighty Avengers#5-7 revealed that the events in that miniseries had actually taken place and that the Beyond Corporation had actually been Beyonders who liked to play with "the little funny people" who existed inside reality.

 

 

 

--Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.#11

---

bidder

   An Elan who was present at an intergalactic auction that was held to purchase the rights to an autobiography by Rick Jones. Many alien races were interested in the manuscript because they believed that it contained information about how Jones had once been able to defeat the Kree and Skrull armadas. However, when the salient chapter was presented for viewing, the assembled bidders discovered that Jones had ended the Kree-Skrull War through a fluke and that he had no real knowledge as to how he had accomplished it so his memoirs were judged to be worthless.

   For some reason, the words that this Elan bidder spoke when he learned that the memoirs didn't contain what he wanted was the only verbal reaction (out of six) that was NOT translated into English. This would suggest that the Elan language was somehow beyond the scope of whatever universal translation effect was enabling everyone on the auction-craft to communicate with each other. Or maybe the Elan's reaction was just expletives that the universal translator was programmed to ignore.

 

 

 

 

--Avengers Spotlight#25/2

Note: This Elan was the sixth member of his race to be depicted on-panel and, like the first three, he had light green skin and dark green eyes. He was also either the third Elan seen who preferred to not wear clothes on his upper body or the clothing he was wearing was the same color as his skin.

 

---

delegate

   An Elan who was present on the "intergalactically-renowned council planet Selandiar" during the period when it was attacked be Ego the Living Planet. Like the other delegates, this Elan had come there to attend a council that had been convened by Shi'ar Majestrix Lilandra Neramni to welcome a new race, the Ruul, to the other civilized cultures of known space from no less than eight galaxies.

   This Elan was in the galleries of the grand Council chamber, along with more than ten thousand others, when Skrull Ambassador Kreddik demanded that the question of the threat that humanity posed to the civilized races of the universe be raised and that the matter be judged by M'ndavian justice. This Elan was presumably still present in the Council Chamber when a recording of the planet Krylor's destruction by the insane Ego the Living Planet was played.

   "Weeks" later, when Ego was attacking Selandiar, an Elan delegate was among the thousands of sentients from whom the Earth mutant Charles Xavier harvested "psychic strength" without their consent. This gathered psychic power was soon afterwards used in an attempt to shut down Ego's insane mind but the Living Planet was instead defeated by Ruul technology.

   A day later, an Elan was present when the intergalactic council addressed the question of humanity. The Elan was among the delegates who were not impressed by the Skrull mutant Zcann's testimony about Charles Xavier and his dream. It was soon afterwards that the last of the M'ndavian Judgment Gems turned black, indicating that all of the members of the council had reached a guilty verdict against the human race.

   The Elan delegate was presumably still there on Selandiar when the Kree Supreme Intelligence appeared to the Intergalactic Council in the Council Chamber and revealed how it and the Kree (as the Ruul) had manipulated them and had already begun to take back their interstellar empire.

--Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1

Note: I have consistently referred to the Elan presence at this council in the singular, as if there were only one Elan present. However, the truth is that I really don't know how many Elan were there. Of the three images that feature an Elan, only the one to the left clearly shows him (or her) how he (or she) actually appeared. The other two images, like the one to the right, are more symbolic in nature. As such, all three images could be of the same Elan but they could be of two or three different Elan.

   This Elan was the twelfth member of his race to be depicted on-panel and the first to have light orange skin and light green eyes.

---

 

Mourners

   Two Elan who were present on The Mourning Star, the cathedral-starship of the multi-species religious order known as the Mourners, at the time they first attempted to hold a memorial service for the billions of Kree who had recently been killed by the Nega-Bomb. 

    They were presumably members of the Mourners but it's possible that they were just visitors, like Quasar, Makkari and Her.

   In any event, the service was disrupted when Wayopex the Interdite, the empath whose job was to commune with the souls of the dead to let them know that the Mourners were honoring them, suddenly cried out that the none of the Kree were dead! 

    What happened to these Elan after that has not been revealed.

 

Note: Both of these Elan appeared in the same panel from Quasar#35. I have taken subsections of that panel and displayed them here as two different images so that each image could be enlarged enough to make the Elan more visible. A larger image of the memorial service can be seen in its original form here.

   These Elan were the tenth and eleventh members of their race to be depicted on-panel but, since they are sitting in shadow, it is impossible to determine their skin colors and eye colors. One of them does appear to be wearing clothing on his upper body, presumably a white robe like those worn by the other Mourners.

--Quasar#35

 

---

observers

.

   Some years ago, the Inhuman/Deviant hybrid Maelstrom, who had become an agent of Oblivion, created an immense and rapidly-expanding black hole in order to destroy the universe by causing it to collapse into a single anomalous point. 

    Multiple Watchers came to observe the spatial collapse that would result in the end of all existence, and they were soon joined by other spectators, including the Prime Host of the Celestials, Galactus and his herald Nova, two Rigellians with a Recorder, and three of the Elan. 

.

    All of these beings remained outside the event horizon of the black hole but none of them took any action to undo the damage being caused to the universe.

   All these spectators continued to watch the expanding black hole until Quasar, who had become Infinity's avatar, defeated Maelstrom in the Realm of Oblivion and reversed the direction of the flow of matter and energy in the universe, transforming the black hole into a white hole.

 

 

 

 

--Quasar#25

Note: These Elan were the seventh, eighth and ninth members of their race to be depicted on-panel.

    While they had light green skin like the first three, their eyes were red instead of dark green. 

    All three of them appeared to be wearing some form of clothing on their upper bodies, something that had a high collar.

---

parents of the "Infant Terrible"

   A male and female Elan who were, respectively, the father and mother of the Elan child known on Earth as the "Infant Terrible." 

    Aside from that relationship, almost nothing has been revealed about these two Elan, including their names, but they did demonstrate that they could pilot a starship, walk on air and reverse any changes made through the misuse of their son's power. They also possessed a universal translator that allowed them to communicate with beings who spoke French (at least).

   Years ago, when their son was quite young, he somehow got separated from them and ended up on the planet Earth in the vicinity of New York City. These parents searched for their son but seemingly had no luck until their attention was caught by powerful ultra-sonic radio signals that were being beamed into deepest space from the planet Earth, signals that apparently contained information about their son. Guided by the ultra-sonic radio beams, the parents traveled to Earth aboard their giant space ship and, once within Earth's atmosphere, homed in on the Baxter Building. As they approached, Mister Fantastic stretched himself up and waved his arms in a successful attempt to attract their attention.

    Once the starship was hovering over the top of the Baxter Building, its hatch opened and the two parents exited to meet the human who had contacted them. Directed to the Infant Terrible's then-current location, the two parents walked on air until they reached their son who, in his panicked and enraged state, was about to project his rays up towards the Sun. Fortunately for all life on Earth, one of the parents was able to grab their son's wrists while telling him, "Stop!!! You must do no more! You must come with me!" Relieved to be reunited with his parents, the child immediately calmed down and, with all of them holding hands, the three Elan peacefully walked on air back to the Baxter Building. Once there, the parents watched silently as their child shook hands with Mister Fantastic, then the three of them levitated up to their hovering spacecraft which then flew away from New York City. As he watched them leave, Mister Fantastic announced that the child and his parents were "going home now."

   Soon afterwards, the three Elan traveled to the African Republic of Karunda where, after landing their ship in the jungle, the family disembarked and went for a stroll. The parents did not seem to notice when they were soon spotted by stage magician Rasmus and they were initially unaware of the fact that their son had, after meeting Rasmus, endowed the human with real "magical" powers. However, the parents eventually learned what their son had done and brought him with them as they sought out the human but they did not find him until just after Rasmus had somehow neutralized his new abilities and had no memory of recent events. When Zembla remarked that Rasmus was back to his old self but wondered aloud that that didn't explain what had happened, the Elan made their presence known, with the father telling the humans that they had been the victims of mischief caused by their naughty son. 

    Once the hostile Wokandas had fled in fear from the "demons" and Zembla had asked if they had come from another planet, the father Elan confirmed his suspicion and revealed that they were able to communicate thanks to the universal translator in his tunic. The father Elan then explained that they were from a distant galaxy whose inhabitants could use their mental energy to create anything they wished. The father also admitted that children of their race could have difficulty appreciating the consequences of their creations and stated that his son, who was now crying a bit, was a "terrible sacripant" (terrible bastard?) who only made trouble and had been forbidden to use his powers after a recent major incident. After meeting Rasmus and sensing his desire to have real power, the son had gotten around that restriction by transmitting some of his power to Rasmus with the expectation that the empowered magician would then cause trouble in his place. The father further explained that, since it was impossible for a primitive race to control the power, Rasmus had thus been driven temporarily crazy and he hoped that no serious damage had been caused. When Zembla asked how and why the situation had been ended and if they had managed to remotely remove the power from Rasmus, the father replied that it was his opinion that seeing Zembla in mortal peril had given Rasmus a shock that had instantly neutralized his abilities. After reassuring the humans that the effects of a power transferral to a primitive species were only temporary, the father announced that they were going to leave to continue their crossing of the galaxy and that their son would be well punished. Before they left, the teenager Yéyé asked them to repair Tic-Tac, the alarm clock that he wore on a string around his neck but had been forced to smash after Rasmus had transformed it, and the father instantly restored it. The Elan family then departed in their starship.

   Sometime later, in circumstances that have not been revealed, both of the parents died. Their graves (or perhaps it was a memorial to them?) were located on an unspecified planet which may (or may not) have been the planet where Power Pack later met their son.

   After meeting Power Pack and spending some time with them on Earth, the Elan child did not protest when Mister Fantastic and the Kymellian smartship Friday decided that it was best that he should return home to his own kind. However, when they arrived at the planet to which the Elan had directed them, Friday realized that she had been mistaken in her belief that they would find the Elan's parents alive because they had been dead even before she and Power Pack had first met the Elan child. Instead, the reason that they had "returned" to that particular planet was so that the Elan could pay his final respects to his parents at their graves. Once that was done, the Elan child revealed that he could now speak English and that he wanted to return to Earth and become a member of Power Pack.

--Fantastic Four I#24, Spécial-Zembla#152-153, Power Pack I#59 - BTS

Note: Some online sources claim that the parents "thanked Reed for summoning them and for preventing injury to their child" but such a scene does not appear in Fantastic Four I#24. Furthermore, when the FF met the Skrull posing as the Infant Terrible in Fantastic Four Annual I#19, Sue Richards stated that the Infant's people had no spoken language and Reed Richards agreed that the Elan had never evolved a need for speech. These statements, combined with their acceptance of the fact that the fake Elan used projected images to communicate, would seem to indicate that neither Reed nor Sue had actually communicated with the Infant Terrible's parents.

   These two Elan were the second and third members of their race to be depicted on-panel and had the same light green skin and dark green eyes as their son. They also wore clothing that was similar to that worn by their son, except that they both also wore capes.

---

Protector of the Universe

   An Elan who was one of the Protectors of the Universe chosen by the Time Being Eon to serve as Life's champion against various threats to the precarious hold that Life had in the universe. Like most other Protectors, this Elan had been awarded the Quantum-Bands as both instruments of power and a symbol of his station and, like the other Protectors who were at least semi-humanoid, he wore them on his wrists.

   Aside from these basic facts, nothing has been revealed about this Elan, including his name, the era in which he lived and the identity of the "cosmic evil" he had been appointed to oppose. However, given what is known about how the Quantum-Bands function and the fates of other Protectors, it seems safe to assume that he eventually died, that Eon subsequently gave the Quantum-Bands to the next Protector to be chosen, and that the residue of the life essence that this Elan had left in the Quantum-Bands during the time he wore them ended up in the pocket dimension known as the White Room animating a duplicate of his body created out of the substance of Eon's body. While the soul of the real Elan has presumably gone on to some afterlife, the duplicate Elan has been dressed in white robes and is sitting, immobile, at a very long table since his death, alongside duplicates of all the other Protectors who had worn the Quantum-Bands. However, this duplicate Elan was not among those seen by Quasar during his brief visit to the White Room.

Note: In Quasar #2, Eon apparently showed Wendell Vaughn a symbolic image of eleven previous Protectors of the Universe standing together as a group, something that could never have actually occurred. In this image, the Elan was the fourth figure from the left. Behind this Elan and to his right was a non-humanoid Protector, later identified as Trantra, a Trill, and behind him and to his right was a winged Protector who was later identified as being Ree, an Archeopian (except that this winged being wore the Quantum-Bands around his/her neck as a collar while the duplicate of Ree wore them on his wrists).

   In front of the Elan and to his left was a wingless female Shi'ar and in front of her and to her left was the Kree Captain Mar-Vell who, although chosen by Eon, never wore the Quantum-Bands. Oddly, one of the Protectors to Mar-Vell's left appears to be a Phantom, a humanoid race that has since been revealed to not actually be a race after all.

   This Elan was the fifth member of his race to be depicted on-panel and, while he had light green skin like the first three, his eyes seemed to be black instead of dark green or red. He was also the second Elan seen who apparently preferred to not wear clothes on his upper body.

--Quasar#2 (fb)

 

---

Runestaff prisoner

   An Elan who was unlucky enough to be on the planet Rus at a time long ago when Kamo Tharnn, the Elder of the Universe known as the Possessor, happened to be recklessly experimenting with the mystic Runestaff that he had recently acquired.

   By conjuring with the Runestaff improperly, Kamo Tharnn inadvertently caused the hundreds of thousands of sentient beings on Rus to be transported, body and soul, into a limbo-like pocket dimension that was somehow inside the Runestaff. While trapped in the Runestaff's vast inner realm, none of its occupants seemed to age and time itself may have passed differently within that pocket dimension than it did in normal reality.

   Driven insane by his guilt over what he had done, Kamo Tharnn remained on Rus, paranoid that someone would try to steal his Runestaff. Eventually, the Olympian god Hercules and the Asgardian goddess Sif traveled to Rus and stole the Runestaff. Sif then used the Runestaff to transfer her life essence into the body of the dying Jane Foster. Kamo Tharnn eventually retrieved the Runestaff and made another attempt to master its powers but only managed to transfer the trapped beings into his own immortal body.

   Sometime later, Sif, Thor Odinson and Dr. Keith Kincaid traveled to Rus to find the Runestaff and use it to release Jane Foster from within Sif's body. However, this proved to be impossible and the trio later realized that all of the beings who had been within the Runestaff had been transferred into Tharnn's body. Sif then used the Runestaff on Kamo Tharnn and released all of those beings. With a blinding flash of light, every being who had been trapped within Tharnn's body was restored to life on the physical plane, including Jane Foster and the yellow-skinned Elan.

   While Jane Foster is known to have returned to Earth, the fates of the other former prisoners of the Runestaff have not been revealed. They may have stayed on Rus as it was rebuilt to serve its original purpose as an interstellar library and academic center or they could have returned to their homes on other planets.

--Thor I#335

Note: Many things about this once-captive Elan remain a mystery. His (or her) name (and gender) have not been revealed, nor has how much time had passed since he and the others were first accidentally abducted by Tharnn's recklessness. Was it decades or centuries or millennia? Also, the reason why this Elan was on Rus on that fateful date is still unknown. Was he a member of the faculty of Tharnn's academy or was he a student?

   This Elan was the fourth member of his race to be depicted on-panel and, unlike the first three, he had light yellow skin and red eyes. He was also the first Elan seen who apparently preferred to not wear clothes on his upper body, except for an orange collar around his neck.

---

starships

   The interstellar vehicle in which the parents of the Infant Terrible traveled to Earth in order to find their missing child. 

    The exact characteristics of this particular starship have not been revealed but the Human Torch called it a "gigantic space ship" and its hull was somewhat larger than the area of the Baxter Building's roof. Similarly, this starship's exact capabilities have not been revealed but it could definitely travel many times the speed of light by using some sort of warp-drive.

   The parents of the Infant Terrible were traveling in this starship, presumably searching for their lost child, when they received the ultra-sonic radio signals that Mister Fantastic was beaming from Earth to deepest space. Since the signals apparently contained information about their missing child, the Elan parents piloted the starship towards Earth, using the radio signals to guide them. Once within Earth's atmosphere, the starship flew westward to the eastern coast of North America and New York City. As they approached Midtown Manhattan, the Elan spotted the elongated form of Mister Fantastic as he tried to attract their attention and they guided their ship to a stop above the roof of the Baxter Building. As the ship hovered in position, its hatch opened and the two adult Elan exited to meet with Mister Fantastic who directed them to where their child was at that moment. Once the family had been reunited, they returned to the roof of the Baxter Building, levitated from there up to their ship and then left New York City (and possibly Earth itself).

   Sometime not too long after these misadventures in New York City, this Elan family traveled to the African Republic of Karunda on Earth. The Elan landed their ship in the jungle, disembarked and went for a stroll. The child once again had a misadventure but his parents set things right and they all left Earth (again) in their ship.

--Fantastic Four I#24, Spécial-Zembla#152-153

Note: Obviously, the Elan vessel which landed in Karunda in Spécial-Zembla#152 does not look ANYTHING like the gigantic space ship in which the parents journeyed to New York City to retrieve their missing son. It's possible that it actually was the same starship and the Elan had just used their matter-rearranging powers to change its appearance. Alternatively, since the "OVNI" (French for UFO) that landed in Karunda seemed considerably smaller than the space ship from NYC, maybe it was just a shuttlecraft that they normally used for landing on alien planets while the starship usually remained in orbit?

---

images: (without ads)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15, page 41, panel 3 (main image)
Spécial-Zembla#152, page 11, panel 1 (Elan child with Rasmus)
Spécial-Zembla#153, page 19, panel 2 (parents with their naughty son)
Power Pack I#59, page 13, panel 1 (child at the graves of his parents)
      page 13, panels 2-4 (child on memorial planet)
Silver Surfer VIII#1, page 19, panels 1-2 (Elanis being attacked)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#2, page 12, panel 3 (Dormammu talking about the Elan)
History of the Marvel Universe II#1, page 12, panel 1 (Elan as Universal Inhumans)
Wolverine II#136, page 8, panel 2 (one alien who maybe resembles an Elan)
Wolverine II#137, page 13, pabel 1 (another alien who slightly resembles an Elan)
Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.#11, pages 21-22 (Beyond Corp. defenders)
Avengers Spotlight#25, page 21, panel 4 (auction bidder)
Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1, pages 4-5, panel 3 (delegate)
      page 31, panel 3 (delegate having his psychic strength harvested)
Quasar#35, page 16, panel 3 (one Elan among the Mourners)
      page 16, panel 3 (other Elan among the Mourners)
Quasar#25, page 25, panel 1 (observers of the black hole)
Fantastic Four I#24, page 23, panel 4 (Elan family air-walking above New York City)
Spécial-Zembla#153, page 24, panel 3 (Elan family in jungle)
Quasar#2, page 18, panel 3 (Protector of the Universe)
Thor I#335, page 17, panel 1 (former prisoner of the Runestaff)
Fantastic Four I#24, page 21, panel 4 (Elan space ship flying towards Reed Richards)
      page 24, panel 2 (Elan space ship above the Baxter Building)
Spécial-Zembla#152, page 7 (Elan ship landing in the jungle)

---

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#24 (March, 1964) - Lovingly written by...Stan Lee, Tenderly drawn by: Jack Kirby, Heroically inked by: Geo: Bell
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#3 (March, 1983) - Mark Gruenwald (editor/head writer/designer)
Thor I#335 (September, 1983) - Alan Zelenetz (scripter), Mark Bright (penciler), Vince Colletta (inker), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Fantastic Four Annual#19 (1985) - John Byrne (story & art), the one and only Joe Sinnott (special guest-inker), Michael Carlin (editor)
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#15 (March, 1987) - Mark Gruenwald (writer/producer), Peter Sanderson (writer/researcher)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#2 (January, 1989) - Peter B. Gillis (writer), Carl Potts (editor)
Quasar#2 (November, 1989) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (penciler), Danny Bulanadi (inker), Howard Mackie (editor)
Avengers Spotlight#25/2 (December, 1989) - Glenn Herdling & Dwight Jon Zimmerman (writers), Rodney Ramos (pencils), Don Hudson (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Power Pack I#56 (May, 1990) - Michael Higgins (writer), with a plot assist from Seth Kruchkow, Tom Morgan (penciler), Andy Mushynsky (inker), Daryl Edelman (editor)
Power Pack I#57 (July, 1990) - Michael Higgins (writer), with a plot assist from Seth Kruchkow, Tom Morgan (penciler/inker) with Andy Mushynsky (inker), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
Power Pack I#58-59 (September-October, 1990) - Michael Higgins (writer), with a plot assist from Seth Kruchkow, Tom Morgan (artist), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
Power Pack I#61 (December, 1990) - Michael Higgins (writer), Tom Morgan (artist), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
Power Pack I#62 (February, 1991) - Michael Higgins (writer), Steve Buccellato (penciler), Don Hudson (inker), Mike Rockwitz (totalwaste)
Quasar#25 (August, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Greg Capullo (penciler), Keith Williams (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Quasar#35 (June, 1992) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Greg Capullo (penciler), Harry Candelario (inker), Kelly Corvese (editor)
   Wolverine II#136 (March, 1999) - Eric Larsen (story), Eric Larsen and Eric Stephenson (script), Jeff Matsuda (pencils), Jonathan Sibal (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
   Wolverine II#137 (April, 1999) - Eric Larsen (story), Jeff Matsuda (penciler), Jonathan Sibal (inker), Mark Powers (editor)
Spécial-Zembla#152 (January 2000) - Chris Malgrain (textes et dessins)
Spécial-Zembla#153 (Mars 2000) - Chris Malgrain (textes et dessins)
Maximum Security: Dangerous Planet#1 (October, 2000) - Kurt Busiek & Jerry Ordway, Will Blyberg & Paul Ryan (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook#1 (February, 2006)
Annihilation#2-3 (November-December, 2006) - Keith Giffen (writer), Andrea Di Vito (as Andrea Devito, artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.#11 (February, 2007) - Warren Ellis (writer), Stuart Immonen (penciler), Wade von Grawbadger (inker), Nick Lowe (editor)
Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus#1 (April, 2007) - Christos N. Gage (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (penciler), Stefano Landini (inker), Andy Schmidt (editor)
FF I#20 (September, 2012) - Jonathan Hickman (writer), Nick Dragotta (artist), VC's Clayton Cowles (letterer), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Silver Surfer VIII#1 (March, 2016) - Dan Slott & Michael Allred (storytellers), Tom Brevoort (editor)

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First Posted: 06/10/2022
Last updated: 06/10/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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