THUVRIAN raceTHUVRIAN race
Classification: Humanoid extraterrestrial race
Location/Base of Operations: Planet Thuvria, third from the sun in the Lomyra system, Milky Way galaxy;
Known Members: Archon (deceased);
Population: 3.2 billion
Affiliations: Rom, Starshine (Landra);
at least formerly the Galadorians;
formerly seemingly the Wise One
Enemies: Terminator, Wise One;
formerly Rom, Starshine;
First Appearance: Rom#19/2 (June, 1981)
Powers/Abilities: None
Technology was roughly comparable to medieval era Earth, with knights (or at least Archon) wearing armor, riding atop reptile steed(s), and wielding lance(s) in battle.
Roughly 200 years ago, Archon gained technologically-advanced weaponry from Dire Wraiths. Whether they maintained and/or replicated and/or expanded on these after their creators were revealed as Dire Wraiths is unrevealed.
Traits: At least as of 200 years ago, monarchies ruled feudal societies from castles.
At least as of 200 years ago, the Thuvrians were gentle, naive, and peace-loving.
Type: Bilaterally symmetric humanoid bipeds
Eyes: Two
(on head; they seem to have a small, central pupil surrounded by solid
white, which would presumably mean that their irides are white and that
there is either no distinction between their sclera and pupil or that
their white irides are all that can be seen, and their sclerae are not
within the field of view)
Fingers: Four (plus opposing thumb)
Toes: Five
Skin color: "Pink" (comparable to Caucasian humanity) or light brown
Average height: Apparently 4' (see comments)
Other distinguishing features: Males are bald, with dome-like craniums and pointed ears.
History:
(Rom#19/2
(fb) - BTS) - Thuvria spent an extended period of time arrested in a
feudal era. They were ruled from a castle by a king, with knights (or
at least Archon) wearing armor, riding atop reptile steeds, and
wielding lances in battle.
(Rom#19/2 (fb) - BTS) - Archon, King of Thuvria (see comments), took a solemn vow to safeguard his planet and his people.
(Rom#19/2 (fb) - BTS) - The Thruvians were on good terms with the Galadorians.
(Rom#19/2 (fb) - BTS) <Approximately 200 years ago> - Presumably following the Wraith's flight from Wraithworld to escape the Galadorians, a Dire Wraith arrived on Thuvria. Believed to be a Thuvrian (presumably due to his shape-shifting powers), he convinced Archon and his people that he was a prophet, and he became known as the Wise One.
(Rom#19/2 (fb) - BTS) - The Wise One told the Thruvians that Galador had been overrun by Wraithkind.
(Rom#19/2 (fb) - BTS) - The Wise One warned Archon and his people of the coming of "armor-encased demons." The Wise One further noted that these demons would descend from the sky, professing friendship and claiming to be from Galador, but they would in actuality be Galadorian-disguised Dire Wraiths.
The Wise One delivered weaponry to the that would allow them to combat these "demons," including a shield, a sonic lance, and electro-shackles to restrain them.
(Rom#19/2 (fb) - BTS) - The Spaceknight Rom detected a faint energy trail from a Galadorian hospital ship, which had been attacked by Dire Wraiths, to the planet Thuvria. He led his fellow spaceknights Starshine and Terminator there to investigate.
(Rom#19/2
(fb)) - After Rom, Starsine, and Terminator arrived, Archon confronted
them atop his lizard-steed and subdued them with the sonic lance.
(Rom#19/2 (fb) - BTS) - The Spaceknights were brought into the castle, bound in the electro-shackles, and stood before the Court of Archon.
(Rom#19/2 (fb)) - After the Spaceknights revived, Rom instructed the others that while they could break free of the shackles, he wished to first learn why the Thuvrians had responded aggressively to them.
Starshine then introduced herself as being from Galador and asked why they were treated as enemies when they had come there to save their world from evil. After Archon revealed the information foretold to him by the Wise One, Starshine used her lighteyes to expose the Wise One as a Dire Wraith in front of the assembled Thuvrians.
Breaking free of the shackles, Terminator then slew the Wise One, but
then succumbed to madness -- derived from his own human form having
previously perished from a Wraith plague) -- and his blacklight
beams
cut a swath of destruction through the castle, causing the gentle
Thruvians to flee in terror. 
Archon rushed forward, ordering Terminator to stop and asking why he was menacing innocent people after the enemy had been destroyed. Terminator then blasted Archon, slaying him as the other Thruvians looked on in horror.
After Starshine confronted him with what he had done, Terminator calm down, noting that a madness had come upon him, and he agreed to return to Galador to stand trial.
(Rom#19/2 (fb) - BTS) - On Galador, Terminator elected death as his punishment for his actions, but he was secretly teleported to safety during his seeming disintegration by Mentus (the evil aspect of Galador's Prime Director) who then manipulated him to fall under his influence.
Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema.
Since Wraiths are metamorphs, why did the "Wise One" just wear a cloak...
The narrative intro described Thuvria as "a paradise planet," and Rom called it an "idyllic wonderworld."
It's a five page story, so there's not much too it, but we often see one city/village/whatever on a planet, and we assume it is represenative of the entire world. Obviously that's not the case on Earth, and I would think a large number of worlds do not have homogenous populations.
Further, was Archon really the king of the whole
planet? Traveling on his reptile quadruped, it is hard to believe he
had any communciation/influence over places hundreds or thousands of
miles away...or maybe the small kingdom was the only populated portion
of the planet...but the OHotMU has the population of Thuvria was 3.2
billion.
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Appendix to Alien Races on
the Thuvrians note that "one Thuvrian nation acquired some advanced
technology from the Dire Wraiths."
That makes
sense, that that kingdom was just one part of the world of Thuvria, and
the best explanation I can think of to make it all fit together would
be to have Archon's kingdom being also called Thuvria, and whether
there was communication, control, etc. with the rest of the planet
remains unrevealed.
Looking at the Court of Archon image, Archon appears to be at least two
feet taller than his squire/aide by his side. Perhaps his squire was a
youth, or perhaps his armor only made him appear to be taller, like
Lord Farquaad in the Shreck movies. Or, more likely to me, Archon was a
relative giant amongst the Thuvrians, with him being about 6' tall, but
the others being closer to 4'.
Even Archon doesn't look that tall when he is confronting Terminator.
For the longest time, I thought this world was Thruvia and the people the Thruvians. The spelling is clear and consistent in both the original stories and the OHotMU profiles, so I guess my mind was just playing tricks on me...
Thanks to Proto-Man for the digitally-remastered image from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#10 and to Roger Ott for a self-inked/cleaned up version of the image from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II (Deluxe Edition) #15.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Thuvrians and Thuvria should be distinguished from:
 Planet Thuvria is third from the sun in the Lomyra system within the Milky Way galaxyHabitat: Temperate, mountainous, large forests; 76% covered with water Gravity: 92% of Earth's Atmosphere: 74% nitrogen, 23% oxygen Thuvria was populated by various kingdoms, and it was relatively low-tech, at least until the Wise One (secretly an alien Dire Wraith) provided a number of high-tech weapons to Archon to oppose Galadorian Spaceknights whom the Wise One warned were evil imposters. Other inhabitants of Thuvria include the reptilian quadrupeds, such as the one used as a steed by Archon. It is also possible that the steed was one of a kind, with it either being some sort of magical creation or perhaps the last of its kind, with the rest exterminated. But, all we saw was the steed, with no further information. --Rom#19/2 |
images: (without ads)
Rom#19/2, pg. 1, panel 1 (Thuvria);
pg. 2, panel 1 (Archon on steed, lateral);
panel 2 (Archon front oblique, charging on steed);
panel 4 (Archon on steed, front, shield deflecting blast);
panel 5 (sonic lance firing);
pg. 3, panel 1 (steed, lateral close-up);
panel 4 (Archon, armored, standing in profile in throneroom);
panel 5 (Archon, helmet removed);
pg. 4, panel 5 (Thuvrian family or just a group in the crowd);
panel 7 (Thuvrian watching Wraiths' destruction);
pg. 5, panel 1 (castle damaged);
panel 2 (Archon trying to stop Terminator)
panel 3 (Terminator slaying Archon);
Official Handbook of
the Marvel Universe I#10: Appendix to Alien races: Thuvrians entry
Official
Handbook of
the Marvel Universe II (Deluxe Edition) #15: Appendix to Alien races: Thuvrians entry (main)
Appearances:
Rom#19/2 (June, 1981) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Buscema (artist), Al Milgrom (editor)
Official Handbook of
the Marvel Universe I#10: Appendix to Alien races: Thuvrians entry (October, 1983) - Tom DeFalco, Mark Gruenwald,
Mark Lerer, Peter Sanderson (writers), Fred Baumann, Myra David, Peter
David, Joanne Harris (research team), Paty Cockrum (penciler), Josef Rubinstein
(inker), Michael Carlin (associate
editor), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II (Deluxe Edition) #15: Appendix to Alien races: Thuvrians entry (March, 1987) - Mark Gruenwald (writer/producer), Peter Sanderson (writer/researcher), Kyle Baker (Thuvrians art), Josef Rubinstein (inker), Howard Mackie (assistant editor), Marc Siry, David Wohl, Marc McLaurin (editorial assistants), Gregory Wright (assistant editor)
First posted: 03/02/2023
Last updated: 03/02/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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