| “ | I serve at the pleasure of Empress Lilandra. | „ |
| ~ Gladiator. |
| “ | Who I am... is bound by what I am. I am an empire. And that empire must stand at any cost. | „ |
| ~ Gladiator. |
Gladiator is a on & off antihero from Marvel Comics. He usually appears in the X-Men series.
Gladiator was created by Chris Claremont, the late Dan Green and Dave Cockrum.
Background[]
Prior to Kallark becoming the Preator of the Imperial Guard known as Gladiator who had been trained under the tutelage of Deathbird, Lilandra's evil sister, he was a promising young cadet warrior of a proud bloodline back on his home planet Strontia. A powerful race that values nothing above honor and duty who have sworn their loyalty to the Shi'Ar throne having been saved by the then Emperor from the Wraith Plague.
He was part of an elite group of young males and females of his race who under went a series of Trials in a contest which would allow them to have their psionic-fueled abilities be enhanced to Gladiator levels. The Elders of these Strontian's would inform the 10 cadets who where elevated to Gladiator level that the Emperor of the Shi'ar T'Korr was looking for new members for his Elite Imperial Guards and only one of them could take the position. T'Korr gave them a final test a mission to see if their professed loyalty was indeed without question by ordering them to return to their home and slay their Council Elders. Kallark however proves the only one to be able to adhere to the command of the Majestor no matter what, even if he doesn't agree with the order given and does his duty.
Defeating his fellow Gladiator's when they falter in their mission, fights his own people and kills the Elders who raised him, leaving Strontia to destroy a Shi'Ar Starcracker that was pointed at the Strontian sun which would have been activated and destroy their sun had Kallark not completed the mission. He returns to Emperor T'Korr who then makes him the leader of the new Imperial Guards known as Gladiator.
Story[]
His first encounter with the people of Earth was when the previous ruler of the Shi'ar Empire, the mad Emperor D'Ken, ordered the Imperial Guard to fight the X-Men. He later fought the X-Men again in the matter of the fate of Jean Grey who was possessed by the Phoenix Force and became the Dark Phoenix. Once time he fought the Fantastic Four (mistaking them for the shape-changing alien Skrulls) and on another occasion he came looking for the X-Men to help him fight against the Phalanx; this second time, his aggressive arrival led him to blows with the X-Men's Cannonball (Sam Guthrie).
Recently, he attempted to acquire the Uni-Power which was traveling from host to host for aid against Krosakis, he found it with Invisible Woman, and was able to convince it to aid him. Krosakis eventually caught up with Gladiator as he tried to leave Earth with the Uni-Power. Silver Surfer assisted Kallark, and Kallark placed Krosakis under custody.
After his empress and friend Lilandra was under the control of Charles Xavier's mutant sister Cassandra Nova she ordered the destruction of all mutants on earth and Gladiator knew something was wrong he had never seen her act liked this, but not knowing that she was under mind control he obeyed her by trying to destroy the place with the most mutants in it, the X-Men Mansion. While during his attack he defeated Wolverine and the Beast. Gladiator was confronted by the fellow guards men smasher who was able to convince the guard of the true threat, gladiator finally realized something was wrong and told Wolverine and Beast sorry for what had happened and asked them if they could help him free Lilandra. Gladiator returned to earth under the command of the empress on a mission to capture the cosmic Uni-Power and bring back to where it belonged. After a battle with Invisible Woman, who had been possessed by the uni power and transformed into Captain Universe, the Uni-Power was transferred back to Gladiator so he could rush the Invisible Woman to Los Angeles to help prevent an impending tsunami.
After that Gladiator invited the Uni-Power back to the Shi'ar empire so it could be evaluated. The uni power however was captured by Krosakis a energy consuming warlord who absorbed the Uni-Power but the Silver Surfer sensed the Uni-Power distress and battled Krosakis and saved the Uni-Power and Krosakis prisoners.
Powers and abilities[]
Gladiator possesses a number of superhuman capabilities as a result of his unique alien physiology including superhuman strength (capable of shattering a planet), superhuman speed, stamina and durability (capable of withstanding an explosion equivalent to a supernova), reflexes, heat vision (stated as "hotter than a star"); "frost breath," a regenerative healing factor, and warp speed flight (measured as "a hundred times the speed of light"). Gladiator's abilities increase and decrease in accordance with his level of confidence and he is vulnerable to a certain form of rare radiation.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Gladiator is an homage to both Superman and Mon-El from Legion of Superheroes.
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 Heroes
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