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Lilandra

Real Name: Lilandra Neramani

First Appearance: X-Men #97 (February 1976)

Lilandra Neramani was the exiled princess of the Shi'ar Empire. The youngest child in the royal family, she had assisted her sister Cal'syee depose their eldest brother, the mad D'ken, from his station as Majestor, but as thanks Lilandra was exiled by her sister when she took the throne for herself. Cast from the Shi'ar throneworld of Chandilar, Lilandra wandered the star ways alone and finally came to a full understanding of the Shi'ar creed--life was stronger together. The seeds that the great flaming bird dispersed throughout the cosmos, which her people called M'kraan, were sacred to the Shi'ar, and it was for this reason the Imperium enveloped other societies rather than wiping them out. But this had warped into an imperialistic campaign of expansionism, one her sister had made it her mission to bring to its logical endpoint.

At the center of the Imperium was The World, the ancient planet that was home to the only known inactive M'kraan Crystal in existence. Inside was the potential for all life, but something in the early history of the universe had prevented it from germinating. The object of Shi'ar worship since ancient times, it was believed anyone who could access the power inside would gain control over life itself--but only the strength of the flaming bird who had planted it could crack it open. For this reason, Cal'syee had sought to possess the Dark Phoenix that had awoken on the planet Earth, a plot Lilandra made it her mission to put a stop to by allying herself with Charles Xavier of the X-Men.

----

This eventually leads to the Dark Phoenix rising again and the downfall of Cal'syee and the ascension of Lilandra as the true Majestrix of the Shi'ar, which is how she is depicted here, in full regalia. Despite being an avian alien from a distant galaxy, she finds a measure of intergalactic romance with Xavier himself, as strange as though it may seem.

Alright, I've mentioned the Shi'ar quite a few times before but here is the first I've actually depicted. The entirety of how the Shi'ar empire works as this cosmopolitan empire filled with a myriad of races instead of the monocultures of the Kree and the Skrulls is something that is retained here--most of my thought went into how the M'kraan Crystal is related to the Phoenix and my greater cosmology, as well as trying to simplify the plot with the ascension of Lilandra, the M'kraan Crystal, and the Dark Phoenix saga. I've basically combined the initial M'kraan Crystal story with the Dark Phoenix saga into one tale and made Cal'syee (better known as Deathbird) as the primary antagonist here just because no one cares about D'ken. Basically, Lilandra goes to Earth to stop her sister from gaining control of the Dark Phoenix and using her to crack open the M'Kraan Crystal. If you recall back in Lockheed's entry, I mentioned that Steven Lang had been in contact with emissaries of the Shi'ar who had been equipping his Sentinels with alien technology--that's Deathbird's doing, attempting to coax the Dark Phoenix out once again. Lots of moving pieces but I hope I hit all of the important points.

Obviously, since this is the first Shi'ar I've depicted, a lot of my thought went into figuring out what Shi'ar should even look like. They're specifically "avian" people in the comics, though they look like normal humans with feathers instead of hair. I decided to try to mix it up and make them decidedly different looking, though I had some concepts that looked decided even more bird like. I decided to pull it back some and mostly mess with the proportions and leg construction, as I wanted them to be human *enough* so that Xavier could potentially fall in love with one. I also put a lot of thought into armor and clothing patterns to try to come up with a distinct "Shi'ar" fashion that is different enough from my established Skrull and Kree looks.

Description

Lilandra

Real Name: Lilandra Neramani

First Appearance: X-Men #97 (February 1976)

Lilandra Neramani was the exiled princess of the Shi'ar Empire. The youngest child in the royal family, she had assisted her sister Cal'syee depose their eldest brother, the mad D'ken, from his station as Majestor, but as thanks Lilandra was exiled by her sister when she took the throne for herself. Cast from the Shi'ar throneworld of Chandilar, Lilandra wandered the star ways alone and finally came to a full understanding of the Shi'ar creed--life was stronger together. The seeds that the great flaming bird dispersed throughout the cosmos, which her people called M'kraan, were sacred to the Shi'ar, and it was for this reason the Imperium enveloped other societies rather than wiping them out. But this had warped into an imperialistic campaign of expansionism, one her sister had made it her mission to bring to its logical endpoint.

At the center of the Imperium was The World, the ancient planet that was home to the only known inactive M'kraan Crystal in existence. Inside was the potential for all life, but something in the early history of the universe had prevented it from germinating. The object of Shi'ar worship since ancient times, it was believed anyone who could access the power inside would gain control over life itself--but only the strength of the flaming bird who had planted it could crack it open. For this reason, Cal'syee had sought to possess the Dark Phoenix that had awoken on the planet Earth, a plot Lilandra made it her mission to put a stop to by allying herself with Charles Xavier of the X-Men.

----

This eventually leads to the Dark Phoenix rising again and the downfall of Cal'syee and the ascension of Lilandra as the true Majestrix of the Shi'ar, which is how she is depicted here, in full regalia. Despite being an avian alien from a distant galaxy, she finds a measure of intergalactic romance with Xavier himself, as strange as though it may seem.

Alright, I've mentioned the Shi'ar quite a few times before but here is the first I've actually depicted. The entirety of how the Shi'ar empire works as this cosmopolitan empire filled with a myriad of races instead of the monocultures of the Kree and the Skrulls is something that is retained here--most of my thought went into how the M'kraan Crystal is related to the Phoenix and my greater cosmology, as well as trying to simplify the plot with the ascension of Lilandra, the M'kraan Crystal, and the Dark Phoenix saga. I've basically combined the initial M'kraan Crystal story with the Dark Phoenix saga into one tale and made Cal'syee (better known as Deathbird) as the primary antagonist here just because no one cares about D'ken. Basically, Lilandra goes to Earth to stop her sister from gaining control of the Dark Phoenix and using her to crack open the M'Kraan Crystal. If you recall back in Lockheed's entry, I mentioned that Steven Lang had been in contact with emissaries of the Shi'ar who had been equipping his Sentinels with alien technology--that's Deathbird's doing, attempting to coax the Dark Phoenix out once again. Lots of moving pieces but I hope I hit all of the important points.

Obviously, since this is the first Shi'ar I've depicted, a lot of my thought went into figuring out what Shi'ar should even look like. They're specifically "avian" people in the comics, though they look like normal humans with feathers instead of hair. I decided to try to mix it up and make them decidedly different looking, though I had some concepts that looked decided even more bird like. I decided to pull it back some and mostly mess with the proportions and leg construction, as I wanted them to be human *enough* so that Xavier could potentially fall in love with one. I also put a lot of thought into armor and clothing patterns to try to come up with a distinct "Shi'ar" fashion that is different enough from my established Skrull and Kree looks.