Line #43 ComicBook/WarOfKings


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8	->''"The king with no words has screamed in defiance, and his cry has split the universe in half. It's starting... The war that ends everything."''
9	-->-- '''Starhawk''', ''Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' #10
10
11	''War of Kings'' is a Creator/MarvelComics BatFamilyCrossover of the year 2009. It follows events of the ''ComicBook/{{Secret Invasion\|2008}}: Inhumans'', ''ComicBook/XMen: ComicBook/RiseAndFallOfTheShiarEmpire'' and ''ComicBook/XMenEmperorVulcan'' storylines, and plot elements in various other titles, like ''ComicBook/{{Nova}}'', ''Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' and ''ComicBook/AnnihilationConquest''. ComicBook/{{Darkhawk}} gets involved as well.
12
13	After their home on the Moon was attacked by Skrulls during the ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion2008'' event, ComicBook/TheInhumans chose to leave for space, where they not only had revenge on the green shapeshifters, but also attacked their own creators -- the Kree Empire. With the Kree's defeat, the Kree leader, Ronan, gives up his position, announcing Black Bolt as the new king of the Empire. This doesn't escape the sight of another cosmic monarch -- Vulcan, Emperor of the Shi'ar, who quickly finds an excuse to start a war between the two space nations. So big a conflict cannot avoid involving third parties; the Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy, the Nova Corps and Blaastar's army from the Negative Zone are all brought into the conflict.
14
15	Following this event, Marvel put out a series of comics under the title ''Realm of Kings'', which served as a bridge to their next event, ''ComicBook/TheThanosImperative.''
16	----
17
18	!! ''War of Kings'' provides examples of:
19
20	* AbortedArc: Darkhawk's miniseries had a bit with the Fraternity planting some programming in a dormant Annihilus's brain, to be cashed in on later. Since the Fraternity plot fell by the wayside after 2010, this hasn't come up since.
21	* AncientConspiracy: The Fraternity of Raptors, for the Shi'ar. They long ago went dormant. Black Bolt destroying the Skrull fleet reactivates them.
22	* AnArmAndALeg: Gorgon loses a leg to the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, but it's quickly re-attached. Ch'od loses a hand to a PortalCut, but gets a new one pretty quickly.
23	%%* ArtifactOfPower: The Quantum Bands.
24	* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Lilandra, Black Bolt, Vulcan, a whole Nova cohort and a good chunk of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Black Bolt and Vulcan get better, and the Guardians turn out okay in the end.]]
25	* ArcWords: "I serve at the pleasure of Emperor Vulcan."
26	* ArrangedMarriage: Crystal and Ronan. Gradually (through this and the Realm of Kings follow-up event) evolves into a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage.
27	* AssimilationPlot: [[spoiler:Black Bolt plans to turn all living beings in the Universe into Inhumans. Eventually Crystal talks him out of it.]]
28	* BadassNormal: Star-Lord.
29	* BadFuture: This event caused at least one. Adam Warlock's attempts to fix the Fault [[spoiler:cause him to become the Magus, which starts overriding every other possible future as well.]]
30	* BigBrotherInstinct: Part of Nova's problems in the war is his little brother Robert has been drafted as a Nova and taken part in an intergalactic war, when the guiding intelligence of the Nova Corps has gone utterly bugnuts.
31	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Vulcan and Black Bolt battle with Black Bolt coming out victorious. Crystal disables the T-Bomb from its original intent and seems to convince Black Bolt the plan was flawed. But before she, Lockjaw and Black Bolt can escape Vulcan revives and Black Bolt is forced to stay to battle him. During the fight the bomb is set off by Black Bolt's voice, leaving both kings lost and a [[OurWormholesAreDifferent gaping hole]] in the fabric of the universe which is a tunnel to something... [[EldritchAbomination bad]]. Not to mention [[AncientConspiracy the Fraternity of Raptors]] still lurking in the shadows.]]
32	* BoobsAndButtPose: [[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oTjuPl4q7tc/Vn35W5q2R5I/AAAAAAAAAws/l1C4qMvGpO4/s0-Ic42/RCO024.jpg Lilandra has a rather awkward one in the final page of issue #2]].
33	* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Ronan the Accuser. Cold, heartless JudgeJuryAndExecutioner of the Kree Empire. Also secretly a big soft-hearted romantic who brings flowers for the gal he's getting married to.
34	%%* TheBrute: Blastaar.
35	* TheBusCameBack: The Shi'ar Death Commandoes, last seen in 2006, reappear towards the end, defending the ludicrously corrupt Chancellor Araki.
36	* ButtMonkey: Smasher. First, Vulcan is understandably confused to see him, since he killed the previous Smasher back in ''Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire''. Then he's punched out by Drax. And then Gladiator perforates his head to show he's turned sides.
37	* CainAndAbel: Vulcan and Havok. Sort-of inverted as the good Havok is older.
38	* TheCaligula: Vulcan. Man, he even resembles Caligula physically.
39	* CallingYourAttacks: Parodied.
40	-->'''Smasher:''' Accessing hyper-strength upload from my exospecs.\
41	''[Drax punches Smasher in the face.]''\
42	'''Drax:''' Accessing fist.
43	* CassandraTruth: Peter Quill tries to warn the Inhumans about the damage the war is causing the universe. Medusa tells him to get lost. Out of the entire royal family, only Crystal listens to the Guardians, and that's after Phyla holds her at sword-point.
44	* CatchPhrase: "''I AM GROOT!''"
45	* CategoryTraitor: The head Nova Centurion at the beginning of the war is a Shi'ar. Needless to say, for a culture who believe in unquestioning obedience to their emperor no matter how obviously underpants-on-head-mad they are, this is a problem. For him.
46	* ChekhovsGunman: The Skrull captain, first introduced in the prologue one-shot and apparently killed, becomes important in Darkhawk's tie-in series.
47	* ClearMyName: Subverted. Darkhawk is first going to stop his new ArchEnemy, then clear his name.
48	%%* CoolAunt: Lorna, for Luna's daughter Crystal.
49	* CosmicBeing: At last, one (Oblivion) has a short appearance.
50	* DealWithTheDevil: Actually, with [[spoiler:[[GrimReaper Death]]]].
51	* DecapitationStrike: What the Shi'ar ''try'' to do by interrupting Ronan and Crystal's wedding. It doesn't work, which Vulcan is a little tetchy about.
52	* DiscardAndDraw: Nova. Also, Phyla-Vell, who gives up the title of Quasar to become [[spoiler:the new Avatar of Death]].
53	* DistaffCounterpart: Strontian is to Gladiator what Supergirl is to Superman, only she's completely insane. [[spoiler:Phyla is one for Thanos.]]
54	* DontCreateAMartyr: General Ka'radum warns Vulcan against killing Lilandra because of this. It's enough to stay his hand. But it doesn't stay the Fraternity.
55	* DudeNotFunny: While observing a hospitalized Ronan, who was injured in the Shi'ar attack on Hala, Polaris quips to his wife Crystal, "That'll teach him to marry you.". Crystal is understandably unamused.
56	* EarthShatteringKaboom: The Shi'Ar steal some Kree Nega Bombs, which cause these. This is bad, and not just because it's wrecking entire planets. It's also cracking open [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Negative Space Wedgies]] a'plenty.
57	* EnemyMine: Gorgon and Starbolt on Saakar.
58	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Keep in mind while reading this one that the speaker is so crazy he genuinely believes what he's saying.
59	--> [[spoiler:'''Vulcan''' to Black Bolt]]: ''You act so noble, but you're a genocidal monster! And I am not going to let you do this!''
60	%%* EvilCounterpart: Strontian to Gladiator
61	%%* EvilMentor: Talon, for Darkhawk.
62	* EvilerThanThou: [[spoiler:Even Vulcan found Black Bolt's AssimilationPlot insane. Yes, Vulcan.]]
63	* EvilVersusEvil: Not that he realizes it (and probably wouldn't have cared), but Vulcan versus [[spoiler:the Magus.]]
64	* EyeScream: Vulcan had already lost one of his eyes to Gladiator a few years before, but it was replaced with an artificial eye. During their final fight, Black Bolt destroys it.
65	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Adam Warlock, though not willingly on his part. Phyla, a little]]
66	* FlyingBrick: Black Bolt, Gladiator, Strontian, Nova, Vulcan. Most of them have other powers as well, but still.
67	* {{Foil}}:
68	** Take a good look at Black Bolt and Vulcan. [[TheSpeechless Black Bolt]] and [[LargeHam Vulcan]]. [[RoyalBlood Black Bolt]] and [[GalacticConqueror Vulcan]]. [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Black Bolt]] and [[TheCaligula Vulcan]]. Got it?
69	** A subtle theme that Vulcan eventually makes explicit is that [[spoiler:the war is making Black Bolt much less of a Foil to Vulcan]].
70	* FromASingleCell: Vulcan is killed by a point-blank blast of Black Bolt's voice. A few pages later he gets up again.
71	* FromBadToWorse: Things were already bad after the Annihilation War and the Phalanx Conquest. Then the Shi'ar and the Kree, the last two big empires left, go to war, endangering reality itself, which is on the brink of collapse. And then [[spoiler:Lilandra is killed, throwing the Shi'ar empire into turmoil. And then, in the last issue, Black Bolt causes the T-bomb to go off, opening the Fault and quickly causing the creation of the Magus, who is the herald for a far worse threat.]]
72	* FusionDance: Richard and Wendell. Also [[spoiler:Worldmind and Ego]].
73	* GalacticConqueror: Vulcan. Blastaar also fits, but he's not got as much resources or skill as Vulcan.
74	* GambitRoulette: Drax and Phylla's adventure and all its results were planned by [[spoiler:Oblivion]]
75	* GiantMecha: The Inhuman Chorus Sentries, which are equipped with and powered by Black Bolt's voice. They're very effective.
76	* GoryDiscretionShot: [[spoiler:Aside from a massive blood spurt, what Gladiator does to Araki isn't shown.]]
77	* GreaterScopeVillain: At least some of the plot is Oblivion's doing, according to ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', but the specifics, and what he hoped to get out of it (beyond "kill everyone everywhere") are unclear.
78	* GrandTheftMe: What the Fraternity Of Raptors does with their hosts. Humans are slightly immune because their methods are designed for older species.
79	%%* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: Gamora. Female Kree are blue skinned.
80	* HappilyArrangedMarriage: Crystal and Ronan eventually become this, although Ronan already had a soft spot for Crystal in the first place.
81	%%* HeelFaceTurn: Gladiator, eventually.
82	* HeroicSacrifice:
83	** [[spoiler:The Skrull possessed by Talon killed himself in order to get rid of him. Sadly, it doesn't stop him from coming back.]]
84	** [[spoiler:Black Bolt's original intention for the T-bomb]] may be interpreted as one of these.
85	* HopeSpot:
86	** Lilandra returns to the Shi'ar and vows to overthrow Vulcan, gaining a large amount of support from her people! [[spoiler:Then Talon and Raptor kill her.]]
87	** Crystal talks Black Bolt down from detonating the T-Bomb. [[spoiler:Then Vulcan gets back up again, and attacks Black Bolt, forcing him to kill them both.]]
88	* HowDoIShotWeb: Part of Darkhawk's miniseries is Talon showing him how to properly work his armor. Except not, he's ''actually'' trying to kick Kyle out and get his brother Raptor back so they can get on with their plan.
89	* HumanAliens: The Shi'Ar look like humans with weird hair; the Kree, and Strontians (Gladiator's species), look like humans but with different skin color. Phyla, Smasher, a few other members of the Imperial Guard and at least one Nova Corps member look like humans, or have very small differences.
90	* {{Hypocrite}}: Medusa is perfectly fine with setting off a T-bomb to turn everyone into an Inhuman despite protests from Crystal and Ronan that such an action is too extreme and could also leave the Kree, who are incompatible with the Terrigen Mists, as an evolutionary dead end. However, [[spoiler:it never occurs to her that Black Bolt will have to sacrifice himself in order for this plan to work and when she realizes this, she is furious.]]
91	* ILetGwenStacyDie: [[spoiler:Lilandra]] is the Gwen Stacy for many characters. [[spoiler:Suki]] is also one for Robbie Rider.
92	* {{Jerkass}}: Medusa spends most of her time being snide, sarcastic and demeaning towards everyone else. She also shows some signs of jealousy when Crystal is more liked by the common Kree.
93	* KnowWhenToFoldThem: When the Inhumans invade Kree space, Ronan immediately capitulates to them.
94	* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: Subverted. The Guardians never had a weapon able to harm Gladiator, they only made him think they did. [[FridgeBrilliance Gladiator's powers are directly related to his confidence.]] If he ''believes'' you can beat him, you ''can''.
95	* LargeHam: Vulcan, Blaastar, Groot and of course the largest of them all - Catastropus.
96	* LaserGuidedKarma: Shi'Ar Chancellor Araki, who helped Vulcan seize the throne and ousted Lilandra, as well being TheManBehindTheMan for the Shi'Ar death squad, is finally killed by Gladiator.
97	* MadScientist: Maximus the Mad, quite naturally, though this time he's behaving himself. The Inhumans make good use of his inventions in the war. At one point he gets frustrated because they're asking him to do too much.
98	* {{Magitek}}: The Fraternity of Raptors have powered armor... fueled by dark magic.
99	* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:Oblivion and Maelstrom]]
100	* MeleeATrois: Kree Empire vs Shiar Empire with the Nova Corps, Star Jammers and Guardians of the Galaxy caught in the middle trying to stop it but usually just getting into fights.
101	* MisplacedRetribution: Issue #2 shows protesters blaming the Shi'ar attack on the Kree planets on the Inhumans rather than the Shi'ar themselves.
102	* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Gladiator has ''always'' had this mindset, being loyal to the Shi'ar throne, not whoever's sitting on it or how utterly insane they might be. It's here that he finally reaches breaking point and decides there are some things with which he will not put up with.
103	* MythologyGag: [[spoiler:Black Bolt's plan to transform people into Inhumans is the same one he used on a smaller scale in ''Comicbook/EarthX'' and would later be used again in ''Comicbook/{{Infinity}}''.]]
104	* NegativeSpaceWedgie: Several of these already existed due to the events of ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}, and the war is making them worse. It's part of the reason the Guardians of the Galaxy get involved. The very end of the event causes a truly massive one, the Fault, which spreads over several light-years.
105	* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
106	** The Inhuman attack on the Skrulls frees Talon from his interdimensional prison, which eventually causes the death of Lilandra.
107	** The detonation of the T-bomb breaks the universe, and is retroactively responsible for the return of the Magus.
108	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Talon does manage to screw Christopher over royally, but before he does that he did manage to teach him a few fancy applications of the Darkhawk armor he had no idea about, so when Chris gets control back, he's got a few levels in badass.
109	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: The Guardians' roster.
110	* NoodleIncident: Rocket Raccoon and Corsair of the Starjammers once did some freebooting, back in "the day". Rocket's only comment is that the boots were freer back then.
111	* NoSell: Vulcan's an Omega level Mutant who can and ''has'' incinerated all sorts with his powers with ease. Talon shrugs off one of his blasts like the guy was throwing a paper ball at his head.
112	* OnlySaneMan: Crystal, for the entire Inhuman royal family, with Gorgon a distant second.
113	* PersonOfMassDestruction: Black Bolt and Vulcan.
114	* PortalCut: This is how Ch'od [[AnArmAndALeg loses his right hand]]. He tries to grab Lilandra as she is taken through one of Voyager's portals but it closes around his arm.
115	* PsychoForHire: Strontian is a pyscho with all the powers of [[FlyingBrick Superman]].
116	* PuppetKing: The Raptors try making Vulcan one of these, only to quickly realize he's too bug-nuts insane to even nudge in the right direction, so they decide on plan B: Burn the current Shi'ar empire to the ground, and try to rebuild afterward.
117	* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler:The Inhumans win... technically. But they've blown reality a new space-hole and lost their king in the process. And while they don't know it, it's also allowed the Magus to rise. Medusa aptly sums it up while struggling not to cry. They've "won".]]
118	* RedOniBlueOni: Moody, bad-tempered Darkhawk and the perpetually cool and nonchalant Talon. Fittingly, Darkhawk's armor is red, Talon's is blue.
119	* RedshirtArmy: The revived Nova Corps get slaughtered en-masse by Shi'Ar forces. Needless to say, this gets Nova ''angry''. The fact they are by and large an army of conscripts dragged into a war with no training doesn't help at all.
120	* RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun: Richard Rider manages to get Blastaar to stand down by whispering to him if he remembers what Rich did to the ''last'' guy from the Negative Zone he tussled with (namely, ripped his insides out via his mouth). Blastaar decides he'd like to keep his insides in, and surrenders.
121	* {{Retcon}}: The origin of the amulet that gives Darkhawk his powers (along with parts of his history). Turns out all the stuff about alien gangsters was just him trying to parse it and not handling it.
122	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Gladiator, after [[spoiler:Lilandra is killed]], goes after her former chancellor, the man who arranged for her removal from power.
123	* RunningGag: Horrible things happening to Smasher of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard.
124	* SelfMadeOrphan: Blaastar. Vulcan did it a long time ago.
125	* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Starhawk's mission. [[spoiler:The Guardians who'd got transported to a BadFuture were trying to do this by sending a message into the past, but it didn't work]].
126	* SpacePolice: The Nova Corps would like to be this. Unfortunately, no-one's really respecting their authority.
127	* SpaceRomans: Vulcan wears a Roman-style outfit, and it seems like he was trying to incorporate some elements of Roman culture into the Shi'Ar.
128	* SpottingTheThread: During the fight with the Starjammers and the Guardians, Gladiator is incapacited by Rocket Raccoon using a Xarthian Quantum Cannon, which supposedly shreds atoms. However, as he recounts what it's doing to him, Gladiator stops as he remembers something: Xarthians don't ''have'' quantum tech. Someone's playing with his head.
129	* TheStarscream: Catastrophus was supposed to be a mid-level flunky for Annihilus while he regrew. Catastrophus had other ideas, and used the Cosmic Control Rod to keep Annihilus stuck as an embryo. The Fraternity of Raptors had other ideas.
130	* SuperpoweredEvilSide: [[spoiler:Magus for Adam Warlock.]]
131	* ThemeNaming: The Fraternity all have names related to birds (Talon, Gyre, etc.).
132	* ThisMeansWar:
133	** What got everything started. The Inhumans reached the status of Officially Fed Up With Everyone's Crap after ''Secret Invasion'', left Earth, set course for Hala and took over the entire Kree Empire. In doing so, they obliterated the remnants of the Skrull fleet... and accidentally caught a few Shi'ar ships in the process. This, Vulcan felt, was grounds for declaring war.
134	** Vulcan's attack on Ronan and Crystal's wedding prompts the Inhumans to declare war on him for it.
135	* TitleDrop: Issue #5 is called "Rage and Blood and Fire". Lorna references the title in her dialogue when Alex tells her the AwfulTruth that Vulcan might be the only that can quell the riot on Chandilar.
136	-->'''Lorna''': Then this is the way the world ends. In rage and blood and fire.
137	* TokenEvilTeammate: [[strike:Phyla]] Martyr, for the Guardians of the Galaxy. It gets them into trouble when she holds Crystal hostage.
138	* TookALevelInBadass: Darkhawk goes from C-List member of the New Warriors to, if he was motivated, strong enough to throw down with the cosmic bad boys and win.
139	%%* TreacherousAdvisor: Talon, for Darkhawk.
140	* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: Rachel finally gets a chance to pay Blackcloack back for killing her family, but doesn't feel it's worth it by now.
141	* TheVoiceless: Black Bolt, of course. Throughout the whole event he only utters two words: "[[spoiler:''Now'']]" and "[[spoiler:''Goodbye'']]" [[spoiler:He yells '''''NO!''''' to attack Vulcan.]]
142	* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler:Lilandra dies. Gladiator becomes Majestor of the Shi'ar.]]
143	* WhatTheHellHero: Many characters did this in response to [[spoiler:Black Bolt]]'s plan.
144	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: [[spoiler: Worldmind went mad because he was blocking the Nova Force from driving Richard crazy too much.]]
145	* YourHeadASplode: Rachel Grey makes Blackcloak's head explode, in revenge for killing her family years before.
146	* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: Gladiator wipes out the last vesitges of the Shi'ar royal court, and with every other member of the royal family dead or missing, he becomes the new Praetor.

Context ComicBook / WarOfKings