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Nova Empire
Xandar
In General
Xandar
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | What If...?
The homeworld of the Xandarians and the capital of the Nova Empire.
- Alien Sky / Binary Suns: Actually a trinary. The Xandarian system has two main-sequence stars and a distant red dwarf star. The three lights on the Nova Corps emblem symbolize the three suns.
- The Cameo: Xandar makes a brief appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as one of the planets that are starting to be consumed during Ego's Expansion.
- Demoted to Extra: After having been the most prominent planet in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Xandar is reduced to a short cameo in the sequel.
- The Ghost: Xandar never appears outside the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but is mentioned in Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
- A Planet Named Zok: The name of the planet starts with an "X" and ends with an "R".
- The World Is Always Doomed: In pretty much every movie featuring the Guardians of the Galaxy, the planet Xandar is in some kind of peril:
- In Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Ronan's goal is to wipe out all life on Xandar. He initially tries to arrange a deal with Thanos so that he'll take care of it, but after obtaining the Power Stone, Ronan ultimately decides to use it to destroy the planet himself.
- At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Xandar is one of the numerous planets that Ego attempts to consume during his Expansion.
- During an early scene of Avengers: Infinity War, it is mentioned that Xandar was attacked by Thanos's forces when he came to retrieve the Power Stone. Best case scenario, only half of the planet's population was massacred.
Xandarians
Xandarians
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | Avengers: Endgamenote | What If...? | Thor: Love and Thunder | The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
A race of human-like aliens that constitute the majority of the Nova Empire.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: A skin-related example. In the comics, the Xandarians are pink-skinned humanoid aliens. In the MCU, they mostly look like Caucasian humans, though some (like the Nova Pilot who arrests the Guardians at the beginning) look like people of African descent.
- Alien Blood: One of the few things that differentiate them from humans is that they have blue blood.
- Artistic License – Biology: As seen in Alien Blood, Xandarian blood is blue — and yet they're indistinguishable from humans, when by all rights they should look like the Kree.
- Human Aliens: Unlike the comics, the Xandarians just look like perfectly normal humans in the MCU.
- Made of Iron: Another difference they have with humans is that they seem to be more durable, as shown during the prison fight where several Xandarian guards are sent flying around by Drax and Groot and survive without visible injuries.
- Named After Their Planet: They are called "Xandarians" and are the inhabitants of the planet Xandar.
The Nova Corps
In General
The Nova Corps
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | I Am Groot | What If
The enforcers of the Nova Empire, dedicated to preserving peace throughout known space.
- Adaptational Wimp: Downplayed. The Nova Corps are depicted as an organization of Flying Brick Space Police in the comics, while in Guardians of the Galaxy they are a generic Redshirt Army... when facing the power of an Infinity Stone. Otherwise, they easily catch the Guardians of the Galaxy at the start, destroy their fair share of enemy fighters during the film's final battle even as civilians are evacuated, and together form-and-successfully-maintain an energy barrier that stops the Dark Aster in its tracks, despite it being a 3 mile-wide flying fortress.
- Anti-Hero: They're very well-intentioned and are dedicated to helping protect innocent people, but have a problem with Police Brutality and run a major Hellhole Prison in the form of "The Kyln".
- Athens and Sparta: They and the rest of the Nova Empire are the Athens to the Kree's Sparta.
- Badass Army: Sure, they may still get the crap kicked out of them a lot, but they still manage to kick tons of ass in their appearances.
- The Big Board: They use a huge holographic board for strategics.
- The Cameo:
- When Xandar falls victim to Ego's Expansion in the climax of Vol. 2, a few of the Nova Corps' starburst-shaped ships can briefly be seen flying overhead.
- The Nova Corps show up to arrest Baby Groot after he destroyed an ice-cream starship at the end of the I Am Groot episode "Groot's Sweet Treat".
- The Cavalry: During the climactic battle, the Nova Corps arrives to assist the Guardians and the Ravagers to stop Ronan. Granted, it shouldn't have been a surprise, since they were fighting to protect the Nova Corps' homeworld.
- Cool Starship: They fly shiny starburst-shaped fighter ships.
- Defiant to the End: Credit where credit is due, they make sure to always go down swinging.
- Enemy Mine: They join forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Ravagers to fight Ronan's forces in the climax of the film.
- Galactic Superpower: One of the most powerful empires in the galaxy, rivaled only by their long-time enemies the Kree.
- Heroic Sacrifice: A lot of the Nova Corps die to save Xandar from Ronan's fleet.
- Killed Offscreen: Heavily implied by both Thanos' decimation of their population and the theft of the Power Stone as mentioned in Avengers: Infinity War.
- Light Is Good: Frequently associated with the color gold and stars, to the point where their spaceships looks like multi-pointed stars.
- Men of Sherwood: The Nova Corps Space Police and Yondu's Space Pirates fight a lot of villains effectively in the climax, with fewer losses than the average fan would expect.
- Redshirt Army: The Nova Corps make a brave attempt to physically block the Dark Aster from landing, but are almost all wiped out by a single blast from the Infinity Stone.
- Sigil Spam: Non-bad guys example. The Nova Corps puts their starburst symbol all over the place. Their fighter ships themselves are shaped like starbursts. Even Xandar's capital city resembles the sigil when seen from above. (Which could be explained if the city came first, and the sigil was inspired by it.)
- Space Police: They are a peace-keeping organization operating all over the Nova Empire's territory.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It's unknown what exactly happened to them after the Snap, though it's more than likely that they're not doing too well considering how the Snap happened after both their capital of Xandar was brutally invaded by Thanos to get the Power Stone and half of the planet's surviving population was then executed.
According to the Russo Brothers, some of the Corps were present at the Battle for Earth, just offscreen, so apparently some survived, at least. - You Shall Not Pass!: The Nova Corps try to use their fighter craft to physically do this to the Dark Aster as it nears Xandar's surface, using an interlocking shield mechanism which essentially turns their hundreds of ships into one giant energy net. They don't stop it, but they do considerably delay it. And it's only the power of the Infinity Stone that gets the Dark Aster through it
Leadership
Irani Rael / Nova Prime
Irani Rael / Nova Prime
"Are you telling me the fate of twelve billion people is in the hands of these criminals?!"
Species: Xandarian
Citizenship: Nova Imperial
Affiliation(s): Nova Corps
Portrayed By: Glenn Close
Voiced By: Yolanda Vidal (Latin-American Spanish dub), Ana Ángeles García (European Spanish dub), Miru Hitotsuyanagi (Japanese dub)
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy
The leader of the Corps. Not too thrilled that Quill and his friends are the last hope the galaxy has.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: A skin-related example. Due to her Adaptation Species Change, she has the appearance of a Caucasian woman rather than an orange-skinned alien.
- Adaptational Job Change: In the comics, Irani Rael is merely a Nova Centurion (and was demoted to Millennian). In the MCU, she is elevated to the rank of Nova Prime.
- Adaptation Species Change: A Rigellian in the comics, a Xandarian in the MCU.
- Armchair Military: She spends all her time at the Nova Corps headquarters giving orders to her forces from afar and is never directly involved in the action.
- Big Good: The leader of the Nova Corps.
- Cool Old Lady: As head of an organization of space cops, this is a given. Her calling the Jerkass Kree diplomat a "prick" is just icing.
- Da Chief: She serves as the no-nonsense and levelheaded police chief of the Nova Corps.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": She is never referenced by any other name than "Nova Prime" through the entire movie.
- Iron Lady: Takes her job very seriously, and keeps her cool even during an attack on her planet.
- I've Never Seen Anything Like This Before: After analyzing Peter Quill's nervous system, she tells him that his father must be some kind of being that no one in the Nova Corps has ever seen.Irani Rael: You are half Terran. Your mother was of Earth. Your father, well, he's something very ancient we've never seen here before.
- Never Mess with Granny: You don't get to be head of a group like the Nova Corps by being a pushover.
- Not So Above It All: Her whole character is the epitome of a dignified, decorated leader for the Nova Corps... and when she referred to the Kree Ambassador as a "prick", it appears that even she falls victim to this movie's sense of humor.
- Oh, Crap!: A dramatic instance when she hears that Ronan has an Infinity Stone and is on his way to Xandar.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Definitely tough, and even though she may not like it, she recognizes that the Guardians are their best shot.
- Space Cop: Da Chief space cop in fact.
- Strongly Worded Letter: Her response to Ronan the Accuser's rampage is to contact the Kree government and request that they issue a statement condemning his actions. She doesn't even demand anything, despite allegedly having been the victor of the war between Xandar and the Kree.
- Uncertain Doom: Given her headstrong personality and resolve to protect her people, she may have been either killed in Thanos' invasion, executed with half of the population or erased from existence by the Snap.
Subordinates
Rhomann Dey
Corpsman/Denarian Rhomann Dey
"This might not be the best idea."
Species: Xandarian
Citizenship: Nova Imperial
Affiliation(s): Nova Corps
Portrayed By: John C. Reilly
Voiced By: Ricardo Brust (Latin-American Spanish dub), Salvador Aldeguer (European Spanish dub), Hiroshi Otaki (Japanese dub)
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy
- "I don't know that I believe anyone is 100% a dick, ma'am."
A high-ranking corpsman of the Nova Corps. Answers to Irani Rael.
- Accidental Misnaming: He calls Peter Quill "Star-Prince" instead of "Star-Lord" when he arrests him on Xandar at the beginning of the film, much to his great annoyance.
- Adaptation Dye-Job:
- Black hair in the comics, brown in MCU.
- Also applies to the color of his skin. Rhomann Dey had the appearance of a pink-skinned alien in the comics, whereas in the MCU he looks like a Caucasian human.
- Adaptational Angst Downgrade: In the comics, Rhomann Dey was one of the few survivors of the destruction of Xandar by Zorr the Conqueror and became obsessed with avenging the death of his wife and children. In the MCU, his wife and daughter are still alive, and he comes across as a pretty jovial guy overall.
- Adaptational Job Change: In the comics, Rhomann Dey is not just any member of the Nova Corps, but the Nova Prime himself. In the MCU, he is merely a Corpsman, later promoted to Denarian.
- Adaptation Origin Connection: In the comics, he's more associated with Richard Rider as his mentor and fellow Nova Corps member. He's also already dead before the formation of the Guardians and never actually met them.
- Arson, Murder, and Lifesaving: At the end of the film, Dey informs the Guardians that their criminal records have been erased as a reward for their heroism in the Battle of Xandar. Of course, this doesn't preclude their getting in trouble in the future, and Dey makes sure they're well aware of that.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He has yet to appear or be mentioned again after the first Guardians movie. Considering Thanos managed to reclaim the Power Stone from the Nova Corps early in the film, it's entirely possible that he may not have survived.
- Comically Missing the Point: Happens to him when he delivers Peter Quill's message to the Nova Corps in which he warns them of Ronan's impending invasion and admits that he may be an "A-hole", but he is not "100% a dick". Nova Prime asks if he believes him, and Rhomann replies that he does not believe that anyone is 100% a dick.
- The Comically Serious: He has his moments, such as when he has to explain to Rocket and Drax that committing robbery or murder is against the law while looking embarrassed that they don't already know something so obvious.
- Everyone Has Standards: Even though he knows very well that Peter Quill is guilty of a long list of crimes and that the other Guardians aren't any better, he still objects to them being imprisoned in a place as terrible as Kyln and tries to talk Garthan Saal out of it during a deleted scene.
- Friendly Enemy: To Quill, who he's arrested before. He's jovial enough with him when arresting him again.
- Friend on the Force: By the end of the film, he has become the Guardians' closest ally among the Nova Corps. It helps that he and Peter have known each other for a long time.
- Good Parents: He personally said he's grateful to the Guardians because his daughter is still alive thanks to them defending Xandar.
- Happily Married: He's married and has a daughter.
- Interspecies Romance: His wife is a Krylorian seen with her daughter in the various crowd scenes in Xandar.
- List of Transgressions: Reads the rap sheets of the Guardians after they're arrested on Xandar.
- Mr. Exposition: He is the one who gives a detailed description of who each of the Guardians (sans Drax) is to Garthan Saal and the audience during their line-up at the beginning of the film.
- Nice Guy: To all appearances, Dey is a genuinely decent fellow just doing his job. He even finds it hard to believe that anyone is "100% a dick".
- Non-Action Guy: He doesn't actually participate in the final battle against Ronan and simply observes the events from the control room of the Nova Corps headquarters.
- Percussive Maintenance: In a deleted scene, one of the lights on Rhomann Dey's chest plate malfunctions and turns off, so both he and Garthan Saal start tapping on it to make it turn back on.
- Rank Up: He starts the film as a simple Corpsman, but gets promoted to the rank of Denarian after the final battle against Ronan's forces.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Dey is seen watering some potted plants when he receives Quill's message about Ronan's impending attack.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's willing to trust Peter Quill when the Ravagers come to save Xandar.
- Space Cop: Naturally, since he's part of the Nova Corps.
- Spared by the Adaptation: His comics self died the same issue he appeared, only living long enough to give his powers and explain the Nova Corps to Richard Rider. However, it may or may not be the case anymore after Infinity War.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: When arresting Peter Quill on Xandar at the beginning of the film, he jokingly tells him in a very unconvincing manner that there's nothing weird at all about him having a codename.Rhomann Dey: [Sarcastically] Just relax, pal. It's cool to have a code name. It's not that weird
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Downplayed, but his wife is a gorgeous Pink Skinned Space Babe, while he's... well, John C. Reilly.
- Uncertain Doom: It’s unknown if he survived the attack on Xandar by Thanos that happened a few days before the events of Infinity War.
- With Due Respect: He says this when trying to convince Garthan Saal to reconsider his decision to send the Guardians to a prison as barbaric as Kyln in a deleted scene.Rhomann Dey: Denarian Saal, with all due respect sir...
Garthan Saal
Denarian Garthan Saal
"What a bunch of a-holes."
Species: Xandarian
Citizenship: Nova Imperial
Affiliation(s): Nova Corps
Portrayed By: Peter Serafinowicz
Voiced By: Andrés García (Latin-American Spanish dub), Luis Reina (European Spanish dub), Yutaka Nakano (Japanese dub)
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy
- "For the record, I advised against trusting you here."
A Nova Corps officer.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the comics, Saal went insane and became a villain. Here, he remains loyal to the Nova Corps until his death.
- The Comically Serious: He tries his best to be serious, so he has a hard time when he has to put up with the likes of Peter Quill, Rocket, or even Rhomann Dey on occasions.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: He is crushed to death by Ronan's ship in the film's climax. Poor Rocket had to hear his dying scream.
- Dare to Be Badass: During the defense of Xandar, Denarian Saal tells Quill he advised against the Nova Corps trusting the Guardians — and then asks that they prove his assumptions wrong.Garthan Saal: Peter Quill. This is Denarian Saal of the Nova Corps. For the record, I advised against trusting you here. Prove me wrong.
- Deadpan Snarker: He gets some good snark at Rocket during the final battle, mentioning that he did not expect to be taking orders from a hamster.
- Doesn't Trust Those Guys: He refuses to trust the words of a criminal. When Peter Quill contacts the Nova Corps to warn them of Ronan's impending attack, Saal doesn't believe him and tells Nova Prime that this is most likely a trick.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He and his wingmen die fighting their hardest to stop Ronan from obliterating Xandar.
- Jerkass Has a Point: He is correct when he mentions that the Guardians are a bunch of a-holes.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He dislikes Quill and the others (for good reason), but fights beside them at the end, and is genuinely disturbed by Ronan's attacking civilians.Saal: For the record, I advised against trusting you here. Prove me wrong.
- Mauve Shirt: He is one of the many members of the Nova Corps who get killed by Ronan during the film, but he has more scenes and dialogues than the others so his death feels more dramatic.
- Percussive Maintenance: In a deleted scene, one of the lights on Rhomann Dey's chest plate malfunctions and turns off, so both he and Garthan Saal start tapping on it to make it turn back on.
- Pet the Dog: Saal is the first Nova Corps officer to address Rocket by his name. His death leads Rocket to ram the Aster's flight deck.
- Sacrificial Lion: After having been a supporting character appearing in several scenes throughout the film, Saal ultimately dies trying to stop Ronan's spaceship during the final battle to show how dire the situation is.
- Space Cop: A part of being a member of the Nova Corps
- Surrounded by Idiots: You get the feeling that he feels this way, especially when working with Quill and the Ravagers in the film climax. The latter half of his above quote is implied to be a direct response to Peter Quill's gleeful "They got my dick message!"
Nova Prime's Assistant
Nova Prime's Assistant
Species: Xandarian
Citizenship: Nova Imperial
Portrayed By: Mikaela Hoover
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
A member of the Nova Corps who serves as the assistant for Irani Rael.
- Data Pad: She is always seen with some kind of high-tech tablet in her hands on which she takes notes.
- Fair Cop: She's part of the Nova Corps and is a very attractive woman.
- No Name Given: Her actual name is unknown. She's only referred to as "Nova Prime's Assistant" in the credits.
- Number Two: To Irani Rael, being her personal assistant.
- Right-Hand Hottie: She is the primary assistant of Nova Prime and is very easy on the eyes.
- Satellite Character: She is constantly at Irani Rael's side, acting as her assistant.
- Space Cop: She works for the Nova Corps.
- Uncertain Doom: It’s unknown if she survived the attack on Xandar by Thanos that happened a few days before the events of Infinity War.
- The Voiceless: She doesn't speak during any of her scenes.
Nova Arresting Pilot
Nova Arresting Pilot
Species: Xandarian
Citizenship: Nova Imperial
Portrayed By: Sharif Atkins
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
A Nova Corps member.
- Character Death: He can quickly be seen among the Nova Corpsmen who are blasted to death when Ronan uses the power of the Power Stone to destroy the fleet in the final battle.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He dies alongside many of his fellow Nova Corps officers being obliterated by Ronan while trying to stop his starship from reaching the surface of Xandar.
- No Name Given: His actual name is unknown. He's only referred to as "Nova Arresting Pilot" in the credits.
- Space Cop: He's a member of the Nova Corps
- Small Role, Big Impact: He's a very minor character who makes only two brief appearances during the film, but he's the one in charge of the arrest of most of the Guardians at the beginning. Without him, they wouldn't have been sent to Kyln and thus would never have met Drax, so the Guardians of the Galaxy team as we know it would probably never have been formed.
- Token Minority: He's the only member of the Nova Corps with a speaking part to be portrayed by an African-American actor.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: We don't get to learn much about him before he dies during the final battle.
Sacrificed Nova Corpsman
Sacrificed Nova Corpsman
Species: Xandarian
Citizenship: Nova Imperial
Portrayed By: Max Wrottesley
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
An agent of the Nova Corps captured by Ronan the Accuser.
- Blood from the Mouth: Some traces of blood are dripping from his mouth, which suggets that he was probably tortured beforehand.
- Defiant to the End: Even when Ronan is about to kill him, he doesn't yield and tells him to his face that his plans will never succeed.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The camera cuts away just as Ronan uses his war hammer to split open this poor guy's head,
- Head Crushing: Ronan kills him by smashing his head with his warhammer.
- Human Sacrifice: Ronan sacrifices him for some sort of ritual organized by the Exolon Monks in which his blood is collected so that Ronan can bathe with it.
- Motive Misidentification: For unclear reasons, he apparently believes that Ronan's goal is to rule over Xandar, rather than destroy it.
- No Name Given: His actual name is unknown. He's only referred to as "Sacrificed Nova Corpsman" in the credits.
- Sacrificial Lamb: A minor character who only appears to be brutally murdered by Ronan the Accuser in his introductory scene in order to show how ruthless and vicious he is towards the Xandarians.
- Space Cop: He's an agent of the Nova Corps.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He gets killed during his one and only scene.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: If his last words are any indication, he seems to believe that Ronan is some kind of Galactic Conqueror who wants to take over Xandar. He doesn't realize that the truth is even worse, as Ronan is an Omnicidal Maniac who plans to wipe out all life on the planet.
Citizens
Bereet
Bereet
Species: Krylorian
Citizenship: Nova Imperial
Portrayed By: Melia Kreiling
Voiced By: Cecilia Gómez (Latin-American Spanish dub), Laura Pastor (European Spanish dub)
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy
One of Peter Quill's one-night-stands.
- Adaptational Hairstyle Change: She lacks the mohawk-like crest that she has in the comics.
- Adaptational Modesty: In the comics, Bereet usually wears a very Stripperiffic outfit that is essentially a bikini with boots. In the MCU, she dresses much more modestly.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the comics, Bereet is a good friend of Bruce Banner/Hulk and even had a brief romantic relationship with him. In the MCU, the two have probably never even met each other.
- Badass Bystander: Bereet briefly appears during the attack on Xandar rescuing a young girl.
- Bedmate Reveal: Sort of. Peter returns to his ship after stealing the orb only to realize that Bereet is still there.
- Demoted to Extra: Bereet was a fairly important supporting character in the The Incredible Hulk comic book for a while, but she's reduced to a cameo appearance in the beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
- Forgettable Character: Not only did Peter completely forget that she was on board his ship when he went to Morag, but he can't even remember her name.
- Girl of the Week: Bereet is the latest in Quill's long list of one-night stands. He even forgot she was sleeping in his ship when he went on a mission.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: Or rather magenta-skinned in this case.
- In Name Only: Aside from the name and the pink skin, there's nothing left of the original character from the comics.
- Interspecies Romance: She is a Krylorian who has a one-night stand with the Terran (or rather, half-Terran, half-Celestial) Peter Quill.
- Messy Hair: Her hair is all disheveled when she joins Peter in the cockpit in her first appearance. It could be because of the wild night they spent together, or because a geyser just turned the ship upside down, or maybe a combination of the two.
- Ms. Fanservice: Is introduced half-naked wearing Peter's t-shirt.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero / Unwitting Instigator of Doom: If she hadn't innocuously answered Yondu's call at the beginning of the movie, he might not have realized Peter's betrayal right away and wouldn't have put a bounty on his head.
- Not a Morning Person: Implied. Apparently, she didn't get up in the time it took Peter to travel to Morag, go steal the Orb and return to his starship, to the point that he's surprised when he realizes she's still there.
- "Oh, Crap!" Smile: She gives Peter one after she inadvertently answers a call from a pissed off Yondu who Peter was trying to avoid.
- Promoted to Love Interest: In the comics, Bereet has never even met Peter Quill, but in the MCU she's introduced as his latest Girl of the Week.
- Sexy Shirt Switch: That's pretty clearly Peter's T-shirt from when he was a kid that she's wearing.
- Uncertain Doom: It’s unknown if she survived the attack on Xandar by Thanos that happened a few days before the events of Infinity War.
The Broker
The Broker
"It's my policy never to discuss my clients, or their needs."
Species: Unknown
Citizenship: Nova Imperial
Portrayed By: Christopher Fairbank
Voiced By: Martín Soto (Latin-American Spanish dub), Luis Mas (European Spanish dub)
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
A middleman established on Xandar, he brokers shady deals in rare artifacts for a very high-end clientele.
- Action Survivor: He can be seen among the shell-shocked Xandarian civilians after the Dark Aster crashes into Xandar’s capital city. And in Volume 3, he's revealed to have survived Thanos' attack on Xandar prior to the events of Infinity War.
- Actually Pretty Funny: He can't help but chuckle a little when Peter makes a crack about his Unusual Eyebrows.
- Adaptational Heroism: He's a slaver in the comics. Here, he's just a black market fence who legitimately cares about his planet.
- The Bus Came Back: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 marks his first appearance in the franchise since the first movie.
- The Comically Serious: He isn't amused at all when Yondu mocks his speech pattern by immaturely interrupting him in a high-pitched voice.
- Confess in Confidence: He insists to both Peter and Yondu that it's his policy to never reveal any information about his clients and their items. He becomes much less secretive when threatened with an arrow, though.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": His real name is never mentioned in the movie. Everyone refers to him as Broker.
- Friend in the Black Market: He's a broker who buys and resells stolen artefacts and is perfectly willing to make business with criminals.
- It's Personal: He's a loyal Xandarian citizen due to his use of the phrase "my culture" in describing Ronan's genocide.
- No Sympathy: When Peter tells him that he was almost killed when he went to take the Orb, the Broker dismissively retorts that these are the risks of his profession.Peter Quill: Yeah well, I almost died getting it for you.
Broker: [Indifferent] An occupational hazard, I'm sure, in your line of work. - Oh, Crap!: Starts panicking when he realizes that the Orb is being coveted by Ronan.
- Quest Giver: His role is essentially to give Peter Quill the mission to go find the Orb and not much else.
- Rubber-Forehead Aliens: He looks more or less like a human with a heavy dose of makeup.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: He is always seen wearing a nice beige suit and tie.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He's a minor character who appears only in two or three scenes, but he's the one who hired Peter and the Ravagers to retrieve the Power Stone. Without him, most of the events of the film would never have happened.
- Spared by the Adaptation: The Broker from the comics didn't stay alive very long, while his MCU counterpart is still living and kicking.
- The Stool Pigeon: He ends up giving information about his employer the Collector after Yondu threatens him with his arrow.
- Unusual Eyebrows: He has rather odd and long eyebrows, which Peter comments on at one point.Peter Quill: You have the best eyebrows in the business.
Rhomann Dey's Wife
Rhomann Dey's Wife
Species: Krylorian
Citizenship: Nova Imperial
Portrayed By: Rachel Cullen
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
The wife of Rhomann Dey.
- Damsel in Distress: She and her daughter are among the civilians in danger during Ronan's attack of Xandar at the end. A Necrocraft almost crashes into them at one point, but fortunately they are saved at the last moment by Rocket.
- Good Parents: When Ronan's forces attack Xandar, she does her best to protect her daughter.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: Like most Krylorian women, she has magenta skin and is very attractive.
- Happily Married: From what little is shown, she and her husband look very happy as a couple.
- Interspecies Romance: She is a Krylorian who married a Xandarian and the two had a daughter together.
- Mama Bear: During the attack on Xandar, she grabs her daughter in her arms and runs to get her to a safe place. She even tries to cover her when a Necrocraft is about to crash into them.
- No Name Given: Her actual name is never used (in the comics, Rhomann Dey's wife is called Karman-Kan).
- Spared by the Adaptation: In the comics, Rhomann Dey's wife is said to have been killed when Zorr the Conqueror destroyed Xandar. In the MCU, she's still alive, though her status after Thanos' attack on Xandar in Infinity War is unknown.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Downplayed, but she's a gorgeous Pink Skinned Space Babe, while her husband is... well, John C. Reilly.
- The Voiceless: She doesn't say a single word during her short screen time.
- Uncertain Doom: It’s unknown if she survived the attack on Xandar by Thanos that happened a few days before the events of Infinity War.
Rhomann Dey's Daughter
Rhomann Dey's Daughter
Species: Xandarian-Krylorian hybrid
Citizenship: Nova Imperial
Portrayed By: Isabella Poynton, Imogen Poynton
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
The daughter of Rhomann Dey.
- Children Are Innocent: In her brief appearances, she comes across as a sweet and affectionate little girl.
- Daddy's Girl: She seems to adore her father, running to cuddle him as soon as he comes home.
- Damsel in Distress: She and her mother are among the civilians in danger during Ronan's attack of Xandar at the end. A Necrocraft almost crashes into them at one point, but fortunately they are saved at the last moment by Rocket.
- Identical Stranger: Pink skin aside, she looks an awful lot like Clint Barton's daughter Lila in Age of Ultron, who was also portrayed by Isabella and Imogen Poynton.
- Improbable Infant Survival: During Ronan's attack on Xandar, several Necrocrafts are sent crashing into the city, causing lots of destruction and casualties. But when one of them is about to crash into that young girl and her mother, Rocket arrives to the rescue and blasts it out of the sky before it can hit them.
- No Name Given: Her actual name is never used (in the comics, Rhomann Dey's daughter is called Duranna).
- Non-Human Humanoid Hybrid: She is the daughter of a Krylorian mother and a Xandarian father. She mostly takes after her mother, having pink skin and bright eyes like her.
- Odango Hair: She sports this kind of hairstyle.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In the comics, all of Rhomann Dey's children are said to have been killed when Zorr the Conqueror destroyed Xandar. In the MCU, his daughter is still alive, though her status after Thanos' attack on Xandar in Infinity War is unknown.
- The Voiceless: She doesn't say a single word during her short screen time.
- Uncertain Doom: It’s unknown if she survived the attack on Xandar by Thanos that happened a few days before the events of Infinity War.
Others
Species: Various
Citizenship: Nova Imperial
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
The other citizens of the planet Xandar.
- Bystander Syndrome: None of the civilians of Xandar attempt to intervene during the fight over the Orb between the future Guardians of Galaxy at the beginning of the film.
- Citywide Evacuation: When Ronan's forces attack Xandar at the end, Nova Prime orders the city to be evacuated to keep the civilians safe.
- Conveniently Empty Building: At the end of the film, the Dark Aster crashes into the city and rams several buildings. Fortunately, Rocket mentioned that the city was fully evacuated beforehand, so we can assume that there weren't any casualties.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": The crowd of Xandarian civilians who had approached to see the crashed Dark Aster all become terrified when they see the still alive Ronan come out of the wreckage and prepare to strike the planet's ground with the Power Stone.
- Spontaneous Crowd Formation: After the crash of the Dark Aster, a crowd of people shows up as a convenient audience for the heroes' climactic dance battle against Ronan.This is all the more inexplicable because the city is supposed to have previously been evacuated, dive-bombed, and borderline colony dropped, yet there are still plenty of people around to gawk.
- We Will Not Have Pockets in the Future: All the civilians we see on Xandar are dressed this way.
Fauna
Xandarian Snails
Xandarian Snails
Species: Xandarian Snails
Appearances: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
A species of snail-like creatures from Xandar that are used to make dishes renowned throughout the galaxy for being rare delicacies.
- Alien Animals: Aside from their size, they aren't that different from the snails we can find on Earth.
- Animals Not to Scale: They are basically identical to the snails from Earth, but are much larger.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: To snails, obviously.
- Running Gag: It seems like no matter which timeline he's in, Fits will always find himself in a situation where he has to pretend to be an alien, but his disgust for Xandarian Snails threatens to blow his cover.
- Snooty Haute Cuisine: Fresh Xandarian Snail is a very expensive dish that only the wealthy can afford to eat. During the Inhumans auction, the senator Gaius Ponarian offers some to Kasius and his other guests to make himself look good, and he looks down on Fitz for being hesitant to eat it.
- Weird World, Weird Food: For most alien species, including Kree and Sivians, viscous Xandarian Snails are considered one of the finest delicacies in the galaxy. Fitz, however, finds them so disgusting that he'll never eat one for anything in the world.
Kyln
In General
Kyln
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
An high security prison in an asteroid field that is used by the Nova Corps to contain the most dangerous prisoners.
- Adaptational Wimp: In the movie it's a mundane prison, albeit one in space. In the comics its an ancient cosmic prison of unknown origins, designed to house dangerous biological entities and cosmic Elder Gods, and is next to the Crunch, a giant tear at one edge of the universe.
- The Alcatraz: Kyln is a high-security prison in which the Nova Corps send the criminals who are too hazardous for their local cells in order to ensure that they are properly contained. What makes this prison particularly difficult to escape from is the fact that it's a space station, requiring a carefully laid plan to get a ship in order to escape. Of course Rocket, being something of an escape artist, comes up with a plan to bust out pretty quickly.
- Artificial Gravity: Being situated in the middle of an asteroid field, the prison naturally has artificial gravity in place. During the Guardians' breakout, Rocket turn off the artificial gravity everywhere but in the guard tower, then flies said guard tower through the rest of the base.
- Asshole Victim: Many of the guards and inmates of the Kyln end up as this, when Ronan massacres the prison. Given that most of the Kyln consists of violent criminals, and equally abusive guards, chances are no one will miss most of the victims.
- Gravity Screw: At one point during the Guardians' escape of Kyln, Rocket tampers with the watchtower's wires to turn off the artificial gravity, causing all the guards and prisoners outside the watchtower to float in zero G.
- Hellhole Prison: Not as much as the comics, but it's still a barbaric place featuring hostile inmates who will gladly slit your throat and/or rape you, and evil wardens who will electrocute you for the slightest offenses.
- Lighter and Softer: In the comics, Kyln is such a dangerous place that being sent there is considered the equivalent of a death sentence, with most people imprisoned there not surviving for long. In the MCU, while it's certainely an unpleasant place filled with murderous prisoners and sadistic guards, the Guardians' time in the prison is not that bad as they easily manage to scare off most of the inmates upon arrival and quickly find a way to break out, beating the hell out of the guards along the way.
- Panopticon of Surveillance: The prison cells in the Kyln are arrayed in a hemisphere around a central guard tower. That said, the surveillance clearly isn't perfect as there are maintenance hallways behind the cells that some of the prisoners seem to have access to.
- Space Station: The prison is located in outer space, surrounded by a field of asteroids.
Guards
Mean Guard
Mean Guard
Species: Unknown
Portrayed By: Spencer Wilding
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
A guard at the Kyln prison who steals Peter Quill's walkman.
- Bald of Evil: He doesn't have a hair on his head and he's an asshole who robs and abuses his prisoners.
- Headphones Equal Isolation: He doesn't hear Peter approaching behind him because he was listening to music on his walkman, and apparently didn't notice the prison riot either.
- Hidden Depths: He may not look like it, but he loves dancing and listening to music, as seen in a deleted scene where he dances around the prison listening to "Magic" by Pilot on Peter Quill's walkman.
- Jerkass: He's a complete bastard who treats the prisoners like crap.
- Klingons Love Shakespeare: After stealing Peter Quill's walkman, he takes a liking to its mixtape and listens to it constantly.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Downplayed, as he doesn’t face serious consequences (at least, not immediately) for his abuse of Quill. But Quill does beat him with the Orb when he retrieves his Walkman back.
- No Name Given: His actual name is unknown. He's only referred to as "Mean Guard" in the credits.
- Oh, Crap!: He has a startled look on his face when he realizes that Peter Quill is right behind him and is about to hit him on the head.
- Rubber-Forehead Aliens: He doesn't look too different from a human aside from his skin and eyes.
- Shock Stick: He really enjoys using his electric baton on the prisoners, using it on Peter Quill when he tries to retrieve his walkman, and also in a deleted scene where he hits a random prisoner with it for no apparent reason.
- Tap on the Head: He is last seen getting knocked out by Peter Quill hitting his head with the Orb.
- The Voiceless: He doesn't say a single word in any of his scenes, though he makes a few grunts.
- Wardens Are Evil: While more "mean" than "evil", he's still a sadistic prick who steals the prisoners' belongings and electrocutes them just for fun.
Angry Guard
Angry Guard
Species: Xandarian
Portrayed By: Dominic Grant
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
A guard at the Kyln prison with a strong dislike for Gamora.
- Bald of Evil: The top of his head is entirely bald and he's arguably the nastiest guard in the Kyln prison.
- Jerkass: He's such a dick that he even helps the prisoners when they try to murder Gamora by advising them to do it in the showers so that the blood would be easier to clean.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He assists the inmates in nearly murdering Gamora, and subsequently attacks her during the prison riot. Unsurprisingly, she leaves him a broken arm for his troubles.
- Lawman Baton: He uses a baton when he tries to stop Gamora in her attempt to escape.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: He's carrying a riot shield when he runs into Gamora, though she quickly kicks it out of his hands.
- Killed Offscreen: It's unclear if Gamora killed him when she extracted his security band from his arm, but even if she didn't, he probably died when Ronan's forces slaughtered everyone in the prison.
- No Name Given: His actual name is unknown. He's only referred to as "Angry Guard" in the credits.
- Tempting Fate: When Gamora restrains him in order to steal his security band, he mockingly points out that the bands are wired to their arms so she might have a hard time getting it. Unfortunately for him, Gamora has no problem extracting the band from his arm in a painful manner.
- Wardens Are Evil: He's a cruel bastard who happily lets his prisoners murder each other without batting an eye.
- Would Hit a Girl: Not only is he willing to turn a blind eye to the prisoners' attempt to assassinate Gamora, but he also directly attacks her during the prison riot.
Head Riot Guard
Head Riot Guard
Species: Xandarian
Portrayed By: Emmett J. Scanlan
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
The leader of the riot guards at the Kyln prison.
- Beard of Evil: Downplayed. He has a beard and is a violent prison guard who tries to kill the heroes, but to be fair he is mainly trying to stop a bunch of dangerous convicts from escaping.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: He gets subjected to this at the hands of Nebula when Ronan's forces invade the Kyln prison to find the Power Stone.
- Counting to Three: After damaging the windows of the watchtower where the Guardians are hiding, he orders his men to shoot at the same time on his command and counts backwards to three. However, Rocket manages to turn off the gravity just as he finishes.
- Death Cry Echo: He is stabbed by Sakaarans in the background and can be heard making a loud cry as he dies.
- Didn't See That Coming: He certainly didn't expect Rocket to turn off the artificial gravity in the prison, and seems pretty confused when he starts floating in the air.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: How heroic he is is debatable, but nonetheless he doesn't wear a helmet when he tries to stop the breakout of the Guardians, unlike the other riot guards.
- Interrogated for Nothing: After brutally torturing him to make him reveal where the Guardians are, Nebula eventually realizes that he doesn't know anything as he would have already talked if he did.
- Mook Lieutenant: He serves as the leader of the riot guards.
- No Indoor Voice: He's always yelling at the top of his lungs when he gives orders to his men, sputtering and opening his mouth very wide. He isn't as loud when he's being interrogated by Nebula, though he does scream pretty hard when he gets killed.
- No Name Given: His actual name is unknown. He's only referred to as "Head Riot Guard" in the credits.
- Uniformity Exception: He is the only riot guard not wearing a helmet and is the one in charge.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He only appears briefly in a few scenes before getting executed by Ronan's soldiers.
Kyln Hoverbots
Kyln Hoverbots
Species: Hoverbots
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
A series of drones used as part of the security in the Kyln prison.
- All There in the Manual: They are never referred to as "Hoverbots" in the film, but the official artbook The Art of the Guardians of the Galaxy reveals that this is what they are called.
- Attack Drones: They are flying armed drones that are dispatched to shoot down the inmates if they start causing trouble.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Most of them explode after being punched away by Groot or gunned down by Rocket and Peter.
- Hack Your Enemy: After the Guardians have taken over the watchtower, Rocket manages to reprogram the Hoverbots to help them escape by flying the watchtower out of the prison area.
- Mecha-Mooks: The Hoverbots are an army of robotic enemies that get torn apart and blasted to pieces by the heroes in ways that would be too brutal for flesh-and-blood living beings.
- More Dakka: They are equipped with machine guns that they use to strafe their targets with lots and lots of bullets.
- Shooting Superman: They shoot at Groot again and again even though it has little effect on his wooden body, and keep shooting even when he creates a wooden shield.
Inmates
In General
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy
The criminals imprisoned at the Kyln prison.
- Asshole Victim: Given how most of the inmates of the Kyln were notorious criminals, no tears were shed when Ronan and his men massacred everyone inside it.
- Institutional Apparel: Prisoners in the Kyln wear yellow T-shirts and pants, with some variation. Gamora gets a sleeveless top, Drax naturally doesn't bother with the shirt, and Groot (who can't even attempt to pass for humanoid) doesn't wear anything.
- No Prison Segregation: The Kyln prison holds people of different genders and species. This makes sense, given that it needs to hold everything from tree-people to humans — a simple male/female divide would probably not work.
- Produce Pelting: Not long after the Guardians walk into the main hall of the Kyln, the other inmates start throwing food at Gamora because of her affiliation with Thanos and Ronan.
- They Know Too Much: Ronan orders the inmates massacred to cover up his hunt for the Orb.
Moloka Dar
Moloka Dar
"Gamora, consider this a death sentence for your crimes against the galaxy."
Species: Unknown
Citizenship: None
Portrayed By: Alexis Rodney
Voiced By: José Escobosa (European Spanish dub)
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy
Drax: I like your knife, I'm keeping it.
Moloka Dar: ... That was my favorite knife.
A criminal imprisoned in the interstellar prison facility of the Nova Corps, the Kyln, who wants to slice Gamora's neck.
- Adaptational Hairstyle Change: In the comics, Moloka Dar has a full head of bushy hair, while in the MCU he is completely bald.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: He is a convicted criminal in both versions, but in the comics Moloka Dar willingly helps Thanos when he comes to the Kyln prison by giving him information. His MCU counterpart, on the other hand, has nothing but hatred for Thanos and even tries to murder his daughter Gamora for the crimes she committed on his orders.
- All There in the Script: His name is never mentioned during the film, but it's revealed in the credits.
- Bald of Evil: Dar is a smooth-headed criminal.
- Bullying a Dragon: Despite knowing Gamora's reputation, he assault her with a few other prisoners and they drag her into the prison showers to try to murder her. Once there, she proves to be very much capable of defending herself and manages to disarm most of them before putting a knife to Dar's throat. Had Drax and Peter not been present, she would surely have killed him.
- Death by Adaptation: In Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Moloka Dar is among the Kyln prisoners gathered by Ronan whom he orders to be executed. In the comics, he is last seen alive and well in the Kyln prison.
- Dirty Coward: He cowers before Drax and says anything just to placate him.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Dar is a convicted criminal, but it's implied that he's disgusted with the actions of Ronan and Thanos, trying to kill Gamora to get back at them and calling it "a death sentence for [Gamora's] crimes against the galaxy".
- Hand Gagging: In a deleted scene, Moloka Dar puts his hand over Gamora's mouth when he breaks into her cell during her sleep and sticks his knife to her throat.
- Killed Offscreen: He's presumably killed along with all the other inmates of the Kyln on Ronan's orders.
- Misplaced Retribution: Dar wants to kill Gamora to avenge "her" crimes against the galaxy... nearly all of which were committed by Thanos and Ronan, or on their orders.
- Opinion Flip Flop: When Drax is confused about the Throat-Slitting Gesture, Peter Quill asks Moloka Dar if he knows what the gesture means and he answers that he does. However, Drax gives him an angry look so he immediately changes his mind and claims that no he doesn't know the gesture at all.
- Rubber-Forehead Alien: He looks pretty much like a human with some make-up.
- Throat-Slitting Gesture: He does this when he threatens Gamora in front of the glass door of her cell. However, he later pretends not to know what this gesture means to avoid offending Drax the Destroyer.
- Would Hit a Girl: He'd be more than happy to assassinate a defenseless Gamora for the crimes she committed under Ronan's and Thanos's orders.
Monstrous Inmate
Monstrous Inmate
"Check out the new meat!"
Species: Unknown
Citizenship: None
Portrayed By: Nathan Fillion
Voiced By: Leonardo García (Latin-American Spanish dub), Txema Moscoso (European Spanish dub)
Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy
A criminal imprisoned in the interstellar prison facility of the Nova Corps, the Kyln, who has some implied nasty intentions towards Peter Quill.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head / Villainous Face Hold: He fondles Peter's cheek in a creepy way when he arrives in the prison yard.
- Bald of Evil: There's no visible hair on his head.
- The Cameo: For James Gunn regular Nathan Fillion.
- Depraved Homosexual: He threatens and taunts Quill by rather lustfully stroking his face and talking about "slathering him in Gunavian jelly". It's a good thing Groot was close by to teach him a lesson.
- Evil Sounds Deep: He speaks with a notably deep voice, as is fitting for a giant alien.
- Humanoid Aliens: He has a more monstrous appearance than most of the other aliens in the film, but he still has a mostly human-like body shape with one head, two arms and two legs.
- Inelegant Blubbering: He's reduced to this by Groot via a Nose Shove.
- Killed Offscreen: He's presumably killed along with all the other inmates of the Kyln on Ronan's orders.
- Laser-Guided Karma: No matter how painful the Nose Shove was, he definitely had it coming for trying to mess with Groot's pals.
- Mugging the Monster: Upon seeing the Guardians arrive at Kyln, he assumes that Peter Qill is easy prey and goes to harass him, only to discover the hard way that he is protected by Groot who makes short work of him.
- No Name Given: Given that he's a minor character, his name is left unknown.
- Nose Shove: Courtesy of Groot; it looks extremely painful.
- Prison Rape: He implies this pretty strongly as his intentions for Peter - though being an alien, it's entirely possible he was being literal about eating him.
- The Worf Effect: He's absolutely massive and very threatening, so Groot's power is established by easily defeating him.
Others
