Lockheed (character)
Lockheed | |
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Abilities | Fire projection Flight Empathy |
Lockheed is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character appears most commonly in association with the X-Men. He is an alien dragon and longtime companion of Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde), a member of the X-Men and Excalibur.
Lockheed makes sporadic minor appearances in X-Men related animated television series and made his live-action debut in the 2020 film The New Mutants.
Publication history
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Lockheed was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Paul Smith and first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #166 (February 1983).[1]
Fictional character biography
In The Uncanny X-Men # 153, "Kitty's Fairy Tale", Kitty Pryde, the teenage member of the X-Men, tells a bedtime story to young Illyana Rasputin, who was living with the X-Men at the time. The story recasts the X-Men, including the recently deceased Jean Grey, in the roles of fairy tale characters. One such character was a giant black dragon named "Lockheed",[2] who was based on the X-Men's modified Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird jet aircraft.
Not long afterward, the X-Men are captured by the alien race, the Brood, and taken to a Brood-colonized planet. Here, Kitty meets a cat-sized purple dragon who resembles the creature from her fairy tale, which she also names "Lockheed".[3] Lockheed is actually a member of a highly advanced dragon-like extraterrestrial race, who are capable of traveling through space via special astral ships which transport their essences. Their society is similar to insect hives, with the individual being only part of the "Flock". Lockheed had been celebrated by his people as a brave fighter and hero against the Brood, but had demonstrated individual attitudes and wishes which were realized only when he encountered the X-Men.
Lockheed saves Kitty from the Brood, and then secretly departs along with her.[3] She, as well as Professor X and her teammates, are unaware of his presence in the X-Mansion until he again saves Kitty's life from a nest of alien Sidrian hunter hatchlings.[4] The X-Men accept his presence,[5] and Lockheed has since become Kitty's longtime companion.
To a lesser degree, Lockheed also bonds with Illyana Rasputin,[
Secret Wars
During the Secret Wars the X-Men, including Lockheed, are transported to an alien planet nicknamed "Battleworld". There Lockheed meets a green, female alien dragon, supposedly created by the Beyonder's lingering power. This second dragon accompanied Lockheed and his allies to Earth, but she grew to gigantic size upon arrival and rampaged across Tokyo. She seemingly vanished from existence when Lockheed rejected her,[7] though she eventually resurfaced. In the companion series Spider-Man and the Secret Wars, it is shown that Lockheed spent some time patrolling Denver, Colorado, which had been taken to Battleworld as well, protecting its citizens from alien attack.[8]
Excalibur
In addition to serving with the X-Men alongside Kitty, he joins her when she co-founds the
Lockheed participates in the so-called Cross-Time Caper, which involves him and his teammates leaping through dimensions on a train. The train itself is from an alternate universe, and it is discovered that its power source is an alternate version of Lockheed himself. The two Lockheeds become good friends, although the other Lockheed desires to stay on the train. Lockheed travels with the team (and their ally,
Eventually, Lockheed's decision to leave with Kitty and the X-Men comes back to haunt him. By leaving so unexpectedly, he had abandoned his fiancée, whom he had been due to wed the following day. While healing from injuries gained from fighting Doctor Doom,[11] his astral form is apprehended by the Flock and made to stand trial for treason. After managing to explain his motives and saving his fellows from a piloting accident, he is officially exiled from his race, but on amicable terms.[12]
Lockheed's affections for Kitty earn him the ire of interdimensional entities called
Lockheed develops a severe distaste for the secret agent
Later, after Kitty left Excalibur and the X-Men entirely, it is believed that Lockheed had died. In reality, Lockheed had been found, wounded and confused, by a pair of girls who practiced witchcraft. He bonds with them until he discovers that the girls use their abilities to terrorize the local populace. The duo were soon humiliated in battle by their rival, another young girl with powers. This new friend heals Lockheed and directs him back to Kitty.[volume & issue needed]
Back on the X-Men
Kitty eventually rejoins the X-Men and Lockheed happily follows. When the X-Men battle the alien Ord, Lockheed saves the day with his fire breath.[13]
Lockheed becomes part of a training exercise for the younger students at Xavier's institute. He was the "flag" in a game of
Lockheed attempts to help the X-Men stop the Hulk in World War Hulk, but was defeated with the rest of the team.[14]
Agent of S.W.O.R.D.
It is revealed that Lockheed is a mole within the Institute for
Kitty and Lockheed reunite in Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #38. He has since joined her at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. A brochure included at the end of Wolverine and the X-Men #1 states that he teaches a class entitled "Knowing Your Alien Races, And How To Kill Them".
Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers
In the mini-series
X-Men Gold
Lockheed attends Kitty's wedding rehearsal dinner, bringing along his dragon family.[18]
Powers and abilities
Lockheed looks like a small European dragon about the size of a cat. He has purple skin, sharp claws and teeth, two small, curved horns protruding from the back of his head, and wings that enable him to fly. He can breathe extremely intense fire and is a surprisingly formidable combatant for his size, having once destroyed a nest of Sidri hatchlings and at another time bested a fully armored medieval knight-in-training. The Brood that he confronted upon his first appearance were terrified and immediately fled upon seeing him. His brain is immune to telepathic probing by telepaths such as Professor X. He is empathic, able to understand human speech, and although he rarely does so is able to speak English as well.[citation needed]
Reception
- In 2014, Entertainment Weekly ranked Lockheed 68th in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.[19]
- In 2021, CBR.com ranked Lockheed 3rd in their "10 Smartest Marvel Sidekicks" list.[20]
- In 2022, Newsarama ranked Lockheed 9th in their "Best superhero sidekicks of all time" list.[21]
Character evolution
Lockheed's appearance and character, as depicted by the various artists who illustrated him and writer Chris Claremont, evolved from the time of his first appearance to his later appearances in Excalibur. When he first appeared as drawn by Paul Smith, he was largely quadrupedal, with red eyes lacking any pupils or irises, a small triangular head about half a foot long, and teeth protruding outward from his upper and lower jaws, and his intelligence appeared comparable with that of a dog. By the time of his appearances in Excalibur as drawn by Alan Davis, he had been anthropomorphized considerably. His eyes were now human-like, with white corneas and black irises, though at times they were colored yellow and red or orange and he was capable of more human-like facial expressions and gestures, including standing on his hind legs. His teeth no longer stuck out of the sides of his mouth, his head was more oblong and his jaw was much longer.
Recently, Lockheed has reverted more to his previous appearance. He no longer stands on his hind legs and his eyes are once again without pupils. He still retains the same personality and skills. Initially, his only vocalizations included mostly animal-like sounds like cooing or roars, but hints were dropped as early as The Uncanny X-Men #168 that he was capable of more articulate words like "oops" and was shown as capable of speaking some words of English years later in Fantastic Four Versus the X-Men #4 (June 1987) and Excalibur #64 (April 1993).
During his tenure on Excalibur,
Other versions
X-Babies
In the series of X-Babies specials in the 1990s, the title characters gain an ally in "Locksteed", a version of Lockheed large enough to carry several X-Babies on his back. Apart from his larger size, Locksteed differs from Lockheed mainly in configuration, Locksteed's body design being closer to a quadrupedal riding animal's shape with larger, stronger forelegs.
Earth-1289
Lockheed is the humanoid counterpart of Kitty's pet dragon; he and Kymri jointly took on the mantle of Captain Britain after they emerged victorious in a tournament in Excalibur #16–17. His status in regard to membership in the Captain Britain Corps is unknown, since he was not chosen by
Mutant X
In this reality Lockheed joins the Starjammers, which consists of Cyclops, Binary, Nova, and Silver Surfer.
Secret Wars
During the
In other media
Television
- Lockheed appears in Asteroid Mbefore escaping with the X-Men.
- Lockheed appears in The Super Hero Squad Show episode "Mysterious Mayhem at Mutant Academy!".
Film
Lockheed appears in The New Mutants. This version is a companion to Illyana Rasputin / Magik,[23] who carries a small purple hand puppet version of Lockheed while the real one exists in Limbo until he is summoned to aid her.
Video games
- Lockheed appears as an assist character in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
- Lockheed appears as an unlockable assist character in Marvel Puzzle Quest.
- Lockheed appears as an unlockable upgrade for Shadowcat in Uncanny X-Men: The Days of Future Past.
- Lockheed appears as a non-playable character in Marvel Heroes.
- Lockheed appears in Marvel Strike Force.
Novels
Lockheed appears in the novelization for X-Men: The Last Stand.
Footnotes
- ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
- ^ The Uncanny X-Men #153
- ^ a b The Uncanny X-Men #166
- ^ The Uncanny X-Men #168 (1983)
- ^ The Uncanny X-Men #168
- ^ The New Mutants #63
- ^ The Uncanny X-Men #178–181 (Feb.–May 1984)
- ^ Spider-Man and the Secret Wars #2 (2009)
- ^ Excalibur #1 (Dec. 1988)
- ^ Excalibur #12–24 (1988)
- ^ Excalibur #37–39
- ^ Excalibur #40 1991
- ^ Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #1 (2004)
- ^ World War Hulk: X-Men #1-3 (2007)
- ^ Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #17
- ^ S.W.O.R.D. #1 (November 2009)
- CBR.com.
- ^ X-Men: Gold #30 (2018)
- ^ June 09, Darren Franich Updated; EDT, 2022 at 12:31 PM. "Let's rank every X-Man ever". EW.com. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Raguparan, RaguVarman (2021-11-12). "10 Smartest Marvel Sidekicks, Ranked". CBR. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
- ^ George MarstonContributions from Chris Arrant (2022-06-20). "The best superhero sidekicks of all time". gamesradar. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
- ^ Master of Kung Fu (vol. 2) #1-4 (2015)
- ^ Romano, Nick (March 9, 2020). "Exclusive: The New Mutants director sets the record straight on reshoot rumblings". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 15, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
External links
- Lockheed at the Marvel Universe wiki
- UncannyXmen.net Spotlight on Lockheed