Wraith (Zak-Del)

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Wraith
Cover art for Annihilation Conquest: Wraith #1. Featuring Zak-Del. Art by Clint Langley.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceAnnihilation Conquest: Wraith #1 (June 2007)
Created byJavier Grillo-Marxuach
Kyle Hotz
In-story information
Alter egoZak-Del
SpeciesKree
Team affiliationsKree Underground
Nameless Kree
Dark Guardians
Notable aliasesPale Rider, Kree with no name, Paleface
AbilitiesUtilize a polymorphic weapon
Unnaturally high tolerance for pain
Skilled armed/unarmed combatant
Abilities via Exolon parasites:
  • Enhanced strength, speed, and agility
  • Soul and energy absorption
  • Accelerated healing
  • Longevity via agelessness

Wraith (Zak-Del) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Although Wraith first appears in the prologue as a vision,[1] his first physical appearance was in Annihilation Conquest: Wraith #1 in Annihilation: Conquest.[2]

Publication history

Wraith first appeared in Annihilation: Conquest: Wraith #1 (2007) and was created by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Kyle Hotz. Wraith returned in Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw's 2019 relaunch of Guardians of the Galaxy.[3]

Fictional character biography

Wraith is the son of

signet ring worn by the man who killed his parents, and that is what brings him to Kree space — to hunt down that man. Wraith defeated the leader of the Nameless, and he stole their polymorphic weapon and a ship that transported him back into the galaxy to hunt down the man.[4]
Although his time with the Nameless made him rather cold and show brutal efficiency as a fighter, Wraith retains some pragmatic yet moral standards.

Wraith first appeared when he incapacitated an entire Phalanx battle-cruiser, drawing the attention of both the Phalanx and the Resistance forces led by Ra-Venn opposing them. Because he capably made the Phalanx feel fear, as both sides wished to add him to their ranks. He gets tracked by the Phalanx to the resistance's base, and in allowing them to escape, he is captured and brought before Ronan the Accuser, head of the Kree empire since the end of the Annihilation War, now a slave and Head Inquisitor of the Phalanx.[5] Though Ronan subjects Wraith to all manners of horrible torture, inflicting more pain than any Kree can withstand, Wraith refuses to give up his origins, finally prompting an infuriated Ronan to attempt to impale him on a spike. Wraith pulls himself off and immediately heals. Ronan states that due to his seeming immunity to pain, he is not Kree, but something else, like a wraith. It amuses the son of Sim-Del, and he decides that Wraith is a suitable new name for himself. Wraith then divulges his origins. He says that he pities Ronan because he is a slave. The Accuser decides the highest degree of torture he could inflict would be to make Wraith a slave to the Phalanx for all time, and he promptly infects Wraith with Phalanx technology.[4]

Wraith remains steadfast and enters a self-induced coma-like state, causing frustration in Ronan and annoyance in the Phalanx. A vision of Sim-Del in Wraith's mind convinces him to continue fighting, as only the punishment of the man with the signet ring could set his and his wife's spirits free. His father also convinces him that he cannot find the man alone, and so Wraith enlists the help of Super-Skrull and Praxagora. The trio escape and meet up with the Resistance, saving them from a Phalanx warship. Although he has little interest in the war with the Phalanx, Wraith accepts the offer to join the Resistance and fight the Phalanx in return for their help in tracking down the people who murdered his family.[6] With Wraith and crew's assistance, the rebellion manages to capture a Phalanx scientist who has information on the Phalanx's super weapon. After determining the deployment point and the time of the attack, the fleet launches a suicide mission to deliver Wraith, Super-Skrull and Praxagora to the scene, where they infiltrate the Phalanx fleet and find the weapon, a Phalanx-infected Supreme Intelligence.[6] Here Wraith again sees his father's spirit, speaking through the Supreme Intelligence, who instructs him not to stop the weapon, but to let it activate, and then to release the Exolon and absorb the Supreme Intelligence's soul, not only saving the Kree, but also dealing a massive blow to the Phalanx and freeing Ronan from the Phalanx's control. Wraith also convinces Ronan to overcome his shame and lead the Kree against their captors. He himself remains with the resistance, not revealing what he has truly done, to later use the Supreme Intelligence's soul to become a beacon of hope for the people.[7]

Wraith and allies travels to the planet Kree-Lar, a ceded territory of the Kree that is home to Ravenous (the former right-hand man of Annihilus from "Annihilation" storyline) and enemies to the Kree, at Ronan's behest. Wraith makes his wariness and distrust of this mission clear to Ronan before their ship is attacked and are sent crashing into the planet.[8] The group land on the surface and found that the Phalanx engaging warfare with the Ravenous, but Wraith uses his Exolon parasites paralyze the Phalanx and stop the fighting. Recognizing Wraith being the key to dealing with the Phalanx, the Ravenous agreed to allow the group to see their leader.[9] During the audience, Wraith demonstrates his powers the Ravenous before subduing him, allowing Ronan to access the secret chamber underneath the throne.[10] Ronan leads Wraith the 15,000 Kree Sentries that lays dormant in the chamber, which Wraith and Praxagora reprogrammed to make the sentries immune to the Phalanx's abilities.[11] As Ronan launches the 15,000 Kree Sentries to Hala to destroy all Phalanx and Phalanx-infected Kree on the Kree homeworld Hala, Wraith stands quietly aside as he watches Ronan enacts his plans and orders Ravenous to get them a ship to travel to Hala.[12] Upon arriving in Hala's space system, the group notices other forces are fighting against the Phalanx, Praxagora is possessed by Ultron, who is the Phalanx Technarchy's primary director, and stuns Wraith so he can transfer his essence into the Sentries and adds them to his army. Ultron kills Praxagora and explodes the ship, but Wraith and the others are saved by the Super-Skrull' force field, who takes them Hala's surface. Upon seeing Adam Warlock and Phyla-Vell battling a giant-size Ultron, Wraith aids them by using the Exolon to trapped Ultron in his current body, allowing Phyla-Vell to finished him off. After the battle, Wraith uses his Exolon to purge any Phalanx-infected Kree citizens before continuing on his quest to find his family's killer.[13][14]

After

Hela appeared, Wraith did not intervene since he already got what he needed.[19]

Eventually Wraith tracked down Knull on Klyntar and discovered the Exolon were discarded offshoots created by Knull, and had them stripped from him. After being kicked off into the space by Knull, he discovered that Knull also has an opposite, a god of light, and transported to Earth to tell Eddie Brock and died in the process.[20]

Powers and abilities

Wraith is experienced fighter and possesses an unidentified polymorphic weapon which can take on a variety of forms, including a gun, a whip, a small blade, and devices like binoculars. As a Kree, Wraith possesses his species' unique physiology, having far greater natural attributes than a human and is resistant to poisons, toxins and diseases. Due to the Exolon parasites that infect and maintain his body, he possesses enhanced speed, strength and agility greater than a normal Kree, as well as an ability to heal himself from even the most egregious of wounds. He also does not age and cannot die, at least not in any way yet shown. By summoning swarms of Exolon, he can strike fear into his opponents, and, because the Exolon feed on souls, swarms of it appear—at least to the Phalanx— to eat the exposed soul of a living being. Due to the nature of the Nameless and their rituals of inflicting pain on themselves, he also has an unnaturally high tolerance for pain, not screaming or making any other negative reactions to it. Due to not being alive in a conventional sense, Wraith also has an unspecific degree of immortality and is immune to scanners as he is not identified as a life-form. The Exolon also grants Wraith the ability to absorb energy blasts and the souls of other beings.

In other media

Television

Wraith appears in Guardians of the Galaxy, voiced by Jeff Bennett.[21] This version's father was killed after he chose to have himself and a weapon he had created be destroyed by a black hole rather than be used by Ronan the Accuser. Ever since, Zak-Del blamed Gamora for what happened, as she had brought his father to Ronan, and swore revenge.

Video games

Collected editions

Title Material collected Published date ISBN
Annihilation: Conquest Book 2 Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith #1-4 and Nova (vol. 4) #4-7, Annihilation: Conquest #1-6 January 2009 978-0785127178
Annihilation: Conquest Omnibus Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith #1-4 and Nova (vol. 4) #1-12, Annual #1, Annihilation: Conquest #1-6; Annihilation: Conquest Prologue #1; Annihilation: Conquest - Star-Lord #1-4; Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar #1-4; Annihilation Saga June 2015 978-0785192701
Venomnibus by Cates & Stegman Web of Venom: Wraith #1 and Venom (vol. 4) #1-35, Venom Annual #1, Web of Venom: Ve'Nam #1, Web of Venom: Carnage Born #1, Absolute Carnage #1-5, King in Black #1-5; material from Free Comic Book Day 2019 (Spider-Man/Venom) #1, Free Comic Book Day 2020 (Spider-Man/Venom) #1, Incoming #1, Carnage: Black, White & Blood #2 July 2022 978-1302946418

References

  1. ^ Annihilation: Conquest Prologue
  2. ^ The Kree With No Name?: Grillo-Marxuach talks "Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith", Comic Book Resources, 16 April 2007.
  3. ^ "Marvel Teases the Arrival of the Dark Guardians (of the Galaxy)". Cbr.com. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Wraith #2
  5. ^ Wraith #1
  6. ^ a b Wraith #3
  7. ^ Wraith #4
  8. ^ Annihilation: Conquest #1
  9. ^ Annihilation: Conquest #2
  10. ^ Annihilation: Conquest #3
  11. ^ Annihilation: Conquest #4
  12. ^ Annihilation: Conquest #5
  13. ^ Annihilation: Conquest #6
  14. ^ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #1
  15. ^ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 5 #1. Marvel Comics.
  16. ^ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 5 #2. Marvel Comics.
  17. ^ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 5 #3
  18. ^ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 5 #4
  19. ^ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 5 #5
  20. ^ Web of Venom: Wraith #1
  21. ^ "Fox on the Run". Guardians of the Galaxy. Season 1. Episode 20. June 26, 2016. Disney XD.
  22. ^ "Wraith | Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2". Archived from the original on 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  23. ^ JayShockblast (2014-10-03), Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel Superheroes - A Look at all the Marvel Townspeople in My INterior, archived from the original on 2021-12-15, retrieved 2019-07-28
  24. ^ "Minecraft Xbox 360 Receives Guardians Of The Galaxy Skin Pack This Week". Cinemablend.com. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2019.

External links