The Kree, briefly known as the Ruul, are an alien race appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are native to the planet Hala in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and have a scientifically and technologically advanced militaristic society.
The Kree have appeared throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the films Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel and The Marvels.
Publication history The first on-panel appearance of the Kree was in Fantastic Four #65 (August 1967), and they were created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. In their first appearance, the Supreme Intelligence sent Ronan to Earth to investigate what happened to a Kree Sentry, who was destroyed by the Fantastic Four in the previous issue.
The Kree made their first major appearances in the first volume of Captain Marvel, who was introduced as a Kree warrior who is sent to Earth to spy on its inhabitants in Marvel Super-Heroes #12. The following issue would also see the debut of the Yon-Rogg and Carol Danvers a Human/Kree hybrid, who is the seventh and current Captain Marvel. Including Supreme Intelligence, Ronan the Accuser and Doctor Minerva, all of them would feature in the original run of Captain Marvel.
The Kree were one of the major factions involved in the 1971's Kree–Skrull War storyline, the event ran in the first volume of the Avengers. The storyline established the war between the Kree and Skrulls, it involves other groups like Avengers, the Inhumans, and the Fantastic Four. It included several plotlines interwoven around the return of Mar-Vell.
They also featured in the first ongoing series of the Inhumans, in which it is established that ancient Kree experimented on ancient humans, which resulted in a superpowered offshoot of humanity. The Kree ultimately abandoned their test subjects, and the Inhumans went on to create their own kingdom far away from humanity. The Kree appear in #18–19 of the first Ms. Marvel run. It was also originally planned that Danvers would be artificially impregnated by the Supreme Intelligence.
The conflict between the Kree and Skrull Empire continued in the pages of the third Silver Surfer volume. They returned in the Avengers storyline Operation Galactic Storm, a thematic sequel to Kree–Skrull War, the Kree Empire was at war with the Shi'ar empire, who were introduced in the Uncanny X-Men. The event introduced the Starforce team.
Biology True Kree resemble humans almost exactly, with the exception of blue skin, different visual systems, and "duplicates" of several internal organs. Kree have a higher strength level than that of a human, and require more nitrogen to breathe comfortably. Kree bodies are adapted to environmental characteristics on Hala that are unlike Earth. Hala has higher gravity and a higher concentration of nitrogen in the atmosphere than Earth. Under Earth's lesser gravity, their strength and speed increase. However, they cannot breathe in Earth's atmosphere without using a chemical "breathing formula" or artificial life-support devices.
The original Kree had blue-colored skin, but a second racial group with pink skin resembling that of human Caucasians emerged over the millennia. The blue, "purebred" Kree have become a small, but powerful, minority. Pink Kree are more durable than blue Kree.
Adult Kree range (typically) between tall. Some female Kree can physically influence men, and a few can even drain the life force of others. Most are born with this ability, but are required to have it surgically 'corrected' upon adulthood. They must undergo this procedure when they are adults in order to avoid 'frying' their brains. It seems that this procedure is analogous to female genital mutilation and it is also called "psychological mutilation" as witnessed with Una-Rogg.Captain Marvel vol. 4 #13
Just like humans, some Kree also suffer from various diseases such as Blackgorge, Betath's Plague, the Wasting, and cancer, which they call Blackend.
The Kree were an evolutionarily stagnant race. This was due to a single member of the Kree race attempting to gain control of The Crystal of Ultimate Vision. This unnamed Kree found the crystal, but attempted to use it to become akin to a god, with powers as of those of the Phoenix Force. As punishment, the crystal "genetically froze their evolution in place" allowing the rest of creation to pass them by. In an attempt to further their development, some Kree bred with other species, producing the 'pink-skinned' Kree. These pinks (also called 'whites') eventually outnumbered the blue-skin Kree, but were far from accepted amongst their brethren; many pink kree were exiled from the homeworld and put into forced labor camps on barren moons due to prejudice and racism. The Kree value what they consider to be their genetic purity, to such an extent that reproduction outside of the species is a strict taboo. In the Kree empire, it is a crime for a male non-Kree to impregnate any Kree.
The Kree race has produced individual super-humanoid beings, either through natural mutation, genetic engineering, or cyborg technology, including Mar-Vell, Ronan the Accuser, Ultimus, Shatterax, Korath, and others.
The Supreme Intelligence attempted to jumpstart the evolutionary process of the Kree. Through a series of events discussed below during Operation: Galactic Storm and the Destiny War, it arranged for a large number of its people to be irradiated with a Nega-Bomb (killing 90% of the Kree), and then artificially sped up their evolution by means of an artifact called the Forever Crystal. This new brand of evolved Kree, called Ruul, have a grayish skin tone and shoulder-length tentacles atop their heads. Individuals possess the ability to consciously 'will' adaptation of physical form to different environments, affording them controlled metamorphosis, spontaneously developing the ability to breathe underwater, fly, change form or whatever their circumstances require. The females had also lost their ability, since the males now had that ability.
The Inhumans later brought to light a long-held secret about the creation of the Kree. As it turns out, the Kree are in fact of Universal Inhuman stock, the first of their kind. Unlike a great many races throughout the universe, the Kree were alternated by two races of cosmological abstracts in the likes of the Celestials and the Progenitors, which evolved them from primitives to empire builders. While the Celestials went on to spawn the Kree born Eternals, it was the Progenitors, a race of universal gardeners and cosmic scientists that made their home at the far end of the cosmos within the heart of a lone star, who through the introduction of the Prima Materia which the Progenitors mine and process on their World Farm called The Primagen, were able to force evolve the cro-magnon Kree race into the cosmic conquerors that they are today.
Culture The Kree are an imperialistic and militaristic society with the only widespread religion being worship of the Supreme Intelligence. A small minority, like the Priests of Pama, practice a pacifist Cotati religion, but this is forbidden (early Captain Marvel stories mentioned an 'idol' called Tam-Borr and a 'fabricated' god named Zo, whom Mar-Vell served between issues 11 and 15). Some are members of the Universal Church of Truth.
The Kree Empire extends throughout nearly a thousand worlds in the northwestern lobe (Earth reference) of the Greater Magellanic Cloud with outposts in other galaxies.
Kree names are usually short, being one or two syllables. Given names are separated from surnames by a hyphen. Examples include Mar-Vell, Yon-Rogg, Una-Rogg, and Zey-Rogg.
Some Kree names reference the comic book industry, such as Mar-Vell (Marvel Comics), Att-Las (Atlas Comics), Dea-Sea (DC Comics), and Star-Lyn (Jim Starlin).
Generally, the offspring of officers of the Kree Imperial Militia are immediately conscripted.
Population The Kree population was in excess of 30 billion prior to the Nega-Bomb detonation. The Kree lost an alleged 98% of their population after the Bomb detonated. Although the pink-skinned Kree are in the majority, it is the blue-skinned Kree, such as Ronan, who dominate their society.
High population and technological development allow for highly urbanized planets. Most of the surface of Hala, the origin planet of the civilization, is covered by futuristic city-states,Captain America #398 and the second capital planet, Kree-lar, is described as "the most heavily populated world of all".Captain Marvel vol. 1 #15
Government Under the Supreme Intelligence, the Kree Empire was a military dictatorship. Under Clumsy Foulup, the Kree were temporarily a monarchy, and while under Ael-Dan and Dar-Benn, they were a military dictatorship.
The Kree began their empire over a million years ago, within a hundred years of the acquisition of interstellar technology from the Skrulls (at that time, a benevolent people). The Skrulls at the time were attempting to start a galactic empire of their own, this one based on free trade, and they landed on Hala to help the barbaric natives advance to the point where they could join.
Although Hala is the official planet of the Kree's origin, for a time, the planet Kree-Lar in the Turunal system served as the capital of the Kree Empire as well as the seat of the government. The Kree Empire is ruled as a militaristic dictatorship. The permanent ruler was the organic computer-construct called the Supremor (or Supreme Intelligence), an immense computer system to which the preserved brains of the greatest intellects of the Kree race have been linked. Aiding the Supreme Intelligence were a number of imperial administrators on Kree-Lar, who are also governors of each of the member worlds, and a vast standing space militia. They also employ powerful automatons called Sentries whose job it is to keep member worlds under the empire's watchful eye.
The Kree empire is later ruled by Black Bolt and the Inhuman Royal Family, who gained power after Ronan the Accuser, ruler of the Kree after the Supreme Intelligence's demise, submitted to him.
Languages The Kree language exist in different versions, including at least ancient Imperial KreeGuardians of the Galaxy: Telltale Games #1 and Kreevian.Avengers Vol 3 #7. Marvel Comics.
Money The Kree used as currency the kredits,Capitan Marvel #11 or credits.Iron Man #279
Technology The Kree Empire extends across a thousand worlds in the northwestern lobe (Earth reference) of the Greater Magellanic Cloud. They are the only race in the galaxy to possess the Omni-Wave Projector technology, a device that can enable communication across hyperspace as well as be used in an offensive capacity as a weapon. They also possess cloaking technology, which they call the 'aura of negativity'.
Kree technology includes advanced warp-drive starships, robotics (such as the Sentries and the Destructoids), bionic and cybernetic (Cy-Mek) technology, advanced genetic engineering, psionic technology (Psyche-Magnitron), advanced energy weaponry (Uni-Beam), cosmic power generation, nuclear/antimatter weapons and even dimensional linking and siphoning devices. Across the myriad of realities, further advancements of Prime Marvel Universe Kree Tech has been made in strides.
Some Kree inventions have been outlawed, such as the organic-destroying robots Null-Trons, corpse revitalizing Mim Units, and the genetic-enhance Psyche-Magnitron.
In ultimate comics, they make use of nanomolecular shapeshifting battle armor with advanced genetic tailoring capabilities which can harness thermonuclear to cosmological force as both weaponry and power source. The multiversal traveler Marvel Boy makes use of similar metamorphic technology powered by whats called Kirby Engineering, mechanical works powered through belief and mental interfacing along with shifting liquid metal or self-replicating nanotech.
Fictional history Antiquity