Mummudrai
The Mummudrai are a species that feature in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
Mummudrai were a race of bodiless parasites that were legends among the Shi'ar. (New X-Men v1 #126) Among mankind, these entities were also known as Revenants. (Uncanny X-Force v2 #12)
Centuries ago, the Shi'ar were engaged in a war with another empire known as the Heptarchy and losing against this foes. Thus, they sought to find a weapon in order to defeat their enemy. As such, they took Ul'var Urizen of the Ul'var Clan wjereupon they studied him in order to extract a dormant Mummudrai within him. This Mummudrai was known as Ev Teel Urizen where scientists opened it up with psi-scalpels to map it inside and out. The purpose of this project was the creation of a superweapon known as the Hecatomb that was an artificial Mummudrai which consumed the minds of victims but left infrastructure. The device as deployed on the Heptarchy homeworld where 18 billion died as their minds were consumed. However, instead of erasing their minds, it absorbed them and they awoke inside the Hecatomb's matrix. The Shi'ar attempted to deactivate the device but it went rogue and continued in its mad anger to feed off thought. Ev Teel Urizen managed to escape containment but the Hecatomb pursued him through space where it consumed everything in its path. (X-Men v2 #198)
Ten years ago, Manta of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard encountered bodiless Mummudrai on the war-world of Chaturanga. (New X-Men v1 #125)
During the birth of Charles Xavier, his twin sister Cassandra Nova was born dead where she was said to had been a stillborn. In reality, Cassandra as a Mummudrai survived as a chaotic form of cellular matter. For the next forty years, she remained hidden inside Xavier's body and waited until she was strong enough to be free. (New X-Men v1 #126) The Mummudrai parasite initiated its documented activity as an anti-self or psychic parasite born alongside a powerful human telepath inside a biological womb, where it attempted to construct its own physical form by mimicking and copying the host's developing genetic structures. Following a prenatal physical confrontation where the host instinctively neutralized its physical form, the disembodied astral entity survived for decades within the immaterial psychic plane as a sentient, shapeless consciousness. Upon locating an opportunity to cross back into the physical universe, the organism targeted a specialized telepathic amplification device inside a subterranean headquarters, using the machine's immense power grid to anchor its psionic consciousness into the physical world. The entity then forcibly entered the body of an uninfected human host, completely suppressing the victim's individual consciousness and overriding their motor functions to hijack their advanced psionic and telepathic abilities. Operating through this stolen physical vessel, the parasite projected highly destructive mental force bolts, constructed complex illusions to deceive nearby security personnel, and telepathically dominated the minds of multiple local human subjects to turn them against one another. The organism maintained this neural subjugation across the facility, manipulating the surrounding environment and attempting to permanently rewrite the host's cellular makeup until an external telepathic counter-assault severed its mental grip, forcing the entity to abandon the compromised body and retreat back into the astral ether. (New X-Men v1 #114)
After copying Xaviers DNA, Nova gained access to the full talent of his latent Mutant powers thus giving Cassandra vast psionic powers.
Urizen managed to arrive on Earth but the Hecatomb was in pursuit of him. (X-Men v2 #198)
A version of Cassandra Nova travelled back in time to the 21st century where she was in the guise of the Revenants Queen. The 4,000 year old psychic entity intended to rip apart the veil between Earth and the psychic Underworld. This was to bring about the Great Corruption allowing the Revenants to mass possess the people of Las Vegas. From there, she intended to wipe out the rest of humanity. (Uncanny X-Force v2 #12)
- In one possible future shown in Uncanny X-Force v2 (2013), the 68th century saw an everlasting war between humans and Revenants with mankind creating the Order to battle the psychic demons. This period came about when the imortal Cassandra Nova as the Great White Owl brought about the Great Corruption.
Overview
In appearance, the Mummudrai were a non-terrestrial species of incorporeal, spiritual endoparasites composed entirely of emotional energy lattices and raw psionic force that lacked a native, tangible physical structure. Originating within the immaterial astral plane, the entity's default state was completely invisible, formless, and devoid of traditional anatomical features, existing purely as a chaotic, sentient mental pattern before initiating biological contact. Upon encountering a gestating host within a womb, the parasite utilized its elastic, psychic structure to entangle with the host's genome, allowing the fluid energy mass to systematically mimic and copy the host's developing DNA. When this cellular replication process yielded a physical vessel, the entity manifested as a precise, yet corrupted genetic twin and a dark anatomical mirror of the host. In its fully realized, self-constructed human guise, the organism took the physical shape of an unassuming, short, and entirely bald elderly woman appearing to be in her sixties, possessing heavily lined facial features and thin, frail-looking extremities. Despite this superficially fragile and aged human appearance, the physical shell retained an underlying, highly dense cellular arrangement that housed vast, latent psionic networks and modified genetic chains, allowing the parasite's stolen physical form to remain functional without relying on standard human biological limitations. (New X-Men v1 #114) It was said that the Mummudrai were immortal psychic parasites that saw all life apart from their own as irrelevant. (X-Men v2 #198) They were also referred to as being the Anti-Self. (New X-Men v1 #125) These ghostly beings had also been called Revenants. (Uncanny X-Force v2 #12)
Mummudrai possessed the advanced psionic capability to exist as a disembodied, sentient consciousness within the astral plane, completely bypassing the need for a physical body or organic organs to sustain its survival and cognitive functions. The entity demonstrated sophisticated genetic duplication skills, actively copying and mimicking the entire cellular DNA sequence of a gestating host to construct a fully functional, tangible physical vessel of its own from raw biological matter. Upon integrating into the physical world, the organism exhibited immense telepathic and mind-control abilities, establishing absolute mental dominance over human hosts to override their free will, manipulate their sensory perceptions, and force them to execute precise physical actions against their allies. The species showcased advanced illusion-casting skills, projecting highly complex, immersive mental simulations directly into the minds of multiple targets to deceive them regarding the true nature of their physical surroundings. Furthermore, the creature possessed high-level telekinetic and technopathic capabilities, allowing it to interface directly with specialized electronics, manipulate vast electrical power grids, and project destructive bursts of mental force to dismantle physical objects and neutralize external threats without physical contact. (New X-Men v1 #114)
Legends said that each individual faced their own personal Mummudrai in the womb shortly before birth. They were the first experience of the alien and other faced by a newborn life. (New X-Men v1 #126) Members of this kind were born alongside living beings in the womb with the majority dying there. However, a few managed to survive by devouring the mind of their host. A rare few remained dormant in their host and were harmless. (X-Men v2 #198) The majority of their kind were noted for being evil psychic creatures that could possess humans. (Uncanny X-Force v2 #5)
As bodiless parasites, they were born without true flesh and without any real substance. (New X-Men v1 #126) Mummudrai were bodiless life forms of pure emotional energy that took over a hosts nervous system. (New X-Men v1 #125) Certain Mummudrai could copy living cells in order to build themselves a body. Such a process could allow access to the full spectrum of latent functions of a victims genome. (New X-Men v1 #126) Mummudrai to copy the DNA of other beings and construct physical bodies for themselves. These spectral entities can also manipulate both the DNA it copies as well as the genetic stock of others for numerous effects such as acting as a rapid healing factor or phasing through solid matter and energy and mimic the DNA of others, being able to placate them for personal use or breaking down genetic chains at the molecular level for offensive purposes. (New X-Men v1 #114) They were basically energy lattices that could be scrambled with a focused E.M. pulse. (X-Men v2 #197)
One kind of these entities were Bull Revenants that could pull together physical forms of their own making them powerful and tough creatures. (Uncanny X-Force v2 #5)
In the books of the Shi'ar, they were referred to as the anti-self and the opposite of their hosts. There were tales of these bodiless Mummudrai spawn that could strip a man of their hopes and dreams as if they were skin. (New X-Men v1 #125)
Members
- Cassandra Nova :
- Ev Teel Urizen : dormant Mummudrai extracted from Ul'var Urizen of the Ul'var Clan to create the Hecatomb. (X-Men v2 #198)
- Demon Bear :
Notes
- The Mummudrai were created by Grant Morrison and Igor Kordey where they made their first appearance in New X-Men v1 #125 (June, 2002).
- During an interview with Mike Carey, the writer revealed that an arc in his X-Men: Legacy run would have introduced another Mummudrai alongside Cassandra Nova. He stated on the aborted story that, "We were going to have a mummudrai from outer space come and impregnate Cassandra Nova, with the litter of young mummudrai gestating in the X-Men's brains. That would have been fun to do, but Joss Whedon got to Cassandra before I did."
- In Uncanny X-Force v2 (2014), they were referred to as Revenants. Writer Sam Humphries said in an interview, "The legend of the mummudrai -- the Sh'iar word for revenant -- states that everyone has a revenant when they're born. That means there's about a hundred billion of these slathering, snarling goblins out there, waiting for an opportunity to experience the good life on this side of the psychic divide. If you open that door between our worlds, you'll never get it closed again. The revenants have languished too long with the short end of the stick. They're envious, and hungry."
Alternate Versions
- In Uncanny X-Force v2 #4 (2013), an alternate version of the Revenants were shown to inhabit Earth-TRN342 in the Multiverse.
Appearances
- New X-Men v1: (2002)
- X-Men v2:
- Uncanny X-Force v2:
External Links
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