War of Kings



"The king with no words has screamed in defiance, and his cry has split the universe in half. It's starting... The war that ends everything.

Starhawk, Guardians of the Galaxy #10"

War of Kings is a Marvel Comics Bat Family Crossover of the year 2009. It follows events of the Secret Invasion: Inhumans, X-Men: Rise And Fall of the Shi'Ar Empire and X-Men: Emperor Vulcan storylines, and plot elements in various other titles, like Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy or Annihilation: Conquest.

After their home on the Moon was attacked by Skrulls during the Secret Invasion event, The Inhumans chose to leave for space, where they not only had revenge on the green shapeshifters, but also attacked their own creators - the Kree Empire. With the Kree's defeat, the Kree leader, Ronan, gives up his position, announcing Black Bolt as the new king of the Empire. This doesn't escape the sight of another cosmic monarch - Vulcan, Emperor of the Shi'Ar - who quickly finds an excuse to start a war between the two space nations. So big a conflict cannot avoid involving third parties; the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Nova Corps and Blaastar's army from the Negative Zone are all brought into the conflict.

Follwing this event, Marvel put out a series of comics under the title Realm of Kings, which served as a bridge to their next event, The Thanos Imperative.

War of Kings provides examples of:
"Smasher: Accessing hyper-strength upload from my exospecs.
 * Anyone Can Die:
 * Arranged Marriage: Crystal and Ronan. Gradually (through this and the Realm of Kings follow-up event) evolves into a Perfectly Arranged Marriage.
 * Assimilation Plot:
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: Black Bolt and Vulcan, full stop.
 * Badass: Drax the Destroyer.
 * Badass Normal: Star-Lord, Jack Flag, Major Victory.
 * Bad Future: It seems that this event caused at least one.
 * Bittersweet Ending:
 * The Brute: Blastaar.
 * Cain and Abel: Vulcan and Havok. Sort-of inverted as the good Havok is elder.
 * The Caligula: Vulcan. Man, he even resembles Caligula physically.
 * Calling Your Attacks:
 * Calling Your Attacks:

Drax punches Smasher in the face.

Drax: Accessing fist."

": You act so noble, but you're a genocidal monster! And I am not going to let you do this!"
 * Catch Phrase: I AM GROOT!
 * Clear My Name: Subverted. Darkhawk is first going to stop his new Arch Enemy, then clear his name.
 * Comes Great Insanity:
 * Cosmic Horror: At last, one has a short appearance.
 * Deal With the Devil: Actually, with.
 * Discard and Draw: Nova Quasar Nova. Also, Phyla-Vell.
 * Distaff Counterpart: Strontian is to Gladiator what Supergirl is to Superman.
 * Enemy Mine: Gorgon and Starbolt on Saakar.
 * Even Evil Has Standards:


 * Keeping in mind who says it to who is why this trope can be so confusing.
 * Mostly because Vulcan is so batshit crazy that he genuinely believes he's in the right.
 * Evil Counterpart: Strontian to Gladiator
 * Evil Mentor: Talon.
 * Eviler Than Thou:
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Five-Man Band: Several.
 * Guardians of the Galaxy:
 * The Hero: Adam Warlock, Star-Lord
 * The Lancer: Martyr, Jack Flag, Rocket Raccoon
 * Big Guy: Groot, Drax, Gamora
 * Smart Guy: Mantis, Cosmo, Adam Warlock
 * The Chick: Bug, Moondragon
 * Team Pet: Cosmo, Rocket Raccoon
 * Inhumans Elite:
 * The Hero: Black Bolt
 * The Lancer: Medusa
 * Big Guy: Gorgon
 * Smart Guy: Maximus
 * The Chick: Crystal
 * Sixth Ranger: Ronan.
 * Team Pet: Lockjaw
 * Nova Corps:
 * The Hero: Richard Rider
 * The Lancer: Robert Rider
 * Big Guy: Fraktur
 * Smart Guy: Quibit
 * The Chick: Irani Rael
 * The Mentor: Worldmind
 * Starjammers:
 * The Hero: Alex Summers
 * The Lancer: Rachel Grey
 * Big Guy: Krovus
 * Smart Guy: Cho'd (not neccesarily the smartest, but by the far the most competent with the ship's mechanics)
 * The Chick: Lorna Dane
 * Flying Brick: Black Bolt, Gladiator, Strontian, Nova, Vulcan. Most of them have other powers as well, but still.
 * Foil: Take a good look at Black Bolt and Vulcan. Black Bolt and Vulcan. Black Bolt and Vulcan. Black Bolt and Vulcan. Got it?
 * A subtle theme that Vulcan eventually makes explicit is that.
 * Fusion Dance: Richard and Wendell. Also.
 * Galactic Conqueror: Vulcan. Blastaar also fits.
 * Gambit Roulette: Drax and Phylla's adventure and all its results were planned by
 * Green Lantern Ring: The Quantum Bands.
 * Grand Theft Me: What the Fraternity Of Raptors does with their hosts.
 * Green-Skinned Space Babe: Gamora. Female Kree are blue skinned.
 * The Gwen Stacy:  for many characters.   for Robbie.
 * Heel Face Turn: Gladiator.
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * may be interpreted as one of these.
 * Human Aliens: Oh God, I don't know where to start. The Shi'Ar look like humans with weird hair; the Kree, and Strontians (Gladiator's species), look like humans but with different skin color. Phyla, Smasher, a few other members of the Imperial Guard and at least one Nova Corps member look like humans, or have very small differences.
 * Kryptonite Is Everywhere: Subverted. The Guardians never had a weapon able to harm Gladiator, they only made him think they did.
 * Fridge Brilliance: Gladiator's powers are directly related to his confidence. If he believes you can beat him, you can.
 * Large Ham: Vulcan, Blaastar, Groot and of course the largest of them all - Catastropus.
 * Manipulative Bastard:
 * Melee a Trois: Kree Empire vs Shiar Empire with the Nova Corps, Star Jammers and Guardians of the Galaxy caught in the middle trying to stop it but usually just getting into fights.
 * The Messiah:
 * Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: The Guardians' roster.
 * Person of Mass Destruction: Black Bolt and Vulcan.
 * Psycho for Hire: Strontian.
 * Retcon: The origin of the amulet that gives Darkhawk his powers (along with parts of his history).
 * Self-Made Orphan: Blaastar. Vulcan did it a long time ago.
 * Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Starhawk's mission..
 * Space Police: The Nova Corps.
 * Space Romans: Vulcan wears a Roman-style outfit, and it seems like he was trying to incorporate some elements of Roman culture into the Shi'Ar.
 * Spear Counterpart: Strontian for Gladiator,
 * Super-Powered Evil Side:.
 * Token Evil Teammate: Phyla Martyr.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Darkhawk
 * Treacherous Advisor: Talon
 * The Voiceless: Black Bolt, of course.
 * Throughout the whole event he only utters two words: "" and ""
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Many characters did this in response to 's plan.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Many characters did this in response to 's plan.