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Gladiator (Kallark)

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Gladiator (Kallark)

Gladiator (Kallark) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in The X-Men #107 (Oct. 1977) and was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockrum. The character is a Strontian, and like others of his race has the capacity for great strength and various superpowers, but can only use them when he is completely devoted to a purpose; his abilities vary in accordance with his level of confidence. He was born on Strontia, which is part of the Shi'ar Empire and he is the leader of their Imperial Guard. He was also a member of the Annihilators, Dark Guardians, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Gladiator and the Imperial Guard were created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockrum as an homage to DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes, with all the Imperial Guard's original members created as analogs of Legionnaires. Gladiator was the analog to Superboy; the name "Gladiator" was a conscious homage to the Philip Wylie novel Gladiator (1930) on which Superman was allegedly partially based. Gladiator's name, Kallark, is a combination of Superman's Kryptonian and human names: Kal-El and Clark Kent.

The character first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #107 (Oct. 1977). Since then, he has been periodically featured in X-titles, Fantastic Four, Rom the Spaceknight, Silver Surfer, Nova, and New Warriors. His origin was revealed in War of Kings: Warriors #1 (2009).

He has played important roles in some of Marvel's major storylines, such as Operation: Galactic Storm (1992), Maximum Security (2001), and War of Kings (2009). During the Heroes Reborn era (1997), he starred in the three-issue Imperial Guard miniseries.

Following the conclusion of The Thanos Imperative, Gladiator has appeared as a member of the titular team in Annihilators #1-4 (March–June 2011) and Annihilators: Earthfall #1-4 (Sept.-Dec. 2011).

Kallark is a member of the Strontian race, and was born under Shi'ar rule. All Strontians are born with the capacity for great strength and various superpowers, but can only use them when they are completely devoted to a purpose. Fearing a Strontian rebellion, the Shi'ar emperor ordered Kallark, among other Strontians, to kill the Strontian elders. Only Kallark was devoted enough to carry out the order, and the others were killed when their wavering commitment rendered them weak. As a reward for his actions, Kallark is named the Praetor (leader) of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard.

When the X-Men come into conflict with the Shi'ar empire regarding the Phoenix entity, Gladiator battles them first at the command of Emperor D'Ken, and then at the behest of D'Ken's successor, Empress Lilandra Neramani. He later aids the X-Men against several renegade Imperial Guardsmen serving Shi'ar traitor Lord Samedar.\

While pursuing a band of shape-changing Skrulls, Gladiator arrives on Earth and mistakenly attacks the Fantastic Four. With the aid of Spider-Man and Captain America, the real Skrulls are exposed and captured. Meanwhile, Lilandra's sister Deathbird stages a coup and becomes the new Shi'ar Empress.

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