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| Krakoa | |
|---|---|
_panel.jpg) Krakoa as depicted inWolverine #6 (2020) by artistViktor Bogdanovic | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975) |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Species | Livingisland |
| Team affiliations | X-Men Quiet Council of Krakoa |
| Notable aliases | The Living Island The Island That Walks Like a Man |
| Abilities |
|
Krakoa is a fictional livingisland appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics, typically in storylines featuring theX-Men. It first appeared inGiant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975) and was created by writerLen Wein and artistDave Cockrum. While often depicted as an antagonist, Krakoa later featured as having grown into a sentient habitat for the mutant nation that shared its name during the "Krakoan Age" storylines that ran from 2019 to 2024.[1]
On its first appearance inGiant-Size X-Men #1 (1975), Krakoa is introduced as the Pacific island setting where a previous team ofX-Men have gone missing while investigating strong readings fromCerebro, a device with the ability to detectmutants. Its name recalls that ofKrakatoa, a volcanic island in Indonesia whicherupted in 1883.Charles Xavier recruits a new, international team to rescue them. On their arrival on Krakoa, they are attacked by the flora, fauna, and very ground of the island, until finallyAngel—one of the original X-Men they are rescuing—warns them that "the island itself" is the powerful mutant which Cerebro had detected. That is, the entire island of Krakoa had become a single monstrous mutant, similar to theAspidochelone of legend. It needs the mutants in order to leech their life-energy. Both teams escape as Krakoa is ripped from the ocean bed, hurled into space, and apparently dies. While the issue would be celebrated for revitalizing the X-Men, the character / setting of Krakoa was revived only very sporadically untilJonathan Hickman's 2019 X-Men storyline. "House of X and Powers of X". In those miniseries (which established the premise of the X-Men comics going forward), the mutants have established communication with Krakoa and agreed to live on it in a symbiotic relationship, establishing the island as an independent mutant nation-state.
The grandchild of Krakoa,Krakoa III, acted as the school grounds for theJean Grey School for Higher Learning in theWolverine and the X-Men series.
Krakoa was originally depicted as a small island in the Pacific Ocean that was located close to nuclear bombing tests.[2] The radiation mutated the island's ecosystem into a hive-mind entity.[3]Nick Fury and hiscommando team were accidental witnesses to the bomb drop which created Krakoa in early 1945, and soon afterwards crashed on and encountered the island's collective intelligence, with whom they arranged a peaceful parting in exchange for keeping its existence a secret.[4]
It was revealed Krakoa used to be part of a larger land mass known asOkkara alongsideArakko. Okarra itself was originally Grove of theThreshold.[5] The two were separated byAnnihilation wielding the Twilight Sword of Amenth during a Daemon invasion. Arakko was sealed in the realm of Amenth byApocalypse until he could build an army to fend of the demon hordes.[6]
However, Krakoa later became hungry for the unique life energy created bymutants. It was responsible for the deaths of a team of young mutants, composed ofPetra,Sway,Darwin, andKid Vulcan, from a parallel X-Men team led byMoira MacTaggert. Darwin and Kid Vulcan survived, but were trapped within Krakoa. Krakoa was later able to capture the originalX-Men (Cyclops,Angel,Havok,Iceman,Jean Grey, andPolaris), which led to the subsequent formation of the new team of X-Men (Colossus,Nightcrawler,Storm,Sunfire,Thunderbird,Banshee, andWolverine). The new X-Men team found the original X-Men and by using her powers, Polaris launched Krakoa into outer space.[3]
Krakoa was later apparently found and captured for study by the cosmic entity known as theStranger, as seen whenQuasar visited one of his 'laboratory worlds'.[7] Krakoa was eventually freed along with many other specimens and was last seen orbiting around Earth until the energy wave fromM-Day and theCollective awakenedVulcan.[8][9] It is also revealed that before it was shot into outer space, Krakoa released several spores from itself, which later plagued the X-Men.[10]
A spawn of Krakoa was created and brutally raised by Maximillian Frankenstein and planted on the grounds of theJean Grey School for Higher Learning by theHellfire Club. It attacked the school but was calmed byKid Omega andMarvel Girl and happily existed alongside the X-Men as the school grounds.[11]
TheHouse of X and Powers of X storyline transformed Krakoa into a sovereign nation state for the entire mutant race.[1][12][13][14] The Krakoan "Habitat" structures were self-sustained environments which functioned as an extension of Krakoa's shared consciousness. While the main body of Krakoa was situated in the Pacific Ocean, parts of it also existed off the coast of Africa in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, located south of theAzores and west of theCanary Islands. An island chain, which includes the Pointe, Transit, and Danger Island, was linked to the main island in the same interconnected manner as the habitats.[1][13][14] The lair of Emma Frost and Bar Sinister were incorporated into Krakoa.
These habitats were connected by Gateways that allowed instantaneous travel from one part of Krakoa to another. The gateways could only be accessed by mutants but if a mutant brought a human with them voluntarily, that human needed Krakoa's permission to use the gateway. During the Krakoan Age, Krakoa expanded to theBlue Area of the Moon, the Green Area onMars and beyond the solar system. Some of these structures served as embassies around several countries on Earth.[1][12][15][16][17] Variouspharmaceuticals could also only be produced from flowers grown on Krakoa such as special pills that extend human life by five years, a "universal" antibiotic and a cure for "disease of the mind, in humans" – these pharmaceuticals were only available to nations that recognized Krakoa's sovereignty.[1][12][18][19] Krakoan as a national language was introduced in this era;Jonathan Hickman described it as "mutantdom's firstautochthonous language" created byCypher.[20] He noted that it "is a manufactured language and is not the native language of Krakoa the living mutant island. The language of Krakoa is untranslatable, and almost any human/mutant brains are incapable of comprehending it", with Cypher as the "only known exception".[20]
During the thirdHellfire Gala (July 2023), Krakoa was attacked byOrchis; the mutants there were forced through Gateways and initially thought to be lost.[21][22][23] However, these "mutants landed in an arid wasteland".[24] Unbeknownst to them,Mother Righteous had transported Atlantic Krakoa into theWhite Hot Room which allowed the surviving mutants to rebuild.[25] The X-Men trapped there managed to escape back to Earth and defeat Orchis.[23]X-Men #35 (June 2024), legacyUncanny X-Men #700, marked the official end of the Krakoan Age with a brief opening to the White Hot Room. Fifteen years had passed for the mutants within, who flourished in "New Krakoa" while continuing the vision of the original mutant nation.[23][26] After briefly visiting Earth, New Krakoa and the majority of its inhabitants return to the White Hot Room permanently.[27][28]
InInvincible Iron Man (vol. 4) #20,Tony Stark fulfills Emma Frost's request for a Krakoan mutant memorial. WithIronheart's help, they craft the memorial "out of an abandoned Krakoan gate in Manhattan, with the inscription: 'Dedicated to Those Who Paid the Ultimate Price to Fight Fascism'".[29] InNYX (vol. 2),Prodigy teaches a class titled "Examinations of Post-KrakoanDiaspora" atEmpire State University, withKamala Khan andSophie Cuckoo as students.[30][31][32]
During the crossover storylines "X-Manhunt" and "One World Under Doom", Charles Xavier escapesGraymalkin Prison and travels to New York City with the goal of recovering a Cerebro helmet. However, he informed NYX mutants that his mission was to recover the last Krakoa Seed which had been stolen byDoctor Doom. While Xavier pursued his own objective,Anole and Ms. Marvel successfully locate the seed at the old X-Men Treehouse. Despite their success, Xavier abandons them to continue his personal mission. Unbeknownst to the NYX mutants, the true Krakoa Seed is in the hands ofMojo and his majordomo Fauna. Mojo plans to use the Krakoa Seed to control New York City and transform it into a version of Mojo's domain.[33]
The Quiet Council of Krakoa is a fictional council of mutantsuperheroes andsupervillains which governed mutantkind during theKrakoan Age.[13][34][35][36] The twelve-member governing body was divided up into four sections (with three seats each) along with an adjunct section.[37][34]
In 2020,CBR.com ranked Krakoa 3rd in their "10 Most Powerful Fictional Nations In the Marvel Universe" list.[38] In 2021,Screen Rant included Krakoa in their "10 Most Important Fictional Marvel Comics Countries" list.[39]
Academic Brett Butler in theJournal of Science Fiction viewed Krakoa as "an integral part of the narrative" during theKrakoan Age, commenting that while "Xavier has established the mutant society on Krakoa, the island itself actually controls all of the major aspects of that society".[13]: 76–77 Butler highlighted that "Hickman and other writers show how mutants declare independence through exclusive trade, create laws and punishment, establish mass transit routes, identify a national language, and negotiate property rights—none of which would be possible without the island of Krakoa providing the means and/or permitting them to do so".[13]: 77 Readers have been divided as to whether the storyline is intended as an extended allegory for the state ofIsrael.[40]
Krakoa appears as a map inMarvel Rivals.[42][43]
Powers of X #4 was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).