Real Name: Kallark
Occupation: Praetor (leader) of the elite corps of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard.
Identity: Publicly known to the citizens of the Shi’ar Empire.
Legal Status: Citizen of the Shi’ar Empire
Other Aliases: None
Place of Birth: Unrevealed planet in the Shi’ar Galaxy.
Marital Status: Unrevealed
Known Relatives: None
Base of Operations: Shi’ar Imperial Throneworld, Shi’ar Galaxy
Group Affiliation: Shi’ar Imperial Guard
First Appearance: X-MEN #107

History: Nothing has yet been revealed about the origin of Gladiator, leader within the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, an army of superhumanly powerful beings from planets within the Shi’ar Galaxy that enforces Shi’ar Imperial law. Gladiator leads the elite corps of the Imperial Guard that protects and carries out the personal directives of the majestor or majestrix (emperor or empress) of the entire Shi’ar Galaxy.

Gladiator’s first known encounter with Earth people came when he and other Guard member battled the X-Men on the order of the mad former Shi’ar Emperor D’ken. After D’ken was deposed, his sister Lilandra Neramani became majestrix, and hence the Imperial Guard and Gladiator obeyed her. When Lilandra made it known to the X-Men that she intended to end the potentialmenace she believed was posed to the universe by the first X-Man known as Pheonix, Lilandra’s lover, Professor Charles Xavier, demanded that the matter be resolved through a trial by combat. In this trial Gladiator and other Imperial Guard members were again pitted against the X-Men.

Later, Gladiator came to Earth and battled the Fantastic Four in the mistaken belief that they were alien Skrulls who had used their powers to alter their appearance.

Lilandra’s sister Deathbird staged a successful coup and became the new majestrix of the Shi’ar Empire. Despite Gladiator’s loyalty to Lilandra, who is now a hunted fugitive in her own empire, and despite his qualms about certain aspect of Deathbird’s rule, Gladiator continues to serve the Shi’ar Empire in his role as a praetor of the Imperial Guard.

More recently, Kallark was among the Imperial Guard confined to Earth. During this time, Kallark sought out the X-Men in an attempt to force them to battle the alien menace known as the Phalanx in his stead. Kallark and the Guard have since returned to active duty in Shi'ar space.

Height: 6 ft. 6 in.
Weight: 595 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Dark Blue

Strength Level: Gladiator possesses Class 100 strength, enabling him to lift (press) over 100 tons. The uppermost limit of Gladiator’s strength is unknown. He has proved capable of uprooting the entire 35 floor original Baxter Building, and has boasted to be able to move planets. Possibly Gladiator employs technical means to boost his strength enough to lift (press) beyond what others in the Class 100 strength category can lift.

Known Superhuman Powers: Gladiator is the most powerful known member of the Imperial Guard. In addition to his extraordinary strength, he is virtually invulnerable, and has survived an explosion of nearly nova force uninjured. However, he is vulnerable to certain unspecified wavelengths of radiation.

Gladiator can fly at speeds rivaling those of starships, and can achieve faster than light speeds in hyperspace. He can survive unprotected in the vacuum of outer space, and apparently either does not need to breath or can survive for long periods of time (as when he flies through outer space) without breathing.

Gladiator can project intense heat, possibly infrared radiation, in beams from his eyes. This heat is said to reach temperatures comparable to those produced by stars.

Gladiator himself has claimed to be capable of moving planets and flying through the hearts of stars. He may have been indulging in hyperbole in saying this, for his powers have not been demonstrated to be that great.

Although Gladiator’s Class 100 strength and a large measure of his near-invulnerability are indeed physical traits, it has been theorized that he covertly employs Shi’ar technology to amplify these powers at times. The technology also enables him to perform other feats: for example, when he uprooted the original Baxter Building, Shi’ar devices prevented the building from crumbling under its own weight. Observing Gladiator’s actions. Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four theorized that Gladiator’s powers were in part psionic, but the theory that Gladiator uses technological aids now appears to be the correct one.

Susan Richards of the Fantastic Four once knocked Gladiator unconscious with her force field when he was momentarily in doubt about the effectiveness of his own powers. Reed Richards hypothesized that Gladiator’s vulnerability to the field was the result of a brief weakening of his will power, and hence of the psionic reinforcement of his resistance to injury. However, it is also possible that Gladiator’s vulnerability to the field was a delayed aftereffect of his earlier exposure to an unknown form of radiation that was apparently capable of killing him.