Ronan

Origin

Ronan is a member of the Kree empire aristocracy, a small group of Kree who can trace their ancestry back to the original Kree tribes on their home planet Hala. After Ronan completes his formal education, he is enrolled in the Kree Public Accuser Corps. Ronan responds well to his training, and is constantly promoted. Finally, in an incident on the Kree border , he stops a fleet of Skrull ships from entering the Kree’s airspace. For this, he is made Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire, responsible for enforcing the laws and decrees of the Supreme Intelligence.

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Creation

Ronan was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Fantastic Four #65 (1967).

Major Story Arcs

Versus the Fantastic Four

Ronan’s duties have caused him to encounter many of Earth’s heroes. Ronan’s first Earth encounter on Earth is with Fantastic Four. When the Fantastic Four take a vacation on the island of T-Vu in the South Pacific, they are attacked by Kree Sentry 459, who was left on the island many thousand years ago. The last instructions of the Sentry was to keep any intruders off the island. When the Fantastic Four destroy the Sentry, the Supreme Intelligence sends them a dream during which they are instructed to await their trial and execution by Ronan. Ronan makes an attack against the Fantastic Four, but he is ultimately defeated.

Inhumans

He was with the Kree when they attacked the Inhumans. He is seen first when Black Bolt and Medusa came upon the ship to see who is attacking. Black Bolt rushes to attack Ronan but is caught in a stasis field. Ronan then tells the fainted Black Bolt that things are going to change. Ronan tells the Inhuman that they belong to the Kree and they were born to be servants to spread throughout the galaxy. He also tells them that Black Bolt will be second in command. Ronan sends the Inhumans to fight a Shiar ship. Ronan sends Black Bolt, Medusa and Gorgon to a rest stop in the galaxy to kill the master of guilds of the Shiar. Ronan sees how Maximus lead the Alpha Primitives to attack sent him to the Negative Zone. Ronan is challenged by Black Bolt to a duel to win the freedom of the Inhumans. Ronan loses.

Annihilation

During the Annihilation story arc Ronan is accused of treason and must clear his name. Ronan makes his way to the planet of Godthab Omega to find the witness who has testified against him. On this planet he encounters the assassin Gamora and her group of warriors known as the Graces, one of whom is the witness in question ( Tana Nile). Although Ronan eventually discovers that it was an individual in the Fiyero House of the Kree who planned his betrayal, Tana Nile dies (a victim of the Annihilation wave) before a specific name can be given to him. By the mini-series end, Ronan sets off for Hala to defend the Kree empire from the approaching Annihilation Wave. He joins the United Front led by Nova his an attempt to defend off the Annihilation Wave.

Later, Ronan returns to Hala with Super-Skrull to dethrone the House Fiyero. After knocking Ravenous unconscious and murdering the House Fiyero, Ronan attempts to locate the Supreme Intelligence, only to find that it was lobotomized by the Fiyero. Killing it in mercy, Ronan exits its chamber to thunderous cheers. Ronan becomes ruler of the Kree Empire.

Annihilation Conquest

Ronan was attempting to return the Kree empire to it’s former glory in the midst of the return of the Phalanx during the Annihilation Conquest. He failed and was enslaved to the Phalanx for a time as one of their Select. Freed from his servitude by Wraith, Ronan would ally himself with Wraith, Super Skrull, Praxagora, Ra-Venn and even his hated foe Ravenous to repel the Phalanx and once more set to rebuilding the Kree empire.

As of the end of the Secret Invasion: Inhumans miniseries, Ronan has renewed the Kree’s ties with the Inhumans by forging an alliance with the Inhumans royal family wherein he assisted them in freeing Black Bolt from Skrull captivity in exchange for being promised Crystal’s hand in marriage.

War of Kings

As the Inhumans wanted to get their revenge on the Skrulls, they attacked them and destroyed their fleeing vessels. After their attack on the Skrulls, the Inhumans then invaded the Kree empire and forced Ronan to bow down to Black Bolt. Ronan was set to marry Crystal of the Inhuman Royal Family. As she talked with Polaris about how she is only marrying him to bring the Kree and Inhumans together, Ronan overheard her and was somewhat heart-broken. As they were about to get married, they were attacked the the Shi’ar and the Imperial Guard who were serving under Emperor Vulcan. As Crystal was being attacked, Ronan came to save her but he was double teamed and taken out as well. Thus began the War of Kings.

Ronan was still gravely injured from the attack by the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, but his stubbornness and refusal to die kept him alive. Crystal stayed by his side, watching over him and trying to make him feel better and tell him about them having the upper hand in the war. She confirms to him that their wedding ceremony was completed and they truly are married. Ronan, from all the Kree, saw best of what the Inhuman rule over the Kree could do for his race. Ronan appreciated the help of the Inhumans as he knew that the Kree needed rescuing from genetic stagnancy. Ronan learned of the Uplift Program, designed by the Inhumans, which would further evolve them to make them superior. This Program would not be a success, but during this time feelings begin to grow between Ronan and Crystal.

Annihilators

When the threat of universal destruction was eminent during the Thanos Imperative, Ronan was chosen by Nova to be a part of his cosmic heavy hitters to launch a sneak attack on the evil Lord Mar-Vell. But even the two of them with the Silver Surfer, Gladiator, Quasar and Beta Ray Bill were not enough to stop Mar-Vell. After his escape, Ronan and the others fought off the invading forces of the Cancerverse at the Fault. They all soon learned it was Starlord’s wish to have them form a team of the strongest in the universe, the people who could truly guard it. The team was dubbed the Annihilators and their first threat came in the form of the Dire Wraith sorcerer Doctor Dredd. Ronan, despite being arguably the weakest of the group, showed his value by absorbing the energies of the sorcerer and knocking him out with his Universal Weapon. Dredd would soon be revealed to be a skrull impostor and defeated. During this mission, Ronan combined his energy manipulation powers with those of Silver Surfer and Quasar to fuse 2 stars.

Powers

Being of the Kree and in good shape, Ronan has strength, stamina, and speed beyond that of the normal human as well as a faster healing factor. As a public accuser Ronan also has a tactical mind, superior combat skills, increased intelligence, and the ability to adapt to different environments. Ronan can normally lift or press around 10 tons and around 80 tons while in his armor.

Ronan usually wears a suit of cybernetic armor that enhances all of his natural abilities as well as protecting him. His armor contains scanners, a cloaking device, can generate electric charges, and allows the user to freeze targets. It also allows Ronan to fire powerful blasts from his eyes.

Being the Kree Supreme Public Accuser Ronan wields a Universal Weapon. The one that Ronan wields is the most powerful. This weapon allows it’s wielder to fire blasts of energy, create force fields, and fly. This weapon also allows Ronan to harness cosmic energy for a variety of effects including matter and energy manipulation. The combination of his brute strength and the powers of his Universal Weapon have allowed Ronan to hold his own against the likes of Thor, Black Bolt, Gladiator, Colossus, the Thing, Ravenous, Silver Surfer, Iron Man and Human Torch, among others.

When he was supercharged with Ego’s energies, he became gigantic and powerful enough to gain the upper hand against a team that included Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Hercules, Namor, Wonder Man, Colossus, the Thing, Iron Man, Human Torch and more.

Ronan also wields a blaster as a sidearm.

Alternate Versions

Ultimate Ronan (Earth-1610)

Ronan is one of the sons of Thanos. He was Accuser of Empire Endless Resurgence (Aceron Empire). His task was to suppress the rebellion and to stop riots and disturbances. He used the Ultimate Weapon, which gave him much of his powers: super-strength (able to lift more than 50 tons) and endurance.

Ultimate Weapon can manage any samples of energy, protect the owner of the physical and energy attacks, allows him to shoot energy beams, to reorient teleportation rays to heal his wounds, is also able to extinguish the flames Human Torch.

It is associated with the genetic structure of Ronan, if someone else tries to seize weapons, it will burn caught. Despite the loyalty of the Empire, Ronan primarily devoted to the law. When Thanos had ordered him to kill all men older than 10 years, stopping the uprising on the planet Pyx, Ronan found an excuse to ignore instructions.

Instead, he destroyed the Parliament, using bombs painfully executed senators, and the family were sent to Aceron, as slaves. Believing in the power of symbols, he left the ruined buildings and abandoned corpses as a reminder to future generations, impeding further uprisings.

Later he returned to the Pyx, hunting for the Fantastic Four, who are in Aceron’s space. Foresaw that the fugitives would try to teleport to the Pyx as soon as they can, Ronan has surrounded the ruins of the Senate, and then used the Ultimate Weapon, to capture their signal teleport and pull four in place between the world Pyx and Earth’s New York. Informing people that they are charged, he demanded that they obeyed him.

Quartet and Seed Nineteen attacked Ron, but it turned out that he is on his forces, while with Ultimate Weapon. Mr. Fantastic ordered both groups to combine their forces to reflect the effect Ultimate Weapon back to Ronan, forcing the Prosecutor to drop it. After which the existing seized weapons and disabled Ronan.

Ultimate Ronan #2: Grand Admiral Ro-Nan (Earth-1610)

On the final day of the Kree-Chitauri War, the Third Kree Armada lead by Grand Admiral Ro-Nan engaged Admiral Kalxor’s Chitauri armada in Sector 2310 several light-years from the Raela system, but during the midst of battle the science officer aboard Ro-Nan’s flagship discovered the presence of the Gah Lak Tus swarm in a nearby system along with the forming of a massive rift in the fabric of time and space.

After getting clearance from his superiors, Ro-Nan contacted Admiral Kalxor and tried to negotiate a temporary ceasefire in order to deal with Gah Lak Tus, who was heading directly for the armada, but Kalxor refused to ally himself with Ro-Nan even as Kalxor’s own science officer confirmed the truth. When the Gah Lak Tus swarm arrived and began to devour their armadas, Ro-Nan and Kalxor were forced to join forces in order to save their people.

Rick Jones, who had been observing them with a Watcher, joined in on the fight and helped them fight Gah Lak Tus but things quickly went downhill when the aftershock of Ultron’s defeat on Earth-616 permanently shattered the entire space-time continuum and pulled Galactus to the Ultimate Universe, who ripped open a hole in reality and emerged into their universe.

While Gah Lak Tus and Galactus merged into a single being, Rick Jones helped Ro-Nan and Kalxor’s forces retreat to planet 3.14 in the Raela system where a triage facility was set up. Unfortunately, Galactus followed them all to the planet and unleashed a swarm of tiny Gah Lak Tus drones upon the wounded, but thanks to Rick Jones and the Silver Searcher, Ro-Nan and his soldiers were able to return to the Kree flagship.

When Rick Jones noticed that the Kree flagship seemed to be making a run for it, he appeared before Ro-Nan demanding an explanation for the Admiral’s actions. After formally introducing himself, Ro-Nan revealed that was going to destroy the Raelan sun using a doomsday device in order to destroy Gah Lak Tus and Galactus and that even if the first attempt failed he would continue destroying stars until the world-devourers were no more.

By the time Rick Jones pleaded for Ro-Nan to reconsider, he had already launched the weapon into the Raelan sun and ignited a massive supernova that Galactus consumed along with the billions of innocent people who were being burned alive by the explosion. It is not known whether Ro-Nan managed to leave Sector 2310 in time or if he ended up a victim of Galactus’ voracious hunger and his own doomsday weapon.

Other Media

Television

Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes

Ronan creates the Super Skrull and seeks revenge on the Human Torch. He was voiced by Michael Dobson.

Silver Surfer

Ronan can be seen appearing in the background with the Wanderers in the Silver Surfer animated series.

The Super Hero Squad Show

Ronan appears in the episode “Alienating With the Silver Surfer”, voiced by Michael Dorn.

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes

Ronan appears in the episodes “Welcome to the Kree Empire” and “Operation Galactic Storm”, voiced by Keith Szarabajka.

Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers

Ronan appears in two episodes of this Japanese anime, voiced by Hiroshi Shirokuma.

Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.

Ronan appears in the episodes “Planet Hulk” and “A Druff Is Enough”, voiced by James C. Mathis III.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

Ronan appears in the series, voiced by Jonathan Adams.

Film

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Ronan appears as the main antagonist of the Guardians of the Galaxy, working as part of an alliance with Thanos. He is portrayed by Lee Pace.

In the film, Ronan is a Kree terrorist who sets out to destroy Xanadar after the planet reaches a peaceful accord with the Kree empire following thousands of years of combat. Viewing peace as unacceptable, Ronan partners with Thanos and his daughter Nebula to destroy Xandar. Thanos tasks Ronan with recovering a mysterious orb, but when Ronan realizes the orb contains the Power Stone, one of the legendary Infinity Stones, he turns on his partner and decides to use the stone to wipe out Xandar himself. At the climax of the film, Ronan is killed by Star-Lord and the Guardians.

Captain Marvel (2019)

Lee Pace reprises his role in Captain Marvel, which features a younger version of Ronan from back in the 1990s. This version of the character is still loyal to the Kree Empire and serves as the leader of the Accusers. He also wears a green uniform more reminiscent of the one he sports in the comics.

Video Games

• Avengers in Galactic Storm: Ronan the Accuser appears in this Japanese fighting game from Data East. He is not a playable fighter, but appears as an Assist Character that can be summoned to help out the player. He attacks opponents with his Universal Weapon. This was the first video game to feature the character.
• Marvel Avengers Alliance – Ronan appears as a boss character in Special Operation 20.
• Lego Marvel Super Heroes – Ronan appears as an unlockable character in the game.

• Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes – Ronan appears as a playable character in the Marvel Super Heroes expansion, voiced by James C. Mathis III. He sports an appearance inspired by his look in the live-action movie rather than his comic counterpart.

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  Marvel Avengers Alliance 2 – Ronan appears in the sequel as well.

• Marvel Contest of Champions – Ronan appears as a playable character in this mobile fighting game.

• Marvel Future Fight – Ronan appears in this mobile game.
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order – Ronan appears as a boss character, with James C. Mathis III reprising his role.

Merchandise

• Ronan was featured in ToyBiz’s Silver Surfer action figure line.
• Hasbro released a Marvel Legends Build-a-Figure of Ronan, which could be constructed after buying all the corresponding figures in the wave.
• Ronan was featured in the HeroClix figure game in both his comic and movie incarnations.
• Hasbro released various Ronan action figures for the Guardians live-action movie.
• Lego released a Ronan minifig as part of their Guardians line.
• Hasbro released a Marvel Legends figure of Ronan as he appeared in the Guardians of the Galaxy live-action movie, which was released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.