Dorrek VII was the first Skrull monarch encountered by the Fantastic Four. He first appeared in “Fantastic Four” vol. 1 #18 (September, 1963). According to #206 (May, 1979), Dorrek rose to the throne by assassinating his predecessor and marrying Princess R’Klll, daughter of said predecessor. In “Iron Man” vol. 1 #65 (January, 1974), Dorrek was revealed to be responsible for trapping his political rival Krimonn into a small crystalline form. The crystal was later empowered by the Grandmaster and became the source of power for a series of Doctor Spectrums. “Marvel: The Lost Generation” #11 (Aprli, 2000) clarified that Dorrek was Emperor for several years before the formation of the Fantastic Four. He had already sent scout missions on Earth at the time of the First Line heroes.
Dorrek was first depicted attending a demonstration of the powers of the first Super-Skrull/Kl’rt. He considered him ready to face the Fantastic Four and send him to challenge them. He monitored the battle and witnessed the defeat of his agent. In #32 (November, 1964), Dorrek arranged for the abduction of Dr. Franklin Storm and his replacement by the Super-Skrull. The latter was to set a trap for Franklin’s children, Susan and Johnny. He failed and the Skrulls send Franklin back to Earth … with explosives on his chest. Franklin died while attempting to distance himself from his children, protecting them to the end.
In #37 (April, 1965), Dorrek was informed that Morrat, military officer and prospective son-in-law of Dorrek, had captured the Fantastic Four but had kept it a secret. Realizing that Morrat was simply figuring how to use this capture to gain the Skrull throne, Dorrek led his guard against his would-be successor. Despite protests by his daughter Anelle, Dorrek had Morrat executed. He ignored a challenge to a duel by Morrat, claiming a “traitor” had no right to trial-by-combat. Anelle was almost killed while trying to reach Morrat, but was saved by the Invisible Girl. Dorrek proclaimed that he owed the Four a favor for saving his daughter. They asked for the Skrull responsible for killing Franklin to be surrendered to them. Dorrek pointed them to the convienently deceased Morrat and allowed the Four to depart in peace.
In #48 (March, 1968), Dorrek had parts of the Skrull Empire shut out all equipment and maintain communication silence. He was trying to avoid detection by Galactus and Silver Surfer who were passing through Skrull space. The two cosmic-level threats passed them by without incident. In “Captain Marvel” vol. 1 #2 (June, 1968), Dorrek located a Kree agent active on Earth, Captain Mar-Vell. He had no idea what the Kree planned for Earth but sent Super-Skrull to eliminate their agent. He promised Kl’rt great rewards in case of success but threatened to personally hunt him down in case of failure. Kl’rt failed and consequently became a wanted fugitive by Dorrek’s orders.
In “Avengers” vol. 1 #94 (December, 1971) , Dorrek was involved in a Kree-Skrull War. Super-Skrull attempted to bargain for a restoration of his status as an officer in exchange for the captured Captain Mar-Vell, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Dorrek actually arrested all four of them, ignoring Anelle pleading in their favor. Actually he accused Anelle of failing to recognize potential threats to the throne, a poor sign for a heiress apparent. He bemoaned not having a son to succeed him. He admitted to not being able to torture Mar-Vell for information due to the Convention of Fomax, a standing interstellar treaty which protected the fate of prisoners. Not being Kree citizens, Pietro and Wanda were fair game. Dorrek used them as hostages, forcing Mar-Vell to start working on the Omni-Wave, a powerful weapon. In #96 (February, 1972), Dorrek was observing the ongoing battle between a Skrull fleet and the Avengers while waiting for Mar-Vell to finish the construction of the weapon. However the prisoner managed to escape, taking Pietro and Wanda with him. In retaliation Dorrek initiated Plan Delta, authorizing the destruction of planet Earth. In #97 (March, 1972), Dorrek was forced to accept a new peace treaty with the Kree, ending the War with no obvious victor.
In “Fantastic Four” vol. 1 #205 (April, 1979), Dorrek was leading an attack against planet Xandar, homebase of the Nova Corps. He was angered to realize three of the Fantastic Four were among the defense forces (Invisible Girl, Mr. Fantastic, Thing). In #206 (May, 1979), he was thrilled to see all three captured. He had them placed on trial for crimes against the Skrull. They were found guilty and placed under the effects of a metabolic booster. Its main effects was that they were aging at rapid speed and would reach terminal condition in three days. (The effects were reversed in time for them to survive). However Dorrek still had to worry about the ongoing conflict. The arrival of his wife led to the spouses arguing over matters of policy, sufficient distraction for the three prisoners to flee. Dorrek did not bother to have them recaptured, considering them harmless in their aged state despite protests by R’Klll. He was in fact fed up with his wife and started planning her assassination, unaware that the feelings were mutual and his own assassination was already planned out. In #209 (August, 1979), Dorrek was preoccupied with giving commands and failed to realize R’Klll was pointing a weapon at him. He was shot in the back and died instantly.
According to “Young Avengers” #10 (March, 2006), Dorrek found out that Anelle had given birth to Captain Mar-Vell’s son. He considered a Skrull-Kree hybrid as his only grandson to be an embarassment and issued orders for the execution of said grandson. However Dorrek VIII was send to Earth for safery reasons instead. In “New Avengers:Illuminati” #1 (February, 2007), Dorrek was retreating from Earth following the Kree-Skrull War when attacked by the Illuminati (Black Bolt, Dr. Strange, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Professor X and the Sub-Mariner). He had the overconfident attackers captured, tortured and retrieved DNA samples from them. They later managed to escape but Dorrek planned to use the samples for the creation of super-soldiers. In “New Avengers” #40 (June, 2008) and #44 (October, 2008), Dorrek was overseeing the creation of clones of the Illuminati, among the first uses of the valuable samples.
Abilities
Dorrek had the shape-shifting abilities of an average Skrull. He could assume the shape of another person or object but was limited in the distribution of mass required for the transformation. He could not assume the form of someone with twice his own mass or with less a 3/4 of his mass. The Skrulls live longer than humans, average age of death being 210 years. An average Skrull is about as strong as an average Earth human being of the same physical age, height, and build who engages in the same amount of exercise.
Other Media
Video Games
Dorrek VII appears as a boss character in the NES Silver Surfer game.