Origin
Ko-Rel was a Kree soldier holding the rank of Stellar Captain during the Annihilation War, but specialized in battlefield medicine. She was stationed on the Kree Outworld planet of Drez-Lar, a Kree colony. The planet was ravaged during the war, forcing all of its nineteen million inhabitants to be evacuated. Ko-Rel was on the light cruiser Spirit of Supremor, one of the last ships to depart because of acting as a rearguard. The ship was brought down due to enemy fire and has been stranded there ever since. There were only 102 survivors in the crash and Ko-Rel was the highest ranking of them, putting her in charge.
Every day for an entire year, Ko-Rel fired up the ship’s subsystems to broadcast a distress signal, not sure if the communication systems even work. One morning an object crash-landed on Drez-Lar from space. Ko-Rel and a few soldiers suited up to investigate the nature of the object. When Ko-Rel descended into the impact crater she found the badly damaged and rapidly dying body of Nova, the last remaining member of the Nova Corps. As Ko-Rel got close, she heard the voice of Worldmind in her head and was imbued with the power of a Nova Centurion after an emergency deputization with the one goal of protecting the Nova Prime as he healed.
Creation
Ko-Rel was created by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Sean Chen in the Nova series tie-in to Annihilation Conquest. The character was the first new Nova Centurion created since the Nova Corps’ destruction during Annihilation.
Character Evolution
Originally, Ko-Rel existed only as a tragic but heroic character who died for Rich Rider’s sake and would continue on in his memories.
Ko-Rel, after a fashion, later returned as the new personality template for the Xandarian Worldmind. Her memories and personality changed the relationship between the Worldmind and Rich from a father/son dynamic to something closer to one between sister and brother.
Major Story Arcs
Annihilation Conquest
For further details: Annihilation Conquest
Rich Rider entered a self-regeneration mode and Worldmind informed Ko-Rel that her duty was to defend him from the Phalanx. Through the Worldmind, she discovered all about the Phalanx’s conquest of Kree space. The fate of her son, Zam, was her biggest concern, but she did not have the option of leaving the planet to find him. The Phalanx attacked, slaughtering the minor defense her band of refugees were able to put up. She let the Phalanx away, not knowing that Gamora was also there and a Select of the Phalanx. She returned to discovered that her whole unit was dead and Rider had been taken by the Phalanx.
The Worldmind gave Ko-Rel a new mission. She had to kill Rider. He was a Select now, and it was only a matter of time before the Worldmind itself became compromised. That could not be allowed to happen. She ambushed Rider on another world, Nil-Rast. She only had a fraction of his power, but the Worldmind guided her actions. By luring him into a geothermal plant and catching him in a blast of magma, Ko-Rel had her opening to kill Rider. She could not kill him in cold blood, though.
Gamora attacked her from behind while she was distracted and stabbed a blade into her back, killing her.
In death, Ko-Rel gave her power back to Richard Rider, giving him just the edge he would need to fight off the effects of assimilation. The battle took place in his mind where symbolic representations of past Nova Centurions were fighting the technophage. Ko-Rel was among them. As Rider freed himself, she asked that he save her son.
War of Kings
For further details: War of Kings
In an attempt to find a new and more permanent vessel, Worldmind attempted to inhabit the mind and body of Ego the Living Planet. Ego corrupted the Worldmind and the Living Planet was eventually lobotmized by Rider. Ego’s influence had severely damaged Worldmind’s personality matrix, so Worldmind replaced its original personality with that of Ko-Rel, which Worldmind had saved in it’s memory.
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Powers and Abilities
Originally, Ko-Rel was a normal blue-skinned Kree and a member of the Kree military. As Nova 0001, she possessed the power of a standard Nova Centurion. This power included increased physical strength, flight and gravimetric energy blasts.
Being a member of the Kree military, Ko-Rel was the recipient of all the training that came with being a typical Kree soldier. Her specialization as a battlefield medic gave her medical knowledge much beyond the average person.
As the Xandarian Worldmind the personality of Ko-Rel has access to the entire Nova Force, potential influeence over any member of the Nova Corps, as well as nearly unsurpassed knowledge and intellect.