Starfox

Origin

Approximately 750,000 years ago, Alars, a member of the Eternals of Earth, a cosmic-powered sub-species of humanity, departed from Earth after his brother Zuras became the Eternals leader. Alars journeyed to Titan, a moon of Saturn, where a band of exiled Eternal settlers had slaughtered each other in war. Alars married the only survivor, a young woman named Sui-San, and they transformed Titan into a paradise. Alars ruled the Eternals of Titan as Mentor and created ISAAC, a computer which serviced all of Titan’s technological needs. Starfox also known by Eros, was raised on the Saturn moon of Titan and was the youngest son of Mentor and Sui-San. Eros has always had an easy-going outlook on life while his brother, Thanos, in turn has always been obsessed with Death. Eros took it upon himself to find love and sensual pleasures for himself. He spent several years on Earth and became part of Earth’s legends perpetuating the Eros and cupid myth. His time on Earth and his time on Titan characterized him as carefree explorative and he developed into somewhat of a lothario. It was when Thanos and Super-Skrull attacked Titan, that Eros returned home. Tension would only rise with his brother from that point onwards and Starfox would have to battle his own blood many times again. Starfox has actually met many a hero this way, by joining forces with them to oppose his brother Thanos, and one such hero he met this way was Kree Warrior Captain Mar-vell. The two would go on to be friends. It was also around this time that Starfox learned the grim truth about his mother Sui-San after Thanos revealed it was he who killed her. At some point Starfox’s friend Captain Mar-vell would fall gravely ill with cancer. After the death of Captain Mar-Vell, Eros decided to look after his son, Genis-Vell. Eros soon joined Earth’s Avengers and used the code name Starfox. He played a major role in helping to stop Thanos’ mad plans in trying to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet and the Shi’ar-Kree war known as Operation Galactic Storm.

Creation

Starfox is a Marvel comics character, and was created by Jim Starlin and Mike Friedrich. He first appears in Iron Man #55 released in 1973. Similarly to how his brother Thanos is inspired by the idea of death and takes his name from the daemon personification of death in Greek mythology Thanatos, Starfox takes his name and inspiration from the Greek god of love Eros.

Character Evolution

Starfox has been fairly consistent since his conception save for gaining more depth as a character and more refinement. This is most likely due to being introduced alongside a multitude of other characters, namely the Eternals with preexisting relationships and rivalries, saving a need to explore potential new paths for the character. Though in many ways Starfox is his older brother Thanos polar opposite, he has also always been cast in his shadow, with Thanos moving on to grander and greater schemes and interactions with the inhabitants of the Marvel Universe, and Starfox usually used as a supporting character. His last major appearance in the 2005 She Hulk title used him in a humorous twist and shed some light on the potential evils of his powers.

Major Story Arcs

Early Life

The youngest son of Mentor and Sui-San, Eros had the natural ability to excite pleasure in others, but unfortunately his power had no effect upon his mutant older brother, Thanos, who worshiped the cosmic embodiment of Death and led an army against Titan. During this assault, Thanos killed and dissected Sui-San, trying to learn why he was born different from everyone else. While his brother was captivated by Death, Eros loved life, and began visiting other systems for adventure and romance. Eros even visited Earth at least once, and was remembered in some of Earth’s legends. He had many lovers, but his only steady relationship was with a prostitute named Heather Delight. Eros later helped Heather escape more than one possessive master, including Dark Roger and Axel the Rescorlan. While she was the property of Pro-Boscis the Procurer, Heather kept Eros from saving her because she didn’t want his face damaged; she instead manipulated Pip the Troll into saving her.

In recent times, Thanos had conquered Titan with another army, slaughtering most of the Titans until Mentor and Eros were the only remaining resistance. Thanos, now seeking the Cosmic Cube, brought Rick Jones to Titan to learn its location. Rick was freed by Mentor, Eros and the Kree warrior Captain Marvel, who had been bonded to Rick; together, they battled Thanos’ armies and drove off his lieutenant on Titan, the Super-Skrull. Mar-Vell ultimately bested Thanos by seemingly destroying the Cosmic Cube, and Mentor and Eros were able to rebuild Titan. Mar-Vell became a close friend of the Titans after his help.

Thanos, however, had secretly left behind a programming virus compelling ISAAC to act on his behalf. Creating lieutenants for itself, ISAAC took the Titans captive. One lieutenant, Elysius, was attracted to Eros, but she later shifted her affections to Mar-Vell and changed sides when he came to Titan to oppose ISAAC. Mar-Vell ultimately drove Thanos’ programming from ISAAC, saving Titan. Mar-Vell soon succumbed to cancer, spending his last days on Titan. Eros was devastated by the loss, and remained close to Elysius in the days that followed. Elysius eventually had ISAAC help her create a son from Mar-Vell’s DNA; she named the child Genis. He was raised to believe that Eros was his father, and Eros helped maintain the facade until Genis’ accelerated coming of age.

Joining the Avengers

Longing for new adventures, Eros visited Earth again and encountered the Avengers battling the Plantman. Eros asked to join their team and was accepted as an Avenger-in-training; but the Avengers were reluctant to present a man named “Eros” to the public so the Wasp rechristened him “Starfox.” Eros was chagrined to meet fellow trainee Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), and he looked down on her, still stung by the death of Mar-Vell. Starfox learned teamwork and responsibility amongst the Avengers, but still found time to engage in several romantic liaisons, including a one-night stand with his teammate She-Hulk. The team also valued Starfox for his scientific knowledge as he was serving on a roster devoid of the Avengers’ usual scientific geniuses. After many of the Avengers were taken to Battleworld to serve in the Beyonder’s “Secret Wars,” the Vision became the Avengers’ chairman and promoted Starfox to full membership to fill out the roster. Starfox retained his standing when the other Avengers returned.

One evening, Starfox invited himself and the Wasp to a party in Soho which was held by Sersi, a member of Earth’s Eternals. When Sersi was brought to the Eternals’ city of Olympia to participate in a gathering of all Eternals, Starfox was brought along. In Olympia, he fascinated his Earth-bound cousins with the story of how Alars had founded Titan. Starfox participated in the Eternals’ Ritual of the Uni-Mind, merging with them into a single psionic entity; but when the villain Maelstrom tried to siphon the Uni-Mind’s power for himself, and the Vision and Scarlet Witch freed the Eternals from the Uni-Mind. Starfox managed to incapacitate Maelstrom with his pleasure powers, which he revealed to the Avengers for the first time. Maelstrom caused his own death by having his servant Deathurge kill him so that he could live anew in another cloned body. The Avengers subsequently thwarted Maelstrom’s next plot to halt the Earth’s rotation. After seeing Captain Marvel’s courage in that battle, Starfox finally accepted her use of his friend’s name, apologizing to her for the way he had slighted her.

Family Matters

The Avengers became embroiled in a civil war amongst the Skrulls, during which the pirate Nebula seized Thanos’ starship Sanctuary II and used it to command a Skrull fleet to destroy the planet Xandar. When Starfox confronted Nebula, she claimed that Thanos was her grandfather. Before Eros could learn more, Nebula was teleported away by the Beyonder, who had misunderstood the wish of the Xandarian survivor Firelord that Nebula be cast out of the galaxy. Starfox was determined to learn if Nebula’s story was true, quit the Avengers to hunt her alongside Firelord. The pair were attacked by Super-Nova, another survivor of Xandar who incorrectly believed Nebula to be one of the Avengers, and Starfox was very badly injured, but he soon recuperated and resumed his pursuit of Nebula. He finally caught up to her and helped the Avengers stop her attempt to harness the Infinity Union, a device of the Stranger’s which could grant her cosmic power.

Soon afterward, Thanos obtained the Infinity Gauntlet and used it to offer the universe to Death. Thanos took Starfox hostage during the crisis so that his brother could witness his actions, but Thanos allowed himself to be beaten, not truly desiring victory in the end. Starfox continued to serve as an occasional Avenger, participating in the Avengers’ mission to the Shi’ar Empire during the Kree-Shi’ar War, as well as joining the Avengers against Morgan Le Fay when she mastered the power of the Twilight Sword.

Traveling in Space

In the aftermath of that battle, Starfox befriended his fellow Avenger Tigra, and she set off into space with him to visit Deneb-VII. Tigra soon became bored of Deneb-VII, but the duo found new excitement when the universe was threatened by the Infinites, cosmic beings from another universe who had no regard for the lives of lesser beings. Starfox and Tigra teamed with Jack of Hearts, Quasar, Thor, Photon and Moondragon to face the Infinites. Starfox helped appeal to the Infinites through Eternity, the embodiment of space, and one of the Infinites ultimately chose to sacrifice itself to repair some of the damage they had done. Later, Starfox led a small army of Eternals in attacking Thanos (or possibly one of the “clones” known as the Thanosi) during his quest for the Celestial Messiah, but they were soundly defeated and Eros was cast into outer space, beaten senseless.

Starfox later confronted the time-traveler Thanatos, a version of Rick Jones from another reality intent on gathering items of power. Thanatos struck Starfox in the neck with the Spear of Destiny, causing a wound which could not be healed, then threatened to kill him unless he brought Rick Jones (now bonded to Genis) to him. Starfox was forced to comply, but Rick and Genis were able to defeat Thanatos in the end, reversing his actions. After Genis’ power of cosmic awareness drove him insane, Starfox joined with Elysius, Mentor and the other Titans in opposing him; they were ultimately able to help Genis regain his sanity again.

Lawsuit and Sexual Assault Charges

Starfox is tried for sexual assault by way of his empathic powers which allow him to manipulate the emotions and sensations of people. His father Mentor seeks out help from Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, a law firm that offer representation for superheroes. Jennifer Walters also known as She Hulk is the lawyer set to representing him. Several incidents occur during the court case, such as She Hulk contemplating if Starfox had used his powers to manipulate her when they were team mates in the Avengers. Then there is the revelation that Starfox had been using his powers during court to sway members of the jury, and his attempts to escape the Earth. Eventually it was revealed that Thanos had tampered Starfox’s memories, causing the supposed hero to use his emotional empathy manipulation powers for salacious means. With the aid of the telepath Moondragon, that power was switched off to avoid a repeat incident.

Powers and Abilities

Starfox possess various superhuman attributes derived from his Eternal physiology. All Eternals have the ability to manipulate cosmic energies for a number of purposes. This energy is housed within the cells of their bodies and can be used to purposely augment their physical, mental and energy manipulative abilities. While all Eternals have at least some degree of these abilities, it takes centuries of intensive and disciplined training to manipulate these energies to their maximum potential. Titanian Eternals have the potential to manipulate cosmic energies in various ways, but Starfox himself has never undertaken the discipline of learning how.

• Superhuman Strength: All Eternals have the capacity for superhuman physical strength. Starfox’s physical strength is roughly average for an Eternal and, at his peak, can lift about 15 tons.

• Superhuman Speed: Like all Eternals, Starfox is able to run and move at speeds that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. As with his strength, his speed is roughly average for an adult member of his race.

• Superhuman Stamina: Starfox’s augmented musculature is considerably more efficient than that of a human being, or most other members of his race for that matter. His muscles produce considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than those of humans and most Eternals. At his peak, he can exert himself physically for about 24 hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood begins to impair him.

• Superhuman Durability: Starfox’s body is tougher and more resistant to certain forms of injury than that of an ordinary human. His bodily tissues are sufficiently enforced to withstand impact and blunt trauma forces. He can withstand impacts, such as falling from several stories or being repeatedly struck with superhuman force, that would severely injure or kill an ordinary human being with little to no injury to himself. However, he is far from invulnerable and can be injured by weapons, such as bullets or knives, composed of conventional materials. His overall resistance to injury is on par with that of the average Eternal.

• Psionics: Like all Eternals, Starfox possesses at least some degree of psionic capability as a result of the cosmic energy housed within the cells of his body. Using the cosmic energy to bolster these natural psionic capabilities to their full potential also requires centuries of intensive training.

• Immortality: Starfox, like all Eternals, is essentially immortal. The cosmic energy housed in his body has been developed for the purpose of halting his natural aging process. Although well over 1,000 years old, he is still physically young by Eternal standards. Starfox is also immune to the effects of all known Earthly diseases and infections.

• Accelerated Healing Factor: If Starfox is injured, his physiology enables him to recover much faster and more extensively than a human being is capable of. Injuries such as lacerations or bullet wounds can fully mend within a matter of hours. This ability can be augmented dramatically if Starfox properly trains himself. At its peak, Starfox’s healing ability could be sufficient to allow him to regenerate virtually any damaged or destroyed bodily tissues because he would have constant psionic control over every molecule of his body, even while sleeping.

• Flight: Starfox can psionically levitate by manipulating gravitons around him and
• propel himself through the air at great speeds. At his peak, he can achieve speeds of about 800 miles per hour, which is among the fastest rate for his kind.

• Pleasure Stimulation: Starfox possesses the psionic ability to stimulate the pleasure centers of the brains of people within 25 feet of himself. This power, which emanates from him at all times causes other beings to feel good around him. By concentrating, he can magnify these emanations, provoking such extreme pleasurable sensations that a person becomes highly aroused, euphoric, or totally sedated, as the case may be.
• Emotional Bridges: In rare instances, Starfox can bridge the minds of two people, causing one of them to feel the emotions and feelings of the other.

Physical Characteristics

Height: 6’3″

Weight: 190 lbs

Hair: Red

Eyes: Blue

Alternate Realities

Earth-398

Eros of Earth-398 was known as Knave of Hearts and was a member of the Queen’s Vengeance.

Earth-8591

In this reality, Starfox like many of the Avengers, has been transformed by the sorcerer Kulan Gath enchantment’s and he is seemingly considered so beautiful by any male and female alike, that none dare to harm him, and woman especially seem drawn to him. When Kulan Gath is defeated, Starfox is returned to normal.

In Media

British pop star, Harry Styles has been revealed to be cast as Starfox in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Debuting in via cameo in the 2021 Disney film, Eternals.