The Shi'ar ( ) are a fictional species of aliens appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Shi'ar Empire (or Imperium), is a vast collection of alien species, cultures, and worlds situated close to the Skrull and Kree Empires. The Shi'ar are one of the three main extraterrestrial empires depicted in the Marvel Universe, alongside the Kree and Skrulls.
Publication history
The Shi'ar first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #97 (Feb. 1976) and were created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockrum.
Biology
The Shi'ar are cold-blooded humanoids of avian descent; they resemble humans with feathered crests atop their heads in lieu of hair. Two different styles are common: most Shi'ar, particularly those of the aristocracy, have feathers sprouting in a triangular shape away from the face, one peak on the top of the head and one peak on each side slightly over the shoulder; the other commonly seen "hairstyle" is bushy on both sides and very flat on the top.
Internally, they have lightweight and hollow bones, and on their forearms there are still some vestigial feathers left of wings that were lost over millions of years of evolution. The average Shi'ar can lift 1 ton in Earth-like gravity and has far greater stamina than the average human. Most Shi'ar have no other special abilities, though occasionally a genetic throwback appears possessing wings that allow for flight (an example of atavism). The superhuman Shi'ar can at least lift one ton through exercise.The Wasp stated that the Shi'ar aren't stronger than humans.
The Shi'ar conceive their offspring in eggs. They are nurtured in special chambers and the children are referred to as hatchlings.
The Shi'ar have more chakras than a human.
Unlike Humans the Shi'ar do not dream, except for those born "defective" or "infected by dreams". Such Shi'ar include Warbird and the Shi'ar having survived the Fianden's weapons.
There have also been Shi'ar who had developed superpowers such as Electron, Rook'shir, Deathcry, Dakari, White Noise and Black Light. This can be explained as most of them are members of the Imperial Family and because of Rook'shir, who had transmitted his Phoenix Force manipulation power to his descendants.
Some Shi'ar have also telepathic abilities.
Technology
The Shi'ar possess technologies common to most Marvel alien races, including:
Starships capable of moving faster-than-light
Energy-based weapons in their ships and in their handheld weapons
force fields
Faster-than-light communication
Teleportation technology
Robots
Missiles
The Shi'ar also possess more unique technologies, including:
Hologram technology: which is used by the X-Men in their Danger Room. Cloaking technology: rendering a craft completely invisible, used by the X-Men on their Blackbird aircraft. Stargates: Devices in a network system. They are used for travel to faraway distances including instantaneous travel between galaxies. There are planet-based Stargates (used for personal travel to other solar systems and galaxies) and enormous space-based versions (used for starships to travel through). Starcracker technology: This is the Shi'ar ultimate weapon. The Starcracker causes stars to go supernova. Warp-Capable Warships: Ranging in size from small starships to planetoid sized ships. Armageddon-class Killstations: Orbital battle space stations. Flying Walker-Spacecraft: Spaceships with walker-like legs used on land. Nega-Bomb: A Galactic-level weapon used to destroy Dwarf Galaxies, like the Large Magellanic Cloud. There are also lower yield Nega-Bombs used to destroy planets. Fusion Space Mines
According to a statement by Emma Frost in Astonishing X-Men #9, most if not all Shi'ar technology is sentient.
Culture
Language
A Shi'ar "Galaxian" has stated that they have learned nearly every spoken language.
The Shi'ar have multiple forms, including the High Shi'ar, used for formal events, and Shi'ar Glorkon dialect.
Mostly for tactical terms or insults, the Shi'ar insert words of their language into English sentences.
Philosophy
Traditionally, the Imperium has aggressively absorbed new cultures. Warren Ellis' 1995 Starjammers miniseries described the story of the Shi'ar deities Sharra and K'ythri as a parable which guides the Shi'ar expansionist philosophy to other worlds:
Sharra and K'ythri are the gods in marriage. The gods who didn't want to marry, but were forced into it. In marriage they found strength and in strength they found love. That's what the Shi'ar Imperium does. It marries other cultures. Shotgun weddings.