Oracle (Marvel Comics)
| Oracle | |
|---|---|
|
Oracle by Clayton Henry | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | X-Men #107 (Oct 1977) |
| Created by | Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Sybil |
| Team affiliations | Imperial Guard |
| Abilities | high-level telepathy |
Oracle is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.
Fictional character biography
Oracle is a long-time member and warrior serving in the Royal Elite of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. She is the Empire's premiere telepath, capable of all the standard abilities demonstrated by other telepaths (mind-reading, psychic attacks, mental control of others, etc.). She has been romantically linked with both Gladiator and Starbolt.
Oracle joined in the Imperial Guardsmen's battle against the X-Men on behalf of Emperor D'Ken, and was defeated by Wolverine.[1] She later fought Angel during the Shi'ar trial by combat over the life of Phoenix.[2]
Oracle was amongst those few Imperial Guard members who opposed the treacherous Shi'ar High Council member Lord Samédàr who was aiding an attempted coup of the Shi'ar throne by Deathbird. Even after many of the Guard chose to side with Samédàr, Oracle (a.k.a. Sybil) remained steadfast in her loyalty to then-Empress Lilandra. On a mission to find Lilandra, Oracle joined the other Imperial Guardsmen, Nightcrawler, and Kitty Pryde in battling Lord Samédàr's renegade Imperial Guardsmen. Oracle was captured, but freed on Lilandra's command.[3]
Oracle battled the Spaceknight Trapper, and then aided the other Imperial Guard members, Rom, and the Spaceknights in combat against Tyreseus.[4] Oracle later joined in battle alongside the Imperial Guardsmen against the Starjammers and Excalibur.[5] Some time later, on Deathbird's behalf, Oracle assisted the other Imperial Guardsmen in battle against the X-Men and Starjammers. She was defeated by them, and was captured by a War Skrull posing as Charles Xavier.[6]
Oracle later took mental control of Rick Jones during the Kree-Shi'ar War.[7] With Electron and Tempest, she found and captured a key part of the Kree psyche-magnetron.[8] She psychically drained the Kree Captain Atlas of strategic information, and then confronted but was unable to control Quasar.[9]
Oracle was one of the Imperial Guard members stationed on Earth for a time.[10]
Oracle was injured in battle with Vulcan, but survived the battle and returned to active duty. Now serving Vulcan she seems to be the advisor of Vulcan, since she is by his side during battle decisions. When Vulcan decides to release five criminals captured by the Shi'ar over the years, she objects, to this decision, but that only seemed to motivate Vulcan more to use these five as an additional Imperial Guard, led by a female Strontian, the same species as Gladiator.[11]
Oracle is seen working closely with Captain America and the Avengers to free worlds dominated by the genocidal 'Builders'.[12]
Powers and abilities
Oracle has telepathic powers enabling her to read minds, to project her thoughts into others' minds, to control the minds of others, and to stun opponents with mental bolts.
Oracle is a fair hand-to-hand combatant, trained by the Shi'ar Imperial Guard.
Imperial Guardsmen all wear small anti-gravity "flight patches" that allow them to fly.
Inspiration
Several of the members of the Imperial Guard are at least partly based on members of the DC Comics team Legion of Super-Heroes. Dave Cockrum (co-creator of the Imperial Guard) also had a long run as artist on the Legion. Oracle is based on LSH member Saturn Girl.
In other media
Television
- Oracle made an appearance in the X-Men episodes "The Dark Phoenix" and "Fate of the Phoenix". She and the Imperial Guard had to fight the X-Men in order to determine the fate of Jean Grey after what the Phoenix Force did to some of the galaxies. In the episode "Beyond Good and Evil", Oracle was present when Deathbird attacked Lilandra alongside Apocalypse. However, Apocalypse simply wanted a distraction so he could kidnap Oracle.