Raza Longknife

Raza
Raza Longknife. Art by Billy Tan.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	X-Men #107 (Oct 1977)
Created by	Dave Cockrum
In-story information
Alter ego	Raza Longknife
Team affiliations	Starjammers
Abilities	Superhuman strength, enhanced agility, speed, reflexes Skilled hand-to-hand combatant.

Raza Longknife is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually seen in the X-Men series and various spin-offs. He is the last known surviving member of his unnamed alien race (which chose to die en masse in one final battle against the Shi'ar empire as the culmination of their warrior culture), and a member of the Starjammers.

Dave Cockrum created the Starjammers with the intent of having them star in their own series. However, when he submitted the concept for Marvel's two try-out series, Marvel Spotlight and Marvel Premiere, he was repeatedly informed that these series were booked for two years solid. Running out of patience, Cockrum showed the Starjammers to X-Men writer Chris Claremont, and convinced him to use the characters for this series.

While imprisoned on Alisbar, Raza Longknife (his last name is an English translation of his true last name) met and formed the band of smugglers and space pirates known as the Starjammers; with Corsair, Hepzibah, and Ch'od, and associated himself with the group. He is a cyborg, being partly living flesh and partly machine. Because Raza speaks an archaic dialect of his native language, his words are translated into an equally archaic form of English, which can be both an annoyance and a source of amusement to his allies. Raza was married, though his wife is now deceased, and he has a son named Rion. "His initial grudge against the Shi'ar came about when their former emperor, D'Ken, slaughtered Raza's race of people, but Vulcan became the focus of Raza’s rage after he murdered Raza’s friend Corsair."

With the Starjammers, he came to the aid of the X-Men against D'Ken's Imperial Guard. Much later, with the other Starjammers, he fought off an alien attack on the Starjammer vessel. He engaged in mock combat with Carol Danvers, after she joined with the Starjammers. With the Starjammers, he aided the New Mutants in combat against the Magus. Together with Danvers, then known as Binary, he sought the "map-rod" holding information on the location of the "Phalkon" power source; this power source turned out to be the Phoenix. Raza and the Starjammers were attacked by Deathbird's Shi'ar starships. With the Starjammers, he first met and fought Excalibur on Earth and aided a rebellion against Deathbird on a Shi'ar border world. Raza was later captured by the Warskrulls, and impersonated by one of them, but was ultimately freed by the X-Men.