Skrulls

Skrull
Cover of Fantastic Four vol. 1, 2 (Jan, 1962). Featuring the first appearance of the Skrulls.  Art by Jack Kirby.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Fantastic Four #2 (January 1962) (January 1962)
Created by	Stan Lee (Writer) Jack Kirby (Artist)
Characteristics
Place of origin	Skrullos; later moved capital to Tarnax IV (destroyed)
Notable members	See: Known Skrulls
Inherent abilities	Shapeshifting

The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

The Skrulls have been regularly featured in several decades of Marvel Comics, usually as villains bent on invading Earth and engaged in a prolonged war with the extraterrestrial Kree.

The Skrulls first appeared in Fantastic Four #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Millions of years ago, the Celestials performed genetic experiments on the reptilian ancestors of the Skrulls, resulting in three branches of Skrulls: The Prime, the Deviants and the Eternals. Eventually the three branches warred with one another, and the Deviant branch — due to possessing the innate ability to shapeshift — were triumphant, and afterward wiped out all members of the other two races until only two were left: the Skrull Eternal, Kly'bn, and Prime Skrull of the original non-Deviant Skrull race. Kly'bn implored them to spare his life, as killing him would kill part of their heritage. The Deviants' leader, Sl'gur't, eventually fell in love with Kly'bn, with the two eventually becoming the gods of the Skrull pantheon. As Kly'bn could not change, Sl'gurt vowed to never keep the same shape for too long. Taking the name Prime Skrull, the last original Skrull escaped to Earth in the 20th century and later became a member of the Underground Legion. From that point, the Skrulls began to expand their territory. The Deviant branch later split into two more groups, the modern Skrulls and an anomaly called the Dire Wraiths, a parasitic race that could still shapeshift and had use of magic, but were not as technologically advanced as the Skrulls.

The modern Skrulls originate from the planet of Skrullos, and were originally a mercantile civilization, primarily interested in free trade and willing to share their technology with all races they deemed worthy. When they encountered a new race, they simply transformed themselves to resemble that race. The Skrull empire that resulted from these contacts was based on free trade and mutual cooperation. The empire is controlled by an emperor and each of the 978 worlds is controlled by a governor.