History

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The eldest heir to the Shi'ar throne was Lilandra's older sister, known as Deathbird. However, after murdering her father and one of her sisters, Deathbird was denied her birthright to be heir to the throne, and her younger brother D'Ken became emperor instead. For crimes against the state, Deathbird was exiled into space.

Lilandra, D'Ken's younger sister, served as Grand Admiral of the Imperial Guard, the legion of superhuman champions who enforce Shi'ar law throughout the empire. D'Ken was insane, and Lilandra learned that he intended to make use of the incredible power trapped within the M'Kraan Crystal.

The insane D'Ken was blind to the true danger that the crystal presented, and believed he could control its unleashed power and use it for his own ends. Lilandra opposed his plans in the Shi'ar High Council, and D'Ken had her arrested, he then had word leaked that she had tried to kill D'Ken and usurp the throne. Civil war broke out in the empire as a result. D'Ken had Lilandra held captive aboard the imperial flagship before she was to be executed, but Lilandra escaped in a small starship.

Lilandra needed help to stop her brother from destroying the universe. Then she mentally saw the image of the Earth telepath Charles Xavier (Professor X), who at that time had used his powers to unite much of the collective will of Earth humanity to create enough psychic force to drive off the invading alien Z'nox. Knowing of Earth and its large number of superhuman beings, Lilandra traveled there for help. She finally met Xavier but was soon captured by the Shi'ar agent Davan Shakari, who transported her through an artificially created stargate through hyperspace to the world where the M'Kraan Crystal stood. Xavier's team of superhuman mutant champions, the X-Men, followed through the stargate to the same world. There the power of the crystal began to be unleashed, but the universe was saved from annihilation by the being known as Phoenix Force, who had taken on the form and persona of Jean Grey.

D'ken went incurably insane and nearly catatonic as a result of a psychic attack on him within the Crystal. The X-Men returned to Earth and Lilandra joined him there, to await the decision of the Shi'ar High Council as to whether she should now become empress despite her having rebelled against D'Ken, the former emperor. Lilandra and Xavier became lovers, and, when the Council decided in Lilandra's favor (and when Xavier mistakenly came to believe the X-Men had died in battle), they left for the Shi'ar Throneworld.

Lilandra became Majestrix (empress) and Xavier became her consort. Xavier returned to Earth on realizing the danger that Phoenix presented to it. After Phoenix went insane and destroyed both a Shi'ar starship and an inhabited world allied with the Shi'ar, Lilandra demanded that the menace of Phoenix be ended forever to safeguard the cosmos. Xavier demanded a trial by combat to decide the fate of Phoenix, whom he believed to be the real Jean Grey, but during this trial by combat, Phoenix committed suicide to prevent herself from wreaking further destruction.

Deathbird allied herself with the alien Badoon and Brood, and finally succeeded in leading a coup d'etat in which she seized the throne of the Shi'ar Empire. Lilandra again found herself forced to flee Shi'ar imperial forces. However, she still retained a great deal of respect from other starfaring races, and thus was able to become the principal organizer of the trial of Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) for saving the planet-destroyer Galactus from death.

During her second exile Lilandra allied herself with the Starjammers, a group of interstellar adventurers who had aided her in the past. Sensing telepathically that her lover Xavier was dying, Lilandra and the Starjammers' leader, Corsair, journeyed through an artificially created stargate from the Shi'ar Galaxy to Earth and back, taking Xavier with them. The advanced medical technology of the Starjammers fully healed Xavier's injuries, but they were unable to return him to Earth since their own ship's special hyperspace drive for intergalactic travel was damaged, and the Shi'ar stargates were all now heavily defended against Starjammer intrusions. Lilandra, Xavier, and the Starjammers traveled through space as exiles and rebels.

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Powers

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Lilandra has peak human strength, speed, agility, endurance and reflexes and limited telepathic powers. She usually wears body armor.

Alternate Universes

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Ultimate Lilandra

Earth-1610

In the Ultimate Universe Lilandra is a normal human (not alien or mutant). She recently entered the lives of the X-Men and Charles Xavier in particular as the Majestrix of the Church of the Shi'ar Enlightenment. She introduces their beliefs to Xavier as centering around worshiping a cosmic entity known as the Phoenix, and believes that Jean Grey may be the human host to the power of the Phoenix. Lilandra offered Charles funding for the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning in return for allowing her to perform some tests on Jean to determine if she truly is the Phoenix host. Along with a professional relationship, Lilandra has developed a romantic relationship with Xavier.

Despite Xavier's "death" by the future mutant Cable, Lilandra has pledged to continue support for the school now run by former students Cyclops, Storm, and Jean Grey.

Earth-982

In the MC2 universe. The Shi'Ar throneworld is devoured by Galactus. With the help of the Imperial guard, Lilandra escape the planet before it was consumed.