| “ | No one is safe from my power! I am one with the crystal! The galaxy is mine to destroy! | „ |
| ~ D'Ken's villainous breakdown. |
| “ | Fear what I have become, sister? Let the others watch as I repay you for your treachery in opposing me. | „ |
| ~ D'Ken about to kill Lilandra. |
D'Ken Neramani is the main antagonist of "The Phoenix Saga" in season 3 of X-Men: The Animated Series and appears in a flashback in "Orphan's End".
He is the brother of Lilandra and Deathbird as well as the emperor of the Shi'ar, obsessed with gaining ultimate power via the M'Kraan Crystal. He is also Corsair's archenemy.
He was voiced by Patrick Hickey Jr., who also voiced The Yellow Rabbit in Five Nights at Freddy's: Into the Pit and Professor Kindly in Moville Mysteries.
He is based on the Marvel Comics original villain with the same name.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- According to Corsair, D'Ken has already destroyed millions in his quest for power. And despite this being offscreen villainy, it's a clear indication of how terrible he truly is.
- He experimented on Corsair and his wife after they were forced to give their two young sons the last parachute as they shot down their family plane. When the Starjammer crew came and sprung the couple loose, D'Ken killed Corsair's wife right in front of him.
- He threatens Lilandra, his own sister, numerous times:
- Sending gunships to fire at her escape cruiser after she steals the M'Kraan Crystal.
- Having Erik the Red and Gladiator nearly torture info out of her at Cassidy Keep.
- When the X-Men confront him about to unlock the crystal, D'Ken holds her hostage and states that Gladiator will crush her if they make one false move.
- Finally trying to kill her personally from within said crystal out of sheer spite.
- He tries to have Corsair killed in an ambush after swearing under oath to give him half the imperial treasury in exchange for the M'Kraan Crystal, thus showing him to be a double-crosser who possesses zero honor whatsoever.
- He unlocks the M'Kraan Crystal's power in a deliberate attempt to destroy the entire galaxy so that he can rebuild it in his own image, even laughing at Lilandra's failed attempts to talk him out of it. This makes him one of the only two villains in the entire show to explicitly attempt universal omnicide, along with Apocalypse.
- We even see natural disasters unfold from all around the Earth as this happens. It's unclear how many casualties there were, but many superheroes (e.g. Spider-Man and War Machine) are shown doing what they can to help the people.
- He sadistically laughs while battling his opponents (which includes his former royal guard) inside the crystal instead of simply killing them all right away when he says it himself that he easily could, even making them watch as he nearly kills Lilandra.
Trivia[]
- Although D'Ken is easily one of the worst villains in the series, the way he murdered Katherine Summers—Corsair's wife—in front of her husband is way more brutal in the comics. There, he included her into his harem, sexually assaulted her during Corsair's first escape attempt, and finally cut out her unborn third son (who would later become Vulcan) before selling him into slavery. Here, it's simply toned down to "the couple became specimens for experimentation and then one of them died in front of the other while escaping".
- While D'Ken is currently Pure Evil, there's a chance that this may change if he returns in X-Men '97, an upcoming X-Men: The Animated Series revival in development for Disney+.
External Links[]
- D'Ken on the Villains Wiki
