Raza Longknife

Raza
Raza Longknife. Art by Billy Tan.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	X-Men #107 (Oct 1977)
Created by	Chris Claremont 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 character from Marvel Comics, 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.

Fictional character biography

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. Raza speaks in an archaic form of old 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.

Alongside Hepzibah and Ch'od, Raza battled Wonder Man during the Kree/Shi'ar War, while escorting the Shi'ar nega-bomb to the Kree Empire. With Hepzibah, Raza accepted an assignment from a former Kree admiral to kill the Black Knight in hopes of being reunited with his son. With the Starjammers, Raza visited the Avengers and Binary on Earth, and Raza fought and seriously injured the Black Knight. Raza battled Hercules, but was defeated by the Vision. Raza confided in Binary, who reconciled him with the Avengers. He fell out with Hepzibah, but returned with the Starjammers to the Shi'ar Empire.

Raza has suffered the death of his loyal friend Corsair. He has also dealt with Hepzibah's stranding on Earth although several X-Men have remained with the Starjammers..

In the “X-Men: Kingbreaker” miniseries, Raza was infected and became reluctant host to an alien symbiote that appears to be of the same race as the Spider-Man villain known as Venom. The miniseries ended with the symbiote, a member of the Shi’Ar Imperial Guard, dominating Raza’s mind. But the Starjammer’s will is far from broken, and his teammates are determined to rescue him from this fate.

Powers and abilities

Raza has been converted in a cyborg, with various bionic body parts, including his left eye, his left arm and hand, and much of his face and thorax. This gives him superhuman strength, enhanced agility, speed, and reflexes thanks to his robotic parts. Raza's cyborg body contains computers that he can utilize for various tasks. Raza can convert his bionic left hand into a bladed weapon at will. His cyborg body contains advanced sensor systems and atmosphere processing systems that enable him to breathe in various alien environments. He is skilled hand-to-hand combatant, trained in various forms of combat known in the Shi'ar Galaxy. He is a brilliant swordsman and marksman, with various forms of Shi'ar weaponry. He wears battle armor of unspecified composition, and uses Shi'ar knives, swords, and energy guns.

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

Raza appears as a member of the Starjammers, this time captained by Deathbird. He seems to have the same history as his mainstream counterpart.

Other media

Television

• Raza Longknife appears in the 5-Part Phoenix Saga of X-Men. He appears as a member of the Starjammers.