Yondu is a fictional character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, and a founding
member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy team.
Michael Rooker plays the character in the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy based on
the 2008 version of the team.
Publication history Yondu first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes
#18, and was created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan.
Fictional character biography Yondu Udonta is a member of the Zatoan tribe,
primitive beings native to Centauri IV.
He functions as a hunter.
His homeworld was the first planet to be colonized by humans that was outside Earth's solar system.
Yondu is born in the late thirtieth century.
Yondu's people had fled from contact with overwhelming earth colonizers who had begun
arriving in 2940 A.D.
In 3006 A.D., Vance Astro, an astronaut from Earth, lands on Yondu's planet with an antiquated
propulsion ship.
Despite realizing his mission was pointless, he performs the recon anyway.
Vance encounters Yondu during the latter's trial of manhood.
Yondu attacks him, but is repelled by Vance's powers.
Vance keeps this secret as Yondu's action was illegal.
Yondu works with Vance when the Badoon, an alien race, overtakes the planet later that
year.
All the other Centaurians are believed to have been slaughtered.
Vance and Yondu escape in his ship to fetch help but the Badoon capture them easily.
The duo are taken to Earth which, by 3007 A.D., has also been conquered.
When questioned, Vance pretends to be unfriendly with Yondu, calling him a stupid creature.
They later escape the attentions of Drang, the leader of the local Badoon forces, when
Yondu changes the course of his arrow as Vance fires at him as part of an escape plan, pretending
he wants to execute Yondu with his arrows, but Yondu gives a call that changes the course
and distracts the Badoon.
They team up with Charlie-27 of the Jupiter colony and Martinex of the Pluto colony when
they come out of a telepod and form the Guardians of the Galaxy to fight the Badoon.
For the next seven years, the four survivors attacked the Badoon's outposts in the solar
system.
In 3014 A.D., the Guardians teamed with the time-traveling Thing, Captain America, and
Sharon Carter to retake New York City from the Badoon forces.
In 3015 A.D., the Guardians time-traveled to the 20th Century and met the Defenders.
They returned to 3015 A.D.
with the Defenders and later met Starhawk.
After humanity defeated the Brotherhood of Badoon occupiers, the Sisterhood of Badoon
arrived and removed the males from Earth.
Yondu and the Guardians later teamed with the time-traveling Thor, and battled Korvac
and his Minions of Menace.
Yondu traveled to the present alongside his fellow Guardians, and assisted the Avengers
against Korvac.
Some time later, in 3017 A.D., Yondu and the Guardians went on a quest to find the lost
shield of Captain America.
They battled Taserface and the Stark, and defeated the Stark.
Yondu's right hand was later destroyed by Interface, and replaced by Martinex with a
bionic appendage.
Martinex had offered to use their transmutative technology to make him a new hand from his
own DNA but Yondu had refused, believing that he should accept the bionic hand as penance
for his recent faithlessness and that Anthos was telling him to accept a new philosophy.
Yondu would later leave the team when it is revealed that a small enclave of his people
have survived on Centauri IV.
These Kikaahe had escaped death at the hands of the Badoon because the walls of the cavern
where they lived contained the mineral trillite which blocks radio waves, thereby shielding
them from sensors.
Since his newfound people would not accept his bionic weapon-hand, Yondu allowed the
Guardians to use their advanced medical technology to restore his flesh-and-blood hand, making
his body whole once more.
During their farewells, Vance apologizes for what he had thought was unacceptable treatment
of Yondu during their earlier adventurers.
Powers and abilities Yondu possesses no superhuman physical powers,
but is a natural mystic, like his entire tribe.
As a member of the alien race of the planet Centauri IV, Yondu possesses an intuitive
mystical "sixth sense" perception that permits him limited empathic relationships with other
lifeforms.
The higher the lifeform, the more limited is his empathic potential.
Additionally, Yondu possesses an intuitive and rather mystical rapport with nature, particularly
with his own world, but also with any world that still possesses natural wildlife.
With this rapport, he can sense incongruous elements or focus on specific elements within
the whole.
He is also sensitive to mystical beings and forces and is able to detect their presence
and activities without effort.
By going into a trance, Yondu is able to replenish his own inner strength by communing with natural
forces.
Yondu is an above average physical specimen of his race.
He has slightly more strength and endurance than the average human male.
An apprentice hunter, Yondu is an expert in the use of bow and arrow.
His ability to whistle with a range of four octaves aids his archery.
The native Centuarian language is a system of grunts, clicks, and whistles, but Yondu
has managed to master the English language, although it is painful for him to speak for
too long without resting his throat.
He is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, and a highly skilled hunter and tracker.
He has extensive knowledge of the social and religious customs of the natives of Centauri
IV.
Weapons Yondu uses a 5-foot single curve bow and a
quiver of arrows composed of yaka, a special sound-sensitive metal found only on Centauri
IV.
A yaka arrow can actually change its direction in response to certain high-octave whistle-sounds
some Centaurians can produce.
It is not yet known precisely what pitch causes a yaka arrow to move in what way.
Yondu is so skillful at controlling his arrows, he can cause an arrow to return to his hand
or weave its way through a crowd of people without touching them.
Yondu's arrows are 15 inches in length and are very flexible.
He carries about 20 of them at one time.
He also carries a dagger.
Yondu's right hand was replaced for a time by a bionic device called a weapons concealment
appendage, a metal cup replacing his right hand.
Thus, he could no longer practice archery nor perform functions requiring him to grasp
with his right hand.
The device can release from within itself a number of weapons, including a mace, a hatchet,
a scythe, a barbed spear, and others; when not in use the weapons are concealed within
the appendage at a reduced sized, until enlarged by Pym particles.
Later, after discovering that some of his people had survived on Centauri IV and realizing
that they would not accept his bionic weapon-hand, Yondu asked the Guardians to use their advanced
technology to transform it into a duplicate of his original hand, and they did so.
In other media Film
Michael Rooker plays Yondu Udonta in the 2014 Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy.
In this continuity he is leader of the Ravagers, a band of outlaw mercenaries responsible for
Peter Quill's kidnapping and upbringing.
Yondu initially chases after Quill for betraying the Ravagers by taking an orb artifact for
himself instead of turning it over to the Ravagers.
Capturing Quill and Gamora, he is persuaded to aid the Guardians in their battle against
Ronan with the promise of claiming the Infinity Stone that was hidden inside the orb afterwards.
After Ronan's defeat, he claims the gem from Quill and departs, but later learns that Quill
gave him a duplicate orb with a Troll doll for his collection, much to Yondu's amusement.
Yondu uses an arrow that he can control by whistling, but he does not wield a bow.
Video games Yondu will appear in Disney Infinity: Marvel
Super Heroes as both a mission giver and playable character.
References
External links Yondu at the Marvel Universe wiki
Yondu on Marvel Database, a Marvel Comics wiki
Yondu at the Comic Book DB