Yondu

Real Name
Yondu Udonta 
 
Occupation
Adventurer

Citizenship
Centaurian

Place of Birth
Plysa Forest, Centauri IV
 
Known Relatives
None

Group Affiliation
Formerly Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers (honorary member), Defenders associate

Education
Unrevealed

Height
6' 2" (7' 1" with crest)

Weight
210 lbs.

Eyes
Blue

Hair
Red (crest)

Powers
Yondu is a natural mystic, like his entire tribe. Yondu possesses an intuitive "sixth sense" that permits him limited empathic relationships with other lifeforms. The higher the lifeforms the more limited is his empathic potential. His mystic rapport with nature, particularly with his own world, allows him to sense foreign bodies or substances. In addition, he is sensitive to mystical beings and of Centaurian races 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 has slightly more endurance than the average human, and is about 1.5 stronger than an average human, allowing him to lift 375 pounds.

For a short time, Yondu's right hand was replaced for a time by a bionic metal cup which could release from within itself a number of weapons, including a mace, hatchet, scythe, and barbed spear among others. However, his hand was later transformed into a duplicate of his original hand.

Abilities 
Yondu is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, and a highly skilled hunter and tracker. He is especially skilled in using a bow and arrow. Yondu often 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 (but not speed) in response to certain high-octave whistle-sounds that some Centaurians can produce, which Yondu is skilled at controlling even to the point of weaving them through a crowd of people without touching them. In addition, Yondu has extensive knowledge of the social and religious customs of the natives of Centauri IV. He can also speak English, although it is painful for him to speak for too long without resting his throat. 

Other Info
In the future timeline of Earth-691, Yondu Udonta was born in the late 30th Century as a member of the Zatoan tribe--primitive beings native to Centauri IV. His homeworld was the first planet outside Earth's solar system to be colonized by humans. Intimidated by Earth's superior technology, most Centaurian tribes established peaceful relationships with the Earthling settlers. However, Yondu's tribe migrated from their ancestral forests to the less accessible plains to avoid contact with the outworlders. (To learn about the Earth-691 timeline, click on the highlighted name above.)

By 3006 A.D., Vance Astro arrived on Centauri IV by ship, using an antiquated mode of star travel. While performing his geophysical survey on the planet, Astro came across Yondu. Initially, Yondu tried to avoid contact with the outworlder; however, when the planet was attacked by the Badoon, the two began working together. Unfortunately, during the invasion, all the other Centaurians were believed to have been killed; thus, leaving Yondu the last of his people. Yondu and Astro attempted to escape in Astro's ship to get help; however, the Badoon captured them. The two were then taken as prisoners to the Badoon's base of operation on Earth (which had also been conquered by the Badoon by this time). (To learn about the character and/or race, click on their highlighted name above.)

Soon afterward, Yondu and Astro managed to escape and soon encountered two other fugitives of the Badoon invasion: Charlie-27 of the Jupiter colony, and Martinex of the Pluto colony. Banding together, they became known as Guardians of the Galaxy. For years, the Guardians attacked Badoon outposts throughout the solar system. (To learn about the above highlighted characters and/or team, just click on their names.)

As a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Yondu found himself teaming up with many heroes of Earth to defend the planet against the Badoon. At one point, the Guardians fought alongside a time-traveling Thing, Captain America, and Sharon Carter. Later, after the team time-traveled to the 20th Century and met the Defenders, the Guardians helped in repelling all the Badoon from Earth. After having secured the freedom of Earth's people, the Guardians decided to remain together to safeguard the entire galaxy. (To learn about the characters and/or team, just click on their highlighted names above.)

At one point, Yondu and the Guardians traveled to the 20th Century to team up with the Avengers to defeat Korvac and his Minions of Menace. (Click the highlighted names above to learn about the teams and/or character.)

Later on, Yondu discovered the existence of a female Alpha Centaurian named Photon. While he viewed this as a miracle and a way to continue his race and traditions, she had long abandoned their ways and was a member of the cosmic mercenary group known as the Force. She claimed that she would rather die than continue their race. Emotionally devastated, Yondu soon found himself butting heads with his teammates until he decided to leave to find Photon on his own. This led to Yondu facing off against Photon, and almost killing her. However, one of Photon's teammates, Interface, transmuted Yondu's hand into mist. Afterward, Martinex offered to replace Yondu's hand (using their transmutative technology), but he refused. However, later on, his hand was replaced with a weapon capable of making knives, axes, and even a laser. Eventually, Yondu and Photon made peace with one another, even to the point that he gave her his Yaka bow and arrows--it appeared that he was finally able to get her to embrace her heritage. (Click the highlighted name above to learn about characters and/or team. Also, Yondu with his bionic hand weapon is shown in the fourth picture posted above.)

More recently, Yondu left the Guardians of the Galaxy and returned to his homeworld when it was revealed that a small group of Centaurians had actually survived the Badoon attacks. These cave-dwelling Centaurians had escaped death due to the walls of their caverns containing Yaka which blocked radio waves; therefore, shielding them from the Badoon's sensors. As to not scare his people, Yondu asked Martinex to replace his hand with a duplicate of his original. Now with a fully restored body, Yondu returned to his people and was received with open arms.

To learn a little bit more about Yondu, just click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Yondu.

In the film, Guardians of the Galaxy, Yondu differs a bit from the comicbook version. In the movie, he is not a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, but is a leader of his own band of outlaws called the Ravagers. He does use an arrow that he can control by whistling (like the comics); however, he does not use a bow for it.