Yondu Udonta is a Marvel Comics character who appears as an antagonist turned anti-hero of Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy and the deuteragonist of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. He was Captain of the Yondu Ravager Clan and raised Peter Quill into adulthood.
Background[]
When he was still an infant, Yondu was sold to the Kree empire as a slave. However, one day, he was freed by Ravager Stakar Ogord. Learning under Ogord and taking up the life of a Ravager, Yondu developed friendships with several captains, including Stakar's wife Aleta, Martinex, Mainframe, and Krugarr. He later made a deal with Ego the Living Planet, hiring him to collect his children across the galaxy. Yondu did as instructed, as the job made him rich, but when he learned Ego was killing his own children, Yondu kidnapped his youngest child, Peter Quill from Earth shortly after his mother's death. Instead of giving him to his father and knowing what fate awaited Peter, Yondu decided to keep him and trained him to be a Ravager.
Over the next twenty years or so, Yondu grew fond of Quill, despite never showing any of his affection. They often got into fights, with Yondu usually threatening to feed Quill to the Ravagers and never told him why he took him from Earth, When his son turned ten, Yondu gifted Quill with a ship, The Milano and taught him how to fly and shoot.
Personality[]
As leader of the Ravagers, Yondu Udonta appears as a vindictive, calculating, and unscrupulous thief. He is willing to kill, threaten, and betray if his wellbeing is in danger or he desires something of value, sometimes reneging on his employers for a benefit such as turning Peter Quill into a Ravager when he was supposed to deliver him to his father. Though he claims that the Ravagers have a code of honor, as Quill states that code is virtually steal from everyone.
Udonta also has a habit in which he collects oddities and places them on the console of his chair. The most recent one being a Troll Doll which was given to him by Quill in the place of the Infinity Stone.
Even with his flaws and manipulative attitudes, Yondu is an extremely charming and compassionate person and proved to capable in act of heroism. Despite being a notorious alien criminal, he has a level of humanity and a soft spot for Peter Quill, who he came to see as his own child. When he found a Troll Doll instead of the Infinity Stone inside the Orb, he laughed with joy and choose to forgive this deception instead of lashing out in anger. Also, while it appeared that he choose to adopt Peter as his own son rather than deliver him to Ego was driven by noble goal. Horrified with fate of Ego's other children and unwilling to led Quill had the same fate, Yondu choose to kept Peter away from his father to keep him safe.
He also kept the Ravagers from attacking the Guardians when he was not given the Infinity Stone he was promised and cleverly kept his intentions hidden by saying the Nova Corps would be after them since their actions on Xandar had made the Guardians of the Galaxy allies to the Nova Corps. His most noble acts, which ultimately cemented his status as true father figure for Quill and hero, were sacrificed his own life to save Peter and even inspired him to stand up to his megalomaniac father. In his dying moments, he let Peter take the last suit. This act shows how much he loved Peter, as he sacrificed himself to ensure his survival. Also, before his death, Yondu told Quill that Ego may have been his father, but he wasn't Quill's "daddy" and admits though he didn't do anything right raising Quill, he still was proud to call him his son.
Appearance[]
Yondu was a Centaurian man who stood 6'0". He had blue skin, crimson red eyes and appeared to be in his late fifties/early sixties. Yondu also wore a prosthetic red fin on top of his head to replace his real one. Yondu also had a Southern-like accent, something that his son Peter Quill later adapted in having.
Yondu usually wore a long leathery red trench coat, brown boots, and jeans.
Marvel Cinematic Universe[]
Guardians of the Galaxy[]
Yondu discovered that a mysterious item called the Orb was located on Morag; he was offered a great fee if he retrieved the item for Broker. However when Yondu arrived on Morag, he discovered Peter Quill had taken the Orb for himself.
Yondu was furious and phoned Quill who did not deny he had taken the Orb but refused to give his location before hanging up the call. Yondu issued a bounty for Quill's capture; when Yondu said he wanted Quill alive, this lead to an argument with one of his men and Yondu assured his men that once he had Quill, he would kill him himself. However, Yondu never intended to hill his child.
Later, Yondu and Kraglin Obfonteri traveled to Xandar to meet Broker. Yondu admired some of the strange artifacts that Broker had for sale. However, he made his true intentions known quickly when he drew his arrow and aimed it at Broker's head while mocking him. While Broker was scared for his life, Yondu forced him to reveal that the Collector was the person to whom he planned to sell the Orb.
Yondu and the Ravagers traveled to Knowhere and quickly found Quill, who was also being attacked by Ronan's Sakaaran Mercenaries. Quill was able to briefly get away from Yondu by piloting a mining ship.
When Quill gave his location away to save Gamora, Yondu quickly abducted the two on his ship. Yondu initially planned to kill Quill because of his many betrayals. He aimed his arrow at Quill's throat and prepare to execute him, but when Quill convinced him that it was possible to steal from Ronan with the insider knowledge provided by Gamora, they decided to work together to get the Orb from Ronan the Accuser, on the condition that Yondu would get the Orb once they had succeeded.
During the Battle of Xandar, Yondu commanded his Ravagers to attack the Sakaaran ships; he and Peter Quill planned to enter the Dark Aster together but Yondu's M-ship was quickly shot down. He survived the crash and got out of his wrecked ship, only to discover several Sakaarans telling him to order his men to attack the Nova Corps ships. Instead on obeying, Yondu whistled and used his arrow to single-handed to kill every Sakaaran in front of him. He made it back to the city and later witnessed Ronan's death. Yondu convinced Quill to hand over the Orb as agreed; Quill agreed but managed to switch the Orb for a fake without Yondu noticing. As he left Xandar with Kraglin, they discussed how they did not deliver Quill to his father like they were hired to do, Yondu noted that he thought Quill's father, Ego was a jackass (foreshadowing Ego's true colors).
As the Ravagers drank and celebrated the victory over Ronan, Yondu decided to open the fake Orb given to him by Quill. He was amused to discover that Quill had replaced the Infinity Stone with a Troll doll.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2[]
Following the death of Ronan, Yondu is shown relaxing with his fellow Ravagers at the planet Contraxia, having been banished by Stakar Ogord for child trafficking, where Taserface questions of Yondu's softness towards Peter. Eventually, the arriving Sovereign High Priestess Ayesha met the Ravagers and offered them a reward for the capture of the Guardians of the Galaxy for the theft of the Anulax Batteries.
Yondu then led his Ravagers onto Berhert, where they manage to capture Rocket Raccoon and Groot as the other Guardians were being transported into the planet Ego. However, Rocket offered a deal to Yondu: he'll give him the batteries in exchange for his and Groot's safety, to which Yondu accepted by warning the other Ravagers that killing the Guardians would put the entire Ravager clan in trouble with the Nova Corps. Though several Ravagers agreed with Yondu and obliged to Rocket's deal, the greedy Taserface refused to tag along and initiated a mutiny against Yondu and his followers, right before Yondu and Rocket are knocked out by a freed Nebula.
With Taserface taking over as the new leader of the Ravagers, Yondu is forced to watch in shame as he, Rocket and Groot are humiliated. They are even more horrified to see Halfnut and Brahl killing off several Ravagers who remained loyal to Yondu by ejecting them into space (including Tullk and Oblo). Fortunately, a remorseful Kraglin sets Yondu and the others free, allowing Yondu to finish off Taserface and the mutineers in revenge for their treachery. Kraglin then activates an escape pod for himself, Yondu, Rocket, and Groot to head over to Ego's planet. During the trip, Yondu explains to Rocket that Ego is Peter's biological father who intends to use Peter's Celestial power to expand himself and take over the universe for himself, something which horrified Rocket.
When they are at Ego's planet and that Ego is starting to finalize his plot, Yondu helps the Guardians kill him off when during the battle. Following the destruction of Ego's planet, Yondu flies off with Peter into space, admitting that taking Peter under his wing was the best choice he made. To prove his point, Yondu sacrifices himself to save Peter's life by giving him a spare space suit, slowly suffocating to death, much to Peter's distraught. Acknowledging Yondu as his true father, Peter and the Guardians gave the deceased Yondu a Ravager funeral, which was later attended by other Ravager teams (contacted by Rocket) in honor for his actions.
Relationships[]
Peter Quill[]
Yondu abducted and raised an orphaned Peter Quill after his mother died from brain cancer. After he learned Ego was killing his own children, fearing Quill would be next, Yondu decided to instead keep Peter and train him to be a Ravager. He (Yondu) saw Peter as the son he never had or knew he wanted and protected his adoptive son for most of his life, such as never telling Peter who his biological father was and kept Quill to keep him safe from the truth. However, Quill never acknowledged Yondu as his father until the final moments of his life.
Unlike Yondu's own uncaring parents, Yondu loved and cared for Peter and kept him as his own child to protect him from his father, Ego the Living Planet. His last present to Quill was going to be an old Zune player he found at a junker's shop in case Peter was ever going to return to the Ravagers one day.
Trivia[]
- Yondu is based on his Earth-616 iteration and his 31st century counterpart.
Gallery[]
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