- "Won't there be hundreds of Sakaaran soldiers inside?"
"I think of Sakaaran as paper people." - ―Kraglin Obfonteri and Drax the Destroyer[src]
The Sakaarans, also known as Sakaarians, are a sentient insectoid race native to the planet Sakaar, which they share with a large number of stranded individuals of many different species. Many Sakaarans also served as soldiers for hire, serving both Ronan the Accuser and Thanos, participating in both the Battle of Xandar and the Battle of Earth.
History
Origin
- "Loyal Sakaarians, Lord of Thunder has stolen my ship and my favorite champion. Sakaarians, take to the skies. Bring him down. Do not let him leave this planet."
- ―Grandmaster[src]
The Sakaarans originate from Sakaar, a world formed by the Grandmaster, infamously known for being a place where individuals from across the galaxy find themselves stranded from their respective homeworlds and are forced to compete in the Contest of Champions. Amongst those stranded there were two Avengers, Hulk, and Thor, who were forced to do battle in a gladiatorial match. During their subsequent escape, they incited a massive uprising against the Grandmaster. One Sakaaran, Miek, aided the two.[1]
Serving Ronan
The Sakaarans are a close associate race to the Kree, and could often be found integrated into Kree society, such as the military. Korath the Pursuer, a close ally of Ronan the Accuser, was known to command a large platoon of Sakaaran mercenaries. When Ronan was ordered by Thanos to find the Orb, Korath and his Sakaarans joined Ronan in his hunt.[2]
Korath and two Sakaarans found the Orb on Morag, just as Star-Lord had obtained it within the Temple Vault. They gave chase as Star-Lord activated his helmet to escape.
The Sakaarans would continue to aid Ronan and Korath until the end, which came during the Battle of Xandar, where all of Korath's Sakaaran allies were killed in the battle.[3]
Serving Thanos
After the Avengers created an alternate timeline in 2014 in their quest to steal the Orb and the Soul Stone, the 2014 version of Thanos used reverse-engineered Pym Particles and a Quantum Tunnel to transport himself, his weaponry and his allies to 2023, including the Sakaarans. Thanos' entire army was summoned to the ruins of the Avengers facility by Thanos after battling some of the Avengers.
However, when it seemed that Thanos was going to win again, all of Thanos' victims came back to life and the decisive battle for the fate of the universe took place. As their fellow alien soldiers, many Sakaaran warriors ended up losing their lives against the Avengers' forces. However, the battle came to an end when Thanos attempted once more to use the Nano Gauntlet to erase all life in the universe only for Iron Man to snap his fingers with the Infinity Stones, causing Thanos' army, including the surviving Sakaaran soldiers, to fade away into nothingness before Thanos himself turned to dust.[4]
Characteristic Traits
So far, two varieties of Sakaaran have been seen: a humanoid variant and a more insectoid variant.
Figure-wise, the former group of Sakaarans have Human-like postures. However, when viewed up close, Sakaarans are insectoid in appearance, possessing insect-like mandibles and jaws, arthropodal exoskeleton, and four fingers on each hand. Their blood is yellow.
The more insectoid variant of Sakaaran that Miek is a part of more closely resemble large pink grubs with little to no humanoid features. They also appear to lack the ability to vocalize in any coherent language, unlike their humanoid counterparts.
Notable Sakaarans
Trivia
- In the comics, there are two Sakaarans species, the Sakaaran Natives, who are very similar to their movie counterparts; and the Humanoid Sakaarans, who split into two ethnic groups: the red-skinned Sakaaran Imperials and the grey-skinned Shadow People.
- All the Sakaarans in Guardians of the Galaxy are voiced by James Gunn and his assistant Simon Hatt.[5]
Behind the Scenes
- Originally, James Gunn wanted to introduce and gave the role of evil minions to the Badoons. However, the cinematic rights to the Badoon were owned by the then-separately owned 20th Century Fox. Gunn eventually decided to replace them with the Sakaarans.[6]