Erik the Red (comics)
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- This article concerns the comic book character. For the Viking explorer, see Erik the Red.
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Erik the Red is a cover identity in the Marvel universe which has been used by three characters: Scott Summers (Cyclops), Davan Shakari, a Shi'ar agent, and Erik Magnus Lehnsherr (Magneto). All of these characters assumed this identity as a disguise. Shakari is the character that used this identity the longest and is the one most commonly associated with it.
[edit] Davan Shakari biography
The second Erik the Red is Davan Shakari, an alien from the Shi'ar Empire. This version of the character was created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum in X-Men #97 (1975) as a precursor to the original Phoenix Saga storyline.
The identity of Erik the Red was actually first used by Cyclops in X-Men #51 by Arnold Drake and Jim Steranko; he pretended to be a mutant supervillain to infiltrate a group of mutants led by Mesmero and a robot pretending to be Magneto, who had captured the rest of the X-Men. Cyclops' Erik the Red costume included a mask and gloves that redirected his optic blasts so that they were fired from his hands.
The second Erik the Red did not appear until years later; Cyclops wondered what the connection was between this Erik and the identity he himself had used, but the answer was never given. Presumably, Davan Shakari based his identity on the one that Cyclops had used years before in a strategy to catch them off guard.
Davan Shakari was appointed the observer of planet Earth, its people, and its cultures, for the Shi'ar Empire. During the Phoenix Saga storyline, he worked under the evil Shi'ar ruler, D'Ken, and was known to be quite corrupt himself. He subsequently restored adulthood to Magneto, who had been de-aged to infancy by Alpha the Ultimate Mutant, using advanced Shi'ar technology. Erik would not appear again for years; when he did, he apparently died when his Spaceship exploded during a battle with Genis-Vell and X-Treme.
The third person to take the name of Eric the Red was Magneto. He took this identity during the trial of Gambit and has abandoned it since.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Davan Shakari has the normal superhuman advantages of a member of his species. This entails enhanced strength, enhanced agility, and hollow bones.
In addition to this he wore a costume that augmented his strength to higher superhuman levels, enabled him to control minds to a limited degree, and fire concussive force blasts from his hands. He had various other advantages and was comprised of alien technology several centuries more advanced than that found on Earth.
The first and third persons to adopt the "Erik the Red" persona were mutants. Adopting the costume disguised their identities, but did not change or augment their existing powers.
[edit] Other media
Davan Shakari, using the Erik the Red alias, appeared in the X-Men animated series, his main purpose was to capture Lilandra and the M'Kraan Crystal for D'Ken. This was the same episode parodied in the Juggernaut Bitch Internet video, in which he was called Ketchup for his red outfit.
