Courga

A humanoid-canine race, Courga were covered in orange fur and averaged 7'2" in height. Their home planet was Courg, third from the sun, in the Bledsoe star system in the Milky Way galaxy.

In the late 20th/early 21st century, their level of technology was inferior to that of Earth and their estimated population was 20 million.^[1]

Despite the fact that they presumably did not yet possess their own means of star travel, at least one Courga is known to have left their homeworld. This Courga became a member of the multi-species intergalactic religious order known as the Mourners.^[3]

Alternate Realities[]

Earth-691[]

By the 30th century, the Courga in this timeline had developed technology comparable to Earth.^[1] However, the planet Courg was a low-tech world whose inhabitants had little technological knowledge.^[2]

In 3016 AD, Dr. Pazz-Ko and his associate, Dr. Roh-Ma, were the chief caretakers of Asylum, a planet-wide mental institution for the most hopelessly neurotic patients from some fifty loosely-confederated planets in its sector of the galaxy. When four members of the Guardians of the Galaxy were forced to teleport down to the planet's surface, something that was strictly prohibited, Pazz-Ko and Roh-Ma used one of their shuttles to retrieve them. They also provided Martinex with the material he needed to repair their starship, the Captain America.^[4]

In 3017 AD, a Stark scout named Taserface claimed Courg, its resources and its people for his race.

Later, the mercenaries known as Force arrived on Courg seeking a clue that they believed was to be found there. During their brief stay, at least one Courg was killed by them. Days later, the Guardians of the Galaxy arrived, also looking for the now-removed clue.

To protect his claim, Taserface attacked the Guardians but was defeated by them, causing other Stark warriors to be sent as reinforcements to rescue him.^[2] A fierce battle began, during which Yondu was hurled into the hut of Atur, a Courga whose litter-brother had been callously murdered by the blue-skinned mercenary. Believing that his brother's soul needed vengeance, Atur tried to kill Yondu but was unable to do. Although Atur berated himself for being weak, Yondu assured him that it took strength to show compassion and that his brother's soul would rise with his strength and know peace from his mercy.^[5] With help from Firelord, the Stark force was defeated and the Guardians left, confiscating the Stark starship to replace their own which the Stark had destroyed.^[6]

Firelord stayed on Courg until other Stark had arrived and evacuated their defeated comrades, then he left as well. Unfortunately, neither he nor the Stark bothered to remove the bodies of the Stark warriors who had been killed. Those bodies soon began to release alien diseases that spread quickly throughout the population, killing the pups and the old ones first, including Atur's father and his son who died on the same day. As the diseases ravaged the Courga, the Stark returned, seeking vengeance. They decimated the population, leaving few survivors in their wake.^[7]

A year and a half later, in 3018 AD, Martinex returned to Courg alone and was shocked to find the village the Guardians had visited earlier was in ruins, with multiple graves and unburied bodies. He was then attacked by a knife-wielding Atur but was able to easily overcome his unskilled assailant and demand answers. Atur revealed what had happened on Courg since the Guardians had left and blamed them for assuming that a show of force would be enough to keep the Stark from coming back.^[8]

Martinex took Atur with him to Klatuu.^[9]

Currently 20 Million

Tribal

Currently inferior to Earth

Zan was the name of one of the deities prayed to by the Courga.^[5] It is unknown if this was their only deity or just one among many.

Atur, Pazz-Ko, Roh-Ma;

• The fact that Courg was a low-tech world even though the Courga race's level of technology was comparable to that of Earth, which had starships and teleporters, is an interesting discrepancy that has never been explained.
• The idea that many of the Courga on their homeworld were killed by alien diseases that spread from the bodies of the dead Stark warriors is medically improbable. Although people can become sick and die after handling dead bodies, this only happens if the corpses were those of people who died of contagious diseases or were infected with such diseases when something else killed them. Since the Stark who died on Courg were killed in battle, the only things their bodies should have released were microorganisms involved in the decay processes which, although foul-smelling, should have been harmless to the living.