Morfex (Earth-616)

Morfex was a Skrull who was assigned to infiltrate the Charter Federation, the largest peacekeeping organization in the Local Group of galaxies. He chose to carry out his mission by assuming the form of an Axi-Tun and joining the Charter's peacekeeping militia, the Cosmic Commandos. He eventually rose in rank to become Captain Morfex, commander of Cosmic Commando Unit One.

At one point, the Charter decided to invite the people of Earth to become members of the Charter. After the Charter's mobile headquarters, The Hub, had travelled to Earth's solar system to make their offer, Axi-Tun agents covertly released a bio-engineered hybrid cosmic plague on The Hub that killed the three million ambassadors and technicians who were stationed there. The only survivor was Quasar, the Earth-born Protector of the Universe who had been visiting The Hub to confirm their good intentions. Other Axi-Tun agents then used Quasar's image and samples of his voice to create a false message in which "Quasar" claimed responsibility for the deaths on behalf of the people of Earth. When that message was broadcast across the tri-galaxy area, Cosmic Commando Unit One was sent to The Hub to arrest Quasar who initially surrendered to them but soon broke free and escaped after learning of the broadcast that he had supposedly made. Morfex and his team then set out in their starship to recapture the fugitive.^[1]

When the Commandos caught up to Quasar, he had been joined by the Silver Surfer and Beta Ray Bill, and all three were in the vicinity of a giant planetoid. Morfex demanded that the Silver Surfer surrender Quasar to them and then, when the Surfer refused, he ordered the Commandos to deploy. As the Commandos began to battle the threesome, Morfex noticed that the Surfer was attacking the planetoid instead of them and ordered a scan of its orbit. After discovering that the planetoid was on course to strike Earth, Morfex ordered Stenth to fire their ship's decohesion beam at the planetoid but he was interrupted by an incoming transmission from his superior at Command Central who ordered him to capture Quasar and to not assist in the destruction of the planetoid. Morfex chose to disobey orders and fired the beam but was soon rendered unconscious when Stenth struck him down from behind. Although surprised to see Morfex turn into a Skrull, Stenth didn't hesistate to jettison him from the airlock. Xenith almost immediately spotted her captain in space without a spacesuit and was close to him when Quasar created an atmosphere bubble around them. After regaining consciousness, Morfex explained to Xenith that he had always been a Skrull and revealed that he had been given a command that was in opposition to the Charter's Prime Directive. Later, after the Silver Surfer, Beta Ray Bill and Quasar had prevented the planetoid from striking Earth, Morfex again explained what had happened to him and the five of them decided to band together as the Star Masters to solve the mystery of who killed the delegates at The Hub.^[2]

Morfex and the other Star Masters defeated the rest of Cosmic Commando Unit One and travelled to The Hub where they all ended up being ambushed by Axi-Tun warriors who brought them to an Axi-Tun starship where they were to be killed. Although Beta Ray Bill suddenly disappeared, the other four were dumped into the Cauldron of Purification but Quasar saved them by creating quantum-auras that protected them from the cauldron's lethal contents. Quasar then got them all out through the bottom of the cauldron without letting their would-be killers know that they had survived.^[3]

While the Silver Surfer left for Asgard to search for Beta Ray Bill, Morfex remained with Xenith and Quasar on the Axi-Tun starship to rescue a number of non-Axi-Tun lifeforms who were being held captive there. By assuming the form of the Axi-Tun scientist Sidereus, Morfex was able to bluff some guards into turning the prisoners over to him. As the trio and the ex-captives made their escape, one of them, the Rigellian Tana Nile, telepathically learned that the Axi-Tun were planning to eliminate all other races in the universe. Once back on The Hub and reunited with the Silver Surfer and a transformed Beta Ray Bill, the Star Masters and Tana Nile realized that the Axi-Tun plan was to use the infected corpses of the dead delegates to carry the hybrid cosmic plague to their homeworlds and wipe out their populations. After the Surfer eliminated the plague from the corpses, the Star Masters set off after the Axi-Tun starship carrying the Cauldron. Morfex set his starship on auto-pilot to use it as bait to distract the Axi-Tun while he and the other Star Masters approached from the opposite direction. Once aboard, the Star Masters managed to defeat the Axi-Tun and destroy the Cauldron and the plague within it. Afterwards, Morfex was very pleased to see that his "baby" (his specially-designed ship) was unharmed. Days later, Morfex stood with the Star Masters as they were honored in The Hub by the newly-elected Charter delegates.^[4]

At the request of the Charter, Morfex and the other Star Masters accompanied Tana Nile to Tun to take the Axi-Tun leader, Lord Votan, into custody for the mass murder at The Hub. They encountered unexpected resistance due to Votan's secret ability to control the wills of others and, after losing the will to fight, were soon defeated and imprisoned. After the captives discussed what had happened to them, Morfex realized that their wills had been sapped by Votan and Tana Nile was able to link their combined wills and channel them to Quasar who was then able to break free from Votan's control. With Votan weakened, the others regained their will power and escaped to find that Votan's brother, Landar, was leading a rebellion against his corrupt sibling. As the Star Masters fought Votan's forces, the Silver Surfer noted that Morfex's strategies had yielded positive results without any loss of Axi-Tun life. Finding that Landar, despite their common enemy, still resisted asking for help from the Star Masters, Morfex briefly reverted to his true Skrull form and stated that the behavior that the Axi-Tun race was exhibiting made him ashamed that he had chosen to pose as one. Morfex then declared that he was the same no matter his outward appearance and that his life was dedicated to saving lives and putting a stop to the fighting. Moved by his words, Landar ordered his underground militia to, for this one time, fight under Morfex's command. Morfex then directed Quasar and the Silver Surfer to try to stop a rogue Pheragot warship that was coming to destroy everyone on Tun with Regenerative Warheads and he told Landar to have half of his militia supporting them with fire from the ground. In the end, the Pheragot attack was (mostly) prevented and Votan was defeated and taken into custody. When Landar protested that an Axi-Tun should not be tried by the Charter, Morfex pointed out that if Votan remained on Tun there would still be those loyal to him and he could still lead a revolt against Landar's rule even while imprisoned. Landar ultimately agreed and the Star Masters left Tun with Votan as their prisoner.^[5]

Years later, after religious extremists had taken over the Skrull Empire, Chancellor Kal'Du compiled Warbook Files for Queen Veranke. In his analysis, Kal'Du criticized Morfex for surrendering his position within the Charter to ally himself with interstellar vigilantes to form the Star Masters. Kal'Du further suggested that Morfex's time posing as an Axi-Tun may have caused him to go native and act as a kingmaker on the Axi-Tun homeworld. Kal'Du concluded that, since Landar's new policy founded on xenophobia had made infiltration more difficult, Morfex had much for which he must answer.^[6]

• Skrull Shape-Shifting

Blasters (hand-held energy weapons)

Cosmic Commandos' Command Ship

• Since the shape-shifting abilities of the Skrulls are controlled by conscious acts of will, Skrulls in assumed forms normally only revert to their true forms if they are killed or exposed to energies that disrupt their neurological systems. With that in mind, the fact that Morfex reverted to his true form after a blow to his head rendered him unconscious is an anomaly that remains unexplained.