Comics
Published June 21, 2021

Who Is Ravonna Renslayer?

An ambassador, a princess, a pirate, and a time-traveler. Grab Ravonna’s comic history!

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Ravonna in her Terminatrix armor.
AVENGERS: THE TERMINATRIX OBJECTIVE (1993) #2

Ravonna Renslayer is known by many names: Ravonna, Nebula, Kang-Nebula, Temptress, the Mistress of Time, and even Terminatrix! But who is she, when is she, and what motivates her? Time to get into it with her comic history highlights.

WHO IS RAVONNA RENSLAYER?

Ravonna’s first appearance in AVENGERS (1963) #23!
Ravonna’s first appearance in AVENGERS (1963) #23!

Raised by her father King Carelius, Princess Ravonna Lexus Renslayer grows up to become an ambassador to her people in the quaint kingdom of Eximietatius.

WHERE OR WHEN DOES SHE COME FROM?

The future! Ravonna hails from Other-Earth (Earth-6311), in the 40th century.

WHAT DOES SHE WANT?

Ravonna defends her people against the tyranny of Kang.
AVENGERS (1963) #24

That changes over time…

Initially, Ravonna cares deeply for the citizens of her kingdom. When her life was threatened by the time-misplaced menace Kang the Conqueror and his army, she refused to abandon her people. She later set her sights on revenge, plotting against Kang!

WHEN DOES SHE MEET KANG?

Kang makes a hasty proposal to Ravonna in AVENGERS (1963) #23.
AVENGERS (1963) #23

When Kang wanted to marry her!

On his way to conquer space and time, Kang approached Ravonna to seek her hand as his queen (after becoming overlord to her kingdom). But Princess Ravonna thought him a commoner and vehemently refused his marriage proposals. Kang then brought the Earth-616 Avengers forward in time to battle him, but she was still not impressed.

DOES SHE FALL FOR KANG?

The death of Ravonna in AVENGERS (1963) #24.
The death of Ravonna in AVENGERS (1963) #24.

Yes, in more ways than one.

In an odd turn of events, after Kang conquered her father’s kingdom, Ravonna saw that Kang defied his rules of engagement by not slaying her dad—the now conquered monarch—which changed her feelings about him. Kang’s guard commander Baltag saw this move as a weakness and turned Kang’s army against him. Ravonna and the Avengers allied with Kang against Baltag but Kang was still attacked. Ravonna jumped in the way of Baltag’s blast, saving Kang’s life yet losing hers in the process. See how her disdain changes from hate to love in AVENGERS (1963) #23-24!

IS RAVONNA DEAD OR ALIVE?

Kang longingly watches Ravonna in stasis in THOR ANNUAL (1966) #17.
THOR ANNUAL (1966) #17

She’s alive, but it’s all about timing!

When Ravonna perished saving Kang’s life, Kang time-traveled to save Ravonna but ended up creating a divergent reality where he died instead. He later split into two counterparts after a battle with Thor, allowing one Kang to save Ravonna’s life from the moment before her death, while the other had her cryogenically preserved. This Kang then played a gamble with the games-obsessed Elder of the Universe Grandmaster to gain the power of life over death. Kang won, but chose the power of death to slay his enemies, the Avengers, choosing to leave Ravonna in stasis for the time being…

HOW DOES SHE BECOME TERMINATRIX?

The birth of Terminatrix in AVENGERS ANNUAL (1967) #21!
Read the birth of Terminatrix in AVENGERS ANNUAL (1967) #21!

After Kang failed to save Ravonna, the Grandmaster revived her and revealed her love’s betrayal. Ravonna sought revenge, and eventually became Terminatrix but not before posing as the space pirate Nebula and infiltrating the Cross-Time Kangs. She then tried to manipulate Doctor Druid and the Avengers (AVENGERS (1963) #291-297) to secure one of the most powerful weapons in the universe, the Ultimate Nullifier, which got her caught up in a time storm. When the Fantastic Four arrived, she tried to get them to help her escape (FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #337-339) but the FF weren’t about to be manipulated. After this disastrous spell, Ravonna eventually escaped on her own, ditching her princess ways for the life of a time-traveling marauder.

DOES SHE HAVE POWERS?

Ravonna fights the Avenger with time duplicates in AVENGERS: THE TERMINATRIX OBJECTIVE (1993) #1.
AVENGERS: THE TERMINATRIX OBJECTIVE (1993) #1

Yes, and a suit of armor!

While Ravonna has enhanced physical abilities and superhuman durability, she’s also athletic, possesses a gifted intellect, and has advanced protective armor. Her armor is from the future of course, and comes to her when she calls it. It’s equipped with a cannon, gauntlets with retractable daggers, vibro-knives, blasters, and holographic circuitry that projects various appearances, whether that’s as simple as changing her hair color or posing as other people. She also has time-travel devices, helping her create temporal duplicates of herself for backup in battle.

DOES RAVONNA GET REVENGE?

Revisit Ravonna’s origin in AVENGERS FOREVER (1998) #9.
Revisit Ravonna’s origin in AVENGERS FOREVER (1998) #9.

Yes but no. It’s complicated!

When she was determined to rid the world of Kang, Ravonna ended up in a battle with the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, whom Kang was toying with at the time. As Thor’s hammer hurtled its way towards Ravonna, Kang threw himself in front of her! Ravonna watched over his near-dead body, just as he did hers, and ruled his kingdom of Chronopolis using her holographic circuitry and posing as Kang! Time, it seems, is on her side. For now.

 

Don’t forget to check out all of Ravonna Renslayer’s appearances on Marvel Unlimited!

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Ravonna Renslayer
Ravonna Renslayer
Princess Ravonna Lexus Renslayer leads many lives: As an ambassador, she defends her people. As Kang’s one true love, she awaits to be revived. As a pirate and time-traveler, she seeks revenge.
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