Martian Emperor

The Emperor belongs to the Martians, a race of metamorphic aliens dwelling in a city beneath the surface of Mars. Through his physiology he can shift his form and reshape his features into nearly any figure he chooses. The show gives little further detail about his everyday look beyond this shapeshifting nature and his royal standing.

As sovereign of Mars, the Emperor governs with a wariness born of long experience with the Sequid threat. He places the survival of his people above the lives of outsiders, readily ordering the capture and execution of visitors he deems a risk. His decisions are driven less by cruelty than by a ruler's cold calculation about what might endanger his world.

Little is known of the Emperor's past aside from his rise to rule over all Martians. At some point during or before his reign, a ship carrying parasitic creatures called Sequids crashed on Mars. With their hosts dead, the Sequid hive mind fell into disarray, and their attempt to possess the Martians failed because the shape-changers could resist them. The Martians then kept the Sequids as servants, staying alert to the danger of the parasites ever seizing a non-Martian host.

When Earth astronauts arrive, secretly shadowed by Invincible, the Emperor orders them all seized. Invincible follows his missing companions to the underground compound and is caught, and the ruler has both the hero and the astronauts brought before him. He welcomes Invincible, is puzzled by his respectful bow, and recounts the history of the Sequids, warning that a possessed host would doom Mars and then Earth. Surprised that Invincible is immune, he notes he has heard of the Viltrumites, yet refuses to free the astronauts, having already scheduled their execution to prevent any Sequid contact. Invincible feigns agreement before fleeing with them. In the chaos, the Martian later called Shapesmith knocks out Rus Livingston and takes his identity, but with Rus as their host the Sequids break loose and assault the Martians. The Emperor survives and is taken aboard a Martian battleship. After the Guardians of the Globe free Rus, the Emperor thanks them yet demands they hand over Shapesmith, branded the great betrayer, for execution. The Guardians instead depart with Shapesmith, leaving the ruler displeased.