Femizonia (Marvel Comics)
Encyclopedia
Femizonia is the new name given to the planet Earth in the 23rd century in multiple alternate realities that have appeared in the shared superhero universe published by Marvel Comics
, and was originally created by Stan Lee
and John Romita
. As the name suggests, it is depicted as a largely global gynaecocratic culture where women have become physically imposing warriors who at various times either rule over male slaves or fight them in a war of genocidal attrition.
This cluster of realities has spawned two recurring characters currently active within the main continuity of the Marvel Universe: Thundra
and her genetically engineered daughter Lyra
.
vol. 1 #1 (1971). There is no indication that the Earth has been renamed in this reality.
This reality has a single dominant culture: the Femizons. These overlords have conquered and enslaved the male population to create a feudal society presided over by a queen. It is ironically a violent and martial culture, with lethal female gladitorial contests taking place even in the lounges of the royal palace of the USA and the weak worthy of death.
Modes of dress are typical of the Sword and Sandal
fantasy genre which Savage Tales served. Armour, as a woman's garment, is generally designed along ornamental and fetishistic lines over practicality. Loincloths of varying lengths are prevalent amongst both sexes, with slaves also seen wearing tight breeches and women something beginning to resemble harem-pants.
Reproduction takes place through the aegis of the Temple of Genetics, which "guards the precious sperm supply", and bypasses the need of women to become pregnant. Men are produced as part of the Temple's output but only as servants, entertainers, and genetic stock.
There remain pockets of male resistance, described as "wild men" in reference to their undomesticated status, hyper-aggressive natures and primitive existence. They propagate their kind by the kidnap and rape of femizons. At least one tribe has however developed or maintained a level of education and civility, seeking to return the world to a place of gender equality.
Though these tribes are subject to ongoing efforts to exterminate them, the sheer violence of the femizon culture suggests some degree of international conflict exists, either between competing femizon nations or else with organized male resistance that may even include distinct homelands.
By the end of the 22nd century this culminates in a pogrom
where some 90 percent of all male children extant at the time are abandoned to die of exposue in the wilderness. The remaining 10 percent were kept and domesticated as slaves to serve the needs of the Sisterhood and to continue the human race. However, natural childbirth is by now totally supplanted by laboratory birthing; though men continue to be created it is only as servants, entertainers, and breeding stock.
These acts are recorded for posterity using brain tape technology. However the USA will subsequently
ban knowledge of the world's history before the rise of Femizon culture. With their hold on power and history secure, the major concerns of the USA become exterminating the renegade bands of roving free men & and preventing incursions from foreign nations and powers. Ironically these so called Wild Men are the direct result of the abandonment of the children, their desperate primitive existence forcing the hardiest and most adaptable of them to develop all the worst traits of their sex in order to survive.
During the 23rd century, the court of Queen Vega is infiltrated by a man named Mogon. Atypically educated and non-brutish for a free man, he is sent by his own tribe to become a servant so that he might destroy the Sisterhood's Temple of Genetics. The hope is that if successful, men will be able to convert the need to continue humanity into political power with which to overthrow the Sisterhood. His tribe, or at least a part of it, is however discovered and seemingly exterminated by the Femizon secret police. Mogon is himself slain by Princess Lyra to disguise her conversion to his cause.
New York City collapses into the ocean some time prior to the rise of the Femizons. When the area is resettled, it is rebuilt in what would be described today as a retrofuturistic style.
Advanced forms of genetic engineering are available capable of granting extreme super powers, but there is no indication that it is used on any sort of broad scale.
Lethal gladitorial combat between women take place, either for the pleasure of the masses as part of an extreme military training regime.
The USR has a ruler that presides over her nation from a throne-like chair and is seen to favour the metal bikini & ornate headdress style. In contrast, Thundra favours a strangely practical combination of halter top and pants. Most other Femizons appear to favour a fusion of the two styles.
In contrast, both free and domesticated men are seen wearing brief leather skirts and other barbarian style dress typical of the Sword and Sandal
genre, sometimes accessorised with retro-futuristic elements.
, Femizon access to advanced genetic engineering instead of simple artificial insemination, the presence of Kirby Tech devices and a historical narration differing from the history originally attributed to the rise of Femizon society strongly suggests that the two realities are not one and the same. In any event the Femizons are technologically advanced and portrayed as the dominant culture in North America by the 23rd century, maintaining a docile male slave population.
During this period, genetic engineering results in the creation of the warrior Thundra, who would eventually become head of USR military. Some time after she reaches adulthood, cosmic happenstance leads to the intrusion of Earth-74101 into this reality. Named Machus by its inhabitants, this essentially gender-swapped version of their own world begins to inspire the native male population to rebellion. Such insurrections are brutally and messily quashed but eventually lead to a Femizon attempt to interfere with time: Thundra is sent back in time to claim a victory over the greatest male hero of the modern era, so crushing in its completeness that the reality of Earth-74101 will never come to pass.
Her mission proves unsuccessful, with the two realities instead being merged to form Earth-7412, a world were the sexes are now equal and form a harmonious heterogeneous society. The continued existence of Mahkizmo after his apparent demise during the reality merger as a disembodied entity eventually leads to both sexes remembering their lives prior to the creation of Earth-7412. Though this breaks the 'unnatural' atmosphere of peace and harmony, the unified society continues albeit in a more rough and tumble fashion.
Thundra, the last known survivor of Earth-715, remains on Earth-616 as a professional wrestler and associate of both the Fantastic Four and Project Pegasus until eventually relocating to a new home dimension.
At some point subsequent to this, the USR becomes the seat of the United Sisterhood Empire. The extent of its claim over the Earth is unknown but implied to be greater than that of the USR of Earth-715.
Two decades later, according to Femizon propaganda (see image) the sole remaining male homeland is the area corresponding to the modern day Middle East. However, it seems that there are still male strongholds within territory Femizons have claimed dominion over.
There is evidence as to the nature of personal relationships, and the children of the matrices are educated through the use of learning cubes, though whether this term refers to a location or an AI device is unknown. Further, though they implicitly remain fertile women do not become pregnant and may not even contribute genetic material to the birthing matrices responsible for the creation of children given the extreme significance attached to Thundra's becoming a mother.
Though civilians are mentioned, only soldiers and (military) technicians have so far been seen. All of them dress in the vaguely fetishistic and semi-impractical manner one would expect of extras from an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess
-- likely in homage to the original Femizon story in Savage Tales. They are shown to be armed only with low-tech melee weapon
s. However by the time of the Imperium the practicality of Femizon dress has improved. Slaves however are consistently dressed in revealing leather kilts.
With the exception of Thundra and her daughter, there is no indication of the existence of overt superpowers beyond the standard species-wide genetic upgrades to their strength, stature and durability, but they are aware of the existence of these beings in the 21st century. Whether the absence of naturally superpowered individuals occurred in relation to the events precipitating the gender war or is a deliberate cultural choice enacted through the birthing matrices is unclear.
Unlike men they have access to an unstable chrono-gate technology that only Thundra appears capable of using. This has an associated satellite system that uses deployable base stations to survey locations for psychometric data used for targeting time jumps. As far as the general Femizon population is aware, these jumps are for propaganda purposes to display the superiority of women over the greatest men of the modern era; temporal warfare does not appear to be an applicable tactic. This technology eventually evolves into a functional time/dimensional transport and remote viewing system that operates through the use of D-Belts that interact with the unique vibrational frequencies of individuals and their realities.
Their clothing is typically more practical in design and appearance than that of women. Soldiers have been seen to dress in the gladatorial fashion highly reminiscent of the marauding gangs seen in the Mad Max
films, while even by the time of the Imperium technicians attending the birthing matrices seem indistinguishable from their modern day equivalents. Other groups from the time of the Imperium have been seen to use arms, armor and tactics fashioned after those of Roman legionnaires.
They are shown to be armed predominantly with low-tech melee weapons and small arms such as submachine guns, though certain champions are also seen to utilize energized melee weapons. They have not been seen display overt signs of superhuman ability. Given their reverence for the superhumans of the past, this strongly implies the technological inability to recreate them.
They have access not only to military hardware such as tanks, but have also been seen to utilize mutant animals with no 616 equivalent as ground and air transport.
During the dawn of the 21st century, men and women become divided by the simplest of things. Every sphere of life—politics, art, business, entertainment, competition—treats the genders as irrevocably different. When women begin wide spread usage of genetic enhancement to bridge the gap in physical capability, the attempts by men to maintain it winds up in their entire gender becoming sterile. This forces them to use genetic birthing matrices, a practice the implicitly still fertile femizons also adopt. The ease of such parthenogenic reproduction drives the final wedge between the genders, resulting in all-out war; though both sides could bomb each other into extinction, their conflicts remain comparatively low-level as each seeks to display their physical superiority over the other.
Once gaining a position of power in her new reality, Thundra continues her journeys back in time, oestensibly to demorialize the enemy but with the ulterior motive of gaining superior genetic material with which to conceive a child powerful enough to continue the expansion of Femizon empire into the next generation. Material harvested from the Hulk is used to conceive her daughter Lyra, the first child with a father—described by the scientist responsible as a pregnancy—in 4 generations.
Following her ascension to the position of Empress there is a brief insurrection by Machus rebels utilizing a large multi-limbed android capable of rendering women vulnerable to attack by men. Thundra recruits Ben Grimm to help quell the uprising, but the event is immediately hushed up.
A diplomatic delegation sent by the Iperium to the extra-dimensional realm of Polemachus soon results in war when its leader Arkon
-- an old foe of the Avengers
-- is unable to accept the existence of world ruled by women. Yet again the Femizons are forced to secretly turn to outside help, with Thundra summoning the Fantastic Four and the Avengers West Coast. However, Arkon's scientists learn of this plan, and abduct some of these would be champions to use them against the Femizons. Battle between the two sides is joined, culminating in a one on one fight between Thundra and Arkon. When the two decide they have found in the other a suitable mate, Thundra abandons the Sisterhood to become Arkon's consort, a decision that may have been prompted by a belief her daughter was ready to assume her role. Thundra and Arkon, after a number of appearances as a couple are eventually seen to be killed during another reality intrusion.
men, each tribe based on single a totemic identity and riven by internecine warfare based on religious belief.
The dead are venerated via a ceremony called the Reading of the Fallen. The preeminent religious figures are referred to as the Ones-Who-Knew, who are described as cherishing the sacrifice arms-maids make of their lives in battle.
The single referenced romantic relationship to date indicates that polygamous relationships exist; whether they are ubiquitous or unusual, along with the continued existence of heterosexuals, is something not yet discussed. There is no indication of a subservient male population
Femizon technical superiority comes from arduous and assiduous attempts to gather what remaining technical knowledge exists in the world, storing it in the cybernetic systems of the Gynosure. This knowledge does not extend to human fertility: all Femizons are born sterile and reproduce using a genetic birthing matrix they name the Cradle.
into warring tribes fuelled by half-remembered myths and legends of the modern age. These tribes deeply revere the battle sites where the Overmen (the contemporary term for superhumans) of days past fought and died, considering them sacred ground. The warriors of each tribe garb themselves in a primitive manner evocative of their totem. Those who don't worship their totem are generally marked for death. This recollection of the past is also responsible for their Luddism, as they believe any attempt to reclaim the knowledge of the world as it was will inevitably lead to a repeat of the calamity that has brought their world to its current parlous state.
The one exception to both these beliefs would appear to be the male birthing matrix. Femizon narration conjectures the responsibility of primitive instinct for this, a supposition the seeming continuation of the facility's automatic systems and lack of human operators could lend credence to. Those tribes charged with the site's safety are described as being the most powerful, and significantly derive their identities from several of the male Dark Avengers
-- namely Ares
(Wargods), Daken
(Howlers), the Sentry
(Men of Gold), Venom (Crawlers) and the Green Goblin
(Goblinkin) -- which seems clearly related to the devices' origin as a product of Osborn Technologies. Dialogue indicates that there are many more tribes as yet unseen. Ironically, the most sacred site of male culture contains an antiquated but still function animatronic customer interface modelled after the appearance of Jocasta
, which offers potential customers of the past access to superpowers.
took place, and appears to have been affected by a dramatic alteration of the time line. The apocalypse that leads to the gendercidal war arises from Norman Osborn establishing a company named Origins Unlimited that sells super-human abilities derived from samples taken by the Superhuman Registration Authority to the general public. One such facility is the Meta Science Center in St Louis.
Naturally this causes all the usual problems enjoyed by superpowered communities to expand exponentially, leading to an unimaginable death toll and, within a century of its introduction, the fall of humanity. Part of this chaos includes the event known to the femizons as the Black Bloom, in which something interacts with the Venom
symbiote in such a titanically bad way that the creature drastically alters the water courses of the North American continent. Another miscalculation leads to the creation of a self-sustaining American population of sabertooth cats seemingly sourced from the Savage Land.
However, prior to this collapse humanity experiences a brief golden age of empire as a result of everyone on the planet gaining superhuman abilities. Reaching out into the cosmos, humanity encounters the Kree
, the Shi'ar
, the Skrulls and the Badoon
, allegedly enslaving them all before the end. When the end comes, the humans take the Kree with them. How exactly this expansion factors into the post-apocalyptic state of Femizonia is as yet unrevealed, and may even conceivably be disinformation as it is used in the midst of battle in an attempt to demoralise a Kree opponent.
At some point the population of the world splits along gender lines. Before or after the collapse of the human imperium is unknown, but both sides begin to use the Oscorp Technologies genetic matrices to reproduce. Originally intended to create replacement body parts for the Overmen, the children they generate are all sterile. Driven by prejudice and hate, the idea of utilising DNA from the other gender does not occur to either side until finally Thundra is sent back in time to retrieve the DNA of the Hulk, leading to the highly divisive creation of Lyra.
Lyra's creation is attributed by the Gynosure to a desire to create a counter-meme
: the existence of a female born of totemic hero standing in opposition to the tribes is intended to sunder the foundation of their faith. However, for all her prowess in battle and the victories she claims in the name of the Sisterhood, a significant percentage of Femizons also fear her, a reaction she experiences for her entire life. This is only compounded when Thundra abandons her and the Sisterhood in order to permanently return to Earth-616 and become a Hero, an act of cruelty and treason for which her daughter grows up hating her for. As a result, she is raised and schooled by the Gynosure.
Thundra's absence ultimately appears to leave the Gynosure in charge of Femizon society; without her there appears to be no United Sisterhood Empire. However, there is no evidence regarding the Gynosure's existence or lack thereof prior to this version of Earth-8009, suggesting Thundra may well have been operating at her behest during her rise to Empress in the original timeline of this reality, as well as on Earth-715.
By the time Lyra reaches adulthood, the Cradle has begun to terminally malfunction, producing malformed and stillborn infants, As a result, a commando raid is mounted on Gateway to steal a vital component from the Tribes' own Cradle to repair that of the Femizons which will have the added bonus of initiating the final generation-long extinction of men. Though the raid is successful, an ill-considered, badly timed and ultimately botched assassination ends up destroying the component. The Gynosure subsequently reveals that Lyra, engineered with a kill switch in case she ever became problematic, was only ever intended as a disposable tool to retrieve the component. With the imminent catastrophic of the Cradle and by dint of having the only functioning womb in all of the USR, Lyra is forced to go back in time with the mission to fall pregnant by Norman Osborn, a mission she ultimately rejects before her companion AI manages to secure a component via other means and leave it in a time capsule for the femizons of the future to recover.
All members of the commune appear within the physical norms of Earth-616's females, with their leader Thundra standing at least a foot higher than anyone else. By inference, few to none of them possess any sort of superhuman ability.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, and was originally created by Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and John Romita
John Romita
John Romita may refer to:*John Romita, Sr., comic book artist best known for his art on The Amazing Spider-Man for Marvel Comics in the 1960s...
. As the name suggests, it is depicted as a largely global gynaecocratic culture where women have become physically imposing warriors who at various times either rule over male slaves or fight them in a war of genocidal attrition.
This cluster of realities has spawned two recurring characters currently active within the main continuity of the Marvel Universe: Thundra
Thundra
Thundra is a Marvel Comics superheroine who is often aligned with the Fantastic Four. She is a powerful, red haired, amazon-like warrior, or Femizon, from a matriarchal, technologically advanced future timeline where men have been subjugated by women...
and her genetically engineered daughter Lyra
She-Hulk (Lyra)
She-Hulk is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. She is from an alternate future of Marvel's main timeline, and is the daughter of that reality's Thundra and the Hulk...
.
Unknown Earth
The original incarnation of Femizonia was introduced in Savage TalesSavage Tales
Savage Tales is the title of three American comics series. Two were black-and-white comics-magazine anthologies published by Marvel Comics , and the other a color comic book anthology published by Dynamite Entertainment.-Marvel/Curtis:The first of the two volumes of Savage Tales ran 11 issues, with...
vol. 1 #1 (1971). There is no indication that the Earth has been renamed in this reality.
Geography
The former United States of America has been renamed the United Sisterhood Alliance. Much of the architecture of the modern day appears to have been destroyed in favour of the "fantasy" archtecture style typical of the visual fantasists of the 1960s and 70s. Character dialogue implies that the various states of the modern era also no longer exist.Culture
- Sexuality! Solidarity! Superiority! - Femizon Creed
This reality has a single dominant culture: the Femizons. These overlords have conquered and enslaved the male population to create a feudal society presided over by a queen. It is ironically a violent and martial culture, with lethal female gladitorial contests taking place even in the lounges of the royal palace of the USA and the weak worthy of death.
Modes of dress are typical of the Sword and Sandal
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
fantasy genre which Savage Tales served. Armour, as a woman's garment, is generally designed along ornamental and fetishistic lines over practicality. Loincloths of varying lengths are prevalent amongst both sexes, with slaves also seen wearing tight breeches and women something beginning to resemble harem-pants.
Reproduction takes place through the aegis of the Temple of Genetics, which "guards the precious sperm supply", and bypasses the need of women to become pregnant. Men are produced as part of the Temple's output but only as servants, entertainers, and genetic stock.
There remain pockets of male resistance, described as "wild men" in reference to their undomesticated status, hyper-aggressive natures and primitive existence. They propagate their kind by the kidnap and rape of femizons. At least one tribe has however developed or maintained a level of education and civility, seeking to return the world to a place of gender equality.
Though these tribes are subject to ongoing efforts to exterminate them, the sheer violence of the femizon culture suggests some degree of international conflict exists, either between competing femizon nations or else with organized male resistance that may even include distinct homelands.
Prominent citizens
- Queen Vega: Ruler of the USA.
- Princess Lyra: Vega's sister & royal champion, self described as the most feared swordswoman in the USA. She also secretly possesses a banned archive of the world's history and a desire to see sexual equality return to the world.
- Syrani: Vega's stereotypically hawkish chief advisor & head of the USA's secret police. She and her police all shave their heads bald.
- Mogon of the Hills: A male rebel leader who wins Lyra's affection while posing as her slave.
History
Chemical and biological warfare begins during the close of the 20th century that eventually results in the sterilization of 95% of Earth's female population. Refusing the inevitability of their remaining fertile sisters being turned into chattels for the benefit of the species, women instead seize political power. Once in control, they begin a process of systematic male oppression by blaming them for nearly exterminating the species.By the end of the 22nd century this culminates in a pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
where some 90 percent of all male children extant at the time are abandoned to die of exposue in the wilderness. The remaining 10 percent were kept and domesticated as slaves to serve the needs of the Sisterhood and to continue the human race. However, natural childbirth is by now totally supplanted by laboratory birthing; though men continue to be created it is only as servants, entertainers, and breeding stock.
These acts are recorded for posterity using brain tape technology. However the USA will subsequently
ban knowledge of the world's history before the rise of Femizon culture. With their hold on power and history secure, the major concerns of the USA become exterminating the renegade bands of roving free men & and preventing incursions from foreign nations and powers. Ironically these so called Wild Men are the direct result of the abandonment of the children, their desperate primitive existence forcing the hardiest and most adaptable of them to develop all the worst traits of their sex in order to survive.
During the 23rd century, the court of Queen Vega is infiltrated by a man named Mogon. Atypically educated and non-brutish for a free man, he is sent by his own tribe to become a servant so that he might destroy the Sisterhood's Temple of Genetics. The hope is that if successful, men will be able to convert the need to continue humanity into political power with which to overthrow the Sisterhood. His tribe, or at least a part of it, is however discovered and seemingly exterminated by the Femizon secret police. Mogon is himself slain by Princess Lyra to disguise her conversion to his cause.
Earth-715
Inspired by "Fury of the Femizons" story from Savage Tales #1, this iteration first appears in Fantastic Four vol 1. #151 and depicts the planet Earth of a possible 23rd century as has having been renamed Femizonia. This reality first received its multiverse designation in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.Geography
The former United States of America has been renamed the United Sisterhood Republic, and its constituent states have been similarly redefined. The USR state named the Midwestern Republic contains the megalopolis of Greater Milago (a merged sprawl of what was originally Milwaukee and Chicago).New York City collapses into the ocean some time prior to the rise of the Femizons. When the area is resettled, it is rebuilt in what would be described today as a retrofuturistic style.
Culture
This reality has a single dominant culture: the Femizons. These overlords have conquered and enslaved the passively domesticated male population in a manner much the same as the original Femizonian future though they display a vaguely more benign and technologically advanced attitude.Advanced forms of genetic engineering are available capable of granting extreme super powers, but there is no indication that it is used on any sort of broad scale.
Lethal gladitorial combat between women take place, either for the pleasure of the masses as part of an extreme military training regime.
The USR has a ruler that presides over her nation from a throne-like chair and is seen to favour the metal bikini & ornate headdress style. In contrast, Thundra favours a strangely practical combination of halter top and pants. Most other Femizons appear to favour a fusion of the two styles.
In contrast, both free and domesticated men are seen wearing brief leather skirts and other barbarian style dress typical of the Sword and Sandal
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
genre, sometimes accessorised with retro-futuristic elements.
Prominent citizens
- ThundraThundraThundra is a Marvel Comics superheroine who is often aligned with the Fantastic Four. She is a powerful, red haired, amazon-like warrior, or Femizon, from a matriarchal, technologically advanced future timeline where men have been subjugated by women...
: The most powerful warrior of her time as a result of advanced genetic engineering and a lifetime of martial training and education. She is sent back to secure the timeline that leads to the creation of Femizonia. Repeated interactions with Ben Grimm eventually lead to her doubting whether her home reality should ever come to pass. - Mahkizmo: Thundra's atomic powered counterpart from Earth-74101, ultimately responsible for the final merger of their realities.
History
Though unstated, it is likely that the history of Earth-715 is largely similar to that of the original Femizon Earth. Though these differences can be attributed to translating the original concept into the Marvel UniverseMarvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
, Femizon access to advanced genetic engineering instead of simple artificial insemination, the presence of Kirby Tech devices and a historical narration differing from the history originally attributed to the rise of Femizon society strongly suggests that the two realities are not one and the same. In any event the Femizons are technologically advanced and portrayed as the dominant culture in North America by the 23rd century, maintaining a docile male slave population.
During this period, genetic engineering results in the creation of the warrior Thundra, who would eventually become head of USR military. Some time after she reaches adulthood, cosmic happenstance leads to the intrusion of Earth-74101 into this reality. Named Machus by its inhabitants, this essentially gender-swapped version of their own world begins to inspire the native male population to rebellion. Such insurrections are brutally and messily quashed but eventually lead to a Femizon attempt to interfere with time: Thundra is sent back in time to claim a victory over the greatest male hero of the modern era, so crushing in its completeness that the reality of Earth-74101 will never come to pass.
Her mission proves unsuccessful, with the two realities instead being merged to form Earth-7412, a world were the sexes are now equal and form a harmonious heterogeneous society. The continued existence of Mahkizmo after his apparent demise during the reality merger as a disembodied entity eventually leads to both sexes remembering their lives prior to the creation of Earth-7412. Though this breaks the 'unnatural' atmosphere of peace and harmony, the unified society continues albeit in a more rough and tumble fashion.
Thundra, the last known survivor of Earth-715, remains on Earth-616 as a professional wrestler and associate of both the Fantastic Four and Project Pegasus until eventually relocating to a new home dimension.
Earth-8009 (Original)
This is a version of Femizonia that has not suffered Earth-715's reality merger, though the degree of similarity between the two realities is never made clear. Thundra establishes her new home here, from which she would return several times to Earth-616. It received its multiversal designation in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Alternate Universes. Unlike other versions of Femizonia, it is shown to have a persistently red sky.Geography
The global balance of power is initially roughly equal between the two factions, with male-controlled regions apparently corresponding to modern-day cultures with strong Islamic or Catholic aspects. America, or at least the portion under Femizon control, is initially known as the United Sisterhood Republic with modern-day Utah termed the Western Territory; the Tribes of Men refer to this area as the Rocklands.At some point subsequent to this, the USR becomes the seat of the United Sisterhood Empire. The extent of its claim over the Earth is unknown but implied to be greater than that of the USR of Earth-715.
Two decades later, according to Femizon propaganda (see image) the sole remaining male homeland is the area corresponding to the modern day Middle East. However, it seems that there are still male strongholds within territory Femizons have claimed dominion over.
Culture
The warrior Femizons are the dominant culture of at least the North American continent, with other female-dominant societies holding sway over Australasia and Western Africa; over the course of 2 decades the global reach of Androarchy is corraled to the present day Middle East. In addition to their own native population of domesticated males, they eventually acquire a number of prisoners from or inspired by a version of Machus that similarly avoided a dimensional merger.Femizons
The immigrant Thundra slips easily into the power structures of this alternate reality, suggesting that this Femizonia is every bit as militant as the previous versions. The USR is ultimately ruled by a Governess presumably at the head of some form of representative government, a role claimed through a combination of military accomplishment and social manipulation. At some point within the next two decades the Republic is abolished in favour of an Imperium presided over by an Empress that at least initially is intended to be a heredity position.There is evidence as to the nature of personal relationships, and the children of the matrices are educated through the use of learning cubes, though whether this term refers to a location or an AI device is unknown. Further, though they implicitly remain fertile women do not become pregnant and may not even contribute genetic material to the birthing matrices responsible for the creation of children given the extreme significance attached to Thundra's becoming a mother.
Though civilians are mentioned, only soldiers and (military) technicians have so far been seen. All of them dress in the vaguely fetishistic and semi-impractical manner one would expect of extras from an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess is an American–New Zealand supernatural fantasy adventure series that aired in syndication from September 4, 1995 until June 18, 2001....
-- likely in homage to the original Femizon story in Savage Tales. They are shown to be armed only with low-tech melee weapon
Mêlée weapon
A melee weapon is any weapon that does not involve a projectile — that is, both the user and target of the weapon are in contact with it simultaneously in normal use...
s. However by the time of the Imperium the practicality of Femizon dress has improved. Slaves however are consistently dressed in revealing leather kilts.
With the exception of Thundra and her daughter, there is no indication of the existence of overt superpowers beyond the standard species-wide genetic upgrades to their strength, stature and durability, but they are aware of the existence of these beings in the 21st century. Whether the absence of naturally superpowered individuals occurred in relation to the events precipitating the gender war or is a deliberate cultural choice enacted through the birthing matrices is unclear.
Unlike men they have access to an unstable chrono-gate technology that only Thundra appears capable of using. This has an associated satellite system that uses deployable base stations to survey locations for psychometric data used for targeting time jumps. As far as the general Femizon population is aware, these jumps are for propaganda purposes to display the superiority of women over the greatest men of the modern era; temporal warfare does not appear to be an applicable tactic. This technology eventually evolves into a functional time/dimensional transport and remote viewing system that operates through the use of D-Belts that interact with the unique vibrational frequencies of individuals and their realities.
Tribes of Men
Little is known of masculine culture, though they are known by the Femizons to venerate the superpowered individuals of the past. The tribes of men are reputed to be infertile as a result of their radiation-based attempts to maintain physical supremacy over women at the beginning of the gender wars. With no verification from the men themselves this may possibly be Femizon propaganda. Without access to women they utilize genetic birthing matrices in order to reproduce.Their clothing is typically more practical in design and appearance than that of women. Soldiers have been seen to dress in the gladatorial fashion highly reminiscent of the marauding gangs seen in the Mad Max
Mad Max
Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller and revised by Miller and Byron Kennedy over the original script by James McCausland. The film stars Mel Gibson, who was unknown at the time. Its narrative based around the traditional western genre, Mad Max tells a story...
films, while even by the time of the Imperium technicians attending the birthing matrices seem indistinguishable from their modern day equivalents. Other groups from the time of the Imperium have been seen to use arms, armor and tactics fashioned after those of Roman legionnaires.
They are shown to be armed predominantly with low-tech melee weapons and small arms such as submachine guns, though certain champions are also seen to utilize energized melee weapons. They have not been seen display overt signs of superhuman ability. Given their reverence for the superhumans of the past, this strongly implies the technological inability to recreate them.
They have access not only to military hardware such as tanks, but have also been seen to utilize mutant animals with no 616 equivalent as ground and air transport.
Prominent citizens
- ThundraThundraThundra is a Marvel Comics superheroine who is often aligned with the Fantastic Four. She is a powerful, red haired, amazon-like warrior, or Femizon, from a matriarchal, technologically advanced future timeline where men have been subjugated by women...
: Cross-dimensional immigrant and still the most powerful warrior of her time. - LyraShe-Hulk (Lyra)She-Hulk is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. She is from an alternate future of Marvel's main timeline, and is the daughter of that reality's Thundra and the Hulk...
: Thundra's daughter and intended heir.
History
The exact similarity between Earth-8009 and Earth-715 is unknown, as is whether a version of Thundra existed in this reality at any point.During the dawn of the 21st century, men and women become divided by the simplest of things. Every sphere of life—politics, art, business, entertainment, competition—treats the genders as irrevocably different. When women begin wide spread usage of genetic enhancement to bridge the gap in physical capability, the attempts by men to maintain it winds up in their entire gender becoming sterile. This forces them to use genetic birthing matrices, a practice the implicitly still fertile femizons also adopt. The ease of such parthenogenic reproduction drives the final wedge between the genders, resulting in all-out war; though both sides could bomb each other into extinction, their conflicts remain comparatively low-level as each seeks to display their physical superiority over the other.
Once gaining a position of power in her new reality, Thundra continues her journeys back in time, oestensibly to demorialize the enemy but with the ulterior motive of gaining superior genetic material with which to conceive a child powerful enough to continue the expansion of Femizon empire into the next generation. Material harvested from the Hulk is used to conceive her daughter Lyra, the first child with a father—described by the scientist responsible as a pregnancy—in 4 generations.
Following her ascension to the position of Empress there is a brief insurrection by Machus rebels utilizing a large multi-limbed android capable of rendering women vulnerable to attack by men. Thundra recruits Ben Grimm to help quell the uprising, but the event is immediately hushed up.
A diplomatic delegation sent by the Iperium to the extra-dimensional realm of Polemachus soon results in war when its leader Arkon
Arkon
Arkon is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe. He is the warlord and ruler of the extra-dimensional world of Polemachus.-Fictional character biography:Arkon was born of noble lineage on the extra-dimensional world Polemachus...
-- an old foe of the Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
-- is unable to accept the existence of world ruled by women. Yet again the Femizons are forced to secretly turn to outside help, with Thundra summoning the Fantastic Four and the Avengers West Coast. However, Arkon's scientists learn of this plan, and abduct some of these would be champions to use them against the Femizons. Battle between the two sides is joined, culminating in a one on one fight between Thundra and Arkon. When the two decide they have found in the other a suitable mate, Thundra abandons the Sisterhood to become Arkon's consort, a decision that may have been prompted by a belief her daughter was ready to assume her role. Thundra and Arkon, after a number of appearances as a couple are eventually seen to be killed during another reality intrusion.
Earth-8009 (Current)
This is the current version of Femizonia, and is a post apocalyptic setting. The initial depiction was of two opposing, singled-gendered & technically adept gendercidal nations, each mass producing offspring via genetic birthing matrices, in a conflict that has lasted decades. Since then, the status quo seems to have changed significantly with a smaller technologically adept all-female culture fighting an entirely male culture composed of competing primitive tribes that each exclusively worship a single totemic identity. Both sides of the conflict are stated as being sterile and rely on genetic birthing matrices to survive. The greatest visual difference between the two versions of Earth-8009 is that here the sky remains blue.Geography
As in its previous iteration, Femizonia has a nation named the United Sisterhood Republic. However, the megalopolis of Greater Milago has been replaced by a fortress city simply named Milago. The oceans and waterways of the world appear to have receded drastically.Milago
Milago is surrounded by a moat filled with the venom symbiote to which the city's inhabitants have been pheromonically rendered repellent; men however are brutally slain. This fortress sits in the remains of a larger modern-era city that has been abandoned to nature, its skyscrapers well into the process of being overgrown. The city's coat of arms appears to be a winged shield surmounted by an arrow-tipped version of the Greek symbol of femininity and surrounded by the motto "Create. Nurture. Protect". It is implied that Milago is in fact the only (significant) city in the USR if not the whole of FemizoniaGateway
Once known as St Louis, the ruined city of Gateway is home to the remains of the Origins Unlimited Meta Science Center, which is still intact enough not only for the solar powered information systems to still function but which also houses the male genetic birthing matrix in better condition than the one in Milago.Culture
This world currently boasts two competing cultures: the technologically adept Femizons of Milago and the competing tribes of LudditeLuddite
The Luddites were a social movement of 19th-century English textile artisans who protested – often by destroying mechanised looms – against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their way of life...
men, each tribe based on single a totemic identity and riven by internecine warfare based on religious belief.
Femizons
At least in Milago itself, warriors and civilians dress in radically different styles. Non-combatants seem to favour garb somewhere between Edwardian and Victorian, with long skirts and sleeves, along with high collars. On the other hand, everyday soldiers dress in a fashion highly reminiscent of Greek Hoplites, while more elite fighters sport a look highly reminiscent of the athletic/superheroic garb of the modern era.The dead are venerated via a ceremony called the Reading of the Fallen. The preeminent religious figures are referred to as the Ones-Who-Knew, who are described as cherishing the sacrifice arms-maids make of their lives in battle.
The single referenced romantic relationship to date indicates that polygamous relationships exist; whether they are ubiquitous or unusual, along with the continued existence of heterosexuals, is something not yet discussed. There is no indication of a subservient male population
Femizon technical superiority comes from arduous and assiduous attempts to gather what remaining technical knowledge exists in the world, storing it in the cybernetic systems of the Gynosure. This knowledge does not extend to human fertility: all Femizons are born sterile and reproduce using a genetic birthing matrix they name the Cradle.
Tribes of Men
The men of Earth-8009 have fallen far, balkanisingBalkanization
Balkanization, or Balkanisation, is a geopolitical term, originally used to describe the process of fragmentation or division of a region or state into smaller regions or states that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other, and it is considered pejorative.The term refers to the...
into warring tribes fuelled by half-remembered myths and legends of the modern age. These tribes deeply revere the battle sites where the Overmen (the contemporary term for superhumans) of days past fought and died, considering them sacred ground. The warriors of each tribe garb themselves in a primitive manner evocative of their totem. Those who don't worship their totem are generally marked for death. This recollection of the past is also responsible for their Luddism, as they believe any attempt to reclaim the knowledge of the world as it was will inevitably lead to a repeat of the calamity that has brought their world to its current parlous state.
The one exception to both these beliefs would appear to be the male birthing matrix. Femizon narration conjectures the responsibility of primitive instinct for this, a supposition the seeming continuation of the facility's automatic systems and lack of human operators could lend credence to. Those tribes charged with the site's safety are described as being the most powerful, and significantly derive their identities from several of the male Dark Avengers
Dark Avengers
Dark Avengers was an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is part of a series of titles that have featured various iterations of the superhero team the Avengers...
-- namely Ares
Ares (Marvel Comics)
Ares is a fictional character, a deity in the Marvel Comics Universe based on the Greek god of the same name. He first appears in Thor #129 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby....
(Wargods), Daken
Daken
Akihiro, also codename as Daken is a fictional comic book supervillain appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. Daken is the mutant son of Wolverine and his deceased wife Itsu...
(Howlers), the Sentry
Sentry (Robert Reynolds)
The Sentry is a fictional character in the . The character first appears in The Sentry #1 and was created by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee, with uncredited conceptual contributions by Rick Veitch.-Creation:...
(Men of Gold), Venom (Crawlers) and the Green Goblin
Green Goblin
The Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 ....
(Goblinkin) -- which seems clearly related to the devices' origin as a product of Osborn Technologies. Dialogue indicates that there are many more tribes as yet unseen. Ironically, the most sacred site of male culture contains an antiquated but still function animatronic customer interface modelled after the appearance of Jocasta
Jocasta (comics)
Jocasta is a fictional, comic book superhero appearing books published by Marvel Comics. A member of the Avengers, the character is a robot created by the villain Ultron.-Publication history:Jocasta first appears in The Avengers Jocasta is a fictional, comic book superhero appearing books published...
, which offers potential customers of the past access to superpowers.
Prominent citizens
- The Gynosure: Ruler of Milago, dwelling in a vault containing both the bodies of her predecessors and the Cradle. She is seemingly unable to leave the vault due to the hardwired connections linking the systems and databanks of the city directly to her brain.
- LyraShe-Hulk (Lyra)She-Hulk is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. She is from an alternate future of Marvel's main timeline, and is the daughter of that reality's Thundra and the Hulk...
: Thundra's daughter and intended heir. - ThundraThundraThundra is a Marvel Comics superheroine who is often aligned with the Fantastic Four. She is a powerful, red haired, amazon-like warrior, or Femizon, from a matriarchal, technologically advanced future timeline where men have been subjugated by women...
: Lyra's mother, abandoned Earth-8009 shortly after her birth.
History
As of July 2009, the Femizonia of Earth-8009 appears to have evolved from a world in which some form of Dark ReignDark Reign (comics)
"Dark Reign" is a 2008–2009 crossover comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics. It deals with the aftermath of the "Secret Invasion" storyline, which led to a shift of power in the Marvel Universe toward Norman Osborn. The title "Dark Reign" refers to Osborn's rise to national power and the...
took place, and appears to have been affected by a dramatic alteration of the time line. The apocalypse that leads to the gendercidal war arises from Norman Osborn establishing a company named Origins Unlimited that sells super-human abilities derived from samples taken by the Superhuman Registration Authority to the general public. One such facility is the Meta Science Center in St Louis.
Naturally this causes all the usual problems enjoyed by superpowered communities to expand exponentially, leading to an unimaginable death toll and, within a century of its introduction, the fall of humanity. Part of this chaos includes the event known to the femizons as the Black Bloom, in which something interacts with the Venom
Venom (comics)
Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom...
symbiote in such a titanically bad way that the creature drastically alters the water courses of the North American continent. Another miscalculation leads to the creation of a self-sustaining American population of sabertooth cats seemingly sourced from the Savage Land.
However, prior to this collapse humanity experiences a brief golden age of empire as a result of everyone on the planet gaining superhuman abilities. Reaching out into the cosmos, humanity encounters the Kree
Kree
The Kree, also known as the Ruul, are a scientifically and technologically advanced militaristic alien race in the fictional Marvel Universe. They are native to the planet Hala in the Large Magellanic Cloud...
, the Shi'ar
Shi'ar
The Shi'ar are a fictional species of aliens in the Marvel Comics universe. The Shi'ar Empire also called the Aerie, is a vast collection of alien species, cultures and worlds situated close to the Skrull and Kree Empires, and alongside them, is one of the three main alien empires...
, the Skrulls and the Badoon
Badoon
The Badoon are a reptilian alien species in the fictional Marvel Comics universe. They are notable for having a gender schism, resulting in two separate societies; the Brotherhood of Badoon and the Sisterhood of Badoon .The Brotherhood live on the planet Moord, while the Sisterhood reside on the...
, allegedly enslaving them all before the end. When the end comes, the humans take the Kree with them. How exactly this expansion factors into the post-apocalyptic state of Femizonia is as yet unrevealed, and may even conceivably be disinformation as it is used in the midst of battle in an attempt to demoralise a Kree opponent.
At some point the population of the world splits along gender lines. Before or after the collapse of the human imperium is unknown, but both sides begin to use the Oscorp Technologies genetic matrices to reproduce. Originally intended to create replacement body parts for the Overmen, the children they generate are all sterile. Driven by prejudice and hate, the idea of utilising DNA from the other gender does not occur to either side until finally Thundra is sent back in time to retrieve the DNA of the Hulk, leading to the highly divisive creation of Lyra.
Lyra's creation is attributed by the Gynosure to a desire to create a counter-meme
Meme
A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena...
: the existence of a female born of totemic hero standing in opposition to the tribes is intended to sunder the foundation of their faith. However, for all her prowess in battle and the victories she claims in the name of the Sisterhood, a significant percentage of Femizons also fear her, a reaction she experiences for her entire life. This is only compounded when Thundra abandons her and the Sisterhood in order to permanently return to Earth-616 and become a Hero, an act of cruelty and treason for which her daughter grows up hating her for. As a result, she is raised and schooled by the Gynosure.
Thundra's absence ultimately appears to leave the Gynosure in charge of Femizon society; without her there appears to be no United Sisterhood Empire. However, there is no evidence regarding the Gynosure's existence or lack thereof prior to this version of Earth-8009, suggesting Thundra may well have been operating at her behest during her rise to Empress in the original timeline of this reality, as well as on Earth-715.
By the time Lyra reaches adulthood, the Cradle has begun to terminally malfunction, producing malformed and stillborn infants, As a result, a commando raid is mounted on Gateway to steal a vital component from the Tribes' own Cradle to repair that of the Femizons which will have the added bonus of initiating the final generation-long extinction of men. Though the raid is successful, an ill-considered, badly timed and ultimately botched assassination ends up destroying the component. The Gynosure subsequently reveals that Lyra, engineered with a kill switch in case she ever became problematic, was only ever intended as a disposable tool to retrieve the component. With the imminent catastrophic of the Cradle and by dint of having the only functioning womb in all of the USR, Lyra is forced to go back in time with the mission to fall pregnant by Norman Osborn, a mission she ultimately rejects before her companion AI manages to secure a component via other means and leave it in a time capsule for the femizons of the future to recover.
Earth 616
Not strictly speaking a version of Femizonia as previously encountered, but rather an all-women commune established by Thundra in the modern era. Its members are described as "brigands" and "angry earth women" by members of the Inhuman royal family.Geography
The location of the commune is an unknown forested valley, housing its members in tents with no sign of permanent structures. It is stated as being near an unnamed women's prison.Culture
The members of the commune dress in standard female Sword and Sandal fetishistic fashion, with several also sporting tribal-style tattoos. The respect for and encouragement of violence as a dispute resolution mechanic is in keeping with all other instances of Femizon culture, though this is the first specific instance where it is mentioned such things are confined to an arena.All members of the commune appear within the physical norms of Earth-616's females, with their leader Thundra standing at least a foot higher than anyone else. By inference, few to none of them possess any sort of superhuman ability.