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History

Preface

"Skrull Cows" or "Cow Skrulls" is a term commonly used to commonly refer to Skrulls that have been turned into cows on the planet Earth. It has been specifically used to reference three particular Skrulls,[1] however there are literally thousands of Skrull Cows that exist.

First Record of Skrull Cows

The first recorded instance of Skrulls being turned into cows incidentally was the result of time travel. In the year 1776, a group of Skrull subversives came to the planet Earth during a period of time in which the United States of America was seeking its independence from British rule. A Skrull spy was sent to pose as Thomas Jefferson to ensure passages about slavery remained in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. The intent was that if the human race was accustomed to slavery, then it would be easier for the Skrulls to enslave them. However this plan was thwarted by the Fantastic Four, heroes from the 21st Century, who had travelled back in time to this era to locate Chrono-Anchor that was lost in this era. Their leader Reed Richards uncovered the Skrulls, and used hypnosis to make them believe they were cows,[2] a trick that Richards used on Skrulls in his own time many years earlier in his career.[1]

The fate of these Skrull Cows are unknown, however it could go to explain why there is a large population of Skrull cows in modern times.[3]

Invasion

A quartet of Skrulls posed as the Fantastic Four and publicly wreaked destruction and havoc in order to force the real Fantastic Four to fall out of favor with their government and be eliminated, leaving Earth open for invasion. It has been revealed that one of these early Skrull invaders was related to Emperor Dorrek VII.[4]

On the run from the military, the real Fantastic Four were able to trick the Skrulls into revealing their hideout as well as their master plan. Leaving them subdued, Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben traveled to their mother-ship via their Water Tower Ship. There, Reed used clippings from "Strange Tales" and "Journey into Mystery" to fool the scout Captain into believing the planet was too fortified by giant monsters for an invasion to be successful. Pretending to 'sacrifice their lives' so that the mother-ship could return home while leaving him behind, Reed was given the Skrulls' highest medal of bravery before the invasion forces left.

Back on Earth, the government still saw the Fantastic Four as a threat and sent police with them back to the Skrull quartet's hideout. There, three of the four had broken free of their bindings and attacked, shape-shifting into different monsters in front of the police and proving they had been posing as the Fantastic Four. The police chief left the aliens in the care of Mister Fantastic since they couldn't be held in any normal prison anyway.[1]

The remaining fourth member was thought to have been sent home with the invasion fleet, according to Reed.[1] The other three Skrull cows were let to graze in the town of King's Crossing[5] where the farmers allowed them to breed with other cows, creating Skrull-Cow hybrids.[6]

Kree-Skrull War

Sometime later the centuries old Kree-Skrull War was reignited and the lone Skrull that escaped the Fantastic Four in their first encounter with the Skrulls began working with the Super-Skrull who had been exiled following his last failure. The pair used a hyper-beam to revive the Skrulls on Earth who were hypnotized into thinking they were cows.[7] They then joined the Super-Skrull in a plan that K'lrt hoped would win him the favour of his Emperor and win the hand of Anelle in marriage in a bid to gain control of the empire.[8] When the Avenger's battle with Ronan became public knowledge[9] one of the Skrull spies took the place of US Presidential Candidate H. Warren Craddock[10] using his political position to spread xenophobia toward the Kree in general, Mar-Vell in particular and to bismerch the reputation of the Avengers. He also formed the Commission of Alien affairs to begin witch hunts to find aliens hiding among the population. When the Avengers helped Mar-Vell go into hiding this turned the public against them. They were also brought in for questioning by the commission under "Haddock". Meanwhile, the Skrulls captured Mar-Vell and his confidant Carol Danvers as their safe house. The remaining three Skrulls then posed as founding Avengers Captain America, Thor and Iron Man, and ordered the current roster to disband.[9] Going to reconvene with Mar-Vell, the Avengers were attacked by the three Skrulls, who then captured the Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver, but the Vision escaped. He brought the real founding members of the Avengers with him later, while the Super-Skrull -- posing as Carol Danvers -- tried to trick Mar-Vell into building a Omni-Wave Projector a communications device which could also double as a devastating weapon. Mar-Vell saw through the ploy, but this did not stop K'lrt from knocking him out and escaping the arriving Avengers, who bested the three Skrull spies.[7] The three captured Skrulls were once more forced to resume thinking they were cows, where they eventually ended up in the town of King's Crossing.[5]

Food Contamination

What happened next to the three original Skrull cows becomes mired in facts and later revelations. It has been stated that following the defeat of the Skrull cows on Earth they were turned over to the Alien Activities Commission, who forced them to be turned back into cows and sent to the slaughter-house. This Skrull-beef ended up in the food supply and was consumed by various members of the human population.[11] Further, it has been stated that the original Skrull cows were accidentally mixed in with a King's Crossing farmer's milking herd, and were milked as Dairy cows. Their "milk", which was part of them shape-shifted into milk, caused the people of the town to partially mutate, gaining the Skrulls' shape-shifting abilities and warlike tendencies. Those who drank the "milk" forced others to drink it until the entire town was affected.[5] However, in more recent times a Skrull has surfaced and had been undergoing psychiatric care from Doc Samson who claims to have been one of the original three Skrull cows.[12] Further confusing the matter is the fact that the Skrull cows were allowed to breed with normal cows creating Skrull-Cow hybrids,[6] and there is further question to the fate of the Skrull cows of 1776 and how they may have impacted the Skrull-Cow hybrid situation.[2] Thus, it is difficult to say with any certainty which of the "original" three Skrull Cows may or may not have been slaughtered or involved with the tainting of the milk supply in King's Crossing.

Whatever the case eventually, Sharon Selleck, a friend of the Fantastic Four, was captured there when her car broke down. She had a milk allergy, and was able to resist the effects of the "milk", sneaking out of town to call for help. By the time the Fantastic Four arrived to help her, the town had become a super-efficient farming community, erecting massive manufacturing plants to produce more "milk", and using it to water their local crops. Luckily, before arriving, Mr. Fantastic had recognized the location as where the cow Skrulls had been sent to, and had devised an antidote to the Skrull infection. The entire town was cured and the crops burned. The only lasting effect of the milk was that everyone was in much better health and had not aged in six years. Not all of the "milk" produced by these beings was destroyed or rendered inert. A truck full of containers was seen being delivered to Camp Merl, a US Army Depot. [5] However it's effect on the soldiers there or anyone else remains to be revealed.

Skrull Kill Krew

While it has been stated that the Skrull meat from the slaughtered cows would cause mutagenic changes in humans who consumed it, there have only been four documented cases of this: Ryder, Moonstomp, Rob Fortune, Heidi Sladkin, and Kimberly Dee. By consuming the beef, they were endowed with Skrull shape-shifting powers as well as other super-human abilities. They became the Skrull Kill Krew and began a campaign to slaughter all Skrulls that were currently active on Earth.[13]

Over the years the Cow/Skrull hybrids began shaking off their cow forms and adopting human ones and entering into human society which they greatly embraced, particularly the entertainment industry. Apparently, these Skrulls in hiding were known to the United States government and an pact was made between them. During the Skrulls' so-called Secret Invasion of Earth, the Skrull-Cows used the media to boost human morale to fight back the Skrull invasion.[14] However the presence of this race of Skrull/Cow hybrids was soon discovered by Ryder of the Skrull Kill Krew.[3] He and his teammate Riot later discovered an Los Angeles nightclub full of Cow-Skrulls that were slaughtering the human patrons in horrific slaughterhouse scenarios and wiped them out.[6] However, it appeared that murderous Skrull-Cows were among the minority as when they next uncovered a "Reverse Rodeo" where humans were willing participants in rodeo style activities. Despite this, the Kill Krew slaughtered all the Skrulls there.[15] A cafe of Skrull-Cows were also slaughtered by the Krew.[16] They followed by slaughtering the Skrull cast and crew on the "Stampede" web series. This in turn led to retaliation from the Skrull-Cows who attacked the Kill Krew's home, but were all eliminated as well.[17] This caused the Skrull-Cows to use the media to pressure the government to do something about the Skrull Kill Krew or face repercussions. This prompted HAMMER director Norman Osborn to travel to LA to meet with the Skrull-Cow elite. However the meeting was attacked by the Skrull Kill Krew who slaughtered all the elite in company and fled.[14]

Cadre K

Cadre K landed on Earth in Midland, South Dakota[18] or in North Dakota[19] and established themselves as cowboys, purchasing any stock of Skrull-cows (who were somehow evolving into "something else") they could find to take them out of the food chain and protect them into the Sagitarrian Ranch/Farms.[18]

Skrull Duck

It was later revealed a fifth Skrull was present and not hypnotized into a cow but Reed Richards changed him into a duck. Tara Tam eventually ate the duck infected her with Skrullovoria Induced Skrullophobia granting her shape-shifting powers similar to the alien species. She wouldn't learn the origin of her powers until the Skrull Kill Krew came to recruit her but she didn't join them but she traveled to New York where she met Howard the Duck[20]

Other Members

Mark (Skrull) (Earth-616)

Mark was one of the Skrull/Cow hybrids who became a comic book artist and tried to convey the message with his comics that there was nothing to be afraid of their race.[14]



Paraphernalia

Equipment: Anti-Gravity Gear

Transportation: Their personal Water Tower Ship, and the Mother Ship it interacted with.

Weapons: A Concealed Electronic Detonator, and a Low Velocity Thermal Bomb



Trivia

Queen Veranke referenced the Skrull Cows in Secret Invasion #6. It seemed she held a grudge towards the Fantastic Four for turning her people into cows.