Starbolt is a member of the Imperial Guard, a multi-ethnic group of super-powered alien beings who act as enforcers of the laws of the Shi'ar Empire. Part of the division of the Imperial Guard known as the Superguardians, Starbolt was amongst the first of the Imperial Guard encountered by the team of superhuman mutant adventurers known as the X-Men who sought to rescue the Princess-Majestrix Lilandra from her insane brother, then-Majestor D'ken. Following the orders of their emperor, the Guard clashed with the X-Men and were on the verge of winning when the band of interstellar freebooters known as the Starjammers arrived to turn the tide of battle in the X-Men's favor. During the clash, Starbolt became enraged when he saw the feral X-Man Wolverine attacking his teammate and then-lover Oracle. After Starbolt flash-fried him, Wolverine quickly took the two lovers out of the fight by slamming them into each other.
Starbolt was also one of eight Imperial Guardsmen chosen to battle the X-Men over the fate of Phoenix, a primal force of the cosmos that had assumed the form of the X-Man Jean Grey.
Soon after, Starbolt was amongst those few Imperial Guard members who opposed the treacherous Shi'ar High Council member Lord Samédàr who was aiding an attempted coup of the Shi'ar throne by Deathbird. Even after many of the Guard chose to side with Samédàr, Starbolt remained steadfast in his loyalty to then-Empress Lilandra.
Later, after the formerly-exiled Deathbird had usurped the Shi'ar throne, Starbolt was amongst those Imperial Guard members who clashed with the British team of costumed adventurers known as Excalibur and the Starjammers over the fate of the then-bearer of the cosmic Phoenix Force, the alternate future daughter of Jean Grey named Rachel Summers.
Much later, the intergalactic teleporter Lila Cheney transported the X-Men to the Shi'ar Empire at the behest of then-Empress Deathbird in time to see Lilandra regain her throne. Not all was as it seemed, however, as in reality a group of Warskrulls, using technology to allow them to duplicate superpowers, had captured and impersonated the X-Men's founder, the telepathic Professor Charles Xavier, using his telepathy to control Lilandra and the Imperial Guard, including Starbolt. After the ruse was discovered by the X-Men and all the Warskrull impostors were exposed, Lilandra settled matters with Deathbird, discovering her sister did not want the throne anymore.
During the war between the Shi'ar and Kree Empires, Starbolt was part of a small team of Guardsmen who were charged with preventing the member of the Earth team of super-powered beings known as the Avengers named Quasar from retrieving the legendary Nega-Bands of the Kree warrior Captain Mar-vell, which had been stolen.
Subsequently, Starbolt was amongst those Imperial Guard members who defended Lilandra against an assassination attempt by the Kree Ronan the Accuser and his unwilling agents, the royal family of the Earth race known as the Inhumans.
