Universe
Earth 691

Real Name
Yondu Udonta

Aliases
No known nicknames

Identity
Secret

Citizenship
Centaurian

Place of Birth
Plysa Forest, Centauri IV

First Appearance
Marvel Super-Heroes #18

Yondu Udonta was a game hunter of the primitive Zatoan tribe, which were humanoid beings who were native to Centauri IV. The first planet system to be colonized outside of the Sun's solar system; the colonization took place sometime during the 29th century. Due to their being intimidated by the Earth's superior technology, most Centaurian tribes established peaceful relationships with the settlers. Yondu's tribe, however, migrated from their ancestral forests to the less accessible plains, thus avoiding contact with the outworlders. 200 years after the Centaurians first contact with Earth, a ship bearing the astronaut Vance Astro arrived on Centauri IV, using an antiquated mode of star travel. Astro soon found out that Earth had beaten him to his destination centuries before, using advanced star-drive engines. Astro continued to engage in his reconnaissance mission of the planet, despite the fact that it was now obsolete.

While performing his geophysical survey, Astro came across Yondu, who was in the midst of his ritual of manhood ordeal. Although Yondu tried to avoid contact with the outworlder, the planet-wide attack by the extraterrestrial Badoon brought the two men together. The Badoon massacred the entire settlement and began circling the planet, trying to eradicate the scattered tribes of native Centaurians. With the first evidence of hostilities, Astro took Yondu aboard his survey ship and set out for the nearest known planet in the star system.

Due to the antiquated nature of Astro's ship, however, the two were swiftly overtaken by the Badoon. Intrigued by the ancient vessel, the Badoon did not annihilate it, but instead captured it and took its passengers captive. The two were taken prisoner under Badoon escort, to the Badoon's base of operation on Earth (the Earth having been recently conquered). On Earth, the two were taken before Drang, head of the Badoon militia, but managed to escape. They soon encountered two other fugitives of the Badoon invasion: Charlie-27 of the Jupiter colony and Martinex of the Pluto colony. Banding together to battle Badoon oppression, the four founded the Guardians of the Galaxy. For the next few years, the four survivors attacked the Badoon's outposts in the solar system. With aid from the time-traveling Defenders, they managed to repel all the Badoon from Earth's dominion. Having secured the freedom of their people, the Guardians remained together to safeguard the galaxy.