Yondu

The Children Are Our Future

Yondu Udonta’s parents sold him into slavery as a baby, and he spent his early years as a slave. His life would have remained the same, were it not for the intervention of Stakar Ogord, who freed him and brought him into the interstellar pirate syndicate known as the Ravagers.

Yondu eventually took command of a Ravager faction himself, but lost favor with the Ravagers at large, Stakar included, when he took a job transporting Ego's children from their home planets to Ego, breaking the Ravager code in the process. Upon discovering the dark fate in store for those children, Yondu reneged on his deal with Ego after picking up a child named Peter Quill from Earth.

Still heading up his own faction of Ravagers but ostracized from his former allies among the Ravagers at large, Yondu continued to lead a life of crime across the galaxy. At the same time, he raised Quill among the Ravagers, keeping up his harsh disposition – including macabre “jokes” about those in the Ravagers who wanted to eat the human boy – while in fact looking out for the boy and teaching him skills that would lead Quill to grow into the man known as Star-Lord.

A Deadly Whistle

An accomplished thief, pilot, and brawler, Yondu formed his own Ravager clan. He also mastered a cybernetically controlled arrow that responds to his whistles thanks to a red fin implant he wears fixed on his head. Using the arrow, Yondu has managed to take down dozens of enemies at a time.

Enemy of the Galaxy

The enemy of anyone with something worth stealing, Yondu even managed to tick off his fellow Ravagers when he accepted a job from Ego that brought the Celestial's progeny to him, leading to Yondu's banishment. He would also later threaten to kill Peter Quill when both were in pursuit of the same orb, though he eventually teamed up with his former protégé and his new team. Yondu directly came into conflict with Ronan and his forces, who were also after the orb and the Infinity Stone it contained inside.

Eventually, Yondu’s actions (and inaction against Quill) led him to become the subject of a mutiny thanks to a fellow Ravager, Taserface, who turned many of Yondu’s men against him. Yondu also managed to make enemies of the Sovereign and played a part in destroying his former client, Ego.

(Some) Honor Among Thieves

Sold into slavery by his own parents, Yondu was indebted to the Ravager Stakar Ogord, who freed him, though the two would later have a bitter falling- out thanks to Yondu’s actions. Yondu did find a new kind of family in his own crew of Ravagers, most especially Peter Quill, the young Earthling he raised and who he came to see as a son. While the Ravager mutiny would reveal many with little loyalty to Yondu, a select group would stick with him, though it led to their demise at the orders of Taserface. One exception was Kraglin Obfonteri, who first joined Taserface’s mutiny, but regretted his actions and ultimately helped free Yondu.

Yondu would also work with Quill's new team to save Xandar from Ronan. Later, he teamed up with Rocket, Groot and Kraglin to save Quill, Gamora and Drax from Peter's maniacal father, Ego, more firmly aligning Yondu with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Ravager of the Galaxy

Yondu Udonta's parents sold him into slavery as a baby. This left a hole inside of him that led to plenty of poor decisions and the desire to push away anyone who seemed to love him. When Ravager captain Stakar Ogord saved him from life as a Kree battle slave, he finally felt like he'd found some kind of family.

That all came crumbling down when Yondu decided to make a deal with the Celestial called Ego. The Ravagers lived by a code, part of which revolved around not dealing in children, and when Yondu agreed to pick up Ego's offspring from various planets, he broke that code. At first he didn't realize that Ego was killing the children if they could not help him with his cosmic plan, but once Yondu discovered the awful truth, he decided to keep the last child he was sent for, Earthling Peter Quill, instead of delivering him to Ego.

Still in command of his own group of Ravagers, though they were now all banished from the full Ravager order, Yondu would take advantage of Quill's small stature and have him steal things that the larger members of his crew couldn't get to. At the same time, he grew to think of the Terran as a son even if he did enjoy joking about the other Ravagers wanting to eat the boy.

When Quill grew older, he decided to branch out on his own and steal a valuable orb on Morag, which in fact contained an Infinity Stone. In doing so, he ran afoul of Ronan and his followers, who were after the orb, as well as Yondu, who had been contracted to steal the orb himself. To teach Quill a lesson, Yondu put a 40,000 credit bounty on Star-Lord's head, but only if he was taken alive.

On the hunt for Quill, Yondu visited his would-be buyer, the Broker, himself. The Ravager used his whistle-commanded arrow to pry the Collector's name and location out of the intermediary’s mouth before heading to Knowhere. The Guardians got to Knowhere and the Collector first, while Yondu and the Ravagers arrived at the same time as Ronan and his forces.

After an all-out battle, Ronan’s forces acquired the orb, while Quill called Yondu for help, who was swayed by Peter offering him the orb in return for his assistance in the fight against Ronan. Welcoming Peter, as well as his new friends, the Guardians of the Galaxy, into the Ravager fold, Yondu listened to their plan but threatened to kill them if he wasn’t given the orb when it was all over. Yondu followed through on his end, helping Quill and company to Ronan's ship. Then, after making an emergency landing, Yondu refused to tell his men to switch allegiances and took out a number of Ronan's forces with his arrow.

Immediately after the Guardians defeated Ronan, Yondu showed up for his prize and was given the orb by Quill. Later, after leaving Xandar, Yondu laughed when he saw that Quill had swapped out the Infinity Stone with a troll doll.

A couple months later, while visiting the planet Contraxia, Yondu encountered Stakar Ogord, learning his old ally was still bitterly angry about Yondu’s actions that had led to his banishment from the larger Ravager order. Yondu tried explaining that he didn't know what he'd gotten into fully, but was rebuffed by Ogord.

Yondu then made a deal with the Sovereign to track down the Guardians after Rocket stole valuable batteries from them. Yondu found Rocket and Groot and managed to get the drop on Rocket with his trusty arrow. However, Yondu decided to blow up the deal he'd made, declaring his intention to sell Rocket’s stolen batteries, rather than return them (and the Guardians) to the Sovereign. The Ravager Taserface and many of the others were angered by this new plan, and even the usually loyal Kraglin spoke up, noting Yondu seemed to go out of his way to protect Peter Quill, more than he would the other Ravagers. During the ensuing chaos, with some Ravagers making it clear they stood by Yondu, Nebula – herself a prisoner of the Guardians until that point -- shot the fin off of Yondu's head, and he was taken prisoner by his own men.

Taserface killed those loyal to Yondu, and plotted to kill Yondu. However, with assistance from Groot and a regretful Kraglin, Yondu and Rocket broke out and -- with Yondu using a new, more powerful fin to control his lethal arrow -- they managed to kill the traitors and escape.

Yondu, Rocket, Groot and Kraglin then traveled to Ego, arriving in time to disrupt Ego’s connection with Peter and the damage it was causing across the galaxy. Yondu, Kraglin, Mantis, and Nebula then all joined the fight against both Ego and the Sovereign, who choose this moment to attack as well.

Though the Sovereign threat was neutralized, Ego nearly killed all of his foes, but it was Yondu’s words to Peter about how he used his heart, not his head, when controlling his arrow that helped inspire Peter to realize he could use the Celestial power inside of himself to fight back against Ego.

With the two heavy hitters engaged and a bomb placed at the core of Ego’s planet, Rocket and Groot tried to get Yondu to leave with them. He refused, though, and Rocket gave him their last remaining space suit and jet pack, as Groot welcomed him into the Guardians of the Galaxy. After the bomb killed Ego, Peter lost his own Celestial powers, but Yondu swooped in and used the jetpack to fly them both off the surface. Yondu then placed the space suit on Quill and activated it, as they flew out of the atmosphere into space, with the unprotected Yondu using his final moments to tell Quill that Ego may have been Peter’s father, but Yondu was his daddy.

Soon after, Yondu was cremated, using the ship’s engines, and during the ceremony, all the other factions of Ravagers—including Stakar and others who’d once flown with Yondu—arrived, having heard of Yondu’s final redemptive acts. As a result, Yondu was given a proper Ravager funeral and celebration.