The Acanti are a race of fictional whale-like aliens appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. They have appeared in ''

Uncanny X-Men ''Uncanny X-Men'', originally published as ''The X-Men'', is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the List of X-Men comics, X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of super ...

'' within the

universe. They were created by writer

Chris Claremont Christopher S. Claremont (; born November 25, 1950) is an English-born American comic book writer and novelist. Claremont is best known for his 16-year stint on ''Uncanny X-Men'' from 1975 to 1991, far longer than that of any other writer,Clarem ...

and artist

Dave Cockrum David Emmett Cockrum (; November 11, 1943 – November 26, 2006) was an American comics artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler (character), Nightcrawler, Storm (Marvel Comics), Storm, Colossus (character), Colos ...

. Many of them were enslaved by the

Brood Brood may refer to: Nature * Brood, a collective term for offspring * Brooding, the incubation of bird eggs by their parents * Bee brood, the young of a beehive * Individual broods of North American periodical cicadas: ** Brood X, the largest br ...

empire.

Physical characteristics

The Acanti are colossal whale-like creatures with several pairs of fins and widely spaced eyes. An adult Acanti can grow to several miles in length, and even an infant is large enough to swallow a spaceship. They communicate through psionic sounds referred to as songs and can fly faster than the

speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant exactly equal to ). It is exact because, by international agreement, a metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time i ...

without assistance.

Fictional race biography

The Acanti are an ancient species who wander through space and are largely benevolent and compassionate. They are led by the Prophet-Singer, who serves as a vessel for the Soul, a mystical force that links the species. At the end of their lives, the Acanti typically hurl themselves into stars. The Prophet-Singer also does so, releasing the Soul to inhabit their successor. After migrating to the

Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...

, the

enslave the Acanti to exploit their ability to travel at light-speed, transforming their bodies into living starships. When the Prophet-Singer dies, the Soul is unable to leave his corpse until the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

free it.''Uncanny X-Men'' #166 (February 1983) The

Chitauri The Chitauri () are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, specifically in the Ultimate Marvel universe (Earth-1610). They were created by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch in p ...

used the Acanti and the Starsharks to create the Chitauri Leviathans, which serve a similar purpose as living ships.

In other media

* The Acanti appear in the '' X-Men: The Animated Series'' episode "Love in Vain". * The Acanti appear in ''

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy ''Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy'' is a 2021 action-adventure game developed by Eidos-Montréal and originally published by Square Enix. Set in an original universe based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name, the game's plot ...

''.

References

{{Marvel Cosmic Characters created by Chris Claremont Characters created by Dave Cockrum Comics characters introduced in 1982 Fictional extraterrestrial species and races Fictional whales Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds