Skrull

Skrulls are an ancient spacefaring race with a vast empire than spans thousands of conquered worlds.

The Skrull race was a byproduct of Celestial bio-engineering. Initially Skrulls derived from a lizard-like base stock. Evolutionary competition resulted in two races; the Prime Skrulls, of unadulterated genetic stock, and Eternal Skrulls engineering to the 'apex' of evolution by the Celestials. A third and most populous race, Deviant Skrulls, appeared to have little in the way of special capabilities.

Deviants proved to be accomplished diplomats and interstellar merchants. Rather than fight wars for conquest or territory, they simply adapted to meet the needs of their new trading partners. Settlement became a matter of commerce and exchange rather than occupation or conquest.

The Skrulls inevitably ran into other major spacefaring races. Approximately 100,000 BCE, they met the Kree. At that point in time the Kree Empire was one of the youngest spacefaring races in the known universe. The Skrulls proposed a contest for the residents of the Kree homeworld, Hala, to determine preferential trade status. The warlike Kree found a 'solution' in that they simply executed their pacifistic co-habitants. The Skrulls were appalled by this act. The Kree attacked the Skrulls after negotiations broke off; the Skrulls gradually became a violent and warlike race bent on conquest.

Ultimately, Skrull aggression and expansion was checked by the ancient peace-keeping civilization of Oa. However they still remain at war with the Kree, and often violate Oan peace accords in regions of space contested between those two races.