* A series of atomic wars plunged the planet of Rann into a Dark Ages. Countries degenerated into warring city-states and the ambient radiation left behind from the wars rendered most of the male populace sterile. The citizens of Rann came close to the brink of extinction.
Rann is a planet in the Alpha Centauri star system 4.5 light years from Earth.
History
- A series of atomic wars plunged the planet of Rann into a Dark Ages. Countries degenerated into warring city-states and the ambient radiation left behind from the wars rendered most of the male populace sterile. The citizens of Rann came close to the brink of extinction.[1]
- Rann's leading scientist, Sardath, developed teleportation technology known as a Zeta-Beam and used it to transport the Earth archeologist, Adam Strange, to Rann. It was Sardath's hope that Adam would mate with his daughter Alanna, and that the couple would produce offspring.
- A psychopathic Rannian from Dys named Tak Vall engaged upon a plot to destroy the capitol city of Ranagar. He constructed life-sized dolls crafted in the image of Adam Strange and implanted them with bombs that would blow up the city. Alanna helped to smuggle the true Adam Strange into Dys, where he successfully exposed Tak Vall's plan and destroyed the bombs.[2]
- Villainous Vor Kan used Grikkian robots to lay siege to the capitol city of Ranagar. Adam Strange tracked Vor Kan down and destroyed the command center used to control the robots.[3]
- A would-be conqueror named Oran Dargg used Zeta-Beam technology to transport the planet Earth into Rann's orbit. He threatened to collide the two worlds unless Rann declared him ruler of the planet. Adam Strange teamed up with Hawkman and Hawkwoman to stop Oran Dargg, and Sardath developed a Nega-Zeta-Beam to return Earth to its correct location.[4]
- The Swamp Thing accompanied Adam Strange back to Rann to help revitalize dying plant life that had suffered from the atomic fallout.[5]
- Rann enters into trade agreements with Thanagar, exchanging technology for crops.
- Grayven, the son of Darkseid attacks Rann. Adam Strange enlists the aid of the Darkstars and Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner).
- The En'Tarans invade Rann in an effort to acquire their Zeta-Beam technology. The JLA become involved and are pressed into slavery. Adam Strange helps to free the JLA and together they create a large-scale Zeta-Beam which is used to teleport the entire En'Taran fleet away from the planet.[6]
- Earth hero Jack Knight visits the planet Rann.[7]
- At the behest of Alexander Luthor, Superboy-Prime used his super-strength to physically relocate the entire planet into the Polaris sytem, placing it within close proximity to the planet Thanagar. This caused massive geological upheavel on the latter world, and resulted in what has since become known as the Rann-Thanagar War.[8]
- Green Lantern Vath Sarn traveled to Rann to assist Adam Strange with taking down a villain equipped with a mecha-armor.[9]
Points of Interest
Cities
- Adytum
- Akalon
- Aldavian Hills[11]
- Alkama
- Alkamar
- Anathul
- Berengaria
- Balimoor
- Bruul
- Crater Island
- Dancing Water of Athine
- Dys
- Gorge of Chrystar
- Ice Caves of Akalon
- Ilarthic (The Desert City)
- Illsomar (ruined city)
- Kallanoor
- Kamorak
- Karralinan Marshes
- Klystoral
- Kryys
- Land of a Thousand Smokes
- Meerlon
- Moorl
- Moorm (The Ice City)
- Old Reliable (The Sinking Island)
- Orichalk Mines
- Pagathan (The Lost City)
- Pamaleen
- Radioactive Rocks of Kalthyll
- Ranagar (Capital city of Rann)
- Reekan Fortress
- Samakand (Vanishing city appearing once every 25 years)
- Shalimar
- Spires of Spleeth
- Sumuru (ruined city)
- Tarrazon (ruined city)
- Tyroolian Marshes
- Valley of Summaru
- Vardana (Ruined city, home of the Zoora tribe)
- Xybb Forest
- Yll
- Ys (The Floating City)
- Zared (Ranagar's sister city)
Great Lakes
- Lake Abonadda
- Lake of Insalla
- Lake of Klaleel
- Lake Taralan
Oceans
- Flaming Sea
- Ioltic Sea (an inland sea)
- Permuvian Sea
- Sea of Abyx
- Sea of Mormeen
- Sea of Xvx
- Sea of Ybss
Other Locations
- Aleph-7 Prison
- Adam Strange Museum: Constructed by Sardath to honor Rann's chosen protector.
- Dysian Heights
- Tower of Rainbow Doom: This is a dungeon in Yardanna which enables the Zoora tribal members to transport prisoners to Rann's sister world, Anthorann. The tower earns its name because it is surrounded by a trail of multi-colored lights.
Residents
- Adam Strange
- Adam Strange II
- Alanna Strange
- Aleea Strange
- Alva Xar
- Delaken
- Marleah
- Sardath
- Ulthoon
- Vath Sarn
- Avanar Bar – a former dictator
- Bantteir - Alanna's mother
- Bobba – a revolutionary
- Kal Jat – chief of the Ranagar City security forces
- Navelo – a terrorist from Zarad who once sought to destroy Ranagar
- Oran Dargg – a would-be conqueror
- Vor Kan – a robotocist and would-be conqueror
- Xaltan Torr – head of the Ranagar city council
Technology
Rann is known for the creation of many advanced technological achievements, including the following:
- Menticizer – a device that translates foreign languages into the native Rannian tongue.
- Zeta-Beam – Developed by the scientist Sardath, the Zeta-Beam can instantly teleport individuals from faraway worlds back to Rann. Warping back to their starting point once the Zeta Rays wore off.
- Omega-Beam – An advancement of the Zeta Beam technology. The Omega-Beam device relied on a Zero-Point Energy matrix to amplify it's transport abilities, shifting matter to energy and warping it from intergalactic to trans-reality destinations. It was later destroyed so that it could not be misused by unscrupulous parties.
- Rannian Jet Pack – Flight assist booster system which enables air based superiority for wearers of the military's flight uniforms.
- Rannian Ray Gun – Typical energy based sidearm developed for Rann's soldiers.
Notes
- From its original location, Rann was exactly twenty-five trillion miles away from Earth.
- Due to the actions of Superboy-Prime, Rann's location was shifted from the Alpha Centauri system to the Polaris star system thus perpetuating the Rann–Thanagar War.
- Rann, while still positioned in the Alpha Centauri system, had three suns.
- Rann neigbors the planet Anthorann. Anthorann is often regarded as Rann's "sister-world". The capitol of Anthorann is New Ranagar, and is made up of members of a fabled lost Rannian colony.
- Much of what was once known about Rann's world and society was established in the 1990 miniseries Adam Strange: The Man of Two Worlds and has been since retconned to an undetermined degree, in part because the series had poor reception among readers.