The Phalanx are a fictional cybernetic species appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They have come in conflict with the X-Men as well as other groups on several occasions. They form a hive mind, linking each member by a telepathic system. Publication history The Phalanx were co-created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Joe Madureira but owe much in concept and appearance to the original Technarchy (by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bill Sienkiewicz). Although appearing in prototype variations in earlier issues, the Phalanx first appeared in their full form in Uncanny X-Men #312 (May 1994). Fictional biography Origins While their true origins are still unclear, Phalanx were thought to be formed when organic lifeforms are infected with the Technarchy's techno-organic transmode virus, but, in fact, they are actually an artificial intelligence that operates on a galactic scale, and they have total control of a host galaxy. The Phalanx were apparently created by the Titans, singularities of consciousness so vast and dense, that they have caved in on their own combined intelligence to form black holes - realms that exist outside normal spacetime and where the Phalanx dwell. The Titans are also singular intellects and not a collective or a group. A single black hole is a Titan intelligence, up to five black holes confined to a galactic cluster or a dense collection of stacked galaxies becomes a Stronghold, warring factions seeking to actively destroy or absorb other Strongholds in order to achieve a Dominion status which is when 10 or more of these incomprehensible cosmologically-scaled beings act in unison to control a particular sector or sectors of space in both the area and epochs of time, becoming galaxy-spanning, interconnected tears in the fabric of existence. The only primal threats to them are Galactus and the Phoenix. The Phalanx have existed for 100,000 life cycles and have the collective knowledge of previous generations. They are infected with a Techno-Organic Virus and created the Technarchy to act as their cosmic janitors. The Phalanx may even be a higher evolution of the Technarchy or be multiple Technarchies that are unaware of each other's existence. What is known is that their ultimate goal is to expand its own intelligence by consuming the whole universe. They are extremely advanced and based on the Kardashev scale, they are considered a Type III civilization, and although the Kree's Black Judges were able to