Kel

The **Kel** (深淵ケ
の者ル
, *Keru*?, *Viz*: Kur), a term dubbed by the Serpo, refers to a militaristic alien race who originate from the farthest reaches of space. Described as **"globalists"** (グローバリスト, *gurōbarisuto*?), they have been actively seeking out planets within the galactic system to conquer.

In *Dandadan*, they serve as the main antagonistic group during the Space Globalists Arc.

## Overview

### Biology

The Kel are octopus-like in appearance with a set of tentacles for a mouth. They also vary in size.

The Kel, resembling the soft-bodied octopus, are incapable of surviving in a planet's atmosphere for long without the support of a battle suit. Though they can function normally when exposed to the atmosphere for a short period of time, it is unknown as to what their limit is until they die, however, it is evident to be less than a day, as the Kel Okarun defeated died sometime between the evening of when they fought and the morning the next day Momo came home to find her friends injured and the dead Kel in one of the beds laid out by Mr. Mantis Shrimp.

### Members

#### Advance Unit

The **Advance Unit** (先行部隊, *Senkō Butai*?) were a group of ten Kel members whose role was to track down and eliminate Bamora and summon their main force to Earth as their next conquest. Their search for the female Sumerian led to them defeating the Serpo, Okarun, Aira, and Jiji, with the latter two being robbed of their data and technology and the single kintama to power up their gate that would summon the main force to invade Earth. Following the gate being opened, the Advance Unit was defeated by Momo and her allies.

## Inter-species Relationships

As invaders, the Kel are hostile, violent, and ruthless towards other races. From their perspective, the species of the planets they take over are primarily seen as being "material" for the creation of battle suits for them to wear and enjoy when utilized on the battlefield. Lifeforms who possess great capabilities are seen by the Kel as having the potential to become extraordinary battle suits that is highly valued. Additionally, the Kel make use of the possession's lifeforms leave behind if they can benefit from them and may also choose to enslave them to do their bidding, as the Serpo were altered by a Kel to act as their minions against Momo.

Despite this, the Kel are opened to welcoming strong individuals into their group, with Count Saint-Germain being the only known non-Kel member.

## Military Strength

The Kel's military might has proven to be immense, with their invasion of Sumer nearly bringing the Sumerians to the brink of extinction, and though the war dragged on with the resistance, they still maintained the upper hand. Even with only a few members being sent to Earth as their next planet to dominate, the Kel were formidable enough to decisively crush the Serpo and steal their advanced technology for themselves, increasing their power. They were also too overwhelming for humans who possess some sort of supernatural ability. Had it not been for Reiko Kashima's involvement in annihilating the main force, the Kel's invasion of Earth would have most likely led to their victory, as Rokuro made it clear to Momo and her allies that there would be nothing they could do once the entire army assembled. The Kel also formed an alliance with Count Saint-Germain, making them an even bigger threat than what they have shown capable of, prompting the Serpo to alert the other worlds of the Kel's activity.

The Kel wear battle suits that are manufactured from Big Mamas by feeding them natives to the planet they had taken over as nourishment. While they primarily serve as a safety garment to help keep them alive in the atmosphere of foreign planets, they further act as weaponry for warfare, possessing highly advanced combat capabilities, such as manipulating space and forming an orb of vibration around the wearer. The stolen technological resources from the Serpo have also boasted their military power.

## Spaceships

### Main Force

The Kel possessed a **main force** (本隊, *hontai*?) comprising of a fleet of spacecrafts, with the most prominent ship in the fleet being a large battleship. These spaceships were used during the invasion of Sumer where they laid waste to the land. After arriving on Earth, the Advance Unit summoned a gate within an Empty Space, using Okarun's kintama as a battery, that allowed smaller spaceships from the main force to pass through one by one until the entire fleet arrived, which was successfully done before the gate was closed by Okarun. Though the fleet nearly came close to initiating their invasion of Earth by disrupting Empty Space with their launched attack, Reiko Kashima used her powers to destroy the main ship and eliminate the main force after trapping them inside her mirror.

## Trivia

* The name Kur is a name for the Mesopotamian underworld in the Sumerian language. The direct translation for the word is "Ground" when used to refer to the Underworld.