Queen Veranke

Queen Veranke is the main antagonist of the Marvel Comics storyline Secret Invasion. She is a Skrull noblewoman who became leader of what remains of the Skrull empire after being devastated by the Annihilation Wave of Annihilus.

Story
After the group of Earth superheroes known as the Illuminati escape from the Skrull palace, Emperor  is scolded by Veranke, a princess from the Tyeranx 7 province, for not heeding the words of the Skrull prophecies, which state the attack upon the palace, then the destruction of the Skrull homeworld, the coming of a "wave of devastation" through Skrull space, and the need to take "a world of blue" as their new home. As Dorrek ignores her warnings, Veranke declares if he is unable to heed the writings of the Skrull's scriptures and the will of the Skrull people, he should be removed from the throne. For her defiance, Dorrek banishes Veranke to a prison planet, brushing her off as an insane fanatic and a traitor while acknowledging executing her would only turn her into a martyr for her cause.

Years later, the Skrull throneworld is destroyed by Galactus. The next prophecy fulfilled, the Skrulls elevate Veranke, still on the prison world, to the throne of the Skrull Empire. As Queen, Veranke declares that the scriptures foretell Earth as the new Skrull homeland. As such, the Skrulls undergo a major operation to take over Earth through infiltrating the facets of Earth, thereby weakening them enough to employ a military invasion to conquer the planet. In addition, Veranke decides to be one of the agents, deciding to play a direct part in the infiltration of Earth. When she asks who among the candidates for replacement is most capable of inflicting damage, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) is recommended as the prime choice.

Starting the infiltration
When the real Spider-Woman went undercover into  to regain her lost powers, she was placed under sedation by Skrulls posing as HYDRA agents, and replaced by Veranke taking Spider-Woman's place as a double agent of Nick Fury, director of SHIELD.

As "Spider-Woman", she was appointed to working at the Raft prison, and was at the Raft when Electro unleashed a mass break-out attempt of the prisoners inside. This event unintentionally led to the reforming of the Avengers, which she later joins after Captain America (Steve Rogers) offers membership to "Spider-Woman". Fury instructs her to continue as his personal agent, now within the New Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., and HYDRA simultaneously; she eventually confesses this arrangement to the Avengers.

During an adventure with the New Avengers, Veranke learns of the greatest threat to her rule, Dorrek VIII, also known as Hulkling of the Young Avengers, who is the son of the Kree hero Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)  and the Skrull princess Anelle , and a more worthy heir to the throne. During the invasion, she orders him to be executed, keeping his identity a secret.

Prelude to the invasion
During the events of House of M, it was revealed that she, along with all the other undercover Skrulls, knew that the world had been altered. She tries to assassinate the Scarlet Witch, but is unsuccessful and deconstructed in a way similar to Hawkeye (Clint Barton); both come back afterward. In the aftermath, news reaches her that the Skrull Empire itself has almost entirely been destroyed by the Annihilation Wave, killing billions of Skrulls, further fulfilling their prophecies. Distressed, Veranke and her agents become more determined to continue their takeover of Earth.

After the Civil War, Veranke travels alongside the New Avengers to Tokyo, where the team fights Elektra - also a Skrull impostor - and the Hand organisation , and is unable to prevent Echo from killing Elektra, revealing the Skrull infiltration. As the team ponders its next move, Veranke attacks Wolverine and takes the Skrull corpse. She delivers the corpse to Stark in a move designed to sow distrust amongst the superhero community, which at this point is not difficult as there is already a great deal of distrust on all sides of the superhero community due to the "Civil War" and its aftermath, leaving bad feelings on many fronts. Afterwards, she also joins the government sanctioned Mighty Avengers team, under the guise of throwing the Skrulls off balance.

Secret Invasion
During the storyline, Tony Stark informs "Jessica Drew" of the crash-landing of a Skrull  transport ship in the Savage Land. Unbeknownst to Tony, she in turn tips off Luke Cage about this information, telling him that she trusts him over Stark. A meeting among the Skrull agents on Earth is held where Jessica is apparently in attendance, referred to as "Empress" by the Skrull posing as Jarvis.

After the first wave of the Skrull invasion of Earth begins, Veranke is seen in the Savage Land, where she confronts and Attacks Echo, repeatedly blasting her with venom blasts and then slamming her into a nearby tree trunk. She then finds Stark and insinuates that he is a Skrull sleeper agent, which he denies. She kisses him, informing him that he has "earned the queen's love". Black Widow plans to attack while Veranke talks to Iron Man, but is distracted by Skrulls posing as Beast and Jean Grey, and Veranke disappears and escapes while Black Widow kills the Skrulls.

Queen Veranke arrives at Camp Hammond and the Shadow Initiative attempt to assassinate her. The Mighty Thor makes his presence known and she assembles her troops for the final battle. The New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Nick Fury & his commandos, the Young Avengers, the Initiative, the Hood's crew, Thor, the new Captain America (Bucky Barnes), and the Thunderbolts all assemble. Queen Veranke later reveals that "He", a figure mentioned repeatedly by Skrulls throughout the storyline in the phrase 'he loves you' is a reference to "God" as she leads an army of Super-Skrulls against the superhumans of Earth. During the fight, Wolverine confronts Veranke and a fight begins. quickly gains the upper hand and impales Veranke through the shoulder with his claws. Moments later, Young Avenger Kate Bishop is injured, prompting Ronin (Clint Barton) to pick up her bow. Ronin then kills four Skrulls before seemingly killing Veranke with a shot to the head. This leads to the Skrull posing as Hank Pym to activate the device inside Wasp's body, which he says will end it all. Wasp starts growing to enormous size, but Thor transports her to another dimension so she can die. Veranke, however, is revealed to be still alive. Just as many of the heroes go to attack, Norman Osborn shoots Veranke in the head, killing the Queen of the Skrulls, and becoming acclaimed as a hero.

Aftermath
Norman Osborn is rewarded by the US government by making him the new director of SHIELD, starting the Dark Reign storyline.

The spirit of Veranke is seen by Hercules in the Underworld, where she is in Pluto's jury at Zeus's trial.

Other media

 * Veranke appears in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, voiced by Elizabeth Daily . In the second season's first half, this version poses as Mockingbird while she orchestrates a Skrull invasion of Earth.