Tyrant (Marvel Comics)
| Tyrant | |
|---|---|
| File:TyrantCosmic49iyxwh.jpg Cover to Cosmic powers #6. Art by Scot Eaton. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Silver Surfer (vol.3) #81 (June 1993) |
| Created by | Ron Marz, Ron Lim, and Tom Christopher |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations | Heavy Troopers, Toady, Galactus |
| Notable aliases | Cable-locks (per Morg) |
| Abilities | |
Tyrant is a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain created by Ron Marz, Ron Lim, and Tom Christopher. The character first appeared in Silver Surfer (vol.3) #81 (June 1993), and is a foe of Galactus, Thanos and the Silver Surfer.
Fictional character biography
Origin
In the distant past, the devourer of worlds, Galactus, created an immensely powerful cosmic being in his own image: Tyrant. However, unlike his creator, Tyrant developed a lust for tyranny and conquest that directly conflicted with Galactus' desire to do only what is necessary to survive. Tyrant's conquests aroused opposition in many forms including an order of super-powered female warriors called the Spinsterhood, of which Ganymede was a member.
Eventually, Galactus learned of Tyrant's betrayal and engaged him in a titanic battle that unleashed energies that (according to Thanos) may have destroyed whole galaxies.
In the end, Galactus defeated Tyrant, stripped him of the bulk of his power (thereby reducing him to his current stature and power levels), and banished him to the farthest corners of the universe. The Spinsters mistakenly believed they were responsible for driving Tyrant away, when in fact it was his defeat and depowerment at the hands of Galactus that had done so, as Ganymede later learned.
Resurface
Tyrant returned eons later with a vast arsenal he built during his exile to resume his conquest. In a storyline that came to a head in Silver Surfer (vol 3) #82, Tyrant kidnapped a varied selection of space-faring heroes and villains in order to harness their combined powers for himself. Those kidnapped by Tyrant to this end were Silver Surfer, Terrax, Morg, Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, Jack of Hearts and Ganymede. Jack of Hearts, the last of the captives to have been captured, managed to destroy the containment unit before he could be put into it, rendering him unconscious for the remainder of the ensuing battle but freeing the others. Tyrant defeated them all, seeming to "toy" with them in the process.
At the end of the conflict, Galactus himself arrived, searching for Morg, his current herald. Galactus' arrival disrupted the battle so Tyrant decided to offer all the others' freedom to Galactus in exchange for Morg. Galactus reluctantly accepted. Thanos of Titan, seeking a challenge, learned of Tyrant's existence. He allied himself with Terrax, Ganymede, Jack of Hearts and Captain Marvel to learn about Tyrant.
When the group attacked Tyrant's fortress, Thanos abandoned his allies to access Tyrant's computers while they battled Tyrant. Thanos learned of Tyrant's origin and of his defeat at the hands of Galactus. After his former allies were defeated he threatened to steal the orb containing Morg's energy that Tyrant drained from him. He challenged Tyrant to stop him. Thanos, through the aid of the the stolen orb, was able to withstand Tyrant's attacks while the others escaped on Thanos' ship leaving him alone against Tyrant. In the end, after surviving a tremendous assault that destroyed much of Tyrant's fortress, Thanos teleported away. Thanos declared that he had gained what he sought (the said power orb) so further conflict was pointless. He also pointed out to Tyrant that someone could stand their own against him, which was a success in itself.
Death
Tyrant would later revive the herald Morg and implant mental controls in his mind to make him do his bidding. He allowed Morg to return to Galactus as a ruse, but Morg managed to defy Tyrant; seeking out the Ultimate Nullifier, the only weapon in the known universe that even Galactus feared. In a final battle between Galactus and Tyrant, Morg used the Ultimate Nullifier, destroying Galactus' ship and seemingly destroying everyone aboard - including Tyrant.
Galactus later reappeared - it was revealed that he had avoided nullification by escaping into a parallel dimension. Morg (only as a corpse) and Air-Walker later resurfaced during Marvel's Annihilation event. Tyrant for now is assumed dead.
Powers and abilities
Tyrant possessed enormous cosmic power. He could absorb and channel a tremendous amount of cosmic energy for destructive purposes. He possessed vast indeterminable levels of superhuman strength, and was incredibly resistant to physical injuries. Being of bio-mechanical properties, Tyrant was effectively immortal. Tyrant also had the ability to psionically control any technology that he came into contact with at will.
In his original form, Tyrant was as large as Galactus and able to stalemate the latter in battle for a very prolonged period of time, but after the latter eventually defeated him eons ago, he was reduced to his lesser modern state. When Tyrant was last seen he drew on the energy of planetary biospheres and proved capable of feeding on the energy blasts of a starved Galactus.
In his diminished form Tyrant's power was initially portrayed as dependent on feeding from containers of superhuman energy, and directly proportional to the amount he had available. When at full power, he proved capable of defeating an alliance of super-powered beings which included Silver Surfer, Morg, Terrax, Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, Ganymede, and Jack of Hearts.
When temporarily denied access to his containers, Terrax, Ganymede, and Jack of Hearts alone managed to keep Tyrant busy for a period of time, and Thanos managed to barely fight him to a standstill through empowering himself by using one of them.
In addition, Tyrant commanded a number of robots who proved powerful enough to incapacitate the likes of Gladiator and Morg. His Fortress had equipment capable of draining and storing the life forces of living beings to power his robots and Fortress.