Tyrant (comics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tyrant is a fictional character, an ancient alien supervillain appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. Tyrant is a foe of Galactus, Thanos and the Silver Surfer. His first appearance was Silver Surfer (Vol.3) #81.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
Tyrant is an immensely powerful cosmic being who was created by Galactus in the distant past. Tyrant developed a lust for conquest that 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 Spinsters, of which Ganymede was a member. Eventually, Galactus learned of Tyrant's betrayal and engaged him in a titantic battle that unleashed energies capable of destroying 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. 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, Captain Marvel, 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 easily 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. Using one of Tyrant's orbs, Thanos 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 even though it was likely Tyrant would destroy him if the battle continued, he had gained what he sought from him (the said power orb) so further conflict was pointless.
Tyrant would later revive 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 and Airwalker later resurfaced during Marvel's Annihilation event, but their survival has not been explained. Tyrant has yet to make a reappearance.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Tyrant possessed vast cosmic power, the likes of which was extensive enough to engage a group of superhuman beings which consisted of the Silver Surfer, Morg, Terrax, Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, Ganymede, and Jack of Hearts and defeat them with ease. Tyrant also had total psionic control over technology, he could bend any machinery he came into contact with to his will. In Tyrant's original form he was as large as Galactus and nearly as powerful, but after his defeat and depowerment at the hands of Galactus eons ago he was reduced to his lesser modern state. He drew on the energy of planetary biospheres; every planet that Galactus consumed left Tyrant weaker.
He commanded a seemingly unlimited number of Heavy Troopers, an army of robots who proved powerful enough to incapacitate the likes of the Gladiator and Morg. In addition, his Fortress had equipment capable of draining and storing the life forces of living beings to power his Troopers and Fortress.
