Terrax

Origin

Tyros was originally the dictator of the small city-state Lanlak on the world of Birj (sometimes translated as Terran), a moon of the gas giant Marman in a solar system eighty thousand light years from earth. Tyros ruled through the use of his limited power over earth and rock. This power, which apparently was a mutation unique to Tyros, enabled him to animate constructs of stone, which would patrol his kingdom maintaining his firm control. Tyros loved power and conquest, and led a life of debauchery and violence. Somehow, he came to the attention of Galactus, the world devourer. Galactus had been seeking a new herald to guide him to fertile planets, which he needed for sustenance. The space being surmised that the common fault in most of his former herald was that their moral values prevented them from fulfilling their duties. For a new herald, Galactus sought an individual who would have no compunction in finding worlds for Galactus to render lifeless.

Creation

Terrax was created by Marv Wolfman and John Byrne and first appeared in Fantastic Four #211.

Major Story Arcs

Herald of Galactus

When the Fantastic Four came to Galactus to ask him for aid in their battle against the Sphinx, Galactus agreed, but only with the condition that the Fantastic Four would journey to Birj and subdue Tyros for him. The Fantastic Four reluctantly did this, and in doing so, they freed the city of Lanlak from Tyros’ rule. Brought before Galactus, Tyros was exposed to Galactus’ cosmic power, and was transformed into Terrax the Tamer. His minor control over stone was augmented to an incalculable degree. Now, he could affect all matter of rock and stone on nearly a planetary scale. His body was changed so that it would withstand the vacuum of space. Finally, Galactus gave Terrax a weapon called the cosmic axe capable of generating waves of cosmic force.

As Galactus’s new herald, Terrax found more worlds for his master than any of the previous heralds. Terrax likened the discovery of new planets to the feeling of conquest. On several occasions, Terrax annihilated large segments of the population himself using his cosmic powers. As Galactus had hoped, Terrax’s lack of morality made him a successful herald. But whereas Galactus’s other heralds had a sense of loyalty to their master, Terrax had none. Indeed, he served Galactus out of fear for his master’s power, but even conquered that fear on several occasions to defy Galactus’ wishes. Shortly after being transformed into Galactus’ herald, Terrax fled from his master and overthrew the ruling body of a small-unnamed planet. He enslaved the entire population and set himself up as the planet’s deity.

Huge segments of that world’s people died erecting temples and cities to glorify Terrax. Terrax planned to use the survivors of his reign as the first wave of a planned universe conquering army. But before Terrax could proceed any further, Galactus summoned his herald. Fearful of his master’s wrath, Terrax hid in a black hole. Utilizing the powers of the Earth mutant Dazzler, Galactus freed Terrax and made him obedient to his will again.

Terrax led his master to the planet Galador to feed. Home of the Spaceknights, the planet did not go down without a fight. Terrax was defeated but Rom made a pact with Galactus to spare Galador in exchange for Wraithworld. Galactus was angered that Terrax would lead him to such a defended world. Once in the Dark Nebula, Terrax feared their doom but Galactus discovered he could not consume either Wraitworld or the black sun and left to find another suitable world.

Rebellion

But Terrax’s rebellious nature could not be totally stifled, and after a while, Terrax again fled his master. This time, he went to Earth. Utilizing his power, Terrax levitated the entire island of Manhattan into earth orbit and used the lives of its millions of inhabitants to bargain with the Fantastic Four.

To spare Manhattan, Terrax demanded that they destroy Galactus by attacking his ship. Galactus had by now realized that his herald had become a liability to him, Returning Manhattan to Earth, Galactus stripped Terrax of his cosmic power and the transformed alien was sent hurtling from the top of the World Trade Center down to the street below. Although seriously injured, Terrax’s alien physique enabled him to survive the fall. An unidentified passerby took Terrax’s broken form, unknown to both the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, who were present at the site, to a nearby hospital. He remained there for several months in a semi comatose state.

Victor Von Doom, looking for a pawn to use in a plot against the Fantastic Four, discovered that Terrax had survived. Terrax was kidnapped from the hospital and brought back to Doom’s kingdom of Latveria by a squad of robots dispatched by Doom. There, after six weeks of Doom’s advanced treatments, Terrax recovered. But, having been stripped of cosmic power, Terrax had no memories of having been the herald of Galactus, and thus called himself Tyros once more.

Doom had recently perfected a device that was capable of endowing an individual with limited cosmic power. Tyros readily agreed to be exposed to the device’s energies, as he wished revenge against the Fantastic Four. Garbed in a special suit that would channel and regulate the cosmic energies in his body, Tyros set off for New York. Unknown to him, the power Doom gave him would consume Tyros’s body within a matter of hours. Thus, Doom would not be faced with an adversary whose power was vaster than his own, once Tyros had served his purpose.

Tyros defeated the Fantastic Four and, detesting the fact he was in the service of any master, he turned on Doom and immobilized the Latverian monarch in his armor. At Tyros’s moment of seeming triumph, the Silver Surfer, the first of Galactus’s heralds, arrived to save the lives of his friends. Tyros believed that his power level was equal to that of the Surfer’s, but he soon learned that he was no match for someone who had received the Power Cosmic from Galactus himself. Tyros was forced to use his powers to their limit in order to combat the Surfer. This only served to hasten his inevitable deterioration. As the two former heralds of Galactus engaged in battle, Tyros was totally consumed by the Power Cosmic.

Terrax was accidentally resurrected by the GeneTech company as part of their research into superhumans. He took over the body of Harmon Furmintz, the head of Genetech, and after a devastating battle with the New Warriors and the Fantastic Four, was defeated by the Silver Surfer and exiled to a distant world called Pluraris VI– without his axe, his new form could no longer fly through space.

The Herald Ordeal

When all the previous heralds of Galactus banned together to face Morg they sought Terrax’s assistance. He agreed so long as he was released from the planet and he got his axe back. They agreed and Surfer found the location where he had left the axe. Terrax did fight on the side of good and betrayed no one. He battled and told the Surfer they needed Galactus to defeat him. Morg was able to shatter Terrax’s axe and defeat him. Against the Surfer’s wishes, Terrax killed Morg with his own axe after Galactus removed his Power Cosmic. He was now free to go and kept Morg’s axe to replace his own.

This was short lived however, and Galactus soon resurrected Morg. Morg was angry that a part of him was missing, his axe. He sought out Terrax to retrieve it and to get his revenge. Morg was able to defeat Terrax, but they were ambushed by some robots belonging to Tyrant. They were both taken captive and hooked to a matrix that siphoned their power for Tyrant’s fortress and robots. The matrix was destroyed by Jack of Hearts and they fought against Tyrant, but this was not good enough for Morg, who again attacked Terrax. Terrax could not believe the foolishness of this act but he was once again defeated by Morg. Galactus arrived and stopped Tyrant’s plans but in exchange Tyrant kept Morg. Once Terrax was freed of Tyrant’s fortress he recovered and left the others before they could recover.

Later Events

Terrax now sought out a new axe which he heard was in the shop of Hammal Kesht. The axe could harness great energy that was forged in the Chaa’Un System over two centuries ago. Terrax destroys the robotic security and in fear, the shopkeeper gives Terrax the axe as a gift.

He then began to try to gain riches in order to build an army and gain control over an empire. He found himself in a gladitorial contest for a great prize. He won the challenge, but to his surprise the victor was to receive a woman, which Terrax had no use for. The woman convinced him of a reward for her return home so he helped her. He was ambushed by her brothers in an attempt to steal his axe, but he easily killed them and the woman. He was then met by Thanos.

Thanos convinced Terrax to assist him in defeating Tyrant and once it was done, Terrax would receive Tyrant’s empire. This began the Cosmic Powers event. They sought out Ganymede to learn more of their opponent and together they fought her and Jack of Hearts. Ganymede proved to be quite a challenge for Terrax, who eventually needed Thanos’ assistance. Once Ganymede learned they were going to defeat Tyrant, she agreed to help willingly. Together they went to Tyrant’s Fortress to face him.

Terrax once again faced Morg, but this time Terrax seemed to be the victor. But Morg was under the control of Tyrant, and once this was broken he fled to return to his master, Galactus, vowing to one day get his vengeance on Terrax. Once they faced Tyrant, Thanos disappeared from the fight. Terrax fought alongside Ganymede, Jack of Hearts and Legacy, but they were all defeated. When Thanos came back to the battle, Terrax and Legacy rescued Jack and Ganymede and escaped in Thanos’ ship, the Demeter. After parting with the heroes, he continued his search for riches and power.

He took the ship to Tultac, where there was a myth of an incredible treasure. Terrax planned to use the treasure to buy an army and become the dictator of a planet of his choosing. When he arrived it was too late and the Silver Surfer was there with Nova (actually Mephisto in disguise). When the Surfer learned what Terrax planned with the riches, he turned it to sand. With no reason left to fight, Terrax departed.

Since then he has battled several heroes including the Surfer and Sentry.

Annihilation

He has also fought villains such as Annihilus during Annihilation. Terrax was captured by the Seekers, a specially designed unit of the Annihilation Wave created to capture the Heralds of Galactus for Annihilus. He was administered parasites that controlled him and Paibok the Power-Skrull to serve Annihilus. When the parasites wore off, an angry Terrax destroyed the entire ship they were on. Terrax survived the plummet to the planet below.

On the planet, a woman named Chandra asked for the help of Terrax and Paibok in defeating the one who kept the people living in fear, Randau the Space Parasite. Terrax and the others joined together to face him. They soon realized that he fed off of energy, so Terrax removed the power of his axe and used it as an axe is normally used. He cut Randau in half and killed him. When the people still wished to be slaves, it infuriated Terrax, who split the entire planet in half with one stroke of his axe.

The Offenders

Recently, Terrax joined the Offenders to battle the Defenders along with Red Hulk, Tiger Shark and Baron Mordo. In a battle Red Hulk absorbed the Power Cosmic from Silver Surfer and killed Terrax by stealing his axe and cutting his head off with it. Following the conclusion of the war, the Grandmaster restored all the heroes and villains to life.

Avengers vs. X-Men

Terrax would return to his home world Birj and kill the Science Council and Royal family who opposed his rule. He ignored the warning Nova brought to him to evacuate the planet. Terrax and all the people on Birj were seemingly killed by the coming of the Phoenix Force.

Terrax was indeed killed, his atoms scattered through the cosmic winds, but he found himself inexplicably revived. He no longer had a thirst for power and conquest and wanted to live the rest of his life in peace. That did not stop him for fighting for a cause though and he assisted Drax in finding some kidnappers and thieves. The source turned out to be Fin Fang Foom who attempted to use Terrax, Drax, Torgo and others to fight to the death to hatch his species eggs.

Fin Fang Foom was forced to flee once Terrax and the others broke free of his control. Chasing Foom through a portal to his homeworld, they found the dragon in tears over the loss of the eggs. They were the last of his kind. Terrax decided to stay with the dragon.

Powers and Abilities

Terrax possesses vast cosmic power granted him by Galactus. Though, like Galactus’ other heralds, he prefers to use his energy powers in combat situations, Terrax is a formidable hand to hand combatant.

Superhuman Strength: Terrax possesses superhuman strength which enables him to lift over 75 tons when not amped up by the power cosmic. However, Terrax can amp himself up with the power cosmic which enables him to lift over 100 tons.

Superhuman Speed: Terrax possesses superhuman speed which enables him to move much faster than most beings.

Superhuman Stamina: Terrax’s cosmically powered musculature produces toxins during physical activity which grants him very high levels of stamina. However, his brain is still composed of conventional organic tissue which requires him to sleep in order to dream.

Superhuman Agility: Terrax possesses agility, balance, and body movement coordination which are all enhanced with the help of his power and puts him above many beings.

Superhuman Reflexes: Terrax possesses reflexes which are above that of the finest human specimens.

Superhuman Durability: Terrax’s body is composed of a flexible, rock-like material that is much harder and more resistant to physical injury than the bodily tissues of normal human beings. Terrax’s body can withstand exposure to temperature extremes from 50 degrees above absolute zero to the interior of a small sun and the pressure up to 100 Earth atmospheres. His body is also capable of withstanding powerful energy blasts and concussive force up to a fall at terminal velocity from the limit of Earth’s exosphere. Terrax’s body is also designed to fully withstand the rigors of travel through deep space and is sustained by the Power Cosmic, meaning he has no need to eat, drink, or even breathe.

Flight: Terrax is capable to enter warp-space and negotiate through it in order to cover great spatial distances just like all of Galactus’ heralds. Traversing through the normal universe, he is able to attain 75% the speed of light, or roughly 139,500 miles per second.

Earth Manipulation: Terrax’s psionic ability to manipulate the molecules of rock and earth has been augmented by Galactus’s transformation at least a hundredfold. Terrax can move planetary masses up to 100 miles in diameter. He can move asteroids of 10 miles in diameter at speeds of up to thousands of miles per hour. He can control the direction of a swarm of meteors within 100 miles of his person. Through concentration, he can affect a small piece of matter 1000 miles away from him. The farther the distance, however, the less mass he is able to affect. Standing on a planetary surface, he cab affect tectonic plates sufficiently to cause earthquakes and create chasms in the surface thousands of feet deep or wide. Deploying his powers to the maximum extent, he can separate a landmass the size of Manhattan Island and levitate it miles off the Earth’s surface. On worlds with lesser gravities, he can lift even greater masses.

Cosmic Axe: Terrax wielded a cosmic axe which had several powers of its own. It was capable of emanating waves of destructive force sufficiently powerful to rent a tear in Galactus’s own ship. It could also project highly impervious force shields. Terrax’s axe has shown a significant amount of power to destroy a planet with one blow. Since it operated independently of rock and earth, the axe augmented the scope of Terrax’s power.

Alternate Realities

Earth-928 (MC2)

In the MC2 Universe, Terrax was given the Power Cosmic by Galactus, just as in the 616 reality. Doctor Doom gave Terrax more power through a device known as the Chair of Power. He battled the Fantastic Four and almost defeated them. The Thing bought enough time for Mr. Fantastic to use on of his weapons to generate a miniature black hole to send Terrax out of the universe. Thing was caught in the explosion and parts of his arm and leg were nearly destroyed and required bionic armor.

Heroes Reborn

In the Heroes Reborn world, Terrax is one of five heralds of Galactus. He, along with the others, was sent to Earth to prepare for Galactus’ harvesting. Sensing the Power Cosmic in the Fantastic Four, Terrax immediately labeled them as a threat to his master’s goal. He was able to nearly defeat the Fantastic Four by himself but was temporarily put down by Thing and the Human Torch. But he was back up soon, and the Fantastic Four were at their limits.

Terrax left when Galactus called his heralds to him. Terrax then began preparations by placing a capacitor on the planet in order to help convert the planet’s energy for Galactus’ consumption. Although Terrax’s capacitor was destroyed, Galactus succeeded in consuming the Earth. Doctor Doom went back in time to try to stop this from happening.

Terrax was sent to battle the Fantastic Four once again with the assistance of the other heralds. The Fantastic Four were killed and Galactus was successful again. Doom went back in time two more times until the Silver Surfer betrayed Galactus and defeated him.

Universal Incursion

Herald of Galactus in another reality, Terrax the Truly Enlightened serves well with his love for death and destruction. During a universal incursion, the Illuminati come through the incusion point between the two Earths. They battle Terrax who has brought his master to feed on Earth. He is defeated by Black Bolt and brought back through to the 616 reality as their prisoner.

Terrax is imprisoned at the Necropolis but is eventually freed by Namor. Freeing all the Illuminati’s prisoners, Namor forms a new Cabal including Terrax, Black Swan, Maximus, Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight and Thanos. Together they begin destroying alternate Earths at incursion points, something Terrax is long skilled at doing.

In Other Media

Televison

• Terrax appears in the 90s Fantastic Four series, voiced by Tony Jay in Season 1 and by Ron Feinberg in Season 2.
• Terrax makes an appearance in The Super Hero Squad Show as a Herald of Galactus in the episode ‘Last Exit Before Doomsday.’ He is voiced by Ted Biaselli.
• Terrax appears alongside three other Heralds of Galactus in this 2010 produced Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. He shows up in the series final, “Avengers Assemble.” Galactus has come to Earth and brought his Heralds Air-Walker, Firelord, Stardust, and Terrax to aid in constructing devices on Earth that would allow Galactus to devour the planets anti matter energies. Groups of Avengers must fight off each Herald. Captain America, Quake, War Machine, Spider-Man and Iron Fist face off against Terrax, and eventually destroy him. Terrax is voiced by Kevin Grevioux.
• Terrax appears in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and Ultimate Spider-Man, voiced by James C. Mathis III.

Video Games

• Terrax appears as a boss in Fantastic Four: Flame On.
• Terrax appears in the video game adaptation of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, even though he does not show up in the actual movie. He was voiced by Fred Tatasciore.
• Terrax appears in Marvel: War of Heroes.

Merchandise

• Terrax was featured in ToyBiz’s action figure line for the 90s Fantastic Four animated series.
• Bowen Designs released a Terrax statue.
• Bowen Designs also produced a Terrax bust.
• Eaglemoss Publications released a lead Terrax figurine.
• Terrax was the subject of a Marvel Legends Build-a-Figure wave from Hasbro. Each figure in the wave (Steve Rogers, Hope Summers, Danny Ketch, Constrictor, Klaw and Extremis Iron Man) came with a piece needed to assemble Terrax.
• HeroClix was featured in the HeroClix figure game.