Terrax the Tamer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist John Byrne and writer Marv Wolfman, the character first appeared in October 1979, and is a herald of cosmic entity Galactus and enemy of the Fantastic Four.
The character has made several appearances in media, including several animated television shows, video games and was included in the Marvel Legends and Minimate toylines.
Publication history
The character first appears in Fantastic Four #211 (Oct. 1979) and was created by Marv Wolfman and John Byrne.
Fictional character biography
The Birth of a Herald
The character first appears as a Birjan named Tyros, the ruler of the city-state of Lanlak on the planetoid Birj. The cosmic entity Galactus selects Tyros as his next Herald, but first wishes for the superhero team the Fantastic Four to humble him. In return the cosmic entity agrees to travel to Earth to aid the heroes against a new threat, the villain Sphinx. Tyros is defeated, and brought before Galactus, who changes the petty tyrant 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. Terrax travels with Galactus to Earth and, while his new master battles the Sphinx, attacks the Fantastic Four—still resenting the heroes for their role in his transformation. Terrax, however, is tricked and defeated by the Human Torch, and leaves with a victorious Galactus.
Rebellion
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 reappears in the title Rom, and after leading Galactus to the planet Galador, battles its champion, Rom, and his fellow Spaceknight, Terminator.
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.