History

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.

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.

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 Simon Furmintz, the head of Genetech, and after a devastating battle with the New warriors, was defeated by the Silver Surfer and exiled to a distant world-- without his axe, his new form could no longer fly through space. However, he was able to obtain another axe of similar powers from Morg, a short-lived herald of Galactus.

Since then he has battled sevral heroes including the Surfer and Sentry. He has also fought villains such as Tyrant and Annihilus, and briefly allied with Thanos and Paibok the Power-Skrull. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Powers and Abilities

Terrax Versus Silver Surfer

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: Like all of Galactus' heralds, Terrax is superhumanly strong and is capable of lifting about 75 tons without supplementing his strength with his cosmic energy. However, while supplementing his strength, Terrax is temporarily capable of lifting somewhere well in excess of 100 tons.

Superhuman Speed: Despite his great size and bodily density, Terrax can run and move at speeds superior to that of the finest human athlete.

Superhuman Stamina: Terrax's cosmically powered musculature produces almost no fatigue toxins during physical activity, granting him almost limitless levels of superhuman stamina. However, since his brain is still composed of conventional organic tissue, he does occasionally require sleep in order to dream.

Superhuman Agility: Terrax's agility, balance, and bodily coordination have all been enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of even the finest human athlete.

Superhuman Reflexes: Terrax's reflexes are similarly enhanced and are superior to those of the finest human athlete.

Superhuman Durability: Terrax's body is composed of a flexible, rock-like material that is considerably harder and more resistant to physical injury than the bodily tissues of a human being. 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, like all of Galactus's heralds, is able to enter warp-space and negotiate through it in order to cover great spatial distances. 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. Since it operated independently of rock and earth, the axe augmented the scope of Terrax's power.