Tyrant (Marvel Comics)

Fictional character biography

The entity Galactus created a powerful living machine in his own image, and bestowed it with the power cosmic. Naming the machine Tyrant, it served Galactus until its desire for conquest caused it to secretly rebel. Tyrant's clandestine activity provokes opposition from a faction of female warriors called the Spinsterhood. Galactus eventually learned of Tyrant's betrayal and battled the machine, finally stripping Tyrant of the majority of its power and banishing it to deep space.

Tyrant returns eons later, and kidnaps several space-faring heroes and villains (Silver Surfer, Terrax, Morg, Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, Jack of Hearts and Ganymede) in order to harness their combined powers. Jack of Hearts, however, managed to destroy the containment unit intended for him, which frees the other beings. Although they attack the entity it defeats them all just as Galactus arrives, demanding the return of his Herald Morg. Tyrant agrees to free the other being if Morg remains, which Galactus reluctantly accepts.

Thanos of Titan eventually learns of Tyrant, and seeking a challenge, allies himself with Terrax, Ganymede, Jack of Hearts and Legacy to learn about Tyrant. When the group attacked Tyrant's fortress, Thanos abandoned his allies to access Tyrant's computers. Thanos learned Tyrant's origin, and after his allies were defeated threatened to steal an orb containing an unknown amount of energy from the machine. Thanos holds off Tyrant until the remainder of the group escapes, and after a conflict that destroys much of Tyrant's fortress, teleports away. Thanos states he achieved his goal of obtaining the power orb and that further conflict was pointless.

Tyrant eventually revives Morg, now brainwashed and a loyal servant. Morg returns to Galactus as a spy, but defies the mental control and instead seeks out the Ultimate Nullifier, the only weapon in the known universe that can destroy Galactus. Attempting to take vengeance on Galactus for abandoning him, Morg uses the device during a final battle between Galactus and Tyrant. The weapon destroys Galactus' ship and everyone aboard, including Tyrant (although Galactus escaped into a parallel dimension).

Powers and abilities

Tyrant was capable of absorbing and channelling tremendous amounts of cosmic energy for personal use, such as superhuman strength and energy projection. Courtesy of Tyrant's bio-mechanical form, the entity was capable of using psionics to control and manipulate technology. The entity was also highly durable and effectively immortal. After a defeat by Galactus, Tyrant was forced to siphon off the life energy of planetary biospheres to sustain itself (effectively echoing Galactus' own need to consume planets to sustain himself), with its power levels varying depending on the quantity of energy stored and available for use.