TERMINUS

Real Name: Terminus (inapplicable)

Identity/Class: extraterrestrial (unnamed planet) artificially engineered lifeform;
    advanced technology user

Occupation: Destroyer of Worlds, Scavenger

Group Membership: Termini

Affiliations: Terminex (creators), Unit;
    Garokk, Jorro, Moloid subterraneans (former pawns), unnamed Mizix (former slave);
    Macross (utilized Terminus' duplicate armor of his own accord)

Enemies: Ace, Alpha, Avengers, Fantastic Four, Great Lakes Avengers, Justice League of America of the mainstream Earth-DC, Machine Man, Alicia Masters, One-Eyed Jacquie, Mole Man, Moloid Subterraneans, Silver Surfer, Tanarus (Ulik), Wyatt Wingfoot, X-Men (Colossus, Cyclops, Danger, Emma Frost, Hope, Magik, Magneto, Namor, Storm);
    indirectly, the Celestials

Known Relatives: Termini

Aliases: Despoiler of Planets, Great Destroyer, Great One, Ravager of Worlds, Terminator, Terminex, Terminoid, Ulterminus, the Ultimate Terminus

Base of Operations: mobile;
    formerly Earth (trapped in Earth's core for a time; Also spent time in Deviant Subterranea, in the laboratory of Jorro)
    previously an unnamed planet;
    formerly trapped in outer space in Earth's solar system

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#269 (August, 1984)

Powers/Abilities: Terminus possesses incalculable strength (markedly greater than Class 100). He is highly durable, able to withstand great destructive force: He takes minutes to recover from crashing into a planet at orbital velocity. His armor can be punctured by certain attacks, however. In addition, he can repair and regenerate missing or injured body parts, including limbs or the equivalent of his brain tissue. He can move at speeds of @ 65 mph. Though he is unable to fly under his own power, he can achieve escape velocity, light speed, or even warp speed with his lance. He can survive without harm in molten rock or in the cold and vacuum of outer space.
    Terminus is composed of organic metal. The interior of his body contains human-sized insectoid "antibodies" and metallic "leeches" that attack anything that invades his armor. He can generate great destructive power, but he apparently requires his lance to unleash this power. His lance is composed of the same organic metal as his body, can regenerate (with time) when damaged, and is 240' in length. The lance can discharge vast amounts of atomic energy, sufficient to tear open the crust of a planet. This energy manifests itself both as concussive force and as intense heat. Terminus can use the lance to create an "atomic storm" that surrounds his body while he moves without harming it. Terminus uses the lance to drain energy and materials from outside sources, to replace his own reserves. He despoils planets of the elements of which they are composed, steals highly advanced technology, and enslaves sentient beings inhabiting these planets.
    Terminus can mentally summon the lance to his side when separated from him, even over great distances.
    His technology is such that he was able to predict the exact location and rotational position of Earth from 100 light years away, such that he could fire a beam that would strike 100 years later and carve a message on a specified land mass.

Height: 150' tall (as Ulterminus he reached  a height of 500')
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: No visible pupils or irises
Hair: Unrevealed, if any

History:
(Thor Annual#15 (fb)) - In the distant past, a race known as the Terminex faced destruction at the hands of the Celestials, and created the instrument of their revenge: the Termini. The Termini started out in stage 1 as microbes that eventually--after hundreds of years--landed on an unnamed planet, where the microbes broke free, multiplied, and evolved through the stages of its life cycle until becoming the being who would be known as Terminus (a stage 4 Termini). Terminus was that which the long-dead Terminex had intended the Termini to be: a metal monstrosity imbued with an inbred hatred of the Celestials and all their works.

(Fantastic Four I#270 (fb) - BTS) - Terminus was exposed to Yellow Jantha blossoms drifting on a purple breeze, the scent of Arcara mingling with the new fallen pools of Haranathra (see comments).

(Fantastic Four I#270 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#13 (fb) - BTS) - Terminus traveled from world to world, wreaking destruction, and targeting (though perhaps not exclusively) those worlds which the Celestials had judged and spared. Terminus is believed to have plundered roughly one thousand planets, rendering them uninhabitable in the process.
    An unknown number of years ago, Terminus apparently ravaged Zundam (in the Fakowi star system, I kid you not!), taking one of that world's greatest scientists to serve as his personal slave and guide. The alien scientist knew or suspected that Earth's human race would give rise to many superhuman beings around the 20th-21st Centuries. Hoping that such beings would be able to stop Terminus, the Zundamite scientist Mizix persuaded Terminus to go to Earth. This occurred as Terminus left Arianis Major.
    To prove his power, Terminus launched an energy beam toward Earth to mark the planet as his.

(Fantastic Four I#269) - One hundred years later, the beam struck the continental United States, carving a message in writing using lines one half mile wide, and covering a distance from the southwest to just west of Manhattan. Terminus arrived shortly thereafter, undiscovered. The apparent attack was quickly discovered, and Reed Richards' deciphered it as a message: "I claim this world--Terminus." Terminus then revealed himself and declared himself master of this world.

(Fantastic Four I#270 (fb) - BTS) - Terminus unleashed a blast which Reed, the She-Hulk, and Wyatt other Keewazi narrowly survived.

(Fantastic Four I#270) - Displeased with the Earth, Terminus cast his Zundamite slave Mizix to the Earth, mortally wounding him. As Terminus prepared to break down and absorb the components of Earth, the slave--with his dying breath--revealed the past of Terminus. Realizing the threat they faced, Reed had the She-Hulk knock Terminus' lance from his hand--by hurling the damaged pogo plane at hit. Reed than affixed a newly discovered device of his to Terminus' head. This acceleration device sent Terminus off at an instant velocity of some 20, 000 mph against the direction of the Earth through space, sending him to the very core of the Earth.

(Quasar#7(fb)/Thor Annual#15 (fb)) - Terminus began the arduous process of clawing his way back to Earth's surface. Along the way, he encountered the laboratory of Jorro, weapons-maker to Earth's Deviants. As the Deviants hated the Celestials as fiercely as did Terminus, Jorro was persuaded to duplicate Terminus' armor and wear it to the surface in search of Terminus' lance (see comment).

(Avengers I#256, 257 - BTS) - Jorro, as Terminus, recovered the lance and destroyed the Savage Land, but was subsequently slain as a result of a battle with the Avengers.

(Thor Annual#15 (fb)) - Terminus utilized his own genetic material, combined with his own advanced technology--plundered from the races he had slaughtered in the past--and Jorro's technology to create a new generation of Stage 1 Termini.

(X-Men Annual#12 - BTS) - The form of Garokk the Petrified Man somehow was absorbed into the Terminus armor, reviving it. This Terminus duplicate fought the X-Men and the High Evolutionary, before being overcome.

(Captain America Annual#9 (fb) - BTS) - Terminus apparently put the egg containing the gestating Termini in magma connected with the interior of Washington's Mount Saint Helens volcano.

(Thor Annual#15 (fb)) - Terminus continued his journey back to the surface of Earth.

(Quasar#7) - Terminus summoned his lance from the remains of Jorro's robot to his side, still deep within the Earth. Terminus returned to the surface, apparently intending to make Reed Richards--the first being to defeat him in untold millennia--his new herald. His return was noted by Quasar, who engaged the assistance of Spider-Man (at the time enhanced into cosmic power by merging with Captain Universe). Quasar made a giant platform underneath Terminus, and Cosmic Spidey flew it into space, dumping him out of the plane of the solar system. Quasar then teleported the business end of Terminus' lance into the vicinity of the planet Neptune. Without his lance, Terminus was left cartwheeling out of control.

(Captain America Annual#9 - BTS) - Stage 1 Termini emerged from volcano and began to take over the minds of humans and other animals.

(Iron Man Annual#11,#11/2 - BTS) - Now in the form of Stage 2, the Termini fought Iron Man, Machine Man, and others.

(Thor Annual#15) - While Hercules fought the now Stage 3 Termini, Thor followed up on a lead that these beings were connected to Terminus. Thor warped into space next to Terminus, penetrated his armor, and learned his true origins as world-ravager's mind spoke to him. Terminus' "antibodies" and "leeches" then assaulted Thor, overcoming him. Terminus cast Thor out into space, keeping his hammer, Mjolnir, as his own power source. Using the hammer's power, Terminus completed the regeneration of his lance, which he was then able to summon to his side. Terminus used the lance to return to Earth, just as the Stage 3 Termini merged and morphed into a Stage 4.

(Avengers West Coast Annual#5) - Terminus and then new stage 4 battled, despite the efforts of the West Coast Avengers and Machine Man, with Terminus eventually overpowering and then consuming the form and power of the younger Termini. Terminus thus evolved into a new, even more powerful Stage 5 Termini, aka Ulterminus.

(Avengers Annual#19) - Ulterminsu intended to achieve its ultimate mission of avenging its parent race by annihilating any people or planet which had been spared by the Celestials. It headed to the center of the United States, from which it planned to drain all life from the planet. It was combated by the Avengers--East Coast, West Coast, and even Great Lakes--and Machine Man, to little avail. However, as Terminus had previous absorbed Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor, the Asgardian managed to speak enchanted runes that restored Odin's spells and full force and allowed Thor to summon Mjolnir--and Ulterminus with it--deep into space, where Thor had been trapped. When a group of Avengers, having been pulled into space along with Ulterminus, managed to pry the staff from his hands, Ulterminus was left stranded in space. In addition, as Ulterminus continued to rapidly expend energy, he consumed his own resources, eventually imploding into a black hole-like phenomenon, which then disappeared as well.

(Captain America I#417 (fb) - BTS,#416, 417 -BTS) - AIM scientists Macross managed to restore the Terminus duplicate armor in the Savage Land, but Captain America and Ka-Zar managed to trick him into destroying the armor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Fantastic Four III#3) - Restored as a formless wraith, Terminus returned to Subterranea, where he utilized a virus to take over the nearly mindless forms of the Moloid Subterraneans and fashion a new body composed of thousands of these beings. The Mole Man noticed the absence of the Moloids and confronted Terminus. In addition, Terminus' energies and assault upon the Moloids was sensed by the Silver Surfer, who felt it as great pain.

(Fantastic Four III#4) - Terminus surfaced in Saskatchewan, Canada, where he began to prepare to place Neuro-Transceptor Beacons, with which he could initiate the wholesale assimilation of the planetary populace. The Surfer led the Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, Thing) and Alicia Masters to Terminus, and they joined forces with the Mole Man in an effort to destabilize Terminus' composite matrix. Though they succeeded, Reed realized that those stricken with the Terminus virus would remain afflicted and even spread the virus further, creating more pawns which he could then assimilate in an even more powerful form. The Surfer--aided by the emotional strength of Alicia Masters--used his power cosmic to purge the Moloids of the Terminus virus, leaving Terminus without form once again.

 

 

 

 

 

(JLA/Avengers#1) - Terminus--in his original form--was sent across the dimensional gulf--weakened by a series of events occurring in a number of dimensions. Far across the spectrum of realities, he arrived on another Earth, where he arrived in Fallville, Iowa. Terminus analyzed the energies around him and began heading towards Metropolis, destroying everything in his path. On the outskirts of Keystone City, he was attacked by the Justice League of America (Aquaman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Plastic Man, Superman, Wonder Woman). Though Terminus easily resisted the power of even Superman, the Batman correctly deduced the importance of Terminus' power lance. Combining their minds via the Martian Manhunter, the JLA assaulted Terminus on several levels, then duped him into thinking they were trying to steal his lance. As Terminus unleashed a potent blast of power through the lance, Green Lantern channeled the energy back at Terminus, blasting a hole in his helmet and incapacitating him.
    The Spectre (Hal Jordan) then appeared and announced that Terminus was an alien to this plane of existence, did not belong here, and would be disposed of. Terminus vanished without further explanation.

(Amazing Fantasy II#15/4) - Terminus threatened Tokyo, but was faced with G.R.A.M.P.A. agents Ace and One-Eyed Jacquie, who threatened to use the Ultimate Nullifier on him. Terminus fled Earth in fear, unaware that it had been a bluff (it was not a true Ultimate Nullifier).

(Mighty Avengers I#32) - The Avengers (Amadeus Cho, Hercules, Jocasta, Quicksilver, Stature/Cassie Lang, USAgent/John Walker, Vision, Wasp/Hank Pym) took down Terminus in Pisa, Italy.

(Mighty Thor II#9) - The Avengers (Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Protector, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Tanarus (actually Ulik surreptitiously replacing Thor as god of thunder)) stopped Terminus from attacking the Earth once more, with Iron Man blasting Terminus in the brain.

(Uncanny X-Men II#9) - Freed from the brig of the orbiting SWORD space station by fellow inmate Unit, Terminus spore (appearing like human-sized versions of Stage 4 Terminus) arrived in Nevada, but were stopped by the X-Men.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#694) - In Manhattan, Terminus declared that he had arrived to claim all of Earth's resources. Terminus was accompanied by many shadowy humanoids (possibly Stage 4 Termini) plus spacecraft. Feeling overwhelmed alongside the Avengers, Spider-Man called in the super-powerful youth Alpha,who finally managed to single-handedly knock out Terminus, leaving the Avengers unsure where to put the alien. Although Iron Man wanted Terminus' energy lance to be shipped to Project: PEGASUS, Spider-Man first used it to siphon away most of Alpha's dangerous power.

Comments: Created by John Byrne.
    Origins expanded upon by Chris Claremont, then Mark Gruenwald, Roy and Dann Thomas.

    This profile focuses primarily on the main being known as Terminus. Further details on the Termini and the Terminex race are available in the Terminex profile.

    The OHotMU Deluxe Edition followed previous stories and detailed Terminus as a member of the Fonabi race. That information has since been revealed to be false, and the form seem as Terminus' true form was actually that of Jorro.

    John Byrne apparently intended Terminus to be just what he appeared to be: A massively powerful cosmic scavenger.     Roger Stern made Terminus into the bloated alien inside the power armor, which was later revealed/ret-conned to be Jorro. Chris Claremont hinted that neither Garokk nor the alien who destroyed the Savage Land was the true Terminus. Gruenwald detailed the specifics behind Jorro and the faux Terminus(es), and Roy Thomas added the Terminex and the Termini. It may continue to be a work in progress.
    The memories Byrne had Terminus recall in FF#270 were likely meant to represent his life before entering this career as the cosmic scavenger. As Terminus' origins were later revamped, these memories may or may not be true. They could be memories from the very start of his existence as a stage 4 Termini. They also could be memories of a planet which he slaughtered, or perhaps from a type of being he absorbed in the process. Alternatively, he may have been pre-programmed with false memories to prevent others from learning his true origins.
    Even the cosmically aware--but still young and inexperienced--Epoch did not appreciate Terminus true origins when researching them for Quasar. Alternatively--though I hate ret-conning things back and forth--it is possible that Terminus first created the Termini, and that the origins involving the Terminex were false. Or perhaps Terminus himself long ago slew or otherwise usurped the armor of the original stage four Termini.
    Lots of possibilities for  a single sentence in a caption from a book now 20 years old!

    Kurt Busiek has stated that the JLA/Avengers crossover was intended to be in-continuity. Great efforts were made to keep it true to both sides and I can see no good reason to even consider excluding it. Kurt also stated that he didn't have any particular explanation for Terminus reforming, or even which Terminus it was.
    My thoughts:

    I don't follow the books, but I'm reasonably confident that the name Macross was an homage to the Robotech line of comics.

This is far out of my realm of expertise, and not open for further debate, but I'm told:
    DC's mainstream Earth was Earth One until the Crisis on Infinite Earths, when it became Earth-Sigma. Then Zero Hour rewrote the history again, and currently it is Earth-0.
--Loki.
    Given that record, it's likely to change again in the future [yep, should we time them so we can get ready for the next reboot? (GP)] . . .which is why I play it safe and refer to it as the "mainstream DCUniverse" in my Amalgam profiles.
--Skullogeist
    And so say all of us!
--Snood.

Celestials' technology in the Savage Land? WTF, yo?

    In Quasar#7(fb) and/or Thor Annual#15 (fb), Jorro's motivation for posing as Terminus is to pilfer and absorb the technology present there. That's crazy, since we all know the Nuwali created the Savage Land, right? True, as far as we know, but according to Per Degaton, another story--Marvel UK's Super-Soldiers--referenced a temple of the Eternals present in the Savage Land. Reviewing Jorro's statement, it would seem that all that was stated was that there was Celestial technology there--not that the Celestials created the Savage Land. So, it seems likely that there is some untold story about the Celestials building something in the Savage Land. Or maybe it is told, and I just don't remember it!

 

Terminus has entries in OHotMU Deluxe Edition#13, the Master Edition and the All-New OHotMU Update#3. In the latter entry the name of the zundamite Mizix was revealed.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Not to be confused with:

 

Jorro

    A Deviant Weapons-maker, he was encountered by Terminus as he clawed his way back to the surface of Earth. Realizing they shared a hatred for the Celestials, Terminus convinced Jorro to construct a duplicate armor of Terminus' and use it to recover his lance. As Terminus, Jorro assaulted the Naval ship carrying his lance, recovering it at the expense of those aboard the ship. Armed with the lance, Jorro traveled to the Savage Land, planning to pilfer and absorb the technology--based on Celestial design (see comments)--present there. Jorro/Terminus set about this plot, attacking and mocking all those he encountered as they fled from him.
    The Avengers (Black Knight (Whitman), Captain America, Hercules, Starfox, and the Wasp) followed Terminus trail and opposed him. However, they were unable to stop him from destroying the area Lemura, Aerie Shalan, and the generators which preserved the Savage Land. As the former Savage Land was swept over by a blizzard and the freezing temperatures and winds of Antarctica, the Avengers opposed Terminus once again. Starfox hurled Hercules towards Terminus neck, and the Olympian's fists punched whole is his armor, then he proceeded to rip the armor open throughout the length of the torso.
    Exposed, Jorro nonetheless kept up the facade of being Terminus, but Hercules left the now helpless deviant to perish in the snow as it piled over his obese and immobile form.
    Jorro's Terminus robot/armor was subsequently used by Garokk and Macross.

--Avengers I#256, (seen)#257, (identified) Quasar#7 (Quasar#7(fb)/Thor Annual#15(fb), Avengers I#256(fb), 256, 257(fb), 257

 

 

 

Macross

An AIM scientist, he discovered the inert Terminus armor/robot after it had been abandoned by Garokk. Managing to reactivate the armor's repair circuits, Macross also succeeded in establishing the means by which to link his mind into the armor and control it. Macross/Terminus then assaulted the citadel of the High Technician (former assistant to the High Evolutionary). Oblivious to attacks by Captain America, the Falcon, Diamondback (Leighton) and the Saur-Lords, Macross abducted the Technician and headed back to AIM's base. Diamondback crashed a skycycle into the Terminus armor's faceplate, cracking it so that the Black Panther could enter and confront the operator of the armor. However, Macross controlled the interior of the armor as well, and he quickly ensnared and imprisoned T'Challa. As Macross returned to his AIM compatriots, Ka-Zar and Captain America taunted him by hurling boulders at him. As Macross reached for them, they leapt out of the way, and the hand of the Terminus armor instead contacted an open container of Antarctic Vibranium, aka Anti-Metal. As a result, the metal armor was swiftly liquefied, and collapsed into a useless mess.

--Captain America I#416 ([417(fb)], 416, 417

 

 

 

 

 

Mizix

   An unknown number of years ago, Terminus apparently ravaged Zundam (in the Fakowi star system, I kid you not!), taking one of that world's greatest scientists to serve as his personal slave and guide. The alien scientist knew or suspected that Earth's human race would give rise to many superhuman beings around the 20th-21st Centuries. Hoping that such beings would be able to stop Terminus, the Zundamite scientist persuaded Terminus to go to Earth. This occurred as Terminus left Arianis Major.
    To prove his power, Terminus launched an energy beam towards Earth to mark the planet as his.

    One hundred years later, the beam struck the continental United States, and Terminus arrived shortly thereafter. However, displeased with the Earth, Terminus cast his Zundamite slave to the Earth, mortally wounding him. As Terminus prepared to break down and absorb the components of Earth, the slave--with his dying breath--revealed the past of Terminus.

--Fantastic Four I#270 ([270(fb)], 270

images:
Fantastic Four I#269, last page;
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Master Edition, Terminus entry;
Avengers Annual#19, cover;
Fantastic Four III#4--that big two page spread picture;
Garokk: Uncanny X-Men Annual#12, p27, pan9;
Jorro: Avengers I#257, p21, pan5;
Macross: Captain America I#417, p17, pan4;
Mizix: Fantastic Four I#270, p16, pan3;

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#269 (August, 1984) - John Byrne (writer/artist), Larry Niven ("science advisor"), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Fantastic Four I#270 (September, 1984) - John Byrne (writer/artist), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Avengers I#256-257 (June-July, 1985) - Roger Stern (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
X-Men Annual#12 (1988) - Chris Claremont (writer), Art Adams (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Quasar#7 (February, 1990) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Mike Manley (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
Captain America Annual#9 (1990) - Roy Thomas (writer), Jim Valentino (pencils), Sam De La Rosa (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Iron Man Annual#11 (1990) - Roy & Dann Thomas (writers), Tom Morgan (pencils), Randy Emberlin (inks)
Thor Annual#15 (1990) - Roy & Dann Thomas (writers), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Mark McKenna (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Avengers West Coast Annual#5 (1990) - Roy & Dann Thomas (writers), James Fry (pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
Avengers Annual#19 (1990) - Roy & Dann Thomas (writers), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Jeff Albrecht (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
Captain America I#416-417 (June-July, 1993) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Rik Levins (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
Fantastic Four III#3 (March, 1998) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
Fantastic Four III#4 (April, 1998) - Scott Lobdell & Chris Claremont (writers), Salvador Larroca (pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
JLA/Avengers#1 (September, 2003) - Kurt Busiek (writer), George Perez (artist), Tom Brevoort & Dan Raspler (editors)
Amazing Fantasy II#15 (January, 2006) - Dan Slott (writer), Pete Woods (artist), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Mighty Avengers I#32 (February, 2010) - Dan Slott (writer), Khoi Pham (pencils), Craig Yeung (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Mighty Thor II#9 (February, 2012) - Matt Fraction (writer), Pasqual Ferry & Pepe Larraz (art), Lauren Sankovitch (editor)
Uncanny X-Men II#9 (May, 2012) - Kieron Gillen (writer), Carlos Pacheco (pencils), Cam Smith (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man II#694 (November, 2012) - Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Stephen Wacker (editor)

First Posted: 02/23/2004
Last updated: 11/30/2016

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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