Terminus
Real Name: Terminus, I suppose.
First Appearance: Fantastic Four 269, in one of those extra-dramatic last-page panels.
Faked Readers Out During: Avengers 256 and 257
Destroyed In: Avengers Annual 19, thus ending another lukewarm crossover.
What's His Problem? Depends on which storyline you believe. Terminus was originally a vicious entrepreneur, bent on ignoring squatter's rights aplenty by claiming any suitable planet's resources, materials and inhabitants as his own. Years later it was decided... sorry, revealed that he was created to destroy races spared by those giant cosmic bustbodies the Celestials, who wiped out his creators. Oh, and he now needed elemental energy to survive. AKA the Galactus Defense.
Abilities: Abilities, huh? Look at him; he's huge, for crying out loud! He's more than strong enough to move all of his mass, he crashed like a meteor in the Southwest and just shook it off, and he didn't even mind the intense pressure and heat of the Earth's core. Outer space means little to him, but then, most things mean little to him. He flew once or twice and even walked on water, the big show-off. Terminus "reproduces" via genetic material that converts organic hosts into metal; these things tend to rampage before merging into another Terminus (or "Termini") which he absorbed to grow even bigger.
Weapons: Terminus used a very large metallic lance to propel himself through space and commit massive destruction. The lance manipulates vast amounts of electromagnetic or even nuclear energy, perfect for punching holes in ozone layers or stripping planets to convert into base elements or more energy. Besides its high resistance to damage, Terminus (or whomever worked for him) could make it return to him at high speed, earth's crust or battleships be darned.
Favorite Quote: "Words! Words words words! Terminus has no time for words, no time for excuses. Terminus as time only for wealth, for loot and power!" Fantastic Four 270. Considering Earth a lousy haul, Big T takes his anger out on his reluctant scientist by ignominiously dumping the guy out of the largest Thermos® in comic book history.
Heroes He Keeps Running Into: His first Earth-harvest was cut short by She-Hulk and Mr. Fantastic, who sent him so far underground it took months to dig his way out. To regain his lance and study Earth's protectors, he had a Deviant mechanic named Jorro build and wear identical armor that Hercules soon tore off; another impostor, Garokk the Petrified Man, was freed after fighting the X-Men. Once the real Terminus resurfaced, Quasar and a Cosmic Spider-Man escorted him off the planet. While his various spawn ran amuck, he stole Thor's hammer, did the merger, and tangled with two coasts worth of Avengers plus Machine Man and those Great Lakes yahoos. He was dragged into space again, lost his lance for the umpteenth time, absorbed his extra-large body in a frenzied need for energy and shrank into a black hole. No, I'm not hallucinating, thank you!
People Who Think He's Not So Bad: ...are out of their minds. His scientist, taken from one of his scavenged planets, led him to Earth hoping its rather special inhabitants would topple the big guy. Jorro and Garokk were simply pawns and his own so-called-son fought to replace him or something. Terminus himself loudly (and repeatedly) considered humans to be specks or bugs -- even superbeings, who take that kind of thing personally.
Most Despicable Act: Jorro deserves special mention for destroying the tropical Savage Land and untold numbers of the local inhabitants and wildlife, much of which has since been revived or replaced. As for Terminus, he had ravaged world after world well before 'writing' his name across North America with a massive energy beam, heavily irradiating part of the western U.S. of A. and dropping his scientist pal like flat soda. He isA Most Despicable Act!
by Ray Schaff
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