TALOS THE TAMERTALOS THE TAMER
Real Name: Talos
Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Skrull) warrior
Occupation: Disgraced Warrior, Royalty
Group Membership: None; former warrior of the United Front, Skrull Empire
Affiliations: Abundant Warriors, Korath the Pursuer, Ronan the Accuser
Enemies: Annihilation Wave, Aunt May (May Jameson), Black Cat (Felicia Hardy), Luke Cage, Captain America (Sam Wilson), Devos the Devastator, Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange), Donna, Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Susan Richards, Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Glorian, Howard the Duck, the Hulk (Bruce Banner), Iron Fist (Danny Rand), the Kree, Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Ringmaster (Maynard Tiboldt), She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), Silk (Cindy Moon), Spectrum (Monica Rambeau), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Squirrel Girl, Tara Tam, Thor (Jane Foster)
Known Relatives: S'Byll (niece), Dorrek VII, R'Klll, Anelle, Dezan, Dorrek VIII (distant relatives)
Aliases: Jonathan Richards, Tales the Untamed, Talos The Tamed
Base of Operations: Unknown, presumably somewhere in the Skrull Empire
First Appearance: Incredible Hulk II#418 (June, 1994)
Powers/Abilities: Due to a genetic anomaly, Talos cannot shape-shift like other Skrulls. However, the same defect grants him heightened strength and durability. He is also an expert at combat technique and is known to carry a very large and powerful four-bladed battle-axe.
For a short time Talos wielded the complete Abundant Glove, which gave him the ability to summon creatures representing the individual powers of the Abundant Gems (compassion, laughter, dance, respect, second dance), shoot a variety of energy beams, cause explosions and levitate himself and objects including whole buildings.
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 657 lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: None
History:
(Incredible Hulk II#419 (fb) - BTS) - Determined to rise above his
outcast status due to the genetic defect that deprived him of
shape-shifting powers, Talos became the most feared and respected
solider in the Skrull Empire and was given the name, "Talos
the Untamed." After he was captured by the Kree during the
Kree-Skrull War and refused to commit suicide—thereby
shaming himself—members of both warring empires knew him as
Talos the "Tamed." He was thrown into disgrace and was
no longer permitted to fight for the Skrulls. His niece Empress S'Byll offered him the chance to regain his honor by committing suicide but he refused again. (Incredible Hulk II#418) - Due to a practical
joke—courtesy of the Impossible Man—a contingent of
Skrull soldiers (along with many other super-powered characters
and alien races) was invited to the wedding of Rick Jones and
Marlo Chandler in Las Vegas, Nevada. Talos was among them. A Kree
soldier spotted Talos in the crowd and began to taunt him. Talos
rose to face the Kree’s challenge, but both were quickly sat
back down by a stern warning from the Silver Surfer. (Incredible Hulk II#419) - Presumably drunk and weary of his
shamed existence, Talos threw himself from the top of the
Coliseum Hotel a few hours after the wedding. The Hulk spotted
his descent and initially believed the incident to be a suicide
attempt. When he arrived at the scene to investigate, Talos
attacked the Hulk. Having heard of the Hulk’s battles with
the Super-Skrull and Trauma of the Troyjan, Talos believed the
Hulk would be a worthy enough warrior to be the instrument of his
demise (thus, allowing Talos to regain his honor). Confused as to why Talos would attack him, the
Hulk initially tried to simply subdue Talos. Once Talos revealed
his plight, the Hulk leapt from the battlefield, unwilling to
murder the Skrull. Talos attacked again, trying to taunt the Hulk
into fighting back. Tempted to give the Skrull what he wanted,
but loathe to disappoint his bride (who had just begun to warm up
to him), the Hulk feigned terror and begged the Skrull to leave
him alone. Convinced that the Hulk was a coward and unworthy of
his attention, Talos teleported himself back to his orbiting
spacecraft, where he found that the other skrulls on the ship are
proud of his performance. (Skrulls!) - Though Talos was deemed of no use for Queen Veranke's infiltration of Earth because he couldn't shapeshift, Chancellor Kal'Du never lost hope that Talos would eventually participate in Veranke's invasion of Earth.
(Annihilation: Ronan#2) - Talos was compelled to visit the planet Godthab Omega. In the town of Abyss, he fought Devos the Devastator. Devos managed to defeat Talos, but was then subsequently struck down by Gamora.
(Annihilation: Ronan#3) - When Talos came to, he found that he and Devos were both being held prisoner by Glorian, the one responsible for drawing them to Godthab Omega. Talos conferred with Devos, believing that Glorian was the one-time pupil of the Shaper of Worlds.
(Annihilation: Ronan#4) - When the planet was overrun by the Annihilation Wave, Glorian was distracted, releasing Devos and Talos. Ronan ordered the two of them to the spaceport to get off-planet with any other survivors. Talos was uncomfortable taking orders from a Kree, but complied.
(Annihilation#1) - Talos became a member of the United Front resistance that was organized by Nova, and helped defend Daedalus 5 against the Annihilation Wave.
(Howard the Duck V#1 (fb) - BTS) - Talos hid his true Skrull nature behind makeup, a fake beard, a pair of glasses, a wool cap and wide clothes. (Howard the Duck V#1) - Talos hired private investigator Howard the Duck under the alias Jonathan Richards to retrieve a necklace (with the Abundant Gem of respect inside) allegedly stolen from him by Black Cat four months ago. (Howard the Duck V#3 (fb) - BTS) - Richards called Howard repeatedly over the next week, but Howard didn't call back (because he had been kidnapped). (Howard the Duck V#3) - Richards waited in Howard's office when the Duck finally returned from outer space only to tell Richards that the necklace he had retrieved from Black Cat was stolen from him again by an old lady (Peter's Aunt May hypnotized by the Ringmaster). Richards got angry, punched the head off of Howard's secretary puppet Donna and gave Howard three more days to find the necklace. (Howard the Duck V#3 - BTS) - Richards followed Howard, Tara and Aunt May to Ringmaster's hideout. (Howard the Duck V#3) - Ringmaster tried to hypnotize Richards, but was easily knocked out by him. Richards then grabbed the necklace from Howard, slapped him because he didn't need Howard anymore, elbowed Tara in the gut when she jumped on his back to defend Howard and then revealed how blind Howard was for not recognizing that he was working for the future ruler of all empires--Talos the Untamed. (Howard the Duck V#4 (fb) ) - Talos (while mentioning he was unable to shapeshift like other Skrulls; see comments) vowed to prove his worth to the Skrull Empire as soon as he retrieved the final Abundant Gem. Howard didn't care and just wanted the 260 dollars Talos owned to him for services rendered. (Howard the Duck V#4) - Talos arrived at the former site of the Fantastic Four's Pier Four headquarter where Howard, Doctor Strange, Human Torch and Tara Tam were looking for the Abundant Gem of laughter, which the Human Torch had found years ago on Battleworld. Talos somehow blew up the building, then lifted it into the air. Before Howard could get his hands on the gem beneath the building it floated right into the Abundant Glove in Talos' possession and placed itself where it belonged. The Human Torch tried to take down Talos, but was easily zapped by him with the full power of the Abundant Glove. Talos vowed this was the beginning of the Talos Empire. (Howard the Duck V#5) - With the Abundant Glove complete Talos released the Abundants, manifestations of the powers of the Abundant Gems (compassion, laughter, dance, respect, second dance), to enslave all of Earth. Numerous heroes arrived to battle Talos, including Invisible Woman, who saved Howard the Duck from one of the Abundants. Talos and the Abundants battled the likes of Luke Cage, Captain America (Wilson), Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, Iron Fist, Ms. Marvel (Khan), She-Hulk (Walters), Silk, Spectrum, Spider-Woman (Drew), Spider-Man (Parker), Squirrel Girl and Thor (Foster) while Howard the Duck and Tara Tam were asked to stand on the sidelines because they had no powers. Mister Fantastic was glad to hear from Doctor Strange that Talos was not wielding the Infinity Gauntlet, but just the Abundant Glove. Despite the combined efforts of the heroes Talos and the Abundants were too much for them to handle. Howard convinced Tara to come clean and use her shapeshifting powers, which she had gained by consuming a Skrull turned into a duck, to trick Talos. After Talos knocked out Mister Fantastic with an energy beam from the Abundant Glove Tara posed as Skrull Emperor Kl'rt (the former Super-Skrull) and complimented Talos for his great success. Despite gaining the acceptance of his people it was not enough for Talos, who decided to turn on his supposed emperor to replace him. Talos was too distracted when Kl'rt suddenly turned into Tara to notice Howard rolling in from behind and taking the Abundant Glove from him. Howard used the power of the glove to send the Abundants away while Talos was captured by Mister Fantastic. Comments: Created by Peter David (writer), Gary Frank (pencils) & Cam Smith (inks). If you were to ask me to guess Talos’
exact strength, I would probably say somewhere in the 20-40 ton
range. While he was certainly able to make the Hulk feel his
blows, the Hulk didn’t seem to consider Talos much of a
threat until he started using his axe. Something interesting about Talos’ axe;
in the beginning of the battle, he doesn’t have it. It
spontaneously appeared in the middle of the fight. The easiest
explanation is probably that he had some kind of device that
allowed him to teleport it from his ship right into his hands,
but there was never any definitive explanation. The reader never finds out what substance
Talos’ axe is made of, however he is able to draw blood
from the Hulk, which suggests something very strong. While it’s clear that Talos regained his
own personal sense of honor by battling the Hulk, and won the
respect of the skrulls on the ship, it is not known whether or
not he was consequently returned to service for the Skrull
armies, or if he has ever won back the title of
"Untamed." Updated by Markus Raymond (Howard the Duck). Profile by Mick
Martin, The Anti-Grimm and Prime Eternal Clarifications:
Not to be confused with: images: (without ads) Appearances: First Posted: 02/17/2002 Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know. All characters mentioned or pictured are
™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights
Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real
thing! Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Incredible Hulk II#419, p16, bottom right (main)
Incredible Hulk II#419, p8, pan7 (head shot)
Incredible Hulk II#418, p15, pan4 (namedrop)
Incredible Hulk II#419, p10, pan1-2 (vs. Hulk)
Howard the Duck V#3, p13, pan4 (as Jonathan Richards)
Howard the Duck V#4, p17 (with Abundant Glove)
Incredible Hulk II#418-419 (June-July, 1994) - Peter David (writer), Gary Frank (pencils), Cam Smith (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Annihilation: Ronan#2-4 (July-September, 2006) - Simon Furman (writer), Jorge Lucas (artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Annihilation#1 (October, 2006) - Keith Giffen (writer), Andrea Divito (artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Skrulls! (2008)
Howard the Duck V#1 (May, 2015) - Chip Zdarsky (writer), Joe Quinones (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
Howard the Duck V#3-4 (July-August, 2015) - Chip Zdarsky (writer), Joe Quinones (pencils/inks), Joe Rivera (inks), Wil Moss (editor)
Howard the Duck V#5 (October, 2015) - Chip Zdarsky (writer), Joe Quinones (pencils), Joe Rivera & Paolo Manuel Rivera (inks), Wil Moss (editor)
Last updated: 07/14/2018
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