TANTALUS

Real Name: Tantalus

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial, Deviant

Occupation: Emperor of Lyonesse and Pangea, Admiral of the Vimana, inciter of a Holy War

Affiliations: Agent Simon, Deviants of Armechadon, Dreaming Celestial, Pandara, Peacekeepers, Talon;
formerly Khult

Enemies: Celestials, Kulkulk, Starforce (Korath the Pursuer, Shatterax, Ultimus), Underground Legion, Underground of Armechadon

Known Relatives: Nirvana (wife, deceased), Khult (father-in-law), Blackwulf (Pelops, son, deceased), Blackwulf (Lucian, son), Id (son), unnamed son

Aliases: Lord T

Base of Operations: The planet Armechadon (formerly Arqa); the underground kingdom of Lyonesse; Pangea, the Savage Land.

First Appearance: (cloaked) Avengers I#371 (February, 1994); (full) Thunderstrike#6 (March, 1994)

Powers/Abilities: Tantalus has lived for thousands of years, mostly unaltered by the ravages of time. Tantalus' body produces a field of energy called "the Black Legacy", which kills all organic life upon contact (save for Nirvana and Dr. Caitlin Maddox). Tantalus can also channel his Black Legacy into blasts of energy.

History: (Blackwulf#9 (fb))- Rumored to have been created by the rogue Dreaming Celestial, Tantalus led armies of Deviants in a "Holy War" against the baseline creatures of their homeworlds. His crusade eventually brought him to Tebel, where he was shocked to meet Nirvana, daughter of Khult, a Deviant woman who was immune to his Black Legacy. Tantalus made her his wife, and renamed his homeworld from Arqa to Armechadon.

On the eve of each of his conquests, Nirvana would conceive a child for Tantalus, and each was more genetically perfect than the last-- until the birth of their fourth son, Lucian. Lucian bore the mark of the Black Legacy, which disgusted Tantalus. Nirvana slew herself to keep from giving birth to anymore monsters, but Tantalus kept her body within a field of his Black Legacy. He then set off to earth with his children to conquer it, but was banished there by the Celestials, unable to return to Armechadon. Although Khult made the journey to earth with Tantalus, he secretly used magic to return to Armechadon, and became its new ruler with Tantalus gone. On earth, Tantalus established the kingdom of Lyonesse.

(Blackwulf#7 (fb, BTS))- 3,000 years ago, Tantalus imprisoned the Kree Eternal Ultimus on earth, burying him deep within the ground.

(Thunderstrike#5)- Tantalus contacted his agent Pandara, who had just been battling Spider-Man and Thunderstrike above ground. He was annoyed by the attention her actions had caused.

(Thunderstrike#6)- Tantalus sent his Peacekeepers to retrieve Pandara before she could be apprehended by Thunderstrike, Stellaris and Code: BLUE, but Blackwulf got to her first, and tied her up.

(Thunderstrike#7)- Tantalus met with Khult to discuss the situation Pandara had placed them in. He had a double agent working within SHIELD named Simon sent to help break Pandara out of jail, but she was recaptured. Tantalus made no further effort to assist Pandara.

(Blackwulf#1)- Tantalus sent his Peacekeepers to capture Dr. Caitlin Maddox, who was believed to have made breakthroughs in understanding the genetic code. However, Maddox was brought to safety by the Underground Legion. Subsequently, Tantalus discovered that Blackwulf was really his son Pelops, and slew him in front of Lucian, hoping to teach him a lesson. Instead, Lucian adopted the mantle of Blackwulf for himself. Tantalus, meanwhile, informed Khult that that evening they would feast on "Blackened Wolf."

(Blackwulf#2)- Tantalus next sent the Peacekeepers to obtain the corpses of two Skrulls held since 1947 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

(Avengers I#371)- In the guise of "Lord T", Tantalus accompanied Khult to Deviant Lemuria, where they observed the Avengers and Delta Force's battle against Ghaur.

(Blackwulf#4)- The Peacekeepers returned to Lyonesse with a Deviant Skrull, who worshipped Tantalus for having inspired his race to overthrow the main branch of the Skrull race on his planet.

(Secret Defenders#25)- As Dr. Druid's pact with the demon Slorioth led to tremors signalling the end of the world, Tantalus insisted that his servants ignore the events, as they had no bearing upon Lyonesse.

(Blackwulf#6)- At the newly-conquered land of Pangea in the Savage Land, Tantalus found that the Vimana had been damaged by his son Id, delaying his plans to return to Armechadon. However, the Skrull pilot told Tantalus of the Stargate in earth's solar system, and had him pilot the Vimana back to Armechadon.

(Blackwulf#8)- Upon his return to Armechadon, Tantalus learnt from the Deviants there that a "Dark Lord" had taken his place as ruler, and Tantalus was shocked to find it was Khult. He also found himself besieged by the Underground Legions of both Armechadon and earth, and by the Kree Starforce, which included Ultimus. Tantalus was also shocked to find that Nirvana was alive, albeit a living corpse, animated by Khult's magic.

(Blackwulf#9)- Tantalus fought several of the Underground Legion, destroying Toxin's armor. He found that Dr. Maddox and Wildwind were both immune to his power. He realized this was because Wildwind was a robot, but believed for a moment that Maddox was Nirvana, restored to life.

(Blackwulf#10)- In final battle against the Underground, Tantalus slew several of Touchstone's bodies, and began to kill Mammoth, but Blackwulf cut off Mammoth's arm before Tantalus could kill him. Blackwulf then fought Tantalus, and absorbed all of his Black Legacy into himself, destroying Tantalus-- at least for a time. As a result of taking his father's power, Blackwulf became ebon black. Khult maintained that it was in Tantalus' nature to one day return.

Comments: Created by Glenn Herdling and Angel Medina, but first depicted by Glenn Herdling, Steve Epting and Tom Palmer.

The design for Tantalus seen as a young man in Blackwulf#9 was originally made by Angel Medina as a prospective design for Lucian; Glenn Herdling decided to use it for the young Tantalus instead.

Will U provided this background information on the Tantalus and Pelops of myth: "[Tantalus] cut up his son Pelops as a sacrifice to the gods and then served him in a meal when he invited the gods to earth for a meal. Demeter was heartbroken about Persephone's marriage to Hades and she consumed part of him without realizing it. The gods discovered the ruse and restored Pelops to life and then sent Tantalus to Hades for punishment. Tied to a tree, he is refused freshwater near him he cannot drink and fruits growing over his head he cannot reach. Pelops meanwhile became father to a family with a long standing curse on it. Menelaus, Agamemnon and Theseus were among his descendants."

by Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:
Tantalus should not be confused with:

• Tantalus, prisoner of Tartarus, forever drowning in water, unable to eat food just out of reach, @ Thor Annual#19
• Tantalus, King of Lydia (c. 1375-1350) and son of Zeus, not seen in MU
• Tantalus of Earth-Ultraverse, an Acolyte of Argus, @ Giant-Size Rune#1
• Tantaro of the animutants, @ Thor I#472
• Tartaro, a monster from the Land of Shades, fought Hercules on behalf of Typhon, @ Avengers I#49
• Tartarus, father of Typhon
• Tartarus, realm of Hades where guilty and impure are sent for punishment, @ Avengers I#282
• Tartarus, agent of ISAAC during his takeover of Titan, @ Captain Marvel I#61
• Tartarus, member of the Neo, @ X-Men II#101
• Tartarus, of the Neo, young @ X-Men II#101

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