TARIANNA
Real Name: Tarianna of Leenn
Identity/Class: Mental construct, native of
Battleworld
Occupation: Warrior woman
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Hanrak, Junior, Ranek, Tabith,
Taymar, Thing (Ben Grimm)
Enemies: Doctor Doom, Gruhl of Shalfbut, Grimm the
Sorcerer, the Silben
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: The Reckoner
Base of Operations: Mobile on Battleworld
First Appearance: Thing I#12 (June, 1984)
Powers/Abilities: Tarianna is an experienced
equestrian and a skilled wielder of broadswords and (electrified)
lances. Her considerable size made her a formidable hand-to-hand
combatant. Tarianna spoke English, but had difficulty understanding
common colloquialisms, which she tended to mangle.
Height: 6'8"
Weight: 210 lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Red
History:
(Thing I#13 (fb) - BTS) - After arriving on Battleworld to fight in the
Beyonder's Secret Wars, Doctor Doom used the advanced alien technology
at his disposal to create a device that could read people's minds and
project realistic dreamscapes they would get trapped in. Doom figured
the gadget would serve as a contingency plan. Using his own thoughts as
a template, he created a replica of Doomstadt.
(Thing I#13 - BTS) - The dreamscape Doomstadt gave rise to the people of
Leenn, a proud warrior race with an ancient heritage and traditions. The
warrior maiden Tarianna was among the figments created by Doom's device.
(Thing I#13 (fb) - BTS) - In accordance with Leenn's
traditions, the realm's greatest warrior could claim any woman he
desired as his heartmate. Tarianna was forced to become the lover of the
warrior Hanrak.
(Thing I#12) - Tarianna followed her heartmate Hanrak who went out to
challenge the wizard who threatened Leenn. Along the way, they came
across Ben Grimm who was exploring Battleworld. Hanrak assumed Grimm was
one of the wizard's servants and attacked, but seemingly fainted when
Ben changed into the Thing. He was then attacked by Tarianna who
misconstrued the situation. Thing talked her down, changing into his
human form to convince her of his good intentions. After explaining her
origins, Tarianna watched the recovered Hanrak storm off towards the
wizard's domain. Along with Thing, she followed him and encountered the
wizard: a gigantic version of Doctor Doom. Thing took the lead and
struggled against the robotic menace with Tarianna trying to convince
Hanrak to help him. When he refused, she knocked him out and ended the
battle by shortcircuiting Doom using her electrified lance. Touched by
his bravery, Tarianna invited Ben to accompany her and Hanrak back to
Leenn, which much to his astonishment looked like a copy of Latveria's
capitol Doomstadt.
(Thing I#13) - Upon returning to Leenn, Tarianna told of
Ben Grimm's role in defeating the wizard and Hanrak's less than noble
behavior, shaming the warrior. Tarianna joined Ben in a feast thrown by
Leenn's leader Taymar who told tales of how the people of Leenn had
lived on this world for thousands of years, which Thing couldn't believe
given the artificial nature of Battleworld. Staying the night, he was
visited by Tarianna who wanted to know more about Ben and his life
outside of the realm of Leenn, beyond the mountains. The next day, she
joined Ben as he went on to explore the forbidden castle on the
outskirts of Leenn.
(Thing I#13 - BTS) - They were followed by a jealous Hanrak who soon
kidnapped Tarianna and tied her up in a secluded spot.
(Thing I#13) - Coming to with
Hanrak by her side, Tarianna was stunned to learn he vowed to make her
love him again. Tarianna refused: by shaming himself in combat and
getting defeated by Thing, he was no longer Leenn's greatest warrior.
This also meant she was no longer obligated to be his heartmate and free
to love who she wanted to love. At the same time, Ben Grimm was deep
inside the castle where he was bombarded by negative feelings not quite
his own. Changing into the Thing, he fought his way to the source of the
negativity: Doctor Doom. After striking at the villain, he saw he'd
actually hit Doom's dreamscape gadget. Instantly, the castle and the
entire realm of Leenn vanished, except for a very confused Tarianna.
Piecing the clues together, Thing was surprised to conclude Tarianna
only survived because, subconsciously, he wanted her to.
(Thing I#14) - Tarianna accompanied Ben Grimm on his journey of
exploration across Battleworld, growing ever closer to the hero. At one
point, they encountered a derelict, abandoned spaceship in the desert.
Tarianna, unfamiliar with the concept of space travel, watched as Ben
shifted to his Thing form to dig out the craft in an attempt to make it
fly again. They were then attacked by alien vessels on a strafing run.
Seeking shelter inside the ship, Thing managed to make it fly again and
chased after the attackers who were attacking a nearby settlement.
(Thing I#14 - BTS) - Seeing the ship made the attackers retreat.
(Thing I#14) - Landing near the attacked settlement, Ben and Tarianna
met with Billera, leader of the Turek. His people had built the warship
that Ben had uncovered as part of their war against the Silben. The
conflict had raged for untold years and now the Turek no longer remember
what the conflict was about, so they don't fight back when the Silben
attack the settlement about once a month. Upon Tarianna's urging, Ben
offered to teach the Turek how to fight back.
(Thing I#14 - BTS) - Over the next weeks, Ben and Tarianna assisted the
Turek in fixing their fleet and training pilots to counter the coming
Silben attack.
(Thing I#14) - On the eve of the
Silben's expected attack, Tarianna surprised Ben with her outfit.
Trading her warrior garb for a form fitting space age combat suit, she
really made an impression on Ben Grimm. When the attack came, Ben Grimm
ultimately drove back and defeated the Silben singlehandedly. In the
aftermath, he refused the Turek's invitation to remain as their leader,
opting to travel on with Tarianna.
(Thing I#15) - Flying over Battleworld, Ben and Tarianna were forced to
land near a giant alien city when their Turek ship developed engine
troubles. During the emergency landing, Ben accidentally scratched the
ship of a nearby street gang who spent the better part of the day
pranking Grimm out of revenge. At a local bar, Tarianna was hit on by
Grul of Shalfbut a member of the Cyclotarius race who wanted to claim
her for his own. When Ben dispatched him, Grul got his hands on a
Tantorian P-Z Lanta, a powerful sentient rifle. Thanks to Tarianna's
involvement, Ben learned how to rid Grul of his weapon: tell it of a
more worthy enemy. After Ben mentioned Galactus, the weapon vanished and
Grul fled the scene along with the street gang.
(Thing I#16) - After climbing a mountain, Ben and Tarianna were about to
get intimate when a sudden earthquake swallowed Ben up. Tarianna
desperately tried to reach him, all the while thinking to herself how
the planet itself seemed to act as soon as she got close to Ben. It
happened in the desert with the Turek ship, in the alien city when Grul
showed up and now this freak landslide. Tarianna fought her way into the
subterannean realm, defeating a giant earth boring snake and an army of
animated skeleton warriors before falling prey to Grimm the Sorcerer who
teleported her away. All Ben Grimm found of Tari was her broadsword.
(Thing I#17 - BTS) - Using his magics, Grimm the Sorcerer
mindcontrolled Tarianna and altered her form to become the Reckoner, a
giant, violent mace wielding warrior. The Sorcerer then taunted Ben
Grimm, challenging him to come free Tarianna.
(Thing I#17) - The Reckoner fought Ben Grimm, successfully blinding him
with a savage blow from his mace. But the Thing, despite his lack of
sight, persevered and managed to knock out the Reckoner, only to be
horrified when Grimm the Sorcerer cured his blindness and revealed the
truth: it had been Tarianna all along.
(Thing I#18 - BTS - Tarianna's injuries were minor, but Ben Grimm still
felt responsible for what had occurred, feeling he should have been able
to realize who the Reckoner really was.
(Thing I#18) - Tarianna and Ben
came to the aid of an old woman called Tabith who was escorting a small
child to the kingdom of Muab when she was attacked by underlings of
Grimm the Sorcerer and mortally wounded in the process. Ben and Tari
swore the dying Tabith they would return the child to his family in Muab
at the promised time. Calling the baby Junior, or 'Juneyar' as Tarianna
pronounced it, the pair rode for days on two captured unicorns. Right
before they could enter Muab, Grimm's forces captured Tarianna.
(Thing I#18 - BTS) - Ben Grimm pressed on and returned Junior to his
family at the appointed time, learning the child was the kingdom's next
ruler. With a new king in place, Muab was now beyond the reach of Grimm
the Sorcerer who informed Ben he had taken Tarianna captive.
(Thing I#19) - Tarianna was tied to a slab in Grimm the
Sorcerer's abode, but remained defiant and fearless. She understood
little of what the villain said about being closer and more familiar
with Ben Grimm than anyone. She then watched as he checked in on the
Thing's progress before switching to view Llrrllllnnllyyrrl's village
where she once again received a well intended gift that was not her
stolen dowry.
(Thing I#20) - Grimm the Sorcerer hooked Tarianna up to a Vision
Enhancer that caused her to hallucinate Ben Grimm's life. She found
herself under attack by several incarnations of the Thing which she
slew. This somehow weakened the actual Ben Grimm who was making his way
to free her. Tarianna eventually saw through the Sorcerer's ruse and
fought back, overloading the Vision Enhancer and nearly killing herself
in the process. She was then stunned when the robed Soceror revealed his
face: he was an exact copy of Ben. The Thing's archenemy, be it on Earth
or Battleworld, is Ben Grimm himself.
(Thing I#21) - Tarianna angered Grimm the
Sorcerer when she couldn't accept one so evil was actually the fleshed
out subconscious of the man she loved. In retaliation, he struck at her,
with Tarianna unable to free herself and fight back. She then watched as
the Sorcerer grew ever more frantic while his body began to slowly shift
into the Thing's scaly form. Seeking to lash out, he told Tarianna the
truth of her existence: her entire life, all her memories, it was all a
figment of Ben Grimm's imagination. Even as Tarianna tried to process
the scope of this revelation, Grimm the Sorcerer managed to defeat the
approaching Ben Grimm, shocking her with his unconscious form.
(Thing I#22) - Tarianna was still chained up on the slab, watching as
Grimm the Sorcerer constructed a massive arena to have his final
confrontation against his counterpart the Thing. After recounting his
origins and covert machinations, Grimm attacked Ben who had trouble
processing the entire experience. The fight took so much of the
Sorcerer's focus that Tarianna was able to free herself from his hold.
Making her way to the arena, she stood ready to stab Grimm the Sorcerer
in the back just as he was about to defeat the Thing. Already beyond the
point of help, Grimm retaliated and grievously wounded Tarianna. Without
the Sorcerer's lifeforce powering them, all his creations vanished,
leaving Thing alone with the dying Tarianna in his arms. In their final
moments together, Ben explained what had happened. By killing Grimm the
Sorcerer, she had also killed 'Ben Grimm'. There was no longer a human
form he could shift back to, he was now the Thing through and through.
He then held Tarianna in his arms until she died and vanished.
(Thing I#22 - BTS) - Some time after Tarianna's death, Ben Grimm came to
the conclusion she was created by his own thoughts to serve his needs.
This also meant that when she killed Grimm the Sorcerer, it was also
Ben's own decision that forced her hand. A little later, after
discovering Ultron XI s decapitated head, the Thing activated the
automatic recall sequencer and returned to Earth. Without Ben's thoughts
to form the place, Battleworld lost cohesion and exploded.
(Thing I#26 - BTS) - Thing was stunned when he saw a poster of Sharon
Ventura who was a dead ringer for Tarianna. Momentarily, he started to
question his sanity, before concluding Tarianna was still dead and that
the amazing resemblance was just a coincidence.
(Thing I#30 - BTS) - Talking to Vance Astrovik, Ben Grimm declared he
never wanted to experience the traumas of the past six months,
recounting the loss of both Alicia Masters and Tarianna.
Comments: Created by John Byrne (writer), Ron
Wilson (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks).
Man, that 1980s Thing soloseries got weiiiiiird once Secret Wars
rolled around. Ten issues long all we saw was Ben Grimm fighting
figments of his own imagination. Fighting *and* loving them, because he
dreamed up Tarianna too. A fact she apparently was fine with (because,
of course). But as a result, knowing she's not real also undermined any
interest the readership might have in her.
The very nature of Battleworld is confusing, to say the
least. In Secret Wars I#1, it's established that the Beyonder
used bits and pieces of various planets to create a unique patchwork
world. There was Zsaji's
village and also the suburb of Denver, Colorado which got Spider-Woman
(Julia Carpenter) and the future Titania and Volcana
involved. After the heroes, villains and the Denver cityblocks left, it
seemed like everyone else stuck on this newly formed world were stuck on
a world they never made.
However, the Thing series claims Battleworld is actually just an
empty canvas that responds to the (sub)conscious fears and desires of
Ben Grimm. It's literally the Thing's world and we're living in it.
Tarianna received a profile in 2015's Secret Wars Official Guide to the Marvel Multiverse.
This profile was completed 8/07/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Norvo
CLARIFICATIONS:
Tarianna has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Thing I#14, p15, pan3 (main image)
Thing I#12, p7, pan3 (first appearance)
Thing I#13, p22, pan1 (learns she is not real)
Thing I#17, p, pan (as the Reckoner)
Thing I#18, p8, pan5 (Tarianna and Juneyar)
Thing I#20, p7, pan2 (used by Grimm the Sorcerer)
Appearances:
Thing I#12 (June, 1984) - John Byrne (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils), Joe
Sinnott (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Thing I#13 (July, 1984) - John Byrne (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils), Joe
Sinnott (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Thing I#14 (August, 1984) - Mike Carlin (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils),
Joe Sinnott & Andy Mushynsky (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Thing I#15 (September, 1984) - Mike Carlin (writer), Ron Wilson
(pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Thing I#16 (October, 1984) - Mike Carlin (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils),
Joe Sinnott & Danny Bulanadi (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Thing I#17 (November, 1984) - Mike Carlin (writer), Ron Wilson
(pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Thing I#18 (December, 1984) - Bob Harras (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils),
Joe Sinnott (inks), Mike Carlin (editor)
Thing I#19 (January, 1985) - John Byrne (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils),
Mike Gustovich (inks), Mike Carlin (editor)
Thing I#20 (February, 1985) - John Byrne (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils),
Mike Gustovich (inks), Mike Carlin (editor)
Thing I#21 (March, 1985) - John Byrne (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils),
Joe Sinnott (inks), Mike Carlin (editor)
Thing I#22 (April, 1985) - John Byrne (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils),
Joe Sinnott (inks), Mike Carlin (editor)
Thing I#26 (August, 1985) - Mike Carlin (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils)
Joe Sinnott (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Thing I#30 (December, 1985) - Mike Carlin (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils)
Dennis Janke (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
First Posted: 09/29/2021
Last Updated: 09/27/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other 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!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com