Talos the Untamed
Talos the Untamed is a male extraterrestrial comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
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Biography
Talos was a male member of the Skrull race born in the modern age who was a member of the royal family. It was this royal birth that allowed him to survive as typically such members of his race were not allowed to reach maturity. Despite this genetic flaw, he came to use his strength to overcome his disadvantage and became a skilled warrior. It was noted that he came to have a niece that became the empress of the Skrull empire. Talos came to serve in the military where he participated in the long-standing Kree/Skrull War. During this time, the Kree ambushed and captured him where he was supposed to trigger a hidden capsule to kill himself rather than be taken a prisoner. However, he experienced doubt and could not commit suicide leading to his capture. At the conclusion of the war, he was returned to his people where he was dishonoured as a result for his actions. Talos was brought before his niece the empress where he was offered the chance to once more commit suicide to retain his honour. Despite the second chance, he came to refuse this once again as he could not kill himself. Thus, he came to be dishonoured and treated scornfully by the rest of his people. (Incredible Hulk v1 #419)
Talos soon found himself at the wedding of Rick Jones and Marlo Chandler, courtesy of the Impossible Man. He found himself confronted by the Hulk and tried to get him to fight him in an attempt to reclaim glory from his people. When the Hulk found out what he was up to, he ceased fighting him. Talos left in frustration, but the Skrulls found his attempt to battle him impressive.
According to one report, he was deemed of no use by Queen Veranke as part of her Secret Invasion efforts for Earth and thus was never summoned to her side though her Chancellor Kal'du had hoped he would find his way to their forces. (Skrulls! v1 #1) He eventually came to the planet of Godthab Omega among many other beings that were mysterious coming to that world. Once there, he was attacked by Devos the Devastator who ultimately gained an advantage over him thus defeating Talos. (Annihilation: Ronan v1 #2) However, both Talos and Devos were then captured by Glorian who imprisoned them whilst he was using his powers to remake the world into a paradise. (Annihilation: Ronan v1 #3) It was then that elements of the Annihilation Wave arrived on the world where they attack and their large numbers forced Glorian to divert his attention to them. This act broke the restraints he made over Devos and Talos who fled with the Skrull reluctantly allying with Ronan the Accuser against the common enemy they faced in the forces from the Negative Zone with him managing to survive the attack. (Annihilation: Ronan v1 #4) He later joined the forces of the United Front that were assembled by Nova Richard Rider where he participated in the defence of Daedalus 5 with him helping protect the world from the forces of Annihilus. (Annihilation: Saga v1 #1)
Talos next showed up at Howard the Duck's private investigations in make up and a beard as Jonathan Richards. He tasks the duck with finding a necklace that was stolen by the Black Cat. When Howard finally retrieves it, Talos abandons his disguise to reveal that the necklace contains the Abundant Gems, less powerful versions of the Infinity Gems that can still make one "marginally" powerful, which he plans to use to gain favor with the Skrulls again. He was defeated by Howard and his friend Tara Tam, and apprehended by the Fantastic Four.
Afterwards, the Kree and Skrull formed an alliance under Emperor Hulkling where he was sent to investigate a disturbance around the planet Gnarrat. With a Kree and Skrull crew, they arrived in the system to find a lifeless world where they found an escape pod. The survivor though was discovered to had been infected by a Symbiote whereupon the crew of the ship were attacked by more of the parasitic organisms. Most of the crew were killed except for Tarna who managed to reach the escape pods whilst Talos was confronted by the leader of the Symbiotes which was Knull. The God of the Symbiotes had been freed from his prison and had cut a swathe through space on a path to Earth. He spared Talos who was allowed to depart in an escape pod to warn others of his coming as he continued leading his forces through space. (Web of Venom: Empyre's End v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Such was his reputation that he became known as Talos the Untamed. After his disgrace, he came to derogatively be called Talos the Tamed. (Incredible Hulk v1 #419)
Talos considered the time when their ancestors lacked shapeshifting abilities and fought with strength to had been an era of nobility. He considered himself a warrior and believed in the tenets of honour. Under that code, he was expected to commit suicide after his capture in order to retain his honour but he could not bear killing himself. However, he was not opposed to dying in battle against a worthy adversary. (Incredible Hulk v1 #419)
Powers and abilities
He was considered a mutant that was a throwback to a branch of Skrull development that was considered extinct as it predated them as being shapeshifters. Thus, this genetic misfortune resulted in him lacking any shapeshifting ability. As a result, he came to rely on his brute strength in order to survive and prosper. (Incredible Hulk v1 #419)
He had learnt to use leverage, the weaknesses in his enemies and knowledge of their pressure points in order to defeat them. This allowed him to manage to fight foes much more powerful than him. (Incredible Hulk v1 #419)
He possesses a cybernetic eye after losing his real one in combat.
Notes
- Talos the Untamed was created by Peter David and Gary Frank where he made his first appearance in Incredible Hulk #418 (June, 1994).
- The character received an entry in Skrulls! v1 #1 (2008) stated that he was the uncle of Baroness S'Ybll.
- He received an added backstory in Annihilation: The Nova Corps Files v1 #1 (August, 2006).
In other media
Films
- In Captain Marvel, Talos appeared in the live-action film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was portrayed by actor Ben Mendelsohn. Unlike his comic counterpart, this version had the ability to change shape with him having a mate and having a child. He learnt of the light-speed experiments of Mar-Vell who was aiding the Skrulls in finding a place for their kind where they could be free from the persecution by the Kree.
Video games
- In Marvel Puzzle Quest, Talos appeared as a playable 4-star character who was introduced as part of the Captain Marvel tie-in.
Appearances
- Incredible Hulk v1: (1994)
- Skrulls! v1:
- Annihilation: Ronan v1:
- Howard the Duck v5:
- Web of Venom: Empyre's End v1: (2020)
External Links
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