Terminus (Earth-616)

Millennia ago, the extraterrestrial Terminex race came into conflict with the Celestials and were exterminated. Before they perished, however, they engineered a life form--the Termini--and sent it into space. The Termini was not based on carbon and the idea was that they would end the Celestials' dream of a structured, peaceful universe.^[1]

The Terminus begins as a microbe (stage 1). When it finds an inhabited planet, native life forms ingest the microbes and change into robot versions of themselves (stage 2). The robots ingest metal and radioactive material, which provide material and fuel to grow into larger robots (stage 3). Several stage 3 robots then merge together to form a Terminus (stage 4). On the rare occasions when two stage 4 Termini meet, one can ingest the other and become an Ulterminus (stage 5).^[2][3]

The first Terminus took shape on an unknown world. It then embarked on its mission to find inhabited planets and extinguish all life on them.^[1] The exact number of planets is unknown but could reach one thousand and it included the Zundamite homeworld Zundam. After destroying Arianis Major, Terminus fired a beam at Earth.^[4]

A century later, the beam reached its target. It etched a message in the planet's surface in letters a half mile wide: "I claim this world~~TERMINUS."^[5] The Fantastic Four encountered the Zundamite scientist who, having angered Terminus by leading him to a planet not rich in natural resources, been punished. Before he died, the Zundamite revealed Terminus' history and nature. The FF located Terminus as he prepared to ravage Earth. Reed Richards managed to plant an inertia-canceling gizmo on him, which sent him to the center of the Earth.^[4]

On its trip back to the surface, Terminus contacted Jorro, a Deviant, who made an armored suit like Terminus' and sought out Terminus' lance. Once he found it, he used it to wipe out the Savage Land. The Avengers left Jorro to die in the snow.^[6] Some time later, Jorro's armor and Garokk, the Petrified Man, fused. This hybrid creature was defeated by the X-Men and the High Evolutionary.^[7]

Still working its way outward, Terminus created some stage 1 microbes and released them near Mount St. Helens, an active volcano. It summoned its lance and finally reached the surface, but Quasar and Spider-Man sent it into a solar orbit outside the ecliptic, where it could not reach Earth. Realizing that its lance was its source of propulsion, Quasar attempted to quantum-jump it away, but it was too massive and he was only able to bring the head of the power-lance with him. After throwing the head into Neptune, Quasar returned to where he'd left Terminus and found him cartwheeling through space since, with his lance now broken, he was unable to use it for controlled movement.^[8]

Meanwhile, the stage 1 Termini reached the surface and infected several animals, as well as some humans, which progressed to stages 2 and 3. Captain America, Iron Man, Machine Man, Hercules, and Thor fought these robots. Thor, seeking answers, found Terminus floating in space and tried to communicate with it. He got his answers, but a biological attack incapacitated him. Terminus used Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, as a power source to rebuild his lance. With the lance he traveled to Earth.

The stage 3 Termini by this time had become a new stage 4, similar to the original Terminus. These two fought each other. In the end the old Terminus consumed the new one, thereby creating a stage 5 Terminus, or Ulterminus. Apparently considering itself powerful enough to return to its original mission, it prepared to destroy Earth. All three teams of Avengers were unable to stop it. Thor, however, recovered and mystically recalled Mjolnir (still inside Terminus) to himself ... Terminus along with it. Without its power source, Terminus was forced to convert its own mass into energy. Feeding on itself, it became a singularity (black hole) and vanished.^[9]

Terminus was not destroyed, but it was forced to undergo a dimensional odyssey. It wound up on another Earth, where it sensed more super-powered beings. Resolving to destroy them, it traveled toward Metropolis. It did battle with the Justice League of America. They defeated it when Green Lantern reflected a shot from its power lance back at it. The Spectre sent it into yet another dimension.^[10]

At one point, a scientist named Mark Macross, working for AIM, found the Terminus armor and repaired it. Captain America and Ka-Zar disabled the mechanoid by tricking its human pilot into having it make physical contact with a large amount of Antarctic Vibranium that liquefied metal.^[11]

Returned to Earth-616 in an astral form, the real Terminus began infecting the minds of the Moloids of Subterranea. The Mole Man, the Silver Surfer, and the Fantastic Four worked together to stop this plot and cleanse the Moloids of the infection.^[12]

Sometime later, Terminus returned in physical form, forcing the Avengers to face them. Realizing they were outmatched, Captain America asked Spider-Man to call in Alpha to aid them. However, the fight between Terminus and Alpha was incredibly one-sided and dangerous as Alpha's reckless use of his powers caused airplanes in a ten mile radius to short out. In the end, Alpha defeated Terminus, but his reckless use of powers caused Spider-Man to reverse engineer Terminus' staff to drain him of his powers.^[13]

The Terminus armor left in the Savage Land was found and rebuilt by the High Evolutionary. His new power source was the Children of the Sun, who the High Evolutionary had kidnapped from the Avengers. They were alerted of High Evolutionary's activities by Garokk, who sensed the presence of Terminus, whom he had once been bonded to. High Evolutionary attacked the Avengers with Terminus and it traded blows with Thor. Meanwhile, Hyperion talked to High Evolutionary and realized that the children were being used to power Terminus, which is why he kept them after taking DNA samples. Thor beat down Terminus and was about to strike it with a lightning bolt. With no time to warn Thor, Hyperion flew through Terminus' head and rescued the children before it was fried by Thor.^[14]

Terminus then suddenly returned to life through unknown means and was looking for energy but had been attacked by the Avengers and was teleported to an unknown dimension by Scarlet Witch.^[15]

• Superhuman Durability: Terminus' outer shell is an organic metal that can resist almost any attack.^[16] Terminus can easily withstand extremes of temperature and pressure, from interstellar space to a planet's core. It can also withstand cosmic-level impacts, such as falling from orbit.
• Superhuman Stamina: Terminus possesses basically immeasurable stamina in all physical activities.^[16]
• Superhuman Strength: Terminus possesses incalculable levels of physical strength.^[16]
• Regenerative Healing Factor: This metal can repair itself.^[16] Once inside, an attacker is besieged by its "immune system," made up of giant insectile organisms.
• Superhuman Speed: Despite his large size Terminus can move faster than expected.^[16]

• Energy Lance (Formerly): Terminus' energy lance serves as weapon, energy conduit, and transportation. It is 240' long and is composed of the same organic metal as Terminus' body, so it is also capable of self-repair. Terminus can recall the lance to himself in some fashion, but there seems to be a distance limit.^[16]
  • Energy Projection: It can fire energy blasts that manifest as concussion and heat.^[16]
  • Force-Fields: It can generate an "atomic storm" that surrounds Terminus, possibly as a form of shield.^[16]
  • Energy Absorption: It can absorb the energy of an entire planet.^[16]
  • Flight: It can draw Terminus through space at faster-than-light speeds.^[16]

• The list of appearances by Terminus includes those made by individuals wearing/piloting the replica body armor/giant robot (mecha) created by the Deviant Jorro and the real Terminus. These appearances include:
  • Avengers #256-258, in which Jorro (as "Terminus") destroyed both Pangea and the Savage Land.
    • All stories that contain flashbacks or recaps in which that Terminus is shown destroying the Savage Land.
  • X-Men Annual #12, in which the robot armor, worn and powered by a brainwashed Garokk, battled the High Evolutionary and the X-Men in the barren landscape where the Savage Land used to be.
  • Quasar #7, in which the empty armor was shown lying in the restored Savage Land when Terminus's power-lance, lying nearby, was remotely summoned to its owner.
  • Captain America #416-417, in which an A.I.M. technician activated the mechanoid's self-repair mechanisms and used it to attack the High Technician.
  • Avengers (Vol. 5) #13, in which the High Evolutionary used the Children of the Sun to reactivate and power the machine in an attempt to prevent the Avengers from rescuing the kidnapped Children.
  • Astonishing Ant-Man #11, in which the deactivated armor was seen in the background as the Power Broker was shown relaxing on a beach in the Savage Land when he was surprised, blasted and captured by Stinger.
• Although Jorro and Garokk were acting as agents of the real Terminus, albeit against their will, in all of its other appearances, the mecha armor was either inert or being controlled by individuals who were pursuing their own goals and were not allied with Terminus.