Taurus (Marvel Comics)

Taurus is the name of several characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

The Cornelius Van Lunt incarnation of Taurus first appeared in Avengers #72 (January 1970), and was created by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema.^[1]

Fictional character biography

Cornelius Van Lunt

Taurus
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Avengers #72 (Jan 1970)
Created by	Roy Thomas Sal Buscema
In-story information
Alter ego	Cornelius Van Lunt
Team affiliations	Zodiac Great Wheel
Abilities	Genius-level intellect Charging attack

Cornelius Van Lunt is a multimillionaire businessman and professional criminal mastermind. He is also the founder and financier of the original Zodiac cartel, of which he chose the eleven other leaders. Van Lunt later succeeds Marcus Lassiter (the original Aries) as Zodiac's leader. In Zodiac's first mission, Taurus and Zodiac were summoned by Nick Fury (disguised as Scorpio). Taurus battled the Avengers and then escaped.^[2]

As Van Lunt, he attempts a hostile takeover of Stark Industries as part of his plan to make the Avengers his employees.^[3]

As Van Lunt he has Will Talltrees's parents murdered to gain their land. He is opposed by Talltrees (as Red Wolf) and the Avengers, and is believed to have drowned.^[4]

Later, Zodiac schemes to kill all New York residents born under the sign of Gemini with the Star-Blazer weapon, but are foiled by the Avengers. Taurus defeats a rebellion within Zodiac, but he is captured by the Avengers along with all the other Zodiac leaders, and his secret identity is exposed.^[5] While jailed, Taurus allows the Avengers to use the Star-Blazer against the Star-Stalker.^[6]

Taurus attempts to compete against the Maggia, who send the Taurus of the android Zodiac to wreck his headquarters. He hires Iron Man (James Rhodes), who defeats the android Taurus. Van Lunt deduces Iron Man to be Rhodes and sends Aries and Aquarius in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate him.^[7][8]

Taurus witnesses the massacre of all the other human Zodiac leaders by Scorpio's android Zodiac. He aids the West Coast Avengers in defeating the android Zodiac, escapes, and attempts to enlist the Shroud in a new Zodiac. Taurus is killed in a plane crash just outside Los Angeles following a battle with Moon Knight.^[9]

It is later revealed that the archetype for Zodiac was a Great Wheel organized by Leonardo da Vinci in 1961 that included Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Jake Fury, and Baron Strucker, among other spymasters. Each was identified by a sign of the Zodiac, and Van Lunt was designated Taurus.^[10]

Taurus' corpse is bound with thousands of insane ghosts by the Blasphemy Cartel alongside the revenants of Black Knight, Constrictor, and Mettle. They attack Clea and Harvestman when the invade the Emerald City, where the Blasphemy Cartel operates. He is taken out by Harvestman's sickle.^[11]

Taurus is raised from the dead by Anubis' sorcery alongside the other victims of Moon Knight: Black Spectre, Chainsaw, Midnight, Mister Sniper, and Plasma. From there, Anubis forms a version of the Legion of the Unliving led by Jackal Knight. They target the soul of Khalil Nasser, the current host of Osiris. During the Legion of the Unliving's fight with Moon Knight, Scarlet Scarab, and Khonshu, Nasser sacrifices himself to free Osiris, leading to Jackal Knight's defeat.^[12]

Android Taurus

Scorpio (Jake Fury) constructed the android Zodiac members, although his plan was thwarted by the Defenders.^[13]

The Maggia employs the android Taurus to wreck the human Taurus's headquarters; the android Taurus is defeated by Iron Man.^[7] Quicksilver employs the android Zodiac to attack the West Coast Avengers, but the Avengers defeats Zodiac.^[14]

Led by Scorpio in a new android body, the android Zodiac kills the human Zodiac and takes over their criminal operations. They battle the West Coast Avengers, but are rendered inert after being transported to the dimension of the Brotherhood of the Ankh.^[9]

Ecliptic Taurus

The Ecliptic Taurus is a humanoid bull who Scorpio freed from Ryker's Island. He and the rest of Zodiac are later killed by Weapon X.

Thanos' Taurus

The fourth Taurus is an unnamed man and a member of Thanos' incarnation of Zodiac.^[15] He and the other Zodiac members are killed when Thanos abandons them on the self-destructing Helicarrier, with Cancer being the only survivor.^[16]

Powers and abilities

Taurus wore a costume that he designed, of synthetic stretch fabric and leather, reinforced with kevlar. The costume came with an armored helmet with horns constructed of an unknown hard material, making them formidable weapons. His personal fighting style involved bull-like charges at opponents with his lowered horns. He also controls Zodiac's "Star-Blazer" energy weapons invented by Darren Bentley; these included the Star-Blazer handgun which fired intense blasts of stellar energy, and the Star-Blazer cannon which was a larger, more powerful version of the handgun. Cornelius van Lunt was a normal human with no superhuman powers. He had a degree in business administration and was a skilled businessman, organizer, and strategist. He was also an amateur astrologer with extensive knowledge of astrology.

In its original form, the android Taurus had retractable horns mounted on its arms and attached to cables so that it can be fired at opponents. It also possessed internal sensors enabling it to detect heat. In its second form, the android Taurus had enhanced strength and was immune to energy blasts.

The Ecliptic version of Taurus had superhuman strength and carried the Zodiac teleportation device.

Thanos' Taurus wears a special suit given to him by Thanos which enables him to possess super-strength and transform into a Minotaur-like form.

In other media

• Taurus appears in The Avengers: United They Stand, voiced by Gerry Mendicino.^[17] This version is a Minotaur-like alien and the leader of Zodiac who can assume a human form with the alias of Cornelius van Lunt.
• Taurus appears in the Marvel Anime: Iron Man episode "A Twist of Memory, a Turn of the Mind".^[18][17] This version is a large bull-like mech utilized by Zodiac.
• Taurus-inspired foot soldiers appear in Ultimate Spider-Man with one soldier voiced by Chi McBride.^[19] They appear as members of Zodiac and wear cattle-like masks.