Tyrannus Villain
Real Name: Romulus Augustus.
Occupation: Would-be conqueror, former emperor.
Identity: Publicly known; however the general public does not believe him to be the actual last Western Roman Emperor.
Legal Status: Monarch of Nova Roma Inferorum; former ruler of the Western Roman Empire (deposed).
Other Aliases: Romulus Augustulus, Emperor Romulus, Dominus Noster Romulus Augustus Pius Felix Augustus (his official seal), Momylus (a derisive nickname in the Eastern Roman Empire's Greek).
Place of Birth: Province of Pannonia, Western Roman Empire.
Marital Status: Widower.
Known Relatives: Orestes (father, deceased); Barbaria (mother, deceased); Paulus (uncle, deceased); Tatulus (grandfather, deceased).
Group Affiliation: Ruler of Nova Roma Inferorum, a region of Subterranea.
Base of Operations: Nova Roma Inferorum, a region of Subterranea; formerly Rome, formerly Ravenna, formerly Naples, formerly mobile.
First Post-Reboot Appearance: INCREDIBLE HULK #.
Origin: KNIGHTS OF CAMELOT ANNUAL #1/2.
History: Romulus Augustus was born to rule, or so he believes. Placed on the throne of Rome at age 10 by his father Orestes in late 475, overthrowing Julius Nepos, he reigned as a figurehead for his father barely ten months before being deposed by the Germanic Goth soldier Odoacer. Although Odoacer killed Orestes, he spared Romulus, allowing the youth to live on a generous stipend in Naples. His activities during this time are unknown, but he likely already he had the idea of raising an army to retake Rome for himself.
After realizing a few years later he would get no support from Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire – which had never accepted his own brief reign and also recognized Odoacer's own claim to the throne as King of Italy – Romulus left by ship to the Kingdom of Soissons, the only remaining rump state of the Roman Empire who to his knowledge hadn't recognized Odoacer or been conquered by what Romulus considered "barbarians" (the Franks, Vandals, Visigoths, and Burgundians). It was during his time in trying to build up support for his "glorious return" that Soissons was conquered by Clovis I of the Franks; by his own account, Romulus barely escaped alive.
This experience apparently shook his belief in the Roman Catholic Church he'd been raised in; the Germanic tribes were pagans (who worshiped the Asgardian gods under different names) or Arian Christians, yet were conquering the lands that in his mind rightfully belonged to Rome. Thinking there must be something to their beliefs, he delved into the mystic side of Germanic pagan beliefs. This eventually brought him to the attention of the sorceress Morgan la Fey of Camelot, who met with him in secret to teach him sorcery for reasons of her own. Romulus proved an adept pupil, although he never mastered many of the more subtle uses of magic, preferring to work on magics he believed would amplify his force of arms rather than his negotiations. By his own report, Romulus was one of Morgan's Darkholders who attempted to summon Chthon to Earth before trapping the Elder God in transit in Mount Wundagore.
Not long after this, in 511 or 512 AD/CE, Romulus foolishly decided to challenge the sorcerer Merlin (it is entirely possible that Morgan, seeking to rid herself of Romulus, nudged him in that direction). It wasn't even a contest; Merlin, although preferring to work through subtle means, easily overpowered Romulus and banished him to a realm deep in the Earth. Deep in these caverns, which reportedly were a mile beneath the surface and stretched throughout Europe and Asia, Romulus stumbled upon a spring which would later be called the Fountain of Youth; drinking from the spring restored Romulus's youth to his prime. Little did he realize that Merlin, aware of the troubles Romulus would cause in the future, deliberately sent him to the Fountain.
Exploring the tunnels, Romulus eventually came across a group of people who had either fallen through holes from the surface or were magically banished to the subterranean realm for indeterminate reasons. Through force of personality and his magic, Romulus took control of this group, directing them to create the city of Nova Roma Inferorum ("New Rome of the Underworld"), which he planned to use as a base to eventually retake Rome.
Fifteen years into his banishment, Romulus – now using the title Tyrannus, given to him by his subterranean subjects – returned to the surface in another attempt at conquering Camelot. He was met by an unexpected enemy: Merlin's latest champion, the enigmatic Black Knight. The Black Knight proved the superior fighter, while the other Knights of the Round Table sent Tyrannus's forces into a rout.
Tyrannus's actions during the intervening centuries are presently unrecorded. All that is known is that while Tyrannus was effectively immortal due to regular trips to the Fountain of Youth, the descendants of who were banished over a thousand years grew stunted with large eyes for living in the dark of the subterranean caverns. At some point he discovered several veins of gold, silver, and iron ore, which his subjects smelted down into ingots; the iron was used to arm both himself and his subjects, while the gold and silver were stockpiled, occasionally being pressed into coin for use in Nova Roma Inferorum.
Recently his subjects discovered several recently opened passages to the surface. Following brief explorations of the modern world, he began to learn modern languages and learned what was going on with the world since his banishment. Using the money he got from selling the gold and silver through intermediaries, he began to buy advanced weaponry from AIM and other sources.
His surface connections informed him of a combat robot being developed by the US Army and being tested in the Arizona desert. Tyrannus's attempt to claim the robot for his own use brought him into conflict with the program's commander, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, who he kidnapped along with the robot and a technician for leverage and know-how. This led to Tyrannus's first clash with the superhuman being known as the Hulk, who as Dr. Bruce Banner had followed Ross to the caverns to rescue Ross and the tech. During this clash, the combat robot was destroyed, leaving Tyrannus empty-handed.
Tyrannus clashed again with the Hulk when Tyrannus sought to obtain an item purported to be the mythical Shield of Aeneas, which was being studied for authenticity at the research center Dr. Banner worked at. (Unfortunately for Tyrannus, the shield proved to be a hoax.)
Age: 1,546; physically 26.
Height: 6' 2".
Weight: 225 lbs.
Eyes: Brown.
Hair: Brown.
Uniform: None; tends to wear upper-class clothing or suitable armor as the situation calls for. Any armor he wears tends to have an Imperial Roman motif to it.
Strength Level: Tyrannus possesses the normal human strength of a man age 25 to 30 of his height and build who engages in intensive regular exercise.
Known Superhuman Powers: Tyrannus is a skilled sorcerer, although his skill and raw power do not permit him to rate among even the top fifty sorcerers on Earth. As a sorcerer, Tyrannus is adept at using ambient magical energies (ecocentric magic) and calling upon mystic principalities for their signature spells (exocentric magic); he has almost no skill at personal magical powers (egocentric magic). Thanks to his time in Morgan la Fey's Cult of the Darkhold, he prefers to avoid black magic (necromantic magic, drawing from death energy). He favors brute force sorcery – shields, blasts, conjured weapons – over subtle enchantments or illusions.
Because he regularly imbibes from the legendary Fountain of Youth at least once a century (though usually more often than that), Tyrannus is effectively immortal.
Other Abilities: Tyrannus is a skilled warrior, military strategist, and politician. He has kept up the combat skills he had before his banishment to the subterranean realms, and has become adept with modern military weapons.
Weapons and Paraphernalia: Tyrannus wields a sword with a superfine edge that purchased from AIM. His armor, while appearing as a Late Roman Imperial styled breastplate over a chainmail hauberk with chainmail leggings, is made of bleeding edge materials, also purchased from AIM. He'll occasionally wield other advanced melee weapons; all of his weapons are patterned after Late Roman Empire era designs.
Bruce Banner: "Director DiCosimo, please meet today's supervillains: Tyrannus, the fourteen-hundred year old former Roman emperor with the funny hair..."
Tyrannus: "Charmed. Bordeaux?"
Banner: "Thanks. But I'm driving."
– Incredible Hulks (2010) #627
747 points
| ST: 14 [40] | HP: 14 [0] | Speed:6.50 [0] |
| DX: 13 [60] | Will: 13 [10] | Move: 6 [0] |
| IQ: 11 [20] | Per: 13 [10] | |
| HT: 13 [30] | FP: 13 [0] | SM: 0 |
| Threshold: 30 | ||
| Dmg: 1d/2d | BL: 39 lbs. | |
| Dodge: 10 | Parry: 12 | DR: (by armor only) |
| Block: 12 | ||
Languages: Ancient Greek (Native) [6] English (Accented) [4]; French (Accented) [4]; Italian (Native) [6]; Latin (Native Language) [0].
Cultural Familiarities: Late Roman Empire (Native) [0].
Advantages: Absolute Direction [5]; Born War-Leader 3 [15]; Charisma 2 [10]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Energy/2 [40]; Extra Attack 1 [25]; Fit [5]; Hard to Kill 3 [6]; Hard to Subdue 3 [6]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Intuitive Statesman 3 [30]; Magery 2 [25]; Magery 1 (Matter Realm Only, -40%) [6]; Matter/3 [60]; Night Vision 3 [3]; Political Rank 5 [25]; Unaging (Accessibility: Requires Regularly Drinking the Fountain of Youth (Once a Century Minimum), -20%) [12]; Wealth (Multimillionaire 1) [75].
Perks: Courtesy Status 3 [3].
Disadvantages: Bully (9) [-15]; Callous [-5]; Compulsive Rhetoric (12) [-5]; Hidebound [-5]; Megalomania [-10]; Obsession (Restore the Roman Empire Under His Rule) [-10].
Quirks: Amoral [-1]; Aristocratic [-1]; Decisive [-1]; Incompetence (Mind Realm) [-1]; Theatrical [-1].
Skills: Administration (A) IQ+2 [1] – 13*; Broadsword (A) DX+3 [12] – 16; Current Affairs/TL8 (High Culture) (E) IQ+1 [2] – 12; Current Affairs/TL8 (Politics) (E) IQ+3 [1] – 14*; Detect Lies (H) Per+1 [8] – 14; Diplomacy (H) IQ+3 [4] – 14*†; Escape (H) DX+1 [8] – 14; Fast-Draw (Sword) (E) DX+1 [1] – 14‡; Guns/TL8 (Grenade Launcher) (E) DX+1 [2] – 14; Guns/TL8 (Rifle) (E) DX+1 [2] – 14; Hiking (A) HT+1 [4] – 14; History (Roman Empire) (H) IQ+1 [8] – 12; Innate Attack (Beam) (E) DX+3 [8] – 16; Intimidation (A) Will+1 [4] – 14; Jumping (E) DX+1 [2] – 14; Karate (H) DX+3 [16] – 16; Leadership (A) IQ+7 [1] – 18*§#; Lifting (A) HT+1 [4] – 14; Lip Reading (A) Per+1 [4] – 14; Literature (Classical) (A) IQ+1 [4] – 12; Observation (A) Per+1 [4] – 14; Occultism (A) IQ+1 [4] – 12; Politics (A) IQ+4 [4] – 15*; Propaganda/TL3 (A) IQ+3 [2] – 14*; Public Speaking (Rhetoric) (E) IQ+5 [1] – 16*§; Riding (Equines) (A) DX-1 [1] – 12; Running (A) HT+1 [4] – 14; Savoir-Faire (High Society) (E) IQ+3 [8] – 14†; Savoir-Faire (Military) (E) IQ+3 [1] – 14†#; Shield (Shield) (E) DX+3 [8] – 16; Shortsword (A) DX+3 [8] – 16¥; Spear (A) DX+3 [12] – 16; Strategy (Land) (H) IQ+3 [4] – 14#; Swimming (E) HT+1 [2] – 14; Tactics (H) IQ+3 [4] – 14#; Thaumatology (VH) IQ+3 [8] – 14¶¤; Throwing (A) DX+1 [4] – 14; Thrown Weapon (Spear) (E) DX+3 [8] – 16; Tracking (A) Per+0 [2] – 13; Two-Handed Sword (A) DX+3 [11] – 16¥; Weather Sense (A) IQ+1 [4] – 12; Wrestling (A) DX+3 [12] – 16; Writing (A) IQ+1 [4] – 12.
Magical Realm Skills: Energy (VH) IQ+3 [12] – 14¶; Matter (VH) IQ+3 [8] – 14¶¤.
Starting Spending Money: $4,000,000 (20% of Starting Wealth)
* Includes +3 from Intuitive Statesman.
† Conditional +2 from Charisma.
‡ Includes +1 from Combat Reflexes.
§ Includes +2 from Charisma.
# Includes +3 from Born War-Leader.
¥ Defaulted from Broadsword.
¶ Includes +2 from Magery.
¤ Includes +1 from Magery (One-Realm Only).
Role-Playing Notes:
Tyrannus is vain, theatrical, and utterly convinced of his imperial destiny; he speaks in grandiose proclamations even when ordering lunch. He views the modern world as a chaotic, barbarian-ruled wasteland desperately in need of Roman order – his order.
| KARATE | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TL | Weapon | Damage | Reach | Parry | Cost | Weight | ST | Notes |
| – | Karate Punch | 1d+1 cr cr | C | 12 | – | – | 14 | |
| – | Karate Kick | 1d+2 cr cr | C, 1 | n/a | – | – | 14 | |