A member of the
Fatal Five.
Tharok comes from the planet Zadron where he was a small-time
crook of limited intelligence with dreams of more. Hoping to impress the local mob,
Tharok tried to steal a miniature nuclear weapon. Tharok was
caught in the act and the guard's weapon missed striking the bomb.
The left side of Tharok's body was vaporized in the resulting
blast. As Zardron society believed that life was sacred, they
used advanced scientific techniques to rebuild Tharok's body with
robotic parts. The robotic half of his body boosted Tharok's
intelligence to near infinite levels. Unfortunately, Tharok's
evil intentions were not changed and he used his intelligence for
selfish ends.
Offered a pardon by Cosmic Boy to help the Legion of Super-Heroes
battle a Sun-eater that had entered Earth's solar system, Tharok
became one of the five original members of the Fatal Five. After
helping defeat the Sun-eater, the Fatal Five continue working together
for their own ends.
Tharok was able to use his great intellect to build a device with
which to control Validus, another member of the Fatal Five.
Unbeknownst to him, some of Tharok's tissue had been taken and
a clone was grown of him. This clone calling himself Dark Man was
able to mentally influence Tharok and while under the Dark Man's control,
Tharok ordered Validus to kill Invisible Kid I, a member of the Legion.
When Tharok and Dark Man finally met, they were both seemingly destroyed
when they touched.