History
Tikos was a minor member of the household guard who served Prince Gareth, the uncle of Emperor Jason. Stationed in Gareth's private wing of the Imperial Chalet, located on the continent of Marathon on the Imperial Throneworld Sparta, Tikos served as the jailor and interrogator of any prisoners that the prince chose to secretly imprison there.
After Star-Lord's starship went down in flames over Thrace, a lifeboat that had been shot free before impact was found by Gareth's household guard and its two occupants, Kip Hölm and Sandy, were captured and secretly brought to the chalet where they were imprisoned. Once there, Tikos began interrogating Kip for information, beating and whipping him while Sandy was forced to watch. However, Kip withstood the physical abuse and refused to talk.
Eventually, Arion, one of Gareth's higher-ranked minions, intervened. After calling Tikos a brute and pointing out that he'd discovered nothing in the three days he'd had the boy, Arion took over the interrogation. Explaining that the mind-ripper that was being brought from Kandahar would tear Kip's secrets from him but the resistance of the captives should be broken down first and with finesse, Arion prepared to use blades to torture Sandy who had killed his twin days earlier. Before he could begin, Arion was shocked when the supposedly-dead Star-Lord made his presence in the room known. Tikos reacted first, lunging at Star-Lord with a metal staff in his hands while saying, "Milord Arion, I'll..." but his words were cut short by a grunt of pain when Star-Lord delivered a powerful punch that knocked him out. Kip took advantage of this distraction to wrap his legs around Arion's neck and twist, snapping Arion's neck and killing him. Star-Lord then freed his two young allies and all three left the chamber of horrors, unaware that these events had been watched from above by an Anubian hidden in the shadows of an upper gallery.[1]Notes
- Although subject to the commands of Prince Gareth and Arion, both of whom were involved with the slaving operation run by Kyras Shakati, Tikos himself was not known to have been one of the slavers. As a member of Gareth's household guard, Tikos was presumably a soldier.