Cornelius Van Lunt 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. As Van Lunt, he attempts a hostile takeover of
Stark Industries as part of his plan to make the Avengers his employees. 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. 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. While jailed, Taurus allows the Avengers to use the Star-Blazer against the Star-Stalker. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
Android Taurus Scorpio (Jake Fury) constructed the android Zodiac members, although his plan was thwarted by the
Defenders. The
Maggia employs the android Taurus to wreck the human Taurus's headquarters; the android Taurus is defeated by
Iron Man. 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. He and the other Zodiac members are killed when Thanos abandons them on the self-destructing
Helicarrier, with
Cancer being the only survivor. ==Powers and abilities==