Catastrophus is one of the Lords of Arthos and a loyal servant to Annihilus. His primary duties were to keep the territories he had taken control of in fealty to Annihilus in order. When Annihilus died, Catastrophus tightened his grip over the territories he ruled in The Negative Zone and eventually for reasons previously unknown came into possession of The Cosmic Control Rod. When Talon and Darkhawk crossed The Bleaksun Tracts, the Outer Fiefdoms of Catastrophus' territories they came into conflict with the Chitinauts, an elite Seventh Stridulation that directly serves Catastrophus' every will. Their attack on The Chitinaut Warriors alerted Catastrophus to their presence.

Catastrophus ordered a massive army of Chitinaut Warriors to guard the entryway to The Nomad Fortress of Heteropteron, the palace where Catastrophus had set up shop and was keeping The Cosmic Control Rod well protected. Talon and his ally Razor, who had expelled Chris Powell from the Darkhawk armor, easily tore their way through Heteropteron and eventually came upon Catastrophus whom they defeated and then decapitated with little trouble. Talon and Razor discovered shortly after that Catastrophus had been using The Cosmic Control Rod to retard the growth of Annihilus' newborn infant form (which had been born shortly after the events of The Annihilation War) and prevent his Master from growing to full power.