Joseph Korso is the central antagonist of the Don Bluth animated film Titan A.E.. He commands the starship Valkyrie and attempts to help Cale Tucker find the super-advanced spacecraft Titan in order to reunite the scattered human race. He is voiced by Bill Pullman.
History[]
Korso had previously worked with Professor Sam Tucker on the Titan Project prior to the destruction of Earth. Following that apocalyptic event, Korso spent the better part of fifteen years trying to find the Titan without success until he was contacted by Tek, one of Tucker's non-human associates and the guardian of Cale. Together with the crew of the Valkyrie, Korso travelled to the salvage yard of Tau-14 where he found Cale, just in time to save him from the Drej.
Korso showed Cale that the ring he wore was a genetically-encrypted storage device containing a map that would lead to the location of the Titan. For a time, Korso acted as a guide and even surrogate father figure to Cale, but later Cale would discover that Korso was secretly in league with the Drej. Cale and Korso's pilot Akima Kumimoto overheard a conversation between Korso and the Drej Queen, revealing that the Drej were paying Korso to deliver the Titan to them. Korso and Preed noticed Cale and Akima snooping and it was then that Korso revealed that he had lost hope for humanity and was only interested in his personal survival.
Cale and Akima were able to jump ship and took refuge on a human drifter colony while Korso and the Valkyrie set course for the Ice Rings of Tegrin, the hiding place of the Titan. However, it wasn't long before Cale and Akima overtook them, flying a small craft that was better capable of navigating through the ice field. The Valkyrie reached the Titan not long after the Phoenix and Korso and Preed confronted Cale and Akima on the Titan's control deck. At that moment, Preed betrayed Korso, intending to kill all three humans before the Drej arrived and take their bounty for himself. Cale, Akima and Korso kept Preed distracted for a few moments and Korso was able to get the drop on him, grabbing him by the head and breaking his neck. Korso then attacked Cale, but in the struggle he was thrown over the railing and appeared to fall far into the depths of the Titan.
Death[]
Korso survived his fall after getting caught in a series of hanging cables. He pulled himself back up and then donned a spacesuit, following Cale out onto the Titan's exterior hull just as the Drej were arriving. After overhearing Cale's plan to use the Drej's own energy to power the Titan, Korso decided to help Cale and saved him when he got pinned down by a Drej fighter.
As the Drej mothership positioned itself to fire its main gun, Korso told Cale to return to the control centre while he fixed the jammed circuit breaker. As the Drej mothership fired, Korso got between the breaker switches, using himself as a human conductor to channel the Drej energy to the Titan's power cells. The energy surge killed Korso, but his sacrifice allowed Cale to activate the Titan's planet-generating systems and destroy the Drej in the process.