Gods (Marvel Comics)
Encyclopedia
Several characters in many Marvel Comics
stories have been referred to as gods
. Generally, however, only those belonging to two specific types are considered to be the "true" gods. Note that only ONE of these beings are divine
in the commonly understood sense, but most are rather simply powerful supernatural
beings. Other worlds besides Earth also have their own gods, with different origins.
, the One-Above-All has been mentioned in a Guardians of the Galaxy
storyline to be the most powerful being in the entirety of the Marvel Universe.
, were created when the being called The Demiurge
spread part of its essence over the Earth. They included Gaea, Chthon, Set
and Oshtur
. All but Gaea, the Earth Goddess, and Oshtur, the Bird Goddess of the Skies (who departed Earth to explore the cosmos and other dimensions), degenerated into demons
when they realized they could increase their personal power by consuming their brethren. Set the Serpent God was the first of the Elder Gods to degenerate into a demonic being and commit murder. Gaea "mated" with the Demiurge to produce Atum/Demogorge the God-Eater
, who killed or drove off all of the others (as revealed in Thor Annual # 10.)
who are immortal
and super-strong, and usually have individual magical powers as well, but are not as powerful as the Elder Gods. They are divided into separate pantheons
and are or were worshipped on Earth for thousands of years, though the cosmic entities
called The Celestials
forced them to limit their contact with humanity 1000 years ago. As a result most modern humans do not believe in their existence anymore. Most are based on actual myths
but some are original characters. Their origin isn't clear, though Gaea has claimed to have been the Mother Goddess of each pantheon, under a different identity for each; however, some of the Skyfathers also seem to have simply "emerged" somehow from primordial chaos or nothingness into their own divine realms, only encountering Gaea later in the Earth realm and siring more gods with her, as in the case of the pantheons of the Kami, and the Yazatas.
as a weapon. This plan was kept secret from most other gods. Gaea and the female rulers of each pantheon also met to discuss a more peaceful solution. They decided to choose twelve humans who would represent the best qualities of the human race, make them immortal, and present them to the Celestials as proof of humanity's worth; these would be known as the Young Gods
. This plan was also kept secret.
A few years ago, the Celestials did return, and not long after, the Destroyer, powered by the souls of all Asgardians (except Thor
, who arrived late to the battle), and armed with the gigantic Odinsword, attacked the Celestials but was swiftly destroyed, leaving the Asgardians's spirits scattered. Gaea appeared with the Young Gods, and the Celestials accepted them, judged in favor of humanity, and left Earth, taking the Young Gods with them. Gaea then told Thor he could revive the Asgardians with a portion of each pantheon's essence. Each godhead willingly gave their part, except the Hindu ones (who are ruled by the trinity of Brahma
, Vishnu
and Shiva
) who voted on the matter and decided that a new Asgardian race would eventually be born. This caused an angry Thor to fight Shiva (or Indra
posing as Shiva, this isn't clear) and won, causing him to change his vote and gaining Thor their essence. Thor then revived the Asgardians with it. (Thor vol. 1 # 300-301)
Their next meeting came when four gods of the dead tried to join their infernal realms
together to increase their powers; this awakened the Demogorge, who, thinking the time for the current gods to die had come, absorbed them. Discovering this, Odin convened the Council to discuss Demogorge's threat, and they decided to send a team of gods from different pantheons (Thor, Indra, Shango
, Tawa, Horus, Quetzalcoatl
, and Apollo
) to fight Demogorge. He absorbed them all as well, but Thor's spirit forced Demogorge to restore all the absorbed deities, in exchange for the Death Gods restoring the barriers between their realms. (Thor Annual #10)
The Council met again during the events caused by the Infinity Gauntlet, as well as those caused by the Heart of the Infinite
, but were mostly ineffectual against both menaces.
The Council also tested Thor to see if he was worthy of taking Odin's place in the group after his death, but Thor failed one of the tests when he provided food to a starving people instead of teaching them how to gain more by themselves. (Thor vol. 2 #61)
.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
stories have been referred to as gods
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
. Generally, however, only those belonging to two specific types are considered to be the "true" gods. Note that only ONE of these beings are divine
Divinity
Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...
in the commonly understood sense, but most are rather simply powerful supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
beings. Other worlds besides Earth also have their own gods, with different origins.
The "One-Above-All"
While there are numerous beings that are referred to as "gods" or have claimed divinity, the mysterious entity known as the One-Above-All has been vaguely considered to be the creator god of the Marvel Universe. The enigmatic master of the judge of all realities, the immensely powerful Living TribunalLiving Tribunal
The Living Tribunal is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Strange Tales #157 June 1967 and was created by Stan Lee, Marie Severin and Herb Trimpe.-Publication history:The Living Tribunal debuted in a storyline called "The...
, the One-Above-All has been mentioned in a Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy
The original Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Guardians first appear in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 .-Publication history:...
storyline to be the most powerful being in the entirety of the Marvel Universe.
Elder Gods
The first kind of gods, known now as the Elder GodsElder Gods (Marvel Comics)
The Elder Gods are fictional characters from the Marvel Comics universe. They were the first generation of Earth's gods, apparently inspired by Greek mythology and the Cthulhu Mythos.-Fictional group history:...
, were created when the being called The Demiurge
Demiurge (comics)
Demiurge is a fictional character, a cosmic entity in the Marvel Comics universe, based loosely on the concept of the Demiurge. It is the sentient life force of Earth's biosphere, creator of the elder gods, and the father of Atum, conceived with Gaea....
spread part of its essence over the Earth. They included Gaea, Chthon, Set
Set (Serpent God)
Set is the name of a fictional demon-god within the continuities of Conan the Barbarian and Marvel Universe.He is apparently an amalgam of the name of the Egyptian god Set and the appearance and characteristics of the Egyptian monster Apep and the Greek mythological figure the Lernaean Hydra. This...
and Oshtur
Oshtur (Marvel Comics)
Oshtur is a fictional character published in Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as an Elder Goddess born from the demiurge sometime billions of years ago. Unlike her siblings, Oshtur had a fascination with the realms beyond Earth. She took to the heavens before the fall of the Elder Gods...
. All but Gaea, the Earth Goddess, and Oshtur, the Bird Goddess of the Skies (who departed Earth to explore the cosmos and other dimensions), degenerated into demons
Demons (Marvel Comics)
The Marvel Comics universe hosts a number of demons, many of whom are at times at conflict with gods and angels. All possess varying degrees of mystical power, feed upon souls for self-sustenance, and are inclined towards dark or “black” magic - evil....
when they realized they could increase their personal power by consuming their brethren. Set the Serpent God was the first of the Elder Gods to degenerate into a demonic being and commit murder. Gaea "mated" with the Demiurge to produce Atum/Demogorge the God-Eater
Atum (comics)
Atum is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics, based loosely on the Ra of Egyptian mythology. The character first appears in Thor Annual #10 and was created by Alan Zelenetz and Bob Hall....
, who killed or drove off all of the others (as revealed in Thor Annual # 10.)
New Gods
The second kind of gods are human-like beings from other dimensionsPlane (esotericism)
In esoteric cosmology, a plane, other than the physical plane is conceived as a subtle state of consciousness that transcends the known physical universe....
who are immortal
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
and super-strong, and usually have individual magical powers as well, but are not as powerful as the Elder Gods. They are divided into separate pantheons
Pantheon (gods)
A pantheon is a set of all the gods of a particular polytheistic religion or mythology.Max Weber's 1922 opus, Economy and Society discusses the link between a...
and are or were worshipped on Earth for thousands of years, though the cosmic entities
Cosmic entities (Marvel Comics)
Cosmic entities, also referred to as cosmic beings, are a type of fictional character in the . They possess power on a stellar, galactic, universal, or even multiversal level, far beyond those of humans or conventional superheroes, and frequently serve some natural function in the...
called The Celestials
Celestial (comics)
The Celestials are a group of fictional characters that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters first appear in Eternals #1 and were created by writer-artist Jack Kirby....
forced them to limit their contact with humanity 1000 years ago. As a result most modern humans do not believe in their existence anymore. Most are based on actual myths
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
but some are original characters. Their origin isn't clear, though Gaea has claimed to have been the Mother Goddess of each pantheon, under a different identity for each; however, some of the Skyfathers also seem to have simply "emerged" somehow from primordial chaos or nothingness into their own divine realms, only encountering Gaea later in the Earth realm and siring more gods with her, as in the case of the pantheons of the Kami, and the Yazatas.
Council of Godheads
The leaders of the various pantheons (or their representatives) occasionally meet to discuss matters that may affect them. The first time they met (known so far) was approximately 1000 years ago when the Celestials visited Earth for the third time. The Celestials demanded that the gods stop interfering in human affairs or they would close the portals between Earth and the gods' home dimensions. Overpowered by the Celestials, the godheads agreed, but began making plans to fight them when they returned 1000 years later to judge humanity. The Asgardians would attack first, using The DestroyerDestroyer (Thor)
The Destroyer is a fictional object that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The object first appears in Journey into Mystery #118 The Destroyer is a fictional object that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The object first appears in Journey into Mystery #118 The...
as a weapon. This plan was kept secret from most other gods. Gaea and the female rulers of each pantheon also met to discuss a more peaceful solution. They decided to choose twelve humans who would represent the best qualities of the human race, make them immortal, and present them to the Celestials as proof of humanity's worth; these would be known as the Young Gods
Young Gods (comics)
The Young Gods are a fictional group in the Marvel Comics universe. They are a group of twelve young human beings who were chosen by the major pantheons of Earth's goddesses to represent the finest qualities of humanity and the pinnacle of mankind's genetic potential and cultural...
. This plan was also kept secret.
A few years ago, the Celestials did return, and not long after, the Destroyer, powered by the souls of all Asgardians (except Thor
Thor (Marvel Comics)
Thor is a fictional superhero who appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller Jack Kirby....
, who arrived late to the battle), and armed with the gigantic Odinsword, attacked the Celestials but was swiftly destroyed, leaving the Asgardians's spirits scattered. Gaea appeared with the Young Gods, and the Celestials accepted them, judged in favor of humanity, and left Earth, taking the Young Gods with them. Gaea then told Thor he could revive the Asgardians with a portion of each pantheon's essence. Each godhead willingly gave their part, except the Hindu ones (who are ruled by the trinity of Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
and Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
) who voted on the matter and decided that a new Asgardian race would eventually be born. This caused an angry Thor to fight Shiva (or Indra
Indra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
posing as Shiva, this isn't clear) and won, causing him to change his vote and gaining Thor their essence. Thor then revived the Asgardians with it. (Thor vol. 1 # 300-301)
Their next meeting came when four gods of the dead tried to join their infernal realms
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
together to increase their powers; this awakened the Demogorge, who, thinking the time for the current gods to die had come, absorbed them. Discovering this, Odin convened the Council to discuss Demogorge's threat, and they decided to send a team of gods from different pantheons (Thor, Indra, Shango
Shango
In the Yorùbá religion, Sàngó is perhaps one of the most popular Orisha; also known as the god of fire, lightning and thunder...
, Tawa, Horus, Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and has the meaning of "feathered serpent". The worship of a feathered serpent deity is first documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BCE or first century CE...
, and Apollo
Apollo (Marvel Comics)
Apollo is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.Apollo is the God of Light in the Olympian pantheon, and also the god of music, poetry, medicine, and the sciences.-Fictional character biography:...
) to fight Demogorge. He absorbed them all as well, but Thor's spirit forced Demogorge to restore all the absorbed deities, in exchange for the Death Gods restoring the barriers between their realms. (Thor Annual #10)
The Council met again during the events caused by the Infinity Gauntlet, as well as those caused by the Heart of the Infinite
Marvel: The End
Marvel: The End is a six-issue comic book series published in 2003 by Marvel Comics. It was written and penciled by Jim Starlin and inked by Al Milgrom. Marvel: The End is part of the The End line of comics, and is thus far the only publication in that line to actually occur in the actual Marvel...
, but were mostly ineffectual against both menaces.
The Council also tested Thor to see if he was worthy of taking Odin's place in the group after his death, but Thor failed one of the tests when he provided food to a starving people instead of teaching them how to gain more by themselves. (Thor vol. 2 #61)
Celtic gods (Avalonians)
Home: AvalonEgyptian gods
Home: HeliopolisHeliopolis (Marvel Comics)
Heliopolis is a fictional location in the Marvel Universe. It first appeared in Thor #240 , and was created by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema....
Graeco-Roman gods
Home: OlympusOlympus (Marvel Comics)
Olympus is a fictional setting, a location in the Marvel Universe. Adapted from Greek mythology by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, it first appeared in Journey into Mystery Annual #1 ....
Norse Gods
Home: AsgardOther Pantheons in the Marvel Universe
Aztecs, Mayans, Persians, Hindu, Japanese, Africans, Native Americans, Chinese, Polynesians,Finlaands and SkrullSkrull
The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The Skrulls first appeared in Fantastic Four #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby....
.
"Other" Gods
Several beings have either claimed to be gods, or were mistaken for gods. These include:- ApocalypseApocalypse (comics)Apocalypse is a fictional character who is an ancient mutant that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Factor #5 , created by writer Louise Simonson and designed by artist Walter Simonson...
(worshipped as HuitzilopochtliHuitzilopochtliIn Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli, also spelled Uitzilopochtli , was a god of war, a sun god, and the patron of the city of Tenochtitlan. He was also the national god of the Mexicas of Tenochtitlan.- Genealogy :...
, Kali-MaKALIKALI may refer to:* KALI , a radio station licensed to West Covina, California, United States* KALI-FM, a radio station licensed to Santa Ana, California, United States...
, SetSet (mythology)Set was in Ancient Egyptian religion, a god of the desert, storms, and foreigners. In later myths he was also the god of darkness, and chaos...
, possibly others) - Axi-Tun
- Beta Ray BillBeta Ray BillBeta Ray Bill is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Thor #337 and was created by writer-artist Walt Simonson....
(an alien warrior who was an avatar of Thor for a short time and has since been given his own similar powers) - DemonsDemons (Marvel Comics)The Marvel Comics universe hosts a number of demons, many of whom are at times at conflict with gods and angels. All possess varying degrees of mystical power, feed upon souls for self-sustenance, and are inclined towards dark or “black” magic - evil....
(many were originally Elder GodsElder Gods (Marvel Comics)The Elder Gods are fictional characters from the Marvel Comics universe. They were the first generation of Earth's gods, apparently inspired by Greek mythology and the Cthulhu Mythos.-Fictional group history:...
, and/or were worshiped as gods even in their demonic forms) - EternalsEternals (comics)The Eternals are a fictional race of superhumans in the Marvel Comics universe. They are described as an offshoot of the evolutionary process that created sentient life on Earth. The original instigators of this process, the alien Celestials, intended the Eternals to be the defenders of Earth which...
(ZurasZurasZuras is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. He is a member of the Eternals.-Fictional character biography:Zuras was born in Titanos, first city of the Eternals, and is the son of the Eternals Kronos and Daina, and brother of A'Lars...
was mistaken for Zeus, et cetera) - Horusians
- Selene the Black QueenSelene (comics)Selene Gallio is a fictional character, a comic book supervillainess from the Marvel Comics universe. She is a mutant, and an enemy of the X-Men often associated with the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle.-Publication history:...
(worshipped as a goddess in Nova Roma) - Storm (worshipped as a goddess in KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
)
Sources
- Official Handbook of the Marvel UniverseOfficial Handbook of the Marvel UniverseThe Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is an encyclopedic guide which details the fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications...
Deluxe Edition (Gods entry); 2006 edition (Council of Godheads entry); individual character entries
External links
- GODS in the Marvel Universe, at marvunapp.com
- Gods in the Marvel Universe, at MarvelDirectory.com
- Guide to the Mythological Universe - Adapted from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #5