Celestials (Marvel)
The Celestials are a species that feature in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
Origins
The Celestials were a mysterious race of titanic cosmic beings that existed in the universe. Their origins were actually traced aeons ago to a pre-universe known as the first cosmos where they were creations of the sentient embodiment of reality known as the First Firmament. He created life in the form of celestial astro-gods that were like toys and operated as servants who were known as the Aspirants or Dark Celestials who made their own servants. They were industrious in their worship of their creator and the need to gain his favour. It was during this time that a group of multi-coloured cosmic beings formed that were the Celestials who desired to their creations to evolve and gain the power of universes. The Celestials had desired for the universe to evolve with them in order for it to know growth, change and morality. This was at odds with the First Firmaments Aspirants with this resulting in war between the two sides that was brutal that it shattered the cosmos. The rebels detonated unimaginable weapons causing hundreds of new universes to splinter from the First Firmanent's substance. A second cosmos was formed that became a part of a new breed that was the Multiverse with the formation of Eternity. It was here that the rebel Celestials colonised and evolved their own servants the Omegas to oppose the Alphas of the First Firmament that had survived with his Aspirants. During these years, the cosmos was reborn multiple times with the Celestials remaining present in each iteration that included the current cosmos that was Eternity. (Ultimates 2 v2 #5) As light filled the universe, the Celestials came about ordering the chaotic cosmos according to their grand design which was when they encountered a being born from this primordial darkness named Knull. This being resented the actions of the cosmic gods and forged the All Black the Necrosword from the darkness that was the first Symbiote. With it, he killed the Celestial by severing its head and used its body as a forge for its weapon along with fashioning a living suit of armour from the darkness where he sought to continue his war against the gods. (Venom v4 #4)
In time, there were many theories on the true origins of the Celestials which remained a mystery. The Cognitorum of Velsarius Six believed that the entities came from outside this Multiverse entirely. It was speculated that perhaps they even came from the realm of the unknown Beyonders. However, the Philosopix Ultimus of the Uch'tul Hegemony was a stark contrast to the Velsarius assertion as it postulated that the Celestials were the metamorphic result of stars that had reached the end of their life cycles and that the singularities known as black holes served as cocoons that birthed them. However, the Overscholars of the Winding Mist held the view that each Celestial was a survivor of a previous universe similar to Galactus with them believing that the World Devourer would become a Celestial in the next universe after fulfilling his destiny. In Galaxy M31, a legend of a long dead race spoke of the Celestials as being physical manifestations of the evolutionary process and were illusions with no intrinsic reality of their own. A theory made by two former Cosmic Cubes known as Kubik and Kosmos was that the Celestials were in fact the creation of Eternity and that he had sent them forth to gather knowledge. (Fantastic Four Annual v1 #26) Another theory held that they were in fact Uni-Minds formed from the inhabitants of entire planets who were then clad in armor. (Eternals Annual v4 #1)
They had lived in the galaxy long before the Milky Way galaxy had been formed and called the vast universe their home. (Eternals v1 #7) Long ago, the Celestials once numbered as many as the stars themselves. At the beginning of time, an young aspirant race challenged the Celestials for the dominion of all existence. During the final stages of the Celestial war, the aspirants and their foes both were desperate. To combat their enemies, the aspirants created the Godkiller which was a gigantic suit of armor powered by a cosmic artifact called the Heart of the Voldi. With it, the aspirants were able to turn the battle against the Celestials but were unable to win the war. Ultimately, the aspirant race were forced to strip the armor which was used to equip their fleet which ultimately entered into a civil war. This allowed the Celestials to recover and crush their usurper though the Godkiller itself remained trapped inert within a dyson sphere. (Iron Man v5 #13) Another race that the Celestials engaged in warfare with was the Watchers where for countless millennia the two races had stood in conflict. (Fantastic Four v1 #400) At one point, they encountered a species that had a thirst for cosmic conquest with the Celestials intervening in the destruction of this nameless race. Unable to combat the cosmic beings, the inhabitants in their underground shelters engineered a new form of life named Termini with these microbes designed to be their revenge on their destroyers with them being tasked with ending the Celestial's dream of structured, peaceful universe. As they perished, the alien race launched the pod of microbes where it landed on another world and formed to make Terminus. Meanwhile, the Celestials had not noticed the pod and proceeded with laying poison on the creator of the Termini's homeworld in order to ensure no life grew on it again. (Thor Annual v1 #15)
Long ago, the Celestials began a universal plan of promoting evolution among the various worlds as well as judging those that were fit for survival. To accomplish this, they would arrive on worlds and genetically alter the species with them arriving at a later period to judge their creation. They engaged in this behaviour on both Humanity and the Skrulls where they split both races into Eternals and Deviants branches.
Millennia ago, the Celestials sought to create a counter-balance to better control their creations led them to make the Brethren. In the beforetime, it was whispered that vast fleets of the Brethren followed the path of their creators and awaited their judgement on a world whereupon they unleashed themselves to wipe them clean of all life if they were deemed unworthy. From reasons unknown, the Celestials lost interest in the Brethren and eons ago let them loose into the cosmos. (Avengers #339) Many Skrulls believed that their natural shapeshifting abilities were the direct result of Celestial genetic manipulation. (Fantastic Four v1 #400) In fact, during the infancy of their race the Celestials arrived on their world and experimented on the Skrulls as they had done everywhere else in the universe. Similar to those worlds, the Celestials created a normal Latent, powered Eternal and shapeshifting Deviant strains of the species. (Silver Surfer v3 #5) Each world visited by the Celestials was subjected to four Hosts with many worlds failing their judgment that the race of space gods would continue until the Day of Alpha. (Eternals v1 #7)
Earth
Around 4 billion years ago, an account held that one of their kind known as the Progenitor had been infected with a dark disease called the Horde. The entity later crashed onto the primitive world of Earth where its death gave rise to life on the planet in an act that was described as a cosmic accident. Then around 1 billion years ago, the compatriot of the Progenitor was seeking that Celestial out with this entity being known as Zgreb the Aspirant. Upon finding the Progenitor, the Celestial was driven mad and threatened to destroy the planet when it was confronted by the world's first primordial superheroes. (Avengers v8 #5) This led to the rogue Celestial being defeated by the combined might of Odin, a Phoenix host, a Spirit of Vengeance, Agamotto, an Iron Fist, a Black Panther and a Starbrand wearer. They managed to entomb the Fallen beneath the Earth and sought to hide its existence to prevent it from calling forth the Final Host. (Marvel Legacy v1 #1) Afterwards, the First Host responded where they defeated Odin and his colleagues but rather than retrieve Zgreb they abandoned their comrade who was infected by the Horde turning the entity into a Dark Celestial called Zgreb the Sorrower who remained trapped and waited for others to free it. (Avengers v8 #5) The Celestials decided not to purge the planet of the infection as they had hoped that the species that would develop on Earth would develop a natural immunity that could be used to vanquish the Horde in the future. (Avengers v8 #6) On Earth, the First Host encountered the primitive animalistic ancestors of mankind who became subject to their experiments. (Eternals v1 #7) During their experiments, the Serpent Men attempted to get the cosmic beings to bestow their gifts on them but the titanic entities turned their judgment on the demonic servants of Set and forced them to flee. (Uncanny X-Men Annual v1 1989) Among the larger number of unaltered humans, the Celestials implanted a latent gene that would manifest in powers in the far future which was when they would come to judge the species. (What If? v1 #23) In this time, the Deviants of Earth came to revere the Dreaming Celestial who they regarded as the Black Celestial and believed he was responsible for creating their race against the plan of his kin. (Fantastic Four v1 #340) During the Second Host, their wrath and discipline led to the destruction of numerous civilizations on Earth forcing humanity to develop in new ways. In the Third Host, cultivation and inspection was the task of the Celestials on Earth where they were seen as gods among superstitious mankind. Judgment of the world came at the hands of the Fourth Host that arrived to determine the planet's potential. (Eternals v1 #7) The Gatherers were used in the role of evolving the human race and after departing several of these robotic drones were left behind on Earth where they became buried beneath the surface and forgotten for thousands of years. (X-Force v1 #97)
The most noted development of the Celestials was their involvement in the history of the planet Earth during numerous time periods. They were involved in at least three visitations to the planet; each time, they ltered the planet in some manner. The first host of Celestials came to the world around one million years ago where they conducted numerous genetic tests as well as experiments with the native intelligent life forms which were Human beings. Once complete, the Celestials brought abot the creature of Deviant and Eternal branches within Humanity whereupon they departed.
Around twenty five thousand years ago, the Celestials second host arrived in order to check upon the development of the experimentation of the first host. When they arrived, they decided that the directions of the Human Deviants on the planet were counterproductive to their plans and thus destroyed the Deviant stronghold of Lemuria. The sheer power of this destructive act ld to tectonic plates shifting and the sinking of the continent of Atlantis which sang beneath the sea and as a result shattered the power base of the Deviants on the Earth. After which, the Celestials departed once more in order to allow their experiment to continue to develop.
During their visit, they discovered that the Deviants had created a powerful and dangerous creature known as Spore that they proceeded to destroy though a portion of the organism survived. (Wolverine v2 #21)
A millennium ago, the Third Host of the Celestials was expected to arrive in order to check upon their experiments on Earth with the purpose of this mission being cultivation and inspection. This attracted the attention of the Gods of the planet who had begun to learn of the coming visitation and began to worry as they learnt of a coming judgement from the Celestials. This resulted in the convening of the Council of God-Heads with the Asgardians and the Olympians attending to discuss their actions. They decided that a delegation was to be assembled in order to confront the space-creatures about their arrival. During the confrontation, Ajak of the Eternals arrived in order to speak of his creators mission to Earth which was the cultivation of seeds sown millennia ago. The Gods decided instead to strike and attacked the Celestial but the attack did not harm the entity who responded with an attack which left Asgard, Nirvana and Olympus. However, Arishem stopped the onslaught on the god-realms as the Celestials did not seek their destruction or that of the gods but intended to silence toe Skyfathers from further attacks. In response, the gods of Earth bowed before the Celestial Third Host and vowed that their kind would not impede their kinds progress in the coming millennium. (Thor v1 #300)
Centuries ago, a Celestial came to take notice of a Mutant Egyptian warlord En Sabah Nur and struck a deal with the human. This led to his transformation into Apocalypse where he was afforded a great many gifts but was told that in the future there would be a time where he would have to make payment for them. (X-Men v2 #186)
Judgment Day
Lady Lotus sought to acquire the second power gem from the temple in the Andes but was pursued by Bucky Barnes who was at the time Captain America. He pursued her to the site where she seemingly put him under her mental domination and used him to acquire the second gem. However, Bucky simply pretended to be under her control and after getting it she shattered the artifact. With its destruction, the gem in Lotus's possession left her hand and took the place of the shattered one whereupon the temple collapsed. (Captain America: Forever Allies v1 #4)
During the emergence of the Super-Ego mass, an army of Celestials suddenly warped into that space seemingly attacking the gargantuan biological mass. However, the High Evolutionary believed that they were perhaps aiding in the next step of the evolutionary cycle. (Thor v1 #450)
Maelstrom who had become an agent of Oblivion appeared before the Celestial host over an unknown world during the midst of their judgement where he told them that their actions would be pointless as the destruction of the universe was at hand with him having a role for them afterwards. (Quasar v1 #24)
The Young Gods after falling into a madness came to believe that their great purpose set forth by the Celestials was to act on their own. Thus, under the direction of Varua, the came to seek to create their own Celestial as they believed these cosmic beings were formed from planetary Uni-Minds. This saw them building a giant armour and in Madripoor the Young Gods formed a Uni-Mind that began absorbing the minds of everyone in the vicinity. The purpose was to use this Panhuman Uni-Mind to inhabit the armour and become a new Celestial they called Terran that was intended to join the Fifth Host. The Eternals responded to this incident and stopped Varua from achieving her goals. (Eternals Annual v4 #1)
Following Decimation, Apocalypse sought lead the surviving Mutant race that retained their powers following M-Day. However, he came to be defeated by the X-Men and in desperation he fled through a wormhole. Expecting to die, he was saved by a Celestial who looked to claim their payment for making their gifts to him. (X-Men v2 #186)
After the death of Sanjay, Archangel who was the successor of Apocalypse sought a new successor and went before the Dreaming Celestial to pledge his service as the new evolutionary caretaker. He then received a Death Seed which he intended to place in Psylocke to make her his new Horseman of Death. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #13)
On Earth, the actions of Mr. Sinister saw the Mutant scientist enter into the Dreaming Celestial where he detached the entities head and used its power to alter reality to create a facsimile of London based on Essex's imagination. The tampering with Tiamut, however, attracted the attention of his kin who arrived on Earth in order to determine the fate of their comrade. They were greeted by the Extinction Team who had successfully defeated Nathaniel Essex and restored the Dreaming Celestial. With Tiamut's indicating him being unharmed, the Celestials once more departed Earth. (Uncanny X-Men v2 #3)
Later on, Genocide looked to become the new evolutionary caretaker of Earth and enacted the ritual that summoned a Celestial Gardener. However, upon its arrival, the Celestial was slain by the Apocalypse Twins who were looking to enact their own plans for the Earth. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #7) This involved a Mutant rapture where they intended to transport all Mutants to another world called Planet X that was to be their new home. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #11) Relocated on the Apocalypse Ark allowed human Mutants to be spared from destruction as Exitar was sent to destroy the Earth for the death of a Celestial. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #15) It was only through time travel that this fate was averted with the heroes of Earth working together to slay Exitar. However, this turned out to be part of Kang the Conqueror's plan as he absorbed the defeat Celestials power for himself. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #21) The Avengers Unity Division managed to thwart Kang and depower him where he vowed revenge against them. Meanwhile, the Sentry came to take the carcass of Exitar into the depths of space but warned that this incident was likely to attract the attention of the other Celestials. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #22)
Mr. Knife would travel to the Graveyard of the Celestials that held the dead remains of these cosmic beings in order to briefly animate them to point the way to the Black Vortex to gain one of the greatest artifacts in the universe. (Legendary Star-Lord v1 #4)
During the Incursion crisis, the Illuminati sought various solutions to the destruction of Earth’s in the Multiverse. They attempted a metaphysical solution by asking Galactus to arrange a meeting with the Celestials. The titanic beings arrived where there seemed to be some progress in enlisting their collective aid but they simply disappeared. (New Avengers v3 #29) Unknown to anyone, the Celestials fell into a trap by the Beyonders with the last of their kind battling the Ivory Kings. Despite their power, they were unable to defeat their foes with the Beyonders engaging similar battles against Celestial hosts across the Multiverse as the Ivory Kings sought to destroy all of reality. (New Avengers v3 #30) The last of the Celestials managed to survive the purge of the Beyonders in the previous Multiverse by hiding in the deep folds of space-time. The newly formed Logos found them and sought to eliminate them as it desired to be the lone force of creation in the new Multiverse but was stopped by the Neverqueen. (Ultimates 2 v2 #4) At the height of the Eternity War, the First Firmament was thwarted in his plans to absorb Eternity. During this time, the Neverqueen used her power to help resurrect the Celestials who emerged as the Fifth Host and aided in the battle against the First Firmament by attacking his Dark Celestial servants. (Ultimates 2 v1 #100) Afterwards, the ranks of the Celestials were devastated in an attack by the Final Host who send their fallen bodies raining onto the surface of the Earth. (Avengers v8 #1) It was the re-formation of the Avengers who worked together in defeating the Final Host. (Avengers v8 #7) With their defeat, the surviving Celestials captured their dark brethren along with taking Loki for his part in bringing them. Before departing, they brought the dead body of the Progenitor to the surface but were unable to bring their fallen comrade to life though they instead brought it to the North Pole where it came to serve as the new headquarters of the superheroes with it becoming Avengers Mountain. (Avengers v8 #8) After Knull was freed from his prison, he headed towards Earth where en route he decided to settle his score with the Celestials and killed three of their number where he animated their corpses with Symbiotes to make them part of his army. (King in Black v1 #1)
When Druig lead the Eternals to war against the mutant nation of Krakoa, Ajak and Makkari formulated a plan. Abducting Mister Sinister, for his knowledge gained by debasing the Dreaming Celestial, and recruiting Tony Stark, they set about reviving the Progenitor. This was not to be a simple resurrection. Instead, they would re-write the "programming" of the Celestial, creating a being with ideals more aligned with their own. This new god would, if they succeeded, forcibly end Druig's war. Upon waking, the Progenitor did just that. However, the Progenitor quickly surmised that the inhabitants of Earth had driven it to ruin. He declared they would have twenty-four hours to prove themselves more good than evil, else he would destroy the world. (A.X.E.: Judgment Day v1 #2) Ultimately, the Progenitor judged humanity as unworthy thus determining that the species needed to be wiped out leading to the heroes of the planet united against it but they were all defeated by the Celestial. (A.X.E.: Judgment Day v1 #5) It was then that the Progenitor demanded the Machine that was Earth to self-destruct; however, the Machine refused and Phastos reset it before the Progenitor could cause it to explode. (A.X.E.: Death to the Mutants v1 #3) Meanwhile, some of the Eternals, X-Men, Sinister, and Stark infiltrated the Celestial to activate its own self-destruct while continuing to be judged by the Progenitor. Upon reaching the core, they convinced the Progenitor that it itself is not worthy which resulted in it undoing every death it caused and reverted back to Avengers Mountain. It also empowered Ajak so that she could be the god it could not. However, the Progenitor did not truly die and continued to observe the world and its inhabitants. (A.X.E.: Judgment Day v1 #6)
Overview
The Celestials appear as massive 2,000 feet tall Humanoids covered in a form of armour that was theorized by the Eternals Ikarris to be a containment vessel simply for them to interact with the physical world and that they were infact beings of pure energy. Near the brainstem of the powerful space entities was a "Continuum Cortex" which allowed them to provide instanteous transport throughout the universe and contained sensors capable of monitoring disturbances in the space-time continuum.
In appearance, the Celestials were titanic beings in bipedal armor with them each being twice a thousand feet in height. (What If? v1 #23) These casings were needed for them to interact with the physical world. (Eternals v3 #5) It was claimed that none had seen these entities without their armor with theories stating that they actually exist in hyperspace. This train of thinking held that the armor was simply the means through which they interacted with the physical plane of reality. The shells were thus immune to a wide range of attacks though the use of abilities derived from hyperspace had the ability of cutting through the armor. (Fantastic Four v1 #400) Though capable of being killed, the energy of the dead giant simply returned to the White Hot Room where it awaited rebirth. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #22) Unimaginable cosmic energy was said to course through the brain of a Celestial. (Nova v7 #3) A Celestial's cerebellum contained a dormant brain core even when dead with certain ghost functions still maintaining it. It was able to keep aware of events within itself which could be sensed through its thoughts. (Guardians of the Galaxy v2 #5) Celestials were able to communicate to other members of its kind through a quantum telepathic messages. (Guardians of the Galaxy v2 #17) Built into the brain stem was the Continuum Cortex that served as a nexus point to anywhere and anywhen in the universe. (Nova v4 #9) A strange fact of Celestial pathology was that they were all linked to one another by quantum telepathy that meant that they were all connected no matter when or where they were located. (Guardians of the Galaxy v2 #16) These star-spanning beings were able to step from their vessels through screens composed of energy. (Thor v1 #300) Miniature human sized versions of them known as Celestial Drones resided within their bodies and served as defensive mechanisms that attacked intruders. These constructs were superhuman humanoids that could fly and project energy blasts. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #13)
Celestials were described as beings of trasfinite level of power many orders of magnitude beyond those possessed by sapient Cosmic Cubes. (Fantastic Four Annual v1 #26) Celestials were able to kill people by projecting their deaths into their own minds by making them believe mental scenarios that were physically not occurring but the trauma of the experience led to them experiencing their own demise. (Eternals v1 #11) They could also speak into the mind of people through the art of telepathy and do so over great cosmic distances. (X-Men v2 #186) It was said that a mere fraction of an individual Celestials unfathomable power was able to cleanse the surface of a world of all life. (Quasar v1 #24) Their immeasurable and more potent power could be unleashed where it could cross dimensional rifts and strike other-dimensional locations. (Thor v1 #300) They were equally capable of precision tasks such as irradiating a single series of DNA molecules within a creature in order to alter their genetic blueprint. (What If? v1 #23)
Within their impregnable armor, the mind of a Celestial was said to be incomprehensible and their thoughts encompassed space and time that moved on trails across dimensions. (Eternals v1 #7) It was said that their thoughts were unfathomable to anyone except their own kind. (What If? v1 #23) They were noted for being a star-spanning race of genetic engineers who typically performed their experiments on a planets highest lifeform. (Fantastic Four v1 #400) This was with the goal of generating a final stage from their experiment that they expect to arrive on Alpha Day. (Eternals v1 #7) Their number had been referred to as experimenters, analyzers, probers and testers where they were both feared as well as worshipped as space gods. (New Warriors v5 #3) The laws of the Celestials were said to be ironclad to the point that they did not deviate from their actions once judgment was passed. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #17)
On worlds with life, the Celestials selected long lines of evolutionary caretakers that were charged with ensuring that evolution took its natural course. These agents were implanted with a device known as the Death Seed that provided them great power for their task. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #10) A caretaker's purpose was to safeguard the blossoming of progress by protecting it from weaker more populous species. Upon ascension, a caretaker selected an heir who was implanted with the Death Seed with this individual succeeding their master if ever they were killed. This individual thus became Death and served as the caretakers guardian and protector. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #15) Certain species were defined by the Celestial Continuum as being Technologically Inclined Life Foragers (TILF) indicating them to be destructive races that liked an audience. Such races expanded out of curiousity and surrounded themselves with innocent bystanders before imploding as civilisations. (Avengers v8 #60)
It was said that the Celestial language consisted of over twelve million lexically distinct pitch-accents and to speak them would drive individuals underneath a class 3 sentience into a state of chronic insanity and catatonia. (Eternals v4 #4) Artifacts of their kind were sometimes inscribed in the Celestial language with inscribing's being present on scrolls of the Eternal's and Deviants. (Eternals v3 #3) Aduum was the Celestial word for mankind. (Eternals v1 #7)
Certain Celestials such as Gardeners were tasked with the express mission of searching for new worlds and instilling them with life. To achieve this end, they were provided a supply of Life Seeds for this task.
Cells onboard their ships were coated in a durable substance called Kirbmantium. (Marvel Monsters: Devil Dinosaur v1 #1) Individual Celestials could carry tools with them such as gathering devices which shot out living metal that sought out targets and made them docile for experimentation. (What If? v1 #23) They possessed technology that was very advanced with their facilities holding molecular decoders that could resurrect individuals through a micro-process of atomic restructuring. (Fantastic Four v1 #340)
A creation of the Celestials were the Death Seeds that were implanted in a line of beings selected by them on a chosen world. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #10) They were said to be imbued with massive amounts of cosmic power that was on par with the Phoenix Force. (Age of Apocalypse v1 #8) It was said that the Death Seed empowered its bearer to serve as guardian for the planet's evolutionary caretaker and would grow their replacement when they fell. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #15)
Death Seeds could be purged from their host through the use of a Life Seed. Life Seeds were only created by Celestial Gardeners every few thousand years. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #10) These seeds were planted on barren worlds by the Gardeners in order to grow new life. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #11) The gathering of Life-Seeds was conducted for analysis with these capsules being the stored atoms of living organisms with these containing samples of local lifeforms. Capsule-activators located on the devices when pressed began the atomic re-assembly process returning the stored object to its previous state. This process saw the lock-like capsule dissolve in the fire of atom-flow and at cyclotron speeds returned to normal. (Eternals v1 #7)
Amongst their technology included devices known as the Life Seed and the Death Seed. The Death Seed was created to program a planet's native sentient being into an agent of evolution and they became dedicated to fulfilling the Celestials purpose. These beings typically took the role of Death amongst the Horsemen of Apocalypse and elevated to their true programming should their master be slain. Once a Death was killed, a new Death Seed was needed in order to create a replacement. In contrast, the Life Seed was filled with celestial energies and had immense energy reservoirs to the point that it could create life on an entire planet within moments.
Another relic of the Celestials was a hand-shaped device called the Creation Constellation that had the power to remake a being into god-like figures. Its purpose was to elevate lower beings to possibly be replacements for the Celestials in the future. However, the devices power was too great and overwhelmed the user thus driving them mad in the process. (Domino: Hotshots v1 #5) The Constellation was shown to infect living beings through contact as it transformed the host into a cosmic entity. (Domino: Hotshots v1 #1) According to one account, they were responsible for making the Norn Stones as tools to help traverse dimensions. To control them, they crafted the Matrix Stone that could bond to its user and increased their strength. (Symbiote Spider-Man: Crossroads v1 #4)
They were able to create duplicates called Replicoids that were empowered by their cosmic energy with the process capable of being accomplished on races such as Asgardians. (Thor v1 #389) A further kind of Celestial Golem were the Gatherers that were humanoid biological constructs whose brains were imprinted with the processes that allowed for the evolution of life. (X-Force v1 #96) These robotic Gatherers were dispatched on worlds to collect, categorise and conduct genetic tests for the alteration of indigenous species. Such species were then able to restructure the DNA of these life forms and similarly had the capacity to devolve beings into more primitive forms. It took enormous amounts of energy to activate the functions of a Gatherer. (X-Force v1 #97) They were also able to engineer new life by inserting genetic coding into species to create servant races. Such a means was used to make the Brethren that were born from germ cultures such as bacilli, spirilla, and cocci that were imbued with intelligence and a humanoid form to become a warrior race that operated as tools for their creators. Their bacterial components meant that they were able to infect living organisms and bring about their death. (Avengers #339)
Another tool used are Extermination Drones that were large island shaped constructs tasked with expunging failed genetic experiments. These machines operated through the use of macro-scale probability manipulation fields in order to trigger extinction level events on a given planet such as by coaxing super volcanoes to explode in a mega-eruption that would destroy an entire planetary biosphere. Its capabilities meant that it could undergo a feedback loop in the presence of another strong probability field that could unravel the fabric of reality. To protect itself, it made use of a shifting web of entropy magnifying probability fields that caused inorganic structures to undergo sudden structural failures whilst organic beings suffer from sudden spontaneous catastrophic medical issues. Low level probability field users were able to safely navigate the inside of the drone. (A+X v1 #10)
Members
- Arishem the Judge :
- Ashema the Listener :
- Devron the Experimenter :
- Dreaming Celestial :
- Ea the Wise :
- Eson the Searcher :
- Exitar the Exterminator :
- Gamiel the Manipulators :
- Gammenon the Gatherer :
- Hargen the Measurer :
- Jemiah the Analyzer :
- Nezarr the Calculator :
- One Above All :
- Oneg the Prober :
- Scathan the Approver :
- Tefral the Surveyor :
- Ziran the Tester :
- Progenitor : a Celestial infected by the Horde who fell to Earth 4 billion years ago and whose life essence gave rise to super-powered humanity. (Avengers v8 #5)
- Zgreb the Aspirant : considered the lover of the Progenitor who sought its compatriot out and arrived on Earth 1 billion years ago only to find their love dead. This drove Zgreb mad the Celestial was confronted by Odin alongside his compatriots that served as the Earth's first heroes. Together, they defeated Zgreb who was seemingly slain but actually fallen dormant and left by the other Celestials. During this time, Zgreb was corrupted by the Horde to become a breed of Dark Celestial and became known as Zgreb the Sorrower. (Avengers v8 #5)
- Obliteron :
- Valknar the Exhumer : a member of the Final Host whose upper body was engulfed in green flames. (Avengers v8 #6)
- Callus the Void : a black cloaked member of the Final Host who wielded a mighty scythe. (Avengers v8 #6)
- Jovion the Enactor : Taking into account the danger that the Celestials posed to Earth, Doom had the Hellrock, an old mutroid prison, covered in Adamantium and shot into space to kill Jovion the Enactor. The body of Jovion was later salvaged by the Cabal and crashed into the Wastelands, creating a Celestial Garden called the God Garden. (Spider-Man 2099: Exodus v1 #4)
Notes
- The Celestials were created by Jack Kirby where they made their first appearance in Eternals v1 #2 (August, 1976).
- According to Uncanny X-Force v1 #13 (2011), Celestial technology was identical to that within the Weapon Plus facility known as The World.
- In an interview on CBR, writer Rick Remender commented, "I’ve worked all this out. We’re going to be seeing a lot of the mythology of Apocalypse carry on into “Uncanny Avengers” moving forward. It’s not quite a blood line. Apocalypse was the first mutant and thus was chosen by the Celestials to protect and care for the other mutants and to make sure that the humans didn’t wipe them out before they had an opportunity to flourish. That was his cosmically granted charge. Before him, there were Neanderthal versions of these evolutionary caretakers. I don’t have a word for them. Jerome Opena and I designed a Celestial symbol for them because that seemed cooler. I call them evolutionary caretakers. Every species has one and every new emerging species has one. Basically, the Celestials come down and go, “Hey you. Here’s this armor and some super powers. Make sure nothing bad happens."
- On his website, writer Cullen Bunn revealed that his Fearless Defenders book was to fear a rogue Celestial as an antagonist where he said that, “A rogue Celestial has gathered its own group of “Valkyrie.” The mission of these Celestial Riders is to usher dying worlds into Oblivion. And they’ve targeted Earth. During the final confrontation, the Defenders will coax Galactus into aiding them. (This served as the early inspiration for our first arc. Note, that I stripped some information out of this one. I’ve gotta keep some secrets!)”.
Alternate Versions
- In Earth X v1 #0 (1999), the Celestials appeared in the Earth X reality that was designated as Earth-9997 in the Multiverse. They were described as beings of energy that were encased in a vibranium armor that was needed to prevet their dissipation. They were shown to reproduce by planting a fragment of their essence within a planet which in turn matured into a new Celestial over the course of eons with the birth leading to the death of all living beings on the surface. As a result, Galactus actively opposed them by devouring the incubating Celestial eggs in order to prevent the cosmic race from overpopulating the universe.
- In Mutant X v1 #12 (1999), the Celestials appeared in the alternate reality of Mutant X that was designated as Earth-1298 in the Multiverse. These Celestials openly opposed the Goblin Entity, an all powerful being that consumed entire galaxies and the polar opposite of the Phoenix Force. While they were ultimately successful in imprisoning their enemy, they would die from the injuries they sustained during the battle. The Goblin Entity escaped its prison several years later by attaching itself to the life force of Madelyne Pryor.
- In What If? Newer Fantastic Four v1 #1 (2008), the Celestials appeared in a What If? reality that was designated as Earth-90266 in the Multiverse. Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet defeated the Celestials where Ziran's arm was rescued by the new Fantastic Four by way of a Negative Zone portal. Once in their possession, Tony Stark manages to study it and determines that the armor was controlled through sheer willpower and thought alone. This leads to him adjusting it to respond to his mind whereupon it shapes itself into an Iron Man armor.
- In Guardians of the Galaxy v2 #16 (2009), the Celestials were shown in a possible alternate future timeline known as Earth-669116 in the Multiverse. During this time, the Fault had engulfed all of known space causing the universes gradual destruction. The Badoon in this time were believed to had made use of the last Cosmic Cube and had utilised it to enslave the last Celestials. They chained them around Earth's Sun creating the Celestial Engine that they used to create the last bubble of reality that survived the destruction of the universe.
- In Marvel Adventures: Super Heroes v2 #11 (2011), the Celestials were shown to inhabit an alternate reality that was designated as Earth-20051 in the Multiverse. Similar to their mainstream versions, the judged worlds that were developing life and determining if they were fit to continue to survive. One of their number remained buried on Earth for reasons unknown where he lay beneath a mountain until he was discovered by the Hulk in modern times. He called the Fantastic Four with the superheroes defending the Celestial from the Leader who sought to pilfer its advanced technology. After the villains defeat, the Fantastic Four were looking to store the Celestial somewhere to prevent others from attempting to seek it out.
- In Avengers Academy v1 #28 (2012), a Celestial was shown to be present on Dinosaur World in the universe designated as Earth-78411 in the Multiverse. It was seen as a god by the natives who was going to judge the planet and find it wanting which was why the Hag of the Pits crafted a jewel that was to empower a chosen one with the ability to turn into any prehistoric creature to be their saviour.
- In X-Men '92 v2 #8 (2016), the Celestials were shown in an alternate reality designated Earth-121893 that was based on the 1990s animated television series. According to this reality, in ancient times there was a race of Mutants known as the M'Kraan who evolved beyond their forms to become the Celestials. These cosmic Mutants strode across the stars with the most fearsome of their number being Xodus who came to fear that the rise of Mutants on other worlds could lead to the rise of a race that would replace his own. Thus, on worlds where Mutants flourished, Xodus arrived in his role as the Harvester where he left destruction in his wake. This attracted the attention of the other Celestials who found his methods unscientific and fought a fierce battle against him where they succeeded in banishing from their universe forever. Thus, he became known as Xodus the Forgotten but had long sought his return.
- In Thanos v2 #14 (2017), the Celestials appeared in a potential future timeline that was designated as Earth-TRN666 in the Multiverse. It was shown that King Thanos killed all his enemies including the Celestials whose bones were used to build his palace as he ruled the universe.
In other media
Television
- In Avengers Assemble, the Celestials were mentioned in the animated series episode "Widow's Run" where Rocket Raccoon listed them as one of the species that would come to Earth to claim the Infinity Stones.
- In Guardians of the Galaxy, Knowhere was mentioned as being the head of a deceased Celestial in the episode "Road to Knowhere".
- In Marvel's Spider-Man, the Celestials made a cameo appearance in the setting of the animated television series third season Maximum Venom in the promo "The Secret Story of Venom". They were shown to be responsible for spreading light and life in the cosmos bringing them into conflict with a primordial being named Knull. He battled them but as they were many he was defeated leading to Knull forging a weapon from his own shadows shadows thus creating intelligent servants called 'Klyntar'. With them at his side, he battled and defeated the Celestials whereupon he discarded the Klyntar that spawned a race of parasitic Symbiotes.
Films
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Celestials appeared in the shared continuity setting.
- In Guardians of the Galaxy, Knowhere was shown which was described in the live-action film as being the severed head of a Celestial being. After acquiring the Infinity Stone, the Collector gave a back story on its origin which included one showing Eson the Searcher who used it to purge a world of life.
- In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Ego described himself as being a Celestial who required his genes to be inherited by his humanoid progeny so that they could inherit the power allowing him to accomplish his goals. As a Celestial, he controlled a humanoid avatar to travel the universe. His planetary form was a living extension of his Celestial consciousness. Over the course of many years, he planted thousands of alien seedlings to expand his existence across all life-sustaining planets. However, Ego needed another Celestial's assistance to activate them, so he fathered children with various alien races and had Yondu Udonta retrieve them so he could gauge their Celestial powers. Quill is the only child who gained his father's Celestial abilities, though he loses them after killing Ego and foiling his plans.
- In Eternals, the Celestials appeared in the setting of the 2021 live-action film. They were said to come before the six singularities and the dawn of creation when the first sun brought light into the universe. Under their care, they maintained the balance that was the infinite cycle of creation and destruction resulting in the exchange of energy. This energy was gathered from host planets in order to create suns, generate gravity, and produce heat and light which resulted in the formation of new galaxies. Without their work, it was said that the universe would fall into darkness and thus they were deemed essential to the maintenance of the cosmos. For this to occur, they planted Celestial seeds within host planets that grew within the core of the world where it was nourished by the growth of intelligent life. To ensure intelligent life to develop, the existence of predators needed to be eliminated leading to the creation of Deviants. These fed on the predators with the intention of intelligent life becoming the dominant species but these became apex predators themselves that preyed on the native life forms. As a result, the Prime Celestial Arishem created artificial beings called Eternals in the World Forge that were sent to eliminate the Deviants. Teams of 10 Eternals were deployed on their assignments where they had false memories of their past and helped allow the Celestial seed to mature until it gained the necessary energy for the Emergence whereupon a new Celestial was born from the world which was destroyed in the birth. With their task complete, the Eternals had their memories wiped and sent to the next host world to continue their mission.
- In Thor: Love and Thunder, the Celestials appeared in the setting of the live-action film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A Celestial Gardener and a Mad Celestial were seen outside the Council of Godheads chamber when Thor's group was fleeing from Omnipotence City.
Video games
- In Marvel Avengers Alliance, the Celestials were only briefly mentioned in the backstory of the Destroyer.
- In Marvel Heroes, the Celestials were referenced in the setting of the MMORPG video game. They were mentioned in Cable's ultimate attack named Graymalkin where it was said that the Professor was a Celestial AI that directed his orbital stations firepower to the surface.
- In Marvel: War of Heroes, the Celestial Gardener appeared as a playable card in the video game where it was said to be responsible for seeding life and assigning a Caretaker to serve as a guide for evolution on those worlds.
- In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, a Celestial appeared in the setting of the action-adventure video game in DLC content. It was revealed that Doctor Doom awoke a Celestial from its slumber using the power of the Soul Stone in order to bring about judgement to the people of Earth. Earth's heroes were able to defeat it causing him to use the Soul Stone to give himself god-like power to defeat the superheroes but was defeated. While the heroes defeat the Celestial, Mister Fantastic realizes Doom's motives and convinces him to join the heroes to stop the new threat instead.
Other
- In Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, the Celestials appeared in the setting of the enclosed roller coaster ride at Epcot. Eson the Searcher appeared as the primary antagonist located near the Wonders of Xandar Pavilion. He was shown stealing a Cosmic Generator from Nova Corps to create a portal to the dawn of time to erase the Earth from existence, resulting in a chase where the Guardians, Nova Corps, and riders work together to get it back.
Appearances
- Eternals v1: (1976)
- Thor v1:
- Fantastic Four v1:
- X-Men v2:
- Uncanny X-Force v1:
- Uncanny X-Men v2:
- Uncanny Avengers v1:
- Iron Man v5: (2013)
- A + X v1 #10: (2013)
- Ultimates 2:
- Avengers v8:
- Venom v4:
- Domino: Hotshots v1:
- Avengers v8:
- Kling in Black v1:
- Symbiote Spider-Man: Crossroads v1:
- A.X.E.: Judgment Day v1:
- A.X.E.: Death to the Mutants v1:
External Links
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