New Gods

The New Gods from Death of the New Gods v1 #1.

The New Gods are a race of deities that feature in DC Comics.

History

Origin

The New Gods existence came long ago before time could be measured as they traced their lineage to the Old Gods of Urgrund. This older race of deities split their world in a fiery holocaust with their death creating a godwave of energy that swept across the universe. As the Old Gods died, their world was split asunder that in turn formed two giant planetary bodies known as New Genesis and Apokolips. This began what was known as the Fourth World with its inhabitants becoming known as the New Gods. Their kin also were formed amongst the deities of Earth when the godwave empowered the likes of the Olympian Gods as well as brought about the rise of latter day human superheroes with countless worlds being seeded with the potential for near-omnipotent power.

During their attempts to bring order, they were said to had encountered the New Gods waging battle between themselves on the plain of Ahmeggon. This served as a midway point between New Genesis and Apokolips where the Oans encountered the factions from those two respective worlds. This saw them intervening where they attributed them to being chaotic entities similar to magic that pretended to be gods and looked to eliminate them.

According to this account, the New Gods established their Utopian empire spanned a dozen star systems and hundreds of planets. When they encountered a non-human race, their hubris led to a great war. Over centuries this race discovered the Anti-Life Equation, and built technology to access its power. When the scientists attempted to use it, their own planet was destroyed and a dark force — the Anti-Life Entity — was unleashed. The Entity swept across the galaxy, consuming it and expanding until it unexpectedly began to contract. The force of this contraction destroyed a 200-square-light-year area of space. This was the destruction of the Old Gods. Two surviving worlds in one system evolved into New Genesis and Apokolips. They eventually learned that the Anti-Life explosion had walled them off from the rest of the universe. Only centuries later did they develop the means to travel outside of it, by combining the technologies of the Mother Box and the Boom Tube. (Cosmic Odyssey v1 #1)

Through Metron, the inhabitants of Apokolips gained the ability to open a matter threshold dimensional door that allowed them to conduct a raid of New Genesis. This attack was repelled by Izaya who managed to slay the Apokoliptian General Steppenwolf but Darkseid struck from the rear with a deadly rain of planetoids thus triggering a techno-cosmic war. Terrifying mutations and God Machines were deployed between the two sides that ravaged the cosmos. Such devastation in time horrified Izaya who rejected the war and decided to seek peace with this chain of events giving rise to the Pact. This saw the rulers of Apokolips and New Genesis exchange children in an effort to create a lasting peace. (New Gods v1 #7)

In the year 40,000 BC, a group of New Gods that consisted of Lightray, Metron and Orion arrived on the primitive world of Earth that was dominated by early Neanderthals. Finding these primitive cavemen, the New Gods decided to improve upon the Earth and provided its people the gifts of fire, inspiration along with magic. In addition, they built four cities known as Falias, Findias, Murias and Gorias where they lived as well as worked. In this time, they experimented upon one of the Neanderthal and endowned him with abilities far beyond normal humans. Transforming him into a human-New God hybrid, Aurakles was provided with technology beyond the capabilities of his kind in order to lead his people as well as defend the world. Eventually, the New Gods departed the planet but left Aurakles behind as the planet's champion who was considered the Earth's first superhero. (Seven Soldiers of Victory v1 #1)

Around 15,000 years ago, Uxas of the New Gods traveled to the planet Earth where his machinations led to a schism amongst the Earth's gods. This brought about the emergence of the twin Greco-Roman pantheons on the world. Uxas later resumed his god name of Darkseid and began his reign of terror on Apokolips as well as led a war against New Genesis.

At some point around 2,000 years ago, the Apokoliptian known as Rip Roar stole one of the Super Cycles of New Genesis and imprinting his mind on it. This saw the villain being imprisoned on the planet Earth for thousands of years where he believed the cycle would free him at some point in the future. (Young Justice v1 #2)

Fourth World

Superman was blasted by Darkseid's Omega Effect and transported to Armagetto. He noticed that an asteroid belt circled Apokolips and wondered if New Genesis had been destroyed. (Superman #3) Superman was amnesiac and like Orion before him, became a hero to the Lowlies. He allied with Amazing Grace, who turned out to be the sister of Glorious Godfrey, a servant of Darkseid. (Adventures of Superman v1 #426) Orion and Lightray were sent to rescue Superman, who had been brainwashed by Grace and indoctrinated by Granny Goodness. Orion's Mother Box restored Superman, who managed to out-fly Darkseid's Omega beams and caused them to strike Darkseid himself. The villain was spent, and sent Superman back to Earth. (Action Comics v1 #586)

Metron's curiosity led him to discover the existence of this Anti-Life Entity, which he unwittingly unleashed into the universe anew. Darkseid found Metron catatonic and learned about the Entity as well. (Cosmic Odyssey v1 #1) Darkseid allied with Highfather who called together a task force powerful enough to stop the Entity. He sent Lonar to Earth to gather its best heroes: Superman, Batman, Martian Manhunter, Starfire, and Green Lantern (John Stewart). Darkseid explained that the Entity itself could not survive in their universe so it had sent Aspects of itself to seed destruction on four worlds: Earth, Rann, Thanagar and Xanshi. If any two of these planets were destroyed, the Milky Way galaxy would collapse. (Cosmic Odyssey v1 #2)

Meanwhile, Darkseid plotted to steal power directly from the Entity. He convinced Highfather that they must have a backup plan to destroy the Entity and it would require Jason Blood to reunite with Etrigan the Demon, for the added power. Darkseid connected himself to Etrigan and they traveled into the realm of the Anti-Life. (Cosmic Odyssey v1 #3)

An archaeological expedition led by Dr. Nina Dowd on Earth managed to uncover the fossilled body of the Super Cycle. Its activation led to the awakening of Rip Roar who intended to claim the sentient vehicle and destroy the surface of Earth. His plans were thwarted by the arrival of Young Justice where Tim Drake had the Super Cycle imprinted to him. As a result, the vehicle turned away from its Apokoliptian master which saw Rip Roar being petrified into a stone body as a result. His form was later taken into custody by the Department of Extranormal Operations. (Young Justice v1 #2)

Elements of New God technology was later scavenged by Doctor Impossible and his gang who were working with the Crime Syndicate of AmeriKa and incorporated it with their technology. This led to the construction of the powerful Resurrection Machine which Owlman and his comrades intended to use to bring back the dead Alexander Luthor, Jnr. so that he could reverse the effects of his dark energy bomb. However, unknown to them, their ally Dr. Impossible intended to use the machine to resurrect Darkseid himself. But for reasons unknown, the resultant being was formed from the dark energy infected numerous Earth's of the Multiverse thus giving them form which became the supervillain Omega Man. (Justice League of America v2 #50)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of history was created with a different series of events.

Long ago, the New Gods of New Genesis and Apokolips battled on the midway plains of Ameggon where they were interrupted by the inhabitants of Oa. These evolved being were in the process of bringing order to the universe and deemed the New Gods to be a race of chaotics that disrupted the balance. Thus, they looked to have them eliminated though Izaya looked to make them understand the conflict of the New Gods. It was then that one of the Oans was killed by a young Uxas using a device in a surprise attack. (Green Lantern v6 #7)

It was discovered that the Source had been tampered with by the mortal races that wielded the light of the Emotional Spectrum. As a result, Highfather and Metron travelled to the Source Wall where they managed to confirm this event as all their previous attempts to had done so had failed. This led to Izaya believing that he could use the Emotional Spectrum as a means of acquiring the Life Equation in his plan to finally defeat Darkseid. He would dispatch his Council of Eight to the universe of the mortals that tampered with the Source and they would seek out the seven power rings of the Lantern Corps. Once acquired, he attempted to unite them to forge a white light and make the Life Equation where he unleashed it to transform the mortals of Aydin into a new race of gods that could serve in the armies of New Genesis. The uplifting of these inhabitants failed and it was believed that the light that was wielded was flawed as they needed to acquire a white power ring. (New Gods: Godhead v1 #1)

With the power of the Revision Mechanism, Darkseid proceeded with bringing back Apokolips and restored its place in the Sphere of the Gods. He then looked to spread it across all reality. (Justice League Odyssey v1 #24) Despite his efforts, he was stopped by a makeshift Justice League team who prevented him from assuming control all realities. Despite his plan being thwarted, Apokolips was restored to the height of its power and continued his plot with making a universal Apokolips across all existence. The heroes then spread word of Darkseid's return and looked to gather a resistance to oppose his plans. (Justice League Odyssey v1 #25)

Overview

Their physical forms were composed of godflesh with even mortals capable of being elevated to the status of the New Gods. (Earth 2: World's End v1 #22) New God physiology made them immune to disease. (Sinestro v1 #8) This was because they were mostly composed of energy which was why when killed it sublimated back to the Source without a trace left behind. (Final Crisis v1 #2) In fact, they were described as being incredibly powerful living ideas from a kind of platonic archetypal world. (Batman v1 #702) The New Gods were noted for being gigantic in proportions though they were able to alter their size and those of others through technology allowing them to operate on the scale. (New Gods v4 #10)

New Gods were known to go through a rite of passage whereupon they chose their godname. (Jack Kirby's Fourth World v1 #2) Among their kind was the rite of Ascension that was a ceremony where an individual died and was reborn with new powers as well as a new name. (Mister Miracle v3 #1)

One symbol in the alphabet of the New Gods meant "Freedom without Restriction" and painting it on a persons face protected them from Anti-Life. (Final Crisis v1 #6)

Among the armies of New Genesis included the Divine Guard that were helmed warriors with spears. (Green Lantern v5 #35)

As a result of the techno-cosmic war, terrifying machines were created by the New Gods as they waged war against one another. This included machines that drew debris in space to send it crashing to a planet, giant biological mutations bred in laboratories for warfare, the harnessing of mammoth suns for use as a cosmic lasers and even larger God Machines such as Impacters the size of a planet that were plunged into enemy captured stars. (New God v1 #7) It was said that the New Gods had access to Word-Weapons that were able to enslave souls and machine that could rewrite the laws of being which could bring whole civilizations to their knees. (Final Crisis v1 #5)

The New Gods were known to possess extra-universal mapping which was a useful aspect for using Boom Tubes. (Justice League Odyssey v1 #25) Boom Tubes were said to be responsible for scaling their size to their respective destination allowing to operate on similar proportions with others. (New Gods v4 #10)

Apokoliptan technology included the advanced suit of armor known as the Entropy Aegis that was modified from an Imperiex probe. (Superman: Man of Steel v1 #116) A tool for terraforming worlds were the Hellspores that were hand-held spherical machines which could individually blow a hole down to a world's core leaving a giant firepit as a result. (Superman/Batman v1 #11)

It was referred to as the fire of the gods that could take on any shape needed. (Final Crisis v1 #7) Element X was a metal composed of pure possibility that resided in the World Forge deep in the Multiverse with it being referred to as the Tenth Metal. It was this reason that the metal could take the shape of whatever was needed and armed themselves to the bearers wishes so that they could bring their will to life. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #6)

A substance called growth plasma could be used to infect a New God and cause them to grow to uncontrollable levels to the point that they could become larger than planets. Without a cure, those infected would keep growing until they were a threat to others and eventually died from the process. (Super-Team Family v1 #15)

Members

• Izaya :
• Avia :
• Yuga Khan :
• Heggra :
• Darkseid :
• Orion :
• Lightray :
• Grail :
• Metron :
• Desdemona :
• Hyalt : a male New God of New Genesis wearing a distinctive helmet who operated the forge on his world and served as a member of the Council of Eight. (New Gods: Godhead v1 #1)
• Uggha : green haired male New God of New Genesis who served as a General and was a member of the Council of Eight. (New Gods: Godhead v1 #1)
• Shadowfall :
• Malhedron : a black male New God headed the Wheel that consisted of female warriors with them all being originally from Apokolips till they defected to New Genesis where Malhedron served in Highfathers Council of Eight. (Red Lanterns v1 #36)
• Psykot : a purple-headed being with a squid-like face that had psionic scanning abilities who was a newly formed New God created by Darkseid to serve him. (Justice League Odyssey v1 #19)
• Shadowheart : a female with a blonde ponytail, grey skin and red eyes that had bio-trace recognition powers who was a newly formed New God created by Darkseid to serve him. (Justice League Odyssey v1 #19)
• Metron :
• Black Racer :

Notes

• The New Gods were created by Jack Kirby where they made their first appearance in New Gods v1 #1 (March, 1971).
• In Comics Interview, Kirby's production assistant Mark Evanier commented, "Folks forget but the New Gods saga was intended to be a limited series ... There was no intention that these characters would go on forever. After Jack's books started getting good sales figures, DC demanded that we keep them going and use guest stars like Deadman, which we were very much against doing. So Kirby had this novel he was forever stuck in the middle of – he could never get to the last chapter. ... You can spot the issues where Jack kind of gave up trying to advance the story of Darkseid and Orion and was marking time. If those books had been intended from the start to run indefinitely, they would have been done very differently."
• In Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus v1 (2007), writer Grant Morrison said, "Kirby's dramas were staged across Jungian vistas of raw symbol and storm...The Fourth World saga crackles with the voltage of Jack Kirby's boundless imagination let loose onto paper."

Alternate Versions

• In Ame-Comi v1 #14, scientists from the planet Rann create a device called a Mother Box to engineer the New God Metra who was forged from the stars themselves and created as the herald of a new cosmic age in the battle against Sinestra and her armies.

In other media

Television

• In the DC Animated Universe, the New Gods made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting.
  • In Superman: The Animated Series, the New Gods made their first appearance in the animated setting where they appeared in a number of episodes.
  • In Justice League, the New Gods made a number of appearances in the animated series.
• In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, numerous New Gods appeared in the setting of the animated television series.
• In Young Justice, the New Gods made a number of appearances in the setting of the animated television series. Apokolips and New Genesis were shown to had been involved in a long standing war until a truce was made that brought peace between them. Around the turn of the 13th century, Darkseid's forces attempted to conquer Earth but were faced with resistance from Vandal Savage, who at the time was using the name Genghis Khan and his army. Although Savage's army was defeated, Darkseid was intrigued by the Meta-human abilities Savage and his two sons displayed. He entered into a partnership with Savage, stating that they would join forces in order to conquer the Galaxy, however once this goal was accomplished, Earth and Apokolips would engage in a final battle for sole domination of the universe. Their 'alliance' would continue to the modern age when Vandal Savage established a secret society of super-villains called the Light. The New Gods of Apokolips would supply the Light with advanced New God technology that they outfitted to their various allies. Their actions later drew the attention of the Forever People who came to Earth to search for the stolen New Genisphere. Later on, it was revealed that the Light in turn supplied captured Metahumans whose powers were forcibly activated to serve as living weapons. Using mind control, these humans were then sent on various battlefields across the cosmos where they accompanied Apokolipitian forces in their wars.
• In Justice League Action, members of the New Gods appeared in the setting of the animated television series.

Films

• In Justice League: Gods and Monsters, the New Gods appeared in the alternate universe setting of the animated film.
• In Justice League, the New Gods were referenced in the 2017 live-action film set in the DC Extended Universe. Thousands of years ago, the New Gods of Apokolips invaded planet Earth in an attempt to terraform the planet into an Apokolips-like planet, and he would've succeeded if not for the intervention of the humans, Old Gods, Amazons, Atlanteans, aided by the Sector's Green Lantern. After suffering a heavy blow from Zeus himself, Darkseid was forced to retreat, dragged away from the planet by his Parademons and the Apokoliptian Priests, losing three Mother Boxes in the process. Steppenwolf intended to conquer Earth where he sought to join the ranks of the New Gods upon transforming the world. Exiled from Apokolips, Steppenwolf invades Earth in command of an army of Parademons, hunting down the three Mother Boxes located thereon. The Mother Boxes are hidden among the united forces of Earth, located in Atlantis, Themyscira and by mankind. Cyborg is created through the aid of a Mother Box, and has a connection to their power.

Video games

• In DC Universe Online, the New Gods appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game.

Appearances

• New Gods v1: (1971)
• Mister Miracle v1:
• Super-Team Family v1:
• Cosmic Odyssey v1:
• Young Justice v1 #2:
• Jack Kirby's Fourth World v1:
• Final Crisis v1 #1-7:
• Justice League of America v2 #50:
• Justice League v2:
• New Gods: Godhead v1:
• Green Lantern: New Guardians v1:
• Red Lanterns v1:
• Sinestro v1:
• Female Furies v1:
• Justice League Odyssey v1:
• Green Lantern v6: (2021)

External Link

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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