Gods (Marvel)

Latest revision as of 14:50, 29 January 2024

The gods in Thor & Hercules Encyclopaedia Mythologica v1 #1.

The Gods are deities that feature in Marvel Comics.

History

Around 12 billion years ago, the first great war of the gods had erupted where in the aftermath it was decided to create a meeting place to sort battles among their kind. Thus, the first of the Elder Gods that were the lords of the dawn built Omnipotence City from the rubble of the rocks of creation and the embers from the fires that ignited the first stars. (Thor: God of Thunder v1 #3)

On Earth, the planet's native biosphere was responsible for birthing its various races of gods. (Thor v1 #300) The world was preyed upon by the Elder Gods most of whom had degenerated into life destroying demons that fought one another for supremacy. In desperation, Gaea sought to protect existence and with the Demiurge she conceived a champion to protect the world with the first of a new generation of gods being Atum. He slew hordes of the now demonic gods where he took their essence into himself which transformed his divine form into the monstrous Demogorge, the God Eater. This saw the demon gods either slain or escaping into safety whereupon Atum cast aside his God Eater form and took his place in Earth's sun. In the aftermath, mankind began to emerge and their nascent consciousness tapped into the godstuff given by Atum allowing for new generations of gods to form in the shape of humanity. (Thor Annual v1 #10)

A thousand years ago, the pantheons of Earth's gods became aware of the existence of a race of gigantic cosmic beings known as Celestials and that they had planned a judgement of the Earth in a millennium. This led to a convening of the Council of God-Heads that consisted of the Skyfathers of each of the worlds deities including the Asgardians and the Olympians. They decided to confront the Celestials Third Host that had arrived on Earth where they encountered the cosmic entities representative Ajak of the Eternals. He warned the gods from intervening but they refused with the Skyfathers striking at Arishem of the Celestials. However, the titanic red armored entity was unharmed and his return fire led to Asgard, Nirvana and Olympus being partly razed before Arishem stopped. Upon seeing the Celestials might, the Skyfathers made a vow whereby the gods of Earth would not interfere in the cosmic beings mission on the planet for the next millennium. However, they had only agreed to bide their time as they knew continued hostilities would lead to their destruction. Odin of the Asgardians had his craftsmen build a suit of arms known as the Destroyer that was instilled with the Skyfathers of the various pantheon's godly might for it to be used as their champion in the coming conflict with the Celestials. (Thor v1 #300)

The Japanese deity Amatsu-Mikaboshi sought to rule the Heavens where he devastated the lands of his home pantheon. He then proceeded to wage war against the Olympians where his demons managed to overwhelm their defences. During this time, he kidnapped Alexander Ares who was the son of the Olympian war god and brainwashed him as his agent. With the Olympians being overwhelmed, the messenger gods of the Greek and Japanese pantheons hatched a plot to trick their respective deities to allying with one another against Amatsu-Mikaboshi. This was because the gods were too prideful and their egos prevented them from outright assisting the other. However, their ploy worked with the Japanese gods arriving in time to assist the Olympians where together they worked to vanquish Amatsu-Mikaboshi. (Ares v1 #5)

Afterwards, a new threat emerged from the Serpent who was an ancient Asgardian long trapped that engulfed the war in fear. A gathering was called upon the gods to discuss their response to the threat. The Olympians argued for direct intervention in stopping the fear deity and a number believed that it was needed as some deities believed that they sustained their existence through their worshippers. This led to some conflict among the gods during their meetings at the Infinite Embassy. Ultimately, the Council of Godheads decreed that this was an internal Asgardian matter to be settled by their own kind and decreed that no pantheon as to interfere in it. (Journey into Mystery v1 #627)

In the modern age, a race of new gods was born from human civilization leading to the rise of the Uprising Storm who had emerged into the world and were seeking to eliminate the old gods. Numerous mythical creatures and gods faced extinction due to these new deities with Hercules becoming aware of the danger posed by them. (Hercules v4 #4)

Overview

Certain gods believed that their kind sustained their existence through the faith from their worshippers but these were a minority. Ultimately, the gods followed their pact of non-interference with them only maintaining sovereignty over their own respective domains. Matters erupting from a gods pantheon were considered internal matters to be sorted among their own numbers. A pantheon was said to not breach dictates of their pacts otherwise they risked bringing the other pantheons down against them. (Journey into Mystery v1 #627)

A key location by deities was Omnipotence City that served as a place for a divine fellowship where immortals from all corners of reality would forever be welcome. It was here that eternal treaties were signed and sacred covenants were sworn to save the lives of millions. Within the city, gods were married and judged along with worlds being made and bartered. The city was home to sites such as the Parliament of Pantheons, the High Holy Courts, the Genesis Bazaars and the Halls of All-Knowing. It was considered the centre of infinity that was home to the heaven of all heavens that was nexus for all the gods.

(Thor: God of Thunder v1 #3) It was known that the gods at times travelled to the Infinite Embassy that sat at the top of the cluster of dimensions around Earth that was created by the Living Tribunal. Over there, they met other supernatural beings including demons, fey, ghosts, sorcerers and similar such beings during times of crisis. (Journey into Mystery v1 #627) The Witches of Infinity were a coven of female cosmic beings that were said to be older than the gods. It was also believed that when the gods in the cosmos were either destroyed by their respective civilizations or transcended by them then they were collected by the witches. The coven then fed on these old gods and dispersed their power back into the cosmos. These witches resided at the God Quarry that lie in the inverted world which was a strange realm at the very edge of the universe accessible through a black hole. Within the quarry were the witches and contained the petrified husks of numerous beings that fell into their domain. (Thanos v2 #8)

Members

Asgardians

• Bor :
• Odin :
• Frigga :
• Thor :
• Rimthursar :
• Seidring :

Olympians

• Zeus :
• Hera :
• Athena :
• Ares :

Japanese

• Inari :
• Amatsu-Mikaboshi :

African

• Anansi :
• Damballah : a serpent god that was called upon for Voodoo magic. (Dracula Lives v1 #2) Artifacts called the Amulets of Damballah were created that had the power to control zombies. (Tales of the Zombie v1 #1)

'Egypt'

• Atum :
• Ra :
• Horus :
• Osiris :
• Anubis :
• Anput :
• Bast :
• Seth :
• Khonshu :
• Thoth :

Other

• Carrion Crow : an Apache trickster god who was the bearer of magic and harbinger of messages from the great beyond that resembled a giant crow who served as the eater of the dead. (Chaos War: X-Men v1 #1)
• Chernobog : Slavic god of chaos and the night who was one of the evil soldiers in the war between good and evil fought among the Russian gods. (Incredible Hulks v1 #621)
• Wayep : a Mayan god of mischief who during the five days of the Uayep could be summoned by a sacrifice whereby a person could be the Kuhul Ajaw god-king whereby they could bond with the god. A mathematician named Rabin found an equation that allowed him to communicate with the deity where he sought to bond with him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #558)
• Hodiak :
• Nelvana :
• Owayodata : the primordial Red Wolf who stood in the pantheon of some Native Americans who chose a champion to avenge wrongs that became the Red Wolf. (Avengers v1 #80)
• Peliali : female volcano god that was part of the pantheon of deities worshipped by the Kamekeri with her being the patron goddess of Silverclaw. (Avengers v3 #28)
• Klybn :
• Ire : an ancient goddess on Earth who was of the First Heath of the Clan Tribe of Crua before the Ice and opposed the Uprising Storm's emergence. (Hercules v4 #4)
• Perrikus :
• Adva :
• D'Chel :
• Deceptor :
• Tokkots :
• Slototh :
• Catastrophobia : member of the Uprising Storm. (Hercules v4 #4)
• Horrorscope : member of the Uprising Storm. (Hercules v4 #4)
• Cryptomnesia : member of the Uprising Storm. (Hercules v4 #4)
• Knull : a primordial male being who lived in the darkness before existence formed who resented the ordering of the cosmos by the Celestials and waged war to eliminate all light with him being the creator of both the All Black the Necrosword along with the Symbiote race where he was the god of the Symbiotes. (Venom v4 #4)

Notes

Alternate Versions

In other media

Television

Video games

• In Spider-Man Unlimited, Anansi the Spider God appeared as a playable character in the iOS video game with the character based on the version from Spider-Man: Fairy Tales v1 #2. He was described as an ancient god of Africa who was said by some to be the creator of all whilst others said he was a trickster. Anasi was noted for his power and was in reality the kind of all stories. One day, he sought more power and his uncle told him of the mystical Spider Orchid that could give him the power to control others. During his quest for the orchid, he was confronted by the four elementals that sought to stop him but Anansi defeated them in combat yet was merciful after which he gained their friendship. Though he continued his quest, by the time he came to get the orchid - he decided he did not need that power as he gained an even better one which was the power to forge friendships.

Appearances

• Journey into Mystery v1:
• Thor v1:
• Thor Annual v1:
• Spider-Man: Fairy Tales v1:
• Amazing Spider-Man v1:
• Ares v1:
• Incredible Hercules v1:
• Thor: God of Thunder v1:
• Herc v1:

External Links

• Wikipedia Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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