Gods (DC)

Latest revision as of 07:27, 1 January 2025

The Gods are deities that feature in DC Comics.

History

Pre-Crisis

The Gods

In ancient Oceania, a pantheon of gods formed in that civilization that included Tangora the wise god, Ku the war-god, Mauri the love-goddess, Tane the nature-god and Rongo the jester. Millennia ago, they thrived in a time when mankind was in its primal infancy. In this time, they had power and life but Tangora sensed a great darkness coming in their future. The Oceanian gods initially dismissed it until the great storm came to pass with great catastrophes around the world. Only five of their number had survived with Tangora telling that the time of gods had come to an end and for them to survive they had to join together in common survival. They merged to become the Fiend with Five Faces but Oceania sunk beneath the sea with the merged entity trapped deep underwater for centuries though Tangora had prophesized that the waters would one day recede whereupon they would be freed once more. (Justice League of America v1 #156)

Around 9,000 years ago, the gods were responsible for empowering a champion to defend the world against danger with one of his foes being Evil itself. (World's Finest v1 #262)

Post-Crisis

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.

Long ago, a holy commune formed that preached a faith in a single divine deity and spread this worship among the stars. One of these preachers was the Cleric who on-board his great ark arrived on Krypton where he attracted a gathering of followers among the native Kryptonians. They also came to oppose the practice of cloning that was used by Kryptonians at this time where they held the view that such beings were soulless creations. The growing faith was seen as a threat to the Kryptonian Science Council who decided to support the native Rao deity to serve as opposition to the holy commune. The Rao worshippers believed that the clones were living beings with souls with this coming into theological conflict with the Cleric's followers. Despite this, the Cleric's adherents were largely peaceful but their 'superstition' could no longer be tolerated by the Science Council who sent their enforcers to forcibly dispel them. Secretly, they had constructed a device called the Eradicator to eliminate their leader with word of this reaching the Cleric. To avoid further conflict, the Cleric proposed that he and his apostles leave Krypton for the home of the holy commune to practice their faith in peace. However, a fight erupted and an improper handling of the Eradicator caused it to accidentally kill many people. The Cleric then took his followers to the great ark to leave Krypton though some of his followers chose to remain behind. (Action Comics Annual v1 #2)

Post-Flashpoint

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

According to one account, Father Sea and Mother Salt were two primordial deities on Earth who united to make the ocean. From their coupling came the first Gods: Fire, Earth, Wind and Sky. Before long the new gods created newer gods and the Earth became a bustling place, and soon enough there were new Ocean gods swimming in Father Sea and Mother Salt's waters. Father Sea grew upset; believing the world had forgotten its creators, and soon planned to destroy the World and begin anew. Concerned with her husband's state of mind, Mother Salt confided in her children, who killed their father in his sleep while in a fit of paranoia. Mother Salt was heartbroken at the loss of her husband, crying the very first tears. Her grief soon turned to rage, and her anger tore her apart, her body transforming into seven monsters. Her new children tried to take vengeance on her old; however, Fire gave a part of herself to the Sky, and in that moment they birthed the Sun. The Sun turned Mother Salt's new children into salt, allowing the God of Wind to blow them away. Guilt-ridden by their actions, the four children of Salt created the humans, whose blood contained the ocean as an everlasting tribute to Sea and Salt, the parents they betrayed. However, Mother Salt had not been blown away like her monstrous kin; she merely rested, pondering her fate and of her family. Eventually she came to the realization that her husband had been right: the World and all of her children would have to be destroyed in order to remake it into a better one. (Aquaman v8 #45)

Among the worlds in the cosmos, Earth became privy to an elemental life force that was linked to its seas and was entrusted to the ocean god Poseidon. This made the planet unique in the cosmos as some worlds that had seas lacked life with the sea deity sharing this fact with Arion of Atlantis. Learning of this knowledge, Arion sought to share this power with other seas in the universe to bring together communities across space. A trio of Ocean Lords responded to the call in good faith but Poseidon grew jealous of sharing this power that was his charge and corrupted the mind of Arion into fear these visitors as threats that would conquer Earth. Thus, Arion studied the life force and created an inverse of it that became the Tear of Extinction which he used to banish the peaceful Ocean Lords to the Graveyard of the Gods at the cost of his own life. The truth of this encounter was hidden from the world with history recording the Ocean Lords as being tyrannical invaders thus hiding the shame of Poseidon's actions. (Justice League v4 #12)

During the Dark Multiverse crisis, Wonder Woman wore an armor composed of the Tenth Metal of possibility where a part of her wished for the gods to return. Though she intended for he Greek pantheon, the wish instead brought forth the return of the Dark Gods. (Wonder Woman Annual v5 #2)

A group of sea gods came to the hidden land of Unspoken Water as penance for their crimes of hubris and complacency towards the duty of keeping the worlds oceans in balance. (Aquaman v8 #44)

Overview

One aspect that was linked to the deities of Earth was a place known as the Graveyard of the Gods. (Justice League v4 #12)

Members

• Anansi : Anansi the Spider was a deity that forged a pact with the warrior Tantu that in exchange for protecting the innocent the god gave him the Tantu Totem. (Justice League of America v1 #239)
• Lapetus : (Deathstroke v3 #8)
• Rao :
• Cythonna : the goddess of ice of ancient Krypton. (Superman: The Last God of Krypton v1 #1)
• Rama :
• Ganesh :
• Rama Kushna : a female goddess of the balance. (Strange Adventures v1 #250)
• Rongo : male Oceania god who was a jester of their pantheon and became part of the Fiend with Five Faces when he merged with his compatriots. (Justice League of America v1 #156)
• Tangora : male Oceania wise god who became part of the Fiend with Five Faces when he merged with his compatriots. (Justice League of America v1 #156)
• Ku : male Oceania war god who lived as a soldier who had a blade that thirsted for blood who became part of the Fiend with Five Faces when he merged with his compatriots. (Justice League of America v1 #156)
• Mauri : female Oceania love goddess who became part of the Fiend with Five Faces when he merged with his compatriots. (Justice League of America v1 #156)
• Tane : male Oceania god of the forest able to manipulate plant life who became part of the Fiend with Five Faces when he merged with his compatriots. (Justice League of America v1 #156)
• Urzkartaga : a jungle god of the vine whose bride was the Cheetah. (Wonder Woman v2 #28)
• Tezcatlipoca : a male god of Aztec mythology who was known as the Mad God, the Mocker, the Jaguar Lord and the Master of the Smoky Mirror. (Wonder Woman v1 #314)
• Quetzalcoatl :
• Heqt : a frog goddess worshipped by the ancient Egyptians who was responsible for the Plague of Frogs and was angered at the mass killing of frogs. (Action Comics v1 #768)
• Calculha :
• Deedra :
• Chaon :
• Gemimn :
• Tynan :
• Altana : Atlantean god of the sea who resides in Lyr. (Arion Lord of Atlantis v1 #21)
• The Weaver :
• Shango : a male god that was one of the Orishas. (Firestorm v2 #95)
• Ale : (Superman: Man of Steel v1 #127)
• Gitchka : the Bat-God that was a giant green bat that stood for naked power and aggression was the creation of an ancient Native American cult whose tribe ruled a part of America long ago and whose descendants attempted to awaken the deity with descendants of those that opposed it. (World's Finest v1 #255)
• Shin-Giva : a deity worshipped by a primitive dwarf tribe in South America who fanatically guarded the platinum idol statue of Shin-Giva. (Action Comics v1 #33)
• King Best : male deity who headed the Dark Gods. (Wonder Woman Annual v5 #2)
• Karnell : a male deity who was the god of love but in a twisted sense. (Wonder Woman Annual v5 #2)
• God With No Name : a masked male deity of the Dark Gods who was a god of doubt. (Wonder Woman v5 #48)
• Mob God : a female deity of the Dark Gods. (Wonder Woman v5 #48)
• Savage Fire : a fiery deity of the Dark Gods who was the goddess of fire. (Wonder Woman v5 #48)
• H'ronmeer :
• Hawkgod :
• X'Hal :
• Captain Gall :
• Commander Drogue : a bearded male ocean god native to the planet Ankhis. (Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth v1 #1)
• Fleet Admiral Tyyde : a female ocean goddess native to the planet Aquos. (Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth v1 #1)
• M'nagalah :
• Chalchiuhtlicue :
• Tangaroa :
• Tlaloc :
• Namma : also known as Mother Salt who was a primordial sea god from Mesopotamian myth. (Aquaman v8 #45)
• Ingob : a blonde haired male god of chance who was said to be the undisputed master of the laws of chance and resided in the House of Chance on Earth-S. (Captain Marvel Adventures v1 #95)
• Elbiam : a male god who was the lord of courage that lived 9,000 years ago. (World's Finest v1 #262)
• Voldar : a male god who was the master of strength that lived 9,000 years ago. (World's Finest v1 #262)
• Lumiun : an elderly male god who was the patron of wisdom that lived 9,000 years ago. (World's Finest v1 #262)
• Arel : a young blond haired male god who was the swift messenger of the deities that lived 9,000 years ago. (World's Finest v1 #262)
• Ribalvei : a bald-headed male deity with a ginger beard who claimed to be the most powerful of the gods that lived 9,000 years ago. (World's Finest v1 #262)
• Marzosh : a male deity who was the god of stamina that lived 9,000 years ago. (World's Finest v1 #262)
• Vext :

Notes

Alternate Versions

In other media

Television

• In the DC Animated Universe, various gods made appearances in the shared continuity setting.
  • In Superman: The Animated Series, the New Gods made their first appearance in the animated television series.
  • In Justice League, the Olympian Gods and the New Gods both made multiple appearances in the animated television series.
• In Young Justice, the New Gods made a number of appearances in the animated television series.
• In Vixen, gods appeared in the setting of the animated web-series that was part of the Arrowverse. It was shown that the tribes of Zambesi worshipped Anansi the African trickster god. Centuries ago, the tribes of M'Changa province of Zambesi invoked the spider god Anansi and begged his help in protecting their villages from their enemies. In return for their worship, Anansi used his magic to create five magical totems that gave their bearers the power of the elements. He gave one totem to each tribe, so that no one of them could ever become too powerful. The most powerful of his totems, which gave the power of the animal kingdom itself, he gave to a warrior named Tantu, who lived in the village of Zambesi.

Video games

• In the DC Extended Universe, various gods appeared in the shared continuity setting:
  • In Wonder Woman, the Greek gods appeared in the setting of the 2017 live-action film. It was shown that long ago their pantheon faced the threat from the war god Ares who opposed the peaceful views of his kin and ended up slaying them all including his father Zeus though he was wounded in the process.
  • In Justice League, various gods appeared in the setting of the 2017 live-action film. It was shown that in ancient times that the New God Steppenwolf invaded Earth to conquer it leading to the deities of Earth stepping forth alongside the armies of the world to oppose him with them ultimately able to drive him away from the planet.

Appearances

• Action Comics v1:
• Justice League of America v1:
• Wonder Woman v2:
• Wonder Woman v5:

External Links

• DC Database Entry

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