Galactus

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Galactus

Galactus, sometimes called the Devourer of Worlds or Eater of Planets, is a fictional comic book super villain, a cosmic entity within Marvel Comics' universe. Created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, he first appeared in Fantastic Four #48, the beginning of a story arc sometimes regarded as the finest Lee/Kirby collaboration.

Character history

Rebirth

Originally named Galan (or "Galen," though this is a misspelling), Galactus hails from the planet Taa, and is the sole survivor of the Big Crunch of the previous universe in which Taa was located.

Galan was a space explorer investigating the impending end of his universe. As he approached the focal point of the Big Crunch, his ship and crew were promptly destroyed. Galan was saved by the Phoenix Force, who created the cosmic egg into which all matter of the universe was plunging. Within that cosmic egg the Sentience of the Previous Universe spoke out to Galan, informed him of their respective destinies and then merged its essence with his to conceive Galactus.

After the Big Bang of the current universe, to complete his transformation, Galactus was encased in a cocoon of enormous energies. After millions of years, he emerged as an entity of vast cosmic power who was also necessary for the existence of the newly formed universe.

Galactus is considered one of the five essential entities within the Marvel Universe alongside Eternity, the personification of the universe, Death, Infinity and Oblivion. Galactus has been referred to as "third force of the universe" and "one corner of that great triangle which is the universe" by Eternity and Death respectively. Eternity and Death consider Galactus a peer and a sibling, with Death actually referring to Galactus as husband/father/brother/son.

The Devourer of Worlds

Galactus requires unknown energies obtainable only from certain types of planets in order to sustain his life. The suitable type of planet need not be one where life is present, but it must have the potential to support life. Galactus usually employs a herald to scout the universe for those suitable types of planets. When the suitable planet is found, Galactus will usually land on the planets surface and assemble his Elemental Converter, a colossal machine capable of draining all life energy from the planet within minutes. Galactus has been known to devour planets without the aid of his Elemental Converter on occasion, but the device makes the process more efficient. Galactus, seeing himself as a higher being, usually will not avoid a suitable planet simply because it is home to sentient life. Thus, over billions of years he has become one of the most feared beings in the universe, his vast power allowing him to lay waste to innumerable extra-terrestrial civilizations in his quest for sustenance.

Nevertheless, he is not an evil being, but rather a force of nature whose feedings are necessary for survival. It is known that Galactus plays a necessary role in the continuum of the Universe, bringing balance between the two opposing universal forces of Death and Eternity; which are in essence the Yin and Yang of the Marvel universe. It has been said the universe would fail, collapsing under its own weight without Galactus' presence to balance it. It has been suggested by some that his purpose in the universe is to devour planets that have reached an evolutionary peak, although alternative information suggests that he will create a whole new universe at the end of this one, a universe which will be immeasurably greater than the total of the planets he has taken into himself.

Heralds

Galactus has appointed a number of entities as his heralds, imbuing them with a minuscule portion of his Power Cosmic and sending them to search for edible worlds. Most of his heralds have either rebelled against him, betrayed him or been cast aside for some reason.

Among his heralds are the Fallen One, Silver Surfer, Terrax, Firelord, Air-Walker, the Air-Walker robot, an Earthwoman named Frankie Raye later known as Nova, Morg, Red Shift, the Asgardian Destroyer armor, Human Torch, Dazzler, and Stardust.

Gladiator and Tyrant were possibly heralds, and Superman was a herald very briefly in the FF/Superman crossover.

In stories in alternate and parallel realities, Galactus also used unknown heralds: Plasma, Dark Angel, Kryptonian, Golden Oldie, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Ardina, and Starglow.

In the Ultimate Marvel storyline Gah Lak Tus, as he is known in the Ultimate Universe, has used The Ultimate version of the Silver Surfer as a herald as well. The ultimate version of the Vision was built as a warning system for the coming of Gah Lak Tus.

Attempts to Devour the Earth

Galactus has threatened to destroy the Earth, on several occasions. On the first, the Fantastic Four (aided by the Watcher Uatu and by Galactus' rebellious herald, the Silver Surfer) defeated him by threatening him with the Ultimate Nullifier. Galactus vowed to never again try to harm the Earth.

Nevertheless, he has returned on several occasions, in one instance weakened enough for the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and Dr. Strange to defeat him. Rather than watch him die of hunger, Mr. Fantastic saved him, for which he later went on galactic trial.

Temporary Death

In the Galactus: The Devourer limited series (1999-2000), Galactus - starving to death due to his addiction to the life forces of living beings which offer him no sustenance - was seemingly killed after a battle against the united forces of the Silver Surfer, Avengers, Fantastic Four, Starjammers, the Shi'ar Empire and an armada of other united planets (including even a Kree starship) when his own Elemental Converter was turned against him. He died with an ominous warning that his death would allow a great evil to surface. After his death, Galactus' true form was revealed, that of a sentient star.

That great evil emerged in Fantastic Four Annual 2001 in the form of Abraxas, the universal embodiment of destruction and the antithesis of Eternity. It was revealed that most of the energy that Galactus takes from planets was devoted to keeping him imprisoned. If released, Abraxas would eventually destroy the entire multiverse. Abraxas was only defeated after it was revealed in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #49 (1 #478; January 2002) that Galactus wasn't truly dead but in his incorporeal star form he would be forever unable to rein in his energies and reclaim form. Franklin Richards and Valeria Von Doom pooled their vast, Celestial-level powers and reconstituted Galactus, but permanently burned out their powers in the revival. Once reconstituted, Galactus easily reclaimed the Ultimate Nullifier from Abraxas and Reed Richards used it to remake the multiverse into one in which Abraxas never escaped. It was in this issue that the Ultimate Nullifier was revealed to be an aspect of Galactus himself.

"Rising Storm"

In the 2005 Fantastic Four storyline Rising Storm, Reed Richards built a device that was designed to strip Galactus of the Power Cosmic - this was made possible due to input from Johnny Storm who was cosmically aware at the time. Johnny Storm managed to keep Galactus occupied long enough for Reed and Quasar to complete the weapon. The weapon actually succeeded in seperating Galan from the Power Cosmic, thus Galactus was temporarily reverted to the humanoid form of Galan. In tribute to "the indomitable spirit of the humanoid order", Galan willingly exiled himself into an other-universal realm, in apparent hope that this would delay the Galactus-energy in finding him.

This did not last long, however, and as Galactus, he encountered Beta Ray Bill shortly after. The manner in which the Power Cosmic found Galan has not been revealed.

Powers and abilities

Galactus wields the immeasurable Power Cosmic. Galactus is able to employ the limitless cosmic energies within him to produce nearly any effect he desires.

Some of Galactus' more commonly employed abilities are the molecular restructuring, conversion or transmutation of matter, the projection of energy with incalculable concussive force and/or heat, the teleportation of objects (even entire galaxies) across space or even time, the erection of invincible energy-screens and force fields, the creation of interdimensional and intradimensional portals and/or wormholes, a virtually unlimited capacity for telepathy and telekinesis, and cosmic awareness on a universal scale. Galactus has even shown the ability to create life, resurrect the dead, manipulate mortal souls, and "remake" dead worlds in every detail.

Even Galactus' heralds, whom he has endowed with a minuscule fraction of his awesome power, are able to manipulate matter and energy in ways far beyond human comprehension. Indeed, Galactus is so powerful he must always wear his armor to help him regulate his internal energies or else they could run rampant with the potential to give him the appearance of a star! It has even been speculated by some that when sated Galactus' power is beyond the level of even the Celestials. However, the longer he goes without feeding the more his strength and power wanes; within just one month of consuming a suitable planet Galactus' power will have already been reduced exponentially.

Physical appearance

Although Galactus is usually depicted in humanoid form, each sentient being perceives him having a form resembling his own. Hence, humans see Galactus as an enormous armor clad humanoid, while an amoeba-like species, for example, would perceive Galactus as a gigantic amoeba-like entity. As Galan, Galactus was indeed a humanoid; but his true current form is unknown. Although it is not entirely clear why beings from different sentient races perceive Galactus differently, it is likely the byproduct of the mortal, sentient races of the universe lacking the sufficient level of consciousness and sensory perception to grasp his divine, or semi-abstract, nature.

Alternate realities

Amalgam Comics

In the Amalgam Universe, Galactus merged with Brainiac to create Galactiac, who devoured planets to replenish his energy cells, but simultaneously shrank parts of them to study at his leisure, much like the early, pre-Crisis Brainiac had done with the city of Kandor.

MC2

Galactus, accompanied by a new herald named Dominus, appears in the MC2 universe, in the Last Planet Standing limited series. Using a new star created by Thor with the spirit of the late Captain America, the Odinsword, numerous "omnipotent" beings (including Kubik, Kosmos, Grandmaster and the Pheonix), and Thor himself, he devises a way to escape his hunger and evolve to the next level by wiping out the entire Universe.

He begins by destroying an entire Galaxy as a test, then destroys several worlds in rapid succession in order to build up a reserve of energy, including the Shi'ar homeworld and Asgard (where his herald also steals the Odinsword and kidnaps Thor). He chooses Earth as the place to carry out his final plan.

The combined super-heroes of Earth are able to take down Galactus' protective shield for a short time. Avengers Stinger, American Dream, and Spider-Girl shrink to miniature size (using Stinger's shrinking abilities) and are able to sabotage Galactus' equipment, causing enough damage to Galactus that the specter of Death actually appears in anticipation of his passing. However, Galactus was saved by the Silver Surfer, who bonded with him to form a new entity.

The new entity resembled a silver Galactus and created a new board for himself. He told the assembled heroes that he was now endowed with the Power Essential, which enabled him to repair all of the damage done to Earth by Galactus. He advised them that his new mission was to find dead worlds and give them life. When asked what he should be called, he tells the heroes that they will have to decide that for themselves.

Earth X

Galactus also made an appearance in the Earth X series, which lies outside the normal Marvel Earth 616 continuity, making it non-canon. According to the Earth X series, Galactus was one of the three essential entities in the Marvel Universe not because he maintained the balance between Eternity and Death or kept Abraxas at bay, but because he kept the Celestials in check. By destroying planets, which were really "eggs" of the Celestials, he prevented the Celestials from overpopulating the universe. In its previous incarnation, the universe was brought to a premature end by the overpopulation of Celestials.

When the threat of the gestating Celestial within Earth was discovered, Reed Richards was contacted by X-51 to summon Galactus and destroy the Celestial. Unfortunately, in events which parallel Earth-616, Reed had turned Galactus into a star. However, he still sent Black Bolt on a suicide mission on the Moon to send a message into space. This message brought a being who appeared to be none other than Galactus himself, who then fought and killed several Celestials before destroying the gestating Celestial within the Earth. After the battle, Reed asked Galactus to remove his mask, revealing that the devourer of worlds was actually his own missing son, Franklin. The sequels to Earth X (Universe X and Paradise X) later revealed that Franklin, distraught over his mother and uncle's deaths, had fled Earth with the armor of Galactus, convinced to take on the role of the cosmic entity. As Franklin had manifested the final stage of the Celestial seed within humanity, he believed he was Galactus and became Galactus. Reed could not even call his son by name when they met again on Earth. At the end of Paradise X, after Reed inherits Mar-vell's cosmic awareness, he states that his first act would be to rescue his son.

The original Galactus was also revealed to be connected to the Microverse. The energies of the Sword in the Star not only created the Microverse, but also empowered Captain Universe before Arcturus Rann ceded the power to Mar-vell. When the Psycho-Man conquered Homeworld with the power of hate and forced Mari to kill Arcturus Rann, the Micronauts fought their way out, stealing the Psycho-Man's Psycho-Caster. The "fear" effect of the Psycho-Caster drew the Man-Thing to the portal which the Micronauts escaped through; as that which knows fear (or any other strong emotion) burns at the touch of the Man-Thing, the entirety of Subatomica was set ablaze by Man-Thing's tendrils. As a result, the energy which made up Subatomica, that from the Sword in the Star, threw itself backwards in time, to before the universe existed. There, it empowered Galan of Taa, to allow him to survive the previous universe and become Galactus. While Kyle Richmond claimed that the Sword itself was sentient, X-51 contradicted him on the Moon, saying that the Star was the sentient aspect: Galactus as a star.

Ultimate Marvel

Ultimate Galactus, called Gah Lak Tus, was introduced in an Ultimate Marvel Universe trilogy written by writer Warren Ellis, in a trilogy of limited series. The trilogy is made of: Ultimate Nightmare, Ultimate Secret, and Ultimate Extinction. His name was first mentioned by Ultimate Vision during Ultimate Nightmare and was introduced in Ultimate Extinction.

It has been mentioned a few times in The Ultimates in the current arc, as well as alluded to by alien visitor (Ultimate Captain Marvel) in "Ultimate Secret".

Gah Lak Tus is an immense (approx. 100,000 miles long) group mind of city-sized robotic drones. It targets worlds first with envoys (Looking remarkably like the Silver Surfer) intended to destroy the populace's will, then a flesh-eating virus which destroys all life, after which the entity breaks open the dying world to its core and sucks dry all its thermal energy, preventing any intelligent life from growing on, or inhabiting, that world ever again. Unlike Galactus, who at one point was a relatively normal humanoid being, Gah Lak Tus considers all forms and expressions of organic life to be so abhorrent it believed itself desecrated when telepathically contacted by Professor X.

Gah Lak Tus was driven away from the Earth after it was overloaded with human thoughts and 20% of its mass was destroyed with the Ultimates version of the Ultimate Nullifier - a cannon that fired the energy from an alternate universe's Big Bang. Gah Lak Tus quickly left the solar system in search of weaker prey. The Ultimates decided to upload the Ultimate Vision robot with the plans for the cannon and dispatch it to other worlds, enabling them to defend themselves should Gah Lak Tus threaten again.

Mangaverse

Like his Ultimate counter-part, the Mangaverse incarnation of Galactus is also wildly different from the original. Manga Galactus appears as a gigantic, planet-sized lifeform, similar to Ego the Living Planet, another Marvel character. Massive tentacles thousands of miles long trail out behind Galactus, and the front of his form is dominated by a single massive eye, as big as a continent. A ring of asteroids orbits it. Galactus is roughly the same size as Earth.

Galactus is so massive that it has its own atmosphere, and many strange and dangerous creatures dwell on its surface. Galactus feeds upon the life energy and living creatures of inhabited planets by burrowing its tentacles into the planet's surface. While the tentacles absorb the energy of the planet, hordes of monstrous creatures swarm off of Galactus' surface, along the tentacles, and spread out across the surface of the target planet, devouring all biological matter. These creatures, referred to as 'Galactus Spores' can range in size from microscopic viruses, to gigantic monsters hundreds of feet tall (a number of these monsters appear similar to Godzilla monsters, including King Ghidorah and Gigan). Galactus fed upon the planet Earth long ago, destroying the dinosaurs at that time, but left just enough life to enable mankind to survive. 65 million years later, Galactus returns to Earth to destroy it completely.

Galactus defends itself in a number of ways. To protect itself from space-faring threats, it uses its ring of asteroids, sending them careening into enemy ships and fortifications. If enemies reach Galactus' surface, they must deal not only with the many dangerous types of 'Spores' there, but also denizens native to Galactus - the Lava Men. These creatures, composed of sentient rock and magma, consider Galactus to be their life-giver and will zealously defend him. Galactus is considered to be the enemy of the Kree Star Empire, and as such the Kree's arch-enemies, the Skrulls, have a vested interest in preserving him. The Skrulls have formed an alliance with the Lava Men, and their strongest warrior, the Super Skrull, frequently visits Galactus' surface to help defend it. The Skrulls supposedly opposed Galactus in the past, but they were unable to overcome it. Galactus apparently absorbed the ancient Gods of the Skrull homeworld, and uses them to defend its most vulnerable areas. The Skrull Gods bear a close resemblance to the Heralds of Galactus from the 616 universe (including Terrax, Nova, and Firelord.)

Galactus, despite his great power, has a serious weakness - the core of the monster, its heart, is totally undefended. The Mangaverse version of Captain Marvel is able to slay Galactus with a single power-bolt to the heart.

It is revealed by the Mangaverse Watcher that Galactus was created by the Mangaverse version of Mephisto, rather than by the Big Bang. At the beginning of the universe, only 12 planets existed. One planet was a realm of pure evil - Mephisto's world. A meteor struck Mephisto' world, blasting a huge fragment of it free. This fragment eventually became Galactus.

Marvel Zombies

Galactus in his "classic" form appears at the close of issue three of the Marvel Zombies miniseries, which takes place in an alternate universe within the Ultimate Fantastic Four setting. In this particular alternate world, virtually all Marvel superheroes and supervillains, including Captain America (called "Colonel America" in this universe), Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Hulk, and Wolverine have been turned into flesh-eating zombies by an infectious virus, a la Resident Evil. At the end of issue two of the series, the Silver Surfer appears in this Universe's New York City to herald the coming of Galactus. The Marvel Zombies, who are always hungry for new meat, attack the Silver Surfer. While the Surfer holds them off for a time, and even maims several of the zombies (to little lasting effect), they ultimately work together to capture and eat him, thereby gaining some of his powers. Immediately thereafter, Galactus appears, asking the zombies what happened to his herald. The zombies attack Galactus with their newly found cosmic powers, but are no match for the world-devourer.

The zombies re-group and eventually construct a machine that amplifies their powers, crippling Galactus with a gigantic power blast. After a battle with a group of zombified super-villains over their new meal, Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Hulk, Luke Cage, Hank Pym and Wolverine are the only survivors. A weakened Galactus threatens the group, but is overwhelmed and eaten (although it is worth pointing out that this isn't technically possible, as Galactus is not composed of flesh, though things may be different in the Zombies-verse).

The story then skips ahead five years to show that the zombies have become a group called "The Galactus" after eating the original Galactus and gaining his power. It seems that they use the cosmic power gained from Galactus to travel the universe in search of worlds inhabited by beings that they can devour in their quest to quell their insatiable hunger.

Epic Illustrated

"The Last Galactus Story" was written for Epic Illustrated by John Byrne. At the end of the universe, Nova is still his herald. Galactus sacrifices himself to create a new universe where Nova will become the Galactus entity.

Media Appearences

Galactus appeared in the 1994 Marvel cartoon show Fantastic Four with Silver Surfer. He also regularly appeared as a Silver Surfer cartoon series on FOX Kids Network in 1997, being one of the only characters on the show to be CGI-based. In both shows, he was voiced by Tony Jay.

Quotations

"Of all the creatures in the vastness of the universe, there is none like me. I was present at the birth of the universe, and I shall be there at its end. Though I ravage worlds to live, I bear no malice to any living thing. I simply do what I must to survive. And why must Galactus survive? For, no matter how many worlds I devour... How many civilizations I destroy... It is my destiny to one day give back to the universe — infinitely more than I have ever taken from it. So speaks Galactus!"

--Galactus, The Origin of Galactus (Marvel Comic, 1996)

"I am he who is Galactus! I am he who is the power throughout a thousand thousand worlds! Mine is the will that is the word! Mine the hand that is the might! I am the then! I am the now! I am the yet to be! ^* I am him who is Galactus! My every whim is living law throughout a thousand thousand worlds! I shall regain my fallen herald! I will choose the time! I will choose the place! Then, I will choose... the strategem! And if Earth must die that I shall live... so shall it be! For, am I not... Galactus?!!"

--Galactus, The Silver Surfer Trade Paperback (Lee/Kirby Productions, 1978)

Influence

A faceless Galactus was featured on the cover of 1969's Monster Movie, Can's debut album.

The Tick animated series had an episode (Alone Together) featuring a character named "Omnipotus" which was an extremely obvious parody of Galactus, down to the eating of worlds, although much less intelligent and having really small feet. After being shot into space, the Tick briefly becomes the herald of Omnipotus, rebelling and later convincing Omnipotus to spare Earth. He also appeared with the Tick's comic-book incarnation.

The Savage Dragon comic-book series by Erik Larsen featured a massive extraterrestrial villain named Universo, drawn in the distinctive Kirby style, who proceeds to eat the planet Earth. The character even had a herald, the controversial Mother Mayhem. Since the Savage Dragon makes use of multiple realities, it is explained that Dragon's original world is destroyed while he is in the one he currently resides in.

The Transformers character Unicron plays a very similar role in the series' comic book mythos, even to the point of parodying his origins and featuring heralds such as Galvatron. However, unlike Galactus, Unicron is thoroughly evil, and is more or less considered to be the Transformers' equivalent to the devil (with his counterpart, Primus, being the equivalent of God). The cartoon continuity of the series (including the feature-length _The_Movie) created a completely different origin, far removed from the Galactus overtones, though the character still had many Galactus-like traits.

The syndicated comic Space Guy! had a storyline featuring a giant humanoid alien named Cosmicus who is attempting to devour the Earth.

Other

In the episode of "Fairly Oddparents" on Nickelodeon, called "Mighty Mom and Dyno Dad", Timmy Turner wishes himself to be a great superbeing called Galactimus, the eater of planets, so he can make his parents vulnerable to magic.

In a comedic issue of Marvel's What If? series, Galactus was banished to earth and lands outside a trailer park, suffering from amnesia. After he is discovered by a local, she declares that he looks exactly like a young Elvis Presley. Galactus/Elvis begins a music career but when he is finally confronted by a galactic being and given his memory back, he chooses to remain on Earth as the king of Rock N' Roll.

In another What If? short, Galactus is depicted as the nephew of Ben and May Parker (instead of Peter Parker), who casually resurrects Uncle Ben after he is shot and turns the murderer into a puddle of protoplasm.

In a "What The!? Comics Presents" story (Written by Scott Lobdell), Galactus has been forced to go on a diet and runs a casually murderous hotel that has various super heroes as both guests and staff. Hijinx ensues as Galactus finds the hotel inspector killed twice while under cover.

The Dexter's Laboratory backup series Dial M for Monkey once included a battle between the heroes of Earth and Barbequor, a cosmic entity who eats worlds with barbeque sauce, and who had a herald called the 'Silver Spooner'.

In the 1997 FOX Kids cartoon "Sam and Max: Freelance Police"; the character of Galactus was also spoofed in the form of the character 'Lactose the Intolerant'.

See also Mister Nebula, a DC Comics villain who clashed with the Justice League and was a parody of Galactus.

An episode of Duck Dodgers contained a parody of Galactus. In the episode "Consumption Overruled" features a planet-eating being named Hungortus who eats planets with a mouth on his stomoch and whose shape and armor resembles Galactus.

In a (typically unfunny) episode of the Adult Swim show Minoriteam, a character named Balactus intends to destroy the whole world. I wasn't really paying attention because the show is pretty crappy, but the color scheme, appearance, and actions are highly similar to those of Galactus. A notable difference in the appearance is that Balactus is black (as the name suggests), and has an afro.

External links

Galactus - Marvel Database Project
Marvel Directory - Galactus
GameFAQ's Comic Book FAQ: Marvel Cosmic Entities

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