Merge:Eternals

''The Eternals bred few in number and were immune to time and death! Like the gods, they lived apart from all other living beings. They took to the highest mountain tops. They probed the universe with their minds and developed powers which surpassed those of all other Earth-life. They were regarded with awe and fear.'' Eternals #1

The Eternals are a race of superhumans in the Marvel Comics universe. They are an offshoot of humanity created on Earth by the alien Celestials, and wage war against their counterparts, the Deviants. The Eternals were created by Jack Kirby and made their first appearance in The Eternals #1 (July 1976).

In 2005, it was announced that Neil Gaiman would be writing an Eternals limited series for Marvel with art by John Romita, Jr, to begin in June 2006.

The Kirby Saga
When the Celestials visited Earth one million years ago and performed genetic experiments on early proto-humanity, they created two divergent races: the long-lived Eternals, and the genetically unstable and monstrously grotesque Deviants. These experiments also lead to the capacity for superpowered mutations in humans.

A civil war broke out amongst the Eternals, with one faction lead by Kronos and the other by his warlike brother, Uranos. Kronos' side prevailed, and Uranos and his defeated faction left Earth and journeyed to Uranus. Uranos' group soon tried to return to Earth to re-kindle the war, but they were attacked by a passing Kree ship and forced to land on Saturn's moon Titan. (Experiments performed by Kree scientists on a captured Eternal lead them to go to Earth and perform their own genetics experiments on a group of humans, thus creating the Inhumans.)

One day, Kronos' experiments in Cosmic energy caused a catastrophic release of cosmic energy throughout the Eternals' city, activating latent genes in the Eternals and disintegrating the scientist's body. The Eternals now found they could channel large quantities of cosmic energy themselves, granting them near-godlike power. After the accident, Kronos' son Zuras became leader of the Eternals, while Kronos' other son, Alars, left Earth and journeyed to Titan. Alars found a civil war had erupted on Titan and wiped out all but one member, Sui-San. Alars fell in love with her, and in time they repopulated Titan. Due to the mix of activated genes from Alars and unactivated ones from Sui-San, these new Titanian Eternals are not as powerful or long-lived as Terran Eternals, but are more powerful and longer-lived than the earlier pre-civil war Titanian Eternals.

While Zuras ruled, three new Eternal cities were built. The first was Olympia, located in the mountains of Greece, near the main portal between the Earth dimension and the Olympians home dimension, which lead many ancient Greeks to confuse some of the godlike Eternals with members of the Olympian pantheon. The other two Eternal cities were Polaria (located in Siberia) and Oceana (in the Pacific).

When the Celestials returned to Earth to judge the worthiness of their creations, Zuras feared what would happen if the Celestials judged unfavorably. Zuras lead his people against the Celestials, but was destroyed for his efforts. Before his spirit fully left the material plane, he instructed his daughter Thena to take his people to explore space. Most of the Eternals did so in the form of a gestalt Uni-Mind, but a handful -- those most heavily involved in Earthly affairs -- remained behind on Earth.

The Gaiman Saga
Recently, the Eternals have began reappearing on Earth. Most seem to have no memory of their own history and abilities except Ikaris, and no records of their previous appearances remain. The cause of this has yet to be disclosed. The story is ongoing.

Powers and Abilities
Due to the cosmic energy that suffuses an Eternal's body and the nigh-unbreakable mental hold they hold over their bodily processes, the Eternals of Earth are effectively immortal and unkillable. They live for millennia, do not fatigue from physical exertion, are immune to disease and poison, and unaffected by environmental extremes of cold, heat. Most cannot be injured by conventional weaponry, and even if they are, an Eternal can rapidly regenerate any damage. The only way to permanently kill an Eternal is to inflict enough damage to spread a significant portion of their body over a wide area.

All Eternals are also superhumanly strong, able to lift/press an average of 15 tons.

This same cosmic energy can be channeled for a number of superhuman abilities. All Eternals can:
 * Project damaging blasts and/or blinding flashes of energy from their eyes and hands.
 * Fly (average top speed 600 mph) and levitate others.
 * Read minds.
 * Generate illusions.
 * Teleport vast distances, though doing so leaves most Eternals momentarily fatigued or dazed.
 * Transmute objects, altering both their shape and composition. This ability is very taxing to most Eternals.

Some Eternals choose to focus on a particular power in order to increased their effectiveness with it. Sersi, for example, has developed the power of transmutation farther than any other Eternal. Additionally, some Eternals choose to focus their cosmic energies into other, non-standard abilities. Ikaris, for example, channels cosmic energy to greatly enhance his senses, while the Interloper uses his to generate fear in others, and Makkari uses his cosmic energies for superspeed.

Generations

 * First Generation Eternal (those born before the fall of Titanos): Arlok, Astron, Daina, Kronos/Chronos/Chronus, Master Elo, Oceanus, Uranos.
 * Second Generation Eternal (those alive at the time of Chronus' experiment): Alars, Arnaa, Cybele, Forgotten One/Gilgamesh, Helios, Perse, Rakar, Tulayn, Valkin, Virako, Zuras.
 * Third Generation Eternal (those born after Chronos' experiment but before the Second Host): Aginar, Ajak, Arex, Atlo, Domo, Ikaris, Interloper, Mara, Phastos, Sigmar, Thena, Veron, Zarin.
 * Fourth Generation Eternal (those born after the coming of the Second Host, 20,000 years ago): Argos, Ceyote, Chi Demon, the Delphan brothers, Druig, Khoryphos, Makkari, Psykos, Sersi, Kingo Sunen, El Vampiro.
 * Fifth Generation Eternal (those born after the coming of the Third Host, 3,000 years ago): Aurelle, Sprite, Titanis.

Antecedents

 * Erich von Däniken's book Chariots of the Gods, a debunked 1972 non-fiction best-seller, postulated that ancient aliens gave knowledge to early humans, and were worshipped as gods.
 * The Hurricane and Mercury, two characters of Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel, were retconned as being guises of the Eternal Makkari.
 * Thematically, the Eternals were similar to another Kirby creation, the New Gods - another group of ancient godlike beings in epic stuggle with their opposites, with humanity caught in between.

Trivia

 * As seen in Eternals by Jack Kirby, the Eternals were, at first, not intended to be part of the normal Marvel canon. In issue #15, when the Eternals must fight an android of the Hulk imbued with cosmic powers, a press conference held by New York police sparks questions of whether or not "Doctor Doom and Thor are fighting too?"  One reporter responds "These comic fans think all of Marvel's characters are running amok!"  As the years went on, however, the Eternals entered the current Earth-616 continuity.

Eternals Titles

 * Eternals #1-19 (July 1976 - Jan. 1978) Written and penciled by Jack Kirby
 * Eternals Annual #1 (1977) - Written and penciled by Jack Kirby; occurs after The Eternals #12
 * Eternals #1-12 (limited series; Oct. 1985 - Sept. 1986)
 * Eternals: The Herod Factor (March 1991)
 * The New Eternals: Apocalypse Now (also known as Eternals: The New Breed) #1 (Feb. 2000)
 * The Eternal #1-6 (limited series; Aug. 2003 - Jan. 2004)
 * Eternals #1-6 (limited series; Jun. 2006 - Nov. 2006) - Written by Neil Gaiman