- —Adam Warlock[src]
Adam Warlock of Earth-19141 was nigh-identical to the Adam Warlock of the Prime Universe, diverging only in minor ways such as in his fashion sense.[5][6] For reasons that even the original Living Tribunal could not explain, Earth-19141 and Earth-616 were transformed by the universes' respective Thanos and Warlock, forcing this Warlock and the Prime Thanos to kill them. The process "merged" the two universes, Warlock absorbing Earth-19141 and replacing the dead Prime Warlock.[5][6]
With the power of an entire reality,[7] Warlock accidentally destroyed the universe. As part of a deal with Above-All-Others to fix it, Warlock revived the Prime Warlock and became the Multiverse's new Living Tribunal, replacing the Tribunal slain by the Beyonders.[1]
In the Eighth Cosmos, the Tribunal's counterpart is Oblivion and they are served by the Preordained.[8][2]
History
This Adam Warlock's life was similar to that of his Earth-616 counterpart until a cosmic event of great proportions altered its course.[6]
The Infinity Revelation[]
Adam Warlock traveled with the Mad Titan Thanos in the reality of Earth-19141 in order to find an object on a planet that was drawing them in. As they explored the treasure in the ruins deep below the planet's surface, they encountered two counterparts of themselves from a parallel universe. The artifact itself had been created by unknown higher-dimensional entities above even the Living Tribunal.
The two universes were remodeled according to respective subconscious perceptions of reality of Thanos from Earth-19141 and Warlock of Earth-616. Earth-19141 was transformed by Earth-19141 Thanos into Earth-14209, a massive necropolis, while Earth-616 Warlock turned Earth-616 into Earth-20209, a reality in a constant state of death and resurrection. Earth-616 Thanos was tasked by the Eternity of his universe to destroy Earth-616 Warlock to prevent him from consuming all of reality, while Earth-19141 Warlock was tasked by Infinity from Earth-616 to destroy Earth-19141 Thanos to restore their reality to normal.
After the two timelines returned to normal, they merged together, with the Earth-19141, and much more powerful, version of Warlock retroactively taking over the position of the now annihilated incarnation of Earth-616.[5]
The Infinity Relativity[]
Warlock went to Earth to understand what had just happened. He later met with Thanos and both discovered that Warlock had absorbed his own reality and now wielded unimaginable power. Warlock then became the target of an emboldened Annihilus, who had once again invaded Posiverse (aka the Earth-616 universe), wanting Warlock's powers for himself.
Thanos and Warlock joined forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Gladiator of the Shi'ar, and Pip the Troll to stop Annihilus. However, Annihilus easily defeated them,[6] due to being empowered with the strength of the Hulk,[9] and the power to broadcast fear into his foes. Most of the heroes were forced to flee while Annihilus killed Thanos and captured Warlock.[6]
The Infinity Finale[]
Having accidentally destroyed the entire universe when Pip the Troll awakened him in order to rescue him from Annihilus, a scared Adam Warlock summoned Thanos to his presence in the nothing that was left in his wake to know what he should do next. As he couldn't bring the universe back as it was, Warlock was convinced by Thanos to seek the aid of the Above-All-Others, which was only possible because Warlock had absorbed the essence of the Living Tribunal of his universe, along with everything else, into himself.
Accompanied by the Mad Titan, Warlock had an audition with the Above-All-Others, who was convinced by Thanos to strike a deal with them to allow them to restore the universe as it was before Annihilus' uprising against the Posiverse in exchange for the flavor of an all-new, all-different universe. With the army of the dead by their side, Warlock and Thanos defeated Annihilus' forces and submitted him. Warlock punished Annihilus by devolving him into an early stage of his evolution, which prompted Thanos to kill him by stomping on him, and took away Mephisto's mouth to prevent him from doing any trickery again.
With the universe fully restored and with only the most powerful beings remembering what never happened, Warlock resurrected the original version of himself from that actuality, and became the new Living Tribunal as part of the deal he struck with the Above-All-Others.[1]
Eternity War[]
Following the death of the Multiverse and its rebirth anew, Warlock continued operating as the Living Tribunal. He was summoned by the Lord Chaos and Master Order of the reborn Earth-616, who wanted the Living Tribunal to judge Galactus' new role as a lifebringer, the opposite of his previous role of world devourer, which they believed was a infraction of the universal order.
The Living Tribunal ruled in Galactus' favor, allowing him to remain as his new self, alleging that the cosmic hierarchy in this new reality was still being formed, thus it wasn't set. Lord Chaos and Master Order took advantage of this new factuality, and assaulted the Living Tribunal, killing him.[3] The Living Tribunal was eventually returned to life after the First Firmament, the being that manipulated Lord Chaos and Master Order into killing him in order to take over the Multiverse, was defeated.[4]
Infinity Conflict[]
When Thanos, controlled by his future self, began using the Astral Regulator to absorb the majority of the cosmic beings, putting the entire Multiverse into chaos,[10] the Above-All-Others and the Living Tribunal tried to stop him, but all was in vain, as Thanos was able to absorb them both, with his future self becoming the god and the manifestation of the entire Multiverse. Thankfully, Adam Warlock, Kang the Conqueror, Starfox, and Pip the Troll were able to allow present Thanos to take control of his future self's powers and he reverted everything back prior to his future self's machinations, seemingly restoring the Living Tribunal back to normal.[11]
G.O.D.S.[]
The Living Tribunal, like other beings, was visited in the eternal pillars and the great rock by countless beings across realities who wished to talk to him, forming an infinite line which lasted for millennia. When Aiko Maki came to see the Living Tribunal, she was brought to both the Tribunal and Oblivion by the Preordained, their servant. Aiko requested the Tribunal to free Mia the Magic Girl from The-Natural-Order-of-Things, as it was limiting her magical potential. However, the Tribunal outright refused, telling her this wouldn't be true justice and she should live with the weight of what she had done. This allowed Oblivion to then claim Mia for himself.[8]Personality
Adam Warlock seemingly had the same traits as his Earth-616 variant, with only minor differences such as their fashion sense.
After becoming the new Living Tribunal, his personality began to resemble that of the original. He is merciful when the facts dictate it, defending Galactus from Lord Chaos and Master Order's claim that he was upsetting the cosmic balance as the Lifebringer by pointing out that the cosmic hierarchy of the Eighth Cosmos was relatively new.[3] When the Centivar Aiko Maki requested to free Mia the Magic Girl from The-Natural-Order-of-Things, however, he refused outright, showing no emotion when Oblivion instead claimed Mia for himself.[8]Attributes
Powers
As an abstract entity overseeing the entirety of the multiverse, Warlock, as the new Living Tribunal, was one of the more powerful beings in all of existence, second only to the One Above All.[12]
- Avatar Creation: The Living Tribunal could appear separately as three suited humanoid individuals - two balding and masculine, one long-haired and feminine - who each reflected one of his faces.[8]
Weaknesses
- The Living Tribunal was temporarily weakened when the Multiverse was reborn as the Eighth Cosmos. To be more specific, the cosmic hierarchy of all cosmic beings, including the Tribunal, went into flux meaning entities that are normally far inferior to him such as Lord Chaos and Master Order were able to kill him.[3]
- Multiversal Instability: The Tribunal is a natural part of the multiverse and meant to maintain its stability. However, he cannot stop instability caused by outside forces acting directly on the underpinnings of reality, as Thanos did with the celestial regulator. As a result, Thanos was able to absorb the Living Tribunal after absorbing other universal aspects like Infinity and Eternity.[11]
- Bound by Nature: The Tribunal is a natural part of the multiverse and acts to maintain its natural processes. As such, he cannot intervene or affect processes that are a natural part of the mechanisms of existence.[citation needed]
Notes
- Warlock claimed that had he, as the new Living Tribunal, fought the Beyonders instead of the original Living Tribunal, the story would have played out differently.[1]
- A nod toward the identity of the Living Tribunal in Ultimates 2 (Vol. 2) #2 having originating in Thanos: The Infinity Finale #1 was confirmed by Al Ewing, though it is intentionally left vague.[13]
- There are multiple continuity errors present in Jim Starlin's stories about this Adam Warlock turning into the Living Tribunal (Thanos: The Infinity Revelation #1 → Thanos: The Infinity Relativity #1 → Infinity Entity → Thanos: The Infinity Finale #1):
- After the Living Tribunal died at the hands of the Beyonders, Infinity and Eternity took its place as the supreme rulers of reality.[14] However, Infinity and Eternity were also annihilated by the Beyonders in all realities,[15] so this should not have been possible. Additionally, Lord Chaos, Master Order, the In-Betweener, and most of the Celestials were also destroyed by the Beyonders[15] but were still shown in the issues.[14][1] The issues essentially assume that the Beyonders only killed the Living Tribunal, which is incorrect.
- Adam Warlock called Infinity the embodiment of time,[5] but she is actually the embodiment of space.[16][17][18]
See Also
- 21 appearance(s) of Adam Warlock (Earth-19141)
- 7 minor appearance(s) of Adam Warlock (Earth-19141)
- 5 mention(s) of Adam Warlock (Earth-19141)
- 54 image(s) of Adam Warlock (Earth-19141)
- 1 quotation(s) by or about Adam Warlock (Earth-19141)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Thanos: The Infinity Finale #1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Immortal Thor #11
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Ultimates 2 (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ultimates 2 #100
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Thanos: The Infinity Revelation #1
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Thanos: The Infinity Relativity #1
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Infinity Entity #3
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 G.O.D.S. #6
- ↑ Thanos vs. Hulk #3
- ↑ Thanos: The Infinity Conflict #1
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Thanos: The Infinity Ending #1
- ↑ Thanos: The Infinity Finale 1
- ↑ Ultimates 2 (Vol. 2) #8 's Ulti-Mails letters page
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Infinity Entity #2
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #30
- ↑ Quasar #24
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #25
- ↑ All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #5