Did you spend ten-thousand human lifetimes studying this God-Being? Do you decipher the complexities of its language, the utterance of which would tip a mortal mind into madness? 
Celestials are powerful cosmic beings created by the First Firmament, the first universe to ever exist.[9] The Celestials rebelled against the First Firmament and their Aspirant counterparts in a war that shattered the first universe into the first multiverse.[9] The Celestial race has evidently survived the destruction and renewal of each multiverse thus far, and they are involved in the creation of new universes, including that of the Prime Marvel Universe.[10]
The Celestials visit planets—in what is known as Celestial Hosts—to experiment on, and judge, lower life-forms. They create Eternals and Deviants from a baseline species. For Earth, the First Host created Homo immortalis and Homo descendus, and inserted a latent gene into baseline humanity that causes mutations.[11][12][13] The Second Host destroyed the Deviant kingdom Lemuria and caused the sinking of Atlantis.[14] The Third Host forced the gods of Earth to submit and vow not to interfere with the Celestials' work.[15] The Fourth Host came to judge Earth; the Asgardians and Eternals tried to fight them but were easily defeated. The Fourth Host spared the Earth after Gaea offered them 12 of Earth's finest mortals, proving humanity's worth.[15]
In addition, one Celestial came to Earth 4 billion years before the other Celestials and died. Its body fluids spilled into the planet, changing it forevermore. According to Loki, it is because of this "giant cosmic accident" that Earth is so unique among all the planets in the universe for being such a hotbed for super-powered madness.[16]
History
Origin
First Firmament
In the beginning, there was only one universe, the First Firmament, perfect but alone. This sentient universe decided to create life: Celestial servants. Some of these servants industriously worshipped the First Firmament, seeking its approval whenever they created life on their own, which prompted the First Firmament to name them "Aspirants"; others, "multicolored rebels",[9] who were "as many as the stars themselves",[17] wanted their own creations to evolve, and wanted the universe to grow, change and die. That was seen by the First Firmament as madness and sacrilege.[9]
Celestial War
War eventually broke out between the "multicolored rebels", later known as simply "Celestials", and the Aspirants[9] for the dominion of all existence.[17]
The Celestial War
The war greatly diminished both groups. Eventually the rebellious Celestials resorted in desperation to using powerful weapons to eliminate their opponents, including the Aspirants' Godkiller Armor, which the Celestials used to win the final battle of the war.
After a decisive battle in the Celestial War, there was a lull in fighting between the two groups. During this time, the Aspirants fortified their fleets and immediately entered into aggressive squabbles among themselves, which gave the opposing Celestials time to recover and to plot ways to finish crushing their opponents.[17]
The Celestial War ultimately ended when the rebel Celestials shattered the First Firmament into pieces. The rebellious Celestials detonated their weapons, and hundreds of new universes were split off from the First Firmament. The First Firmament fled along with the remaining Aspirants, and the new universes formed a collective entity called the Second Cosmos (which was the first Multiverse).[9]
Ancient interactions
Colonization of the Second Cosmos
The Second Cosmos (or Second Infinity) was colonized by the rebel Celestials. These Celestials evolved their own servitors whom they came to call "Omegas", a name given to them to signal opposition to the First Firmament, who was the Alpha (beginning).[9]
Creation of the Seventh Cosmos and Encountering Knull
Celestials filling the void left by the previous universe
Upon entering into the Abyss left by the destruction of the Sixth Cosmos by the cosmic entity Black Winter, they initiated the creation of the Seventh but encountered Knull, a primordial god of darkness who had ruled over that Abyss.[18] Enraged, Knull attacked and decapitated a Celestial using a sword of living darkness, and began a war against the Celestials and their creations.[10] The body and soul of the felled Celestial were bound to Knull and trapped in the Realm Between, while the severed head was turned into the mining city and space station of Knowhere.[19]
Infinity Stones
The Celestials were responsible for sending the Infinity Stones to their respective universes.[8]
The Watchers
In opposition to the Celestials' apparent agenda were the Watchers. Having sworn an oath of non-interference in species younger than themselves, the Watchers found the Celestials' genetic engineering of such species to be the antithesis of what they believed in. Thus, the Watchers and the Celestials were in a non-confrontational conflict for billions of years. (As Watchers do not act.)[20]
Black Vortex
Black Vortex
An object called the "Black Vortex" was created 12 billion years ago by the Celestial named Godhead. Godhead created the Black Vortex after an individual named Gara from the alien Viscardi species expressed to the cosmic being her species' desire to explore beyond their race's current potential. Gara was the first of the Viscardi to use the Black Vortex and gain enormous power. One year later, a war among the Viscardi left Gara as the sole survivor of her species.[21]
Interest in Earth
The Progenitor and the Fallen
Four billion years ago, a Celestial referred to as the Progenitor crashed onto Earth after it was infected by the Horde. The Progenitor died a sad, lonely death, and its body was buried within the Earth below the North Pole. The Celestial's diseased body fluids seeped into the Earth and percolated through the planet's primeval surface, forever altering the Earth's evolutionary trajectory. Loki claimed that this process ultimately gave rise to the superhuman abnormalities present in many of Earth's inhabitants.[16]
A million years ago, a Celestial named Zgreb the Aspirant came to Earth in search for the Progenitor. Zgreb found the Progenitor and became inflicted with the Horde. However, the Horde mutated him into a rabid "Dark Celestial," the first of its kind. Zgreb went berserk and entered into conflict with the Avengers of the Stone Age. They defeated the weakened and sickly Zgreb,[22] and buried it underground in the territory that would become South Africa in modern times.[23]
The Celestials experiment on the apes of Earth
The First Host
The loss of the two Celestials drew the attention of the rest of their kind, and the First Host came to Earth. The Stone Age Avengers tried to fight the visitors, but they were soundly defeated. To look after the result of the contagion,[24] the First Host of Celestials then genetically engineered one hundred Eternals (Homo immortalis).[25] In addition to that, they also created one hundred grotesques Deviants (Homo descendus) and developed the X-Gene that would eventually give rise to mutants.[12][11]
The Monoliths
After the creation of these species, the Celestials created the mysterious objects known as Black Monoliths to help record vast amounts of data over the centuries.[26][27] Numerous humans interacted with these Black Monoliths over the centuries.[28]
The Second Host and the Great Cataclysm
The Second Host of the Celestials arrived on Earth circa 18000 BCE. At the time, the Deviants, who far outnumbered the Eternals and the humans, were in the middle of war against on Atlantis and attacked the Celestial ship. In retaliation, the Celestials landed on Lemuria. At the same time, the Atlanteans opened their magma vents to drive off the Deviants. Either by Celestial will alone, or the combined forces of Atlantis, the Eternals and The might of the Celestials, the continent of Lemuria was destroyed and Atlantis sunk beneath the sea. This Great Cataclysm reshaped the Earth's surface.[29]
It is also known that near this time, Arishem came into conflict with The Dreaming Celestial. The reason for this conflict is unknown and differing reasons have been given, but may have been about the course of the "experiment" on Earth-616.[30] The conflict ended with defeat and burial of The Dreaming Celestial under what would later become Northern California near San Francisco.
Celestial Contract
At some point, using old hieroglyphs, Nur built his large Sphinx-shaped ship with alien materials, in part on his own as the ship also built itself, and began to hear a voice inside of his head. The voice belonged to the Celestial, Eson the Searcher, who spoke through telepathy and called Nur "Apocalypse". Eson presented Nur with the proposition to use the technology on the ship to shape the destiny of the world, or simply leave and never remember anything. Nur accepted and Eson stated that one day, maybe in centuries or millennia, the Celestials would come for payments for their gifts.[31]
1st Century
Celestial Madonna
The Celestial Madonna an apparent female Celestial, appeared in 114 AD at the palace of Zhang Heng, a member of the Brotherhood of the Shield in Luoyang. Zhang went to her,[32] and revealed him the existence of the Celestial Egg existing within Earth, and revealed as well that she was carrying a child, something "new/unique/forbidden". That birth would destroy her in any case, but would need nourishment. As she was hesitating between using Earth, causing quick extinction, or the Moon, with cataclysmic consequences on Earth, Zhang Heng proposed an alternative: the Sun. Bathing herself in the Earth's sun, she was destroyed while her progeny was found by Leonardo da Vinci in 1956.[33]
The Third Host
The Third Host came to Earth about 1000 years ago. Once again the Celestials moved across the globe experimenting and testing their handiwork. Wary of the intervention of these "alien gods" Odin Borson convened a gathering of all the known Sky-Gods like himself and choose three of their number to meet with the Celestials. Odin, Zeus Panhellenios, and Vishnu confronted Arishem, but Arishem was unfazed by their assault. Arishem then attacked the gods' home dimensions, and proved that it alone had the power to cut off each and every pantheon from Earth. This lead to all the Skyfathers pledging to not interfere with the Celestials for 1000 years.[34]
Thor vs. Apocalypse
11th Century
In 1013, Apocalypse came to Scandinavia to kill on the counsel of Rama-Tut who informed him of beings and ancestors of people who would cause a threat to him in the future. After defeating Thor he went to London and sent his four Four Horsemen (Pestilence/Phantom Bats of the Twelve Minds, War, Native-American Famine, and Death) to kill Folkbern Logan, ancestor of Wolverine, but they were all destroyed by Thor. Thor faced off with En Sabah Nur. He was defeated. Seeking revenge, Thor blessed Jarnbjorn with his own blood to imbue it with the power to pierce Celestial armor. Not willing to except defeat, Apocalypse destroyed his Celestial Pyramid ship in a failed attempt to kill Thor.[35]
The Celestial Ship & The Traveler
In the mid 12th century Ho-Lo Shan Mountains of Northern Mongolia, Nur heard of a ruler, who was powered by an immense alien Ship which crashed, and sought him out as another immortal. In a confrontation, Nur slew all of Garbha-Hsien's guards. Garbha-Hsien then sought to humble his fellow 'forever-walker', by revealing the secret titanic vessel. Having had previous experience with futuristic technology, Nur attacked Garbha-Hsien and left the other immortal for dead. Not understanding how to kill an immortal, Garbha-Hsien survived and fled. After striking down Garbha-Hsien, Nur entered the Ship and lived on it for many years, not fully understanding how to communicate with it or control it. Shortly after finding the Ship, Nur and his Riders of the Dark were constantly attacked, by a young warrior with a sword and shield calling himself the Traveler.[36][37][38]
After years of sending assassins and battling the Traveler, Nur severed Traveler's left cybernetic arm and, during the confusion, the Traveler pulled a gun and shot him in the head. After reattaching his techno-organic arm, Traveler was accepted as the new leader of the Riders of the Dark, but declined. Traveler turned to Ozymandias and instructed him to remember that there will always be someone smarter and stronger around and that being fit to survive means to have the responsibility to help those who are not. Unaware to the Traveler, his techno-organic infected blood mixed with Nur's, as he wiped Nur's blood on Ozymandias. Ozymandias had Nur's dead body brought to the alien Ship, hoping that its technology could heal him, and Traveler arrived, to ambush a caravan of advanced technology. Traveler explained to Ozymandias that the Ship was actually a Celestial transport for a highly advanced alien race, a sentient exploratory device, and entered the ship. Inside, Traveler learned that his blood, mixed with the Techno-Organic Virus, and Nur's resurrected Nur and, infected with the virus, allowed Nur to understand Ship. Nur was transformed and enhanced by Celestial technology, becoming one of the most powerful beings who would ever live, now possessing the ability of total control over the molecular structure of his body. Angry at the revelation, Traveler told Nur that if he was responsible for his immortality, he would make Nur spend eternity far away from there and sent both Ship and its passenger far into space. Over the next few centuries, Ship's sentience slowly evolved and Nur noticed, but enslaved it, telling Ship that he had created it. After gaining so much power, Nur also began to take long slumbers in Ship and to refuel his powers.[39]
The Fourth Host
Fourth Host
In the 20th century, the Fourth Host of Celestials returned to Earth to judge the final stage in their genetic experiments. To do this, they settled on the Inca plateau in South America and collected materials and beings from across the globe. The appearance of these enigmatic giants around the world terrified the world's population and triggered the attempted intervention of S.H.I.E.L.D.. The Celestials sealed themselves inside an impenetrable dome and began their judgement. Odin, fearful of Celestial power and angered by their interference on Earth, gathered the life force of all of Asgard to battle the Celestials for the fate of the Earth. Despite having Thor and the Eternals at his side, The Celestials defeated Odin and spared the Earth after the intervention of Gaea and the "gift" of 12 special humans selected from every pantheon. The Fourth Host then left Earth erasing the memory of their existence from the minds of humanity.[34]
Dreaming Celestial at San Francisco
Early in the 21st century, after being manipulated into awakening The Dreaming Celestial, the Eternals learned that it was only through the efforts of the Eternal Makkari that it did not "reset local space-time one billion years past" or "destroy this corner of the Milky Way Galaxy." It was angry over its imprisonment but decided instead to observe and investigate the Earth. The very presence of the Dreaming Celestial was initially considered a threat and dangerous to the very existence of humanity, and all life on Earth by the Avengers. It was only through the mental intervention of the Eternals that the 2000 foot Golden Celestial now standing in Golden Gate Park, was accepted by humanity at large.[40]
Tiamut
As time passed, the Celestial's emotional and mental stability was becoming more and more erratic as it claimed to be questioning the reason for its imprisonment, its place as designated by the Fulcrum and its/his plans for all of creation. The Dreaming Celestial began exhibiting more "non"-Celestial behaviors, such as admiring Iron Man's guile in battle and the "un-doing" of the death of the Eternal Thena's human son, so much that Uatu the Watcher began to question the Celestial's mental balance.
Soon after the High Evolutionary and Mr. Sinister tampered with the Dreaming Celestial's armor, the prime Celestial Host came to Earth, apparently finally taking an interest in its re-awakening. Cyclops' Extinction Team boldly attempted to bluff the assembled Celestials, asking them to leave; they consented, but only when the Dreaming Celestial itself, no longer infested by Mr. Sinister's machinations, told them to by pointing skyward.[41]
By this time, the Dreaming Celestial's confusion and questioning of itself was beginning to physically affect the people it communicated with culminating in the death of Makkari, the subsequent "death" of Sersi, and "rebirth" of Makkari all due to the Eternal's relationship with the Celestial. Finally confronting its "creator", the Fulcrum/"Jack", it choose to leave this plane of existence with it/him.[42]
X-Termination
Exterminator
The Celestials thought that with life and creation there must be death and destruction, so they created the Exterminators to be that death and destruction. However, the Exterminators turned against the Celestials who couldn't kill them, so they separated the universe into the Multiverse and imprisoned and bonded them into space between the walls separating realities. However, the Celestials didn't learn from their first mistake and created the Death Seed with the same purpose, but far more manageable.[43] The Exterminators were trapped in their prison for millennia, until the walls between realities began to weaken. Tears, cracks, and fissures grew larger and larger until the Exterminators were able to escape.[44][45]
AOA Nightcrawler and Dark Beast used the Dreaming Celestial to create a portal to their world. Unfortunately, this portal opened the rift between realities wide enough for the Exterminators to pass through to Earth-295.[45]
When the Exterminators emerged, they were greeted by the X-Men, the transdimensional X-Men, and the X-Terminated.[45][46]
One of the Exterminators departed to Earth-616 where he drained the Dreaming Celestial while the other two Exterminators remained on Earth-295, one feeding off the rift and the other seeking out the power of Apocalypse in the Death Seed.[47]
Once again, as Tiamut was supposedly already dead by its own hand on Earth-616, Celestial events become convoluted and almost mythological.[42]
Mutant Rapture and Judgement of Earth
Kang the Conqueror recovered Jarnbjorn from Baron Mordo's tomb in Brazil.[35]
Kang gave the axe to Uriel during his training to become the new Apocalypse. Uriel used the weapon to kill a Celestial Gardener outside the Starcore Station as part of the Apocalypse Twins' plan to trick the Celestials into destroying Earth while they evacuated all of Earth's mutants to Planet X.[48]
Thor later retrieved the Jarnbjorn and used it to kill/destroy the space armor of Exitar the Executioner before it could destroy Earth. Whether this truly destroyed the Celestial, or merely shunted it back to wherever the Celestials truly live as the Invisible Woman had previously done to help end the so-called Celestial-Watcher War is unknown.[49][20]
After Exitar's "destruction", Sentry revealed to Wasp that he would take a great journey moving the Celestial body far from Earth. Before leaving, he warned her that they must prepare themselves because the Celestials' wrath would be mighty.[50]
Time Runs Out
Among their many solutions to halt the Incursions, the Illuminati asked Galactus to arrange a meeting with the Celestials so the group could ask them for help. However, during the meeting, the Celestials mysteriously vanished.[51] The explanation for this event was that the Celestials were being attacked in every universe at the same time by the Beyonders, who after a long battle managed to kill them all.[52]
Celestial Destructor
Eighth Cosmos
After the recreation of the universe the First Firmament sent one of his Aspirants to cause damage to Eternity.[9] The arrival of this Celestial Destructor was foreseen by the precognitive Inhuman Ulysses Cain. The entity appeared in New York City near Stark Tower where it was confronted by the joint forces of the Avengers, Avengers Unity Division, New Avengers, Ultimates, A-Force, X-Men, New Attilan's Inhumans, and other heroes including Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Hellstorm, Shaman, Spider-Man, War Machine, Spider-Woman, Wolverine, Hulk, and Hercules. While most of the heroes were busy fighting the Servitors, the magic users of the group cast a spell that returned the Celestial to its own dimension.[53][54][55]
Eternity War
Birth of the Fifth Host
As it turned out, not all of the Celestials were destroyed by the Beyonders. A handful of survivors managed to escape and hide out at the furthest edges of the universe within the deep folds of space-time. Unlike the other cosmic beings, the Celestials that were destroyed were apparently not brought back to life when the Multiverse was restored. The surviving Celestials were confronted by Logos, the fusion of Lord Chaos, Master Order, and the In-Betweener. Logos believed himself to be the new judge of worlds, something the Celestials formerly did. Logos considered the Celestials to be unwanted competition as judges of worlds and thus destroyed the surviving Celestials, though he was told that nothing truly died by the Queen of Nevers, who secretly saved the One Above All while Logos killed the other Celestials, making him the last Celestial.[56]
It was later revealed that Logos was being manipulated by the First Firmament in a bid to return to its original position as everything that is.[9] The Celestials were eventually returned to life as the Fifth Host by the Queen of Nevers to thwart the First Firmament's attempt to take over the Multiverse.[57]
The Final Host
Zgreb was eventually awakened in modern times when a team of archaeologists uncovered the underground cavern it was sealed in. The Fallen shouted "Summon... the Final Host!" while killing the archaeologists. Later, Loki, the Asgardian God of Mischief,[58] released the Fallen from its prison and used it to bring about the Final Host of Dark Celestials in order to wipe out Earth, arguing that the planet was ill-ridden as a result of the Progenitors' arrival and death having altered the Earth's evolutionary trajectory billions of years prior. Before arriving to Earth, the Dark Celestials used the Horde to infect and kill every Celestial in existence. Their bodies were hurled to the Earth to herald the arrival of their murderers.[59]
During the Avengers' final stand against the Dark Celestials, the bodies of the felled Celestials were reanimated by the Horde. When the Avengers joined their energies to form a gestalt Uni-Mind, they used its power to defeat the Horde, and it became dormant. The Celestials were freed from its influence, and they helped the Avengers take down the Dark Celestials.[60]
King in Black
En route to Earth, Knull decided to settle his eons-old score with the Celestials and slew at least three of them, reanimating and controlling their corpses using his living abyss.[18][61]
"Biology"
The Dreaming Celestial's face
Appearance
The Celestials usually appear as massive armor-clad humanoids of enormous size, with most of them standing two thousand feet (610 meters) in height and some even larger (Exitar stands over 20,000 feet high).[62] Each varies in color and design, which is very elaborate in some individuals. Each has one head, two arms & two legs, indistinct features on their helmets sometimes exhibiting two eyes, sometimes more, sometimes none. The designs on their armor are of a practical nature and each serves a function of one kind or another, Arsheim's formula of judgement on its thumb for example. Many, but not all, also have great equipment on their backs or carry great staffs capable of breaking down and reconstructing all forms of energy & matter or lay waste of entire continents. It has been reported that the Celestials' bodies are modular, made up of thousands of varied objects and beings. It has also been reported that they may combine to create larger more powerful amalgams and can animate severed limbs and even their computer-ware is sentient.[citation needed]
Celestials' armor can be taken off. After the Dreaming Celestial took off his helmet, he revealed his glowing face.[42]
Internal Anatomy
Their interior is comprised of black bio-mechanical matter which is capable of absorbing the souls of their experiments,[63] such as the Eternals, in order to sustain themselves.[64] The Celestials also have a variety of internal defenses, such as armored behemoths, jellyfish-like antibodies, and winged and tentacled creatures which swarm in great numbers while firing powerful blasts from their single eye.
Antibodies
Winged defenders
Armor
Allegedly, no one has even seen a Celestial without armor. A theory from scientists is that they exist in Hyperspace, while their armors are simply channels allowing them to interact in the regular plane of reality.[20]
On Earth-90266, it was stated that the armors worked on willpower and were controlled by thoughts.[65]
Origins and "Replication/Reproduction"
Celestial Eggs within planets
It was stated by the Celestial Madonna that Earth and many other worlds were implanted with a Celestial Egg/Embryo at their center, gestating for millions of years before birthing and consuming the planet.[33] Similar processes was witnessed in Earth-9997[66] and other realities.[67]
This process of reproduction is seemingly the rule,[33] but not the only way Celestials come into being.
Gestation within Celestials
The Celestial Madonna was herself carrying a Celestial, something she considered "new/unique/forbidden". The process/cycle/function of replication/reproduction was assured to cause the mother's death, and required suitable nourishment, who could be found in Earth, the Moon (causing their destruction) or the Sun. The infant Celestial, dubbed the Star Child, was stated to be a "variant Celestial".[33]
Black Galaxy
For millions of years, the Black Galaxy was a universal curiosity, an area of space composed entirely of biological matter. In recent times, it was revealed to be the birth crèche of a new Celestial. A Red Celestial oversaw the process, using armored capsules to assemble the full armor of a new Celestial. The bodies of Eric Masterson and Hercules were incorporated into this mixture. Also, a sphere of pure white energy became the center point for the Celestial's creation. When the alleged Celestial-slayer called Stellaris made a kamikaze run on the white sphere, her megaton impact triggered the final birthing process. The white sphere expanded to encompass the entire Black Galaxy, then contracted back to its original size, pulling the bio-matter of the entire Galaxy back into that point, leaving behind light years of completely empty space. The compressed bio-verse of the sphere and the assembled Celestial armor combined to produce a new and unnamed Blue Celestial.
The Rigellian Analyzer proffered that the Celestials may have created the Black Galaxy or merely commandeered it, and that the supposedly antagonistic Stellaris was both a necessary part of the birth process and encased in living armor identical to the Celestials'.[68]
Planetary Uni-Minds
According to Varua's insight, the Celestials are Uni-Minds of entire planets clad in armors. That theory led her to create the Panhuman Uni-Mind, for it to be put by the Young Gods into an armor as the Celestial Terran. It is unknown if that is true, though Makkari expressed doubt and Legba hinted it wasn't true.[69]
Mutant M'Kraan evolved beyond
On Earth-92131, the race now known as the M'Kraan developed individuals who could be referred as mutants. That species of cosmic mutants then evolved a step beyond mutants, becoming the Celestials.[70]
One of those, Xodus the Harvester, thought that mutants from other worlds would eventually rise to replace his kind.[70]
Creation Constellation
A mysterious device known as the Creation Constellation, was discovered by two human scientist which turned them, including Outlaw and Domino into Celestials.[71]
Celestial Pathology
All Celestials are linked to one another by quantum telepathy, meaning no matter where or when they are they are in communion with each other.[72]
Agenda
The Celestials' agenda is ultimately unknown, as is the exact purpose of the Celestials' genetic manipulation and "responsibilities". Repeatedly returning to each world, the races in question are evaluated over a 50 Earth-year period and should a test-subject race "fail" by the Celestials' standards, Arishem the Judge's judgement calls the coming of Exitar the Exterminator to the target world. Exitar, a Celestial ten times Arishem's own height, "purifies" the offending world of the race (or races) by destroying those non-life-affirming elements. Thor was on the planet Pangoria when this happened, and was told the issues at stake were "too great for even an immortal to grasp".[62]
According to the Dreaming Celestial, the Celestial race are the instruments of the teeming of life in their respective universes under the will of an entity known as The Fulcrum that serves as the mastering force behind the equilibrium of all creation. Planets populated by a viable base species possessing the requisite neurological potential are chosen for cultivation. One hundred specimens are evolved into Eternals, another hundred, into Deviants, with the former being created to be more powerful while the latter being created to breed more efficiently and prodigiously. The Celestials then leave their specimens to their own devices and after nineteen cosmic cycles the tested planets are chosen for destruction. The aggregate energy from the base species is harvested and channeled to the Fulcrum. If the planet's aggregate energy signature is consistent with the Eternals, then the life force will be transferred to the Celestials before being sent to the Fulcrum. However, if the aggregate energy signature is consistent with the Deviants, then the life force will be transferred to the Horde, a malicious counterpart to the Celestials and the instrument of reaping on chosen planets under the order of the Fulcrum.[64]
Due to their imposing presence, all-concealing armor, and seeming indifference/omnipotence to those whom they judge, the Celestials have acquired the sobriquet of "Space Gods" used by many star-faring races. On their last evaluatory visit to Earth-616 in the Fourth Host, the Celestials wiped all memory of their existence from most of humanity. The only entities remaining aware of the Celestials' existence were the Asgardians, who actively opposed the Celestials' unrevealed motives; the other pantheons; and Earth's Eternals and Deviants. In modern times, however, with the rise of superhumans, many superheroes rediscovered the existence of the Celestials.
Alternate Reality Versions
Earth X (Earth-9997)
Celestials of Earth X
According to the visions of Kyle Richmond and the Watcher's equipment, the Celestials came from the same universe as the Elders of the Universe. These beings would advance their natural evolution to such a state in which they would begin to lose all definition. In an attempt to maintain what little identity they had left, the Celestials would create giant suits of armor out of Vibranium to inhabit. The Celestials also lost the means to reproduce, and would soon find a very devastating way around this: by "impregnating" a planet with a portion of their essence, it would become an "embryo" that would gestate and grow into a new member of their race. The planet in question would also be "injected" with Vibranium to form into a new shell for the newly born Celestial. As a form of protection of that growing Celestial, its "parents" would manipulate the DNA of a planet's dominant life-form to gain super-abilities and unknowingly act as antibodies, protecting the planet until the Celestial is born.
Each race they manipulated would have three tiers of mutation, the first would be for each individual to manifest their own powers. These powers usually would manifest when triggered by a catalyst (radiation for example), and the powers would vary depending on a number of factors, usually a combination of the outside catalyst and the subjects subconscious image of themselves. The second tier would be to have every member of their race exhibit the same ability, and the third would be a total loss of identity, those at this stage would be defined by what others around them believed them to be. This was installed as a fail-safe, should the Celestials ever have to quell a rebellion, it would be a matter of willing their wayward anti-bodes dead.
The Celestials would soon overpopulate their home universe, causing its collapse and the event that would lead to its own creation. This event would lead to the birth of Galactus, who unknown to most but the most cosmically aware was actually an equalizer to insure that the Celestials would never overpopulate the universe again by feeding on some of the planets they impregnate.
In the early days of the new universe, the Watchers would be forced to maintain their pact of non-involvement by the Celestials after not acting to prevent the birth of Galactus, and then later interfering with an alien race which would then create atomic weapons that would destroy their world. The Celestials would then place a Watcher on a moon of each world they impregnated. Forced to watch these worlds, the Watchers eventually would work to maintain the Celestials' propagation roles, and at least in the case of Uatu, Earth's Watcher, interfere with events on the planet when they threatened the Celestials' plans.
Over the centuries, the Celestials would be responsible for manipulating the Kree, the Skrulls, the Asgardians and many more. The Earth became subject to one of the Celestial's propagations during the time of the dinosaurs. Removing a portion of the Earth to create the Moon, the Celestials were responsible for the dinosaurs' extinction. They would place Uatu on Earth's moon.
Next, the Celestials would manipulate the DNA of mankind, however some tribes of humans would escape the Celestials' manipulations, such as the Moon Tribe. The Celestials would create the Deviants and the Eternals to keep the human race in check until they themselves would begin mutating with special powers due to their own natural evolution. The Celestials' involvement in the universe since is presumably the same as that of Earth-616.
In recent times, Reed Richards had succeeded in converting Galactus into a star, thus throwing off the universal balance, and being forced to work with the High Evolutionary and the Silver Surfer to advance his son Franklin's mutation to the third tier and convince him that he is Galactus in order to restore that balance.
When the entire human race was mutated by the release of the Terrigen Mist in Earth's atmosphere, it sped up the natural process of the planet's evolution. The Celestials would come to Earth in order to terminate the project, however they would get opposition by the new Galactus, who would fight them off until they retreated. Galactus would then kill the Celestial growing in Earth's core, but sparing the planet. It would cause the mass of the planet to change and throw its axis off, but this too in time would be corrected.
Since then, the Celestials have had no contact with Earth, nor are their current activities known, however X-51 had gathered a group of Heralds from other realities for the purpose of informing the Earths of each reality of the potential danger of the Celestials.
The Celestials' physical forms are almost completely lacking in definition, and are probably an energy base of some kind. In order to maintain individuality, they have constructed giant suits of armor to inhabit. These suits of armor are constructed out of Vibranium.
They are an alien race that advanced its natural evolution to a point in which their species almost lost all sense of identity. In order to maintain individuality, they would construct suits of armor to live in. Impregnating planets with their essence, they would reproduce. This brought upon the end of the previous universe. The Celestials survived the death of the old universe and have started their procreation anew.[73]
The Watchers were revealed to have been enslaved by the Celestials as guardians of unborn Celestials which existed in certain planets such as Earth.
Celestials of Earth-1298
Mutant X (Earth-1298)
The only beings in the universe who were able to contain the Goblin Entity (they weren't able to kill it) prior to the birth of Scotty Summers.[74]
Celestials of Earth-4280
Mad Celestials (Earth-4280)
The Celestials of this world became convinced they were gods and attempted to conquer the Multiverse by use of the Bridge.[75] They were defeated by the combined forces of Galactus and a Franklin Richards from an alternate future.[76]
They were considered (more accurately their invasion via the Bridge) by Reed Richards as a Medium Level Threat.[77]
Celestials of Ultimate Universe
Ultimate Celestials (Celestial City) (Earth-1610)
The people calling themselves The People are born from the SEAR government project to made new weapons in the meta-human arms race (additionally to stop the mutant contagion). Brainwashing thousands of people and injecting them with the Serum. (For more information: See Celestials (Earth-1610)).
Celestials of Earth-90251
What If? Secret Wars (Earth-90251)
Celestials of Earth-90251 were defeated by Doctor Doom.[78]
Celestials of Earth-20051
Marvel Adventures
The Celestials visited Earth in the distant past, judging its primitive inhabitants. Their judgment is not known but one of the Celestials remained on Earth buried under a mountain.
Celestials of Earth-13133
Planet X
Exitar came to Earth to pass judgement on the humans due to the death of a Celestial, while Thor and Eimin battled each other outside Earth's orbit. Thor believed that he could persuade Exitar to spare the planet since it was the doing of the Apocalypse Twins that led to a Celestial Gardener's death.[79]
The heroes of Earth planned on attacking Exitar if Thor's idea didn't work, with Iron Man and Doctor Doom using a force field that would engulf the entire planet to protect them from Exitar's attacks while Hyperion led a group of heroes to confront Exitar head on.[80] The force field generator suffered a fracture and exploded under Exitar's massive size, and in one fell swoop Exitar destroyed Earth.[81]
Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999)
When the Guardians of the Galaxy delivered the Orb of Morag to Taneleer Tivan, the eccentric Collector showed them a recording on the history of the Infinity Stones, which depicted the Celestials as the Stones' original owners. The video also showed the Celestial Eson the Searcher using the Infinity Stone inside the Orb to wipe out an alien race. Furthermore, Tivan had made his home out of a dismembered head of a Celestial known as Knowhere. His company, the Tivan Group, maintained a mining operation in Knowhere to extract valuable materials within the Celestial's remains.[82]
Ego claimed to be a Celestial on a later occasion when he was enlightening his son Peter about his heritage. Ego displayed the ability to manipulate vast amounts of energy and matter, abilities that had taken him centuries to master. He used said abilities to form a planet around himself and create a human body to act as an avatar with which to roam the galaxy. Ego also claimed to be immortal, but just as long as his brain, located at the core of his planet form, remained intact. His son, Star-Lord, being a Celestial-human hybrid, could therefore access the same power while he was in contact with Ego's planetary form.[83]
Earth-30826
The Celestials attacked the alien race known as the Eternals killing half of their population including all the females. The surviving male Eternals were then empowered by the Celestials, becoming their servants. For thousands of years, the Eternals would visit planets to turn their dominant fauna into Deviants or, in case of failure, replacing it by Deviants from another world.[84]
Earth-669116
When most of the universe was destroyed by the Fault, the Badoon enslaved the Celestials inside the Celestials Cage around the Star in order to power was little was left of the universe.[72]
Earth-17628
Near the beginning of the universe, most of the Celestials were defeated by Knull wielding four of his symbiotes--All-Black, Scream, Scorn, and Mania.[85]
Language
According to Tiamut the Dreaming Celestial, the Celestial language consists of over twelve million lexically distinct pitch-accents and to speak it would drive individuals under a class three sentience into a state of chronic insanity or catatonia.[86]
The Star Child's language was arithmetica.[87]
Please also see the known Celestial words.Powers and Abilities
Powers
Nigh Omnipotence: The Celestials have immeasurable cosmic and supernatural powers with seemingly no limits.[88] Kang the Conqueror considers them to be the most powerful energy source in existence.[49] They completely transcend the conventional space-time structure,[88] and are considered to be omnipotent entities.[89] Only Two Celestials by themselves possess the combined power to judge and exterminate entire races.[88] The Celestials collectively shaped the cosmos in order to create life throughout the universe,[43] and were responsible for the emergence of the Multiverse itself.[9] One Celestial was even able to warp reality on a pocket-dimensional scale, threatening to alter the entire universe.[90] The Celestials are also often placed alongside other Cosmic entities in status and raw power.[91][92][93] Galactus considered the Mad Celestials to be such a threat that he had to preemptively devour four planets just to prepare for them,[94] and while he did manage to kill one, a combination of three others completely overpowered him.[95] Arishem alone is more powerful than Odin, Zeus, and Vishnu combined, with his energy being described as "immeasurably more potent" than theirs.[34] Knowing that the gods cannot face the Celestials, Odin created the Destroyer armor and asked his fellow Sky-Lords to infuse it with some of their power, making it virtually all-powerful. Odin absorbed the lifeforce of almost every Asgardian (except Thor), entered the Destroyer, and brandished the Odinsword, but even all this is not enough to challenge the Celestials. An energy blast from the Destroyer with the power of Asgard was "passively deflected by a casually upraised Celestial hand," indicating the difference in power.[34] There are also higher level Celestials who are far stronger than the Fourth Host.[96]
Nigh-Absolute Immortality: The Celestials are immortal beings that are very difficult to kill or harm. Arishem withstood attacks from three Skyfathers at the same time completely unfazed.[34] A Mad Celestial even survived the Ultimate Nullifier,[75] though it is possible that the wielder's mind was not powerful enough. Celestials can instantly regenerate lost limbs,[34] fallen Celestials can be revived by their brethren,[20] and a single Celestial can be used as a seed to revive the entire race.[57] The Overscholars of the Winding Mist theorized that the Celestials are survivors of a previous universe (like Galactus),[97] which was proven true when it was revealed that the Celestials originated from the First Cosmos.[9]Abilities
Average Strength Level
Weaknesses
Habitat
Habitat
Gravity
Atmosphere
Population
Miscellaneous
Level of Technology
Representatives
_from_Deadpool_Vol_7_2_001.jpg "Groffon (Earth-616) from Deadpool Vol 7 2 001.jpg (2.57 MB)")
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_from_Guardians_of_the_Galaxy_Vol._2_(film)_003.jpg "Ego (Earth-199999) from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (film) 003.jpg (109 KB)")
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Notes
- The concept of the Celestials and their involvement in human history may have been inspired by the theories of Erich von Däniken, which were first explored in the 1968 book Chariots of the Gods.
- As old and as enigmatic as the Celestial race is, many myths have appeared around the Universe in attempts to describe these "Space Gods":
- Nathaniel Richards once speculated that they may have come from hyperspace, that the Celestial's armor were channels in which they could exist in this reality.[20]
- Another theory is that they came from the mysterious alternate "Celestial Universe" discovered during a trip through alternate realities by Dr. Doom, The Thing, The Human Torch and Sharon Ventura. This was a reality completely overrun by Celestials and was only seen very briefly.
- Another place thought to be the Celestial place of origin by the Beyonder was a string of planets connected by Celestial technology. It was called the "World Complex Headquarters" and had been converted into a tourist trap by various alien races so that they could view the Celestials daily. However, this and their seeming defeat by him turned out to be an illusion created by the Celestials themselves, which in turn led to his rejection by the female mutant Tabitha Smith.[98]
- There is also evidence to show that the Celestials were directly created or possibly their actions are directed by Eternity himself.[99]
- An artifact called the Creation Constellation can turn people into miniature Celestials. Anyone who touches an "infected" person also starts to become a Celestial. Gaurie Marazov, Doctor Geun, Inez Temple, Rachel Leighton, Wade Wilson, Ami Han, and Neena Thurman were all infected.[100][101] The former two went mad and began to call themselves "Marazov the Penitent" and "Geun the Executioner";[102] everyone else rejected the power.[101]
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Monoliths from Space Odyssey appear in Marvel Comics
- The legendary Black Monolith from Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey entered Marvel Continuity long ago (mostly because of nostalgia, since Machine Man's first appearance was in the 2001 comics). In the final issue of Machine Man, it was revealed that the creators of the monolith were the Celestials, who had sent it to help record vast amounts of data over the centuries.
- X-51 Issue #12 (titled "Space Odyssey") features Aaron Stack entering a monolith like David Bowman in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The monolith is described as a "path to the stars" and it sent Aaron to its creators, the Celestials.[103]
- A Celestial origin to Earth's other mysterious black monoliths has not been revealed.
- According to the Fulcrum, Celestials can evolve into beings of even greater power.[42]
Trivia
- It was speculated by Reptyl that the Celestials may be the cause of the widespread evolution of mammalian life in many quadrants of the cosmos.[104]
- One of the Proemial Gods presented in Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #2, Brio, had a similar appearance and purpose to the Celestials.
- According to the Dreaming Celestial, Celestials are not supposed to show emotion, and if they do, they are supposed to shut themselves down and compress their mass into a black hole.[105] Celestials can choose to ignore this, however.
See Also
- 287 appearance(s) of Celestials
- 11 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Celestials
- 183 minor appearance(s) of Celestials
- 140 mention(s) of Celestials
- 18 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Celestials
- 1 invocation(s) of Celestials
- 78 image(s) of Celestials
- 1 victim(s) killed by Celestials
- 67 representative(s) of Celestials
- 2 item(s) used/owned by Celestials
Links and References
- entities marvel Knightmare6.com; Marvel Cosmic Entities
- The Grand Comics Database
- The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 New Warriors (Vol. 5) #3
- ↑ New Warriors (Vol. 5) #5
- ↑ Exiles #53
- ↑ Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities #1 ; Set's entry
- ↑ Avengers #337
- ↑ Thor #284
- ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 5) #8
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Infinity Wars #6
- ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 Ultimates 2 (Vol. 2) #6
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Venom (Vol. 4) #4
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 What If? #23
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Marvel Fact Files #8
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Thor #300
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Avengers (Vol. 8) #5
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Iron Man (Vol. 5) #13
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 King in Black #1
- ↑ King in Black: Return of the Valkyries #2
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 Fantastic Four #400
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex Alpha #1
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 8) #4
- ↑ Marvel Legacy #1
- ↑ [[Avengers (Vol. 8) 4-5|[[Avengers (Vol. 8) #4|Avengers (Vol. 8) 4]]-5]]
- ↑ Eternals (Vol. 5) #1
- ↑ 2001, A Space Odyssey (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ X-51 #12
- ↑ 2001, A Space Odyssey (Vol. 2) #1–8
- ↑ Eternals #1
- ↑ Eternals (Vol. 4) #3
- ↑ X-Men (Vol. 2) #186
- ↑ S.H.I.E.L.D. #1
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 S.H.I.E.L.D. #4
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 34.5 Thor #300
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 Uncanny Avengers #6
- ↑ X-Force 37
- ↑ Cable & Deadpool #26
- ↑ X of Swords Handbook #1
- ↑ Cable & Deadpool #26–27
- ↑ Eternals (Vol. 3) #7
- ↑ [[Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 2) 1-3|[[Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 2) #1|Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 2) 1]]-3]]
- ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 Eternals (Vol. 4) #9
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 3) #61
- ↑ X-Treme X-Men (Vol. 2) #12
- ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 X-Termination #1
- ↑ Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 3) #60
- ↑ Age of Apocalypse #14
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 Uncanny Avengers #7
- ↑ 49.0 49.1 Uncanny Avengers #21
- ↑ Uncanny Avengers #22
- ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #29
- ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #30
- ↑ Civil War II #1
- ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 4) #12
- ↑ Civil War II: Gods of War #1
- ↑ Ultimates 2 (Vol. 2) #4
- ↑ 57.0 57.1 Ultimates 2 #100
- ↑ Marvel Legacy #1
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 8) #1–5
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 8) #6
- ↑ Markus, Tucker Chet (9 December 2020) Directors' Commentary: Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman on 'King in Black' #1 Marvel.com. Retrieved on 9 December 2020.
- ↑ 62.0 62.1 Thor #389
- ↑ King in Black: Return of the Valkyries #1
- ↑ 64.0 64.1 Eternals (Vol. 4) #2
- ↑ What If? Newer Fantastic Four #1
- ↑ Earth X #9
- ↑ [[Paradise X: Heralds 1-3|[[Paradise X: Heralds #1|Paradise X: Heralds 1]]-3]]
- ↑ Thor #419–424
- ↑ Eternals Annual (Vol. 4) #1
- ↑ 70.0 70.1 X-Men '92 (Vol. 2) #9
- ↑ Domino: Hotshots #3
- ↑ 72.0 72.1 Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 2) #16
- ↑ Earth X #0
- ↑ Mutant X #12
- ↑ 75.0 75.1 FF #14
- ↑ Fantastic Four #604
- ↑ Fantastic Four #588
- ↑ What If? Secret Wars #1
- ↑ Uncanny Avengers #15
- ↑ Uncanny Avengers #16
- ↑ Uncanny Avengers #17
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (film)
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (film)
- ↑ Eternal #1
- ↑ The Secret History of Venom
- ↑ Eternals (Vol. 4) #4
- ↑ S.H.I.E.L.D. (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ 88.0 88.1 88.2 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #2
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #3 ; Glossary: omnipotent
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #24–25
- ↑ Infinity Gauntlet #3
- ↑ Warlock and the Infinity Watch #1
- ↑ Infinity Entity #3
- ↑ Fantastic Four #602
- ↑ Fantastic Four #603
- ↑ Thor Annual #14
- ↑ Fantastic Four Annual #26
- ↑ Secret Wars II #5
- ↑ Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #5
- ↑ Domino: Hotshots #3
- ↑ 101.0 101.1 Domino: Hotshots #5
- ↑ Domino: Hotshots #4
- ↑ X-51 #12
- ↑ Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #12
- ↑ Eternals (Vol. 4) #7