Deviants (Homo descendus)

Deviants
Name	Homo descendus
Aliases	Changing People, Deviants, Scum, Mongrels, Subhumans
Affiliation and Identity
Identity	Secret
Origin and Status
Origin	Offshoot of humanity created by Ziran the Tester of the Celestials while experimenting on Homo erectus
Reality	Earth-616
Galaxy	Milky Way
Star System	Sol
Home	Earth
Base of Operations	Lemuria
Place of Birth	Lemuria
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Jack Kirby,
First	Red Raven Comics #1 (August, 1940) (Unidentified) Eternals #1 (July, 1976) (Identified)
First	Red Raven Comics #1 (August, 1940) (Unidentified) Eternals #1 (July, 1976) (Identified)

History

Origin

During their First Host on Earth, one million years ago, the Celestials collected the Wanderers, a tribe of Homo erectus.

Gammenon the Gatherer collected the ape-men and send them to Ziran the Tester who mutated them to have an unstable genome, creating the Deviants (Homo descendus), a race with destabilized DNA expressing into various mutations, who were then released and went hiding in the caves. With other subjects, Nezarr the Calculator then created the Eternals (Eternals (Homo immortalis)), hairless, upright tall beings able to tap into the cosmic power. They were themselves released, flying out of the Celestials' laboratory-ship. Finally, Oneg the Prober created a latent gene for the expansion of human potential.

Ancient Past

Their rate of mutation was much higher than that of Homo sapiens. The few children who survived rarely resembled their own parents. For most of their history, their priesthood culled the most radical mutations and sacrificed them. Others who differed too much from the human baseline were called Mutates, who often wandered away or were exiled. Some of them encountered normal humans and gave rise to folklore stories about "trolls", "ogres", or other monsters. By the same token, Deviants who did not mutate enough, i.e. appeared "too human", were shunned, sometimes exiled or even killed.

Conversely, beneficial mutations occurred more often. A typical Deviant had one or more traits that exceeded the human norm, such as intelligence, strength, or lifespan, or an entirely new ability. The only thing Deviants had in common is that they were all uncommon.

Their heterogeneity, rather than fostering tolerance, made the Deviants hostile to all species, none more so than their own. The most basic positive feelings, such as the love between parent and child, or between husband and wife, were almost nonexistent in Deviant society. Other positive feelings, such as friendship, loyalty, and patriotism, thus had no emotional bedrock to support them. Those few Deviants who experienced such feelings kept them hidden.

Their origins bound them to the Celestials and the Eternals. They once worshiped the Celestials as their makers. They saw the Eternals as rivals and warred against them throughout their history.

World Rulers

With their higher mutation rate, Deviants evolved faster than humans. Thus, they developed technology sooner. By approximately 20,000 BCE, they had built cities, above and below ground, and developed genetic engineering. Only their mistrust of each other and their constant battles with the Eternals had kept them from conquering Earth. In about 18,000 BCE, though, they controlled the whole planet except for Atlantis, from their capital on Lemuria.

Second Host

The Second Host of the Celestials arrived on Earth circa 16,000 BCE. The Deviants, in the middle of another assault on Atlantis, attacked the Celestial ship. In retaliation, the Celestials bombed Lemuria. At the same time, the Atlanteans opened their magma vents to drive off the Deviants. The bomb destroyed Lemuria, and the shock waves from it, combined with the open vents, sank Atlantis. This Great Cataclysm reshaped the Earth's surface.

Most of the Deviants died in the blast and in the subsequent devastation. The survivors took refuge in their underground cities. They stopped worshiping the Celestials in general and devoted to the "Dreaming Celestial", whom they believed had been punished for creating them. The priesthood changed Purity Time, their culling ritual: they had the "sacrifices" put in suspended animation as an army to attack the Celestials when they returned.

The modern amphibious Atlanteans appeared around 6,500 BCE. The Deviants may have created them as an experiment.

Third Host / Truce with the Eternals

The Third Host of the Celestials visited circa 1,000 BCE. The Deviants and the Eternals called a truce between themselves and pledged to stop interfering with humans until the Fourth Host would arrive.

Lyonesse

The Deviants of Earth learned of them when a group of extraterrestrial Deviants arrived, having overthrown their own worlds' base species. The two groups naturally refused to assimilate, so the newcomers established a city called Lyonesse beneath New York. They intended to conquer Earth as they did other worlds.

Modern Era

Damocles Foundation

In the mid-20th century, a group of idealistic Deviants, Eternals, and humans put aside their differences and created the Damocles Foundation. The invention of the atomic bomb convinced them that all three species needed to find a way to coexist, which would only happen when they recombined into a single species. The Foundation believed that that single species would be mutants, and they intended to control the future by creating and controlling those mutants. Their leader was Odysseus Indigo; their members included a group called Sword (made up of Argos the Hunter, Pyre, Stranglehold, and Zona), Marcelus, and Veeg.

Fourth Host

In 1976, the Fourth Host arrived to judge Earth. Their truce with the Eternals over, the Deviants attacked New York City to trick the humans into attacking the Celestials. As usual, though, they spent as much, if not more, effort on disputes with each other. They did manage to invade Olympia, the home of the Eternals. Led by the high priest, Brother Tode, the Deviants posed such a threat that the Eternals formed their Uni-Mind, trapped the invaders in a stone block, and took it into space.

Deviant conflicts

After the Fourth Host found Earth acceptable, they abandoned their plan to destroy it and left. The history of Lemuria since then mainly consisted of a series of power struggles between the priesthood (usually represented by Ghaur) and the monarchy (usually represented by Kro).

The Delta Network, a gathering of Deviants from both Lemuria and Lyonesse, formed, hoping that one day the Deviants could rejoin their human cousins and assimilate themselves into humanity at large. A group of Delta Network members, calling themselves Delta Force and led by Kro, undertook one mission.

The Underground Legion was a government-backed team of Deviants, mutants, and heroes protecting the secret of Lyonesse. They called their leader Blackwulf, even though the original Blackwulf (Pelops) died. His brother Lucian replaced him.

In 2001, Lemurian Deviant forces led by Dulpus and Glomm attacked China.

In 2014, Deviant forces attacked the Atlantean city of Lemuria, but both parties were slaughtered by the Evolutionaries (who sought to cull each and any non-human types).

Alternate realities

Please find here the histories of alternate realities' Deviants.

Deviant Editorial History

Even though their first official appearance didn't take place until Eternals #1 (1976), some characters appeared before were later retconned as Deviants.

Please consult the "Deviant editorial history" page for more information.

Biology

Genetics

There is a Deviant equivalent of the mutant X-Factor chromosome.

The Eternal Thanos is a mutant within his kind, possessing a mutation, the Deviant gene and being consequently affected by the "Deviant Syndrome".

Alternate Universe Deviants

Earth X (Earth-9997)

Deviants of Earth X

The past history of the Deviants on Earth-9997 mostly mirrors that of their Earth-616 counterparts. However, it's been revealed that, at least on Earth-9997 the Celestials intentions for the Eternals was not exactly the beneficent intent they had thought. The Celestials method of reproduction is to impregnate the planet with a portion of their energy (or embryo) and imbed Vibranium in the planet's core. Eventually after centuries of gestation the a new Celestial would be born, destroying the planet. In order to protect the Celestial growing within the planet, they would manipulate the DNA of the dominant species to act as unknowing antibodies. On Earth, it would be prehistoric man that would be manipulated in such a fashion. Their first attempt yielded the Deviants, unstable creatures who were born in new and more horrifying forms within each generation, they were naturally evil. Some of the early Deviants were jump-started to the third tier of mutation, in which their identities, abilities and personality were defined by those around them. It has been identified by Kyle Richmond that these Deviants mutated into the various demons and devils that have plagued humanity, at the very least Mephisto is one of these early Deviants. In order to counteract the Deviants violent nature, the Celestials created the Eternals, but by and large, the Eternals were disinterested in protecting humanity.

The Deviants would eventually conquer the Earth and enslave the baseline human race. It has also been stated that the demons that Prince Wayfinder found (having traveled back in time to prehistoric Earth and before finding refuge in the Microverse) were early Deviants. Their enslavement of the human race did not go unnoticed, and so the Second Host of the Celestials came to Earth and wiped out their empire, which sent the Deviants underground where they never fully recovered.

In the modern age, the Deviants have interacted with humanity in much the same was as their Earth-616 counterparts. In recent history, the Deviants have played it low key on Earth during the various global, economic, and food crisis. With the exception of Ransak the Reject, who was trying to find a way to reverse his "hideous" form, and Mephisto manipulating others to create another divergent reality to escape into, most of the Deviants remained uninvolved in the current events on Earth. It was not until they were all summoned by Mephisto himself to attack Buckingham Palace and take the sword Excalibur, the only device on Earth that could still kill people following the death of Death. The Deviants and Mephisto almost succeeded if not for the intervention of King Britain, Meggan, Medusa, X-51, Black Bolt, and Ransak the Reject. During the battle Meggan died trying to keep the sword out of Mephisto's grasps. The heroes succeeded and managed to kill Mephisto. Following the defeat of their leader, the Deviants retreated. Their current whereabouts are presently unknown.

Habitat

Habitat

Terrestrial

Gravity

Terrestrial

Atmosphere

Terrestrial

Miscellaneous

Type of Government

Alternates between feudal monarchy and theocracy

Level of Technology

Advanced

Cultural Traits

Xenophobia

Representatives

Gelt, Kro, Morjak, Brother Tode, Ahqlau, Broop, Ignatz, Karygmax, Ragar, Shelmar, Sledge, Sluice, Spike, Taras Vol, Tutinax the Mountain-Mover, Brother Visara, Queen Vira, The Mountain

Notes

As a pre-human race having conquered and ruled Earth before the rise of humanity, the Deviants are considered to be among the Elder Races.

See Also

• 128 appearance(s) of Deviants (Homo descendus)
• 11 minor appearance(s) of Deviants (Homo descendus)
• 25 mention(s) of Deviants (Homo descendus)
• 29 image(s) of Deviants (Homo descendus)
• 99 representative(s) of Deviants (Homo descendus)
• 1 item(s) used/owned by Deviants (Homo descendus)

Links and References

• Marvel Directory
• Deviant Dictionary

Footnotes

Like this? Let us know!