Glossary:Devourer of Worlds

Devourer of Worlds

On Earth, I'm seen as a threat. Something to be nullified. They call me Galactus...the "Devourer of Worlds." As if that's all I do. To the sheep, the farmer is the shape of love and safety and protection. But if the farm is big enough, the sheep may never notice the farmer's presence. She may live her whole life never understanding what he does for her. She may never realize that she is his favorite. She will know the farmer only at the end, when it is time to harvest. When he hungers. Nevertheless, three facts remain: without the farmer, there is no farm. Without the farm, there is no life. And a service that is never known on Earth is no less true.

—Galactus[source]

A Devourer of Worlds (also called World-Eater, Planet-Killer, Destroyer of Worlds, Great Devourer, Cosmic Eater, and other similar terms) is a nigh-omnipotent cosmic being plagued by an immense hunger that could only temporarily satiated through the consumption of planets, preferably those thriving with life. Although this being is often seen as a malevolent force, the Devourer was in fact vital to reality and its life, helping prolong their existence. Each iteration of the Multiverse had its own devourer of worlds, being the last survivor of the previous multiverse merged with that universes' essence. The Devourer of the Seventh/Eighth Cosmos is Galactus, a survivor from the Sixth Cosmos.

An example of Galactus using his Elemental Converter

An example of Galactus draining a world's energies without his Elemental Converter

Despite the name "Devourer of Worlds," the Devourer does not truly consume worlds by biting it. Rather, the Devourer consumes the energy that the worlds possess. Furthermore, life-sustaining energies are the most nutritious; thus, Galactus prefers inhabited worlds above uninhabited ones. Heralds of Galactus exist to scout for such worlds. Planets with life energy do not always have sentient life, so some heralds try to avoid inhabited worlds with varying success. In general, Galactus builds an Elemental Converter to drain a planet's energies, rendering it barren. It is also possible for Galactus to drain a planet directly, but the Elemental Converter is far more efficient.

In addition, Galactus' hunger level is tied to his level of power. He generally needs to feed about once per month, and he is at his weakest between feedings. Terrax the Tamer nearly killed Galactus by starving him, and Galactus became so weak that he was beaten to a pulp by Earth's heroes. The opposite is also true. The more Galactus feeds, the more powerful he becomes. On some occasions, he feeds more than necessary to increase his powers to face opponents he knows he cannot handle ordinarily, such as Mad Celestials or the Black Winter.

The true purpose of the Devourer is to not just destroy worlds, but to absorb the inhabitants' culture, emotions, and most importantly their desperate will to live against all odds. By amassing this desire for life, the Devourer would carry this energy until the end of the current universe, and once that universe passed the Devourer would reach critical mass and unleash it when a catalyst came to spark it which would lead to a Big Bang. This explosion of cultures and will for survival lead to the creation of a new and improved universe based the last one, and after countless iterations a perfect universe would eventually be created in which all of the suffering caused by the Devourer would be worth it. If the Devourer was prevented from absorbing enough of this energy, then the creation of the next iteration of the universe would be more difficult to achieve.

History

In the Fourth Cosmos the Devourer of Worlds was an Archetype of Evil known as the What-Must-Be, who also possessed an Archetype of Good form known as the What-Can-Be, a primal being resembling and forming the template for Galactus. Little is known about them, but they were possibly a being from the Third Cosmos. They were possibly the first Devourer of Worlds.

In the Fifth Cosmos, there was an unknown Devourer of Worlds, likely the last survivor of the Fourth Cosmos.

In the Sixth Cosmos, the Devourer of Worlds was Moridun, later known as Omnimax, the last survivor of the Fifth Cosmos and the Sorcerer Supreme of his world. Presumably, after the energies accumulated by Omnimax was released following the end of the Sixth Cosmos, they were sparked by a piece of Doctor Doom's soul, leading to the creation of the Seventh iteration of the prime universe.

In the Seventh Cosmos, the Devourer of Worlds was Galan, later known as Galactus, a humanoid being born on the planet Taa, a paradise-like world whose civilization is said to have been the most advanced of any of the known universe of that time, to the scienceer Taaia. However, the Sixth Cosmos and all its universes were in their final stages of collapse due to the multiversal renewal cycle, being consumed by the star plague known as the Black Winter.

Galan continued his role as the Devourer of Worlds in the Eighth Cosmos, as that multiverse, unlike prior incarnations, was a direct continuation of the previous. The Ultimates subverted Galactus' purpose by forcing him through a process inside his incubator that was accelerated with Neutronium. This resulted in Galactus becoming the Lifebringer who restored planets. Master Order and Lord Chaos believed this would upset the cosmic balance, though the Living Tribunal argued that since the Cosmos had just reformed it could adapt to Galactus' new purpose. Eventually, Galactus returned to being the Devourer of Worlds.

In the Eighth Cosmos, and possibly the Seventh as well, Galactus had an opposite counterpart in the Negative Zone, that being the appropriately named Antithesis who filled the dying reality with life. Instead of devouring planets, it fed them with DeathBlood that turned the inhabitants into its personal army.

In the Ninth Cosmos, there are at least two possibilities for the next Devourer of Worlds. In the first possibility, Franklin Richards and Galactus of Earth-616 are the sole survivors of the Eighth Cosmos. Franklin will merge with Galactus' energy and become the Devourer of Worlds of the Ninth Cosmos. Mister Immortal serves as a contingency plan to replace Franklin if he were to die before reality's end.

In the second possibility, the Hulk of Earth-TRN781 would be the Devourer of Worlds. who would be known as the Breaker-Apart or the Breaker of Worlds. Unlike previous Devourers, Banner was possessed by the cosmic being known as the One Below All, and killed both Franklin Richards and Mr. Immortal to usurp their future position as the next Devourer. Banner was approached by the Sentience of the Universe, believing that Bruce Banner was still himself, to merge together in order to become a new being in the next cosmos; however, the One Below All-possessed Hulk grabbed the Sentience and devoured him, which in turn, transformed Banner into the Breaker-Apart. As the Breaker-Apart, the One Below All took advantage of the Devourer's power to destroy most of the Ninth Cosmos.

Alternate Reality Versions

Earth-829

Galactus was transformed into a black hole which began threatening the entire universe. Hercules sacrificed himself to save the universe, resulting in the creation of new cosmic being named Cosmos. Contrary to his predecessor, Cosmos used his powers to seed desolate planets with life, assisted by Juno as his herald.

Earth-9997

Galan became the devourer of worlds after his universe came to be overpopulated by the Celestials. During the recreation of the universe, Galan was imbued with the power of Galactus from the future, and as the devourer of worlds he feed on planets that contained Celestial embryos, killing them and ensuring the current universe doesn't perish like his.

Reed Richards eventually killed Galactus, but this caused the universal balance to collapse. As the universe required a devourer of worlds to keep the Celestial population in check, Franklin Richards was transformed by the High Evolutionary, Silver Surfer, and Adam Warlock into the new Galactus, with no recollection of his old self.

Earth-18466

Doctor Doom had swapped minds with Galactus and went on to devour the entirety of the universe. When he eventually prepared to attack Earth, Reed Richards and Doctor Doom of the Prime Marvel Universe worked together to swap the new Devourer's mind with that of Emma Frost. Not only she stole Doom's powers, but she also became the opposite of the Devourer, using her newfound powers to recreate the universe.

Notes

• The Devourer is tied to the Power Cosmic. At times, Galactus has been depowered and reverted back to a mortal. He has referred to his dislodged Power Cosmic as the "Soul of Galactus." Also, his Power Cosmic can be transferred to another person. If given all of his Power Cosmic, the recipient becomes a new Devourer and Galan becomes completely mortal.
  • Galacta, the "daughter" of Galactus from an alternate reality, was originally a parasite-like being that fed on his Power Cosmic and emerged as a similar Devourer-like being.
• Galactus once stated that the Galactus Seed, one of many retcons to his origin, would create a new Galactus if the planet where it was located was destroyed, one more immature and more destructive than its predecessor.

Trivia

• The Celestials pass on subsequent cycles. It was once even theorized that the Devourer of Worlds was simply a stage of Celestial and that Galactus was going to become a Celestial.
• Visher-Rakk appeared to a Devourer of Worlds as he was an enormous alien being who fed on planets and made use of a herald in form of Morrigon.
• The King in Black seemingly has a similar succession cycle.
• Other beings have planned to survive to the next cycle via various, unknown methods, at one point or another. Whether or not they would succeed remains to be seen. These include Elders of the Universe, the Watchers, and the Time-Twisters/Time-Keepers.
• Had Epic Illustrated continued, the "Last Galactus Story" would've ended with Galactus sacrificing himself for the dying universe to be reborn, while his herald Nova, the last survivor of the universe, would become the new "Galactus."