Headless Celestial (Multiverse)

Headless Celestial
Name	Unrevealed
Current Alias	Headless Celestial
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Celestials Formerly Symbiote Hive
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Eyes	Irises: No Eyes At All Green (formerly)
Hair	No Hair At All
Unusual Features	Missing head; black bio-mechanical flesh capable of manifesting soldiers and weapons to defend itself
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Celestial decapitated by Knull
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Multiverse
Place of Death	The Void
Cause of Death	Decapitated by Knull using All-Black the Necrosword
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Citizenship	Celestials
Occupation	None Formerly afterlife for souls killed by All-Black; Cosmic Being; creator of universes
Base of Operations	Celestial Afterlife Formerly Realm Between
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Wellington Alves
First	Nova (Vol. 4) #8 (November, 2007) (as Knowhere) Venom (Vol. 4) #4 (Chronologically)
First	Nova (Vol. 4) #8 (November, 2007) (as Knowhere) Venom (Vol. 4) #4 (Chronologically)
Death	Venom (Vol. 4) #4 (July, 2018)
Death	Venom (Vol. 4) #4 (July, 2018)

 A Celestial murdered by Knull, who sliced its head off for daring to bring light into his precious void. Knull was banished for the crime, taking refuge in the decapitated head of the Celestial. There, he used its cosmic energies to forge the Necrosword. The skull became a mining city--Knowhere. But the body was forgotten. In it, the infantile, fragmented soul of the Celestial was trapped, drifting through space and time. It did what Celestials do. It created a world within itself. A world of the dead. 

—Valkyrie (Brunnhilde)

History

Origin

Arrival in the Void

One of the Celestials to first enter into the Abyss left after the destruction of the Sixth Cosmos encountered the dark elder god Knull and sought to recruit him as the King in Black, charged with helping to maintain the universe. Enraged over the Celestials despoiling the Abyss through their creation of the Seventh Cosmos, Knull manifested a blade of living abyss from his shadow and decapitated the Celestial, thereby marking it as the first death in the renewed Multiverse.

Adrift Through the Ages

As the "Headless Celestial"

Knull was exiled back into the darkness by the other Celestials, but he used the Celestial's severed head as a forge to refine his blade into All-Black the Necrosword, creating a metaphysical connection between the primordial symbiote and the slain cosmic god. Over time the Celestial's severed head decayed and was turned into a mining city and space station called Knowhere, while its decapitated body was left to drift through space and time until it eventually crossed into the Realm Between. There, the Headless Celestial's body attempted to fulfill its programming by creating a world within itself, but its sundered and corrupted soul could only manage to create a twisted afterlife for those killed by All-Black and Knull, torturing them by forcing them to repeatedly relive their deaths and worst memories for all eternity.

Feeding the Necrosword power

Over the millennia, the Headless Celestial trailed after Knull and presumably the other wielders of All-Black like Gorr the God Butcher, at least while Knull was imprisoned. The Celestial assimilated the souls of those slain by the Necrosword and in return provided it and its wielder with immense power, making them nigh-invincible. At some point millions of years in the past, Rūna, one of the original nine Valkyries, encountered the Headless Celestial while transporting the soul of her lover Alta to Valhalla. Both of them were devoured by it, separated within the sea of lost souls within the Celestial's makeshift afterlife, and trapped in a series of nightmarish visions, among them being forced to relive the events of Alta's death.

King in Black

The soul of the Headless Celestial after its connection to the Necrosword is severed

Jane Foster, the newest Valkyrie, encountered the Headless Celestial while transporting the soul of the Sentry, who had been killed by Knull, to Valhalla. The Headless Celestial attacked them seeking to assimilate the Sentry, and managed to engulf him despite Foster's attempt to rescue him. However, in the process Rūna was freed, and agreed to help Foster vanquish the Headless Celestial in the hope of severing its link to Knull and rescuing Alta and the Sentry. Sensing this, the Headless Celestial manifested a black sword in emulation of All-Black and attacked Jane and Dani Moonstar, who were conducting the ritual to sever it from Knull. The Headless Celestial ensnared Jane and pulled her into its afterlife, delving into her memories and attempting to persuade her to use her Valkyrie powers to grant it new life. The souls of the other Valkyries arrived to finish the ritual, severing the Headless Celestial's connection to Knull and Jane convinced it to let go of the souls it had imprisoned. Accompanied and guided by the ancient Valkyrie Ivanir, the Headless Celestial passed on to the afterlife for its kind.

Personality

The Headless Celestial has been corrupted by its death and metaphysical connection to All-Black. As such, it serves as a twisted afterlife for the souls slain by the Necrosword, feeding the primordial symbiote power while torturing them by forcing them to relive their deaths and worst memories over and over. When confronted by Jane Foster, it expressed the desire to regain life and offered what it thought was her heart's desires in exchange. When she rejected its offers, it was confused and indignant, petulantly refusing to let go of the souls it had collected, but was ultimately convinced to do so and pass on by Jane's advice.

Attributes

Powers

• Celestial Physiology: In life, the Headless Celestial presumably possessed the powers and abilities inherit to all Celestials.
  • Matter Creation: In life, the Headless Celestial was shown creating planets, stars, and even galaxies with mere gestures.
  • Internal World Creation: Headless Celestial created a pocket dimension within itself, though its sundered and corrupted soul was only able to manifest a cruel afterlife of sorts for those slain by All-Black.
  • Constituent Matter Manipulation: The Headless Celestial can channel the vengeful spirits trapped inside it through its biomechanical flesh to manifest tendrils in order to snare those unfortunate to come across it, and soldiers and entities to fend off attackers.
  • Soul Absorption: The Headless Celestial can absorb both the souls and bodies of those it comes across, though it prefers to target those slain by All-Black and Knull.
• Metaphysical Connection to All-Black: Connected to All-Black through Knull's use of its severed head as a forge, the Headless Celestial supplies the primordial symbiote and its host with a vast amount of power, making even mortal hosts like Gorr nigh-invincible. This connection was ultimately severed by the Valkyries, greatly weakening Knull and freeing the Headless Celestial from his influence.

Abilities

Seemingly those of a standard Celestial.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

In life, the Celestial wielded a three-pronged gold-colored staff.

Weapons

In life, the Celestial could fire blasts of cosmic energy from its hands. In-death, the Celestial relies on the vengeful souls it has consumed to fight off would-be attackers. It is also capable of manifesting a massive sword in emulation of a Necrosword.

Notes

• The exact appearance of this Celestial has varied, as the appearance of Knowhere has tended to differ from artist to artist. In Venom (Vol. 4) #4, King in Black: Return of the Valkyries #2, and Venom (Vol. 5) #18, it is depicted with a helmet, armor, and even staff identical to those of Eson the Searcher. Despite the inconsistencies in art, it is directly stated that this Celestial is the Knowhere Celestial.

See Also

• 5 appearance(s) of Headless Celestial (Multiverse)
• 2 minor appearance(s) of Headless Celestial (Multiverse)
• 1 mention(s) of Headless Celestial (Multiverse)
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Headless Celestial (Multiverse)
• 7 image(s) of Headless Celestial (Multiverse)