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,"^[11] who were "as many as the stars themselves,"^[22] 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.^[11]

Celestial War[]

War eventually broke out between the "multicolored rebels," later known as simply "Celestials," and the Aspirants for the dominion of all existence.^[11][22]

For the full presentation of this event, please consult the Celestial War page.

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.^[22]

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 that embodied the Second Cosmos (which was the first Multiverse).^[11]

Exterminators and Lost One[]

Desiring to balance creation with destruction, the Celestials gave life to the primordial darkness, creating abominations called Exterminators. They eventually grew too powerful for the Celestials to control and turned on them. The Celestials imprisoned the Exterminators in one of the newly created universes lest they devour the newly-created Multiverse itself.^[23]

Around this time or prior, the Celestials also created the immensely powerful being named Cal-Horra, to be a servant for them.^[24]

Ancient interactions[]

Colonization of the Second Cosmos and the Beyonders[]

The Second Cosmos (or Second Infinity) was colonized by the rebel Celestials. There Cal-Horra created his own servitors whom the Celestials came to call "Omegas," a name given to them to signal opposition to the First Firmament, who was the Alpha (beginning).^[11] After the Second Cosmos ended and became the Third Cosmos, the Celestials moved on to the Third Cosmos. Meanwhile the Omegas stayed outside, having stolen Cal-Horra's power for their own and erasing him from their history to make it seem the Celestials directly created them,^[25] and becoming then known as the "Beyonders" (among other names).^[12]

At some point, the Celestials started assigning Kings in Black to maintain the Multiverse from the inside, while the Beyonders worked from the outside.^[26]

Creation of the Seventh Cosmos and Encountering Knull[]

Upon entering the Abyss left by the destruction of the sixth universe,^[27] they filled it with the seventh universe. They encountered Knull, a primordial god of darkness who had ruled over that Abyss,^[27] and tried to recruit him to be their King in Black.^[26] Rejecting the work and enraged that his void was being spoiled, Knull decapitated one of the Celestials using a sword of living darkness and began a war against the Celestials and their creations.^[14] The body and soul of the felled Celestial were bound to Knull and the Necrosword and trapped in the Realm Between. The body created an afterlife within itself for those killed by Knull and the Necrosword. The severed head was turned into the mining city and space station of Knowhere.^[28] To oppose Knull, the Celestials created a god of light,^[29] known as the Enigma Force.^[30]

Infinity Stones[]

The Celestials were responsible for sending the Infinity Stones to their respective universes.^[9]

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).^[31]

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.^[32]

Interest in Earth[]

The Progenitor[]

Four billion years ago, a Celestial referred to as the Progenitor crashed onto Earth after it was infected by the parasitic race known as 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. This process ultimately gave rise to the superhuman abnormalities present in many of Earth's inhabitants.^[21]

The First Host & The Fallen[]

Circa 1,000,000 BC the First Host came to the planet Earth, the Celestial Gammenon the Gatherer collected a few specimens, which Ziran the Tester mutated to create one hundred grotesque Deviants (Homo descendus).^[33] After Ziran was done with its brood, Nezarr the Calculator performed his own tests and created 100 superior Eternals (Homo immortalis). Finally, Oneg the Prober created a latent gene for the expansion of human potential.^{[15][17][34][35]}

Around this time a Celestial named Zgreb the Aspirant came to Earth in search for the Progenitor. Zgreb found the Progenitor and became infected 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,^[36] and buried it underground in the territory that would become South Africa in modern times.^[37] With Zgred defeat a sizeable group of The First Host came, Odin believing they had come for revenge joined the Avengers to face the Celestials.^[36] But the Avengers were soundly defeated, and instead of passing judgement on them the Celestials left all as it was.^[21]

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.^[38][39] Numerous humans interacted with these Black Monoliths over the centuries.^[40]

The Second Host and the Great Cataclysm[]

Unlike the Eternals, the Deviants' population reached great numbers in a few millennia and took over the world, enslaving humanity. The Eternals tried to fight them, but soon they were forced to call the Celestials for help.^[41]

When the Second Host of Celestials finally arrived on Earth, they were attacked by the Deviants, led by Emperor Phraug. Seeing a world fallen into chaos, the Celestials soon delivered their judgment and wiped out most of the Deviants.^[19][41] In the process, they caused Lemuria and Atlantis to sink all the way to the bottom of the ocean floor.^[19]

Around this time, the Celestial by the name of Arishem came into conflict with fellow Celestial Tiamut, who would later become known as The Dreaming Celestial.^[42] The conflict ended with the defeat and burial of Tiamut under what would later become northern California, near San Francisco.^[43]

Apocalypse and Celestial Contract[]

In order for the species they had experimented upon to evolve as they wished, the Celestials would choose a representative of those species to appoint them as caretakers.^[44][45] These caretakers or overseers were tasked by the Celestials to help the species in evolving and changing for the better,^[46] On Earth, the Celestials appointed a number of individuals as caretakers, giving them the title of Apocalypse, forming a long line of successors which had been granted with a Death Seed.^[47][48]

At some point in ancient history the Celestial known as Eson the Searcher used telepathy to communicate with the Egyptian warlord named En Sabah Nur. Eson struck a deal with En Sabah Nur, giving him the technology to build great, complex ships that would allow the warlord to shape the destiny of the world. Eson also gave En Sabah Nur the title of "Apocalypse" and stated that one day, maybe in centuries or millennia, the Celestials would come for payments for their gifts.^[49][50]

1st Century[]

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,^[51] 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.^[52]

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.^[20]

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 accept defeat, Apocalypse destroyed his Celestial Pyramid ship in a failed attempt to kill Thor.^[44]

The Celestial Ship & The Traveler[]

In the mid 12th century Ho-Lo Shan Mountains of Northern Mongolia, Nur heard of a ruler, a feared immortal magician, whose magics are such that legions ran in fright. 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 alien 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.^[53][54]

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.^[55][50]

The 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.^[20]

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.^[56]

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.^[57]

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 chose to leave this plane of existence with it/him.^[58]

X-Termination[]

Despite the Exterminators proving to be a failure, the Celestials didn't learn from their first mistake and created the Death Seed with the same purpose, but far more manageable.^[23] 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.^[59][13]

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.^[13]

When the Exterminators emerged, they were greeted by the X-Men, the transdimensional X-Men, and the X-Terminated.^[13][60]

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.^[61]

Mutant Rapture and Judgement of Earth[]

Kang the Conqueror recovered Jarnbjorn from Baron Mordo's tomb in Brazil.^[44]

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.^[62][31]

After Exitar's "destruction," the 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.^[63]

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.^[64] 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.^[65]

Eighth Cosmos[]

After the recreation of the universe the First Firmament sent one of his Aspirants to cause damage to Eternity.^[11] 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.^[66][67][68]

Eternity War[]

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.^[10]

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.^[11] 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.^[69]

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,^[37] 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.^[70]

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.^[71]

King in Black[]

En route to Earth, Knull decided to settle his eons-old score with the Celestials and slew three of them, reanimating and controlling their corpses using his living abyss.^[27][72] They were all killed in the battle against Knull. One by the Sentry,^[27] another by the Silver Surfer,^[30] and the last by Venom, who possessed the power of the Enigma Force, a power opposed to that of the primordial god of darkness.^[73] During the confrontation on Earth, the link between the headless Celestial's body, Knull, and the Necrosword was severed by the Valkyries, weakening Knull and the Necrosword. The souls trapped within the body were freed, including that of the Celestial to whom the body belonged.^[74]

Judgment Day[]

Hoping to end the war between the Eternals and the Mutants, Ajak, Makkari, Mister Sinister, and Tony Stark revived the Progenitor and reprogrammed it in order to end the war. Although the Progenitor did that, it saw that the inhabitants of Earth had driven the planet to ruin and decided to judge if most of them were more good than evil, else it would destroy Earth.^[75]

After judging many individuals, the Progenitor ultimately deemed all of humanity unworthy and ordered the Machine that is Earth to self-destruct, but it refused and was reset by Phastos.^[76] The X-Men, Eternals and Stark infiltrated the Celestial to activate its own self-destruct, but managed to convince it that it was unworthy of judging. This caused the Progenitor to undo everything it did before reverting back to the Avengers Mountain, but not before giving its power to Ajak so she could be the god it failed to be.^[77]

"Biology"[]

Appearance[]

The Celestials appear as massive armor-clad humanoids of enormous size, with most of them standing at 2,000 ft (610 m) and some even larger (Exitar stands at over 20,000 ft high).^[78][31] Celestials can change their size, as they have been shown to be both larger than planets^[79][80] and small enough to fit in a room.^[81][82] Some scientists theorize that they exist in Hyperspace and their armors are merely channels for interacting with the regular plane of reality.^[31] Ikaris asserts that Celestial armors are their "casing" which they use to interact with the physical world.^[83] Celestial armor can be taken off, as seen with the Dreaming Celestial.^[58]

The Celestials do not actually have physical bodies inside the armor. The dormant but still alive Dreaming Celestial was once dismantled by Mister Sinister, and besides the armor, it was completely empty.^[84] The Celestials "bleed" pure cosmic energy and radiation,^[85][86][62] and if body parts get detached, they are empty inside, consisting of only mechanical armor.^[85][87] If a Celestial dies, there is no corpse in the armor.^[88][28] When Thor entered a living Celestial, he found himself in a strange, otherworldly place and Thor stated that the Celestial had no true corporeal form and/or its presence was so far beyond Thor's understanding that he could not perceive it.^[89] Similarly, according to Dark Beast, what is seen inside a Celestial is not real and is only the mind attempting to make sense of the cosmic energies (and it differs from person to person).^[13]

Each armor 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.^[87][86] On Earth-90266, it was stated that the armors worked on willpower and were controlled by thoughts.^[88]

Internal Anatomy[]

The Celestials 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.^[89] The Continuum Cortex is made from a Celestial's "brainstem,"^[90] though Celestial "brains" are actually housing units of energy rather than biological brains.^[89][31] Avengers Mountain indicates that Celestial armor includes bodily systems, albeit mechanical.^[91][92] Nathaniel Richard's technology struggled to analyze the insides of a Celestial.^[31] It is stated that a living Celestial's true insides cannot be perceived, have no corporeal form, and are simply an interpretation of the mind.^[89][13] Celestials can contain pocket universes within themselves,^[93] even postmortem, such as the afterlife within the Headless Celestial.^[94]

Origins and "Replication/Reproduction"[]

Celestial Eggs within planets[]

One method of Celestial preproduction is planting a Celestial Egg/Embryo at the center of planets, such as Earth; however, the Celestial being born will consume the planet after millions of years of gestation.^[52] Similar processes are seen in Earth-9997,^[95] Earth-199999,^[96] and other realities.^[97]

Gestation within Celestials[]

The Celestial Madonna was the first pregnant Celestial, something she considered "new/unique/forbidden." The process/cycle/function of replication/reproduction required suitable nourishment, which could be found in planets or moons, resulting in their destruction, or alternatively the Sun. However, the child birth would also destroy the mother. The infant Celestial, dubbed the Star Child, was noted to be a "variant Celestial."^[52]

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'.^[98]

Through a similar process, in the far future Khonshu was able to become a Celestial by sacrificing the entire Earth and all of the inhabitants in it.^[99]

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.^[100]

Mutant M'Kraan evolved beyond[]

On Earth-15730, 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.^[101]

One of those, Xodus the Harvester, thought that mutants from other worlds would eventually rise to replace his kind.^[101]

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.^[102]

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.^[103]

Alternate Reality Versions[]

See Alternate Realities Celestials History.

Nigh Omnipotence: The Celestials have immeasurable cosmic and supernatural powers with seemingly no limits.^[104] Kang the Conqueror considers them to be the most powerful energy source in existence.^[62] They are considered to be omnipotent entities^[105] and are described as infinite.^[106][107] The Celestials collectively shaped the cosmos in order to create life throughout the universe^[23] and were responsible for the emergence of the Multiverse itself.^[11] One Celestial was even able to warp reality on a pocket-dimensional scale, threatening to alter the entire universe.^[108] The Celestials are also often placed alongside other cosmic entities in status and raw power.^{[109][110][111][112]} In effect, a single Celestial is the embodiment of energies comparable to the Big Bang itself and powerful enough to reverberate through the entire universe.^[113] In addition, Galactus considered the Mad Celestials to be such a threat that he had to preemptively devour four planets just to prepare for them,^[114] and while he did manage to kill one, a combination of three others completely overpowered him.^[86] Arishem alone is more powerful than Odin, Zeus, and Vishnu combined, with his energy being described as "immeasurably more potent" than theirs.^[20] 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.^[20] There are also higher level Celestials who are far stronger than the Fourth Host.^[115]

Transcending Space and Time: Celestials transcend space and time.^[104] Celestials can bend space and time to their whims,^[116][117] create black holes,^[116][118] and are capable of existing in multiple locations simultaneously.^[89] Described as metaphysical,^[64] Celestials do battle in countless planes at once, beyond just the physical one.^[119] They can "effortlessly" leap across space and time,^[48] and even child Celestials can instinctively time travel.^[120] Linked across time, Celestials can send messages to the past, future, and other timelines.^[121] Celestial energy has been used to travel through space, time, dimensions, and even other realities.^{[13][90][122][123][124]}

• Unlike most entities, Celestials do not have separate multiversal counterparts. Each Celestial exists across the Multiverse simultaneously as a single being split among interconnected aspects.^[13]

Immortality: Celestials cannot die of old age and some of them have existed since the time of the First Cosmos, meaning that they have outlived the universe several times over.^[11][12] Additionally, Agamotto was unsure if Celestials could ever truly die, even if they are slain.^[125] After Exitar's supposed death, the Invisible Woman wondered if it was actually killed or if it had just been disconnected from the dimension.^[31] The Progenitor was apparently "conscious" before its own birth and remained "conscious" after its demise.^[126][77]

Resurrection: Celestials can bring the dead back to life.^{[127][128][129]} Celestials can manipulate souls.^[130] Celestials themselves can be revived by their brethren,^[31] and a single Celestial can be used as a seed to revive the entire race.^[69] However, if a Celestial has been dead for too long (e.g. 4 billion years for the Progenitor), it cannot be revived by other Celestials.^[91]

Creation: Said to be the "architects of all creation,"^[13] Celestials have shaped creation before the Multiverse even existed.^[23][11] They create planets and stars out of nothing.^[14][43] It is rumoured that Celestials dream of entire universes when they sleep. This was somewhat supported when Ashema contained Franklin Richards' pocket universe within herself while unconscious.^[93]

• Celestials are also known for creating life, such as Exterminators and Beyonders.^[23][11][12] On top of that, they can create Replicoids—genetic duplicates—of other lifeforms such as Thor.^[78]

Cosmic Awareness: The Dreaming Celestial quickly acquired knowledge of the lives and experiences of all lifeforms on Earth,^[131] and also absorbed everything on the Internet.^[43] The Progenitor did the same thing and was described as "omnipresent."^[128] The Dreaming Celestial could observe the planet in the same manner as the Watcher.^[58] Like other cosmic entities, they can sense when the universe is disrupted.^[132]

Telepathy and Telekinesis: Celestials use "quantum telepathy" and are linked to each other across space and time. They can talk to each other from anywhere, from the past, the future, and other timelines.^[121] As seen with the Progenitor, Celestials can communicate with everybody on a planet at once,^[75] as well as other planets and dimensions.^[133][134] Jean Grey stated that the Progenitor's psychic presence was so massive that it could crush people alive,^[135] that the Celestial "thinks like nothing else," and that the weight of its consciousness warped everything like a black hole.^[129] Celestials can telekinetically move dozens of planets with ease.^[136]

• Celestials can selectively erase memories.^[93]
• Celesitals can create illusions, visions, and projections of the past, present, and future.^{[116][76][137]}

Immense Durability: 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.^[20] To put in perspective, Odin's battle against Seth was gradually ripping the fabric of the Multiverse itself.^[138] A Mad Celestial even survived the Ultimate Nullifier,^[87] whose raw power is at least universal level in magnitude,^[139] ultimately rising to multiversal level.^[140] Celestials can instantly regenerate lost limbs.^[20]

Body Manipulation: It is possible for Celestials to warp their bodies^[135][129] (their "casing" that they use to interact with the physical plane^[83]). While they are generally 2,000 ft tall, they have been shown to appear much smaller,^[81][58] or even bigger than planets.^[79][141] They can also disguise themselves as other lifeforms, as seen with Ashema,^[142] or the Progenitor.^[143]

• Like any high-level cosmic entity, Celestials can deploy M-Bodies.^[144]

Power Bestowal: Celestials can gift others with cosmic energy.^[77] Furthermore, the Progenitor's energy infusing into the primal Earth is said to be the reason for Earth's unusually superpowered inhabitants.^[145][102]

Highly advanced; almost unparalleled.^[147] Notable pieces of technology:

• Black Vortex^[32]
• Celestial Extermination Drones^[148]
• Creation Constellation^[149]
• Death Seeds and Life Seeds^[150][151]
• Gatherers^[152]
• Mandalay Gem^[153]
• Monoliths^[39]
• Nameless universe killer/creator^[154]
• Norn Stones^[155]
• Time machines (Celestials can time travel by themselves and do not need technology for it,^[120][147] but other organisms have used Celestial technology to time travel^[92])
• Replicoids^[78]
• Various AI
  • "Ship"/"Professor"/Prosh - an AI for a spaceship^[53]
  • Machine that is Earth - an AI given to an entire planet (this case, Earth)^[8]

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".^[78]

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.^[156]

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.

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.^[157]

The Star Child's language was arithmetica.^[82]

Please also see the known Celestial words.

• Before the First Firmament's account of the Celestials' origin from Ultimates 2 (Vol. 2) #6, many theories were presented surrounding the origin of these enigmatic "Space Gods":
  • The Cognitorum of Velsarius Six theorized that Celestials come from outside the Multiverse entirely. Kubik added it might even be the realm of the Beyonders.^[106]
  • The Philosophix Ultimus of the Xch'tul Hegemony theorized that Celestials are star beings born from black holes, which are their cocoons.^[106]
  • The Overscholars of the Winding Mist theorized that Celestials are survivors of previous incarnations of the universe, similar to Galactus, and Galactus would become a Celestial in the next universe when he finished being the Devourer of Worlds.^[106]
  • A long-dead race from Galaxy M31 theorized that Celestials are embodiments of the evolutionary process and are illusions with no intrinsic reality of their own.^[106]
  • Nathaniel Richards once speculated that they may have come from hyperspace and that the Celestials' armor are channels in which they could exist in this reality.^[31]
  • Dr. Doom, the Thing, the Human Torch and Sharon Ventura briefly entered a universe overrun by Celestials, possibly where they originated from.^[158] Loki also found a universe full of Celestials when he breached the bottom of the Quarry of Creation,^[159][160] and that was actually a remnant of the First Firmament.^{[161][162][163]}
  • The oblivious Beyonder thought that the Celestials' headquarters was the "World Complex Headquarters," a string of planets connected by Celestial technology.^[119] However, this turned out to be an illusion created by the Celestials themselves.^[106]
  • There is some evidence that the Celestials are connected to Eternity.^[164][93]
  • An artifact called the Creation Constellation can turn people into miniature Celestials. Anyone who touches an "infected" person also starts to become a mini Celestial. Gaurie Marazov and Doctor Geun went mad and began to call themselves "Marazov the Penitent" and "Geun the Executioner."^[165]

• 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, A Space Odyssey (Vol. 2)). 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 #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.^[39]
  • A Celestial origin to Earth's other mysterious black monoliths has not been revealed.
• There are two conflicting stories on how the Celestials created the Multiverse. The latest one is featured in the article. The original story was the following:
  • The Celestials were there at the birth of the universe and shaped creation. Arrogant and lonely, they created life, but the Celestials thought that there must also be death and so they created the Exterminators to be that death. However, the Exterminators turned on the Celestials. Unable to destroy them, the Celestials instead split the Universe into the Multiverse with nothing but their will, and sealed the Exterminators into one of the new universes.^[23]
• The concept of the Celestials and their involvement in human history may have been inspired by the controversial theories of Erich von Däniken, which were first explored in the 1968 book Chariots of the Gods?^[166][167]

• 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.^[168]
• According to Dormammu, the Celestials are the Lords of Order on Earth's plane.^[169]
• 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.^[118] Celestials can choose to ignore this, however.
• According to the Fulcrum, Celestials can evolve into beings of even greater power.^[58]

• The Celestials often send representatives for their race during cosmic gatherings.
  • When the cosmic beings banded to confront the Beyonder, the Celestials were represented by the One Above All.^[81]
  • When Eternity and many cosmic beings banded to oppose Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet, the Celestials were represented by the One Above All and Ziran the Tester.^[170]
  • In a trial for Adam Warlock, the Celestials were represented by Ziran the Tester.^[110]
  • In a trial for Protege and the Beyonder, the Celestials were represented by Scathan the Approver.^[171]
  • When confronting another Adam Warlock, the Celestials were represented by Eson the Searcher.^[172]
  • In visions or illustrations of the cosmic entities of the universe, the Celestials are typically represented by the One Above All^{[81][111][173][174]} or Arishem the Judge.^[175]