EON

EON

Real Name: Unknown

First Appearance: Captain Marvel (Vol. 1) #28, September 1973

Powers: Eon was a sentient, quasi-physical entity, roughly 20 feet in height, that resembled a tree with certain humanoid features and possessed great power and considerable knowl­edge of the cosmos. Almost as old as the universe itself, Eon was among the first sentient entities formed in the wake of the Big Bang and has ex­isted for 8 billion years. Eon claimed to be the offspring of Eternity, which is the entity that embodies all life forces in the universe, the Celestial Axis, which is the pattern of organic energy threading itself through the known universe, and Time itself, which appears to be another aspect of the entity called Eternity.

Eon dwelled in a pocket dimension adjacent to Earth's universe, from which it could observe this universe. However, Eon could materialize anywhere in the uni­verse it chooses. Eon appeared to be a sort of cosmic custodian that monitors life in the universe. Beings with an abundance of power particularly attracted Eon 's at­tention. Eon is believed to be respon­sible for certain phenomena on Earth, a planet that lies along the Ce­lestial Axis. Eon apparently had something to do with certain other di­mensions in which beings of godlike powers dwell. In most of these di­mensions, the Celestial Axis mani­fests itself as a physical object. In the dimension of Asgard, for example, the Celestial Axis becomes Yggdrasil the World Tree.

Eon's principal function was to nur­ture the evolution of the sentient life forms of the universe and to maintain conditions conducive to life within the universe. Eon regarded Earth and its human denizens as having partic­ular importance to the history of the universe. Eon regarded the present time as a crucial one in Earth's his­tory due to the emergence over re­cent decades of growing numbers of superhuman beings. Eon believed that a superhuman race is quickly evolving on Earth that would bring a "golden age" to the entire universe.  

One of Eon's major functions was the appointment of a protector of life in the universe. Since its creation, Eon anticipated major threats to life and chose champions to de­fend the universe against these threats. It is not known how fre­quently Eon appointed these protec­tors, if there is a virtually unbroken progression of them, or if they are only selected when the need arises. Eon appointed numerous such guardians, selecting them from vari­ous sentient races, including one from the Elan. All but one of these champions wore devices called Quantum-Bands, wristbands that Eon created that enable the champions to manip­ulate energy at will and serve as a symbol of his or her station as Protector of the Universe. Eon also be­stowed other powers upon the guardians it has chosen. The first Protector of the Universe that Eon appointed was Glakandar, about 5 billion years ago.

Eon selected Captain Mar-Veil of Kree as a Protector of the Universe. Mar Veil, who distin­guished himself both in the Kree mili­tary and as a defender of Earth was appointed protector to combat the menace of Thanos, one of the Eter­nals of Titan, who sought to destroy the universe. Mar-Veil led the Earth's staunchest champions against Thanos, who ultimately was de­feated by them. Eon granted Mar-Vell the heightened consciousness called "cosmic awareness" to aid him in his crusade against Thanos. Mar-Veil was the only one of the champions chosen by Eon who did not wear the Quantum-Bands, which had fallen into the possession of the costumed Marvel Boy duplicate calling himself the Crusader.

Following Mar-Vell's death from cancer, Eon selected Wendell Elvis Vaughn, also known as the costumed champion Quasar, as the next Protector of the Universe. Quasar had already acquired the wristbands following the Crusader’s death. Eon told Quasar that he was to defend both the universe and Eon itself from an unidentified menace to them both that originates on Earth. To better protect Eon, Quasar brought Eon back to Earth, and concealed it in an office in Four Freedoms Plaza in Manhattan. Eon remained there for a time, advising Quasar in his mis­sion against the unidentified men­ace.

DEATH

 

DEATH

Real Name: Death

First Appearance: Captain Marvel (Vol. 1) #27, June 1973

Powers: The personification of Death can manifest itself on the physical plane at certain times to certain individuals as a sentient, quasi-tangible humanoid entity of either gender. Like Eternity, Lord Chaos, and Master Order, Death is an abstract being embodying a concept, whose true nature and origin is unknown. Death and the being called Eternity are said to comprise the mystical essence of the universe: Eternity embodies the principle of life, and Death embodies the principle of mortality.

Death and Eternity can both manifest themselves as sentient beings, and have spoken of themselves as siblings. They have appeared in humanoid form, although presumably they could appear in any guise they chose. Eternity generally appears in the form of a male, while Death usually manifests itself in female form. This may simply be the form Death chooses to seduce males into doing its will. When Death presented itself once to the vampire lord Dracula as a rival rather than as a seducer, it took male form. While Death can take the guise of a living human, it more often appears to living beings as a hooded, robed skeleton.

The personification of Death sometimes seems to possess fathomable motives. Death seems to seek new conquests, and manipulates mortals with or without their knowledge in order to gain them. Death once attempted to destroy Dracula through human pawns because Dracula was depriving it of conquests by creating vampires who were neither truly alive nor truly dead Death failed on that occasion, but Dracula eventually fell victim to permanent destruction. Although Death ordinarily seems content to maintain a balance in the universe between its power and Eternity's, Death will seize opportunities that arise to achieve dominance over Eternity. Death once appeared to the mad Titan Thanos in the form of a woman with whom he fell so much in love that he was willing to destroy the universe in order to please her. Death also apparently works in partnership with Galactus, the destroyer of worlds. Death has on occasion taken the role of gamesman, having once played a tournament of champions with the Elder called the Grandmaster.

Death's ultimate goals are unknown. There may be a master plan guiding its movements or nothing more than random chance. Virtually all living creatures in the known universe must eventually surrender themselves to Death. Even the Eternals and Asgardians age, although they do so very slowly, and will someday die. The Olympian gods do not age, but can be killed by a sufficiently powerful force. The Elders of the Universe, reputed to be the oldest living beings in the universe, can also be killed by a sufficiently powerful force. Galactus, the only known entity said to predate the Big Bang itself, believes his death inevitable.

The relationship between Death and the so-called gods of the dead of the various pantheons is also very hazy. Death gods like Hela and demons like Mephisto seem to receive certain undefined powers from Death and even rule over extradimensional realms seemingly inhabited by the souls of deceased mortals. But whether they are Death's pawns or allies cannot be determined.

Death remains one of the greatest mysteries of the universe. At one point, Death was "killed" by the extradimensional being known as the Beyonder, who later "recreated" it. The implications of this on Death's nature are still a mystery. Later, Death appeared to the Phoenix Force, claiming it to be the product of power of all life yet unborn, and thus somewhat an agent of Death and abstract entity the likes of Eternity and Death. Death helped to convince the Force to leave its then-current avatar, Rachel Summers.

IN-BETWEENER

 

THE IN-BETWEENER

Real Name: In-Betweener

First Appearance: Warlock (Vol. 1) #9, October 1975

Powers: The In-Betweener is an abstract creation of the conceptual beings Master Order and Lord Chaos, intended to represent a synthesis of all the dualistic concepts of the universe (life and death, reality and illusion, good and evil, logic and emotion, existence and nothingness, god and man). As an abstract being, he possesses an understanding of time & space beyond human comprehension.

While possessing both unlimited abilities across the range of psionic powers and sufficient power to alter reality on a cosmic scale, the In-Betweener is not all knowing or infallible. Indeed, within the parameters of the In-Betweener's existence are both power and weakness, knowledge and ignorance. He is also immune to the effects of the Infinity Gems.

LIVING TRIBUNAL

 

LIVING TRIBUNAL

Real Names: Inapplicable

First Appearance: Strange Tales (Vol. 1) #157, June 1967

Powers: The Living Tribunal is a vastly powerful conceptual being who has existed since the onset of the Multiverse. The Living Tribunal's sole superior is the One-Above-All (not to be confused with the Celestial member know as the One Above All), the entity which is responsible for the existence of all life in the Multiverse, and possibly beyond.

The Living Tribunal often interacts with other conceptual beings, serving as their arbiter and judge. The Living Tribunal appears as a giant humanoid with three faces, each representing a different personality. It has a blank space where a fourth face could be exhibited. The Living Tribunal has suggested that this fourth face became the enigmatic cosmic entity known as the Stranger.

Even Beings as great as Eternity, Infinity, Death, and Oblivion are subjects to the Living Tribunal's authority. Unlike the other conceptual beings, the Living Tribunal does not possess counterparts in other realities, only one Living Tribunal exists in the Omniverse, and it is responsible for all judgments. The Living Tribunal's apparent base of operations is a dimension known as the Star Chamber, and it is served by lesser creatures called the Magistrati, who assist in judging matters where the Living Tribunal cannot intervene. The Living Tribunal also helped fashion the twin cosmic Entities the Brothers, each of whom became the guardian of a different Megaverse, within the larger Omniverse but encompassing more than a single Multiverse.

The Living Tribunal is not guided by any motivation or desires, but is entirely impartial, acting only in what it determines to be the greater interests of the universe. The Living Tribunal is more than willing to sacrifice millions of lives for the sake of billions more, or even billions for the sake of trillions, and will not deign to address the concerns of any lesser being without first establishing a plaintiff's importance.

Possessing virtually limitless power, the Living Tribunal can survey the entire multiverse at once, obliterate planets or suns at will, and for impenetrable barriers around worlds or even whole universes. The Living Tribunal manifests itself in a three-headed form, each head representing a different facet of his personality: The fully visible face represents equity; the fully hooded face represents necessity; and the half hooded face represents revenge. The face which addresses a plaintiff identifies which personality is guiding the Living Tribunal's decisions.