GALACTUS

 

GALACTUS

Real Name: Galan

First Appearance: Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #48, March 1966

Powers: Galan was a mortal being who survived the destruction of the universe before ours to be reincarnated as an unparalleled cosmic entity known as Galactus. He now appears as a giant human being clothed in ornate armor, and can alter his size at will. Though his physical abilities can vary depending on how recently he has fed, even when weakened Galactus possesses Class 100 strength and is virtually tireless and indestructible. He commands the Power Cosmic, an indescribable force that permeates the entire universe, and can wield it to create impermeable force fields, rearrange the structure of matter on a subatomic level, discharge vast amount of energy as heat, force, electricity, magnetism, and any form of radiation. He is capable of self-levitation and the telekinetic manipulation of other objects, and has telepathy allowing him to communicate psionically across vast distances and scan the minds of other beings. Galactus is also capable of teleportation through time and space, and propelling himself through warp space to achieve faster-than-light speeds. He can grant vast cosmic powers to lesser beings or strip them of that same power. His senses are vastly different than ours, allowing him to detect various kinds of energy emission, warps in the fabric of space and reality, and other extrasensory phenomena.

Galactus must feed on the biospheric energy of planets in order to survive. He can accomplish this completely under his own power, but normally uses machinery of his own design to make the process more efficient. Either through long experience or some kind of sensory power, Galactus is able to tell when a planet is suitable for his purposes. His system requires the living essence of worlds which are capable of supporting life; though this means all naturally inhabited planets are palatable to him, it does not limit him solely to such worlds. Galactus can feed off of worlds which have only manifested vegetation, or other non-sentient forms of life. His "Devourer of Worlds" alias is possibly a misnomer, since there doesn't seem to be any reason why Galactus couldn't feed off of a moon which was supporting life as well. Since his appetite is for living biospheres, artificially inhabited planetoids (such as the Blue Area of the Moon or the inner cities of the dead moon Titan) should be safe from his interest. When Galactus was newly-formed, the energy of a medium Earth-sized planet sustained him for over a century. Now, he needs to feed about once a month; in addition, when preparing for a massive expenditure of energy, he may consume planets more frequently to amplify his power stores. Conversely, when he doesn't feed within his allotted time, his energies will dwindle and he'll even begin to physically shrink as they drop dangerously low. His body converts the energies he absorbs his life functions and activities without any waste products.

Though seemingly destroyed on several occasions, Galactus is always restored to full power eventually. In addition, despite being a physical being (meaning he is part of the universe, rather than an abstract concept that occasionally adopts a physical form), Galactus can adopt a manifestation )M-Body) from the Dimension of Manifestations in order to commune with abstract beings such as Eternity and Death.

Galactus has scientific knowledge beyond human understanding. He has designed and continues to possess large stores of powerful and advanced technology, including Taa II (once destroyed, later rebuilt), his Elemental Converter, the Ultimate Nullifier, and a spherical starship for transport. He commonly uses a series of Punishers to fight on his behalf against lesser beings. Though under 5 feet tall, they are immensely strong, durable, and fast, possess both automatic repairing and threat countering capabilities.

Although Galactus is usually represented in humanoid form, each sentient being perceives him as having a form resembling that of his own race; humans see him as humanoid, Skrulls as Skrullian, etc.