Galactus
Galactus was originally the explorer Galan of the planet Taa, which existed in the prime pre-Big
Bang universe. When an unknown cosmic cataclysm gradually begins killing off all of the other life in
his universe, Galan and other survivors leave Taa on a spacecraft and are engulfed in the Big
Crunch. Galan, however, does not die: after bonding with the Sentience of the Universe, he changes
and gestates for billions of years in an egg made of the debris of his ship that the current universe
formed after the Big Bang. He emerges as Galactus, and though a Watcher observed Galactus' birth
and recognizes his destructive nature, the Watcher chooses not to kill Galactus. Starving for
sustenance, Galactus consumes the nearby planet of Archeopia - the first of many planets he would
destroy to maintain his existence. Subsequently, in memory of his dead home world Taa, and the
first planet (Archeopia) to fall prey to his hunger, Galactus constructs a new "home world": the
Möbius strip-shaped space station called "Taa II".
Galactus becomes involved in a civil war among the "Proemial Gods", who had come into being
during the universe's infancy. When a faction of the gods led by Diableri of Chaos attempts to
remake the universe in their own image, Galactus kills Diableri and imprisons three others (Antiphon,
Tenebrous, and Aegis) in the prison called the Kyln.
Galactus then decides to create a herald to locate worlds for sustenance, but fails when the first—
Tyrant—rebels, and the second—the Fallen One—is dismissed for his bloodthirsty attitude. When
approaching the planet of Zenn-La, Galactus accepts the offer of Norrin Radd to become his herald,
the Silver Surfer, in exchange for sparing his world.[30] Eventually locating Earth, Galactus is driven
off by the Fantastic Four, Uatu the Watcher, and the rebellious Silver Surfer after The Human Torch
—with the Watcher's assistance—retrieves the Ultimate Nullifier from Taa II. Although Galactus
leaves Earth, vowing that he will never try to consume it again, he banishes the Surfer to Earth for
betraying him. Galactus later returns for his former herald, but the Surfer is unrepentant and chooses
to remain on Earth. Thor learns of Galactus' origin when the entity comes into conflict with Ego the
Living Planet.
Returning to Earth, Galactus unsuccessfully tries to re-enlist the Silver Surfer. After the Fantastic
Four and the Surfer defeat Galactus' new herald, the Air-Walker, Mr. Fantastic reprograms Galactus'
ship to travel to the Negative Zone, which contains many uninhabited worlds that could potentially be
consumed. Thor and Olympian ally Hercules encounter Galactus when his next herald, Firelord,
travels to Earth to be free of his master. Galactus frees Firelord when Thor presents Galactus with
the Asgardian Destroyer to animate and use as a herald.
Galactus comes into conflict with the High Evolutionary when attempting to devour Counter-Earth,
but he is temporarily transformed into harmless energy after attempting to devour the planet Poppup.
After returning to normal form, Galactus is sought by the Fantastic Four to help stop a new cosmic
threat, the Sphinx. Mr. Fantastic offers to release Galactus from his vow to avoid Earth if he helps
defeat the Sphinx. Galactus agrees, if the Fantastic Four first recruit a being called Tyros as a new
herald. The quartet succeed, and the newly empowered and renamed Terrax leads his master to
Earth. Galactus locates and defeats the Sphinx in Egypt, but is confronted by Mr. Fantastic, who
unbeknownst to Galactus wields a fake Ultimate Nullifier. Unable to read Richard's mind (which is
protected by the Watcher), Galactus retreats.
Galactus empowers and uses the superheroine Dazzler to locate a missing Terrax, who is in fact
hiding from his master inside a black hole.Dazzler defeats and retrieves Terrax, and forces Galactus
to return her to Earth. Galactus is fooled by the Galadorian Spaceknight Rom into trying to devour
the Black Nebula, home of the alien Dire Wraiths, but he is repelled by the Wraith Sun. A weakened
Galactus pursues the rebellious Terrax to Earth and strips him of his power. Near death, Galactus is
saved by the Fantastic Four and the Avengers while also acquiring another herald: Nova. Galactus
destroys the Skrull homeworld, and discusses his role in the universe with fellow cosmic entity
Death. Mr. Fantastic is captured for saving Galactus' life, and is tried by aliens who survived the
annihilation of their worlds by Galactus. During the trial, the cosmic entity Eternity—the sentient
embodiment of space and reality of the Marvel Universe—intervenes, allowing all beings present to
momentarily become one with the universe, allowing them to understand that Galactus is a
necessary part of the cosmic order.
During the Secret Wars, Galactus attempts to consume Battleworld in order to force the Beyonder to
remove his hunger, but his plan is foiled by Doctor Doom. Galactus grants clemency to the Surfer,
who aids his former master against the Elders of the Universe and the In-Betweener. The entity also
rescues the Surfer and Nova from Mephisto's realm, and aids the cosmic hierarchy in a war against
the mad Eternal Thanos, who wields the Infinity Gauntlet.
When Nova is conscience-stricken at causing the death of billions of aliens, Galactus takes on a new
herald, the bloodthirsty Morg. Tyrant eventually returns and Morg sacrifices himself to stop the entity
by using the Ultimate Nullifier. Galactus then decides, with help from new herald Red Shift, to only
devour the energy of living beings, which brings him into conflict with alien races and Earth's heroes.
During a final confrontation near the home world of the Shi'ar, the Silver Surfer turns Galactus'
siphoning machines against him. A starving Galactus dies and adopts the form of a star. The death
of Galactus allows the entity Abraxas (a metaphysical embodiment of destruction, and the antithesis
of cosmic entity Eternity) to emerge from imprisonment. The entity wreaks havoc across thousands
of alternate universes, killing various incarnations of Galactus before the children of Reed Richards
—Franklin Richards and Valeria Von Doom—exhaust their powers to restore the original Galactus.
Galactus then provides Mr. Fantastic with the Ultimate Nullifier, which he uses to reset reality and
prevent Abraxas' initial escape and destruction.
Conscience-stricken, Galactus tries to rid himself of his hunger by feeding on the power from the
Infinity Gems but is tricked into releasing the Hunger, which feeds on entire galaxies. The Hunger is
destroyed when Thanos orchestrates a final battle with Galactus. When an alien race develops a
technology to make planets invisible to Galactus, he empowers the Human Torch (who has traded
powers with the Invisible Woman) and utilizes the hero as an unwilling herald to locate the planets.
The Fantastic Four and Quasar free the Torch by changing Galactus back into the humanoid Galan,
who chooses to exile himself to an energy-rich alternate dimension before he can transform back
into Galactus so that he can feed on that reality without endangering planets.
Galactus consumes Beta Ray Bill's Korbinite home world with the aid of new herald Stardust. When
the Negative Zone villain Annihilus declares war on the universe, the entity attacks and destroys the
Kyln, freeing former Galactus foes Tenebrous and Aegis. Sensing their release, Galactus
temporarily releases Stardust from service and reemploys the Silver Surfer as his herald due to his
familiarity with their old foes. Aegis and Tenebrous, however, find and defeat the Silver Surfer and
Galactus and deliver them to Annihilus. Annihilus intends to use Galactus as a weapon to destroy all
life in the universe, but is thwarted when the entity is freed by Drax the Destroyer. Galactus retaliates
and destroys most of Annihilus' forces. Seeking a final confrontation with Aegis and Tenebrous,
Galactus sends the Silver Surfer to locate them. The Surfer eventually draws the pair into the barrier
between the universe and the Negative Zone, which destroys both.
Galactus is perceived differently by the alien races present at his first trial.
(Panel: Fantastic Four #262 (Jan. 1984)
Art by John Byrne).
After an encounter with Epoch, Galactus consumes the planet Orbucen. When a distraught Beta
Ray Bill seeks vengeance for the destruction of the Korbinite home world, Galactus relents and
creates a female Korbinite as a companion for Bill.[66] Galactus also consumes the planet Sakaar,
earning the enmity of Skaar and Hiro-Kala.
The Silver Surfer finds the body of a future Galactus under New York City, and he summons the
present Galactus to Earth. Mr. Fantastic explains that in the distant future, the heroes on a dying
Earth had killed Galactus and then escaped to the present via time travel. When Galactus discovers
these heroes now live on a planet called Nu-Earth, he destroys it and its inhabitants in retribution. A
tear in the fabric of space caused by the Annihilation Wave and other interstellar conflicts allows the
extra-universal forces of the Cancerverse (a universe without death) to invade. Galactus, the
Celestials and the resurrected Tenebrous and Aegis combat the powerful Cancerverse weapon: the
Galactus Engine (constructed from the corpse of the Cancerverse's counterpart to Galactus). During
the events of the Chaos War, Galactus is teleported to Earth by demi-god Hercules to help fight the
Chaos King, a metaphysical embodiment of oblivion and another antithesis of Eternity. While the
Hulk and his allies (the God Squad, Alpha Flight, and several Avengers) fight Amatsu-Mikaboshi's
forces, Hulk ally Amadeus Cho and Galactus develop a machine which will move Earth to a safe
location in a sealed-off continuum, only to adapt the plan by trapping Amatsu-Mikaboshi in that
dimension instead.
After an encounter with the High Evolutionary, Galactus invades Asgard, home of the Norse Gods,
seeking an Asgardian artifact to sate his hunger and spare future civilizations. Odin, ruler of the
Norse Gods, contends that Galactus wishes to ensure that he is not replaced in the next universe.
To avoid a protracted battle, the Silver Surfer offers to remain on Earth to guard the artifact on the
proviso Galactus may have it once Asgard eventually passes. Galactus recruits a preacher he
names Praeter to be his new herald. Galactus is then pulled through a hole in space-time to an
alternate universe and meets another version of himself: a space-faring mechanical hive-mind called
Gah Lak Tus. After the two merge with one another, Galactus makes his way towards this universe's
Earth in an attempt to consume it. The heroes of the alternate Earth travel to Earth-616 to acquire
information on Galactus and eventually manage to send Galactus to the Negative Zone, reasoning
that he will eventually starve to death as the region is composed of anti-matter. A comatose
Galactus is found by the Eternals and Aarkus who hope to use him in their war on the alien Kree.
Galactus returns to the universe, and after an encounter with Squirrel Girl, is forced into his own
incubator by the Ultimates, who are determined to end his threat. Galactus re-emerges as a
Lifebringer instead of a Devourer of Worlds, his first act being to restore Archeopia, the first world he
ever consumed. The entity later rescues the team at the behest of Eternity, and learns that the latter
has been imprisoned by an unknown force. Galactus also comes into conflict with fellow cosmics
Lord Chaos and Master Order, who, with the Molecule Man, wish for Galactus to return to his former
role as a Devourer of Worlds and thereby restore order to the universe. Galactus locates the hero
Anti-Man outside the multiverse and, after transforming him into a Herald of Life, sends him to recruit
the recently disbanded Ultimates to help discover the identity of Eternity's captor, who is later
revealed to be the First Firmament, the first iteration of the cosmos. Lord Chaos and Master Order
bring Galactus to trial before the Living Tribunal, still seeking to restore Galactus to his former state
for the sake of the cosmic balance. Although Galactus successfully argues that the balance of the
new multiverse is different and his old role is obsolete, the Tribunal is destroyed by a Firmament-
influenced Master Order and Lord Chaos. After a brief battle, Master Order decides to create a new
cosmic order which it and Lord Chaos control. Their former servant, the In-Betweener, is forcibly
merged with them into a new cosmic being called Logos. After destroying several Celestials, Logos
forcibly transforms Galactus back into the Devourer of Worlds. The process is reversed when Anti-
Man sacrifices his life to restore Galactus as the Lifebringer. Galactus then swears to free the
imprisoned Eternity.
During the "Infinity Countdown" storyline, the Silver Surfer requested Galactus' aid in defeating
Ultron/Hank Pym by consuming the planet Saiph which was overrun by Ultron drones. Galactus
reluctantly agrees. After consuming Saiph, Galactus' hunger returns and the Silver Surfer becomes
his Herald again as Silver Surfer takes him to find an uninhabited planet.
Returning to Earth, Galactus has a confrontation with Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four, with
Doom revealing his plans to harness Galactus' power as an energy source.
🔶Powers and Abilities
The first (and oldest) living entity in the universe, Galactus was created during the union of the
Sentience of the (previous) Universe and Galan of Taa, and is described as "the physical,
metamorphosed embodiment of a cosmos." Although not an abstract, non-corporeal being, Galactus
is a living force of nature set on correcting the imbalances between the conceptual entities: Eternity
and Death. His true form cannot be perceived by most beings; each species sees Galactus in a form
they can comprehend, similar to their race or a deity of their religion. Galactus has also appeared as
a humanoid star when addressing fellow members of the cosmic hierarchy.
Galactus utilizes cosmic energy known as the Power Cosmic to perform feats, which have included
universal cosmic awareness, telepathy, telekinesis, energy projection; size alteration; transmutation
of matter; teleportation of objects across space, creation of force fields and interdimensional portals;
creation of life, resurrection, manipulating souls, memories and emotions, and mass-scale events
such as recreating dead worlds in every detail (including illusions of their entire populations) and
destroying multiple solar systems simultaneously.
A frequent act has been appointing an individual as his herald, granting each in turn a small fraction
of the Power Cosmic. This Power replaces the auras (or souls) of the recipient, with each wielder's
physical form adapting to store the energy and in turn allow manipulation for feats such as energy
projection. Galactus is also capable of removing the Power Cosmic from the herald. The herald
locates planets for Galactus to consume, as the entity maintains his existence by devouring planets
with the potential to support life, resulting in the extinction of entire extraterrestrial civilizations.
Galactus also employs an Elemental Converter when devouring planets to aid in the efficient
conversion of matter into energy. Galactus has on occasion been severely weakened due to a lack
of sustenance, and on one occasion was defeated whilst in this state by the combined Fantastic
Four and Avengers. In this state, Galactus has also shown susceptibility to Ikonn's spell, which
forces him to remember all of the beings he has destroyed from his feeding.
Galactus also employs incredibly advanced science capable of producing objects such as the
Punisher robots, the Ultimate Nullifier (a weapon capable of destroying and remaking the multiverse)
and his space station Taa II. Reed Richards has speculated that Taa II may be the greatest source
of energy in the universe.
