Gorr the God Butcher made waves when he debuted in 2013. This grumpy alien nihilist was so powerful that multiple versions of Thor, from the past, present, and future, had to band together to beat him! Some of you might wonder what on Earth could've made Gorr strong enough to stand against three Gods of Thunder?!
But that's the thing - All-Black the Necrosword isn't from Earth at all! This alien weapon is alive, constantly changing, and always hungry for more victims. What's even scarier is that Gorr only tapped into a fraction of the weapon's power while he had it. We're going to spill all of the details surrounding All-Black - in the hopes of helping readers understand why even the gods fear this blade.
10 It's The First Symbiote
We weren't waxing poetic when we said that All-Black is alive - this weapon is a member of the same species as Venom and Carnage! Not only that but All-Black is the first and oldest Symbiote in the Marvel Universe. Knull, the God of the Klyntar, created All-Black eons ago from the remains of a Celestial.
All-Black shares many similarities with the other members of its species, yet it's ultimately a unique weapon. The Necrosword can enhance its host's powers to godlike levels as well as extend a host's lifespan indefinitely. Venom and Carnage are strong, but they don't compare to All-Black by the end of the day.
9 Heat and Sound Don't Negatively Affect It
All-Black also stands in a league of its own because it lacks the traditional weaknesses associated with the Klyntar - fire and sonic attacks. Not only has All-Black survived exposure to high-pitch frequencies and extreme temperatures, but the Necrosword has thrived in those environments.
Oh, you don't believe us? Well, that's probably because you haven't seen All-Black corrupt an entire sun right before your very eyes! Okay, we haven't seen that either, but we read about that stunt in Thor: God of Thunder #9. Thanks to All-Black, we've learned that the Klyntar's weaknesses to fire and sound are psychosomatic - and no tother Symbiote's as strong-willed as All-Black.
8 All-Black's Fueled By God Blood
Then again, there aren't many other Symbiotes that can say they've traded blows with gods and lived. And there are even fewer who can claim victories over deities. But All-Black was created for the specific purpose of culling Celestials like chaff in a field. Hell, another name for the Necrosword is the Godslayer!
To stay in tip-top shape, All-Black consumes the blood of its divine victims. Not only is this trend outright creepy, but it also strengthens All-Black more and more over time. One of the main reasons that the Thors struggled to beat Gorr was because he fed All-Black thousands of gods for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dunch, and dinner!
7 Galactus Bonded With All-Black
Who the Hell gave Galactus a god-killing sword?! This oversized douchebag is already strong enough as is - he eats freaking planets as a part of his diet! Giving All-Black to the "Devourer of Worlds" is like putting a machine gun on a nuclear missile - it's freaking overkill!
Well, to answer the first question, King Thor accidentally gave Old Galactus All-Black; during a brutal battle between the two, King Thor equipped All-Black to help him beat Galan. After incapacitating Galactus, King Thor sent old Buckethead off into space - where All-Black sprung up and corrupted the Devourer of Worlds!
6 As Well As Ego
For a time, Black Galactus used All-Black to go a cosmic killing spree! He destroyed entire planets with the flick of his wrist (that wrist,) and floated around unchallenged for a long time. Eventually, Black Galactus made his way to Ego the Living Planet - wanting to settle their age-old rivalry once and for all!
Black Galactus went in for the kill as soon as he could, impaling Ego straight through his mouth! However, Ego remained conscious long enough to bite off Galan's arm and absorb All-Black into his being - creating Ego the Necroworld! Not one to dine and dash, Ego ate the rest of Galactus before setting out on a cosmic campaign himself.
5 Then King Loki Took All-Black
Ego proved that you truly do become what you eat - continuing Galactus' genocidal campaign, albeit with slightly different targets. Rather than devour worlds, Ego the Necroworld ate the Kree Empire's armies, the last of the Celestials, and the few remaining Acanti (a race of giant space fishes.) Such wanton destruction gained the attention of an older, eviler version of Loki Laufeyson.
Rather than challenge Ego for the Necrosword directly, Loki spent ninety-nine years driving the sentient planet to the brink of madness. Ego finally gave into King Loki's demands and literally coughed up All-Black, making King Loki its current host.
4 Hela (Sort Of) Used One In The MCU
We'll need to take a slight detour into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for this next entry. Even though Symbiotes haven't appeared in any of Marvel Studios' films yet, a variant of the Necrosword did appear in Thor: Ragnarok. To with, a smorgasbord of Necroswords appeared in the film thanks to Hela.
Do you remember how the Goddess of Death could essentially one-shot anyone with her weapons? That's because those were Necroswords she was chucking all over the place! Unlike All-Black, Hela's blades aren't sentient. However, Hela used her Necroswords to kick Thor's butt just as Gorr did - so we're sure that difference doesn't matter to the Thunderer in the end.
3 All-Black Is The Key To The Godbomb
Another difference between the MCU Nercoswords and All-Black is the Godbomb, or lack thereof one in the former's case. In the comics, Gorr isn't content simply walking around and stabbing every god he comes across - he wants to wipe them all out, no matter which universe they're in, at the same time!
To that end, Gorr creates the Godbomb and makes All-Black its detonator. By the time the three Thors prepare for a final battle with Gorr, the God Butcher nearly activates his deadliest weapon.
2 Thor Wielded It And Learned Its True Name
To stop Gorr from ending all divine life in the Marvel Multiverse, Thor had to absorb the Godbomb into his being (ouch) as well as strip All-Black from the God Butcher. At that moment, Thor was more powerful than he'd ever been before! Eager to avenge the countless gods that Gorr murdered, Thor prepared to turn All-Black's power against its former host.
But before he killed Gorr, Thor wanted him to understand how badly he screwed up. He denounced Gorr as the God of Hypocrisy before revealing All-Black's true name to him - something the Necrosword never did while Gorr wielded it. We think you know what happens from here - it's hammer time!
1 All-Black Bends To Knull's Will
In the end, no matter who wields it and regardless of what purpose they use it for, All-Black serves Knull. The omnicidal urges that take over All-Black's host? Those stem from Knull's influence. The blade's thirst for divine blood? That's because Knull created it to kill deities.
Despite how cool All-Black is, no good can come from prolonged use of the weapon. Even King Thor had to use all of his divine might to purge himself of All-Black's influence. Now that Thor's out of shape and addicted to Fortnite, we hope All-Black doesn't appear in the MCU any time soon.