The Marvel Comics universe is a place chock full of powerful and neigh omniscient characters. Without even acknowledging the gods themselves, you have individuals like Thanos and Ultron running around, who alone present a threat to the entire universe. On the other side of the coin, there’s heroes like the Silver Surfer, Hulk, and Adam Warlock, who are capable of punching planets in half or rearranging time and space; few mortals can hope to stand up against these top tier heroes. Yet in spite of all the powers these heroes and villains possess, unless they wield a weapon like the Infinity Gauntlet or the Ultimate Nullifier, they just don’t match up to any of the space gods who inhabit and make up the Marvel Multiverse.
It also makes things confusing, as many self-proclaimed gods are just that: self-proclaimed. Even so, there is a vast multitude of gods, many of which have contributed to molding the fabric of reality, as we know it. However, all gods are not created equal; some are vastly stronger than others. There are even deities who transcend the conventional description of gods as they are beyond most mortals’ comprehension. Today at CBR we’re counting down 25 of Marvel’s most powerful space gods.
25 THE SERPENT
When it comes to problems with family members that occasionally threaten the entire universe, Thor has it worst then most. The heroic God of Thunder and one of the founding members of the Avengers, it’s bad enough that he has to take gruff from his father, but having to put up with his genocidal uncle takes the cake. First appearing in Fear Itself #1, Cul Borson, otherwise known as the Serpent, is the brother to Odin, the All-Father; Cul Borson A remarkably powerful god and is the living embodiment of fear. Responsible for kicking off the event "Fear Itself", the early moments throughout the mini-series featured Odin fearing his own brother so much that the All-Father fled the Earth. He ordered his Asgardians subjects to follow him, as he prepared to raze the planet, cleansing the world to ensure Cul couldn’t acquire a foothold by way of Earth’s people; doing so would boost his power.
Nearly as mighty as Odin, few mortals can challenge Cul.
He once ripped Captain America’s shield to pieces, created a slew of magical hammers to empower various heroes and villains and turn them into his subjects, and even killed Thor. Cul even once created his own Asgard, can reanimate the dead, the turn into a giant serpent, hence his name.
24 SETH
If Cul Borson is the Norse god of fear, then Seth, the brother to Osiris, is the Egyptian God of Evil and Death. First appearing in Thor #240 during the "When The Gods Make War" storyline, Seth was born of the union of Geb and Nut. As he grew older, Seth discovered he maintained a desire for destruction. And so for centuries, Seth battled his brother and the rest of the Egyptian pantheon. At some point while the two gods were battling, Seth made a devious move and was able to seal away not only Osiris, but also the gods Horus and Isis, leaving the Death God free to do as he wanted. While Seth was off gallivanting, the three captured gods waited, imprisoned for centuries until Odin freed them.
Despite possessing power that rivaled Odin’s, which essentially meant Seth could destroy galaxies, he was constantly thwarted by Thor. However, in one of Seth’s battles with the All-Father, it was said their fight was enough to literally shake the fabric of the universe. Similar to the Serpent, Seth can also transform into a giant snake at will. Additionally, he can absorb the powers of others, perform necromancy, and do nearly everything Odin can. The fact that Thor can challenge Seth, speaks volumes to the thunder god’s own power.
23 ZEUS
While Thor and his family tree get a lot of attention in the Marvel Universe, the Norse gods are not the only deities floating about. In fact, there’s entire pantheons, and perhaps the most powerful Skyfather, second only to Odin, is the legendary Zeus. Though Zeus primarily keeps to himself over on Mt. Olympus, he’s best known for two things: firing lightning bolts at whomever angers him, and siring his demigod son Hercules. However, when a situation is dire enough Zeus might get involved and demonstrate his awesome power. Heck, he’s had misunderstandings with the Avengers and the Hulk before, and it took everything they had (and more) to survive the encounter.
Zeus’s strength is so great that even Thanos, one of the most feared beings in the Marvel Universe, respects the Skyfather’s might, putting him on equal footing with the likes of Odin and Galactus.
To be fair, Zeus does have an incredible power set, as he’s capable of controlling many of the elements, manipulating time and space, possessing super strength, immortality, and can unleash explosive magic at the drop of a hat. Zeus is so mighty, that even a fully powered Hulk stands no chance against him. With no one to challenge him, short of higher tier beings, the Skyfather, can do practically anything he wishes.
22 ODIN
The son of Bor and the Frost Giantess Bestia, Odin desired to replace his father on the throne. On account of comic book hijinks, Loki time-travelled to the past and seemingly killed Bor by turning him into snow, which provided Odin with the opportunity he required. He and his two brothers claimed the throne as theirs, but Odin was sneaky and absorbed their power, which in turn became the Odinpower or Odinforce. However, despite everything Odin has accomplished in his absurdly long life, there are two things in particular he’ll be remembered for: ordering for the construction of the magic hammer Mjolinir and siring Thor.
When Odin was younger, he wanted a powerful heir. To that end, he wooed Gaea, the Goddess of Earth, and together they had Thor, having designed him to be stronger than any other god in all of Asgard. The one thing Odin didn’t predict was how often he and his son would butt heads. Still, in spite of Thor’s famous strength, he’s no match for dear old dad. Aside from the Elder Gods, Odin is among the strongest in the universe. It’s said he created Earth, entire galaxies, and can even destroy said galaxies at a whim. He’s stronger then Mephisto, the literal Devil, fought Galactus to a standstill, and even the dreaded Dormammu avoids the All-Father at all cost. Apparently, when Odin died, his death was so impactful, that his death energies could be felt throughout the cosmos.
21 THE PHOENIX
Coming right out of the "Phoenix Saga" and the "Dark Phoenix Saga" in Uncanny X-Men, writer Chris Claremont, along with artists John Byrne and David Cockrum, made ambitious moves when they not only made Jean Grey relevant, but forced the entire comic-reading community to take the X-Men seriously. Nowadays, the Phoenix and its much-vaunted power hold a special place in the hearts of nearly every Marvel Comics reader. The flipside of that is that the fiery entity is notorious for making grown men cry throughout the universe of comics. Entire civilizations tremble at just the thought of the being visited upon by the massive burning cosmic bird and for good reason. The Phoenix Force is one of the oldest cosmic entities in the universe and it’s the nexus of all psionic energy from the past, present, and future from all realities; those who become its host can do nearly anything they can imagine.
The Phoenix Force can destroy (as well as create) parts of the universe.
Jean Grey is the most notable host of the Phoenix Force and when she acquired the power, she went mad, destroyed a planet, and tried to kill the X-Men. The only reason she failed was due to a moment of clarity and decided to end herself.
20 GALACTUS
When Stan Lee and Jack Kirby first introduced Galactus in Fantastic Four #46 in 1966, it’s unlikely they knew the impact the cosmic juggernaut would have for decades to come in Marvel Comics. Galactus is known as the Devourer of Worlds, which isn’t a cute nickname from his pals at work. However, before he was the fabled Galactus, he was simply Galan from the planet Taa. Then a little something called the Big Bang happened and destroyed his entire reality. The sole survivor of the explosion, Galan transformed, having combined with the Sentience of the Universe; and so was born Galactus. Learning to control his newfangled energies, Galactus created a unique bodysuit that would regulate his powers. Living onboard a massive ship, he uses it as his incubation chamber and as a means of transportation.
Because of his awesome energy, Galactus need sustenance. Unfortunately for the universe, he gains said sustenance by eating planets. Capable of devouring entire worlds, he wields the Power Cosmic and uses it to do whatever he need or desires. Occasionally he’ll imbue heralds with the Power Cosmic and have them go and search out suitable planets for his dining needs. On his own, if there’s a power you can think of, Galactus possesses it, including reshaping reality, creating wormholes, and destroying planets; even looking upon him is enough to drive some people mad.
19 CELESTIALS
The beings known as the Celestials have gotten a boost in popularity, thanks to their inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and rumors running rampant of an Eternals movie. Not only are the Celestials some of Marvel Comics’ oldest and most powerful entities, but they are incredibly important for the way they helped shape life throughout the universe, most specifically, with relation to the Eternals. When the First Host of Celestials arrived on Earth one million years ago, they found humanity in its infancy and decided to experiment on the species. The Celestials altered the genetic characteristics of mankind, which gave way to two separate races: the Eternals and the Deviants.
Both offshoots of humanity, the Eternals and Deviants are practically immortal and have incredible powers.
To some, the Celestials are literal space gods. The Celestials wield the Power Cosmic and boast the ability to perform feats of the highest caliber. Whenever a Celestial appears on a planet, it usually heralds forthcoming destruction. Even beings like Odin and the Phoenix find themselves having to use every ounce of power just to slow one down. To scale the power of the Celestials, Thor went inside a Celestial’s head and used the God Blast on the creature’s brain. The God Blast harnesses all of Thor’s life force and channels all of Mjonir’s power, you know, the hammer capable of destroying planets. The Celestial only twitched.
18 MASTER HATE
With a name like Master Hate, it’s pretty obvious you’re not going to have a large circle of friends. First appearing in Infinity Gauntlet #3 by Jim Starlin and George Perez, it doesn’t take a genius to get a sense as to what Master Hate is all about. Feared and reviled throughout the cosmos, Master Hate is the embodiment of hate. No one is quite sure about his origins, but he stepped out of the shadows for the first time to battle Thanos after the Mad Titan had acquired the Infinity Gauntlet and all its gems. Among all the other cosmic entities that exist, the one that is Master Hate’s counterpart is Mistress Love (the embodiment of love).
One interesting tidbit about the character, that almost no other cosmic entity shares, is that throughout the years there’s been some inconsistency with relation to Master Hate’s gender. As an abstract being it shouldn’t really matter, but some appearances depict master hate as a female, some as a male, but Master Hate is really a conceptual being with no proper gender. When it comes to powers, Master Hate doesn’t stray from what he knows. That is to say that, along with a wide assortment of cosmic powers, he can inspire and ingrain varying levels of hate in any sentient being.
17 CHTHON
It takes a staggering amount of power to evade and outmaneuver a being like Atum, the literal Devourer of Gods. Few can attest to such a feat, but then again, few are Chthon, who cast a spell that let him escape to another dimension. The brother of Oshtur, Set, and Gaea, Chthon dedicated himself to the dark magical forces of the universe; in so doing he became the first Master of the Dark Arts.
Though Marvel houses plenty of devil-like characters such as Mephisto, Chthon is actually the closes analogue the comic universe has to Satan himself.
An Elder God and Archdemon, Chthon lives in a nether dimension that is located right next to the earthly plane of existence. Before Chthon retreated to another dimension, he left behind the Darkhold, the Book of Sins; it was responsible for much of the evil throughout history. Afterwards, he created his own world and went to work spawning evil creatures of his own design. Chthon is responsible for supernatural creature like werewolves, vampires, and witches. At maximum power Chthon is omnipotent and the master of the most powerful and destructive forms of magic in existence. His mere presence once killed Doctor Strange; Eternity likened Chthon to a cancer that threatens the universe.
16 ATUM
If you’re going to have a devourer of worlds, as seen with the legendary Galactus, then it only makes sense to also have an eater of deities. Atum, otherwise known as the God of the Sun and Devourer of Gods, is the offspring of Gaea and the Demiurge. He was the most powerful out of all her children and when Atum was born, he was endowed with the powers of the sun. In no time at all, he got to attacking and killing Elder Gods. With each god that he killed, Atum absorbed their power until he evolved into the Demogorge. The threat he posed was so tremendous, that many of the Elder Gods went into hiding.
Unable to find the Elder Gods, Atum moved on to kill all the demons in the universe and did just that except for Chthon and Set. Later, in an effort to purge himself from all the evil within himself, Atum merged with the sun, sired all of the Egpytian deities, and prevented Set from destroying everything. It should also be noted that he’s the father of Bast, who is the guardian and patron god of Wakanda and the Black Panther. While Atum is capable of killing Elder Gods, he can only do it in his Demogorge state (his evil form), which is not something he can acquire easily these days. Yet even without the power-up, the only ones he has to fear are the senior Elder Gods.
15 KRONOS
Created by Jim Starlin, and first making his way to the Marvel Universe in Iron Man #55, the same comic where Thanos first appeared, Kronos is a mysterious and enigmatic Eternal who rarely appears. If you’re caught up on your Greek mythology, you likely know the tale of the god Kronos and how he fathered Zeus and tried to ear his own children. Marvel’s Kronos is decidedly less despicable, but he’s probably far more powerful. One of the oldest Eternals, Kronos is considered the cosmic master of time within the Marvel continuum. Before he was an immortal and cosmic being, Kronos was a Titan who helped found the planet and it’s people. This makes him directly responsible for Thanos, as the Mad Titan is essentially the offspring of Kronos.
Like the Greek myth, Kronos has orchestrated Thanos’ death on multiple occasions.
Yet when he’s not involving himself with Thanos and the villain’s affairs, Kronos spends his days between the space-time continuum, observing important events that transpire. Like many beings of his caliber, Kronos is capable of performing anything that comes to mind; he possesses almost unlimited power. Having become one of the embodiments of time, he can exert an unknown degree of control over its flow, and also do things like control the souls of deceased individuals.
14 SHUMA-GORATH
Because who doesn’t love giant Lovecraftian interdimensional monsters who want nothing more than to bring evil to the universe? A Lord and Master of the extra-dimensional gods known as the Old Ones, or the Many-Angled Ones, Shuma-Gorath is one of Marvel’s most singularly horrifying entities. Physically manifested (or born) in between universe where echoes of nightmares existed, Shuma-Gorath and his siblings were originally one entity until they discovered individuality. He then literally broke away from his family and proceeded to move through a fissure in space and time. He then took over Earth when dinosaurs were roaming the planet. Shuma-Gorath would even go on to take over the Earth in later years, and pretty much destroy reality, but thankfully the Marvel Universe was saved by a time travelling sorcerer from the 31st century.
Regardless, Shuma-Gorath is sickeningly powerful, and despite whatever defeats he might experience at the hands of being like Doctor Strange, he cannot be killed. When Marvel created him, he was intended to be the most powerful malevolent magical god in Marvel Comics. His mere presence is enough to destroy galaxies, and in his home dimension, Shuma-Gorath is omnipotent as he is the reality he dwells in. His power is so great, even characters like Mephisto are nothing next to him.
13 CHAOS KING
Fear plays a key part in the power of many gods and would-be gods. Though there are those like the Serpent who literally feed off fear, they are nothing when compared to the Chaos King. Arguably the most feared out of all the gods, Amatsu-Mikaboshi, otherwise known as the Chaos King, embodies fear so intensely, he’s the stuff malevolent gods are afraid of. With power that puts him on a scale nearly beyond measure, his past has been retconned one or two times, so it’s never clear where he comes from exactly. That said, the eternal constant is his frightening level of power. The Chaos King is the literal embodiment of the darkness and the void that existed before creation.
In fact, the only beings capable of threatening him aren’t even entities like the Celestials, but the Elder Goddess Gaea, who was also the first living entity, and the handful of primordial beings like her.
The Chaos King is less a physical entity and more a force of nature; his power is so profound, even gods like Odin and Zeus are powerless in his presence. During the "Chaos War", the Chaos King enslaved them, wrecked Olympus, and even took down Galactus. He then went on to destroy Hell, kill Satan, and even forced Death to flee the Marvel Universe. The Chaos King destroyed over 98% of the Multiverse.
12 ETERNITY
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appearing in Strange Tales #138, Eternity and his “sister” Infinity, are the nigh-inseparable personifications of reality. Relatively omnipotent, he represents all time and reality within the universe and has existed before the beginning of the universe. Nearly all that is, resides inside Eternity. The siblings of Eternity and Infinity are Death and Oblivion, and the latter two crave the end of all things; they are the composite opposite to their negatives. The four of them provide balance to the universe, or more specifically, life, death, entropy, and tranquility.
Eternity rarely gets involved in universal fights, and it typically requires someone like Galactus or a full-powered Doctor Strange to beseech him to ask for assistance. Most battles are below his pay grade, but he’s made an exception once or twice. He became involved during Infinity Gauntlet, because he believed no one should possess the Stones. He also played a large role in defeating the Magus. Eternity is neigh omniscient and he exists in all places simultaneously and at all times; he typically chooses an avatar to communicate within the physical realm. Eternity can alter space, matter, and energy around him to achieve virtually any affect he desires.
11 OBLIVION
The sibling of Eternity, Infinity, and Death, Oblivion is one of the cornerstones of existence. Living in the realm known as the Outer Void, Oblivion shares a close relationship with his “sister” Death; they are both very similar in nature. On the one hand Death is all about, well…death, and Oblivion is the embodiment of nonexistence and nothingness. Though Oblivion does crave for oblivion, there is the understanding that there must be balance throughout the universe. Even so, that hasn’t stopped Oblivion from trying to bring ruin to the cosmos, as is his nature, which has brought him into conflict with Infinity on multiple occasions.
Since Oblivion can’t get his hands dirty, he usually employs others to do his dirty work and chooses those who wish for death.
To that end, he even once attempted to use Maelstrom as his avatar to disrupt a black hole so it would consume all matter, but this scheme was thankfully thwarted by his polar opposite, Infinity. Even so, Oblivion is one of the most powerful beings to exist in the Marvel Universe. At the end of the day, Oblivion is considered mightier than any of his brethren. In fact, a mere aspect of Oblivion, Mikaboshi, otherwise known as the Chaos King (who went on to become his own sentient individual), was so powerful that he brought the universe to its knees.
10 CYTTORAK
When it comes to raw magic, there are few entities more capable than the nightmarish Cyttorak. An incredibly powerful god, he is the one who gave the Juggernaut his powers and even Doctor Strange will occasionally try and borrow some of Cyttorak’s energies whenever he unleashes the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. Billions of years old, Cyttorak is one of the principalities, which means he has endless mystical might at his disposal. The ruler of the Crimson Cosmos, having been banished there eons earlier, it’s an otherworldly dimension that he made into his home. In fact, he’s made the dimension a part of himself, meaning they are one and the same.
As previously mentioned, Cyttorak is known for using the Juggernaut as his avatar on Earth. Originally, Cyttorak participated in the Octessence, which was a wager made between eight inter-dimensional beings who wanted to find out who was the most powerful by giving a fraction of their power to eight human avatars that would fight in their honor. Cyttorak cheated and shenanigans lead to Cain Marko becoming the Juggernaut. One of Earth’s strongest villains, the Juggernaut’s power is still only a fraction of Cyttorak’s might. With a wave of his hand, Cyttorak swatted the Phoenix away, his energies alone have torn holes in the fabric of space-time, and even Oblivion, one of Marvel’s strongest abstract beings, cannot match up to Cyttorak.
9 NEMESIS
Because the history of the Infinity Gauntlet and its Infinity Stones isn’t confusing and awe-inspiring enough, Marvel Comics went ahead and introduced the character Nemesis in issue two of The Thanos Quest. Her origin is shrouded in mystery, but it’s been theorized that not only was Nemesis the one who created the Infinity Gems, but she’s actually older than the universe itself. At some point in her history, Nemesis went and committed suicide; an act that transformed her into the six Infinity Stones we know today. If it sounds confusing, it is, so just nod your head and smile. Later, the vampire known as Rune would resurrect her by reuniting the Infinity Gems.
By way of a series of convoluted events, Nemesis returned to the universe and was not overly pleased with the state of reality.
Harnessing the power of the Infinity Gems, which gave her control over such things as time, space, and reality, Nemesis could will practically anything to happen and she nearly succeeded in wiping out creation. Luckily, the Avengers, Adam Warlock, and Ultraforce were able to beat her. It also helped that in her absence, the Gems had acquired sentience of their own and weren’t privy to letting her use them.
8 ABRAXAS
If Eternity is the abstract embodiment of time and reality, it makes a modicum of sense that he’d also have an opposite. The universe thrives on balances; if there’s light, there must be dark. The counterpart to the cosmic entity Eternity, Abraxas is that dark. He is the embodiment of universal destruction. However, since his power was so fearsome, Galactus had to charge himself up devouring a number of planets, before he could successfully lock Abraxas away. Since this is comic books, nothing good lasts forever and Abraxas broke free. Abraxas then went off to destroy all parallel realities. Along the way, he killed every Galactus/Galacti he came across -- like an entire army of them.
It was then revealed that the only weapon capable of harming the embodiment of destruction was the Ultimate Nullifier. Mr. Fantastic, utilizing the knowledge of three different Human Torches from varying realities, was able to assemble the Ultimate Nullifier. Using the device resulted in the destruction of the reality, but through a series of kooky events, reality was restored and everyone Abraxas had killed was brought back to life. The only weapon on tier with the Ultimate Nullifier is the Infinity Gauntlet, so unless our heroes have one of those, nothing is going to stop Abraxas, who, like many omnipotent beings, can do anything.
7 THE INFINITES
When it comes to sheer size and magnitude, the Infinite are the largest beings in the entire Marvel Universe. To get a sense for the scale of their mass, if everything exists within Eternity, the Infinities aren’t only larger than Eternity, but they dwarf the cosmic being completely. If anything, Eternity resides inside them. Wielding power outside of the understanding of most, the Infinite are a group of three abstract beings. They travel along the Multiverse and realign the energies of each Universe they come upon in a way they consider harmonious. The downside is that this typically involves the destruction of entire galaxies. The servants the Infinites utilize are known as Walkers, and they are literally the size of planets. The Walkers melt down worlds to create the resources necessary to build massive ring-shaped devices that the Infinite would then use to literally pull universes into realignment. Their power is virtually limitless and they have never been defeated as such; unless you’re God, you really can’t beat them.
So when the Avengers encountered them, they faced a problem unlike any other as they couldn’t physically hurt or beat the Infinite.
Instead, the heroes chose to reason with the abstract beings, making the Infinite realize they’d be destroying most of creation and that the loss of life would be astonishing. Prior to this moment, the Infinite had never considered life outside of themselves. Yet, in an act proving they’re more like a force of nature then evil, they discontinued their operations and disappeared into the ether.
6 THE BEYONDER
Known throughout the entire Marvel Universe, the Beyonder is a being with enough power, that he might as well be considered a god. With a history akin to some of the crazier stuff you’ll ever find in comic books, and that’s saying something, you can’t mistake the Beyonder, what with his getup that looks straight out of the '80s. With his gnarly white tracksuit and his greasy David Hasselhoff hair, the Beyonder is best known for kicking off Secret Wars. For no reason other than his own amusement, he brought together Earth’s greatest heroes and villains and forced them to fight. In Secret Wars II, the Beyonder went to Earth, and attempted to learn the way of humans… it was interesting.
Anyway, at the end of the day, the Beyonder is the sum total of the entire multiverse. He literally can do anything. Insanely powerful, there are few entities in the entire multiverse that don’t shirk at his power. In fact, if you thought one Beyonder was enough, think again, as there’s an entire race of Beyonders. They too can create whole universes as well as destroy them, and even killed off most of the Celestials. They also turned out to be the progenitors of the Molecule Man, developing him to be a universe-destroying bomb so he could fulfill their goal of destroying every reality so they could witness the destruction of the Multiverse, if only because it was probably the equivalent of watching fireworks for them.