Arishem the Judge

• Core Identity: Arishem the Judge is the Prime Celestial responsible for judging whether a world's civilization is worthy of continued existence, serving as the inscrutable and immeasurably powerful face of cosmic evolution and destruction in the Marvel Universe.
• Key Takeaways:
• Role in the Universe: As the leader of the Celestial Hosts, Arishem's primary function is to conduct periodic evaluations of worlds where the Celestials have seeded latent genetic potential. His judgment—a simple, silent gesture—determines the fate of entire planets and their dominant species. celestials.
• Primary Impact: Arishem is directly responsible for the creation of the eternals and the deviants on Earth and countless other worlds. His periodic visits, known as Hosts, have shaped planetary histories and are the ultimate cosmic threat, forcing even sky-father deities like Odin to bow before his power.
• Key Incarnations: In the comics (earth-616), Arishem is a silent, unknowable cosmic judge whose motivations are beyond mortal comprehension. In the marvel_cinematic_universe, he is presented as a more direct creator-god, the Prime Celestial who explicitly designed the Eternals to facilitate the birth of new Celestials, making his motivations more understandable, if no less terrifying.

Arishem the Judge first appeared in The Eternals #2, published in August 1976. He was a cornerstone creation of the legendary writer and artist Jack “The King” Kirby during his momentous return to Marvel Comics in the mid-1970s. Following his revolutionary work at DC Comics on the “Fourth World” saga, Kirby brought his penchant for cosmic mythology and god-like beings back to Marvel, creating the Eternals, Deviants, and their makers, the Celestials. Arishem, as the de facto leader and ultimate arbiter of the Celestials' judgment, embodied the central themes of Kirby's new epic. He was heavily influenced by the “ancient astronaut” theories popularized by authors like Erich von Däniken in his 1968 book Chariots of the Gods?. Kirby tapped into this cultural zeitgeist, positing that humanity's evolution, myths, and legends were the direct result of intervention by these colossal, space-faring “gods.” Arishem's design is pure Kirby: massive, imposing, and technologically intricate, yet with an almost totemic, statuesque quality. His silent, unblinking presence and the simple, finality of his “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” gesture made him an instantly iconic and terrifying figure, a representation of cosmic power so vast it rendered mortal concerns utterly insignificant.

The origin of Arishem is intrinsically linked to the origin of the Celestials themselves, a history that spans billions of years and involves cosmic wars that shaped the very fabric of the Marvel Multiverse.

In the prime comic continuity, the origins of the Celestials are shrouded in cosmic myth and have been subject to several retcons. The most prominent origin story begins with the First Firmament, the sentient, singular reality that existed before the Multiverse. Seeking to create life, the Firmament created aspirants, beings of dark matter, and a new, multicolored race of beings to serve it. These new beings, desiring a dynamic, evolving universe where their own creations could live, die, and change, came into conflict with the Firmament's desire for static order. This led to a catastrophic celestial war. The rebel faction, who would become known as the Celestials, ultimately shattered the First Firmament, and its pieces reformed into the first Multiverse. Arishem was one of these original Celestials, a survivor of this cosmic genesis. Alongside his brethren, he became a central figure in the grand cosmic experiment of seeding life across the universe. Arishem's specific role as “The Judge” was established during the Celestials' great plan. They would visit nascent worlds, perform genetic experiments on the dominant lifeform, and create two divergent subspecies: the aesthetically beautiful and long-lived Eternals and the genetically unstable and monstrous Deviants. The baseline species (e.g., humanity) was left with latent Celestial DNA, a “time bomb” of potential that could lead to the emergence of super-powered beings, or mutants. The Celestials would then depart, only to return eons later in groups known as “Hosts.” Arishem was designated the leader of the Four Hosts that visited Earth.

• The First Host (1,000,000 BC): Arishem and the first group of Celestials arrived on prehistoric Earth, experimenting on early hominids to create the first Eternals and Deviants. They also battled and defeated the rival Aspirants for control of the planet.
• The Second Host (c. 20,000 BC): This Host arrived to check on their experiment. Finding the Deviants had created a vast, technologically advanced empire that threatened the cosmic plan, the Celestials, under Arishem's purview, laid waste to their capital, Lemuria, causing the “Great Cataclysm” that sank it beneath the ocean.
• The Third Host (c. 1,000 AD): Arishem led this Host to Earth, landing in the Andes Mountains. They were met by a council of Earth's Sky-Fathers, including Odin of Asgard, Zeus of Olympus, and Vishnu of the Hindu pantheon. The Sky-Fathers challenged the Celestials' right to interfere with humanity. In a display of unfathomable power, the Celestials easily defeated the combined might of the gods and issued an ultimatum: they would depart for 1,000 years, but would then return for a final judgment. They forbade the gods from interfering with humanity's development in the interim.
• The Fourth Host (Modern Era): As promised, Arishem returned with the Fourth Host to pass judgment. This event was the central conflict of Kirby's Eternals series and was further explored in an epic Thor storyline. Despite the best efforts of the Eternals, the defiance of Odin wearing the Destroyer Armor, and the pleading of the Earth-goddess Gaea, the judgment rested solely with Arishem. Ultimately, Gaea presented the “Young Gods,” twelve perfect human specimens representing humanity's potential, and Arishem judged Earth worthy of survival, giving his silent “thumbs up” before departing.

The MCU dramatically streamlines and recontextualizes Arishem's origin and purpose. In the film Eternals (2021), Arishem is established not just as a judge, but as the Prime Celestial, the very first of his kind, and the direct creator of galaxies, stars, and life itself. In this continuity, the Celestials are born from the core of planets. To facilitate their own reproduction, Arishem created a cycle of cosmic birth. He would seed a chosen planet with life. This life would flourish and grow, building up a massive reservoir of psychic and biological energy. When the population reached a sufficient level, this energy would fuel the “Emergence,” the birth of a new Celestial from the planet's core, a process that completely destroys the host planet and all its inhabitants. To protect this process, Arishem engineered two artificial races:

• The Deviants: Initially created to clear seeded planets of apex predators, allowing intelligent life to thrive. However, the Deviants evolved beyond Arishem's control, becoming predators themselves and hindering the cycle.
• The Eternals: Advanced, immortal androids created by Arishem in his World Forge. He imbued them with cosmic power and assigned them a singular mission: travel to a seeded planet, eliminate the Deviants, and guide the native civilization's development without direct interference, ensuring the population grows large enough for the Emergence.

Crucially, Arishem programmed the Eternals with false memories, leading them to believe they were from the planet Olympia and were simply helping civilizations. In reality, upon the completion of an Emergence, their memories would be wiped, and they would be reassigned to a new world. Earth was just one of thousands of such assignments. Arishem's role as “The Judge” is reframed. Instead of judging a planet's worthiness based on its moral or evolutionary trajectory, his judgment is a simple, pragmatic calculation: has the planet served its purpose in birthing a new Celestial? When the Earth-based Eternals, having grown to love humanity, defy his plan and prevent the Emergence of the Celestial Tiamut, Arishem appears in the sky, dwarfing the planet. He does not destroy Earth immediately. Instead, he takes Sersi, Kingo, and Phastos to examine their memories, stating he will spare Earth for now but will return for a final judgment based on whether humanity's cumulative accomplishments prove to be worth the life of a Celestial. This leaves his role as Judge intact, but his motivations and direct involvement are profoundly different from his silent, enigmatic comic book counterpart.

Arishem's power is of a magnitude that defies easy categorization. As a Celestial, he is a being of pure cosmic energy contained within a nigh-indestructible armored shell, operating on a scale that dwarfs even the most powerful mortal heroes and gods.

In the comics, Arishem's abilities are vast and often demonstrated with casual, terrifying ease. His primary function is that of the Judge, and his power set reflects the authority needed to carry out this role against any and all opposition.

His role is not that of a warrior, but of an arbiter. He rarely engages in direct combat, as few beings in the universe pose a genuine threat. When confronted, as he was by Odin and the Destroyer, his actions are swift, decisive, and overwhelming, more akin to a force of nature swatting away an insect than a combatant in a fight.

The MCU's Arishem demonstrates a similar level of cosmic power, but his role is portrayed as much more of a direct, hands-on creator and architect of the universe.

The most significant difference lies in his nature. The MCU Arishem is a character with stated goals (the propagation of the Celestial race) and a recognizable, albeit alien, logic. He explains himself, gives orders, and engages in dialogue. This contrasts sharply with the Earth-616 Arishem, who is an unknowable cosmic force whose judgment is a mystery. The MCU version is a cosmic engineer; the comic version is a cosmic god.

As a being of unimaginable age and power, Arishem does not have “relationships” in the human sense. His interactions are with other cosmic beings and are defined by function, hierarchy, and cosmic purpose.

Arishem is the leader of the Celestial Hosts that visit Earth, but he is part of a larger collective of equally powerful beings. His “allies” are his fellow Celestials who perform different functions during a planetary assessment.

• Exitar the Exterminator: Exitar is the ultimate expression of a failed judgment. Standing over 20,000 feet tall, he is the Celestial tasked with physically destroying a planet that Arishem has deemed unworthy. He purifies the planet by transforming it into a pristine, garden-like world, ready for a new experiment. His presence signifies the end.
• Eson the Searcher: Eson's role is that of reconnaissance and data collection. He is the one tasked with seeking out and observing life on a seeded planet, gathering the information that Arishem will eventually use to make his judgment.
• Ziran the Tester: Ziran's function is to test the stability and genetic potential of the lifeforms on a planet. He conducts planetary-scale experiments to gauge a species' ability to adapt, evolve, and endure hardship, providing another crucial metric for Arishem's final verdict.
• Tiamut the Communicator (The Dreaming Celestial): Once a fellow Celestial, Tiamut committed an unpardonable crime against the Celestial order (the exact nature of which is a subject of debate, often linked to disagreeing with the cosmic plan). Arishem was the one who led the charge against him, and Tiamut was imprisoned deep beneath the Earth's crust, where he lay dormant for millennia, dreaming.

Arishem has few “enemies,” as most beings lack the power to even be considered a nuisance. However, some entities have either opposed the Celestials' goals or represent a rival cosmic force.

• The Horde: The ultimate cosmic parasite. The Horde is an insectoid race that serves the Aspirants, the ancient enemies of the Celestials. They are the antithesis of the Celestials' purpose: where the Celestials create and nurture life to harvest its potential, the Horde consumes it, leaving dead worlds in their wake. The Dark Celestials, sickened by a cosmic infection from the Horde, were responsible for killing Arishem and the entire Fourth Host in a major modern storyline.
• Odin Borson: The All-Father of Asgard has directly challenged Arishem and the Celestials on two separate occasions. First, during the Third Host, he stood with the other Sky-Fathers and was defeated. During the Fourth Host, he donned the Destroyer Armor and absorbed the life-force of nearly all Asgardians to grow to the Celestials' height. He wielded the Odinsword and confronted Arishem directly, but was swatted aside and his armor was melted into slag. This confrontation is one of the most famous examples of the Celestials' overwhelming power.
• Galactus: While not a direct enemy, Galactus and the Celestials represent two different, and sometimes conflicting, cosmic functions. Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, is a force of cosmic balance, while the Celestials are forces of cosmic propagation. They have clashed in the past, and their power levels are often debated by fans. In one notable alternate reality, a combined Galactus Engine was the only thing capable of destroying a Celestial.

Arishem's sole affiliation is to The Celestials. He is one of the most powerful and respected among their kind, often taking a leadership role when a Host interacts with a lesser species. The Celestial hierarchy is not well-defined, but Arishem's position as The Judge gives him supreme authority in matters of planetary assessment. He acts in service to the grand, unknowable design of the Celestials, which appears to be linked to the fundamental balance and evolution of the universe itself, and the prevention of cosmic stagnation.

Arishem's appearances are rare, but when he arrives, the stakes are always cosmic and the fate of entire worlds hangs in the balance.

This is Arishem's foundational story. Jack Kirby's original saga established the entire premise of the Celestials' experiment with Earth. The storyline reveals the history of the four visits. The climax of the saga is the arrival of the Fourth Host, where Arishem and his cohorts land in Peru and silently stand, observing humanity. The story follows the Eternals, Deviants, and human archaeologists as they try to comprehend the Celestials' purpose and prevent them from destroying the planet. The conflict is not one of physical battle against Arishem, but a frantic race to prove humanity's worth. This storyline establishes his role as the impassive judge and sets the tone for all future appearances.

Picking up from Kirby's plot, this epic storyline by writers Roy Thomas and Mark Gruenwald, with art by John Buscema and Keith Pollard, directly confronts the Celestials' power. Thor seeks answers about the Celestials and their connection to Earth's gods. This culminates in the aforementioned battle where Odin, in the Destroyer Armor, directly attacks the Celestial Host. Arishem remains impassive throughout the assault, allowing his fellow Celestials to handle the threat. After the Destroyer is defeated, Arishem prepares to deliver his judgment. It is only through the intervention of Gaea, who offers the Young Gods as proof of humanity's potential, that Arishem is swayed. He delivers the “thumbs up,” and the Celestials depart, ending a conflict that threatened to unmake Asgard and Earth. This story cemented the Celestials' place at the absolute pinnacle of the Marvel power hierarchy for decades.

While Arishem is not a primary actor in this storyline, his past actions are the driving force of the plot. The story, revitalized by Neil Gaiman and later Charles & Daniel Knauf, reveals that the sleeping Celestial Tiamut, imprisoned under San Francisco by Arishem and the other Celestials eons ago, is beginning to awaken. His awakening threatens to destroy the planet. It is revealed that Tiamut was imprisoned for questioning the Celestials' grand design. This arc adds a layer of internal conflict and potential fallibility to the otherwise monolithic Celestials, suggesting that even among these cosmic gods, there can be dissent, and that Arishem acts not just as a judge of mortals, but as an enforcer of doctrine among his own kind.

In a shocking turn of events at the start of Jason Aaron's Avengers run, the dead bodies of Arishem and the entire Fourth Host rain down upon the Earth. It's revealed they were killed by a group of “Dark Celestials,” ancient Celestials infected by the parasitic Horde. This event served as a major status quo shift, demonstrating that the Celestials were not invincible and introducing a new, even greater cosmic threat. Though Arishem was eventually resurrected alongside his brethren, his death proved that the cosmic order was fragile and that even the ultimate judges were subject to a higher, more violent form of judgment.

As a fundamental cosmic being, Arishem himself has few true “variants,” but his role and nature have been interpreted differently across the Marvel Multiverse.

• Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999): As detailed extensively above, this is the most significant alternate version. This Arishem is a cosmic creator with a clear, almost industrial purpose: using planets as incubators for new Celestials. He is communicative and his motives, while grand, are understandable. This stands in stark contrast to the unknowable, silent judge of the comics.
• Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610): The Celestials of the Ultimate Universe were vastly different. They were not space gods but were imagined as a race of cosmic super-robots or an alien race that influenced humanity via a “sentinel” left on Earth, which influenced the creation of the Four Fantastics. Arishem as an individual entity does not prominently appear in this continuity.
• Heroes Reborn (1996): In the pocket universe created by Franklin Richards, the Celestials, including a version of Arishem, were shown to be the ones who “contained” the universe. When the heroes returned to the main reality, the pocket universe collapsed, and a version of Exitar the Exterminator was sent to sterilize it. This depicted the Celestials as fundamental architects of reality itself.

• celestials
• eternals
• deviants
• jack_kirby
• marvel_cinematic_universe
• odin
• galactus

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