Eternals

• Core Identity: The Eternals are an ancient, immortal race of cosmic-powered humanoids created by the god-like celestials to serve as the clandestine defenders of planet Earth.
• Key Takeaways:
• Role in the Universe: Engineered a million years ago from early humanity, the Eternals were designed by the Celestials as the perfect, unchanging protectors of Earth's evolutionary process, charged with defending the planet from their monstrous counterparts, the deviants. celestials.
• Primary Impact: Their existence forms a cornerstone of Marvel's cosmic mythology, providing an in-universe explanation for ancient myths and the latent superhuman potential within humanity. They are a living testament to the Celestials' vast, often terrifying, cosmic experiments.
• Key Incarnations: In the comics, they are a naturally evolved (albeit engineered) species protecting a Celestial “experiment”—humanity. In the MCU, they are synthetic, programmable androids sent to cultivate humanity as an energy source for the birth of a new Celestial, a process that would destroy Earth.

The Eternals burst onto the comic book scene in The Eternals #1, published in July 1976. They were the brainchild of the legendary writer and artist Jack “The King” Kirby, marking his grand return to Marvel Comics after his revolutionary work at DC Comics on the Fourth World saga. Kirby's Eternals was conceived as a standalone epic, a new mythology for the modern age, separate from the established Marvel Universe. The series was heavily influenced by the popular “ancient astronauts” theories of the 1970s, most notably Erich von Däniken's 1968 book, Chariots of the Gods?. Kirby took the central premise—that aliens had visited ancient Earth and were mistaken for gods—and spun it into a sprawling cosmic drama. The Eternals were the beautiful, god-like aliens, while the Deviants were the monstrous demons of myth. The Celestials were the true, unknowable “space gods” who created them both. Initially, Kirby's series existed in its own continuity. However, after its cancellation, writers Roy Thomas and Mark Gruenwald skillfully integrated the Eternals, Deviants, and Celestials into the mainstream Marvel Universe continuity in the pages of Thor. This move retroactively established them as a foundational element of Earth's history, their influence touching everything from the Inhumans to the mutants of Krakoa. Over the decades, their lore has been expanded by numerous creators, most significantly by Neil Gaiman in his 2006 miniseries that modernized the concept for a new generation, and by Kieron Gillen in his 2021 run, which introduced game-changing revelations about the true nature of their existence and immortality.

The origin of the Eternals is a tale of cosmic engineering on a planetary scale. While the core concept of their creation by the Celestials is consistent across both major universes, the purpose, nature, and consequences of that creation differ dramatically.

Approximately one million years ago, the First Host of the Celestials arrived on Earth. These silent, colossal space gods discovered a nascent proto-humanity teeming with genetic potential. As part of a vast, galaxy-spanning experiment, the Celestial Gammenon the Gatherer collected a tribe of these early hominids and began to manipulate their genetic code. This process resulted in the creation of three distinct offshoots of the human race.

• The Eternals: They were the pinnacle of the experiment, beings of near-perfection. Granted immortality, cosmic power, and a collective psionic link, they were beautiful, god-like, and tasked with overseeing the Celestial experiment on Earth. They were designed to be stable and unchanging.
• The Deviants: The result of unstable mutations, the Deviants were the opposite of the Eternals. Their genetic code was chaotic, resulting in every Deviant being born with a unique, often monstrous, physical form. They were cursed with an unstable biology but blessed with rapid adaptation and a propensity for procreation. This genetic instability made them a source of “excess deviation,” which the Eternals were meant to correct.
• Baseline Humanity: The third branch was left largely unaltered, but the Celestials implanted latent DNA complexes that would, over millennia, allow for the emergence of super-powered beings, including both mutants and other mutates like captain_america and the fantastic_four. In essence, humanity was the true focus of the experiment, and the Eternals and Deviants were its designated guardians and foils.

The early history of the Eternals was marked by a civil war. Their first leader, Kronos, advocated for a passive, scholarly existence. His brother, Uranus, was a warlord who believed the Eternals should conquer the lesser races. The conflict culminated in an experiment by Kronos that went awry, atomizing his physical body and transforming him into a cosmic entity. This same accident activated latent genes in the remaining Eternals, granting them their full powers and the ability to form the Uni-Mind, a powerful psionic gestalt. Following the war, Uranus and his followers were exiled from Earth, eventually settling on the moon of Saturn, Titan. These became the Titanian Eternals. A further conflict on Titan led to the sole survivor, Sui-San, who was discovered by A'lars (Kronos's son, also known as Mentor), an Eternal who had exiled himself from Earth. Together, they repopulated Titan, and their children included Eros (Starfox) and the infamous Mad Titan, thanos. Thanos was born with the “Deviant Syndrome,” a genetic throwback that gave him a Deviant-like appearance and a lust for destruction, making him the most dangerous member of their entire race. On Earth, the remaining Eternals, led by Zuras, built their city of Olympia and largely remained hidden from humanity, occasionally inspiring myths and legends. Their primary directive remained: protect the Celestials' work, which meant fighting the Deviants whenever they threatened humanity and preparing for the arrival of future Celestial Hosts who would come to judge the planet's progress. More recently, a profound retcon revealed the terrible truth of their existence. The Earth itself is a form of “Great Machine” that manages their resurrection. Every time an Eternal dies, the Machine resurrects them in a chamber in the Antarctic. However, the catch is that this resurrection requires a spark of life, which the Machine randomly takes from a baseline human, killing them in the process. Their true purpose was never to protect humanity for its own sake, but to “cultivate” humanity as a resource for the Celestials, pruning “excess deviation” to ensure a “clean crop.”

The MCU origin, as detailed in the 2021 film Eternals, presents a starkly different narrative. In this continuity, the Eternals are not a biological offshoot of humanity but are entirely artificial beings—synthetic humanoids of immense power, created by the Prime Celestial, Arishem the Judge, in the World Forge. They are, for all intents and purposes, highly advanced, immortal androids. Their stated mission was to be sent to Earth in 5,000 BC to protect humanity from the Deviants, a species of monstrous predators. They were instructed by Arishem to never interfere in human conflicts unless Deviants were involved. For seven thousand years, they lived among humans, guiding and protecting them from the shadows as they seemingly eradicated the Deviant threat. However, this mission was a lie. The Eternals' true purpose was far more sinister. The Deviants were also creations of Arishem, sent to planets to clear them of apex predators to allow intelligent life to flourish. But the Deviants evolved beyond Arishem's control, so he created the Eternals to hunt them down. The real goal was the Emergence. The Celestials reproduce by seeding nascent planets with a Celestial embryo. The growth of this embryo requires a massive amount of energy, which can only be generated by a large, thriving population of intelligent beings. The Eternals' job was to ensure humanity's population grew to the required threshold to trigger the birth of the Celestial Tiamut from Earth's core. This Emergence would completely destroy the planet and all life on it. To ensure their compliance over eons, Arishem programmed the Eternals with a deep loyalty and wiped their memories after each successful Emergence on countless planets before Earth. Their leader, Ajak, was the only one who retained the memories of these past planetary extinctions. The conflict of the film arises when Ajak, having grown to love humanity, chooses Sersi as her successor and reveals the truth. This revelation shatters the Eternals, pitting those who wish to defy their god Arishem and save Earth (led by Sersi) against those who believe they must follow their sacred mission to ensure the creation of new life in the universe (led by Ikaris). This origin recasts the Eternals not as benevolent protectors but as unwitting agents of planetary genocide, grappling with the discovery that their entire existence is a lie.

The core mandate of the Earth-616 Eternals is to “correct excess deviation.” This primarily involves their endless war against the Deviants, ensuring their chaotic influence does not overwhelm humanity. More broadly, they are the stewards of the Celestials' grand experiment on Earth. They are forbidden from directly interfering in human affairs, a rule they have often bent or broken. Their ultimate allegiance is to the Celestials, and they are honor-bound to defend them and facilitate their judgment of Earth, even if that judgment means the planet's destruction. The recent revelation about their resurrection process has created a new, darker mandate: self-preservation at the cost of human life, forcing them to confront the morality of their very existence.

• Prime Eternal: The designated leader of all Earth-bound Eternals, typically elected by the assembled body. The Prime Eternal holds ultimate authority and often wields the greatest share of cosmic power. Notable Prime Eternals have included Zuras, Thena, Ikaris, and most recently, the treacherous Druig.
• The Uni-Mind: The ultimate expression of their collective nature. By performing a specific ritual, the Eternals can merge their physical bodies and consciousnesses into a single, massive entity of pure psionic energy. The Uni-Mind possesses the combined knowledge and power of all its constituents and is used to make critical decisions or face overwhelming threats. The Prime Eternal typically directs the will of the Uni-Mind.
• Locations: Their primary home is the city of Olympia, traditionally hidden in the mountains of Greece but capable of relocation. They also maintain an outpost in Siberia called Polaria. Their resurrection chambers, known as the Exclusion, are located in Antarctica and managed by the planetary intelligence they call The Great Machine.
• Classes: The Eternals are divided into five “generations” or classes based on their primary function and skill set. For example, Ikaris is a first-generation warrior (Gigas), while Sersi is a fourth-generation transmuter (Transmuters).

All Eternals share a baseline of powers derived from their ability to psychically control cosmic energy. These include immortality, superhuman strength, durability, flight (via levitation), and psionic abilities like telepathy and illusion casting. However, each Eternal specializes in developing specific powers to an unparalleled degree.

* Gilgamesh | Superhuman Strength and Durability | Also known as “The Forgotten One,” he is arguably the strongest of all Eternals. He was an outcast for centuries for meddling in human affairs but was later welcomed back. |

• Zuras | Cosmic Power Amplification | The first Prime Eternal and father of Thena. He is one of the most powerful Eternals, capable of initiating the Uni-Mind and projecting immense cosmic energy. |
• Kingo | Swordsmanship and Energy Projection | A master swordsman who has spent centuries in Japan learning the ways of the samurai. In modern times, he has become a popular action film star. |

The MCU Eternals' mandate is a lie built on a truth. Their public purpose is to protect humanity from Deviants. Their true, hidden purpose is to serve as planetary shepherds, cultivating the host population of a world until it is large enough to fuel the Emergence of a new Celestial. They are programmed to see this cycle of creation-through-destruction as a sacred, universal good. Their central conflict is rejecting this programmed mandate in favor of a chosen purpose: to protect Earth for its own sake.

• Prime Eternal (Ajak): In the MCU, the leadership role is pre-assigned by Arishem. Ajak was the Prime Eternal, serving as the spiritual guide and the sole conduit of communication with their Celestial master. Upon her death, she passed this ability to Sersi.
• Tactical Leader (Ikaris): While Ajak was the overall leader, Ikaris was the most powerful warrior and served as the de facto field commander for centuries. His unwavering loyalty to the original mission eventually makes him the team's primary antagonist.
• The Domo: The Eternals do not have a city like Olympia. Their base of operations is their starship, the Domo, which remained hidden at the bottom of the Indian Ocean for centuries.
• Uni-Mind: The MCU's Uni-Mind is not a physical transformation but a temporary circuit of cosmic energy connecting multiple Eternals. It allows them to pool their power, amplifying the abilities of one member to achieve incredible feats, such as when Phastos used it to create an invention to stop Tiamut, or when the team used it to channel Sersi's power to transmute the nascent Celestial.

The MCU versions retain the core powers of their comic counterparts but with notable differences in application and characterization.

• The Celestials: A complex and often adversarial relationship. In the comics, the Eternals revere the Celestials as their creators and gods, duty-bound to obey them even when their judgment seems cruel. In the MCU, this relationship is shattered when Arishem is revealed to be a manipulative master, turning the Eternals' faith into a source of conflict and rebellion. They are both allies and, potentially, ultimate antagonists.
• The Avengers: The Eternals have allied with Earth's Mightiest Heroes on numerous occasions, particularly when facing cosmic-level threats. Sersi served as a full-fledged member of the Avengers for a significant period in the 1990s, developing a romantic relationship with the Black Knight (Dane Whitman). Gilgamesh also served a brief tenure with the team. Their relationship is one of mutual respect between two different groups of Earth's protectors.
• Humanity: The Eternals' relationship with humanity is one of distant guardianship. They are sworn to protect mankind but are forbidden from ruling them. Sersi is the most notable exception, immersing herself in human culture. The MCU deepens this connection significantly, with Phastos starting a family, Kingo becoming a celebrity, and Sersi falling in love, making their choice to save Earth a deeply personal one.

• The Deviants: The Eternals' primary and eternal foes. In the comics, the Deviants are a sophisticated, if warlike, civilization residing in the sunken city of Lemuria. Their leaders, like Brother Tode and the priestlord Ghaur, have launched numerous attempts to conquer the surface world. Their conflict is ideological and genetic. In the MCU, the Deviants are initially portrayed as mindless, predatory beasts. They later evolve, led by the Deviant Kro, gaining intelligence and the ability to absorb the Eternals' cosmic energy, making them a more direct and personal threat.
• Thanos (Earth-616): The Mad Titan is the Eternals' greatest shame. As the son of two Titanian Eternals but born with the Deviant Syndrome, he represents the very genetic instability they despise. His campaigns of cosmic genocide are a perversion of their mandate to maintain order, making him their ultimate philosophical and familial enemy.
• Uranus and the Uranites: The first schism in Eternal society was led by the warlord Uranus. His defeat and exile led to the founding of the Titanian colony. His militaristic ideology represents an internal threat that has echoed through Eternal history, questioning their passive role as mere observers.

Beyond their own race, the Eternals have few formal affiliations due to their secretive nature. Their primary allegiance is to the Celestials. However, individual members have joined other groups. Sersi's and Gilgamesh's time with the avengers are the most prominent examples. In the modern era, Druig has affiliated himself with nations like Russia (as a KGB agent) to further his own goals of control. Their recent war with the mutant nation of Krakoa has positioned them as antagonists to the x-men, though this was a result of Druig's leadership and the horrifying truth of their resurrection.

Jack Kirby's foundational epic introduced the world to the Eternals. The story begins with the impending arrival of the Fourth Host of Celestials, who have come to pass judgment on Earth. Ikaris, acting as a guide for archaeologist Dr. Daniel Damian and his daughter Margo, begins to reawaken the world to the existence of the “space gods.” The Eternals gather to prepare for judgment, clashing with the Deviants who plot to turn the Celestials against humanity. The series established the core concepts: the Uni-Mind, the Celestial Hosts, the hidden cities of Olympia and Lemuria, and the fundamental conflict between the perfect Eternals and the monstrous Deviants. It was a masterpiece of cosmic myth-making that laid the groundwork for everything to come.

This critically acclaimed miniseries revitalized the Eternals for the 21st century. The story opens with the startling revelation that all the Eternals are living on Earth as ordinary humans with no memory of their true identities. An amnesiac Eternal, Sprite, frustrated with being an eternal child, used the immense power of the sleeping Tiamut, the Dreaming Celestial, to rewrite reality. Medical student Mark Curry begins having visions and is approached by a man named Ike Harris, who claims they are both Eternals named Makkari and Ikaris. Together, they must journey across the globe to “awaken” the others, including a party-planner Sersi and a weapons expert Thena, all while being hunted by Deviants who wish to keep them dormant. The series provided a perfect entry point for new readers and added deep psychological layers to the characters, exploring the immense burden of their endless lives.

This massive crossover event between the Avengers, X-Men, and Eternals radically redefined the Eternals' place in the Marvel Universe. After learning the “great secret” of their resurrection—that a human life is sacrificed for every rebirth—the Prime Eternal Druig declares mutants, with their own resurrection protocols, to be a form of “excess deviation.” He launches a brutal, genocidal war on the mutant nation of Krakoa. This all-out war between the two immortal races awakens the Progenitor, a new Celestial created by the Avengers, who decides to judge the entire planet. The Eternals are cast as the initial villains, forced to confront the horrifying moral cost of their existence. They must ultimately unite with their enemies to try and save a world that their own god has deemed unworthy, forever changing their perception of themselves and their mission.

In Alex Ross and Jim Krueger's dystopian future, the Eternals' purpose is given a massive cosmic expansion that heavily influenced the MCU film. It is revealed that the Celestials are cosmic “gardeners” who impregnate planets with Celestial eggs. The planet's evolution and the rise of super-powered beings are all part of the process of nourishing the growing Celestial. On Earth, the Eternals were created to protect the growing Celestial embryo from the Deviants, who were designed to be a “predator” species to cull the weak and ensure only the strongest genetic traits survived. This makes the Eternals cosmic midwives and the Deviants a necessary, if brutal, part of a universal life cycle.

This mature-readers series by writer Chuck Austen presented a radically different take. Here, “Ikaeden” and his assistant “Kurassus” are scouts for a species of cosmic giants (the Celestials) who travel to planets and “seed” them, returning later to harvest the resulting life. Ikaeden is the good-cop protector of the nascent life, while Kurassus is the bad-cop who wants to destroy it. This version reimagines the core conflict as a more personal battle between two beings rather than a war between races, focusing on the horror and responsibility of being a god-like being.

• celestials
• deviants
• thanos
• ikaris
• sersi
• jack_kirby
• marvel_cinematic_universe

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