The One-Above-All (Celestial)

• Core Identity: The One-Above-All is the silent, enigmatic, and presumed leader of the Celestial Host, a race of unfathomably powerful “Space Gods” responsible for cosmic-scale genetic engineering and judging the evolutionary worth of nascent civilizations across the universe.
• Key Takeaways: (A quick-reference guide to the prime Celestial.)
  • Cosmic Progenitor and Judge: The One-Above-All's primary role is to lead the Celestials in their eons-long mission of creation and judgment. They were instrumental in the genesis of sentient life on countless worlds, including the creation of the Eternals and Deviants on Earth, and are the ultimate arbiters of a species' right to exist.
  • Critical Distinction: This entity is not the supreme, omnipotent creator of the Marvel Omniverse, who is also known as the One-Above-All. The Celestial is a member (albeit the most powerful) of a specific alien race, whereas the supreme being is the ultimate god of all reality. This is a frequent point of confusion for fans.
  • Cinematic Counterpart: In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the role and visual design of The One-Above-All are largely fulfilled by the Prime Celestial, Arishem the Judge, who is presented as the creator of the Eternals and the one who passes judgment on Earth.

^ Fact Sheet: The One-Above-All (Celestial) ^

The One-Above-All, along with the entire Celestial race, was conceived by the legendary “King of Comics,” Jack Kirby, during his revolutionary return to Marvel Comics in the mid-1970s. Following his work on DC Comics' New Gods saga, Kirby sought to introduce a new, grander mythology into the Marvel Universe, one that dwarfed the existing pantheons of Asgardians and Olympians. The Celestials were the centerpiece of this vision. The One-Above-All made its first official, albeit silent, appearance in Eternals (Vol. 1) #7 in 1977. Kirby designed the Celestials to be visually stunning, incomprehensible, and utterly alien. Their silent, colossal forms and inscrutable motives were intended to evoke a sense of Lovecraftian cosmic awe and horror. The One-Above-All, often depicted as the largest and most centrally located of the Host, embodied this concept perfectly. It was not a character in the traditional sense, with dialogue or personality, but a force of nature and a plot device of unimaginable scale. Kirby used the Celestials to re-contextualize human history within the Marvel Universe, suggesting that our evolution and potential for superhuman abilities were not accidents, but the result of ancient, alien experimentation.

The true origins of the Celestials are shrouded in cosmic mystery, dating back to the very first iteration of the Multiverse. What is known has been pieced together from fragments of lore provided by entities like the Watcher and from the Celestials' own rare communications.

The birth of the Celestials is tied to the genesis of the First Firmament, the original, sentient universe. From this primordial consciousness, life emerged in two forms: the black-and-white, order-obsessed Aspirants, and the multicolored, life-creating “rebels” who would become the Celestials. The Aspirants, serving the will of the First Firmament, desired a static, unchanging universe populated only by their kind. The Celestials, in contrast, believed in the dynamic principles of evolution, mutation, and diversity. This fundamental ideological conflict erupted into the Celestial War, a cataclysmic battle that shattered the First Firmament and gave birth to the Second Cosmos—the first Multiverse. The Celestials, victorious, began their grand experiment across this new reality. They traveled from world to world, seeding life and manipulating the genetic code of promising species. Their goal was to foster evolutionary potential and harvest the resulting energies, all as part of a cosmic cycle of death and rebirth. The One-Above-All's specific origin is synonymous with the origin of its race. As their leader, it is believed to be one of the very first and most powerful of its kind. Its primary function became to lead the “Hosts,” or visiting delegations of Celestials, as they traveled to planets like Earth for periodic evaluation. The First Host visited Earth a million years ago, creating the god-like Eternals, the monstrously unstable Deviants, and embedding the latent “X-Gene” in baseline humanity, creating the potential for future Mutants. The One-Above-All led this expedition and set the cosmic clock for future judgments, promising to return to see if their “experiment” was a success or a failure worthy of “purification” by Exitar the Exterminator.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe streamlines and slightly alters the Celestials' origin, primarily through the exposition provided in the film Eternals (2021). In this continuity, the explicit character named “The One-Above-All” has not appeared. Instead, the Prime Celestial Arishem the Judge serves as the functional equivalent—the leader, creator, and ultimate arbiter of the Celestials' grand design. According to Arishem, he and the other Celestials are primordial beings who existed in the darkness before the universe. They brought light, gravity, and matter into existence, creating stars and planets. Their fundamental purpose is to expand the universe by creating more of their own kind. This process requires an immense amount of energy, which can only be generated by the emergence of intelligent life on a host planet. Arishem's methodology is as follows:

1. He creates a sun and a planet with the potential for life.
2. He "seeds" a Celestial egg within the planet's core.
3. To protect the burgeoning life from its natural predators, the Deviants (who were an earlier creation that went rogue), Arishem creates the synthetic, immortal [[Eternals]].
4. The Eternals are sent to the host planet with programmed memories, tasked with eliminating the Deviants and subtly guiding the native intelligent species to grow and flourish.
5. Once the planet's population reaches a critical threshold, the stored life energy triggers the "Emergence," a process where the new Celestial violently hatches from the planet's core, destroying the planet and its civilization in the process.

This MCU origin presents a more explicitly parasitic and cyclical purpose for the Celestials compared to the comics' more abstract concept of “judging.” Arishem acts as the master architect of this cycle, making him the MCU's analogue to the comic book One-Above-All.

As a prime member of one of the most powerful races in existence, The One-Above-All's capabilities are nearly limitless and operate on a scale that defies mortal comprehension. Its purpose is inextricably linked to the grand, cosmic experiment of the Celestial Host.

Powers and Abilities:

• Nigh-Omnipotence: While not truly omnipotent like the supreme being of the same name, the Celestial's power is so vast as to appear so. It can create, manipulate, and destroy matter and energy on a galactic, if not universal, scale. It can warp reality, manipulate space-time, and generate forces equivalent to exploding galaxies.
• Cosmic Awareness: The One-Above-All possesses a level of cosmic consciousness that spans entire galaxies. It is aware of events across vast stretches of time and space, though it is not truly omniscient. Its focus remains on the “experiments” it is currently judging.
• Immeasurable Strength and Durability: The physical strength of a Celestial is incalculable. It can move planets with ease. Its armor is virtually indestructible, having withstood direct attacks from Skyfather-level beings like Odin and Zeus, and even the combined might of multiple planetary pantheons, without any visible damage. It took the combined power of three Skyfathers occupying the Destroyer armor and wielding the Odin-Sword to merely sever one of its arms, which it instantly regenerated.
• Genetic Manipulation: This is the core of the Celestials' function. The One-Above-All is a master geneticist on a cosmic scale, capable of altering the evolutionary path of an entire species with a gesture. The creation of the Eternals, Deviants, and the X-Gene are testaments to this power.
• Energy Projection: It can project cosmic energy blasts of unimaginable destructive force. A single blast from a lesser Celestial can shatter a planet.

Purpose and Role: The One-Above-All's purpose is to oversee the Celestial Experiment. It acts as the commander-in-chief of the Four Hosts that have visited Earth and countless other worlds. Its role is one of silent observation and ultimate judgment. While other Celestials like Ziran the Tester and Gammenon the Gatherer perform specific tasks, The One-Above-All is the final authority. When it raises its thumb, it signifies approval. When it lowers its thumb, it signifies extermination. This simple gesture decides the fate of entire worlds. It is also the guardian of certain cosmic truths, at one point showing Thor the true origin of the Asgardian and other pantheons' cyclical nature.

As the cinematic stand-in, Arishem the Judge possesses a similar, though perhaps more defined, set of powers and a more concrete purpose. Powers and Abilities (Arishem):

• Creation on a Universal Scale: Arishem claims to have created stars, planets, and the very laws of physics that govern them. He personally engineered both the Deviants and the Eternals, showcasing biological and synthetic creation abilities of the highest order.
• Cosmic Energy Manipulation: He demonstrates the ability to manipulate vast amounts of cosmic energy, using it to communicate across galaxies, teleport beings (as he did with Sersi, Kingo, and Phastos), and manifest interfaces.
• Mental Domination and Memory Wipes: A key difference from the comics, Arishem has direct mental control over his creations, the Eternals. He can implant memories, issue commands, and wipe their minds clean after each Emergence to repurpose them for a new planet. This highlights a more direct, manipulative role than the comics' distant, observational Celestials.
• Immense Scale and Durability: Like his comic counterpart, Arishem is colossal, dwarfing planets. He is shown to be completely impervious to any known force, existing in space without need for sustenance or protection.

Purpose and Role (Arishem): Arishem's purpose is explicit and utilitarian: create new Celestials. The civilizations they cultivate are not experiments to be judged on their “worth” in a moral or evolutionary sense, but are simply incubators—a resource to be consumed. This presents a colder, more pragmatic motivation. His role as “The Judge” is not to weigh a civilization's merits, but to determine if they have served their purpose in fueling the Emergence. At the end of Eternals, he takes Sersi, Kingo, and Phastos to “judge” humanity based on the memories of the Eternals who came to love them, a departure from his previously stated goal, introducing a sliver of the comics' judgmental aspect back into his character. The core question he must answer is: does the value of one civilization's existence outweigh the birth of a new Celestial?

The One-Above-All is a being defined less by personal relationships and more by its function and its hierarchical position within the cosmic order.

The Host is the One-Above-All's primary instrument and collective body. While it is the presumed leader, it operates in concert with other specialized Celestials. Key members of the Hosts that have visited Earth include:

• Arishem the Judge: The Celestial tasked with deciding whether a planet's civilization lives or dies. The One-Above-All often appears to be the final authority to which Arishem answers.
• Exitar the Exterminator: A colossal Celestial (20,000 feet tall) who is summoned only when a judgment of “failure” is passed. Exitar's role is to “purify” the planet, completely cleansing it of the failed experiment.
• Ziran the Tester: Responsible for testing the stability of a species' genetic code to gauge its evolutionary progress.
• Tiamut the Communicator (The Dreaming Celestial): A renegade Celestial who was sealed beneath the Earth for opposing the judgment of the Second Host. His awakening was a major threat and a source of significant lore about the Celestials' internal politics and history.

The Aspirants were the Celestials' ancient enemy from the First Firmament. They represent a philosophy of cosmic stagnation and uniformity, the antithesis of the Celestials' belief in dynamic evolution. After their defeat in the first cosmic war, their servants, a locust-like insectoid race known as The Horde, became a plague upon the universe, seeking to consume all life. The Horde is the natural counter-force to the Celestials' creations, and their presence on a world is often a sign of a failing experiment, drawing the attention of the Host.

The One-Above-All and its Host have a deeply antagonistic relationship with the various “Skyfathers” and pantheons who claim dominion over worlds like Earth. Odin of Asgard, Zeus of Olympus, and other powerful gods see the Celestials as alien intruders meddling in their affairs. This conflict came to a head during the Third and Fourth Hosts. Despite their immense power, the Skyfathers proved utterly incapable of stopping the Celestials. The One-Above-All holds them in such low regard that it doesn't even deign to fight them directly, allowing lesser Celestials to effortlessly swat them aside. This demonstrates the vast gulf in power between a Skyfather and a true “Space God.”

The One-Above-All's appearances are rare but always signify events of world-shattering importance. Its presence alone is a narrative shorthand for the highest possible stakes.

A million years in Earth's past, The One-Above-All led the First Host to the primitive planet. Performing their grand experiment, they captured a number of early proto-humans. They transformed one group into the long-lived, god-like Eternals. They altered another group into the genetically unstable and monstrous Deviants. In a third group of baseline humans, they implanted dormant DNA that would one day activate, creating the phenomenon of mutants. This single event is the secret origin of nearly all of Earth's superhuman potential and the foundational conflict between the Eternals and Deviants. The Host then departed, promising to return in a million years to judge their work.

During the time of the Incan Empire, the Third Host arrived. Their presence was challenged by a coalition of Skyfathers from Earth's pantheons, including Odin and Zeus. The Celestials, led by Arishem, demanded that the gods not interfere with humanity's development for the next 1,000 years, allowing the Celestial experiment to proceed uninhibited. The Skyfathers were forced to agree under threat of annihilation, a humbling moment that established the Celestials' absolute superiority. The One-Above-All was present, a silent, looming figurehead for the Host's authority.

This is the most famous Celestial storyline. The Fourth Host arrived in modern times to pass judgment. S.H.I.E.L.D. attacked them fruitlessly. Thor confronted them directly and was effortlessly dismissed. In a desperate act, Odin poured his life force, and the life force of all Asgardians (save Thor), into the Destroyer armor. Wielding the Odin-Sword, the Destroyer grew to the Celestials' height and confronted the Host. It managed to sever The One-Above-All's arm before being melted into slag by the combined power of the Host. The Earth Mother goddess, Gaea, then intervened, offering the Celestials a peace offering: the “Twelve,” a dozen of humanity's best and brightest, as proof of mankind's potential. The One-Above-All accepted, the Host judged in Earth's favor, and they departed, leaving the planet intact. This event cemented the Celestials as one of the ultimate powers in the Marvel Universe.

A radical departure from their established lore, this storyline revealed a dark secret. The first life on Earth was a diseased, dying Celestial known as the Progenitor. Its infected fluids gave rise to life, but also attracted The Horde. A new group of “Dark Celestials,” led by a vengeful Loki, arrived on Earth, slaughtering their brethren and beginning a new, twisted judgment. This story retconned the Celestials' purpose, suggesting they were “farmers” of life to combat the Horde. While The One-Above-All was not a central character, it was shown being killed by the Dark Celestials, a shocking moment that was later reversed when the Avengers, empowered by the Uni-Mind, defeated the invaders and resurrected the slain Space Gods.

Due to their nature as multiversal beings, the Celestials' presence and form can vary across different realities, though their fundamental purpose often remains the same.

• Earth X (Earth-9997): This dystopian future revealed a shocking “truth” about the Celestials. In this reality, they are cosmic beings who implant their eggs in planets, and the resulting super-powered beings (like the humans of Earth) are an unwitting immune system designed to protect the Celestial embryo from planetary threats until it can hatch, destroying the world. This concept was a direct and primary influence on the plot of the MCU's Eternals film. The One-Above-All in this reality is the ultimate architect of this parasitic life cycle.
• The Fulcrum: In some storylines, particularly those involving the Eternals, it's suggested that the Celestials, the Watchers, and the Horde are all servants of a higher, omnipotent being known as The Fulcrum. Many fans speculate that The Fulcrum is simply another name or manifestation for the supreme One-Above-All (the creator, not the Celestial). In this context, the Celestial One-Above-All would be The Fulcrum's highest-ranking servant.
• Scathan the Approver (Earth-691): In the alternate future of the original Guardians of the Galaxy, the role of ultimate judge is sometimes filled by Scathan the Approver. A member of the Celestial race, Scathan's job is solely to observe and approve or disapprove of events of immense cosmic significance. During the trial of the cosmic entity Protege, who claimed to be the new One-Above-All, it was Scathan's simple “thumbs down” that allowed the Living Tribunal to eliminate the threat.

• Celestials
• Arishem the Judge
• Eternals
• Deviants
• Jack Kirby
• The One-Above-All (Disambiguation page for the supreme creator)
• Living Tribunal
• Cosmic Beings of the Marvel Universe

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