Gods (Marvel Comics)

Gods are fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Several characters in many stories have been referred to as gods. Generally, however, only those belonging to two specific types are considered to be the "true" gods. Other worlds besides Earth also have their own gods, with different origins.

The first kind of gods, known now as the Elder Gods, were created when the being called The Demiurge spread part of its essence over the Earth. They included Gaea, Chthon, Set and Oshtur. All but Gaea the Earth Goddess, and Oshtur the Bird Goddess of the Sky (who departed Earth to explore the cosmos and other dimensions) degenerated into demons when they realized they could increase their personal power by consuming their brethren. Set the Serpent God was the first of the Elder Gods to degenerate into a demonic being and commit murder. Gaea "mated" with the Demiurge to produce Atum/Demogorge the God-Eater, who killed or drove off all of the others (As revealed in Thor Annual #10). Many of these Elder Gods have been heavily influenced by the works of Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft. For instance, the version of Set that has appeared in Marvel was created by Howard as part of the Hyborian Age featuring Conan the Barbarian. Marvel acquired the rights to Howard's work in the early 1970s and used the Hyborian Age to further expand Earth's history, setting it in prehistoric times. Many of the Elder Gods were monstrous in size and appearance, often appearing in guises horrifying to humans. For instance, Set was depicted as a massive, multi-headed demonic serpent, though he could alter his form to whatever he chose.

The second kind of gods are human-like beings from other dimensions who are immortal and super-strong, and usually have individual magical powers as well, but are not usually as powerful as the Elder Gods. Some of the Skyfathers of the various groups, such as Odin and Zeus, have demonstrated power on the level of the Elder Gods. They are divided into separate pantheons and are or were worshiped on Earth for thousands of years, though the cosmic entities called The Celestials forced them to limit their contact with humanity 1000 years ago. As a result, most modern humans do not believe in their existence anymore. Most are based on actual myths but some are original characters. Their origin is not clear, though Gaea has claimed to have been the Mother Goddess of each pantheon, under a different identity for each; however, some of the Skyfathers also seem to have simply "emerged" somehow from primordial chaos or nothingness into their own divine realms, only encountering Gaea later in the Earth realm and siring more gods with her, as in the case of the pantheons of the Kami, and the Yazatas.

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