15 Strongest Celestials in the Marvel Universe (RANKED)
The Celestials are a race of unusually large humanoid cosmic entities that appear in the Marvel Universe. They were created by Jack Kirby and debuted in Eternals #2 in 1976 and have been an integral part of the Marvel mythos since then. The Celestials are among the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe.
Here is a list of the strongest and most powerful Celestials, as they have appeared in the comics. They are going to be ranked from 15th to 1st. You’re going to find out a bit about these characters and why we have ordered them as we have.
Most Powerful Celestials in the Marvel Universe
15. Godstalker
Debut: Blackwulf #6 (November 1994)
The Godstalker is an entity empowered by the Celestials to enforce their laws around the universe. Thousands of years ago, the Celestials banished the Deviant conqueror, Lord Tantalus, to planet Earth. When Tantalus finally repaired his ship’s stardrive and returned to Armechadon, the Godstalker was sent to enforce Celestial Rule.
However, the Godstalker worked with outdated information and believed Tantalus was unable to bear children. When he arrived on Earth, Godstalker discovered Tantalus ‘unique genetic energy signature, the Black Legacy, in Tantalus’ son, Lucian.
The Godstalker refused to believe that Lucian claimed to be the descendant of Tantalus, believing that Lucian was just Tantalus in disguise.
He was then assigned to the Desecration Annex. When the Eternal Druig attempted to steal a Celestial weapon for use against his creators, he was atomized in the effort. This injury was not fatal (at least for ages), but its essence was collected and imprisoned by the Godstalker in the Desecration Annex for his crime.
14. Valknar the Exhumer
Debut: Avengers (vol. 8) #1 (May 2018)
Valknar the Exhumer was a member of the Final Host of the Dark Celestials, a race of mutant and enraged Celestials infected by the evil Horde. After Loki freed Zgreb the Sorrower, he summoned the rest of his people and facilitated their arrival on Earth to clean up the Planet.
Prior to their arrival on Earth, the Ultimate Host infected and killed all of the existing Celestials, and their bodies were dumped on Earth to announce their arrival.
The arrival of the Dark Celestials also resulted in the appearance of Horde insects, who had been sleeping deep beneath the Earth’s surface. Some heroes of the planet tried in vain to repel the invaders. Captain America used Alpha Flight’s Omega-level Warp Grenades to teleport the Dark Celestials to the Sun in order to destroy them, but it failed.
They returned to Earth and traveled to the North Pole, where Loki showed Captain America the corpse of the Ancestor, one of the Horde-infected celestials who fell to Earth four billion years ago. Meanwhile, the Dark Celestials began to bring about the end of the Earth, boiling the ocean and setting the air on fire. The Ghost Rider has hunted down the Dark Celestials.
He saved Captain America and kidnapped Loki, causing the Dark Celestials to pursue them. All the heroes gathered in Sweden shortly after. Black Panther and Captain Marvel charged with the same energy as the Horde, which allowed them to fight off the bugs.
She-Hulk and Thor gathered the power present in Ymir’s blood that they had recovered from Asgard earlier on. Ghost Rider used his powers to capture the armor of a dead Celestial. Eventually, Iron Man settled on the Godkiller Armor MK II.
Despite their combined strength, the Avengers failed to defeat the Dark Celestials, and in the midst of battle, the Horde revived the corpses of the Celestials they had infected and slaughtered before.
After Iron Man learned of the connection between the death of the Progenitor, the Horde, and the genetic makeup of mankind, Iron Man gathered the Avengers to unite their energies to form a Uni-Mind, having learned from Ikaris the secrets of the entity while investigating the arrival of the Dark Celestials.
With the Ghost Rider as a channel for the Uni-Mind, the Avengers put the horde to sleep and revived the zombified Celestials. The Avengers and Celestials joined forces and defeated the Dark Celestials. Subsequently, the Dark Celestials were restrained by the Celestials and teleported away from Earth.
13. Obliteron
Debut: Avengers (vol. 8) #1 (May 2018)
Obliteron was a member of the Final Host of the Dark Celestials, just like the abovementioned Valknar the Exhumer.
The only appearance of Obliteron in comics was in the Avengers (vol. 8) storyline. Therefore, the complete story (and everything we know about) of Obliteron, as the member of the Final Host of the Dark Celestials was explained above (under the Valknar the Exhumerbio section).
12. Gamiel the Manipulator
Debut: Marvel Monsters: Devil Dinosaur #1 (December 2005)
A Celestial youth who, like Devron, was supposed to guard the Earth. He was disgusted that Devron’s Little Folk had rejected his creations, the Killer Folk, so he brought the Hulk back from the future and sent him to the Little Folk and their champion: Devil Dinosaur.
Eventually, he and Devron got in trouble and were transferred to Hala, where they inadvertently put the Kree and Skrull races in a four-million-year war against each other.
11. Callus the Void
Debut: Avengers (vol. 8) #1 (May 2018)
Callus the Void was a member of the Final Host of the Dark Celestials, just like the abovementioned Valknar the Exhumer and Obliteron.
The only appearance of Callus the Void in comics was in the Avengers (vol. 8) storyline. Therefore, the complete story (and everything we know about) of Callus the Void, as the member of the Final Host of the Dark Celestials was explained above (under the Valknar the Exhumerbio section).
10. The Progenitor
Debut: Avengers (vol. 8) #3 (June 2018)
According to Loki, the Progenitor was a Celestial Alpha who came to Earth four billion years ago after being infected by the Horde to die a sad and painful death. The diseased bodily fluids from the Celestial seeped into the Earth and seeped through the primitive surface of the planet, whereby the evolutionary path of the Earth was forever changed.
Loki further claimed that this process was the original cause of the superhuman anomalies of many people on Earth. The Progenitor’s corpse lay motionless in the Arctic Circle, and its resting place became the bottom of the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole.
After facilitating the arrival of the final host of the Dark Celestials with the goal of cleaning up the land, Loki captured Captain America and took him to the Progenitor’s resting place and told him his story.
After the Final Host was defeated by the reformed Avengers, the Resurrected First Celestial Host lifted the Progenitor out of his aquatic tomb and offered him to the Avengers as a gift to serve as their new headquarters and a reminder of he wonders of life on Earth.
The corpse was restored by the best architects and technicians of Alpha Flight of Wakanda and transformed into Avengers Mountain.
9. Celestial Madonna
Debut: S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (April 2010)
The Celestial Madonna appeared in AD 114 in Zhang Heng’s palace in Luoyang. Zhang went to her and flattered her. She revealed to him the existence of the Celestial Egg that exists on Earth and also revealed that she was carrying a child, something “new/unique/forbidden”. This birth would certainly destroy her, but she needed food.
As she hesitated between using the Earth, which causes rapid extinction, or the Moon, which would have catastrophic consequences for the Earth, Zhang Heng suggested an alternative: the Sun. She bathed in the star and was destroyed when her descendants were found by Leonardo da Vinci in 1956.
8. Zgreb, The Fallen
Debut: Marvel Legacy #1 (September, 2017)
Zgreb the Aspirant was a Celestial being who came to Earth a million years ago in search of his Celestial companion, the Progenitor. When he found the Progenitor, the Fallen was attacked by the same Horde that affected his companion, causing him to become deranged.
He was eventually defeated by the Stone Age Avengers and buried deep in what is now South Africa, captivated by powerful spells.
In modern times, a team of archaeologists discovered the underground cave where Zgreb had been sealed, resulting in their death at the hand of the Celestial. Later, Loki, the Asgardian god of evil, freed Zgreb from his prison and used him to bring in the final host of the Dark Celestials for a threat of their magnitude to unite the modern Avengers.
The rest of the story (and everything we know about) of Zgreb, as it follows the Avengers (Vol. 8) storyline, was explained above (under the Valknar the Exhumerbio section).
7. Arishem the Judge
Debut: Eternals #2 (August 1976)
Arishem The Judge first came to Earth with several other Celestials to begin the creation of the Seventh Cosmos, and in the process came into conflict with the primordial god of darkness Knüll, who ruled the Void created by the destruction of the Sixth Cosmos.
When Knull killed one of Arishem’s comrades, the Celestials retaliated by banishing Knull to the Void, though he eventually returned to lead a war against them.
Arishem is the leader of the Four Celestial Hosts on Earth as well as the Fourth Host on the planet Pangoria and a Fifth Host on an unnamed planet in a distant galaxy.
Arishem was responsible for eradicating the Deviant race when the Second Host visited Earth and caused the Great Disaster that flooded the world. He is also the head of the Celestial delegation that waged war on the Watchers in an unknown galaxy.
He was one of the two Celestials who had the right and the ability to judge which civilization would live on a planet and which would die. He met X-Factor during the War of Judgment. Cyclops managed to blast Arishem’s hand with the help of Jean Gray during the War of Judgment. Cyclops briefly meets him with the X-Men and tells him and the rest of the Celestials to leave.
Before the last host of enraged Dark Celestials attacked Earth to cleanse the planet, they attacked and killed all existing Celestials, including Arishem. Infected by the Horde, Arishem’s body was thrown to Earth to announce the arrival of the Dark Celestials and landed in London.
During the Avengers’ final battle against the Dark Celestials, the Horde resurrected the bodies of the Fallen Celestials. In order to defeat the Horde, the Avengers combined their energies into a Uni-Mind which uses their power to put the Horde into a state of rest. The Celestials came back to life and helped the Avengers defeat the Dark Celestials
6. Godhead
Debut: Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex Alpha #1 (February 2015)
The Godhead was a Celestial deity who quietly watched over the planet Viscardi more than twelve billion years ago. The appearance of an alien being in Viscardi motivated its inhabitants to explore the universe, although all their attempts to leave their planet with spaceships have failed.
After a ninth unsuccessful attempt, Viscardi Gara confronted the silent Celestial and tried to explain to him how much the ambition of their species was felt and that they just wanted to be closer to him and get to know the cosmos.
The deity confirmed Gara’s speech and raised a hand to create the Black Vortex in front of her. A year after this event, all of the Viscardi had succumbed to the power of the Black Vortex and fought until Gara was the sole survivor of their kind.
After Gara killed the last remaining Viscardi, Gara again confronted the Godhead and asked if the annihilation of their species was what he was looking for. The deity simply left the planet without answering the question.
5. Eson the Searcher
Debut: Eternals #9 (March 1977)
Eson was the seeker and searcher among the cosmic beings known as the Celestials. Eson was one of the First and Fourth Celestial Hosts to visit the Earth. As part of his time on Earth, Eson watched Miami, Florida, and the legendary underwater island of Lemuria.
Eson and the Celestials were attacked by the Deviants, and Eson absorbed all the energy of Lemuria. He then destroyed Lemuria in retaliation for the Lemurian attack while probing it with his hand. The Lemurians fled or drowned.
When En Sabah Nur built his large sphinx-shaped ship out of supernatural materials using ancient hieroglyphics, in part because the ship was also building itself, Eson began to speak to him like a voice in his head.
Through telepathy and Nur Apocalypse’s call, Eson suggested that Nur use the ship’s technology to gain great power and shape the fate of the world. Or go ahead and remember nothing.
Nur guessed and Eson explained that one day, perhaps centuries or millennia, the Celestials will return to pay for these gifts. Along with the other nine members of the Fourth Host in Peru, Eson participated in the defense against the attack of the Destroyer, the Uni-Mind, and Thor. The Celestials then found the Earth worthy and departed.
Eson was one of the Celestials who was resurrected by the Queen of Nevers as the Fifth Host to thwart an attempt by the First Firmament to take control of the Multiverse. Upon the arrival of the Final Host, a critically injured Eson fell to earth as other Celestials rained down from the sky.
After Captain Marvel prevented his body from ending up in the middle of Manhattan, Eson teleported She-Hulk to Robbie Reyes’ location and tried to help the Avengers fight the final host, but was ultimately killed.
During the Avengers’ final battle against the Dark Celestials, the Horde resurrected the bodies of the Fallen Celestials. In order to defeat the Horde, the Avengers combined their energies into a Uni-Mind which uses their power to put the Horde into a state of rest. The Celestials came back to life and helped the Avengers defeat the Dark Celestials.
4. Exitar the Executioner
Debut: Thor #387 (October 1988)
Exitar seems to be some sort of title, office, or “model” among the Celestials, for Uatu said that if one Exitar died, another would eventually take its place. Exitar’s purpose was to destroy life on worlds that failed Celestial tests.
During a conflict with the Watchers, Exitar killed The One, the Guardian who gathered all of his companion’s information and was accused of causing the universe to end.
In retaliation, Exitar was “murdered” by Sue Storm after she managed to destroy his brain. Uatu said that at some point a new Exitar will take its place.
After a Celestial Gardener dies at the hands of the Apocalypse twins, Exitar has arrived on Earth to destroy them, but before he can do so, Sentry and Snape hold him and X-Men back long enough for Thor to kill him with Jarnbjorn after realizing Exitar wouldn’t even listen to him.
After his death, Exitar’s cosmic energy is absorbed first by Kang to conquer Earth, and then by Sunfire and Havok to stop Kang.
3. Tiamut, The Dreaming Celestial
Debut: Eternals #18 (December 1977)
The Dreaming Celestial was one of the Celestials who was once known as Tiamut the Communicator, with the function of informing the Fulcrum of the results of the Celestials in planetary investigations and sending a signal to the Horde to collect all of the life force of the planet which is transferred to the Fulcrum when completed.
During the Second Celestial Host, the Deviants were the dominant force on Earth, and the Dreaming Celestial was ready to summon the horde to harvest the whole planet.
Arishem, however, canceled this order and extirpated many dissidents without affecting the other species. As this was a violation of their protocol, the Dreaming Celestial deemed Arishem to be faulty and attempted to take command by attacking Arishem.
The Dreaming Celestial was then attacked by the other Celestials who had also been part of the plan to kill the Deviants in order to gain the favor of the Fulcrum, and he was imprisoned under the mountains.
However, why they did this is not really clear yet, and it should be mentioned that this account of events was given by the Dreaming Celestial himself and has not yet been refuted or verified.
The other Celestials tore his spirit from his body and put him in a device known as “The Vial,” with a fraction of the Dreaming Celestial’s soul that was used to create a key that could unlock the flask. The Celestials then sealed the body of the Dreaming Celestial in a safe under the Diablo Mountains in California. The Celestial has slept for millennia.
In 1906, the bedroom of the Dreaming Celestial was damaged in the San Francisco earthquake. The Eternals came and formed Uni-Mind to solve the problem. During Mahd Wy’ry, Sprite realized that he could use the powers of the Celestials to transform his eternal life and finally allow him to grow.
Finally, the dissident priest-prince Ghaur remade the key and drank the essence of the heavenly dream, by which the priest-prince received the height and power of a heavenly being.
Soon after, the Dreaming Celestial took advantage and mentally controlled Ghaur to free the dreamer from his endless slumber. This plan was foiled by the Avengers and the Eternals and the vial was resealed
2. Ego, The Living Planet
Debut: The Mighty Thor #133 (October 1966)
The exact origins of Ego remain, to this day, open to question. The Living Planet is indeed one of the strangest creatures in the known universe. Two contradictory sources describe his birth, without it being possible for the moment to determine which is true.
In the first hypothesis, when the universe began to organize itself at its beginning, and the planets formed from gas, dust, and atoms within the accretion disk of their respective stars, a planet formed. It developed differently from others, gradually evolving over millions of years to acquire a consciousness and intelligence of its own. This planet later became known as Ego, the Living Planet.
The entire sector of space in which she was born has been referred to as a “biover” (or bio-universe), consisting of a place steeped in a multitude of ambient life forms. Ego, however, appears to be the only known conscious creature to have existed in this biover, although there is some evidence that other living worlds may have arisen in this location.
In the second hypothesis, the mysterious cosmic entity called the Stranger claims a role in the birth of Ego. When the Stranger went to his native star, in order to carry out experiments which were to lead to transforming it into a nova, thus destroying the twin planets in orbit around this star, a scientist named Egros began to look for a way to save his race, which dwelt in this solar system, of this programmed destruction.
Shortly before the destruction of his planet, Egros sent his people to fortified shelters he had built in the heart of the planet to protect them, but his plan failed when the star turned into a nova sooner than he could. had foreseen it.
With no more time to seal the chambers and ensure the survival of his people, Egros vainly attempted to reach the underground vault before the solar wave reached him.
However, Egros did not perish and was quickly merged with all living beings on his planet (including his own) by the Stranger, in order to create Ego, the Living Planet. The Stranger also created a second living planet, “Alter-Ego”, under unknown circumstances before giving it to the Collector (Taneleer Tivan). The Stranger expected one day in the future to pit his two creations against each other, in order to see which one would be stronger.
The creation of Ego would also have been accompanied by that of “It”, called the egoistic Moon. Either way, Ego is born in the Dark Galaxy. Like all planets, it is formed from gas and cosmic dust. However, for unknown reasons, the planet is evolving and accessing consciousness. To survive, Ego absorbs passing nearby spaceships and small planets.
He then plans an interstellar conquest. His behavior attracts the attention of the Rigellians, who perceive him as a threat. The Rigellians also discover Earth and make a non-invasion pact with the god Thor if he helps them defeat the planet.
Winner of the fight, Thor forces Ego not to leave the Black Galaxy and to give up his desire for conquest; the latter, humiliated by his defeat, accepts.
1. One Above All
Debut: Eternals #7 (January 1977)
The leader of the enigmatic group known as the Celestials, The One Above All is rarely encountered. The creature has previously been visited aboard the Heavenly Mothership by two American astronauts, three Deviants, and the Eternal known as the Forgotten One (Gilgamesh).
The being saved the Forgotten One when he was injured while defusing an aberrant atomic bomb, then sent him to Olympia to advise all the Eternals and Gods not to interfere with heavenly judgment.
The One Above All then teleported the God of Thunder Thor and the Forgotten One aboard the mothership and showed Thor a photo of Odin bowing to his fellow Celestial, Arishem. The One Above All then teleported Thor to Earth.
The being then repels the attack of the Eternal being Uni-Mind and observes from the mothership how he and the 610m tall Asgardian destroyer, occupied by Odin, face the combined Fourth Host. When the abstract entities Lord Chaos and Master Order merged into Logos to settle down as the new incarnation of multiversal law, they wiped out the Celestials.
The Queen of Nevers has succeeded in bringing One Above All to safety within the Land of Couldn’t-Be Shouldn’t-Be. In the final battle against the evil First Firmament, who pulled the strings behind Logos, the Queen of Nevers used the One above all to stimulate the rebirth of the Celestials.
