Galactus and Dormammu are among the most powerful Marvel supervillains (or cosmic entities) in existence. It’s hard even to fathom which one is the bigger threat, so the best thing we can do is compare their comic book histories to see who would win in a fight and why?
Galactus proved to be more powerful than Dormammu and would probably win in every fight they find themselves in. In Doctor Strange #15, Galactus and Dormammu fought in the Dark Dimension, and Galactus still wins, consuming Dormammu and his chaos magic.
However, we know that Galactus has constant hunger, and he drains energy constantly, no matter what he does. Also, we can’t write Dormammu off so easily, as we haven’t even seen his full powers unleashed. The fight would depend on what state both characters are in and where the battle takes place. Let’s dive deeper into their abilities and powers to determine the winner.
Galactus and His Powers
Galactus is a cosmic entity that existed long before this plain of reality and this universe came to be. He was once a human from another earlier universe, but he became a being of incredible cosmic power as it was destroyed. He first appeared in the Fantastic Four #48 in 1966.
When Galan (his human name before becoming Galactus) merged with the Sentience of the Universe before the Big Bang ever happened, he became an entity so powerful that it needed to consume entire planets to sustain its energy and existence. That’s why he’s also known as the Devourer of Worlds.
His hunger is never-ending, and the more he eats, the more powerful he gets. It has been said that, when in full power, Galactus is on the level of Eternity, a being so powerful it holds responsibility for all existence. So yeah, it’s safe to say that Galactus is incredibly mighty.
However, the problem is that he has to feed all the time. He’s always hungry, and anything he does consumes incredible amounts of cosmic energy, meaning his powers diminish as soon as he’s not feeding. But, even when he’s hungry, Galactus’ powers dwarf almost any other enemy he had ever faced. Let’s see what his powers really are.
Power Cosmic
Power Cosmic is a singular term to describe all the powers Galactus possesses. Using cosmic energy he gains from devouring planets, Galactus can alter his body shape and size, create energy forcefield, blasts, and beams, use telepathy and telekinesis, as well as teleportation.
However, he doesn’t always use his powers to be a villain. He’s also capable of creating life, fighting evil, and restoring balance to the universe. To show just how powerful he is, all you need to do is to look at his heralds.
Galactus’ heralds are beings like the Silver Surfer, an emissary of Galactus that had been imbued with only a fraction of his master’s powers but still becoming one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel universe. If his heralds are that powerful, having only a tiny fraction of his powers, imagine what a full-powered Galactus could do.
Superhuman Strength & Intelligence
Galactus’ physical strength virtually has no boundaries. I mean, he devours entire planets for breakfast. However, an even bigger attribute in his arsenal is his cosmic intelligence. His levels of intellect are not just superhuman; they are almost unfathomable to the human race.
On a side note, it’s important to note that he doesn’t literally bite into planets to eat them – he transmutes them into energy, which he then absorbs. That’s the same thing he had done when battling Dormammu in the Dark Dimension, but we’ll get to that later.
Immortality and Resurrection
Although Galactus has such a vast amount of power, he had been defeated on several occasions before. Still, even in death, he found the strength to resurrect himself and continue searching for new worlds to devour and feed his hunger.
He provides a balance between Death and Eternity, which ultimately means he is an integral part of the cosmos that simply cannot die.
Dormammu and His Powers
Dormammu’s first appearance was in Strange Tales #126 in 1964. The incredibly strong cosmic entity is Doctor Strange’s arch-nemesis. But, even though Doctor Strange is known to be the Sorcerer Supreme and one of the strongest Marvel characters in existence, he is no match to Dormammu in terms of raw power.
He had to resort to trickery to try and fend off Dormammu’s attacks, but even when he succeeded, The Dread One returned and defeated him time and time again. So, who, or what, is Dormammu, and what makes him one of the most dangerous Marvel supervillains ever?
Dark Dimension
As I mentioned earlier, Dormammu is a being that lives and operates in his Dimension; another universe called the Dark Dimension. It’s where he harnesses all his powers from, and he plans to take over the entire existence and succumb to everything in his Dimension.
The Dark Dimension isn’t a planet, but a plain of existence filled with planets, stars, and galaxies Dormammu had already conquered and encapsulated in the Dark Dimension. The further he is from the Dark Dimension, the lower his powers are, so he usually opts not to leave but to open wormholes and portals connecting his dimension to others.
From the powers he harnesses from his Dark Dimension, Dormammu has extreme superhuman strength, interdimensional teleportation, limitless astral projection, elemental control, dark energy projection and absorption, and much more.
Immortality
Seeing that Dormammu’s an interdimensional being, he is almost incapable of dying, as he manifests from energy, not a physical body. Even if he and his race get hurt, their regenerative abilities allow them to heal even from the most severe injuries. Apart from himself not being able to die, some of his powers allow him to resurrect others, too.
For instance, Parker Robbins used Dormammu’s powers to resurrect the licks of Cheetah, Black Abbot, Human Fly, and others to help him defeat the Punisher.
Flames of the Faltine
Dormammu’s entire being is made of pure energy, meaning his magic is way beyond the Sorcerer Supreme, or any other sorcerer, for that matter. With his raw power and abilities to absorb, control, and manifest magical forces, he simply cannot be destroyed but only tricked to stay within his Dark Dimension.
In other words, his magical powers are so high that he is virtually indestructible and can do anything he pleases with his magic. His only weakness is that he grows weaker if he leaves his realm, the Dark Dimension.
Galactus Vs. Dormammu: Who Would Win and Why?
In the end, we’re trying to compare to cosmic entities that have almost unlimited powers to see who would win and why.
Arguments can be made for both, especially because we haven’t even seen their full powers – Galactus is said to be at Eternity level when fully fed. At the same time, Dormammu was never allowed to display his full power.
It’s safe to assume that both can destroy the entire universe if in full power, so the only thing we can do to determine who would win is to see how their encounters ended in the comic books – and there, Galactus won by a landslide.
In Doctor Strange #15, Galactus ended up in the Dark Dimension, where Dormammu tried tricking him by letting him absorb chaos energy to become more powerful, and later planning on using him as a weapon to rule over the entire existence.
Galactus had his Power Cosmic powers already, and absorbing a different kind of energy from his own gave him even more magical powers. When Galactus realizes that Dormammu tried tricking him and using him as a weapon, he consumes Dormammu himself, showing that he is more powerful even in Dormammu’s Dark Dimension.
That makes it clear that Galactus is way more powerful than Dormammu. Both of them harness their powers from their respective dimensions and universes, and even though they collided on Dormammu’s turf, Galactus defeated him with relative ease.
As with almost every other collision of such incredibly powerful beings, it would all depend on the situation – energy levels of both characters, the place where the battle takes place, etc., but if we consider only the examples we have, Galactus wins.
