Marvel Database
Register
Advertisement

Ajak is a member of the Eternals, a genetically superior offshoot race of humanity who possess abilities such as levitation and immortality. She lived much of her life away from most of the rest of the Eternals, choosing instead to live with a select few of her species in the city of Polaria. Ajak dedicated much of her life to learning how to communicate with the epic beings who created her species, the Celestials, in their native tongue.

History

Origin[]

Ajak is one of the 100 Eternals who were created on Earth by the First Host of the alien Celestials one million years ago, and has looked after humanity ever since.[7][8] Her parents were Rakar and Amaa,[9] and she had a brother named Arex.[10]

Early Life[]

One million years ago, while the First Host was still on Earth, Ajak was sent by Arishem to investigate the Stone Age Avengers who had recently been pummeled by the Celestials. Although her intent had been to provoke them into attacking her, these Avengers attacked as soon as she mentioned that the Celestials had created her. In the fierce battle that followed, Ajak gathered a great deal of data before the molecules of her body were disassembled under their combined assault. After the Machine resurrected her in the Exclusion, Ajak told the force of Eternal warriors who were waiting for her assessment that these Avengers, although deeply inefficient, did not necessarily interfere with the Principles that guided the Eternals. Stating that they could be viewed as a supplementary, secondary system for the protection of the Machine, she told the Eternals that they should stand down because there was no need to annihilate the Avengers.[11]

600,000 years ago, Ajak probably participated in the Uranos War, presumably fighting against the Uranites and their genocidal plans, but her specific activities during that war have not been revealed.[12]

500,000 years ago,[13] when Kronos attempted to master time, he succeeded but in doing so caused a disruption that destroyed Titanos and threatened the planet. The initial explosion killed Ajak and all other Eternals then on the planet (except for Uranos), and they all were resurrected and killed several more times before they managed to stabilize the situation, leaving the ruined city superimposed between three seconds from now and two seconds ago.[8]

At some point, Ajak became a resident in the Eternal city of Polaria,[9] located in the area now known as Siberia in Russia,[14] thus becoming one of the Polar Eternals.

200,000 years ago,[13] Ajak is presumed to have taken part in the war between the followers of Zuras and the followers of A'Lars which led to the Titan Schism of the second age, one of the most emotionally intense periods of inter-Eternal warfare.[15] After an accord was reached that ended the war, Ajak (in male form) was among the majority of Eternals who had their memories of the conflict removed.[13] He may be one of the many Eternals who were almost completely mindwiped and thus no longer even remember which side they were on.[15]

Throughout History[]

Ajak (Earth-616) from Eternals Vol 1 2 0001

In the 13th century BC, he fought in the Trojan War, and was mistaken for Ajax.[2]

About 2,500 years ago, Ajak fought Warlord Kro's Deviant forces in Babylon.[16] He also had a strong presence in Central America, where the Aztecs believed him to be Quetzalcoatl and the Incas worshiped him as Tecumotzin, Lord of Flight.[6]

At some point, Ajak told some Deviants that their race had been created by the Celestials to be food. Ajak claimed that the Second Host had come to Earth to feast on the Deviants and that the souls of the Changing People were a delicacy for the Celestials. Over time, this story intermingled with the belief that the Dreaming Celestial had been cast down and imprisoned by his comrades because he had sought to prevent them from continuing to devour Deviants. It's unclear how many Deviants ever actually believed what Ajak had said but even in the Modern Age there were still some Deviants (like Morjak) who did believe that that was why the Celestials had created them.[4]

About 1,000 years ago, Ajak first met the Norse god Thor, and fought alongside him against Dromedan. When the Third Host of the Celestials arrived in Peru, Ajak was present and acted as a liaison between them and Earth. With Zuras, he arranged the flight plan the Celestials used to leave Earth. Then he put himself into storage as atoms within the City of the Space Gods, to await their eventual return.[17]

Modern Day[]

Under Zuras' order, Ikaris awoke Ajak when the Fourth Host of the Celestials arrived.[6] Ajak befriended human archaeologist Dr. Daniel Damian, and let him live in the City of the Space Gods. Ajak was sealed with Doctor Damian behind the force barrier surrounding the site of the Fourth Host's arrival.[18] Ajak was attacked by agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., who he then converted to stored atoms.[19] He was also known for battling an Incan wrestler.

Ajak had another encounter with Thor at the Fourth Host site in Peru. This time Ajak opposed him, but Thor won their battle.[20] Ultimately, Ajak found himself battling Zeus, who saw the Eternals as the Celestials' pawns. He was also among the Eternals captured by Brother Tode, and was later set free by Iron Man.[21]

Ajak joined the space-faring Eternals Uni-Mind,[22] but eventually returned to Earth. A maddened Dr. Damian transformed Ajak into a monster through the use of Celestial technology, and sent him to kill Thena and Kro's twin children, Donald & Deborah Ritter. Not knowing where they were, the monstrous Ajak killed two other sets of twins along the way. After the Eternals restored him to his true form, he was so grief-stricken with his deeds that he disintegrated himself along with Dr. Damian.[16]

Dreaming Celestial[]

Eternals Vol 3 5 Romita Jr

Ajak was revived in the resurrection chambers of Olympia by Sprite who manipulated him and Zuras into helping Sprite access the power of the Dreaming Celestial, trapping the Eternals in human forms. Ajak and the other Eternals slowly overcame Sprite's spell, but the Dreaming Celestial chose Makkari to communicate with, much to Ajak's chagrin.[23]

Ajak grew to hate Makkari. His chosen role in life was as "Speaker to Celestials", and to be passed over like this was humiliating to Ajak. He also saw communication with the Dreaming Celestial as blasphemous, since the other Celestials had banished the dreamer from their midst. Ajak went so far as to brainwash the newly recovered Eternal Gilgamesh, using him as a pawn to murder Makkari (at least temporarily).[24]

Secret Invasion[]

Becoming a gardener in San Francisco, Ajak sought to learn more of the Celestials and best Makkari. This led him to join Hercules in battling the Skrull Gods.[1] In that struggle, Kly'bn, an Eternal Skrull worshipped as a god, killed Ajak.[25]

Dark Celestials[]

Ajak (Earth-616) from Eternals Celestia Vol 1 1 cover

Ajak was later revived and returned to Earth to live with his fellow Eternals in Olympia. When the countless bodies of Celestials rained down on the Earth to herald the arrival of the Dark Celestials, the Eternals learned a dark truth that drove them mad: that the true purpose of their kind was to cultivate humankind, since the First Host of Celestials allowed humanity to thrive because they saw in their genetic makeup the potential to act as antibodies against the Horde. In their madness, the Eternals either killed each other or committed suicide, including Ajak.[26]

During his most recent resurrection,[8] Ajak changed sexes into a woman and began spending most of her time in Celestia, grieving because her gods had abandoned her race.[11]

Judgment Day[]

Ajak (Earth-616) from A.X.E

Ajak Celestia

When Druig lead the Eternals to war with Krakoa, Ajak and Makkari set in motion a plan to create a new Celestial, a new god, resurrecting the Progenitor.[27] Alongside Iron Man and Mister Sinister, they succeeded. However, the Progenitor decided to judge humanity, giving it 24 hours to justify its existence. Despite the best efforts of the people of Earth, they failed their judgment.[28] Realizing that her new god was another failure, Ajak supported efforts to subvert it. Eventually, they were able to convince the Progenitor that it was a failure. In response, it sacrificed itself to undo the damage it had done, and gifted its power to Ajak herself. Following her apotheosis, she took the name Ajak Celestia. In her new role, she stands in constant judgment of the Earth.[29]

Attributes

Power Grid[32]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Experienced Fighter:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Multiple Types:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Virtually Indestructible:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Warp:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Speed of Sound:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (800 lbs-25 ton):Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Learned

Powers

Earth-Eternal Physiology: Ajak possesses all the conventional abilities of an Eternal.[30]

  • Near-Immortality: Ajak possesses total conscious control over their molecular structures, which are reinforced by cosmic energy. As a result, they are virtually immortal and indestructible, they are virtually invulnerable to any force weaker than their own cosmic energies or total molecular disintegration.[30]
  • Superhuman Strength: Ajak is superhumanly strong and can lift 25 tons.[2]
  • Superhuman Durability: Ajak's Eternal body is highly resistant to injury due to her psionic control over her body's molecules. She is mostly invulnerable to conventional weaponry and can only be killed by dispersing her body's molecules over a wide area.[30]
  • Superhuman Stamina: Ajak does not tire from physical exertion due to her highly advanced metabolic processes.[citation needed]
  • Molecular Manipulation: Ajak can also mentally manipulate molecules, an ability shared by a number of Eternals. As a third-level adept on a five-level scale, Ajak can rearrange the molecules of a mass of up to 990 pounds (450 kg), the period of manipulation lasting up to a minute. She must have approximately an hour of recovery time before using this ability again.[30]
  • Flight: She is able to fly at approximately the speed of sound.[30]
  • Cosmic Energy Manipulation: Ajak is able to project blasts of cosmic energy from her hands or eyes, in the form of light, heat, or concussive force.[30]
  • Teleportation: Ajak has the ability to teleport.[30]

Abilities

  • Wrestling: Excellent hand-to-hand combatant, highly adept at wrestling.[30]

Paraphernalia

Transportation

Self powered flight

Notes

Ajak (Earth-616) from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Vol 1 1 0001

Ajak's former appearance

  • For most of Ajak's publishing history, Ajak was male. Shortly prior to the release of the Eternals movie, it was revealed that it is common for Eternals to change their appearances (and/or gender) upon their rebirth every 20 or 25,000 years or so.[8] This was used to change Ajak's gender to match that of Ajak's Marvel Cinematic Universe counterpart.
  • So far, Ajak has been shown to have switched genders twice, having been created as a female one million years ago, having been reborn as a male sometime before (or during) the accord that ended the Titan War, and having most recently resurrected as a female again. Their gender during the Uranos and Kronos Schisms has not been revealed.
  • Ajak's entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #1 is the only one that states that Polaria was located in the northern Ural Mountains of the U.S.S.R.. Every other OHotMU entry that mentions the city states that it's in Siberia instead.

Trivia

  • When Ajak speaks the Celestial language, to non-speakers, she sounds like a choir of angels; to the Celestials, she sounds like a yokel with a mouth full of straw. Nevertheless, she is still the best speaker among the Eternals.[31]

See Also

Links and References

References

Advertisement