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Quote1 We are Beyond. Dreamers. Destroyers. All of reality our whim. Who dares stand before us? Quote2
Beyonders[src]

The Beyonders are a nigh-omnipotent race that dwell in the "Beyond" outside the Multiverse.[10] Originally from the Second Cosmos, they were the creations and servitors of the Celestials, who named them Omegas in opposition to the Alpha, the First Firmament.[11][2] They are intended to maintain the Multiverse and they do their work from outside of it, while their King in Black counterparts maintain it from within.[7]

In their grand experiment to end the Multiverse, the Seventh Cosmos, they created the Molecule Men as a multiversal bomb.[12] Doctor Doom began killing the Molecule Men to lessen the damage;[8] however, the Molecule Men's deaths triggered the incursions.[12] While the Beyonders decimated all who opposed them, including cosmic entities,[13] Doom built a bomb using the Molecule Men after he had realized killing them was not going to save the Multiverse. Doom used the Molecule Men bomb to slay the Beyonders and steal their power.[8]

Although the Beyonders were successful in destroying the Multiverse, Doctor Doom used their power to salvage its remnants and created Battleworld.[8] Their power was later transferred over to Reed Richards, who used it to recreate the Multiverse as the Eighth Cosmos.[14]

History

Origins[]

Celestials and Beyonders from Defenders Beyond Vol 1 2 001

The Celestials creating the Beyonders

The Beyonders were created by the Celestials' own creation, Cal-Horra,[15][16][17] intended by the Celestials to keep maintenance of the Multiverse, the Second Cosmos, following the Celestial War.[2] They stole Cal-Horra's power, trapped him in a moon outside the Multiverse,[18] and erased him from their history.[19] Nevertheless, they were servitors of the Celestials and were called "Omegas" by them, in opposition to the First Firmament.[11] After the death of the Second Cosmos, the Beyonders watched over the Multiverses that came after in the Second Cosmos' remnants, outside the subsequent Multiverses.[2]

Although normally working behind the scenes, they occasionally intervened to allow the creation of Cosmic Cubes.[20] When the First Firmament sent some of its Aspirants to invade the Seventh Cosmos,[11] the Omegas developed the reality warping Concordance Engines to draw "miracles" to the planet Earth so that the resulting superheroes could defend against the Aspirants. These engines, guarded by Presters,[21] were supposedly the reason for why Earth is the focal point of everything in the cosmos.[9]

Beyonders from Venom Vol 5 18 001

The "Ivory Kings" or the "Kings in White"

The Beyonders were divided into groups. The godlike Omega Council coordinated the race's actions from "Heaven";[22] they also created the Library of Worlds and gifted it to the Multiverse.[4] The Presters lived on Earth to protect the Concordance Engines.[21] Some Beyonders became rogues and joined the Beyond Corporation.[10]

On Earth, the Beyonders commissioned the Nuwali to create the Savage Land and created the Fortisquians to be colonizers.[23] When the High Evolutionary started to collect the extra-dimensional mass he needed to build his Counter-Earth, the Beyonders took notice and hired the alien Sphinxor to observe his progress and make preparations to steal the planet for them once it was completed.[24]

Destruction of the Seventh Cosmos[]

Owen Reece (Earth-Unknown) from New Avengers Vol 3 33 001

The "bomb" to destroy the Multiverse

When the Beyonders foresaw that Enigma, a Dominion, would threaten the Seventh Cosmos, they decided to destroy the Multiverse themselves, hoping that the next Eighth Cosmos would be rid of it.[2][25] As part of their biggest experiment yet, the Beyonders created a singularity across every reality: the Molecule Man. Each Molecule Man would take his universe with him once he died and the Beyonders planned to bear witness to the simultaneous death of everything in the Multiverse. The time-traveling Doctor Doom and Molecule Man of Earth-616 united forces to thwart their plans by killing every Molecule Man in existence before his natural death.[12][8] However, a contraction in the Multiverse's timeline was created when the universe of their first victim died with him, forcing two universes to collide, their respective Earths serving as the point of impact.[26][12] The moment in which that happened became known as an incursion.[26]

Eight years later, Doom began to gather disciples to help in his quest. They were the Black Swans, women from numerous universes who worshiped him as Rabum Alal, the Great Destroyer. Two years after that, the Beyonders realized something was wrong with their experiment and created the Mapmakers and Sidera Maris. Their purpose was to chart worlds where Molecule Men had died, thus marking the movements of the Black Swans, seeding sacrifice worlds, and preserving future incursion worlds.[12]

Time Runs Out and Secret Wars[]

Abstract Entities and Beyonders from New Avengers Vol 3 30 001

Obliterating Eternity, Infinity, Lord Chaos, Master Order, and the In-Betweener

The Beyonders laid a trap for those trying to interfere with the incursions, like the Builders or Captain Britain Corps; however, their real targets were cosmic entities. The Beyonders annihilated the Celestials, Eternity, Infinity, Lord Chaos, Master Order, the In-Betweener, and even the Living Tribunal throughout all realities.[27]

Beyonders and Victor von Doom (Earth-616) from Secret Wars Vol 1 5 001

Doom luring out the Beyonders

Not long after killing the Multiversal Avengers,[1] the Beyonders were lured out of their dimension by Doctor Doom and were destroyed by his bomb made from kidnapped Molecule Men. Doom had the Molecule Man absorb their power and used it to create Battleworld out of the Multiverse's remnants.[12][8] After eight years, the Molecule Man transferred the power of the Beyonders to Reed Richards, who first restored the Prime Earth, and then the rest of the Multiverse.[14]

Not all of the Beyonders were killed. The race survived outside of the Multiverse, and seeing how the Multiverse was restored to how it was before, they concluded their experiment to be a failure.[2]

The Lost One[]

Cal-Horra, an ancient being created by the Celestials whose power the Beyonders had stolen, escaped from his prison outside the Multiverse that the Beyonders had trapped him in. He immediately launched a vengeful campaign against the Beyonders.[18] In an effort to save himself and his people, the Beyonder attacked four other Beyonders and turned them into crystals to power a shield that would trap the Lost One on Earth, after luring him there.[28] Although the other Beyonders were grateful, they were also displeased that he attacked his fellow Beyonders to do this and banished him to Earth without his powers.[19] Anticipating that the other Beyonders would erase his memory of how to disable the shield, the Beyonder had extracted it beforehand and used it to make a deal with the Lost One. The shield was disabled, the four Beyonders powering it were absorbed by the Lost One, and he left to continue his hunt.[29]

Defenders: Beyond[]

Concordance Engine from Defenders Beyond Vol 1 2 001

With a Concordance Engine

The Defenders, in their journey through the "Mystery" beyond the Far Shore, first entered the Beyond.[30] The Beyonder greeted them and revealed the origin of the Beyonders. The other Beyonders explained that they believed the destruction of the Seventh Cosmos was a "necessary experiment" to prevent the Enigma, but they have since changed tactics to contain the threat to a few realities. After a brief battle, the Defenders journeyed beyond the Beyond and into the White Hot Room.[2]


Appearance[]

Beyonders are non-corporeal energy beings.[31] According to the Beyonder, they are infinite beings that cannot be perceived by finite minds, but they can "clothe" themselves in matter to take on various forms.[2] In general, they resemble humans, grey aliens, or mechanical beings, but none of these are their true forms and they can shapeshift at will.[1] Beyonders sometimes place Omega symbols (Ω) on their bodies or clothes.[32][2]

"Human"-like
"Alien"-like
"Machine"-like
Possession
Notes

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Living Tribunal (Multiverse) from New Avengers Vol 3 30 001

Three Beyonders slaying the Living Tribunal

Nigh-Omnipotence: The Beyonders wield omnipotence on their fingertips, a power great enough to build entire universes and give form to random ideas.[8] Although this power does not belong to them but belongs to their purported creator, Cal-Horra.[19] While in physical vessels, they can decide how powerful they are, with a single Beyonder having easily overwhelmed Thor, Hyperion, and Starbrand, suffering no visible damage from their attacks until Starbrand's detonation,[1] and a trio of Beyonders having killed all the Celestials in all realities with a good bit of time and effort, before killing all the Abstract Entities and then the Living Tribunal itself.[27] Such is their power that they are not constrained by space or energy or anything within reason.[1]

  • Avatar Creation: The form the Beyonders took were manifestations making them solid states that contained their very essence.[1]
  • Energy Discharges: The Beyonders can shoot powerful energy blasts capable to bring down Thor, or injuring cosmic entities like the Celestials.[27]
  • Superhuman Strength: A Beyonder has been strong enough to stop a strike from Thor and the next moment, it ripped off his arm with relative ease.[1]
  • Superhuman Speed: The Beyonders are fast enough to take by surprise the likes of Thor and Hyperion and attack them.[1]
  • Regeneration: The Beyonders have high levels of regenerative abilities, capable of reforming instantly when they are damaged.[1]
  • Shapeshifting: The Beyonders can take new forms, whether machinery or biologic, and alter their body parts as one of them shown when it turned its arm into a blade to impale Starbrand and the next moment, it changed its arm into a spiky mass to attack Thor.[1]
  • Dimensional Travel: The Beyonders can travel between reality through rifts in space-time.[27]

Weaknesses

Beyonders from Secret Wars Vol 1 5 001

A bomb made of countless Molecule Men destroying the Beyonders

The Beyonders were described by Doctor Doom as being linear. They are constrained and restricted to their own sequential timeline, so they are unable to travel through time. As a result, they can be bested through nonlinear means.[12][2][25] Though powerful, their manifestations are weak enough for Starbrand to kill one by detonating his body.[1] They can be destroyed by utterly overwhelming force, such as a massive bomb made of Molecule Men from various universes.[8] Since they often choose to "wear" matter to interact with lesser beings, the Blue Marvel was able to destroy a Beyonder's "flesh-suit" using antimatter.[2]

Miscellaneous

Type of Government

Self-governing. They serve the Celestials,[2] but they can go against the Celestials if they deem it necessary.[27]

Level of Technology

Extremely advanced. They use Concordance Engines to help maintain the Multiverse.[2][7]

Representatives

Beyonder, "Jason Quantrell", Omega Council, Prester John, Prester Omega.

Loki suggested many theories about Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, including that they might be Beyonders, but was not confident in any of them.[33] Nevertheless, their sentences, "Slay your enemies and all you desire shall be yours," and "Nothing you dream of is impossible for us to accomplish,"[34] mimicked the Beyonder's.[35]

Notes

  • When Jason Quantrell got possessed by a "debaser unit" of the Beyond Corporation, he said: "The Outside. Outside everything you can imagine--in the wild spaces beyond reality--there are others like us. Many like us. Many kinds. Beyonders. Examiners. Normalizers. Gardeners. Debasers."[10]
    • In Defenders: Beyond #2, it is revealed that the debasers are a type of Beyonder, so the examiners, normalizers, and gardeners are possibly Beyonders as well, just different names/roles.
  • It is unknown if the Omegas are related to the Omega Force that originated in the Second Cosmos.[36]
  • The Beyonders were originally described as benevolent.[23] This was flipped once it was revealed that the Beyonders were behind the incursions and the Multiverse's destruction;[37][38] the Molecule Man claimed that the Beyonders got "bored" of life, so they conducted an experiment to witness the death of everything.[12][8] However, this was retroactively flipped once again when the Beyonders insisted that they only destroyed the Seventh Cosmos to prevent another threat from forming and had intended the Eighth Cosmos to be free of that threat.[2][25]
  • The Beyonders being "linear" is used to justify the Beyonders not stopping Doctor Doom (Rabum Alal) as he was travelling through time.[12] However, the Beyonder has displayed time travel abilities many times before this.[31][39][40][41]

Trivia

  • The Beyonders of the Beyond Corporation are considered rogues.[2]
  • Despite their confusingly similar names, it took 31 years for the Beyonder to be confirmed to be one of the Beyonders. The Beyonders were first mentioned in Marvel Two-In-One #63 (1980). The Beyonder was introduced in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 (1984). They were originally not related. Fantastic Four #319 (1988) retconned the Beyonder into a Cosmic Cube, a creation of the Beyonders. It was not until New Avengers (Vol. 3) #30 (2015) that the "Beyonder" was confirmed to be one of the Beyonders.
    • Although the Beyonder got retconned to being one of the Beyonders, his time as a Cosmic Cube and Kosmos were referenced as "larval stages."[2] This could mean other sentient Cosmic Cubes are adolescent Beyonders, retroactively.

See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #32
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 Defenders: Beyond #2
  3. Defenders (Vol. 4) #10
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #5
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #29
  6. Secret Wars: Official Guide to the Marvel Multiverse #1 ; Incursions' profile
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Venom (Vol. 5) #18
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 Secret Wars #5
  9. 9.0 9.1 Defenders (Vol. 4) #1112
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #6
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Ultimates 2 (Vol. 2) #6
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #33
  13. New Avengers (Vol. 3) #3033
  14. 14.0 14.1 Secret Wars #9
  15. Avengers Beyond #45
  16. Landy, Derek (2 April 2023) Derek Landy on Twitter: "Hopefully we haven't retconned anything — we've added one single element to the mix that the Beyonders have done their best to erase from existence: the fact that there was a mid-point between the Celestials and the Beyonders." Twitter. Retrieved on 3 April 2023.
  17. 18.0 18.1 Avengers Beyond #1
  18. 19.0 19.1 19.2 Avengers Beyond #4
  19. Fantastic Four Annual #23
  20. 21.0 21.1 Defenders (Vol. 4) #6
  21. Defenders (Vol. 4) #1011
  22. 23.0 23.1 Fantastic Four #319
  23. Marvel Two-In-One #63
  24. 25.0 25.1 25.2 Resurrection of Magneto #1
  25. 26.0 26.1 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #2
  26. 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #30
  27. Avengers Beyond #34
  28. Avengers Beyond #5
  29. Defenders: Beyond #1
  30. 31.0 31.1 Secret Wars II #2
  31. Defenders (Vol. 4) #3
  32. Loki: Agent of Asgard #17
  33. Loki: Agent of Asgard #14
  34. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1
  35. Ultimates 2 #100
  36. New Avengers (Vol. 3) #2933
  37. Secret Wars #45
  38. Fantastic Four #288
  39. Uncanny X-Men #202
  40. Deadpool Team-Up #1
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