Darkseid (Prime Earth)

Second New 52 Origin

Following the cosmic upheavals of the Rebirth period, this character's history was revised (again).

Current Origin

Uxas, the being who would one day become the God of Evil, was the son of the despot Heggra and the Old God Yuga Khan, who ruled Apokolips. As he grew, he laid claim to the god-name Darkseid.

Early Life

During an early battle between the forces of Apokolips and New Genesis, a third party appeared on the field of battle- Oans, on their long road to becoming the Guardians of the Universe. While the gods of New Genesis negotiated with the Oans, Darkseid had other plans. Under Heggra's orders, Uxas used the Soul Cannon, a weapon designed by Desaad to amplify his own power into a crude early version of the Omega Effect, to slay one of the Oans and several New Gods. The carnage would be interrupted by John Stewart, who was brought back to see the event by the New God Lonar; however, following an attack by Darkseid, the time-displaced Green Lantern was taken back to the present by Lonar.^[10]

Darkseid conceived many sons; one, Kalibak, became a brutal warrior of Apokolips while another, Orion, was traded for Highfather's own Scot in a promise of peace between both planets.^[11] Kalibak's mother Suli tried to lead Darkseid away from the path of evil, but Darkseid's mother Heggra had her killed as she believed that Suli made him weak.^[5]

As eons passed, Darkseid usurped rulership of Apokolips from his parents and became its sole ruler^[12], with the only force capable of opposing him being his brother Highfather and his forces of New Genesis.^[9] At some point, he captured an aspect of Death in the form of the Black Racer to become his greatest weapon, but he couldn't command it unless it were anchored to a sentient host.^[13]

Some time ago, Darkseid came across the Amazon Myrina and conceived another child with her, a daughter named Grail,^[2] who unbeknownst to him was being raised to destroy him.^[14]

Early Campaigns

War against Earth

Seeking to conquer Earth, Darkseid went Earth to confront Superman personally,^[15] easily overpowering the Kryptonian's allies and managing to defeat and capture Superman.^[16] However, the combined assault of Earth's defenders proved to be enough distraction for Batman to release Superman, who pushed Darkseid through a Boom-Tube for Cyborg to send to Apokolips, away from Earth.^[17]

Crises

Despite his antipathy for Earth and the forces of good, Darkseid would be instrumental in defeating the Anti-Monitor during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Years of manipulation would culminate in what would become known as the Final Crisis, an attack on Earth designed to draw out the Great Darkness. His plan succeeded, but at the cost of his own life; Darkseid was shot with a radion bullet, fired by Batman in the ultimate exception to his moral code. This 'death' resulted in Darkseid's 'godhead' breaking into many, severing his multiversal aspects from one another.^[18]

New 52

Chaos

Following his apparent death, Darkseid slept within a special chamber in his domain on Apokalips. In his stead, his followers vied for power, with Kalibak emerging victorious. Kalibak sought out a unit of reliquary from the Sphere of the Gods known as the Chaos Crystal, a fragmental piece of a larger gem that held great cosmic power. Using its energy, Kalibak constructed the 'Chaos Cannon', a superweapon capable of consuming the life-force of other worlds and transferring it back to the target of his choosing. Unfortunately for Uxas's firstborn, the Chaos Sliver was bound within the body of the young, deceased Damian Wayne and in acquiring it, had aroused the ire of Batman, who came to Apokalips wearing the Hellbat armor to recover his son's body.

Batman raged across Apokolips; his allies unknowingly following suite, fighting thru Kalibak's forces until facing off with the scion himself, at least, until Darkseid awoke from his slumber. The New God of Evil and the armored Batman fought until Darkseid fired off a blast of his Omega Beams; Batman used the Sliver to siphon the energy from the incoming Omega Effect into it completing a cosmic circuit, empowering the Hellbat Armor further through it. As Batman returned to Earth, intent on using the sliver to revive his lost son, Darkseid did not follow, remarking that he would see Batman and his allies again soon enough.^[19]

Darkseid War

 Main article: Justice League: The Darkseid War

Darkseid sent his Fury Lashina and personal assassin Kanto on a hunt for his daughter's mother, while he returned to his throne room and came across Mister Miracle. The escapist confronted Darkseid but he once again proved to be stronger. Thus Miracle was forced to Boom-Tube to Earth, to which Darkseid remained indifferent.^[20] The Anti-God arrived on Earth while Superman and an extra, Lex Luthor, were sent to Darkseid's domain by Lena Luthor, another emissary of Apokolips. Darkseid commanded his forces to mobilize with his war plan, ordering his right hand DeSaad to unleash the prisoners in the slave camp and sic them on Kal-El and Lex. He also commanded his General Steppenwolf to take his firstborn Kalibak with them in the war effort against Mobius.^[14]

With his daughter Grail summoning him, Darkseid and his army finally arrived to the battle scene against the Anti-Monitor, facing his enemy head-on.^[21] Growing desperate, Darkseid summoned the Black Racer, the living death of the New Gods, to destroy his enemy. The Anti-Monitor fused it with the Justice League's Flash and merged its power with the Anti-Life Equation to finally destroy Darkseid, ending his life once and for all.^[22]

Afterwards, when the child of Superwoman and Mazahs was born and taken by Grail, the child absorbed the Omega Effect from Lex Luthor as well as the Anti-Life Equation from Steve Trevor becoming the new Darkseid temporarily, before being separated from the Anti-Life Equation and reverted into a child form of Darkseid taken by Grail to be raised.^[1]

DC Rebirth

Returning to God-hood

After the invasion of the Dark Multiverse Grail began killing Old Gods and absorbed their power. She gave the power to Uxas to make him grow stronger and closer to becoming Darkseid again. After absorbing Hercules' power Uxas transformed into a much older child. After aging to a young adult, he fought Zeus himself. During the fight, he revealed that killing Hercules and the rest of Zeus' children was just bait for Zeus himself. He killed Zeus, absorbed his power, restored his own and escaped with Grail.

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Wonder Woman vs Darkseid

Justice League Odyssey

Darkseid survived his encounter with Wonder Woman, and was able to manipulate the Justice League of space to gather information about them being deities of the Ghost Sector.

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Dark Nights: Death Metal

When Perpetua remade the Multiverse she created three "Crisis Worlds" to generate crisis energy to fuel her. Darkseid was given a world where he succeeded in the Final Crisis and ruled all reality for eons, becoming an Old God. Superman came to his Crisis World to stop him, but Darkseid was too powerful and even managed to use the Anti-Life Equation to make Superman his slave. Batman also fell against the Anti-Monitor in an alternate Crisis on Infinite Earths, but Wonder Woman was able to convince Superboy-Prime to abandon his alternate Infinite Crisis and the Crisis Worlds were destroyed.^[23] Darkseid survived the destruction along with the Anti-Monitor, who was transformed into an infant. They took refuge in the World Forge.

Wonder Woman came to the Forge. She had planned to build a machine designed by Lex Luthor which would undo the damage wrought by Perpetua, but she had lost the plans. Darkseid witnessed her melt the Lasso of Truth in the Forge and become a godlike being almost as powerful as the Darkest Knight.^[24] After the Knight was defeated and the Multiverse restored, Darkseid was the only cosmic threat unaccounted for.^[25]

Infinite Frontier

The Great Darkness

The Quintessence imprisoned Darkseid on Earth Omega, a new parallel world created by the Multiverse's expansion into an Omniverse. However, they did not realise that Darkseid had fused with all his prior incarnations and alternate selves across parallel dimensions, and had become even more powerful than he was before the first Crisis. He easily broke free and killed them.^[26]

Darkseid was aware of the threat the Great Darkness posed to all reality, and how his previous incarnation had tried to gain control of it to save the Multiverse.^[27] He planned to do the same and gathered allies to help him in his mission, including the Psycho-Pirate^[28], the Lex Luthor of Earth 23^[29], Injustice Incarnate and even the D.E.O on Earth 0.^[30] He captured Barry Allen when he came to Earth Omega and used him to spin a giant turbine to generate the energy needed to open up the cracks left in the Multiverse by the Flashpoint^[30] and tasked the D.E.O to capture eneryone on Earth 0 who had ties to other universes or timelines.^[31]

Darkseid also ensured that a special Black Lantern Ring which drew it's power directly from the Darkness fell into the hands of Roy Harper, as he would have enough history of suffering to become the Omega Lantern and allow Darkseid to gain control of the Darkness.^[30] Darkseid's plan was foiled, Barry Allen fell through the crack and it retreated from Earth Omega. Darkseid simply dispersed the heroes back to their homes, believing that it was not worth it to kill them given the danger that the Multiverse faced.^[32]

Darkseid chased the crack to Earth 8, home reality of Doctor Multiverse, the Multiverse's natural immune reaction to the crack. Justice League Incarnate were also on the trail of the crack, hoping to cross it to rescue Barry Allen. Doctor Multiverse sent the crack away from Earth 8 to prevent Darkseid gaining control of it, and it landed in Limbo at the far edge of the Multiverse.^[33] Darkseid and the Justice League followed it but others also came for the crack including the Sheeda and the Batwoman Who Laughs. When the Batwoman almost reached the crack, Doctor Multiverse sent out a wave of energy that sent all of them to random places in the Multiverse.^[3] Darkseid ended up stranded on Earth 33 for three months, posing as an editor at DC Comics called Ulrich Saxman.

In his guise as Saxman, Darkseid pretended to help Doctor Multiverse and President Superman get a comic published, but insisted that they allow Darkseid to win. When Batman and The Flash came to Earth 33 to rescue Doctor Multiverse and Superman, Darkseid followed them to Earth 41 where the crack had landed.^[4] He gained control of the crack and departed to Earth 7 to confront The Gentry, who were servants of the Darkness.

Darkseid fought the Gentry's leader the Empty Hand, but was defeated and the Empty Hand took the crack.^[27] He used it to complete an "Oblivion Machine" which opened a rift directly to the Darkness and crossed over, daring Darkseid to follow. Darkseid went through the portal and emerged in a black void, where the Darkness told him that he had always been its unwitting puppet, its left hand, the fist that blindly destroys. The Great Darkness took control of Darkseid's mind, alongside many other cosmic forces of evil who had sought its power.^[5]

Dark Crisis

The Darkness' forces invaded the Multiverse, and Justice League Incarnate and the Justice League of Earth 0 tracked the origin point of the invasion to the ruins of the pre-Crisis Multiverse. Doctor Multiverse teleported the teams to Multiverse-2 where Pariah was modifying his antimatter chamber from the first Crisis to allow the Darkness to enter reality.

The heroes attempted to reason with Pariah but he refused to listen and summoned Darkseid and the other possessed villains. During the fight, Black Adam hit Darkseid with his magic lightning, which briefly broke the Darkness' control. Darkseid told the heroes that the war was already lost and tried to tell them how they could survive, but the Darkness quickly regained control. Green Arrow was able to destroy the chamber, cutting the Darkness' link to reality and causing Darkseid and the rest of the Darkness' forces to dissipate.^[34]

Darkseid and the rest of the Dark Army invaded Earth 0.^[35] The heroes managed to banish Pariah to a pocket universe but Darkseid and the others remained possessed as the corrupted Darkness transferred to Deathstroke.^[36] Black Adam used his lightning again to purge the Darkness from Deathstroke, freeing Darkseid and the other possessed villains. Darkseid retreated back to Apokolips.^[37]

City Boy

In another bid to takeover Earth, Darkseid would employ planet side agents to work with his chief engineering and genetics posing as the human scientist Dr. Mokkarison.^[38] All for the sake of using the essence of cities to transmogrify the planet into a engine citified derivation of his hellish domain, a new Apokolips.

Ugly Mannheim would notify his dark master about the subject of said project being in viewing distance when his power flared in rival gang territory. Darkseid commanded Bruno reacquire said prize at once for the grand plan, and to not notify him again until upon intergang's success on the matter.^[39]

All-In and Absolute

Following Prime Earth being severed from the multiverse, Darkseid was rattled by the effects and convinced Himon to design a Miracle Machine for him to use. Cutting off his left hand, he fed it some of his blood, only to need more. When Kalibak tried to convince him to lead a massive Apokolipian army to a weakened Earth, Darkseid instead killed Kalibak in cold blood and fed him to the Miracle Machine. With that, he began a search of the Spectre, whom he believed would tell him what was wrong.

He would first attack Hell, getting the attention of Blaze, First of the Fallen and Trigon, the former offering Darkseid immeasurable pain to stop his rampage. He refused, wanting Spectre's location before disappearing in a Boom Tube. In Heaven, he would be confronted by Zauriel, who offered him peace by reuniting him with his wife Suli, telling him that his role is a part of the universe. He would refuse again, disappearing to the Dark Side of the Moon. Confronting Eclipso, the creature taunted Darkseid and controlled him briefly, only for him to be obliterated by a Boom Tube. Finding Jim Corrigan captured down below, Darkseid is confronted by the Quintessence, who tell him that there's no way to bond with the Spectre. Darkseid would use the Miracle Machine to do just that.

Desperate, the Spectre sent the both of them to the Watchtower, needing the help of the Justice League to free him. In the fight, Zatanna used a spell to force the Spectre into Superman. During the scuffle, Spectre revealed that he is a force of nature, that he exists as the same creature throughout the multiverse and he only feels this way because Prime Earth was cut off and that it will return and his power will decrease so he won't feel this restless. Unable to take this, Darkseid allowed the heroes to kill him, thanking them as he was pulled elsewhere, the Elseworld. His influence there transformed it, turning the world into a dark shade of Prime Earth where hope was the underdog and darkness triumphed.^[40]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• New God Physiology: As a New God, Darkseid is amongst the most powerful beings in the Multiverse. He is a multiversal entity of pure evil, that was fragmented into a lesser form after the Final Crisis. Darkseid's "True Form" or "Godhead" was eventually reconstituted, combining all of Darkseid's lesser forms, making all of his past selves one. In this True Form, Darkseid stated that his power exceeds what it was before the first crisis.^[26] His immense power allowed him to easily defeat some of the most powerful beings in the universe.^[26] As the god of evil, all evil in the Multiverse is consolidated into his True Form.^[41] When the Multiverse was originally formed, Darkseid was split into many aspects or avatars, which were spread to every universe. His physical form was further reduced when the Multiverse expanded into the Omniverse, in the aftermath of the Metal Wars. However, all aspects returned to the Prime Darkseid when the Multiverse was severed. Darkseid's role is a integral to the balance of universe, as he embodies the primal force of Constraint, which challenges and holds back reality from expanding. Darkseid contrasts the forces of Life and Hope, which pushes reality to expand, and is embodied by Superman. Together, they maintain the balance of the universe. The Spectre has compared Darkseid's cosmic role to that of a "true" Source Wall.^[42]
  • Enhanced Intellect: Darkseid's mental capacity far exceeds that of a normal human. He's been described as being a hundred steps up the evolutionary ladder from humans.^[43]
  • Immortality: Darkseid is functionally immortal, having ceased aging physically when he received his power.^[6] Darkseid has lived for eons, stating to have ruled long enough to be an Old God.^[44]
  • Invulnerability: Darkseid survived the destruction of a whole planet,^[6] remained unfazed by the combined assault of the Justice League^[17] and took blows from the mighty Zeus himself without major damage.^[45]
    • Energy Resistance: Darkseid is highly resistant to most energy based attacks. Even while in a weakened state, he was unfazed by both Cyborg's arm cannon and Azrael's flaming Murasame sword.^[46]
  • Regeneration: Darkseid was able to regenerate his eyesight after both his eyes were impaled by Wonder Woman and Aquaman.^[17]
  • Superhuman Strength: Darkseid's strength rivals a Kryptonian's.^[6] He is capable of effortlessly shattering Lantern constructs,^[16] defeating multiple superhumans simultaneously. ^[17] Darkseid was even strong enough to hold open portals from closing, using only his bare hands.^[6] During the Dark Crisis he displayed enough strength to to rip Frankenstein in two.^[47]
  • Superhuman Speed: Darkseid is able to move at speeds far greater than any human. Even when not at full power, Darkseid was still fast enough to match Zeus' combat speed. During this fight, Wonder Woman stated she had never seen a battle happen at the speed they were fighting at.^[45]
  • Superhuman Stamina: Darkseid fought against Highfather Izaya for seven days straight, showing only minor signs of fatigue.^[9]
• Omega Effect: Darkseid wields a cosmic energy field called the "Omega Effect", which he gained from stealing the power of the Old Gods.^[6] The Omega Effect is the core from which many of Darkseid's other abilities manifest from. He can manipulate this powerful energy field to traverse time and space, among other uses. In his True Form, Darkseid's Omega energy is powerful enough to kill the entire Quintessence.^[26]
  • Omega Beams: Darkseid can fire concentrated beams from his eyes which can lock on its target to ensure it never misses. He has pinpoint control over these Omega Beams, and his unerring aim allows it to travel in straight lines or bend, twist or curve around corners. The beams are powerful enough to harm Kryptonians,^[16] destroy planets,^[6] and are fast enough to catch speedsters.^[16] Darkseid has even used his Omega beams to transport others across the multiverse.^[32]
    • Disintegration^[48]
  • Cosmic Awareness: Darkseid can perceive and understand the workings of the universe on a cosmic level. He is able to perceive others even in different dimensions.^[49]
  • Flight: Darkseid is capable of levitating and flying at will.
  • Gravity Manipulation: When Darkseid reached between universes, his hand created an immense gravitational pull that twisted time and space in his surrounding area.^[50]
    • Chronokinesis: Darkseid's gravitational pull was so strong that it warped time itself in the surrounding area. When John Constantine was trapped within it, he stated he lived days between each second from his perception.^[50]
  • Power Absorption: Darkseid can absorb the life-force of Old Gods to add to his power and regain strength. He was able to absorb the power of Zeus in order to get back to full strength.^[45] He was also able to feed on the energy of Zeus' children to regain power.^[51]
  • Power Distribution: Darkseid could endow his lesser subjects with powers, either granting them new abilities, increasing old ones they already possess or restoring lost powers to others at higher levels.^[52]
  • Reality Alteration: After realizing that his death would release a vast amount of energy, Darkseid allowed himself to be killed, which led to the creation of the Absolute Universe. Darkseid shaped this new universe in his own image, making it a darker and more challenging world for its heroes, removing the advantages they had in the Prime Earth.^[53]
  • Resurrection: Darkseid can seemingly revitalize those who've been dead for some time as seen by his having been able to resurrect a long since deceased Steppenwolf, last seen within his personal chambers.^[14]
  • Size Alteration: Darkseid can adjust his size at will, as seen by his having once stretched an enlarged hand towards refugees from Earth 2 when Constantine tried to ferry them to safety in another universe.^[49]
  • Summoning: Darkseid has the unique ability to summon the Black Racer to aid him in battle. He also has complete control over the entity.^[22]
  • Telekinesis: Darkseid can manipulate the movement of objects and people with his mind.^[4] He can use this ability to generate eradicating shockwaves to destroy the surrounding landscape.^[15]
  • Telepathy: Darkseid is able to telepathically invade the minds of others, even while in a separate dimension.^[49]

Abilities

• Deception^[54]
• Genius Level Intellect
• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Though rarely resorting to physical combat, Darkseid is a highly skilled and deadly fighter. He's stated to have fought planets and slaughtered entire armies.^[45] He has fought toe-to-toe with the Anti-Monitor, as well as defeated both Zeus^[45] and Asmodel in combat.^[4]
• Intimidation
• Leadership: Darkseid is recognized as the ultimate authority in Apokolips, inspiring intimidation among his lesser subjects in order to ensure blind obedience through fear of his wrath.^[6]
• Quantum Mechanics
• Weaponry: Darkseid has displayed skill with various weapons in combat, including a scythe,^[6] and a spear.^[4]
  

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Mother Box
• Miracle Machine

Transportation

• Boom-Tube: Darkseid's Boom-Tube's allow him to transverse through time and space at will,^[6]
  • Dimensional Travel^[55]

Notes

• Darkseid was created by Jack Kirby, first appearing in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #134. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Darkseid first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Justice League (Volume 2) #3 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee.
• Unlike most versions of Darkseid, the Post-Flashpoint version was not always bald. Instead, he was formerly brown haired, with a brown beard as well.^{[6] [7]}
  

Trivia

• Although Darkseid has defeated both the Quintessence (killing them with ease)^[26] and Eclipso, Ganthet has stated each member of the Quintessence is strong enough to kill him and Eclipso claimed himself stronger, with Darkseid confirming only the former notion.^[56]
• Darkseid has been revealed to be the unwitting hand of the Great Darkness that destroys, with Empty Hand who embodies the hand that made a "truce" with the Light in Swamp Thing Vol 2 50, being the right hand that takes.^[57]
  

Recommended Reading

• Justice League: Origin
• Justice League: The Darkseid War
• Justice League Odyssey (Volume 1)

Related

• 223 Appearances of Darkseid (Prime Earth)
• 117 Images featuring Darkseid (Prime Earth)
• 19 Quotations by or about Darkseid (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Darkseid (Prime Earth)

Footnotes

Jack Kirby's Fourth World This character or group of characters are related to Jack Kirby's Fourth World, either the original concept and group of titles by Jack Kirby, or any of their subsequent adaptations by other creators. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Fourth World Characters category.

Superman Villain(s) This character has been primarily an enemy of Superman in any of his various incarnations, or members of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Villains category."

Batman Villain(s) This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."

Justice League Villain This character is or was primarily an enemy of the Justice League, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Justice League Villains."