One Above All (Multiverse)

Origin

Having created itself,^[5] it is apparently responsible for the existence of all life in the Multiverse and possibly beyond,^[20] being the master and sole superior of the cosmic overseer and arbitrator known as the Living Tribunal, whose faces, embodying equity, vengeance, and necessity respectively, are in perfect alignment with one another as it passes judgment.^[21] The Mother of Horrors, another being that created itself and defiled one of the One Above All's creations, Earth, challenged Him by creating Her son Udru. Becoming angry for the first time by Her defiance, He manifested His anger through the One Below All, attacking Udru, disfiguring him and later chaining the Mother of Horrors.^[5] The One Below All then began serving a role as a counterweight to the expanding life in the Multiverse, in order to create life anew through the cycle of death and rebirth of the Multiverse.^[15]

Modern Age

When the pregnant Susan Storm feared for her husband's possible death at the hands of the "all-powerful" Silver Surfer, Uatu the Watcher explained to her that there is only one being that is truly "all-powerful", and that "His only weapon...is love!",^[17] During an encounter with the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange, the cosmic entity Eternity told Strange: "I and my brother, Death, comprise all of your reality, mystic! Neither he nor I are God, for God rules all realities!"^[22] When Thor once compared himself and Odin to various other gods and abstract beings in terms of power, he noted: "...and 'tis said that a being, called the Living Tribunal — the final judge — hath the power to enforce his will 'pon any cosmos he doth judge! And 'tis said his power is supreme in all the Multiverse. Even I, son of one of the mightiest of all gods, find it impossible to conceive of such levels of power! And 'tis a humbling thought to consider how much greater the Creator of all Universes must be than that of all of His creations combined!"^[10]

The Living Tribunal is said to be "the representative of one whose might exceeds even Eternity", and the omniscient Infinity Well within Death's realm described the Tribunal as “the representative of the One who is above all.” The Tribunal later stated: “It was Eternity who first brought this matter to my attention and whom I ruled in favor of. Laws set forth from Above declare that only he may now reverse that decision.”^[23] Master Order, whilst observing Adam Warlock alongside Lord Chaos, said: “And may the Supreme Will smile on the golden warrior.” Warlock later recounts how he was called to judgment by the Living Tribunal, who he describes as “the servant of the One who is above even gods.”^[24]

The Cosmic Cube Kubik, on a tour of reality displaying various higher powers to Kosmos, upon meeting the Tribunal, told her that while it is the most supreme power which can be comprehended, "logic would indicate that the Tribunal itself is but another servant, but of what none dare imagine."^[11] In the aftermath of the events of Infinity Gauntlet, the Living Tribunal easily undid all the destruction an enraged Adam Warlock wreaked in his Trial, claiming that, "I represent forces that dwarf even your might. My authority comes from on High."^[25] When the Protégé claimed to the Living Tribunal and other cosmic entities that he was the most powerful being that ever was, and that he would surpass them all and move up, the Tribunal countered, "Impossible! There is only one above the Living Tribunal!" Later, after the Protégé declared himself the One Above All in an attempt to seize ultimate power, the Tribunal absorbed the Protégé into itself, proclaiming, "Your actions and intentions are inexcusable! Make your peace! May the One-Above-All forgive you!"^[26]

During her crusade, the Goddess, seeking to purge Creation of all evil and believing herself serving the will of "the Supreme One", gathered dozens of Earth's most devout heroes to her base in Paradise Omega. When the Silver Surfer argued that the collected Infinity Gems would make a far more potent force than the Cosmic Containment Units, the Goddess replied, "True, but the Supreme One's servant, the Living Tribunal, has ruled that the Infinity Gems may never again be used in unison." After the Surfer then raised the question of possible interference from cosmic entities such as the Tribunal or Eternity against their activities, the Goddess argued, "We serve the Supreme Will. We do nothing that either Eternity or Infinity would object to. They are already aware of our movement." When later confronted by a skeptical Reed Richards, the Goddess told him, "I do not claim omnipotence. I, too, am a servant."^[7]

The One Above All appeared to the Fantastic Four in the House of Ideas^[2] at the time of the Thing's death, praising them for their persistence in exploring the universe and promising extraordinary new wonders to be discovered in the years ahead, and eventually restored the Thing back to life.^[3] A grieving Peter Parker was encouraged by the One Above All, disguised as an elderly homeless man, to keep faith, when his Aunt May lay close to death.^[14] When a bartender asked the demon Mephisto whether the Living Tribunal, having created the Infinite Embassy, was actually "God", Mephisto responded, "No, he's not God. He's just the biggest kid in all the playgrounds. And if he knows the Principal, he's not exactly chatty about it."^[27]

After the collapse of the Multiverse at the hands of the Beyonders, Doctor Strange briefly mentions to Earth's incursion survivors after finding them alive that, "The Earth that was...the Universe that was...the Multiverse that was...these were all formed by some higher order -- some alien, ethereal other thing that perfectly constructed not just the material nature of everything, but the rules that governed it as well.^[28]

Thanos and an alternative version of Adam Warlock gained a brief audience with the entity after their reality had been destroyed. It was here revealed that the One Above All, also called the "Above-All-Others", exists beyond time and space, and alternates between appearing as female and male. Thanos managed to convince the entity to restore reality, in exchange for Adam taking up the vacant position, and duties, of the deceased Living Tribunal.^[1]

When Thanos, controlled by his future self, began using the Astral Regulator to absorb the majority of the cosmic beings, putting the entire multiverse into chaos,^[13] the Above-All-Others and the Living Tribunal tried to stop him, but was all in vain as Thanos was able to absorb them both, with his future self becoming the god and the manifestation of the entire multiverse. Thankfully, Adam Warlock, Kang the Conqueror, Starfox, and Pip the Troll, were able to allow present Thanos to take control of his future's powers and reverted everything back prior to his future's machinations, seemingly restoring Above-All-Others back to normal.^[29]

When the Hulk asked the One Below All why it was the way it was, the One Below All manifested its true face, the One Above All, and answered that the One Below All serves as the counterweight to the One Above All's creations, so they can build anew, and that, while the Hulk and the Gamma Mutates seem to serve such purpose, they choose which role they play, only using half their power (which is to destroy), their choices ultimately leading to this exact moment so the One Above All could ask the Hulk if he would be Geburah or Golachab before leaving. Hulk understood what They meant, leading him to forgive the Leader despite everything he had done.^[15]

The One Above All encountered the Defenders, who were sent on a mission by Eternity to learn about an unknown threat, when they entered the House of Ideas. The Blue Marvel questioned the validity of the One Above All's name and the One Above All unleashed a wave of creatures from pre-"creation" upon the Defenders. Adam then clarified that the "One Above All" was a primal creative force that was the highest they can go, but was still only the beginning of what it represented. He asked the One Above All if it knew if there is a final guiding hand to which the One Above All responded, "The mystery intrigues me, Adam." After telling Taaia that she could not return to the Sixth Cosmos with the knowledge of her son's future, America Chavez that she would find her sister and more, and Tigra that she would go home when the "storyteller" would soon choose to, the One Above All then showed them a glimpse of Eternity's unknown enemy: the "Enigma" yet to come.^[2]

The One Above All is the ultimate source of life and creation and the architect/creator of the Multiverse and everything that exists. The One Above All has stated that its "only weapon is love", which was further stated by the Watcher. The One Above All is the source of all that is good and is a being of limitless compassion and light. While very rarely seen, as "the mystery intrigues" the One Above All and it prefers to watch and experience its creation "through many eyes", it has sometimes interacted directly with mortals through different guises. It helped and offered Beta Ray Bill hope when all seemed lost.^[30] It even met with and helped Spider-Man when he believed his Aunt May would die and not only restored Peter's faith in humanity but was one of the few times it fully revealed what it was to a mortal being.^[14] While the One Above All rarely interferes with mortals as it wants them to make their own destinies, it had subtly helped them in times of need and presented opportunity for them to help themselves and others during dark times. It loves and cares for all of its creations and while it may be disappointed and feel pity towards those who follow a dark path it will always present a way for anyone to move out of the darkness.^{[citation needed]}

However, the One Above All can also manifest itself through its dark counterpart, the One Below All, to destroy the life it creates in order to begin anew, believing that it would renew itself through the endless cycle of death and rebirth in the Multiverse.^[15]

As the supreme being within the Multiverse,^[20] the One Above All is described as omnipotent^[17] and presents himself as all-powerful.^[6] He is also said to be omnipresent (as all things are mere extensions of himself),^[1] and omniscient (as he knows everything),^[1] and is above all cosmic powers and abstract entities, even the Living Tribunal. The One Above All has also been portrayed as a manifestation of the writer himself (such as Jack Kirby)^[3] and as the resident of the House of Ideas where all stories are formed.^[9]

Beyond any known system of abilities.

Multiversal Imbalance: When Thanos, controlled by his omnipotent future self, got hold of his universe's Regulator (an artifact more powerful than the Infinity Gems which served to keep each universe separate from one another), this caused a grave imbalance to the Multiverse, something that the Above-All-Others was unable to fix.^[13] This allowed the all-powerful Thanos from the year 4657 A.D. to absorb the Above-All-Others.^[29]

Duality: The One Above All is the light aspect and the embodiment of love, creation and life. It's fundamental nature is to be the ultimate good. Therefore, it cannot harm or destroy things directly. The One Above All needs to use it's other aspect or "face", The One Below All in order to destroy or break things down, in order to build. The One Above All like the One Below All are two halves of the same whole, akin to Bruce Banner and his many Hulks, and while both have unlimited power can only perform acts within their nature.^[15]

• Pencil: On two occasions, the One Above All appeared as the real-life Marvel creator and artist Jack Kirby and possessed a pencil that could manipulate reality.^[3][4] The organization Gorgon found a "rock" (actually the tip of God's pencil), called it the "Protolith," and attempted to use it to rewrite reality but was thwarted when Deadpool notified the One Above All.^[4]

Omnipresent^[29]

• One Above All is not to be confused with the Celestial of the same name. It is unknown if the One Above All has any relation to other characters like Yahweh or the Fulcrum.
  • One Above All is also not to be confused with the "celestial being"^[31] (but not a Celestial) known as the One Above All to the Deonists on Templeworld with whom he had a symbiotic relationship until he died saving them from an attacking alien armada.^[32]
  • According to Yahweh himself, he was part of group of beings that predated the Multiverse, and legally didn't create reality, rather only acted as a "supplier".^[33] This could mean that Yahweh and the One Above All are separate beings, though both were affiliated with Angels.^[3]
  • The Fulcrum, an omnipotent being served by the Celestials, the Horde, and the Watchers, in his human form also resembled Jack Kirby,^[34] but hasn't appeared or been referenced since his initial appearances yet.
• One Above All is mentioned in the Appendix glossary of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, described as "the entity believed to be the supreme being/creator of the Omniverse".^[35][36]
• According to the Marvel Handbook profiles of Eternity^[37] and Infinity,^[38] "The only being known to have authority over Eternity is the Living Tribunal, which is itself a servant of a higher power known only as 'the One Above All' (not to be confused with the Celestial of the same name)... each universe has its own Infinity, all overseen by the Living Tribunal and its enigmatic master, the 'One Above All' (not the Celestial of the same name)."
• After the Infinity War, Eternity informed the Infinity Watch: "Let it be known the power that the Living Tribunal represents will never again allow the Gems to work in unison. No matter what the crisis."^[39] However, Captain America's successful use of the Infinity Gauntlet to repel an incursion from an alternate Earth,^[40] coinciding around the same time the Living Tribunal's corpse being found on the moon,^[41] implied even this mandate had been somehow rescinded, with unclear implications.
• During the retroactive continuity in which the Rider accompanied the Fantastic Four and met the One Above All, the One Above All stated that the Rider wasn't one of his creations and denied him entrance to his room. This left the Rider to meet his actual creator, an entity resembling Donny Cates. It is unknown if this being is an aspect of the One Above All or a whole separate entity.^[42]
• In Thanos: The Infinity Conflict #1, Above-All-Others acknowledged that they were omnipotent and infallible only within a well-functioning system, something that the Multiverse was currently not. When the Living Tribunal mentioned that that suggested that there might be a power greater than their own, Above-All-Others quickly replied that "That is speculation that one such as you should not even contemplate, let alone voice."

• In Fantastic Four #511 and Deadpool: Secret Agent Deadpool #6, the One Above All's human form bears a striking resemblance to Jack Kirby.
  • Both Jack Kirby and Stan Lee have often been considered as avatars of this character, and their initials appear in the House of Ideas.
• According to J.M. DeMatteis, the Creator contains everything, even Oblivion.^[43]
• It is implied in multiple works of Al Ewing that the One Above All has connections to cosmic radiation and the Mystery in a similar vein to One Below All, gamma radiation, and the Below-Place (all of which were created by Ewing).
  • Gamma radiation and cosmic radiation are opposites.^[44][15] The Leader theorized that they share a "common source" after experimenting with cosmic radiation in its tertiary form (primal kirbons).^[45] The One Below All is the source of the third form of gamma radiation,^[46] and the One Below All and the One Above All are two sides of the same entity,^[15] which suggests this "common source" is the One Above All.
  • The Six harvest primal kirbons from by travelling beyond the Far Shore into the Mystery, specifically the White Hot Room.^[47] According to Doctor Doom: "...primal kirbons, cosmic particles that exist both outside our cosmos....and at the heart of it. For they have always been the same place--the Above-place. The White Hot Room. The Mystery."^[48]
    • Ewing clarified that the Mystery is the Above-place,^[49] and the White Hot Room is just one section of the Mystery,^[50] which also includes the House of Ideas.^[51][52]