Watchers

The Watchers were allegedly the first advanced species of the universe, committed to observing and compiling knowledge on all aspects of the universe without any interference. The original name for this race was the Luminous,^[2] but it has since been forgotten; they adopted the name "Watchers" after the task they perform.^[1] This policy of non-interference was due to a well-meaning attempt by the Watchers to bestow knowledge on the Prosilicans which resulted in mass destruction across the cosmos,^[16] that included their original homeworld of Lumina. This forced the Watcher Emnu to create the Ultimate Nullifier to destroy the Prosilicans and end the First War,^[10] before the Watchers relocated to Planet T-37X where they began guarding the Apex of All Reality.^[13]

The Watchers deposited all the knowledge they claimed into a single, enormous Watcher known as The One,^[6] and also the pocket dimension named the Cyclopedia Universum.^[7]

Despite their rule, the Watcher Uatu revealed himself to the superhero team the Fantastic Four, and aided them on several occasions against global threats such as the Molecule Man,^[17] Galactus,^[18] and the Over-Mind.^[19] After blatant interference with the mission of the Kree soldier Mar-vell, Uatu was put on trial by his own race, but was released on the provision that he would never directly interfere again.^[20]

A small group of Watchers splintered off from their fellows, becoming the Critics as besides watching events unfold, would also comment and criticize those events.^[21]

Uatu was later banished by his race for aiding the Fantastic Four against the threat of his rogue nephew, Aron, the Renegade Watcher, who tried to destroy the universe.^[6] The Dreaming Celestial later scanned Uatu and learned the Watcher had broken his pact of non-interference almost 400 times. The Celestial also revealed that the Watchers, like the Celestials themselves, were servants of a concept called Fulcrum, with apparent consequences for interference.^[22]

The Prosilicans had managed to survive after being imprisoned in the Barrens by the Watchers and harboring fury for what happened to them, they organized into the Reckoning to sow chaos across the cosmos. As the Reckoning finally made itself known to the universe, Uatu was resurrected and attempted to call out to his fellow Watchers.^[10] He attempted to convince the Watchers to fight back against the Reckoning, only to be imprisoned by his father Ikor.^[23] Soon they came under siege by the Reckoning led by Wrath who wished to claim the Watchers' Apex.^[2] While Uatu tried to tell the Watchers that Emnu was the main culprit behind the destruction from the first war through the Ultimate Nullifier, Wrath used the the shards of the M'kraan Crystal the Reckoning stole to release the toxic gases from the Barrens on Planet T-37X as a reminder of his people's suffering.

To make matters worse, Destruction, the resurrected form of Galactus, was drawn to the conflict on the planet and sought to consume it, though numerous cosmic teams came to the Watchers' rescue.^[13] The Unparalleled helped evacuate all of the Watchers onto Ego, the Living Planet, except for Uatu who remained behind. Instead of dying, Uatu was imbued with the energy of the Apex and emerged as "the One and Only Watcher". Uatu went to rectify the Watchers' errors and undid all of the damage done to the universe by both his people and the Prosilicans, restoring T-37X and remaking the Barrens into the Borderlands.^[15]

Alternate Universes[]

2099 A.D. (Earth-928)[]

Even on Earth-928, Uatu dwelt in his citadel on the Blue Area of the Moon, where he was exiled and blinded by the other members of his race for his "compulsive participation in events."^[24]

Ultimate Watchers (Earth-1610)[]

In the Earth-1610 universe, the Watchers were stone totem-like, alien supercomputers with a large red eye that "watched" everything happening in the universe. The Watchers had (not too discreetly) witnessed significant events on Earth ranging from Steven Rogers' injection with the super-soldier serum, to Magneto's establishment in the Savage Land. By the modern day, the Watchers foresaw a great devastation that would happen on Earth and had chosen Rick Jones as their herald to face this coming crisis.^[25]

Earth-6232[]

The Watchers were involved in the destructive Reckoning War, suffering several casualties such as Xavi and leaving the universe in disrepair. Zoma blamed She-Hulk for causing the war, but was refrained from attacking her by Uatu.^[26]

Earth-X (Earth-9997)[]

In the early days of the new universe, the Watchers would be forced to maintain their pact of non-involvement by the Celestials after not acting to prevent the birth of Galactus, and then later interfering with an alien race which would then create atomic weapons that would destroy their world. The Celestials would then place a Watcher on a moon of each of the other worlds they impregnated. Forced to watch these worlds, the Watchers eventually would work to maintain the Celestials propagation roles, and at least in the case of Uatu, Earth's Watcher, interfere with events on the planet when they threatened the Celestials' plans.^[27]

Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999)[]

In 2014, three Watchers were seen debriefing a human informant on a remote asteroid.^[28]

Marvel Animated (Earth-12041)[]

Some Watchers were seen watching "Mojo-Pocalypse." Three of them were seen in Arena 6C's audience.^[29]

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Earth-TRN912)[]

The Collector had managed to get his hands on a eye of a Watcher which had been plucked in order to steal the information contained inside.^[30]

The Watchers are cosmic beings who possessed the innate ability to achieve virtually any effect desired, including augmenting personal attributes, time and space manipulation, molecular manipulation, energy projection and a range of mental powers. The limits of their energy manipulation is unknown, but it is stated to be at least on the same basic level as Odin, Zeus, and the Elan.^[31] They are considered omnipotent entities,^[32] comparable to Galactus and the Celestials.^{[33][34][35][6]}

The Watchers are part of the Living Tribunal's court.^[36][37][38] Like abstracts, Celestials, Galactus, and other cosmic beings, the Watchers can manifest M-Bodies.^[39] The One and Exitar had a similar cosmic rank.^[6]

Highly advanced older than that of the Elders of the Universe and superior to any other technology in existence.^[4] Some pieces of the Watchers' technology included the Ultimate Machine,^[40] the Ultimate Nullifier,^[13] Archons,^[41] and the Seat of All Knowledge.^[14]

• Acba
• Aron (Deceased)
• Atul
• Critic
• Ecce
• Edda
• Egma
• Eihu
• Einu
• Emnu
• Engo
• Eta
• Ikor
• Ing
• Ocam
• The One (Deceased)
• Otmu (Deceased)
• Qyre
• Ualu
• Uatu
• Uilig
• Ulana
• Ute
• Vartu (Deceased)
• Xecu
• The Watcher of the Calishee
• Zoma

Representatives from other realities:

• Earth-9047
  • Uatu-Tu, aka the Watchman,^[42] the Watchit,^[43] and the Swatcher^[44]
  • Mister U-Tu, aka the Peeping Tom
  • Uotto, aka the What-Iffer

• Earth-6232
  • Uatu
  • Zoma
  • Xavi (deceased)

• Earth-20051
  • Dimri

• Earth-71166
  • Oyra

• Earth-200509
  • Vaughanuatu
  • Bendatu

• Antiphon, one of the Proemial Gods, shared many similarities with the Watchers, including his appearance. He was tasked "with monitoring cosmic consonance" and was described as "seeing all but forbidden to act." He also remained neutral in the conflict with Diableri.^[45] The connection between Antiphon and the Watchers is unknown but it is acknowledged in handbooks as possibly coincidental.^[46]
• There appear to be no secondary sex differences between male and female Watchers. Watchers still reproduce sexually, however, and rudimentary family relationships still provide care and training for their young. When the Blue Marvel asked Ulana if her baby was a boy or girl, Ulana replied that the baby must watch itself to learn that.^[47]
• The Unseen stated the Watchers are older than the Celestials,^[3][4] but this contradicts previous statements that the Celestials were "[o]ld when even the Watchers were young,"^[48] and makes no sense given the Celestials' newly-established origin as the first beings created by the First Firmament.^[49][50] Also, the context of the Unseen's statements was in regards to the Reckoning and the alleged "first war" in the Seventh Cosmos' history.^[10] As the Celestial race is far older than the Seventh Cosmos, it is possible that The Unseen is just unaware of how old the Celestial race actually is.
  • The Builders are another race that is said to be the first in the context of the Seventh Cosmos.^[51] The Proemial Gods are another primordial race and one of them even looks like a Watcher.^[52] The Dargallans and Kryihd were said to be as old as the Watchers.^[53]